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chater jill i given a tak（第1页）

WITHOUTaglanceatJillthelionrosetoitsfeetandgaveonelastblow。Then，asifsatisfiedwithitswork，itturnedandstalkedslowlyaway，backintotheforest。

“Itmustbeadream，itmust，itmust，”saidJilltoherself。“I’llwakeupinamoment。”Butitwasn’t，andshedidn’t。

“Idowishwe’dnevercometothisdreadfulplace，”saidJill。“Idon’tbelieveScrubbknewanymoreaboutitthanIdo。Orifhedid，hehadnobusinesstobringmeherewithoutwarningmewhatitwaslike。It’snotmyfaulthefelloverthatcliff。Ifhe’dleftmealoneweshouldbothbeallright。”ThensherememberedagainthescreamthatScrubbhadgivenwhenhefell，andburstintotears。

Cryingisallrightinitswaywhileitlasts。Butyouhavetostopsoonerorlater，andthenyoustillhavetodecidewhattodo。WhenJillstopped，shefoundshewasdreadfullythirsty。Shehadbeenlyingfacedownward，andnowshesatup。Thebirdshadceasedsingingandtherewasperfectsilenceexceptforonesmall，persistentsound，whichseemedtocomefromagooddistanceaway。Shelistenedcarefully，andfeltalmostsureitwasthesoundofrunningwater。

Jillgotupandlookedroundherverycarefully。Therewasnosignofthelion；butthereweresomanytreesaboutthatitmighteasilybequiteclosewithoutherseeingit。Forallsheknew，theremightbeseverallions。Butherthirstwasverybadnow，andshepluckeduphercouragetogoandlookforthatrunningwater。Shewentontiptoes，stealingcautiouslyfromtreetotree，andstoppingtopeerroundherateverystep。

Thewoodwassostillthatitwasnotdifficulttodecidewherethesoundwascomingfrom。Itgrewclearereverymomentand，soonerthansheexpected，shecametoanopengladeandsawthestream，brightasglass，runningacrosstheturfastone’sthrowawayfromher。Butalthoughthesightofthewatermadeherfeeltentimesthirstierthanbefore，shedidn’trushforwardanddrink。Shestoodasstillasifshehadbeenturnedintostone，withhermouthwideopen。Andshehadaverygoodreason；justonthissideofthestreamlaythelion。

Itlaywithitsheadraisedanditstwofore-pawsoutinfrontofit，likethelionsinTrafalgarSquare。Sheknewatoncethatithadseenher，foritseyeslookedstraightintohersforamomentandthenturnedaway—asifitknewherquitewellanddidn’tthinkmuchofher。

“IfIrunaway，it’llbeaftermeinamoment，”thoughtJill。“AndifIgoon，Ishallrunstraightintoitsmouth。”Anyway，shecouldn’thavemovedifshehadtried，andshecouldn’ttakehereyesoffit。Howlongthislasted，shecouldnotbesure；itseemedlikehours。Andthethirstbecamesobadthatshealmostfeltshewouldnotmindbeingeatenbythelionifonlyshecouldbesureofgettingamouthfulofwaterfirst。

“Ifyou’rethirsty，youmaydrink。”

TheywerethefirstwordsshehadheardsinceScrubbhadspokentoherontheedgeofthecliff。Forasecondshestaredhereandthere，wonderingwhohadspoken。Thenthevoicesaidagain，“Ifyouarethirsty，comeanddrink，”andofcoursesherememberedwhatScrubbhadsaidaboutanimalstalkinginthatotherworld，andrealizedthatitwasthelionspeaking。Anyway，shehadseenitslipsmovethistime，andthevoicewasnotlikeaman’s。Itwasdeeper，wilder，andstronger；asortofheavy，goldenvoice。Itdidnotmakeheranylessfrightenedthanshehadbeenbefore，butitmadeherfrightenedinratheradifferentway。

“Areyounotthirsty？”saidtheLion。

“I’mdyingofthirst，”saidJill。

“Thendrink，”saidtheLion。

“MayI—couldI—wouldyoumindgoingawaywhileIdo？”saidJill。

TheLionansweredthisonlybyalookandaverylowgrowl。AndasJillgazedatitsmotionlessbulk，sherealizedthatshemightaswellhaveaskedthewholemountaintomoveasideforherconvenience。

Thedeliciousripplingnoiseofthestreamwasdrivinghernearlyfrantic。

“Willyoupromisenotto—doanythingtome，ifIdocome？”saidJill。

“Imakenopromise，”saidtheLion。

Jillwassothirstynowthat，withoutnoticingit，shehadcomeastepnearer。

“Doyoueatgirls？”shesaid。

“Ihaveswallowedupgirlsandboys，womenandmen，kingsandemperors，citiesandrealms，”saidtheLion。Itdidn’tsaythisasifitwereboasting，norasifitweresorry，norasifitwereangry。Itjustsaidit。

“Idaren’tcomeanddrink，”saidJill。

“Thenyouwilldieofthirst，”saidtheLion。

“Ohdear！”saidJill，cominganotherstepnearer。“IsupposeImustgoandlookforanotherstreamthen。”

“Thereisnootherstream，”saidtheLion。

ItneveroccurredtoJilltodisbelievetheLion—noonewhohadseenhissternfacecoulddothat—andhermindsuddenlymadeitselfup。Itwastheworstthingshehadeverhadtodo，butshewentforwardtothestream，kneltdown，andbeganscoopingupwaterinherhand。Itwasthecoldest，mostrefreshingwatershehadevertasted。Youdidn’tneedtodrinkmuchofit，foritquenchedyourthirstatonce。BeforeshetasteditshehadbeenintendingtomakeadashawayfromtheLionthemomentshehadfinished。Now，sherealizedthatthiswouldbeonthewholethemostdangerousthingofall。Shegotupandstoodtherewithherlipsstillwetfromdrinking。

“Comehere，”saidtheLion。Andshehadto。Shewasalmostbetweenitsfrontpawsnow，lookingstraightintoitsface。Butshecouldn’tstandthatforlong；shedroppedhereyes。

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