chater eleven an i nearer (第2/4页)
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This lasted longer than I could describe even if I wrote pages and pages about it．But I will skip on to the time when the snow had stopped and the morning had come and they were racing along in the daylight．And still they went on and on，with no sound but the everlasting swish of the snow and the creaking of the reindeer’s harness．And then at last the Witch said，“What have we here ?
Stop ！”and they did．
How Edmund hoped she was going to say something about breakfast ！ But she had stopped for quite a different reason．A little way off at the foot of a tree sat a merry party，a squirrel and his wife with their children and two satyrs and a dwarf and an old dogfox，all on stools round a table．Edmund couldn’t quite see what they were eating，but it smelled lovely and there seemed to be decorations of holly and he wasn’t at all sure that he didn’t see something like a plum pudding．At the moment when the sledge stopped，the Fox，who was obviously the oldest person present， had just risen to its feet，holding a glass in its right paw as if it was going to say something．But when the whole party saw the sledge stopping and who was in it，all the gaiety went out of their faces. The father squirrel stopped eating with his fork half-way to his mouth and one of the satyrs stopped with its fork actually in its mouth，and the baby squirrels squeaked with terror．
“What is the meaning of this ？”asked the Witch Queen． Nobody answered．
“Speak，vermin ！”she said again．“Or do you want my dwarf to find you a tongue with his whip ？ What is the meaning of all this gluttony，this waste，this selfindulgence ？ Where did you get all these things ？”
“Please，your Majesty，”said the Fox，“we were given them. And if I might make so bold as to drink your Majesty’s very good health-”
“Who gave them to you ？”said the Witch．
“F-F-F-Father Christmas，”stammered the Fox．
“What ？”roared the Witch，springing from the sledge and taking a few strides nearer to the terrified animals．“He has not been here ！ He cannot have been here ！ How dare you-but no．Say you have been lying and you shall even now be forgiven．”
At that moment one of the young squirrels lost its head completely．
