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chater thirteen undernd withut the een（第1页）

ALLfeltthattheyhadearnedwhatScrubbcalleda“breather”.TheWitchhadlockedthedoorandtoldtheEarthmennottodisturbher，sotherewasnodangerofinterruptionforthepresent.Theirfirstbusinesswas，ofcourse，Puddleglum’sburntfoot.AcoupleofcleanshirtsfromthePrince’sbedroom，tornintostrips，andwellgreasedontheinsidewithbutterandsaladoiloffthesuppertable，madeafairlygooddressing.Whenthishadbeenapplied，theyallsatdownandhadalittlerefreshment，anddiscussedplansforescapingfromtheUnderworld.

Rilianexplainedthattherewerequitealotofoutletsbywhichonecouldgettothesurface；hehadbeentakenoutthroughmostofthematonetimeoranother.Buthehadnevergoneoutalone，onlywiththeWitch；andhehadalwaysreachedtheseoutletsbygoinginashipacrosstheSunlessSea.WhattheEarthmenwouldsayifhewentdowntotheharbourwithouttheWitch，andwithfourstrangers，andsimplyorderedaship，noonecouldguess.But

mostlikelytheywouldaskawkwardquestions.Ontheotherhandthenewoutlet，theonefortheinvasionofOverworld，wasonthissideofthesea，andonlyafewmilesaway.ThePrinceknewthatitwasnearlyfinished；onlyafewfeetofearthdividedthediggingsfromtheouterair.Itwasevenpossiblethatithadnowbeenquitefinished.PerhapstheWitchhadcomebacktotellhimthisandtostarttheattack.Evenifitwasnot，theycouldprobablydigthemselvesoutbythatrouteinafewhours—iftheycouldonlygettherewithoutbeingstopped，andifonlytheyfoundthediggingsunguarded.Butthosewerethedifficulties.

“Ifyouaskme—”beganPuddleglum，whenScrubbinterrupted.

“Isay，”heasked，“what’sthatnoise？”

“I’vebeenwonderingthatforsometime！”saidJill.

Theyhadall，infact，beenhearingthenoisebutithadbegunandincreasedsograduallythattheydidnotknowwhentheyhadfirstnoticedit.Foratimeithadbeenonlyavaguedisquietlikegentlewinds，ortrafficveryfaraway.Thenitswelledtoamurmurlikethesea.Thencamerumblingsandrushings.Nowthereseemedtobevoicesaswellandalsoasteadyroaringthatwasnotvoices.

“BytheLion，”saidPrinceRilian，“itseemsthissilentlandhasfoundatongueatlast.”Herose，walkedtothewindow，anddrewasidethecurtains.Theotherscrowdedroundhimtolookout.

Theveryfirstthingtheynoticedwasagreatredglow.ItsreflectionmadearedpatchontheroofoftheUnderworldthousandsoffeetabovethem，sothattheycouldseearockyceilingwhichhadperhapsbeenhiddenindarknesseversincetheworldwasmade.Theglowitselfcamefromthefarsideofthecitysothatmanybuildings，grimandgreat，stoodupblacklyagainstit.Butitalsocastitslightdownmanystreetsthatranfromittowardsthecastle.Andinthosestreetssomethingverystrangewasgoingon.Theclosely-packed，silentcrowdsofEarthmenhadvanished.Instead，therewerefiguresdartingaboutbyones，ortwos，orthrees.Theybehavedlikepeoplewhodonotwanttobeseen：lurkinginshadowbehindbuttressesorindoorways，andthenmovingquicklyacrosstheopenintofreshplacesofhiding.Butthestrangestthingofall，toanyonewhoknewthegnomes，wasthenoise.Shoutsandcriescamefromalldirections.Butfromtheharbourtherecamealow，rumblingroarwhichgrewsteadilylouderandwasalreadyshakingthewholecity.

“What’shappenedtotheEarthmen？”saidScrubb.“Isitthemshouting？”

“Tishardlypossible，”saidthePrince.“Ineverheardoneoftherascalssomuchasspeakwithaloudvoiceinallthewearyyearsofmybondage.Somenewdevilry，Idon’tdoubt.”

“Andwhatisthatredlightoverthere？”askedJill.“Issomethingonfire？”

“Ifyouaskme，”saidPuddleglum，“IshouldsaythatwasthecentralfiresoftheEarthbreakingouttomakeanewvolcano.We’llbeinthemiddleofit，Ishouldn’twonder.”

“Lookatthatship！”saidScrubb.“Why’sitcomingonsoquickly？Noone’srowingit.”

“Look，look！”saidthePrince.“Theshipisalreadyfarthissideoftheharbour—itisinthestreet.Look！Alltheshipsaredrivingintothecity！Bymyhead，thesea’srising.Thefloodisuponus.Aslanbepraised，thiscastlestandsonhighground.Butthewatercomesongrimlyfast.”

“Oh，whatcanbehappening？”criedJill.“Fireandwaterandallthosepeopledodgingaboutthestreets.”

“I’lltellyouwhatitis，”saidPuddleglu“ThatWitchhaslaidatrainofmagicspellssothatwhenevershewaskilled，atthatsamemomentherwholekingdomwouldfalltopieces.She’sthesortthatwouldn’tsomuchminddyingherselfifsheknewthatthechapwhokilledherwasgoingtobeburned，orburied，ordrownedfiveminuteslater.”

“Hasthitit，friendwiggle，”saidthePrince.“WhenourswordshackedofftheWitch’shead，thatstrokeendedallhermagicworks，andnowtheDeepLandsarefallingtopieces.WearelookingontheendofUnderworld.”

“That’sit，Sir，”saidPuddleglu“Unlessitshouldhappentobetheendofthewholeworld.”

“Butarewejustgoingtostayhereand—wait？”gaspedJill.

“Notbymycounsel，”saidthePrince.“Iwouldsavemyhorse，Coalblack，andtheWitch’sSnowflake（anoblebeastandworthyofabettermistress）whicharebothstabledinthecourtyard.Afterthat，letusmakeshifttogetouttohighgroundandpraythatweshallfindanoutlet.Thehorsescancarrytwoeachatneed，andifweputthemtoittheymayoutstriptheflood.”

“WillyourHighnessnotputonarmour？”askedPuddleglu“Idon’tlikethelookofthose”—andhepointeddowntothestreet.Everyonelookeddown.Dozensofcreatures（andnowthattheywereclose，theyobviouslywereEarthmen）werecomingupfromthedirectionoftheharbour.Buttheywerenotmovinglikeanaimlesscrowd.Theybehavedlikemodernsoldiersinanattack，makingrushesandtakingcover，anxiousnottobeseenfromthecastlewindows.

“Idarenotseetheinsideofthatarmouragain，”saidthePrince.“Irodeinitasinamovabledungeon，anditstinksofmagicandslavery.ButIwilltaketheshield.”

Helefttheroomandreturnedwithastrangelightinhiseyesamomentlater.

“Look，friends，”hesaid，holdingouttheshieldtowardsthe“Anhouragoitwasblackandwithoutdevice；andnow，this.”Theshieldhadturnedbrightassilver，andonit，redderthanbloodorcherries，wasthefigureoftheLion.

“Doubtless，”saidthePrince，“thissignifiesthatAslanwillbeourgoodlord，whetherhemeansustoliveordie.Andall’sone，forthat.Now，bymycounsel，weshallallkneelandkisshislikeness，andthenallshakehandsonewithanother，astruefriendsthatmayshortlybeparted.Andthen，letusdescendintothecityandtaketheadventurethatissentus.”

AndtheyalldidasthePrincehadsaid.ButwhenScrubbshookhandswithJill，hesaid，“Solong，Jill.SorryI’vebeenafunkandsoratty.Ihopeyougetsafehome，”andJillsaid，“Solong，Eustace.AndI’msorryI’vebeensuchapig.”AndthiswasthefirsttimetheyhadeverusedChristiannames，becauseonedidn’tdoitatschool.

ThePrinceunlockedthedoorandtheyallwentdownthestairs：threeofthemwithdrawnswords，andJillwithdrawnknife.TheattendantshadvanishedandthegreatroomatthefootofthePrince’sstairswasempty.Thegrey，dolefullampswerestillburningandbytheirlighttheyhadnodifficultyinpassinggalleryaftergalleryanddescendingstairwayafterstairway.Thenoisesfromoutsidethecastlewerenotsoeasilyheardhereastheyhadbeenintheroomabove.Insidethehouseallwasstillasdeath，anddeserted.ItwasastheyturnedacornerintothegreathallonthegroundfloorthattheymettheirfirstEarthman-afat，whitishcreaturewithaverypiglikefacewhowasgobblingupalltheremainsoffoodonthetables.Itsquealed（thesquealalsowasverylikeapig’s）anddartedunderabench，whiskingitslongtailoutofPuddleglum’sreachinthenickoftime.Thenitrushedawaythroughthefardoortooquicklytobefollowed.

Fromthehalltheycameoutintothecourtyard.Jill，whowenttoaridingschoolintheholidays，hadjustnoticedthesmellofastable（averynice，honest，homelysmellitistomeetinaplacelikeUnderland）whenEustacesaid，“GreatScott！Lookatthat！”Amagnificentrockethadrisenfromsomewherebeyondthecastlewallsandbrokenintogreenstars.

“Fireworks！”saidJillinapuzzledvoice.

“Yes，”saidEustace，“butyoucan’timaginethoseEarthpeoplelettingthemoffforfun！Itmustbeasignal.”

“Andmeansnogoodtous，I’llbebound，”saidPuddleglu

“Friends，”saidthePrince，“whenonceamanislaunchedonsuchanadventureasthis，hemustbidfarewelltohopesandfears，otherwisedeathordeliverancewillbothcometoolatetosavehishonourandhisreason.Ho，mybeauties”（hewasnowopeningthestabledoor）.“Heycousins！Steady，Coalblack！Softlynow，Snowflake！Youarenotforgotten.”

Thehorseswerebothfrightenedbythestrangelightsandthenoises.Jill，whohadbeensocowardlyaboutgoingthroughablackholebetweeenonecaveandanother，wentinwithoutfearbetweenthestampingandsnortingbeasts，andsheandthePrincehadthemsaddledandbridledinafewminutes.Veryfinetheylookedastheycameoutintothecourtyard，tossingtheirheads.JillmountedSnowflake，andPuddleglumgotupbehindher.EustacegotupbehindthePrinceonCoalblack.Thenwithagreatechoofhoofs，theyrodeoutofthemaingatewayintothestreet.

“Notmuchdangerofbeingburnt.That’sthebrightsideofit，”observedPuddleglum，pointingtotheirright.There，hardlyahundredyardsaway，lappingagainstthewallsofthehouses，waswater.

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