chater ne the fundg f narnia (第1/5页)

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THE Lion was pacing to and fro about that empty land and singing his new song．It was softer and more lilting than the song by which he had called up the stars and the sun；a gentle，rippling music．And as he walked and sang the valley grew green with grass．It spread out from the Lion like a pool．It ran up the sides of the little hills like a wave．In a few minutes it was creeping up the lower slopes of the distant mountains，making that young world every moment softer．The light wind could now be heard ruffling the grass．Soon there were other things besides grass．The higher slopes grew dark with heather．Patches of rougher and more bristling green appeared in the valley．Digory did not know what they were until one began coming up quite close to him．It was a little，spiky thing that threw out dozens of arms and covered these arms with green and grew larger at the rate of about an inch every two seconds．There were dozens of these things all round him now．When they were nearly as tall as himself he saw what they were．“Trees ！”he exclaimed．

The nuisance of it，as Polly said afterwards，was that you weren’t left in peace to watch it all．Just as Digory said“Trees ！”he had to jump because Uncle Andrew had sidled up to him again and was going to pick his pocket．It wouldn’t have done Uncle Andrew much good if he had succeeded，for he was aiming at the right-hand pocket because he still thought the green rings were“homeward”rings．But of course Digory didn’t want to lose either．

“Stop ！”cried the Witch．“Stand back．No，further back．If anyone goes within ten paces of either of the children，I will knock out his brains．”She was poising in her hand the iron bar that she had torn off the lamp-post，ready to throw it．Somehow no one doubted that she would be a very good shot．

“So ！”she said．“You would steal back to your own world with the boy and leave me here．”

Uncle Andrew’s temper at last got the better of his fears． “Yes，Ma’am，I would，”he said．“Most undoubtedly I would． I should be perfectly in my rights．I have been most shamefully， most abominably treated．I have done my best to show you such civilities as were in my power．And what has been my reward ？ You have robbed-I must repeat the word—robbed a highly respectable jeweller．You have insisted on my entertaining you to an exceedingly expensive，not to say ostentatious，lunch，though I was obliged to pawn my watch and chain in order to do so（and let me tell you，Ma’am，that none of our family have been in the habit of frequenting pawnshops，except my cousin Edward，and he was in the Yeomanry）．During that indigestible meal-I’m feeling the worse for it at this very moment-your behaviour and conversation attracted the unfavourable attention of everyone present．I feel I have been publicly disgraced．I shall never be able to show my face in that restaurant again．You have assaulted the police．You have stolen-”

“Oh stow it，Guv’nor，do stow it，”said the Cabby．“Watchin’ and listenin’s the thing at present；not talking．”

There was certainly plenty to watch and to listen to．The tree which Digory had noticed was now a full-grown beech whose branches swayed gently above his head．They stood on cool， green grass，sprinkled with daisies and buttercups．A little way off，along the river bank，willows were growing．On the other side tangles of flowering currant，lilac，wild rose，and rhododendron closed them in．The horse was tearing up delicious mouthfuls of new grass．

All this time the Lion’s song，and his stately prowl，to and fro，backwards and forwards，was going on．What was rather alarming was that at each turn he came a little nearer．Polly was finding the song more and more interesting because she thought she was beginning to see the connection between the music and the things that were happening．When a line of dark firs sprang up on a ridge about a hundred yards away she felt that they were connected with a series of deep，prolonged notes which the Lion had sung a second before．And when he burst into a rapid series of lighter notes she was not surprised to see primroses suddenly appearing in every direction．Thus，with an unspeakable thrill，she felt quite certain that all the things were coming（as she said）“out of the Lion’s head”．When you listened to his song you heard the things he was making up：when you looked round you，you saw them． This was so exciting that she had no time to be afraid．But Digory and the Cabby could not help feeling a bit nervous as each turn of the Lion’s walk brought him nearer．As for Uncle Andrew，his teeth were chattering，but his knees were shaking so that he could not run away．

Suddenly the Witch stepped boldly out toward the Lion．It was coming on，always singing，with a slow，heavy pace．It was only twelve yards away．She raised her arm and flung the iron bar straight at its head．