“HumanChild,”saidtheLion。“WhereistheBoy?”
“Hefelloverthecliff,”saidJill,andadded,“Sir。”Shedidn’tknowwhatelsetocallhim,anditsoundedcheektocallhimnothing。
“Howdidhecometodothat,HumanChild?”
“Hewastryingtostopmefromfalling,Sir。”
“Whywereyousoneartheedge,HumanChild?”
“Iwasshowingoff,Sir。”
“Thatisaverygoodanswer,HumanChild。Dosonomore。”Andnow(hereforthefirsttimetheLion’sfacebecamealittlelessstern)“theboyissafe。IhaveblownhimtoNarnia。Butyourtaskwillbetheharderbecauseofwhatyouhavedone。”
“Please,whattask,Sir?”saidJill。
“ThetaskforwhichIcalledyouandhimhereoutofyourownworld。”
ThispuzzledJillverymuch。“It’smistakingmeforsomeoneelse,”shethought。Shedidn’tdaretotelltheLionthis,thoughshefeltthingswouldgetintoadreadfulmuddleunlessshedid。
“Speakyourthought,HumanChild,”saidtheLion。
“Iwaswondering—Imean—couldtherebesomemistake?BecausenobodycalledmeandScrubb,youknow。Itwaswewhoaskedtocomehere。Scrubbsaidweweretocallto—toSomebody-itwasanameIwouldn’tknow-andperhapstheSomebodywouldletusin。Andwedid,andthenwefoundthedooropen。”
“YouwouldnothavecalledtomeunlessIhadbeencallingtoyou,”saidtheLion。
“ThenyouareSomebody,Sir?”saidJill。
“Iam。Andnowhearyourtask。FarfromhereinthelandofNarniatherelivesanagedkingwhoissadbecausehehasnoprinceofhisbloodtobekingafterhim。Hehasnoheirbecausehisonlysonwasstolenfromhimmanyyearsago,andnooneinNarniaknowswherethatprincewentorwhetherheisstillalive。Butheis。Ilayonyouthiscommand,thatyouseekthislostprinceuntileitheryouhavefoundhimandbroughthimtohisfather’shouse,orelsediedintheattempt,orelsegonebackintoyourownworld。”
“How,please?”saidJill。
“Iwilltellyou,Child,”saidtheLion。“ThesearethesignsbywhichIwillguideyouinyourquest。First;assoonastheBoyEustacesetsfootinNarnia,hewillmeetanoldanddearfriend。Hemustgreetthatfriendatonce;ifhedoes,youwillbothhavegoodhelp。Second;youmustjourneyoutofNarniatothenorthtillyoucometotheruinedcityoftheancientgiants。Third;youshallfindawritingonastoneinthatruinedcity,andyoumustdowhatthewritingtellsyou。Fourth;youwillknowthelostprince(ifyoufindhim)bythis,thathewillbethefirstpersonyouhavemetinyourtravelswhowillaskyoutodosomethinginmyname,inthenameofAslan。”
AstheLionseemedtohavefinished,Jillthoughtsheshouldsaysomething。Soshesaid,“Thankyouverymuch。Isee。”
“Child,”saidAslan,inagentlervoicethanhehadyetused,“perhapsyoudonotseequiteaswellasyouthink。Butthefirststepistoremember。Repeattome,inorder,thefoursigns。”
Jilltried,anddidn’tgetthemquiteright。SotheLioncorrectedher,andmadeherrepeatthemagainandagaintillshecouldsaythemperfectly。Hewasverypatientoverthis,sothat,whenitwasdone,Jillpluckedupcouragetoask:
“Please,howamItogettoNarnia?”
“Onmybreath,”saidtheLion。“IwillblowyouintothewestoftheworldasIblewEustace。”
“ShallIcatchhimintimetotellhimthefirstsign?ButIsupposeitwon’tmatter。Ifheseesanoldfriend,he’ssuretogoandspeaktohim,isn’the?”
“Youwillhavenotimetospare,”saidtheLion。“ThatiswhyImustsendyouatonce。Come。Walkbeforemetotheedgeofthecliff。”
Jillrememberedverywellthatiftherewasnotimetospare,thatwasherownfault。“IfIhadn’tmadesuchafoolofmyself,ScrubbandIwouldhavebeengoingtogether。Andhe’dhaveheardalltheinstructionsaswellasme,”shethought。Soshedidasshewastold。Itwasveryalarmingwalkingbacktotheedgeofthecliff,especiallyastheLiondidnotwalkwithherbutbehindher—makingnonoiseonhissoftpaws。
Butlongbeforeshehadgotanywhereneartheedge,thevoicebehindhersaid,“Standstill。InamomentIwillblow。But,first,remember,remember,rememberthesigns。Saythemtoyourselfwhenyouwakeinthemorningandwhenyouliedownatnight,andwhenyouwakeinthemiddleofthenight。Andwhateverstrangethingsmayhappentoyou,letnothingturnyourmindfromfollowingthesigns。Andsecondly,Igiveyouawarning。HereonthemountainIhavespokentoyouclearly:IwillnotoftendosodowninNarnia。Hereonthemountain,theairisclearandyourmindisclear;asyoudropdownintoNarnia,theairwillthicken。Takegreatcarethatitdoesnotconfuseyourmind。Andthesignswhichyouhavelearnedherewillnotlookatallasyouexpectthemtolook,whenyoumeetthemthere。Thatiswhyitissoimportanttoknowthembyheartandpaynoattentiontoappearances。Rememberthesignsandbelievethesigns。Nothingelsematters。Andnow,daughterofEve,farewell—”
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