《凱斯賓王子》第11章:雄獅長嘯
WHEN the whole party was finally awake Lucy had to tell her story for the fourth time. The blank silence which followed it was as discouraging as anything could be.
"I can't see anything," said Peter after he had stared his eyes sore. "Can you, Susan?"
"No, of course I can't," snapped Susan. "Because there isn't anything to see. She's been dreaming. Do lie down and go to sleep, Lucy."
"And I do hope," said Lucy in a tremulous voice, "that you will all come with me. Because - because I'll have to go with him whether anyone else does or not."
"Don't talk nonsense, Lucy," said Susan. "Of course you can't go off on your own. Don't let her, Peter. She's being downright naughty."
"I'll go with her, if she must go," said Edmund. "She's been right before."
"I know she has," said Peter. "And she may have been right this morning. We certainly had no luck going down the gorge. Still - at this hour of the night. And why should Aslan be invisible to us? He never used to be. It's not like him. What does the D.L.F. say?"
"Oh, I say nothing at all," answered the Dwarf. "If you all go, of course, I'll go with you; and if your party splits up, I'll go with the High King. That's my duty to him and King Caspian. But, if you ask my private opinion, I'm a plain dwarf who doesn't think there's much chance of finding a road by night where you couldn't find one by day. And I have no use for magic lions which are talking lions and don't talk, and friendly lions though they don't do us any good, and whopping big lions though nobody can see them. It's all bilge and beanstalks as far as I can see."
"He's beating his paw on the ground for us to hurry," said Lucy. "We must go now. At least I must."
"You've no right to try to force the rest of us like that. It's four to one and you're the youngest," said Susan.
"Oh, come on," growled Edmund. "We've got to go. There'll be no peace till we do." He fully intended to back Lucy up, but he was annoyed at losing his night's sleep and was making up for it by doing everything as sulkily as possible.
"On the march, then," said Peter, wearily fitting his arm into his shield-strap and putting his helmet on. At any other time he would have said something nice to Lucy, who was his favourite sister, for he knew how wretched she must be feeling, and he knew that, whatever had happened, it was not her fault. But he couldn't help being a little annoyed with her all the same.
Susan was the worst. "Supposing I started behaving like Lucy," she said. "I might threaten to stay here whether the rest of you went on or not. I jolly well think I shall."
"Obey the High King, your Majesty," said Trumpkin, "and let's be off. If I'm not to be allowed to sleep, I'd as soon march as stand here talking."
And so at last they got on the move. Lucy went first, biting her lip and trying not to say all the things she thought of saying to Susan. But she forgot them when she fixed her eyes on Aslan. He turned and walked at a slow pace about thirty yards ahead of them. The others had only Lucy's directions to guide them, for Aslan was not only invisible to them but silent as well. His big cat-like paws made no noise on the grass.
He led them to the right of the dancing trees - whether they were still dancing nobody knew, for Lucy had her eyes on the Lion and the rest had their eyes on Lucy - and nearer the edge of the gorge. "Cobbles and kettledrums!" thought Trumpkin. "I hope this madness isn't going to end in a moonlight climb and broken necks."
For a long way Aslan went along the top of the precipices. Then they came to a place where some little trees grew right on the edge. He turned and disappeared among them. Lucy held her breath, for it looked as if he had plunged over the cliff; but she was too busy keeping him in sight to stop and think about this. She quickened her pace and was soon among the trees herself. Looking down, she could see a steep and narrow path going slantwise down into the gorge between rocks, and Aslan descending it. He turned and looked at her with his happy eyes. Lucy clapped her hands and began to scramble down after him. From behind her she heard the voices of the others shouting, "Hi! Lucy! Look out, for goodness' sake. You're right on the edge of the gorge. Come back - "and then, a moment later, Edmund's voice saying, "No, she's right. There is a way down."
Half-way down the path Edmund caught up with her.
"Look!" he said in great excitement. "Look! What's that shadow crawling down in front of us?"
"It's his shadow," said Lucy.
"I do believe you're right, Lu," said Edmund. "I can't think how I didn't see it before. But where is he?"
"With his shadow, of course. Can't you see him?"
"Well, I almost thought I did - for a moment. It's such a rum light."
"Get on, King Edmund, get on," came Trumpkin's voice from behind and above: and then, farther behind and still nearly at the top, Peter's voice saying, "Oh, buck up, Susan. Give me your hand. Why, a baby could get down here. And do stop grousing."
In a few minutes they were at the bottom and the roaring of water filled their ears. Treading delicately, like a cat, Aslan stepped from stone to stone across the stream. In the middle he stopped, bent down to drink, and as he raised his shaggy head, dripping from the water, he turned to face them again. This time Edmund saw him. "Oh, Aslan!" he cried, darting forward. But the Lion whisked round and began padding up the slope on the far side of the Rush.
"Peter, Peter," cried Edmund. "Did you see?"
"I saw something," said Peter. "But it's so tricky in this moonlight. On we go, though, and three cheers for Lucy. I don't feel half so tired now, either."
Aslan without hesitation led them to their left, farther up the gorge. The whole journey was odd and dream-like the roaring stream, the wet grey grass, the glimmering cliffs which they were approaching, and always the glorious, silently pacing Beast ahead. Everyone except Susan and the Dwarf could see him now.
Presently they came to another steep path, up the face of the farther precipices. These were far higher than the ones they had just descended, and the journey up them was a long and tedious zig-zag. Fortunately the Moon shone right above the gorge so that neither side was in shadow.
Lucy was nearly blown when the tail and hind legs of Aslan disappeared over the top: but with one last effort she scrambled after him and came out, rather shaky-legged and breathless, on the hill they had been trying to reach ever since they left Glasswater. The long gentle slope (heather and grass and a few very big rocks that shone white in the moonlight) stretched up to where it vanished in a glimmer of trees about half a mile away. She knew it. It was the hill of the Stone Table:
With a jingling of mail the others climbed up behind her. Aslan glided on before them and they walked after him.
"Lucy," said Susan in a very small voice.
"Yes?" said Lucy.
"I see him now. I'm sorry."
"That's all right."
"But I've been far worse than you know. I really believed it was him - he, I mean - yesterday. When he warned us not to go down to the fir wood. And I really believed it was him tonight, when you woke us up. I mean, deep down inside. Or I could have, if I'd let myself. But I just wanted to get out of the woods and - and - oh, I don't know. And what ever am I to say to him?"
"Perhaps you won't need to say much," suggested Lucy.
Soon they reached the trees and through them the children could see the Great Mound, Aslan's How, which had been raised over the Table since their days.
"Our side don't keep very good watch," muttered Trumpkin. "We ought to have been challenged before now -"
"Hush!" said the other four, for now Aslan had stopped and turned and stood facing them, looking so majestic that they felt as glad as anyone can who feels afraid, and as afraid as anyone can who feels glad. The boys strode forward: Lucy made way for them: Susan and the Dwarf shrank back.
"Oh, Aslan," said King Peter, dropping on one knee and raising the Lion's heavy paw to his face, "I'm so glad. And I'm so sorry. I've been leading them wrong ever since we started and especially yesterday morning."
"My dear son," said Aslan.
Then he turned and welcomed Edmund. "Well done," were his words.
Then, after an awful pause, the deep voice said, "Susan." Susan made no answer but the others thought she was crying. "You have listened to fears, child," said Aslan. "Come, let me breathe on you. Forget them. Are you brave again?"
"A little, Aslan," said Susan.
"And now!" said Aslan in a much louder voice with just a hint of roar in it, while his tail lashed his flanks. "And now, where is this little Dwarf, this famous swordsman and archer, who doesn't believe in lions? Come here, son of Earth, come HERE!" - and the last word was no longer the hint of a roar but almost the real thing.
"Wraiths and wreckage!" gasped Trumpkin in the ghost of a voice. The children, who knew Aslan well enough to see that he liked the Dwarf very much, were not disturbed; but it was quite another thing for Trumpkin, who had never seen a lion before, let alone this Lion. He did the only sensible thing he could have done; that is, instead of bolting, he tottered towards Aslan.
Aslan pounced. Have you ever seen a very young kitten being carried in the mother cat's mouth? It was like that. The Dwarf, hunched up in a little, miserable ball, hung from Aslan's mouth. The Lion gave him one shake and all his armour rattled like a tinker's pack and then - heypresto - the Dwarf flew up in the air. He was as safe as if he had been in bed, though he did not feel so. As he came down the huge velvety paws caught him as gently as a mother's arms and set him (right way up, too) on the ground.
"Son of Earth, shall we be friends?" asked Aslan.
"Ye - he - he - hes," panted the Dwarf, for it had not yet got its breath back.
"Now," said Aslan. "The Moon is setting. Look behind you: there is the dawn beginning. We have no time to lose. You three, you sons of Adam and son of Earth, hasten into the Mound and deal with what you will find there."
The Dwarf was still speechless and neither of the boys dared to ask if Aslan would follow them. All three drew their swords and saluted, then turned and jingled away into the dusk. Lucy noticed that there was no sign of weariness in their faces: both the High King and King Edmund looked more like men than boys.
The girls watched them out of sight, standing close beside Aslan. The light was changing. Low down in the east, Aravir, the morning star of Narnia, gleamed like a little moon. Aslan, who seemed larger than before, lifted his head, shook his mane, and roared.
The sound, deep and throbbing at first like an organ beginning on a low note, rose and became louder, and then far louder again, till the earth and air were shaking with it. It rose up from that hill and floated across all Narnia. Down in Miraz's camp men woke, stared palely in one another's faces, and grasped their weapons. Down below that in the Great River, now at its coldest hour, the heads and shoulders of the nymphs, and the great weedy-bearded head of the river-god, rose from the water. Beyond it, in every field and wood, the alert ears of rabbits rose from their holes, the sleepy heads of birds came out from under wings, owls hooted, vixens barked, hedgehogs grunted, the trees stirred. In towns and villages mothers pressed babies close to their breasts, staring with wild eyes, dogs whimpered, and men leaped up groping for lights. Far away on the northern frontier the mountain giants peered from the dark gateways of their castles.
What Lucy and Susan saw was a dark something coming to them from almost every direction across the hills. It looked first like a black mist creeping on the ground, then like the stormy waves of a black sea rising higher and higher as it came on, and then, at last, like what it was woods on the move. All the trees of the world appeared to be rushing towards Aslan. But as they drew nearer they looked less like trees; and when the whole crowd, bowing and curtsying and waving thin long arms to Aslan, were all around Lucy, she saw that it was a crowd of human shapes. Pale birch-girls were tossing their heads, willowwomen pushed back their hair from their brooding faces to gaze on Aslan, the queenly beeches stood still and adored him, shaggy oak-men, lean and melancholy elms, shockheaded hollies (dark themselves, but their wives all bright with berries) and gay rowans, all bowed and rose again, shouting, "Aslan, Aslan!" in their various husky or creaking or wave-like voices.
The crowd and the dance round Aslan (for it had become a dance once more) grew so thick and rapid that Lucy was confused. She never saw where certain other people came from who were soon capering about among the trees. One was a youth, dressed only in a fawn-skin, with vine-leaves wreathed in his curly hair. His face would have been almost too pretty for a boy's, if it had not looked, so extremely wild. You felt, as Edmund said when he saw him a few days later, "There's a chap who might do anything absolutely anything." He seemed to have a great many names - Bromios, Bassareus, and the Ram were three of them. There were a lot of girls with him, as wild as he. There was even, unexpectedly, someone on a donkey. And everybody was laughing: and everybody was shouting out, "Euan, euan, eu-oi-oi-oi."
"Is it a Romp, Aslan?" cried the youth. And apparently it was. But nearly everyone seemed to have a different idea as to what they were playing. It may have been Tig, but Lucy never discovered who was It. It was rather like Blind Man's Buff, only everyone behaved as if they were blindfolded. It was not unlike Hunt the Slipper, but the slipper was never found. What made it more complicated was that the man on the donkey, who was old and enormously fat, began calling out at once, "Refreshments! Time for refreshments," and falling off his donkey and being bundled on to it again by the others, while the donkey was under the impression that the whole thing was a circus and tried to give a display of walking on its hind legs. And all the time there were more and more vine leaves everywhere. And soon not only leaves but vines. They were climbing up everything. They were running up the legs of the tree people and circling round their necks. Lucy put up her hands to push back her hair and found she was pushing back vine branches. The donkey was a mass of them. His tail was completely entangled and something dark was nodding between his ears. Lucy looked again and saw it was a bunch of grapes. After that it was mostly grapes overhead and underfoot and all around.
"Refreshments! Refreshments," roared the old man.
Everyone began eating, and whatever hothouses your people may have, you have never tasted such grapes. Really good grapes, firm and tight on the outside, but bursting into cool sweetness when you put them into your mouth, were one of the things the girls had never had quite enough of before. Here, there were more than anyone could possibly want, and rib table-manners at all. One saw sticky and stained fingers everywhere, and, though mouths were full, the laughter never ceased nor the yodelling cries of Euan, euan, eu-oi-oi-oi-oi, till all of a sudden everyone felt at the same moment that the game (whatever it was), and the feast, ought to be over, and everyone flopped down breathless on the ground and turned their faces to Aslan to hear what he would say next.
At that moment the sun was just rising and Lucy remembered something and whispered to Susan,
"I say, Su, I know who they are."
"Who?"
"The boy with the wild face is Bacchus and the old one on the donkey is Silenus. Don't you remember Mr Tumnus telling us about them long ago?"
"Yes, of course. But I say, Lu "
"What?"
"I wouldn't have felt safe with Bacchus and all his wild girls if we'd met them without Aslan."
"I should think not," said Lucy.
彼得盯着前面的樹林，把眼睛都看酸了。"我什麼都沒看見。你呢，蘇珊?"
"沒有，當然什麼也看不見。"蘇珊說，聽上去她有些不高興。"因爲那兒根本什麼都沒有，她是在說夢話。露，快躺下睡覺，聽話。"
"我真希望你們大家和我一起去，"露茜的聲音有些顫抖，"因爲——因爲不論你們來或不來，我必須隨它而去。"
"別胡扯，露茜，"蘇珊說，"毫無疑問，你不可以獨自離開。彼得，別讓她去，她故意胡鬧！"
"假如她執意要去，我將跟她一塊兒去，"愛德蒙說，"她一直是對的。"
"這我知道，"彼得說，"而且很可能她現在還是正確的。顯而易見，從下游走出峽谷這條路行不通，更何況在夜裏這個時候。再說，阿斯蘭爲什麼不讓我們看到它呢?它過去從來不是這樣，這不像它的爲人。DLF，你怎麼想?"
“我沒什麼說的，”小矮人回答道，“要是你們都去，當然，我也一起去。要是你們分成兩路，我將跟隨至尊王尊敬的彼得陛下，因爲這是我的本分。然而，假如你問我個人的意見，這個嘛——我不過是個頭腦簡單的小矮人，我以爲在白天都找不着路，夜裏找到它的希望更小。況且，對那法力無邊的獅子，我也不喜歡——它會講話卻不肯講話，非常友好卻不給我們以幫助，戰無不勝卻又沒人能看到它。這就是我想說的話，不起作用，請大家不要見笑。”
“瞧，它用爪子拍打着草地，是在催我們了。”露茜望着前面焦急地說，“咱們必須馬上動身。你們不走，我可要走了。”
“你沒有權利這樣勉強我們大家聽你的胡話。現在是四比一，你又年齡最小。”蘇珊說。
“嗨，快些行動吧，”愛德蒙有些不耐煩了，“我們只有去一趟，別無選擇，呆在這裏將會是無休止的爭吵。”他有心全力支持露茜，卻又因爲被打攪了美夢而不很高興，結果表現得似乎在與大夥兒慪氣。
“那麼走吧。”彼得一邊說一邊懶懶地穿上盔甲。如果換個其他場合，他都會對露茜說些鼓勵或安慰的話，因爲她畢竟是他最喜愛的小妹妹。他心裏清楚，此時露茜一定十分難過，而且不論剛纔發生了什麼，都不是她的過錯。然而，他也不由自主地對她有點兒惱火。
最不高興的要數蘇珊了。“我要是像露茜那麼蠻不講理，我現在就賴在這裏不走，不管你們上哪兒去!我真想這麼做!”
“請服從至尊王，尊敬的女王陛下，”杜魯普金說，“我們這就上路吧。如果不能繼續睡覺，我寧願少講話，多走路。”
一行人終於出發了。露茜走在最前面，她咬緊嘴脣，把一肚子想對蘇珊說的話嚥了下去。說也奇怪，她擡眼看到阿斯蘭，便一下子把那些抱怨的話忘到九霄雲外去了，阿斯蘭在他們前面大約二十米開外，不慌不忙地領路。其他人只有跟着露茜。他們不僅看不到阿斯蘭，也聽不到它的聲音。它那貓爪一樣的巨爪落在草地上，悄然無聲。
孩子們在阿斯蘭的引導下，從舞蹈樹林的右側走過。誰也不知道那些樹神是否仍在翩翩起舞，因爲露茜緊盯着阿斯蘭，其他人又緊盯着露茜，加上峽谷近在咫尺，誰也不敢大意。“上帝保佑，上帝保佑!”杜魯普金嘴裏不停地嘟噥着，“但願這瘋狂的舉動不要以跌下懸崖粉身碎骨而告結束!”-
阿斯蘭領他們沿着懸崖峭壁走了很長一段路，然後來到一個地方。崖邊長着一些小樹。它轉個彎，消失在小樹叢中。露茜一下屏住了呼吸。怎麼，要從這懸崖跳下去?可是她必須跟緊阿斯蘭，不能失去它的蹤跡。來不及停下來細想，她加快腳步，一下子也消失在小樹叢中。朝下望去，她看到一條陡直的羊腸小道，通向那夾在黑壓壓巨大岩石之間的峽谷底部，阿斯蘭正沿着小路往下走。它忽然轉過身來，用滿意和鼓勵的目光看着她。露茜拍拍手，隨它而下。這時身後傳來其他人的喊聲：“喂，露茜，當心！上帝呀!你就在懸崖的邊緣!快回來——”可是緊接着又傳來愛德蒙的聲音：“不，她沒錯，這兒是有一條往下去的小路。”
愛德蒙在半道追上了露茜。他激動地大聲說：“看!在咱們前面的那個黑影是誰?”
那就是它的身影。”
“我們相信你是正確的，露。可奇怪的是，原先我怎麼就看不見那身影呢?現在它在什麼地方?”
“當然和影子在一起囉。你還看不見它?”
“我想剛纔是看見了一下。光線太暗了。”
“快走畦，愛德蒙國王，快走。”身後傳來杜魯普金的催促聲。接着，再往後，在靠近崖頂的地方，傳來彼得的聲音：“蘇珊，勇敢些，把手伸給我。瞧你，小娃娃也能走到這裏來，別嚇成那個樣子。”
沒有多久，他們便都來到了峽谷的底部，湍急的河水發出很大的響聲。阿斯蘭在露出水面的大石頭上貓一般靈巧地跳躍着，幾下便跳到小河中部。它停住腳步，低頭喝水。當它昂起那粗毛蓬鬆的頭時，又轉過臉來看一看孩子們。這下愛德蒙看見它了。“噢，阿斯蘭!”他一邊大聲叫着，一邊向前撲去。可阿斯蘭倏地轉過身，縱身躍到彼岸，沿着河開始向上遊走去。
“彼得，彼得，”愛德蒙喊道，“你看到了嗎?”
“我看見了什麼?”彼得說，“在月光下，什麼也看不清楚。繼續走吧，我這會兒並不感到怎麼累。現在，讓我們向露茜歡呼致敬。多虧了她。”
阿斯蘭毫不遲疑地領他們向左邊上游的方向走去。一路上大家都有種奇怪的感覺，彷彿在做夢——那奔流的河水、溼潤的草地、隱約的峭壁，還有走在前面那威嚴卻一直默默無語的雄獅。此刻，除了蘇珊和小矮人，別人都可以清楚地看到阿斯蘭了。
不久，他們來到另一條陡峭的小路前。這條小路一直通向崖項。與剛剛走下來的河對岸的山崖相比，這邊高多了，也險多了。值得慶幸的是，這時月亮恰好懸掛在峽谷的上方，把兩岸山崖都照得雪亮。
當阿斯蘭的身影在崖頂上消失之後，露茜差點兒泄了氣。她鼓足最後的勇氣，奮力登上崖項。這時她已是兩腿發顫，上氣不接下氣了。自從離開清水灣以來，他們歷盡了千辛萬苦。這時她狂喜地看到，目的地就在眼前。一段不陡的坡地從容地向前延伸，直到數百米以外的一個小山丘，山丘上覆蓋着綠色的樹。露茜知道，那就是石桌所在地。
隨着盔甲的丁當聲，其他人一個接一個登上了崖頂。阿斯蘭仍然默默地走在前面，領大家向小山丘走去。
“露茜。”蘇珊輕聲喚道。
“哎，什麼事?”
“我現在看見它了。我向你道歉。”
“沒關係。”
“你不知道，我比你想像的更糟。昨天，就在你第一次提醒大家，說阿斯蘭警告我們不要到下游杉樹林去的時候，我就相信你準是見到阿斯蘭了。而且今天夜裏你把我們喚醒時，我內心深處也是相信你的。可我一心想盡快離開樹林，而且……唉，我也說不清楚是怎麼搞的。現在，讓我怎麼向阿斯蘭說呢?”
“你不必說這麼許多。”露茜建議道。
不久，他們便來到樹林跟前。透過樹木的間隙，孩子們看到了阿斯蘭堡壘，那是在他們統治的時代之後建築在石桌上方的。
“我們的人警戒並不十分嚴密，”小矮人低聲說，“否則早就該向我們進攻了。”
“噓!”孩子們立刻制止了他。他們看到阿斯蘭停下腳步，轉過身來，默默地望着他們。那目光彷彿有種強大的魔力，使他們又高興，又有些膽怯。兩個男孩率先向它走去，露茜緊隨其後，蘇珊和小矮人走在最後面。
“阿斯蘭!”國王彼得第一次走到雄獅面前，單腿下跪，拿起一隻巨大的獅爪在臉頰上親了一下，“見到你我高興萬分。我很抱歉，領大家走了這麼多彎路，耽誤了很多時間——尤其是從昨天早晨以來。”
“我親愛的兒子，”阿斯蘭親切地說道，轉身迎向愛德蒙，“你幹得不錯。”它誇獎道：沉默了一會，它又用那深沉的聲音呼喚道：“蘇珊。”蘇珊沒有回答，別的孩子都感覺到她在哭泣。“你幾乎被恐懼所征服，孩子。過來，讓我幫助你。”阿斯蘭說着，向走近身邊的蘇珊吹了口氣。“忘記過去吧。現在，你是否又恢復了勇氣?”
“有一些了，阿斯蘭。”蘇珊答道。
“現在!”阿斯蘭轉而提高了聲音，尾巴拍打着自己的身體，“現在，請你們告訴我，那位矮小的小矮人，著名的劍手和騎士，那位不相信我阿斯蘭的朋友，他在哪裏?到這兒來，大地的兒子，過來!”最後兩個字簡直就是吼出來的，帶着撼人的威力。
“上帝保佑，上帝保佑，唷嗬嗬……”由於極度的敬畏和緊張，那小矮人嘰裏咕嚕，嘴裏不停地念叨着什麼。孩子們都很熟悉阿斯蘭，看得出它十分喜歡杜魯普金，所以都讓到一邊，饒有興趣地看着。杜魯普金此刻的心情卻大不一樣。他從未見過獅子，更不曾單獨與一頭獅子呆在一起。好在他沒有慌忙逃走，而是戰戰兢兢地向獅子挪過去，這倒是明智的。
阿斯蘭猛地一撲，一口把他咬住，翻身又是一躍。你可曾見過貓媽媽銜着小寶寶跳躍的情景?現在就是那樣的場面。
杜魯普金被阿斯蘭銜在嘴裏，嚇得縮作一團，一副可憐的樣子。阿斯蘭把頭一擺，小矮人身上的盔甲便發出丁丁當當的響聲，十分悅耳。接着，只聽獅子嘿的一聲，眨眼間小矮人已被拋到空中。大家都明白小矮人像躺在家裏一樣安全，惟獨他本人在心裏說：“完了!”當他從空中落下來時，阿斯蘭用它巨大柔軟的爪子輕輕地一接，再穩穩當當地把他放在地上。
“大地的兒子，讓我們做個朋友，好嗎?”阿斯蘭問。
“好……好吧。”小矮人大口喘着氣，驚魂未定。
“孩子們，”阿斯蘭說，“月亮就要下去了，看看身後，東方已經露出晨曦。我們不能浪費時間了。你們三個，亞當和大地的兒子們，立即進入堡壘，看看那裏面是怎樣的情形。”
小矮人仍然一言不發，兩個男孩誰也不敢開口問阿斯蘭是否隨後就來。三個人抽出寶劍，一齊向阿斯蘭行個禮，然後轉過身去，很快便消失在夜色中。露茜注意到他們臉上毫無倦意，只有男子漢一往直前的堅毅和果敢。
兩個女孩緊靠在阿斯蘭身邊，默默地注視着他們三個人的背影。這時光線起了變化，在低垂的東方，阿羅維爾，那顆納尼亞的晨星像一輪小小的月亮，發出明亮、柔和的光芒。星光下的阿斯蘭顯得特別高大。它昂起頭，擺動着鬣毛，放聲長嘯起來。
那聲音深沉、有力，彷彿風琴從低音奏起，音調越來越高，音量越來越大，直到大地和空氣都隨之震顫。那吼聲從他們腳下的小山上發出，很快向四面八方傳去，震撼了整個納尼亞。彌若茲的軍隊被驚醒了，士兵們一個個面無血色，茫然不知所措，老半天才想起去抓自己的武器；大河的下游，在這清晨最寒冷的時刻，樹神揚起了頭，水神也從河裏探起身來。更遠的地方，在每一塊田野上，每一片樹林裏，窩裏的兔子豎起了耳朵，熟睡的小鳥兒也把腦袋從翅膀下面伸了出來；各種動物的叫聲匯成一支奇妙的交響樂。在城鎮，在鄉村，母親們把孩子更緊地抱在懷裏，睜大了眼睛聆聽着。男人們則跳下牀來，伸手去抓獵槍。連院子裏的狗也忍不住汪汪叫個不停。在北部邊陲的山上，巨人們揉着惺忪的睡眼，走出黑黑的山洞，想看看究竟發生了什麼事。
露茜和蘇珊看到大片黑乎乎的什麼東西從四面八方向她們擁來。猛一看像是掠過地面的黑影，再看又像風暴中的黑色海浪，一浪壓過一浪，滾滾而來，勢不可擋。眨眼再去看時，又好像整片的樹林在朝她們移動，似乎全世界的樹都朝阿斯蘭擁來。可是當它們來到跟前，樹形居然漸漸消失，那些擺臂歡騰的，竟都是些人!秀美白皙的白樺姑娘高高揚起了頭；楊柳姑娘們把長髮束在腦後，以便更清楚地看到阿斯蘭；有着皇后般尊嚴的山毛櫸姑娘亭亭玉立，向阿斯蘭行注目禮；鬚髮叢生的櫟樹老人也用它們的最高禮節，俯首以示敬意。所有樹神都高聲呼喚着“阿斯蘭!阿斯蘭!”喊聲此起彼伏，像大海的波濤，久久不息。-
聚集在阿斯蘭身邊的人越來越多，歡樂的舞蹈也更加熱烈，這使露茜感到有點兒不可理解。她從未經歷過如此激動人心的場面。一個年輕人，身穿樹皮，鬈髮之上戴着一隻樹葉編織的草環，要不是臉上充滿了野性，就會漂亮得簡直不像個男孩了。你從這張臉上可以看出，正如愛德蒙幾天後見到他時說的那樣：“這個人什麼事都幹得出來。”他身邊有許多女孩子，和他一樣充滿了野性的活力。每個人都在歡呼，在雀躍。最出人意料也最引人注目的是位極其肥胖的矮個子老人。他騎着一頭毛驢。那毛驢確信這是大顯身手的最好時機，決定給大家表演後腿行走。結果胖老人一次又一次給摔下來，馬上又被身邊快樂的人們扶上去。老人高興地在驢背上扭擺着，嘴裏不停地喊：“來點兒喝的!來點兒點心!”不知誰送來許多好吃的東西，大家也顧不得禮儀，下手就抓。一邊吃，一邊跳，一邊嬉笑，一邊高聲喊叫着：“嗚依——嗚，嗚依……依……依嗚!”
突然，大家同時意識到狂歡和宴會該結束了。於是紛紛坐到草地上，仰望着阿斯蘭，聽它將要說些什麼。
這時太陽剛剛升起。露茜忽然眼睛一亮，悄悄地對蘇珊說：
“聽我說，蘇，我知道他們是什麼人了。”
“誰?”
“一臉野性的那個青年人是巴庫斯，騎毛驢的老人就是塞利努斯。你記不記得，圖姆納斯先生很久以前給我們講過他們的故事。”
“當然記得。可是，露——”
“什麼?”
“要不是有阿斯蘭在，我會覺得和巴庫斯以及他的那些野性姑娘們在一起是不安全的。”
“我並不這麼想。”露茜回答道。
