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chater ix the wild wate nd f the nrth（第1页）

ATaboutnineo’clocknextmorningthreelonelyfiguresmighthavebeenseenpickingtheirwayacrosstheShribblebytheshoalsandstepping-stones。Itwasashallow，noisystream，andevenJillwasnotwetaboveherkneeswhentheyreachedthenorthernbank。Aboutfiftyyardsahead，thelandroseuptothebeginningofthemoor，everywheresteeply，andoftenincliffs。

“Isupposethat’sourway！”saidScrubb，pointingleftandwesttowhereastreamfloweddownfromthemoorthroughashallowgorge。ButtheMarsh-wiggleshookhishead。

“Thegiantsmainlylivealongthesideofthatgorge，”hesaid。“Youmightsaythegorgewaslikeastreettothem。We’lldobetterstraightahead，eventhoughit’sabitsteep。”

Theyfoundaplacewheretheycouldscrambleup，andinabouttenminutesstoodpantingatthetop。Theycastalonginglookbackatthevalley-landofNarniaandthenturnedtheirfacestotheNorth。Thevast，lonelymoorstretchedonandupasfarastheycouldsee。Ontheirleftwasrockierground。Jillthoughtthatmustbetheedgeofthegiants’gorgeanddidnotmuchcareaboutlookinginthatdirection。Theysetout。

Itwasgood，springygroundforwalking，andadayofpalewintersunlight。Astheygotdeeperintothemoor，thelonelinessincreased：onecouldhearpeewitsandseeanoccasionalhawk。Whentheyhaltedinthemiddleofthemorningforarestandadrinkinalittlehollowbyastream，Jillwasbeginningtofeelthatshemightenjoyadventuresafterall，andsaidso。

“Wehaven’thadanyyet，”saidtheMarsh-wiggle。

Walksafterthefirsthalt—likeschoolmorningsafterbreakorrailwayjourneysafterchangingtrains—nevergoonastheywerebefore。Whentheysetoutagain，Jillnoticedthattherockyedgeofthegorgehaddrawnnearer。Andtherockswerelessflat，moreupright，thantheyhadbeen。Infacttheywerelikelittletowersofrock。Andwhatfunnyshapestheywere！

“Idobelieve，”thoughtJill，“thatallthestoriesaboutgiantsmighthavecomefromthosefunnyrocks。Ifyouwerecomingalongherewhenitwashalfdark，youcouldeasilythinkthosepilesofrockweregiants。Lookatthatone，now！Youcouldalmostimaginethatthelumpontopwasahead。Itwouldberathertoobigforthebody，butitwoulddowellenoughforanuglygiant。Andallthatbushystuff—Isupposeit’sheatherandbirds’nests，really—woulddoquitewellforhairandbeard。Andthethingsstickingoutoneachsidearequitelikeears。They’dbehorriblybig，butthenIdaresaygiantswouldhavebigears，likeelephants。

And—o-o-o-h！—”

Herbloodfroze。Thethingmoved。Itwasarealgiant。Therewasnomistakingit；shehadseenitturnitshead。Shehadcaughtaglimpseofthegreat，stupid，puffcheekedface。Allthethingsweregiants，notrocks。Therewerefortyorfiftyofthem，allinarow；obviouslystandingwiththeirfeetonthebottomofthegorgeandtheirelbowsrestingontheedgeofthegorge，justasmenmightstandleaningonawall-lazymen，onafinemorningafterbreakfast。

“Keepstraighton，”whisperedPuddleglum，whohadnoticedthemtoo。“Don’tlookatthem。Andwhateveryoudo，don’trun。They’dbeafterusinamoment。”

Sotheykepton，pretendingnottohaveseenthegiants。Itwaslikewalkingpastthegateofahousewherethereisafiercedog，onlyfarworse。Thereweredozensanddozensofthesegiants。Theydidn’tlookangry—orkind—orinterestedatall。Therewasnosignthattheyhadseenthetravellers。

Then—whizz-whizz-whizz—someheavyobjectcamehurtlingthroughtheair，andwithacrashabigboulderfellabouttwentypacesaheadofthem。Andthen—thud！—anotherfelltwentyfeetbehind。

“Aretheyaimingatus？”askedScrubb。

“No，”saidPuddleglum。“We’dbeagooddealsaferiftheywere。They’retryingtohitthat—thatcairnovertheretotheright。Theywon’thitit，youknow。It’ssafeenough；they’resuchverybadshots。Theyplaycock-shiesmostfinemornings。Abouttheonlygamethey’recleverenoughtounderstand。”

Itwasahorribletime。Thereseemednoendtothelineofgiants，andtheyneverceasedhurlingstones，someofwhichfellextremelyclose。Quiteapartfromtherealdanger，theverysightandsoundoftheirfacesandvoiceswereenoughtoscareanyone。Jilltriednottolookatthem。

Afterabouttwenty-fiveminutesthegiantsapparentlyhadaquarrel。Thisputanendtothecock-shies，butitisnotpleasanttobewithinamileofquarrellinggiants。Theystormedandjeeredatoneanotherinlong，meaninglesswordsofabouttwentysyllableseach。Theyfoamedandgibberedandjumpedintheirrage，andeachjumpshooktheearthlikeabomb。Theylammedeachotherontheheadwithgreat，clumsystonehammers；buttheirskullsweresohardthatthehammersbouncedoffagain，andthenthemonsterwhohadgiventheblowwoulddrophishammerandhowlwithpainbecauseithadstunghisfingers。Buthewassostupidthathewoulddoexactlythesamethingaminutelater。Thiswasagoodthinginthelongrun，forbytheendofanhourallthegiantsweresohurtthattheysatdownandbegantocry。Whentheysatdown，theirheadswerebelowtheedgeofthegorge，sothatyousawthemnomore；butJillcouldhearthemhowlingandblubberingandboo-booinglikegreatbabiesevenaftertheplacewasamilebehind。

Thatnighttheybivouackedonthebaremoor，andPuddleglumshowedthechildrenhowtomakethebestoftheirblanketsbysleepingbacktoback（Thebackskeepeachotherwarmandyoucanthenhavebothblanketsontop）。Butitwaschillyevenso，andthegroundwashardandlumpy。TheMarsh-wiggletoldthemtheywouldfeelmorecomfortableifonlytheythoughthowverymuchcolderitwouldbelateronandfarthernorth；butthisdidn’tcheerthemupatall。

TheytravelledacrossEttinsmoorformanydays，savingthebaconandlivingchieflyonthemoor-fowl（theywerenot，ofcourse，talkingbirds）whichEustaceandthewiggleshot。JillratherenviedEustaceforbeingabletoshoot；hehadlearneditonhisvoyagewithKingCaspian。Astherewerecountlessstreamsonthemoor，theywerenevershortofwater。Jillthoughtthatwhen，inbooks，peopleliveonwhattheyshoot，itnevertellsyouwhatalong，smelly，messyjobitispluckingandcleaningdeadbirds，andhowcolditmakesyourfingers。Butthegreatthingwasthattheymethardlyanygiants。Onegiantsawthem，butheonlyroaredwithlaughterandstumpedawayabouthisownbusiness。

Aboutthetenthday，theyreachedaplacewherethecountrychanged。Theycametothenorthernedgeofthemoorandlookeddownalong，steepslopeintoadifferent，andgrimmer，land。Atthebottomoftheslopewerecliffs：beyondthese，acountryofhighmountains，darkprecipices，stonyvalleys，ravinessodeepandnarrowthatonecouldnotseefarintothem，andriversthatpouredoutofechoinggorgestoplungesullenlyintoblackdepths。Needlesstosay，itwasPuddleglumwhopointedoutasprinklingofsnowonthemoredistantslopes。

“Butthere’llbemoreonthenorthsideofthem，Ishouldn’twonder，”headded。

Ittookthemsometimetoreachthefootoftheslopeand，whentheydid，theylookeddownfromthetopofthecliffsatariverrunningbelowthemfromwesttoeast。Itwaswalledinbyprecipicesonthefarsideaswellasontheirown，anditwasgreenandsunless，fullofrapidsandwaterfalls。Theroarofitshooktheearthevenwheretheystood。

“Thebrightsideofitis，”saidPuddleglum，“thatifwebreakournecksgettingdownthecliff，thenwe’resafefrombeingdrownedintheriver。”

“Whataboutthat？”saidScrubbsuddenly，pointingupstreamtotheirleft。Thentheyalllookedandsawthelastthingtheywereexpecting—abridge。Andwhatabridge，too！Itwasahuge，singlearchthatspannedthegorgefromcliff-toptocliff-top；andthecrownofthatarchwasashighabovethecliff-topsasthedomeofSt。Paul’sisabovethestreet。

“Why，itmustbeagiants’bridge！”saidJill。

“Orasorcerer’s，morelikely，”saidPuddleglum。“We’vegottolookoutforenchantmentsinaplacelikethis。Ithinkit’satrap。Ithinkit’llturnintomistandmeltawayjustwhenwe’reoutonthemiddleofit。”

“Oh，forgoodness’sake，don’tbesuchawetblanket，”saidScrubb。“Whyonearthshouldn’titbeaproperbridge？”

“Doyouthinkanyofthegiantswe’veseenwouldhavesensetobuildathinglikethat？”saidPuddleglum。

“Butmightn’tithavebeenbuiltbyothergiants？”saidJill。“Imean，bygiantswholivedhundredsofyearsago，andwerefarclevererthanthemodernkind。Itmighthavebeenbuiltbythesameoneswhobuiltthegiantcitywe’relookingfor。Andthatwouldmeanwewereontherighttrack—theoldbridgeleadingtotheoldcity！”

“That’sarealbrain-wave，Pole，”saidScrubb。“Itmustbethat。Comeon。”

Sotheyturnedandwenttothebridge。Andwhentheyreachedit，itcertainlyseemedsolidenough。ThesinglestoneswereasbigasthoseatStonehengeandmusthavebeensquaredbygoodmasonsonce，thoughnowtheywerecrackedandcrumbled。Thebalustradehadapparentlybeencoveredwithrichcarvings，ofwhichsometracesremained；moulderingfacesandformsofgiants，minotaurs，squids，centipedes，anddreadfulgods。Puddleglumstilldidn’ttrustit，butheconsentedtocrossitwiththechildren。

Theclimbuptothecrownofthearchwaslongandheavy。Inmanyplacesthegreatstoneshaddroppedout，leavinghorriblegapsthroughwhichyoulookeddownontheriverfoamingthousandsoffeetbelow。Theysawaneagleflythroughundertheirfeet。Andthehighertheywent，thecolderitgrew，andthewindblewsothattheycouldhardlykeeptheirfooting。Itseemedtoshakethebridge。

Whentheyreachedthetopandcouldlookdownthefartherslopeofthebridge，theysawwhatlookedliketheremainsofanancientgiantroadstretchingawaybeforethemintotheheartofthemountains。Manystonesofitspavementweremissingandtherewerewidepatchesofgrassbetweenthosethatremained。Andridingtowardsthemonthatancientroadweretwopeopleofnormalgrown-uphumansize。

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