《銀椅》第3章:國王啓航

WHAT made Scrubb look so dingy (and Jill too, if she could only have seen herself) was the splendour of their surroundings. I had better describe them at once.
Through a cleft in those mountains which Jill had seen far inland as she approached the land, the sunset light was pouring over a level lawn. On the far side of the lawn, its weather-vanes glittering in the light, rose a many-towered and many-turreted castle; the most beautiful castle Jill had ever seen. On the near side was a quay of white marble and, moored to this, the ship: a tall ship with high forecastle and high poop, gilded and crimson, with a great flag at the mast-head, and many banners waving from the decks, and a row of shields, bright as silver, along the bulwarks. The gang-plank was laid to her, and at the foot of it, just ready to go on board, stood an old, old man. He wore a rich mantle of scarlet which opened in front to show his silver mail shirt. There was a thin circlet of gold on his head. His beard, white as wool, fell nearly to his waist. He stood straight enough, leaning one hand on the shoulder of a richly dressed lord who seemed younger than himself: but you could see he was very old and frail. He looked as if a puff of wind could blow him away, and his eyes were watery.
Immediately in front of the King - who had turned round to speak to his people before going on board the ship - there was a little chair on wheels, and, harnessed to it, a little donkey: not much bigger than a big retriever. In this chair sat a fat little dwarf. He was as richly dressed as the King, but because of his fatness and because he was sitting hunched up among cushions, the effect was quite different: it made him look like a shapeless little bundle of fur and silk and velvet. He was as old as the King, but more hale and hearty, with very keen eyes. His bare head, which was bald and extremely large, shone like a gigantic billiard ball in the sunset light.
Farther back, in a half-circle, stood what Jill at once knew to be the courtiers. They were well worth looking at for their clothes and armour alone. As far as that went, they looked more like a flower-bed than a crowd. But what really made Jill open her eyes and mouth as wide as they would go, was the people themselves. If "people" was the right word. For only about one in every five was human. The rest were things you never see in our world. Fauns, satyrs, centaurs: Jill could give a name to these, for she had seen pictures of them. Dwarfs too. And there were a lot of animals she knew as well; bears, badgers, moles, leopards, mice, and various birds. But then they were so very different from the animals which one called by the same names in England. Some of them were much bigger - the mice, for instance, stood on their hind legs and were over two feet high. But quite apart from that, they all looked different. You could see by the expression in their faces that they could talk and think just as well as you could.
"Golly!" thought Jill. "So it's true after all." But next moment she added, "I wonder are they friendly?" For she had just noticed, on the outskirts of the crowd, one or two giants and some people whom she couldn't give a name to at all.
At that moment Aslan and the signs rushed back into her mind. She had forgotten all about them for the last half-hour.
"Scrubb!" she whispered, grabbing his arm. "Scrubb, quick! Do you see anyone you know?"
"So you've turned up again, have you?" said Scrubb disagreeably (for which he had some reason). "Well, keep quiet, can't you? I want to listen."
"Don't be a fool," said Jill. "There isn't a moment to lose. Don't you see some old friend here? Because you've got to go and speak to him at once."
"What are you talking about?" said Scrubb.
"It's Aslan - the Lion - says you've got to," said Jill despairingly. "I've seen him."
"Oh, you have, have you? What did he say?"
"He said the very first person you saw in Narnia would be an old friend, and you'd got to speak to him at once."
"Well, there's nobody here I've ever seen in my life before; and anyway, I don't know whether this is Narnia."
"Thought you said you'd been here before," said Jill.
"Well, you thought wrong then."
"Well, I like that! You told me -"
"For heaven's sake dry up and let's hear what they're saying."
The King was speaking to the Dwarf, but Jill couldn't hear what he said. And, as far as she could make out, the Dwarf made no answer, though he nodded and wagged his head a great deal. Then the King raised his voice and addressed the whole court: but his voice was so old and cracked that she could understand very little of his speech - especially since it was all about people and places she had never heard of. When the speech was over, the King stooped down and kissed the Dwarf on both cheeks, straightened himself, raised his right hand as if in blessing, and went, slowly and with feeble steps, up the gangway and on board the ship. The courtiers appeared to be greatly moved by his departure. Handkerchiefs were got out, sounds of sobbing were heard in every direction. The gangway was cast off, trumpets sounded from the poop, and the ship moved away from the quay. (It was being towed by a rowing-boat, but Jill didn't see that.)
"Now -" said Scrubb, but he didn't get any farther, because at that moment a large white object - Jill thought for a second that it was a kite - came gliding through the air and alighted at his feet. It was a white owl, but so big that it stood as high as a good-sized dwarf.
It blinked and peered as if it were short-sighted, and put its head a little on one side, and said in a soft, hooting kind of voice:
"Tu-whoo, tu-whoo! Who are you two?"
"My name's Scrubb, and this is Pole," said Eustace. "Would you mind telling us where we are?"
"In the land of Narnia, at the King's castle of Cair Paravel."
"Is that the King who's just taken ship?"
"Too true, too true," said the Owl sadly, shaking its big head. "But who are you? There's something magic about you two. I saw you arrive: you flew. Everyone else was so busy seeing the King off that nobody knew. Except me. I happened to notice you, you flew."
"We were sent here by Aslan," said Eustace in a low voice.
"Tu-whoo, tu-whoo!" said the Owl, ruffling out its feathers. "This is almost too much for me, so early in the evening. I'm not quite myself till the sun's down."
"And we've been sent to find the lost Prince," said Jill, who had been anxiously waiting to get into the conversation.
"It's the first I've heard about it," said Eustace. "What prince?"
"You had better come and speak to the Lord Regent at once," it said. "That's him, over there in the donkey carriage; Trumpkin the Dwarf." The bird turned and began leading the way, muttering to itself, "Whoo! Tu-whoo! What a to-do! I can't think clearly yet. It's too early."
"What is the King's name?" asked Eustace.
"Caspian the Tenth," said the Owl. And Jill wondered why Scrubb had suddenly pulled up short in his walk and turned an extraordinary colour. She thought she had never seen him look so sick about anything. But before she had time to ask any questions they had reached the dwarf, who was just gathering up the reins of his donkey and preparing to drive back to the castle. The crowd of courtiers had broken up and were going in the same direction, by ones and twos and little knots, like people coming away from watching a game or a race.
"Tu-whoo! Ahem! Lord Regent," said the Owl, stooping down a little and holding its beak near the Dwarf's ear.
"Heh? What's that?" said the Dwarf.
"Two strangers, my lord," said the Owl.
"Rangers! What d'ye mean?" said the Dwarf. "I see two uncommonly grubby man-cubs. What do they want?"
"My name's Jill," said Jill, pressing forward. She was very eager to explain the important business on which they had come.
"The girl's called Jill," said the Owl, as loud as it could.
"What's that?" said the Dwarf. "The girls are all killed! I don't believe a word of it. What girls? Who killed 'em?"
"Only one girl, my lord," said the Owl. "Her name is Jill."
"Speak up, speak up," said the Dwarf. "Don't stand there buzzing and twittering in my ear. Who's been killed?"
"Nobody's been killed," hooted the Owl.
"Who?"
"NOBODY."
"All right, all right. You needn't shout. I'm not so deaf as all that. What do you mean by coming here to tell me that nobody's been killed? Why should anyone have been killed?"
"Better tell him I'm Eustace," said Scrubb.
"The boy's Eustace, my lord," hooted the Owl as loud as it could.
"Useless?" said the Dwarf irritably. "I dare say he is. Is that any reason for bringing him to court? Hey?"
"Not useless," said the Owl. "EUSTACE."
"Used to it, is he? I don't know what you're talking about, I'm sure. I tell you what it is, Master Glimfeather; when I was a young Dwarf there used to be talking beasts and birds in this country who really could talk. There wasn't all this mumbling and muttering and whispering. It wouldn't have been tolerated for a moment. Not for a moment, Sir. Urnus, my trumpet please -"
A little Faun who had been standing quietly beside the Dwarf's elbow all this time now handed him a silver eartrumpet. It was made like the musical instrument called a serpent, so that the tube curled right round the Dwarf's neck. While he was getting it settled the Owl, Glimfeather, suddenly said to the children in a whisper:
"My brain's a bit clearer now. Don't say anything about the lost Prince. I'll explain later. It wouldn't do, wouldn't do, Tu-Whoo! Oh what a to-do!"
"Now," said the Dwarf, "if you have anything sensible to say, Master Glimfeather, try and say it. Take a deep breath and don't attempt to speak too quickly."
With help from the children, and in spite of a fit of coughing on the part of the Dwarf, Glimfeather explained that the strangers had been sent by Aslan to visit the court of Narnia. The Dwarf glanced quickly up at them with a new expression in his eyes.
"Sent by the Lion Himself, hey?" he said. "And from m'm - from that other Place - beyond the world's end, hey?"
"Yes, my lord," bawled Eustace into the trumpet.
"Son of Adam and Daughter of Eve, hey?" said the Dwarf. But people at Experiment House haven't heard of Adam and Eve, so Jill and Eustace couldn't answer this. But the Dwarf didn't seem to notice.
"Well, my dears," he said, taking first one and then the other by the hand and bowing his head a little. "You are very heartily welcome. If the good King, my poor Master, had not this very hour set sail for Seven Isles, he would have been glad of your coming. It would have brought back his youth to him for a moment - for a moment. And now, it is high time for supper. You shall tell me your business in full council tomorrow morning. Master Glimfeather, see that bedchambers and suitable clothes and all else are provided for these guests in the most honourable fashion. And - Glimfeather - in your ear -"
Here the Dwarf put his mouth close to the Owl's head and, no doubt, intended to whisper: but, like other deaf people, he wasn't a very good judge of his own voice, and both children heard him say, "See that they're properly washed."
After that, the Dwarf touched up his donkey and it set off towards the castle at something between a trot and a waddle (it was a very fat little beast), while the Faun, the Owl, and the children followed at a rather slower pace. The sun had set and the air was growing cool.
They went across the lawn and then through an orchard and so to the North Gate of Cair Paravel, which stood wide open. Inside, they found a grassy courtyard. Lights were already showing from the windows of the great hall on their right and from a more complicated mass of buildings straight ahead. Into these the Owl led them, and there a most delightful person was called to look after Jill. She was not much taller than Jill herself, and a good deal slenderer, but obviously full grown, graceful as a willow, and her hair was willowy too, and there seemed to be moss in it. She brought Jill to a round room in one of the turrets, where there was a little bath sunk in the floor and a fire of sweet-smelling woods burning on the flat hearth and a lamp hanging by a silver chain from the vaulted roof. The window looked west into the strange land of Narnia, and Jill saw the red remains of the sunset still glowing behind distant mountains. It made her long for more adventures and feel sure that this was only the beginning.
When she had had her bath, and brushed her hair, and put on the clothes that had been laid out for her - they were the kind that not only felt nice, but looked nice and smelled nice and made nice sounds when you moved as well - she would have gone back to gaze out of that exciting window, but she was interrupted by a bang on the door.
"Come in," said Jill. And in came Scrubb, also bathed and splendidly dressed in Narnian clothes. But his face didn't look as if he were enjoying it.
"Oh, here you are at last," he said crossly, flinging himself into a chair. "I've been trying to find you for ever so long."
"Well, now you have," said Jill. "I say, Scrubb, isn't it all simply too exciting and scrumptious for words." She had forgotten all about the signs and the lost Prince for the moment.
"Oh! That's what you think, is it?" said Scrubb: and then, after a pause, "I wish to goodness we'd never come."
"Why on earth?"
"I can't bear it," said Scrubb. "Seeing the King Caspian - a doddering old man like that. It's - it's frightful."
"Why, what harm does it do you?"
"Oh, you don't understand. Now that I come to think of it, you couldn't. I didn't tell you that this world has a different time from ours."
"How do you mean?"
"The time you spend here doesn't take up any of our time. Do you see? I mean, however long we spend here, we shall still get back to Experiment House at the moment we left it -"
"That won't be much fun."
"Oh, dry up! Don't keep interrupting. And when you're back in England - in our world - you can't tell how time is going here. It might be any number of years in Narnia while we're having one year at home. The Pevensies explained it all to me, but, like a fool, I forgot about it. And now apparently it's been about seventy years Narnian years - since I was here last. Do you see now? And I come back and find Caspian an old, old man."
"Then the King was an old friend of yours!" said Jill. A horrid thought had struck her.
"I should jolly well think he was," said Scrubb miserably. "About as good a friend as a chap could have. And last time he was only a few years older than me. And to see that old man with a white beard, and to remember Caspian as he was the morning we captured the Lone Islands, or in the fight with the Sea Serpent - oh, it's frightful. It's worse than coming back and finding him dead."
"Oh, shut up," said Jill impatiently. "It's far worse than you think. We've muffed the first Sign." Of course Scrubb did not understand this. Then Jill told him about her conversation with Aslan and the four signs and the task of finding the lost prince which had been laid upon them.
"So you see," she wound up, "you did see an old friend, just as Aslan said, and you ought to have gone and spoken to him at once. And now you haven't, and everything is going wrong from the very beginning."
"But how was I to know?" said Scrubb.
"If you'd only listened to me when I tried to tell you, we'd be all right," said Jill.
"Yes, and if you hadn't played the fool on the edge of that cliff and jolly nearly murdered me - all right, I said murder, and I'll say it again as often as I like, so keep your hair on - we'd have come together and both known what to do."
"I suppose he was the first person you saw?" said Jill. "You must have been here hours before me. Are you sure you didn't see anyone else first?"
"I was only here about a minute before you," said Scrubb. "He must have blown you quicker than me. Making up for lost time: the time you lost."
"Don't be a perfect beast, Scrubb," said Jill. "Hallo! What's that?"
It was the castle bell ringing for supper, and thus what looked like turning into a first-rate quarrel was happily cut short. Both had a good appetite by this time.
Supper in the great hall of the castle was the most splendid thing either of them had ever seen; for though Eustace had been in that world before, he had spent his whole visit at sea and knew nothing of the glory and courtesy of the Narnians at home in their own land. The banners hung from the roof, and each course came in with trumpeters and kettledrums. There were soups that would make your mouth water to think of, and the lovely fishes called pavenders, and venison and peacock and pies, and ices and jellies and fruit and nuts, and all manner of wines and fruit drinks. Even Eustace cheered up and admitted that it was "something like". And when all the serious eating and drinking was over, a blind poet came forward and struck up the grand old tale of Prince Cor and Aravis and the horse Bree, which is called The Horse and his Boy and tells of an adventure that happened in Narnia and Calormen and the lands between, in the Golden Age when Peter was High King in Cair Paravel. (I haven't time to tell it now, though it is well worth hearing.)
When they were dragging themselves upstairs to bed, yawning their heads off, Jill said, "I bet we sleep well, tonight"; for it had been a full day. Which just shows how little anyone knows what is going to happen to them next.

斯克羅布看上去那麼遛逼的原因(吉爾也一樣，只要她能看見自己這副模樣就好了)是他們周圍的景象雄偉。我最好立刻把這一切描繪一下。
吉爾快到陸地時，曾經從那些山峯的一條裂縫中看到過遙遠的內地，夕陽的餘輝正瀉在一片平坦的草地上。草地盡頭，風向標在夕陽下閃閃發光，矗立着一幢有很多尖塔和很多角樓的城堡，吉爾從沒見過這麼美麗的城堡。近處是一個大理石砌的碼頭，停泊在這兒的是一艘船;一艘高高的船，有高高的船首樓和高高的船尾樓，漆成金色和深紅色，欖杆頂上有一面大旗，甲板上旗幟迎風招展，沿着舷牆是一排銀光閃閃的盾形紋徽口一條跳板lI。.向船上，就在跳板腳下，有一個很老很老的人站在那兒，正準備走上跳板。他身披一件貴重的猩紅色斗篷，前面敞着，露出裏面銀色的鎧甲。頭上有一條細細的金環。他的鬍子白得像羊毛一樣，一直垂到近腰部。他站得筆直，一隻手擱在一個衣着華麗的貴族肩上，那人似於比他年輕一點，但你能看出他也很老了，而且身體虛弱。看上去一陣風就能把這人吹走，他兩眼淚汪汪的。
國王這時趁着還沒上船，轉身向他的百姓講話——緊挨着國王前面是一隻小小的輪椅，前面套着一匹小小的驢子，比一隻大獵狗大不了多少的驢子。這把椅子上坐着一個胖胖的小矮人，他的衣服和國王一樣華貴，但因爲他是胖子，又弓起身子坐在軟墊堆上，結果看上去竟大不一樣，他看上去就像亂糟糟一小堆毛皮、絲綢和絲絨。小矮人和國王一樣老，但更健壯，目光銳利。他沒戴帽子，腦袋都禿了，而且其大無比，在夕陽下就像一顆特大臺球似的發亮。
再往後，一溜兒站成半園形的，吉爾一看就知道是大臣們。如果光看他們的衣服和盔甲，那倒是值得一看的。實際上他們看上去更像一個花壇，而不像一羣人。但真正使吉爾自瞪口呆的是那些百姓。就是說，如果用”百姓”這個字眼合適的話。因爲其中只有五分之一是人類。其他都是你在我們的世界裏從來沒見過的。有羊怪、樹精、人頭馬，吉爾叫得出這些名字，因爲她看見過這些怪物的圖畫。還有小矮人。還有很多動物她也認識有熊、灌、睡鼠、豹、老鼠以及各種鳥兒。不過這些動物比起英國的同類動物可大不相同。好多動物都大得多——比方說老鼠吧，它們用後腿站着，就不止兩英尺高。而除了這點以外，它們看上去全都不一樣。你從它們臉上的表情就看得出，它們能說話，也能想，就像你能說能想一樣。
“天哪!II吉爾想道，”原來這竟是真的。”但過了一會她又說，”不知它們對人是不是友好?”因爲她剛剛注意到在人羣外圍還有一兩個巨人，以及她完全叫不出名字的百姓呢。
正在此時，阿斯蘭和他的指示又突然回到她腦海裏。這半個小時她本來已經忘記得乾乾淨淨了。
“斯克羅布!II她悄悄說，一面抓住他的胳臂，”斯克羅布，快!你看見哪個認識的人沒有?”
“原來你又鑽出來了啊?”斯克羅布不高興地說(他這樣也有道理)，”行了，安靜點，好嗎?我要聽聽。”
“別犯傻了，”吉爾說，”沒時間耽擱了。你看見這兒有什麼老朋友嗎?因爲你得馬上去跟他說話。”
“你在說些什麼呀?”斯克羅布說。
“阿斯蘭——獅王——說你一定得去的，”吉爾絕望地說，”我見過他了。”
“啊呀，你見過他了嗎?他說什麼了?”
“他說你在納尼亞看見的第一個人就是一個老朋友，你一定得馬上去跟他說話。”
“唉，這兒可沒有一個人是我以前見過的;再有呢，不管怎麼說，我還不知道這究竟是不是納尼亞。”
“我想你說過你以前到過這兒的。”吉爾說。”哼，那麼你想錯了。”
“虧你說得出口，你告訴過我……”
“看在老天的分上，快住口，我們聽聽他們在說什麼。”國王正在跟那個小矮人說話，但吉爾聽不出他在說什麼。她只弄明白那小矮人雖然一個勁兒地點頭或搖頭，卻沒回答國王的話。接着國王扯開嗓門對全場的人講話，但他的聲音蒼老嘶啞，她聽得懂的話實在太少了——尤其是這番話全都是關於她從來沒聽見過的百姓和地方的。講完以後，國王彎下腰吻了小矮人兩頰，再站直身子，舉起右手，似乎是在祝福，然後拖着有氣無力的步子慢慢地走上跳板，上了船。那些大臣似乎都爲他的起程深受感動。好多人拿出了手帕，四面八方都是哭聲。跳板撤掉了，船尾樓響起了喇叭聲，船離開了碼頭。(船是由一條划艇拖走的，不過吉爾沒看見那划艇。
“好了……”斯克羅布說，不過他沒說下去，因爲就在這時一個又大又白的東西——吉爾一時還以爲那是隻風箏呢——從空中滑過來，停在他腳邊。原來是一隻白貓頭鷹，不過個兒真大，站在那兒竟有一個大個兒小矮人那麼高。
它眼睛眨巴眨巴，像近視眼似的盯着他們看，腦袋歪在一邊，以一種柔和的唬唬叫聲說:
“唷嗬，唷嗬!你們倆是什麼人啊?”
“我叫斯克羅布，這一位是波爾，”尤斯塔斯說，”你能告訴我們，我們在哪兒嗎?”
“在納尼亞的土地上，在凱爾帕拉維爾國王的城堡。”
“那個剛剛上船的就是國王嗎?”
“太對了，太對了，”貓頭鷹晃着大腦袋傷心地說，”可你們是誰呢?你們兩個身上有魔法。我看見你們到的你們是飛來的。大家都忙着爲國王送行，沒人知道。只有我。我正好注意到你們，你們飛過來了。”
“我們是阿斯蘭派到這兒來的。”尤斯塔斯低聲說。
“喔嗬，喔嗬，”貓頭鷹說着，一邊豎起了羽毛，”天色還很旱，我可受不了。太陽下山前我總是不大自在。”
“我們是派來尋找失蹤的王子的。”吉爾說，她一直巴不得插進來談談。
“這事我可是第一回聽到，”尤斯塔斯說，”什麼王子?”
“你們最好馬上就去跟攝政王談談，”它說，”那個就是，就在那邊的驢車裏，小矮人杜魯普金。”貓頭鷹轉身開始領路，一面喃喃自語，”嗬!喔嗬!亂哄哄的!我還不能好好想一想呢。天太早了。”
“國王叫什麼名字?”尤斯塔斯問。
“凱斯賓十世。”貓頭鷹說。吉爾不知斯克羅布走着走着幹嗎突然停下，臉色也異常了。她心想自己還從來沒見過他看上去對任何事那麼難過呢。但她還來不及問什麼，他們就已經走到小矮人身邊，他正好收起驢子的繮繩，準備駕車回城堡去。那羣大臣也散開了，三五成羣，往同一個方向走去，就像人們看完運動會或比賽散場一樣。
“喔嗬l嗯嗬!攝政王。”貓頭鷹彎下身子，嘴巴湊近小矮人耳朵說。
“嗨！什麼事?”小矮人說。
“兩個陌生人，大人。”貓頭鷹說。
“守林人①？你什麼意思?”小矮人說，”我看見兩個非常邋遢的野小子。他們要什麼?”
“我叫吉爾。”吉爾說着擠到前面。她急於要說明他們來此辦理的那件重要大事。
“姑娘名叫吉爾，”貓頭鷹儘量大聲說道。
“什麼?”小矮人說，”姑娘都被殺了②叫我一點也不相信。什麼姑娘?誰殺了她們?”
①英語中陌生人與守林人發音相似。
②英語中吉爾與被殺一詞音相近，小矮人耳聾，聽錯了。
“只有一個姑娘，大人，”貓頭鷹說，”她叫吉爾。”
“大聲講，大聲講，”小矮人說，”別站在那兒，對着我耳朵嘰嘰喳喳的。誰被殺了?”
“沒人被殺。”貓頭鷹叫道。
”誰.?”
“沒人。”
“好了，好了。你用不着嚷嚷。我還沒聾到那個地步。你到這兒來告訴我沒人被殺是什麼意思?爲什麼該有人被殺呢?”
“你最好告訴他我是尤斯塔斯。”斯克羅布說。
“這個男孩是尤斯塔斯，大人。”貓頭鷹儘量大聲叫道。”沒用處?”小矮人性急地說，”我敢說他是沒用處的。
你有什麼理由把他帶到宮裏來呢?嗯?”
“不是沒用處，”貓頭鷹說，”是尤斯塔斯。”
“有事沒事嗎?說真的，我不知道你在說些什麼。格里姆費瑟大師，我來告訴你是怎麼回事吧，我年輕時，這個國家就有了會說話的獸類和鳥類，那纔是真正會說話的。完全不是這種咕咕噥噥，嘰嘰喳喳，悄聲細氣。這種說話一刻都不能容忍。一刻都不行。烏納斯，請拿我的助聽器。”
一直悄悄站在小矮人身邊的一隻小羊怪就遞給他一隻銀製的助聽器，這東西做得就像一種蛇形的樂器，因此那管子就盤在小矮人的脖子上。他正在戴助聽器時，貓頭鷹格里姆費瑟突然悄悄對兩個孩子說
“我腦子現在清楚一點了。別提任何有關失蹤的王子的事。回頭我再解釋。那樣不行的，不行的，喔嗬!哦，亂哄哄的!”
“行了，”小矮人說，”如果你有什麼合情合理的話要說，格里姆費瑟大師，那就說說看吧。先深深吸口氣，別企圖說得太快了。”
在兩個孩子的幫助下，儘管小矮人一陣陣咳嗽，格里姆費瑟總算解釋說這兩個陌生人是阿斯蘭派來訪問納尼亞宮廷的。小矮人換上一種眼神迅速看了他們一眼。
“是獅王親自派來的，嗯?”他說，”而且是從——咱——喝——從另一個地方，從世界盡頭以外來的，嗯?”
“是的，爵爺。”尤斯塔斯對準助聽器大聲叫道。
“是亞當的兒子和夏娃的女兒吧，嗯?”小矮人說。但實驗學校的人們都沒聽說過亞當和夏娃，因此吉爾和尤斯塔斯對此沒法回答。不過小矮人似乎並不在意。
“好了，親愛的，”他說着拉起第一個的手，接着又拉起第二個的手，稍微點了點頭，”衷心歡迎你們。要是我可憐的主人，善良的國王此時此刻沒乘船去七羣島的話，他準會對你們來到表示高興的。這會把他暫時帶回他的青年時代——暫時。而現在呢，該是吃晚飯的時候了。明天早上你們可以把你們的事在全體會議上告訴我。格里姆費瑟大師，務必要以最隆重的規格爲這兩個貴賓提供臥室和合身的衣服以及其他一切。還有——格里姆費瑟——你耳朵湊過來;…”
說到這兒，小矮人嘴巴湊到貓頭鷹腦袋旁邊，毫無疑問，他是打算悄悄說話的但正像其他聾子一樣，他對自己的聲音估計不足，兩個孩子都聽見他說”務必讓他們好好洗洗乾淨。”:
說罷，小矮人用鞭輕輕打了一下小驢子，驢子就向城堡出發了，步子不快不慢，搖搖擺擺(拉車的是頭很胖的小驢子)，而羊怪、貓頭鷹和兩個孩子就放慢步子跟着。這時太陽已經下山了，空氣也變得涼爽了。
他們穿過草地，接着穿過果園，來到凱爾帕拉維爾的北門，大門敞開着。裏面是一個長滿青草的院子，在他們右面的大廳窗戶裏已經透出了燈光，正前方一大片更復雜的樓房裏也有燈光。貓頭鷹領他們走了進去。在那兒叫了一個很討人喜歡的人來照顧吉爾。她跟吉爾個子差不多，卻苗條得多，而且顯然是個成人，她像楊柳一樣文雅，頭髮也像楊柳，裏面好像還有青苔呢。她把吉爾帶到一座塔樓上的一間圓形的房間，那裏地面上嵌着一隻小浴缸，壁爐裏生着火，木柴香氣撲鼻，拱形屋頂垂下一條銀鏈吊着一盞燈。從朝西的窗戶裏可以看見納尼亞陌生的國土，吉爾看見落日的餘輝仍然在遠處的羣山後發着紅光。這使她渴望更多的奇遇，而且確信這還只是個開頭。
她洗完澡，梳了梳頭，穿上已經給她放好的衣服——這些衣服不僅摸上去舒服，看上去也好看，還有股香味，走動時還發出好聽的聲音——她本想再回去細看窗外令人興奮的景色，不料門砰的一響打斷了她的思緒。
“進來。”吉爾說。於是斯克羅布走了進來，他也洗了澡，穿着華麗的納尼亞服裝。但他臉上並沒有高興的神情。
“哦，總算看見你了。”他發着脾氣說，一面一屁股坐在椅子上，”我老早就在想法找你了。”
“得，你現在找到啦，”吉爾說，”哎呀，斯克羅布，這兒的一切太令人激動了，好得沒法說。”這時她已經把指示和失蹤的王子忘得一乾二淨。
“哦，那是你的想法吧?”斯克羅布說，接着，他停了一下，”我倒但願我們根本沒來過。”
“究竟怎麼啦?”
“我受不了，”斯克羅布說，”看到國王——凱斯賓——成了那樣一個老態龍鍾的老頭兒。這真——這真可怕。”
“爲什麼，那礙你什麼事?”
“哦，你不明白。現在我想起來了。你沒法想像的。我沒告訴你這個世界的時間跟我們的時間是不一樣的。”
“什麼意思?”
“你在這兒度過的時間並沒花掉一丁點兒我們的時間。
你懂嗎?我意思是說，無論我們在這兒過多久，我們將來回到實驗學校仍然是我們離開的那會兒....
“那就不怎麼有趣了……”
“哦，快住口，別老打斷我。一旦你回到英國——在我們的世界裏——你就說不出這兒的時間是怎麼過的。我們在國內過上一年，這兒就可能是不知多少年了。佩文西家兄妹對我解釋過這一切，可我竟像個傻瓜似的忘了。自從我上回到這兒來算起，按納尼亞的年份來說——如今顯然已經有七十年了。現在你懂了吧?我回來一看凱斯賓竟是個老老頭了。”
“那麼說國王原來是你的一個老朋友囉?”吉爾說。她突然有了一個可怕的想法。
“我真該認爲他是的，”斯克羅布痛苦地說，”這位朋友要多好有多好。上回來的時候，他只比我大幾歲，看看那個白鬍子老頭，再想想我們佔領孤獨羣島的那天早上的凱斯賓，還有大戰海蛇那時的凱斯賓——哦，這真可怕，比我回來發現他死了更糟。”
“哦，住口，”吉爾不耐煩地說，”事情比你想的糟得多，我們已經把第一點指示錯過了。”斯克羅布當然聽不懂這句話，於是吉爾把自己和阿斯蘭之間的談話，以及四點指示，還有交給他們尋找失蹤的王子的任務——告訴了他。
“因此你明白了吧，”她結束道，”正像阿斯蘭所說的，你的確看到了一個老朋友，你本來應該立刻上去跟他說話的。而現在你沒去，剛開頭一切就都亂了套。”
“可我怎麼會知道呢?”斯克羅布說。
“我想方設法告訴你的時候，你只要聽我說，我們就沒事了。”吉爾說。
“是啊，只要你不在懸崖邊上胡鬧，差點送了我的命——對了，我是說送命，我隨時高興還要再說，以便讓你保持鎮靜——我們早就可以一起上這兒來，那麼兩個人都知道該幹什麼了。”
“我看，他就是你看見的第一個人吧？”吉爾說，”你一定比我早到了好幾小時。你肯定沒有先看見別人嗎?”
“我只比你早到一分鐘，”斯克羅布說，”他一定把你吹得比我快。補上耽擱的時間;你耽擱的時間。”
“別那麼壞，斯克羅布，”吉爾說，”喂，什麼事啊?”
原來是城堡裏響起晚餐鐘聲，這樣一來一場脣槍舌劍就此皆大歡喜地中斷了。兩個人這時候胃口都特別好。
在城堡大廳裏用晚餐，可是他們兩個人從未見識過的豪華大場面。因爲尤斯塔斯雖然以前到過這個世界，可是他來訪的整個時期都是在海上度過的，對納尼亞人在自己國土上的排場和禮節一無所知。屋頂上垂下一面面旗幟，每道菜上來時都要吹號擊鼓。一道道湯叫你一想到就要垂涎欲滴。那種叫帕文德的好吃的魚，還有鹿肉、孔雀肉和餡餅，雪糕和果凍，水果和果仁，以及各種各樣的美酒和果汁。就連尤斯塔斯也高興起來，承認這頓飯”像樣”。等到一本正經的吃喝全部結束，一個盲詩人就走上前來，開始演唱美妙的老故事<能言馬與男孩>，講的是科奧王子和阿拉維斯以及一匹叫布里的馬，那是彼得在凱爾帕拉維爾當至尊王的黃金時代，發生在納尼亞和卡樂門以及其交界土地上的一次奇遇。(儘管這故事很值得一聽，可我現在沒時間說了。)
等到他們拖着腳步慢吞吞上樓去睡覺，兩個人都呵欠連天。吉爾說”我敢說我們今晚都會睡得好。”因爲這一天己經過得滿滿當當了，而這僅僅說明沒人知道下一步他們還將碰到什麼事。<能言馬與男孩>