TheybothslippedofftheirCentaurs(whotooknonoticeofthem)。
“IwishIwasathome,”saidJill。
Eustacenodded,sayingnothing,andbithislip。
“Ihavecome,”saidadeepvoicebehindthem。TheyturnedandsawtheLionhimself,sobrightandrealandstrongthateverythingelsebeganatoncetolookpaleandshadowycomparedwithhim。AndinlesstimethanittakestobreatheJillforgotaboutthedeadKingofNarniaandrememberedonlyhowshehadmadeEustacefalloverthecliff,andhowshehadhelpedtomuffnearlyallthesigns,andaboutallthesnappingsandquarrellings。Andshewantedtosay“I’msorry”butshecouldnotspeak。ThentheLiondrewthemtowardshimwithhiseyes,andbentdownandtouchedtheirpalefaceswithhistongue,andsaid:“Thinkofthatnomore。Iwillnotalwaysbescolding。YouhavedonetheworkforwhichIsentyouintoNarnia。”
“Please,Aslan,”saidJill,“maywegohomenow?”
“Yes。IhavecometobringyouHome,”saidAslan。Thenheopenedhismouthwideandblew。Butthistimetheyhadnosenseofflyingthroughtheair:instead,itseemedthattheyremainedstill,andthewildbreathofAslanblewawaytheshipandthedeadKingandthecastleandthesnowandthewintersky。Forallthesethingsfloatedoffintotheairlikewreathsofsmoke,andsuddenlytheywerestandinginagreatbrightnessofmid-summersunshine,onsmoothturf,amongmightytrees,andbesideafair,freshstream。
ThentheysawthattheywereoncemoreontheMountainofAslan,highupaboveandbeyondtheendofthatworldinwhichNarnialies。ButthestrangethingwasthatthefuneralmusicforKingCaspianstillwenton,thoughnoonecouldtellwhereitcamefrom。TheywerewalkingbesidethestreamandtheLionwentbeforethem:andhebecamesobeautiful,andthemusicsodespairing,thatJilldidnotknowwhichofthemitwasthatfilledhereyeswithtears。
ThenAslanstopped,andthechildrenlookedintothestream。Andthere,onthegoldengravelofthebedofthestream,layKingCaspian,dead,withthewaterflowingoverhimlikeliquidglass。Hislongwhitebeardswayedinitlikewater-weed。Andallthreestoodandwept。EventheLionwept:greatLion-tears,eachtearmorepreciousthantheEarthwouldbeifitwasasinglesoliddiamond。AndJillnoticedthatEustacelookedneitherlikeachildcrying,norlikeaboycryingandwantingtohideit,butlikeagrown-upcrying。Atleast,thatisthenearestshecouldgettoit;butreally,asshesaid,peopledon’tseemtohaveanyparticularagesonthatmountain。
“SonofAdam,”saidAslan,“gointothatthicketandpluckthethornthatyouwillfindthere,andbringittome。”
Eustaceobeyed。Thethornwasafootlongandsharpasarapier。
“Driveitintomypaw,SonofAdam,”saidAslan,holdinguphisrightfore-pawandspreadingoutthegreatpadtowardsEustace。
“MustI?”saidEustace。
“Yes,”saidAslan。
ThenEustacesethisteethanddrovethethornintotheLion’spad。Andtherecameoutagreatdropofblood,redderthanallrednessthatyouhaveeverseenorimagined。
AnditsplashedintothestreamoverthedeadbodyoftheKing。Atthesamemomentthedolefulmusicstopped。AndthedeadKingbegantobechanged。Hiswhitebeardturnedtogrey,andfromgreytoyellow,andgotshorterandvanishedaltogether;andhissunkencheeksgrewroundandfresh,andthewrinklesweresmoothed,andhiseyesopened,andhiseyesandlipsbothlaughed,andsuddenlyheleapedupandstoodbeforethem—averyyoungman,oraboy。(ButJillcouldn’tsaywhich,becauseofpeoplehavingnoparticularagesinAslan’scountry。Eveninthisworld,ofcourse,itisthestupidestchildrenwhoaremostchildishandthestupidestgrown-upswhoaremostgrown-up。)AndherushedtoAslanandflunghisarmsasfarastheywouldgoroundthehugeneck;andhegaveAslanthestrongkissesofaKing,andAslangavehimthewildkissesofaLion。
AtlastCaspianturnedtotheothers。Hegaveagreatlaughofastonishedjoy。
“Why!Eustace!”hesaid。“Eustace!Soyoudidreachtheendoftheworldafterall。Whataboutmysecond-bestswordthatyoubrokeonthesea-serpent?”
Eustacemadeasteptowardshimwithbothhandsheldout,butthendrewbackwithasomewhatstartledexpression。
“Lookhere!Isay,”hestammered。“It’sallverywell。Butaren’tyou?—Imeandidn’tyou—”
“Oh,don’tbesuchanass,”saidCaspian。
“But,”saidEustace,lookingatAslan。“Hasn’theer—died?”
“Yes,”saidtheLioninaveryquietvoice,almost(Jillthought)asifhewerelaughing。“Hehasdied。Mostpeoplehave,youknow。EvenIhave。Thereareveryfewwhohaven’t。”
“Oh,”saidCaspian。“Iseewhat’sbotheringyou。YouthinkI’maghost,orsomenonsense。Butdon’tyousee?IwouldbethatifIappearedinNarnianow:becauseIdon’tbelongthereanymore。Butonecan’tbeaghostinone’sowncountry。ImightbeaghostifIgotintoyourworld。Idon’tknow。ButIsupposeitisn’tyourseither,nowyou’rehere。”
Agreathoperoseinthechildren’shearts。ButAslanshookhisshaggyhead。“No,mydears,”hesaid。“Whenyoumeetmehereagain,youwillhavecometostay。Butnotnow。Youmustgobacktoyourownworldforawhile。”
“Sir,”saidCaspian,“I’vealwayswantedtohavejustoneglimpseoftheirworld。Isthatwrong?”
“Youcannotwantwrongthingsanymore,nowthatyouhavedied,myson,”saidAslan。“Andyoushallseetheirworld—forfiveminutesoftheirtime。Itwilltakenolongerforyoutosetthingsrightthere。”ThenAslanexplainedtoCaspianwhatJillandEustaceweregoingbacktoandallaboutExperimentHouse:heseemedtoknowitquiteaswellastheydid。
“Daughter,”saidAslantoJill,“pluckaswitchoffthatbush。”Shedid;andassoonasitwasinherhanditturnedintoafinenewridingcrop。
“Now,SonsofAdam,drawyourswords,”saidAslan。“Butuseonlytheflat,foritiscowardsandchildren,notwarriors,againstwhom1sendyou。”
“Areyoucomingwithus,Aslan?”saidJill。
“Theyshallseeonlymyback,”saidAslan。
Heledthemrapidlythroughthewood,andbeforetheyhadgonemanypaces,thewallofExperimentHouseappcaredbeforethem。ThenAslanroaredsothatthesunshookintheskyandthirtyfeetofthewallfelldownbeforethem。Theylookedthroughthegap,downintotheschoolshrubberyandontotheroofofthegym,allunderthesamedullautumnskywhichtheyhadseenbeforetheiradventuresbegan。AslanturnedtoJillandEustaceandbreatheduponthemandtouchedtheirforeheadswithhistongue。ThenhelaydownamidthegaphehadmadeinthewallandturnedhisgoldenbacktoEngland,andhislordlyfacetowardshisownlands。AtthesamemomentJillsawfigureswhomsheknewonlytoowellrunningupthroughthelaurelstowardsthem。Mostofthegangwerethere—AdelaPennyfatherandCholmondelyMajor,EdithWinterblott,‘Spotty’Sorrier,bigBannister,andthetwoloathsomeGarretttwins。Butsuddenlytheystopped。Theirfaceschanged,andallthemeanness,conceit,cruelty,andsneakishnessalmostdisappearedinonesingleexpressionofterror。Fortheysawthewallfallendown,andalionaslargeasayoungelephantlyinginthegap,andthreefiguresinglitteringclotheswithweaponsintheirhandsrushingdownuponthem。For,withthestrengthofAslaninthem,JillpliedhercroponthegirlsandCaspianandEustacepliedtheflatsoftheirswordsontheboyssowellthatintwominutesallthebullieswererunninglikemad,cryingout,‘Murder!Fascists!Lions!Itisn’tfair。’AndthentheHead(whowas,bytheway,awoman)camerunningouttoseewhatwashappening。AndwhenshesawthelionandthebrokenwallandCaspianandJillandEustace(whomshequitefailedtorecognize)shehadhystericsandwentbacktothehouseandbeganringingupthepolicewithstoriesaboutalionescapedfromacircus,andescapedconvictswhobrokedownwallsandcarrieddrawnswords。InthemidstofallthisfussJillandEustaceslippedquietlyindoorsandchangedoutoftheirbrightclothesintoordinarythings,andCaspianwentbackintohisownworld。Andthewall,atAslan’sword,wasmadewholeagain。Whenthepolicearrivedandfoundnolion,nobrokenwall,andnoconvicts,andtheHeadbehavinglikealunatic,therewasaninquiryintothewholething。AndintheinquiryallsortsofthingsaboutExperimentHousecameout,andabouttenpeoplegotexpelled。Afterthat,theHead’sfriendssawthattheHeadwasnouseasaHead,sotheygothermadeanInspectortointerferewithotherHeads。Andwhentheyfoundshewasn’tmuchgoodevenatthat,theygotherintoParliamentwhereshelivedhappilyeverafter。
Eustaceburiedhisfineclothessecretlyonenightintheschoolgrounds,butJillsmuggledhershomeandworethematafancy-dressballnextholidays。AndfromthatdayforththingschangedforthebetteratExperimentHouse,anditbecamequiteagoodschool。AndJillandEustacewerealwaysfriends。
ButfaroffinNarnia,KingRilianburiedhisfather,CaspiantheNavigator,Tenthofthatname,andmournedforhim。HehimselfruledNarniawellandthelandwashappyinhisdays,thoughPuddleglum(whosefootwasasgoodasnewinthreeweeks)oftenpointedoutthatbrightmorningsbroughtonwetafternoons,andthatyoucouldn’texpectgoodtimestolast。Theopeningintothehillsidewasleftopen,andofteninhotsummerdaystheNarniansgointherewithshipsandlanternsanddowntothewaterandsailtoandfro,singing,onthecool,darkundergroundsea,tellingeachotherstoriesofthecitiesthatliefathomsdeepbelow。IfeveryouhavethelucktogotoNarniayourself,donotforgettohavealookatthosecaves。
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