gaspedJill.
“Notbymycounsel，”
saidthePrince.“Iwouldsavemyhorse，Coalblack，andtheWitch’sSnowflake（anoblebeastandworthyofabettermistress）whicharebothstabledinthecourtyard.Afterthat，letusmakeshifttogetouttohighgroundandpraythatweshallfindanoutlet.Thehorsescancarrytwoeachatneed，andifweputthemtoittheymayoutstriptheflood.”
“WillyourHighnessnotputonarmour？”
askedPuddleglu“Idon’tlikethelookofthose”
—andhepointeddowntothestreet.Everyonelookeddown.Dozensofcreatures（andnowthattheywereclose，theyobviouslywereEarthmen）werecomingupfromthedirectionoftheharbour.Buttheywerenotmovinglikeanaimlesscrowd.Theybehavedlikemodernsoldiersinanattack，makingrushesandtakingcover，anxiousnottobeseenfromthecastlewindows.
“Idarenotseetheinsideofthatarmouragain，”
saidthePrince.“Irodeinitasinamovabledungeon，anditstinksofmagicandslavery.ButIwilltaketheshield.”
Helefttheroomandreturnedwithastrangelightinhiseyesamomentlater.
“Look，friends，”
hesaid，holdingouttheshieldtowardsthe“Anhouragoitwasblackandwithoutdevice；andnow，this.”
Theshieldhadturnedbrightassilver，andonit，redderthanbloodorcherries，wasthefigureoftheLion.
“Doubtless，”
saidthePrince，“thissignifiesthatAslanwillbeourgoodlord，whetherhemeansustoliveordie.Andall’sone，forthat.Now，bymycounsel，weshallallkneelandkisshislikeness，andthenallshakehandsonewithanother，astruefriendsthatmayshortlybeparted.Andthen，letusdescendintothecityandtaketheadventurethatissentus.”
AndtheyalldidasthePrincehadsaid.ButwhenScrubbshookhandswithJill，hesaid，“Solong，Jill.SorryI’vebeenafunkandsoratty.Ihopeyougetsafehome，”
andJillsaid，“Solong，Eustace.AndI’msorryI’vebeensuchapig.”
AndthiswasthefirsttimetheyhadeverusedChristiannames，becauseonedidn’tdoitatschool.
ThePrinceunlockedthedoorandtheyallwentdownthestairs：threeofthemwithdrawnswords，andJillwithdrawnknife.TheattendantshadvanishedandthegreatroomatthefootofthePrince’sstairswasempty.Thegrey，dolefullampswerestillburningandbytheirlighttheyhadnodifficultyinpassinggalleryaftergalleryanddescendingstairwayafterstairway.Thenoisesfromoutsidethecastlewerenotsoeasilyheardhereastheyhadbeenintheroomabove.Insidethehouseallwasstillasdeath，anddeserted.ItwasastheyturnedacornerintothegreathallonthegroundfloorthattheymettheirfirstEarthman-afat，whitishcreaturewithaverypiglikefacewhowasgobblingupalltheremainsoffoodonthetables.Itsquealed（thesquealalsowasverylikeapig’s）anddartedunderabench，whiskingitslongtailoutofPuddleglum’sreachinthenickoftime.Thenitrushedawaythroughthefardoortooquicklytobefollowed.
Fromthehalltheycameoutintothecourtyard.Jill，whowenttoaridingschoolintheholidays，hadjustnoticedthesmellofastable（averynice，honest，homelysmellitistomeetinaplacelikeUnderland）whenEustacesaid，“GreatScott！
Lookatthat！”
Amagnificentrockethadrisenfromsomewherebeyondthecastlewallsandbrokenintogreenstars.
“Fireworks！”
saidJillinapuzzledvoice.
“Yes，”
saidEustace，“butyoucan’timaginethoseEarthpeoplelettingthemoffforfun！
Itmustbeasignal.”
“Andmeansnogoodtous，I’llbebound，”
saidPuddleglu
“Friends，”
saidthePrince，“whenonceamanislaunchedonsuchanadventureasthis，hemustbidfarewelltohopesandfears，otherwisedeathordeliverancewillbothcometoolatetosavehishonourandhisreason.Ho，mybeauties”
（hewasnowopeningthestabledoor）.“Heycousins！
Steady，Coalblack！
Softlynow，Snowflake！
Youarenotforgotten.”
Thehorseswerebothfrightenedbythestrangelightsandthenoises.Jill，whohadbeensocowardlyaboutgoingthroughablackholebetweeenonecaveandanother，wentinwithoutfearbetweenthestampingandsnortingbeasts，andsheandthePrincehadthemsaddledandbridledinafewminutes.Veryfinetheylookedastheycameoutintothecourtyard，tossingtheirheads.JillmountedSnowflake，andPuddleglumgotupbehindher.EustacegotupbehindthePrinceonCoalblack.Thenwithagreatechoofhoofs，theyrodeoutofthemaingatewayintothestreet.
“Notmuchdangerofbeingburnt.That’sthebrightsideofit，”
observedPuddleglum，pointingtotheirright.There，hardlyahundredyardsaway，lappingagainstthewallsofthehouses，waswater.
（第2页）
请关闭浏览器阅读模式后查看本章节，否则将出现无法翻页或章节内容丢失等现象。