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第5节

prince caspian_c·s·刘易斯-第5节

小说: prince caspian_c·s·刘易斯 字数: 每页4000字

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〃i ought to have thought of that myself;〃 said peter。

the four children and the dwarf went down to the waters edge; pushed off  the boat with some difficulty; and scrambled aboard。 the dwarf at once took charge。 the  oars were of course too big for him to use; so peter rowed and the dwarf steered them  north along the channel and presently eastward round the tip of the island。 from here the  children could see right up the river; and all the bays and headlands of the coast beyond  it。 they thought they could recognize bits of it; but the woods; which had grown up since  their time; made everything look very different。

when they had e round into open sea on the east of the island; the dwarf  took to fishing。 they had an excellent catch of pavenders; a beautiful rainbow… coloured fish which they all remembered eating in cair paravel in the old days。 when they  had caught enough they ran the boat up into a little creek and moored her to a tree。  the dwarf; who was a most capable person (and; indeed; though one meets bad dwarfs; i  never heard of a dwarf who was a fool); cut the fish open; cleaned them; and said:  〃now; what we want next is some firewood。鈥

〃weve got some up at the castle;〃 said edmund。

the dwarf gave a low whistle。 〃beards and bedsteads!〃 he said。 〃so there  really is a castle; after all?鈥

〃its only a ruin;〃 said lucy。

the dwarf stared round at all four of them with a very curious expression  on his face。

〃and who on earth … ?〃 he began; but then broke off and said; 〃no matter。  breakfast first。

but one thing before we go on。 can you lay your hand on your hearts and  tell me im really alive? are you sure i wasnt drowned and were not all ghosts  together?鈥

when they had all reassured him; the next question was how to carry the  fish。 they had nothing to string them on and no basket。 they had to use edmunds hat in  the end because no one else had a hat。 he would have made much more fuss about this  if he had not by now been so ravenously hungry。

at first the dwarf did not seem very fortable in the castle。 he kept  looking round and sniffing and saying; 〃hm。 looks a bit spooky after all。 smells like  ghosts; too。〃 but he cheered up when it came to lighting the fire and showing them how to roast  the fresh pavenders in the embers。 eating hot fish with no forks; and one pocket  knife between five people; is a messy business and there were several burnt fingers before the  meal was ended; but; as it was now nine oclock and they had been up since five;  nobody minded the burns so much as you might have expected。 when everyone had finished  off with a drink from the well and an apple or so; the dwarf produced a pipe about the  size of his own arm; filled it; lit it; blew a great cloud of fragrant smoke; and said;  〃now。鈥

〃you tell us your story first;〃 said peter。 〃and then well tell you ours。鈥

〃well;〃 said the dwarf; 〃as youve saved my life it is only fair you should  have your own way。 but i hardly know where to begin。 first of all im a messenger of king  caspians。鈥

〃whos he?〃 asked four voices all at once。

〃caspian the tenth; king of narnia; and long may he reign!〃 answered the  dwarf。 〃that is to say; he ought to be king of narnia and we hope he will be。 at present  he is only king of us old narnians … 鈥

〃what do you mean by old narnians; please?〃 asked lucy。

〃why; thats us;〃 said the dwarf。 〃were a kind of rebellion; i suppose。鈥

〃i see;〃 said peter。 〃and caspian is the chief old narnian。鈥

〃well; in a manner of speaking;〃 said the dwarf; scratching his head。 〃but  hes really a new narnian himself; a telmarine; if you follow me。鈥

〃i dont;〃 said edmund。

〃its worse than the wars of the roses;〃 said lucy。

〃oh dear;〃 said the dwarf。 〃im doing this very badly。 look here: i think  ill have to go right back to the beginning and tell you how caspian grew up in his uncles  court and how he es to be on our side at all。 but itll be a long story。鈥

〃all the better;〃 said lucy。 〃we love stories。鈥

so the dwarf settled down and told his tale。 i shall not give it to you in  his words; putting in all the childrens questions and interruptions; because it would take  too long and be confusing; and; even so; it would leave out some points that the children  only heard later。

but the gist of the story; as they knew it in the end; was as follows。

xiaoshuot锛竧锛宑o锛



CHAPTER FOUR

锝炲皬  璇磘  xt 澶诲爞
the dwarf tells of prince caspian  prince caspian lived in a great castle in the centre of narnia with his  uncle; miraz; the king of narnia; and his aunt; who had red hair and was called queen  prunaprismia。

his father and mother were dead and the person whom caspian loved best was  his nurse; and though (being a prince) he had wonderful toys which would do almost  anything but talk; he liked best the last hour of the day when the toys had all been put  back in their cupboards and nurse would tell him stories。

he did not care much for his uncle and aunt; but about twice a week his  uncle would send for him and they would walk up and down together for half an hour on the  terrace at the south side of the castle。 one day; while they were doing this; the king  said to him;  〃well; boy; we must soon teach you to ride and use a sword。 you know that  your aunt and i have no children; so it looks as if you might have to be king when  im gone。 how shall you like that; eh?鈥

〃i dont know; uncle;〃 said caspian。

〃dont know; eh?〃 said miraz。 〃why; i should like to know what more anyone  could wish for!鈥

〃all the same; i do wish;〃 said caspian。

〃what do you wish?〃 asked the king。

〃i wish … i wish … i wish i could have lived in the old days;〃 said  caspian。 (he was only a very little boy at the time。)

up till now king miraz had been talking in the tiresome way that some  grown…ups have; which makes it quite clear that they are not really interested in what you  are saying; but now he suddenly gave caspian a very sharp look。

〃eh? whats that?〃 he said。 〃what old days do you mean?鈥

〃oh; dont you know; uncle?〃 said caspian。 〃when everything was quite  different。 when all the animals could talk; and there were nice people who lived in the  streams and the trees。 naiads and dryads they were called。 and there were dwarfs。 and there  were lovely little fauns in all the woods。 they had feet like goats。 and …鈥

〃thats all nonsense; for babies;〃 said the king sternly。 〃only fit for  babies; do you hear?

youre getting too old for that sort of stuff。 at your age you ought to be  thinking of battles and adventures; not fairy tales。鈥

〃oh; but there were battles and adventures in those days;〃 said caspian。  〃wonderful adventures。 once there was a white witch and she made herself queen of the  whole country。 and she made it so that it was always winter。 and then two boys  and two girls came from somewhere and so they killed the witch and they were made kings  and queens of narnia; and their names were peter and susan and edmund and lucy。  and so they reigned for ever so long and everyone had a lovely time; and it was  all because of aslan …鈥

〃whos he?〃 said miraz。 and if caspian had been a very little older; the  tone of his uncles voice would have warned him that it would be wiser to shut up。 but  he babbled on;  〃oh; dont you know?〃 he said。 〃aslan is the great lion who es from over  the sea。鈥

〃who has been telling you all this nonsense?〃 said the king in a voice of  thunder。

caspian was frightened and said nothing。

〃your royal highness;〃 said king miraz; letting go of caspians hand; which  he had been holding till now; 〃i insist upon being answered。 look me in the face。  who has been telling you this pack of lies?鈥

〃n … nurse;〃 faltered caspian; and burst into tears。

〃stop that noise;〃 said his uncle; taking caspian by the shoulders and  giving ham a shake。

〃stop it。 and never let me catch you talking … or thinking either … about  all those silly stories again。 there never were those kings and queens。 how could there be  two kings at the same time? and theres no such person as aslan。 and there are no  such things as lions。 and there never was a time when animals could talk。 do you hear?鈥

〃yes; uncle;〃 sobbed caspian。

〃then lets have no more of it;〃 said the king。 then he called to one of  the gentlemen…in…waiting who were standing at the far end of the terrace and said in a cold  voice; 〃conduct his royal highness to his apartments and send his royal highnesss nurse to  me at once。鈥

next day caspian found what a terrible thing he had done; for nurse had  been sent away without even being allowed to say good…bye to him; and he was told he was  to have a tutor。

caspian missed his nurse very much and shed many tears; and because he was  so miserable; he thought about the old stories of narnia far more than before。  he dreamed of dwarfs and dryads every night and tried very hard to make the dogs and cats  in the castle talk to him。 but the dogs only wagged their tails and the cats only purred。

caspian felt sure that he would hate the new tutor; buy when the new tutor  arrived about a week later he turns out to be the sort of person it is almost  impossible not to like。

he was th

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