The Last Battle, by C. S. Lewis (2024)

[Transcriber's note: Because of copyright considerations,the illustrations by Pauline Baynes (1922-2008)have been omitted from this etext.]

BY C. S. LEWIS

With illustrations
BY PAULINE BAYNES

New York
THE MACMILLAN COMPANY

CONTENTS

I BY CALDRON POOL
II THE RASHNESS OF THE KING
III THE APE IN ITS GLORY
IV WHAT HAPPENED THAT NIGHT
V HOW HELP CAME TO THE KING
VI A GOOD NIGHT'S WORK
VII MAINLY ABOUT DWARFS
VIII WHAT NEWS THE EAGLE BROUGHT
IX THE GREAT MEETING
X WHO WILL GO INTO THE STABLE?
XI THE PACE QUICKENS
XII THROUGH THE STABLE DOOR
XIII HOW THE DWARFS REFUSED TO BE TAKEN IN
XIV NIGHT FALLS ON NARNIA
XV FURTHER UP AND FURTHER IN
XVI FAREWELL TO SHADOW-LANDS

CHAPTER I

By Caldron Pool

In the last days of Narnia, far up to the west beyondLantern Waste and close beside the great waterfall,there lived an Ape. He was so old that no one couldremember when he had first come to live in those parts,and he was the cleverest, ugliest, most wrinkled Ape youcan imagine. He had a little house, built of wood andthatched with leaves, up in the fork of a great tree, andhis name was Shift. There were very few Talking Beastsor Men or Dwarfs, or people of any sort, in that part ofthe wood, but Shift had one friend and neighbour whowas a donkey called Puzzle. At least they both said theywere friends, but from the way things went on you mighthave thought Puzzle was more like Shift's servant thanhis friend. He did all the work. When they went togetherto the river, Shift filled the big skin bottles with waterbut it was Puzzle who carried them back. When theywanted anything from the towns further down the river,it was Puzzle who went down with empty panniers onhis back and came back with the panniers full andheavy. And all the nicest things that Puzzle broughtback were eaten by Shift; for as Shift said, "You seePuzzle, I can't eat grass and thistles like you, so it's only fairI should make it up in other ways." And Puzzle alwayssaid, "Of course, Shift, of course. I see that." Puzzlenever complained, because he knew that Shift was farcleverer than himself and he thought it was very kind ofShift to be friends with him at all. And if ever Puzzle didtry to argue about anything, Shift would always say,"Now, Puzzle, I understand what needs to be done betterthan you. You know you're not clever, Puzzle." AndPuzzle always said, "No, Shift. It's quite true. I'm notclever." Then he would sigh and do whatever Shift hadsaid.

One morning early in the year the pair of them wereout walking along the shore of Caldron Pool. CaldronPool is the big pool right under the cliffs at the westernend of Narnia. The great waterfall pours down into itwith a noise like everlasting thunder, and the River ofNarnia flows out on the other side. The waterfall keepsthe pool always dancing and bubbling and churninground and round as if it were on the boil, and that ofcourse is how it got its name of Caldron Pool. It is liveliestin the early spring when the waterfall is swollen withall the snow that has melted off the mountains from upbeyond Narnia in the Western Wild from which theriver comes. And as they looked at Caldron Pool, Shiftsuddenly pointed with his dark, shiny finger and said,

"Look! What's that?"

"What's what?" said Puzzle.

"That yellow thing that's just come down the waterfall.Look! There it is again, it's floating. We must findout what it is."

"Must we?" said Puzzle.

"Of course we must," said Shift. "It may be somethinguseful. Just hop into the Pool like a good fellow and fish*t out. Then we can have a proper look at it."

"Hop into the Pool?" said Puzzle, twitching his long ears.

"Well how are we to get it if you don't?" said the Ape.

"But—but," said Puzzle, "wouldn't it be better if youwent in? Because, you see it's you who want to knowwhat it is, and I don't much. And you've got hands, yousee. You're as good as a Man or a Dwarf when it comes tocatching hold of things. I've only got hoofs."

"Really, Puzzle," said Shift, "I didn't think you'd eversay a thing like that. I didn't think it of you, really."

"Why, what have I said wrong?" said the Ass, speakingin rather a humble voice, for he saw that Shift wasvery deeply offended. "All I meant was—"

"Wanting me to go into the water," said the Ape. "Asif you didn't know perfectly well what weak chests Apesalways have and how easily they catch cold! Very well.I will go in. I'm feeling cold enough already in this cruelwind. But I'll go in. I shall probably die. Then you'll besorry." And Shift's voice sounded as if he was just goingto burst into tears.

"Please don't, please don't, please don't," said Puzzle,half braying and half talking. "I never meant anythingof the sort, Shift, really I didn't. You know how stupid Iam and how I can't think of more than one thing at atime. I'd forgotten about your weak chest. Of course I'llgo in. You mustn't think of doing it yourself. Promiseme you won't, Shift."

So Shift promised, and Puzzle went cloppety-clop onhis four hoofs round the rocky edge of the Pool to find aplace where he could get in. Quite apart from the cold itwas no joke getting into that quivering and foamingwater, and Puzzle had to stand and shiver for a wholeminute before he made up his mind to do it. But thenShift called out from behind him and said: "Perhaps I'dbetter do it after all, Puzzle." And when Puzzle heardthat he said, "No, no. You promised. I'm in now," andin he went.

A great mass of foam got him in the face and filled hismouth with water and blinded him. Then he wentunder altogether for a few seconds, and when he came upagain he was in quite another part of the Pool. Thenthe swirl caught him and carried him round and roundand faster and faster till it took him right under thewaterfall itself, and the force of the water plunged himdown, deep down, so that he thought he would never beable to hold his breath till he came up again. And whenhe had come up and when at last he got somewhere nearthe thing he was trying to catch, it sailed away from himtill it too got under the fall and was forced down to thebottom. When it came up again it was farther from himthan ever. But at last, when he was almost tired to death,and bruised all over and numb with cold, he succeededin gripping the thing with his teeth. And out he camecarrying it in front of him and getting his front hoofstangled up in it, for it was as big as a large hearthrug,and it was very heavy and cold and slimy.

He flung it down in front of Shift and stood drippingand shivering and trying to get his breath back. But theApe never looked at him or asked him how he felt. TheApe was too busy going round and round the Thing andspreading it out and patting it and smelling it. Then awicked gleam came into his eye and he said.

"It is a lion's skin."

"Ee—auh—auh—oh, is it?" gasped Puzzle.

"Now I wonder ... I wonder ... I wonder," said Shiftto himself, for he was thinking very hard.

"I wonder who killed the poor lion," said Puzzlepresently. "It ought to be buried. We must have a funeral."

"Oh, it wasn't a Talking Lion," said Shift. "Youneedn't bother about that. There are no Talking Beastsup beyond the Falls, up in the Western Wild. This skinmust have belonged to a dumb, wild lion."

This, by the way, was true. A Hunter, a Man, hadkilled and skinned this lion somewhere up in theWestern Wild several months before. But that doesn't comeinto this story.

"All the same, Shift," said Puzzle, "even if the skinonly belonged to a dumb, wild lion, oughtn't we to giveit a decent burial? I mean, aren't all lions rather—well,rather solemn. Because of you know Who. Don't you see?"

"Don't you start getting ideas into your head, Puzzle,"said Shift. "Because, you know, thinking isn't yourstrong point. We'll make this skin into a fine warmwinter coat for you."

"Oh, I don't think I'd like that," said the Donkey. "Itwould look—I mean, the other Beasts might think—thatis to say, I shouldn't feel——"

"What are you talking about?" said Shift, scratchinghimself the wrong way up as Apes do.

"I don't think it would be respectful to the GreatLion, to Aslan himself, if an ass like me went aboutdressed up in a lionskin," said Puzzle.

"Now don't stand arguing, please," said Shift. "Whatdoes an ass like you know about things of that sort? Youknow you're no good at thinking, Puzzle, so why don'tyou let me do your thinking for you? Why don't youtreat me as I treat you? I don't think I can doeverything. I know you're better at some things than I am.That's why I let you go into the Pool; I knew you'd do itbetter than me. But why can't I have my turn when itcomes to something I can do and you can't? Am I neverto be allowed to do anything? Do be fair. Turn and turnabout."

"Oh well, of course, if you put it that way," said Puzzle.

"I tell you what," said Shift. "You'd better take a goodbrisk trot down river as far as Chippingford and see ifthey have any oranges or bananas."

"But I'm so tired, Shift," pleaded Puzzle.

"Yes, but you are very cold and wet," said the Ape."You want something to warm you up. A brisk trotwould be just the thing. Besides, it's market day atChippingford to-day." And then of course Puzzle said hewould go.

As soon as he was alone Shift went shambling along,sometimes on two paws and sometimes on four, till hereached his own tree. Then he swung himself up frombranch to branch, chattering and grinning all the time,and went into his little house. He found needle andthread and a big pair of scissors there; for he was a cleverApe and the Dwarfs had taught him how to sew. Heput the ball of thread (it was very thick stuff, more likecord than thread) into his mouth so that his cheekbulged out as if he were sucking a big bit of toffee. Heheld the needle between his lips and took the scissorsin his left paw. Then he came down the tree andshambled across to the lionskin. He squatted down and gotto work.

He saw at once that the body of the lionskin wouldbe too long for Puzzle and its neck too short. So he cut agood piece out of the body and used it to make a longcollar for Puzzle's long neck. Then he cut off the headand sewed the collar in between the head and the shoulders.He put threads on both sides of the skin so that itwould tie up under Puzzle's chest and stomach. Everynow and then a bird would pass overhead and Shiftwould stop his work, looking up anxiously. He did notwant anyone to see what he was doing. But none of thebirds he saw were Talking Birds, so it didn't matter.

Late in the afternoon Puzzle came back. He was nottrotting but only plodding patiently along, the waydonkeys do.

"There weren't any oranges," he said, "and thereweren't any bananas. And I'm very tired." He lay down.

"Come and try on your beautiful new lionskin coat,"said Shift.

"Oh bother that old skin," said Puzzle, "I'll try it on inthe morning. I'm too tired tonight."

"You are unkind, Puzzle," said Shift. "If you're tired,what do you think I am? All day long, while you've beenhaving a lovely refreshing walk down the valley, I'vebeen working hard to make you a coat. My paws are sotired I can hardly hold these scissors. And now you won'tsay thank-you—and you won't even look at the coat—andyou don't care—and—and—"

"My dear Shift," said Puzzle getting up at once, "I amso sorry. I've been horrid. Of course I'd love to try iton. And it looks simply splendid. Do try it on me at once.Please do."

"Well, stand still then," said the Ape. The skin wasvery heavy for him to lift, but in the end, with a lot ofpulling and pushing and puffing and blowing, he got itonto the donkey. He tied it underneath Puzzle's bodyand he tied the legs to Puzzle's legs and the tail toPuzzle's tail. A good deal of Puzzle's grey nose and face couldbe seen through the open mouth of the lion's head. Noone who had ever seen a real lion would have beentaken in for a moment. But if someone who had neverseen a lion looked at Puzzle in his lionskin, he just mightmistake him for a lion, if he didn't come too close, and ifthe light was not too good, and if Puzzle didn't let out abray and didn't make any noise with his hoofs.

"You look wonderful, wonderful," said the Ape. "Ifanyone saw you now, they'd think you were Aslan, theGreat Lion, himself."

"That would be dreadful," said Puzzle.

"No it wouldn't," said Shift. "Everyone would dowhatever you told them."

"But I don't want to tell them anything."

"But think of the good we could do!" said Shift."You'd have me to advise you, you know. I'd think ofsensible orders for you to give. And everyone would haveto obey us, even the King himself. We would seteverything right in Narnia."

"But isn't everything right already?" said Puzzle.

"What!" cried Shift. "Everything right?—when thereare no oranges or bananas?"

"Well, you know," said Puzzle, "there aren't manypeople—in fact, I don't think there's anyone butyourself—who wants those sort of things."

"There's sugar too," said Shift.

"H'm, yes," said the Ass. "It would be nice if therewas more sugar."

"Well then, that's settled," said the Ape. "You willpretend to be Aslan, and I'll tell you what to say."

"No, no, no," said Puzzle. "Don't say such dreadfulthings. It would be wrong, Shift. I may be not veryclever but I know that much. What would become of usif the real Aslan turned up?"

"I expect he'd be very pleased," said Shift. "Probablyhe sent us the lionskin on purpose, so that we could setthings to right. Anyway, he never does turn up, youknow. Not now-a-days."

At that moment there came a great thunderclap rightoverhead and the ground trembled with a small earthquake.Both the animals lost their balance and wereflung on their faces.

"There!" gasped Puzzle, as soon as he had breath tospeak. "It's a sign, a warning. I knew we were doingsomething dreadfully wicked. Take this wretched skinoff me at once."

"No, no," said the Ape (whose mind worked veryquickly). "It's a sign the other way. I was just going tosay that if the real Aslan, as you call him, meant us to goon with this, he would send us a thunderclap and anearth-tremor. It was just on the tip of my tongue, onlythe sign itself came before I could get the words out.You've got to do it now, Puzzle. And please don't let ushave any more arguing. You know you don't understandthese things. What could a donkey know about signs?"

CHAPTER II

The Rashness of the King

About three weeks later the last of the Kings ofNarnia sat under the great oak which grew besidethe door of his little hunting lodge, wherehe often stayed for ten days or so in the pleasant springweather. It was a low, thatched building not far fromthe Eastern end of Lantern Waste and some way abovethe meeting of the two rivers. He loved to live theresimply and at ease, away from the state and pomp ofCair Paravel, the royal city. His name was King Tirian,and he was between twenty and twenty-five years old;his shoulders were already broad and strong and hislimbs, full of hard muscle, but his beard was still scanty.He had blue eyes and a fearless, honest face.

There was no one with him that spring morning excepthis dearest friend, Jewel the Unicorn. They lovedeach other like brothers and each had saved the other'slife in the wars. The lordly beast stood close beside theKing's chair, with its neck bent round polishing its bluehorn against the creamy whiteness of its flank.

"I cannot set myself to any work or sport to-day,Jewel," said the King. "I can think of nothing but thiswonderful news. Think you we shall hear more of themto-day?"

"They are the most wonderful tidings ever heard inour days or our father's or our grandfathers' days, Sire,"said Jewel, "if they are true."

"How can they choose but be true?" said the King."It is more than a week ago that the first birds cameflying over us saying, Aslan is here, Aslan has come toNarnia again. And after that it was the squirrels. They hadnot seen him, but they said it was certain he was in thewoods. Then came the Stag. He said he had seen himwith his own eyes, a great way off, by moonlight, inLantern Waste. Then came that dark Man with the beard,the merchant from Calormen. The Calormenes carenothing for Aslan as we do; but the man spoke of it as athing beyond doubt. And there was the Badger lastnight; he too had seen Aslan."

"Indeed, Sire," answered Jewel, "I believe it all. If Iseem not to, it is only that my joy is too great to let mybelief settle itself. It is almost too beautiful to believe."

"Yes," said the King with a great sigh, almost a shiver,of delight. "It is beyond all that I ever hoped for in allmy life."

"Listen!" said Jewel, putting his head on one side andco*cking his ears forward.

"What is it?" asked the King.

"Hoofs, Sire," said Jewel. "A galloping horse. A veryheavy horse. It must be one of the Centaurs. And look,there he is."

A great, golden-bearded Centaur, with man's sweat onhis forehead and horse's sweat on his chestnut flanks,dashed up to the King, stopped, and bowed low. "Hail,King," it cried in a voice as deep as a bull's.

"Ho, there!" said the King, looking over his shouldertowards the door of the hunting lodge. "A bowl of winefor the noble Centaur. Welcome, Roonwit. When youhave found your breath, you shall tell us your errand."

A page came out of the house carrying a great woodenbowl, curiously carved, and handed it to the Centaur.The Centaur raised the bowl and said,

"I drink first to Aslan and truth, Sire, and secondly toyour Majesty."

He finished the wine (enough for six strong men) atone draught and handed the empty bowl back to the page.

"Now, Roonwit," said the King. "Do you bring usmore news of Aslan?"

Roonwit looked very grave, frowning a little.

"Sire," he said. "You know how long I have lived andstudied the stars; for we Centaurs live longer than youMen, and even longer than your kind, Unicorn. Neverin all my days have I seen such terrible things written inthe skies as there have been nightly since this year began.The stars say nothing of the coming of Aslan, nor ofpeace, nor of joy. I know by my art that there have notbeen such disastrous conjunctions of the planets for fivehundred years. It was already in my mind to come andwarn your Majesty that some great evil hangs overNarnia. But last night the rumour reached me that Aslan isabroad in Narnia. Sire, do not believe this tale. It cannotbe. The stars never lie, but Men and Beasts do. If Aslanwere really coming to Narnia, the sky would have foretoldit. If he were really come, all the most gracious starswould be assembled in his honour. It is all a lie."

"A lie!" said the King fiercely. "What creature in Narniaor all the world would dare to lie on such a matter?" And,without knowing it, he laid his hand on his sword hilt.

"That I know not, Lord King," said the Centaur."But I know there are liars on earth; there are noneamong the stars."

"I wonder," said Jewel, "whether Aslan might notcome though all the stars foretold otherwise. He is notthe slave of the stars but their Maker. Is it not said in allthe old stories that He is not a Tame Lion?"

"Well said, well said, Jewel," cried the King. "Thoseare the very words: not a tame lion. It comes in manytales."

Roonwit had just raised his hand and was leaningforward to say something very earnestly to the King whenall three of them turned their heads to listen to a wailingsound that was quickly drawing nearer. The wood wasso thick to the west of them that they could not see thenewcomer yet. But they could soon hear the words.

"Woe, woe, woe!" called the voice. "Woe for mybrothers and sisters! Woe for the holy trees! The woodsare laid waste. The axe is loosed against us. We are beingfelled. Great trees are falling, falling, falling."

With the last "falling," the speaker came in sight. Shewas like a woman but so tall that her head was on a levelwith the Centaur's: yet she was like a tree too. It is hardto explain if you have never seen a Dryad but quiteunmistakable once you have—something different in thecolour, the voice, and the hair. King Tirian and the twoBeasts knew at once that she was the nymph of a beech-tree.

"Justice, Lord King!" she cried. "Come to our aid.Protect your people. They are felling us in LanternWaste. Forty great trunks of my brothers and sisters arealready on the ground."

"What, Lady! Felling Lantern Waste? Murdering thetalking trees?" cried the King leaping to his feet anddrawing his sword. "How dare they? And who dares it?Now by the Mane of Aslan——"

"A-a-a-h," gasped the Dryad shuddering as if inpain—shuddering time after time as if under repeated blowsThen all at once she fell sideways as suddenly as if bothher feet had been cut from under her. For a second theysaw her lying dead on the grass and then she vanished.They knew what had happened. Her tree, miles away,had been cut down.

For a moment the King's grief and anger were so greatthat he could not speak. Then he said:

"Come, friends. We must go up river and find thevillains who have done this, with all the speed we can. Iwill leave not one of them alive."

"Sire, with a good will," said Jewel.

But Roonwit said, "Sire, be wary even in your justwrath. There are strange doings on foot. If there shouldbe rebels in arms further up the valley, we three are toofew to meet them. If it would please you to waitwhile——"

"I will not wait the tenth part of a second," said theKing. "But while Jewel and I go forward, do you gallopas hard as you may to Cair Paravel. Here is my ring foryour token. Get me a score of men-at-arms, allwell-mounted, and a score of Talking Dogs, and ten Dwarfs(let them all be fell archers), and a Leopard or so, andStonefoot the Giant. Bring all these after us as quicklyas can be."

"With a good will, Sire," said Roonwit. And at oncehe turned and galloped Eastward down the valley.

The King strode on at a great pace, sometimes mutteringto himself and sometimes clenching his fists. Jewelwalked beside him, saying nothing; so there was nosound between them but the faint jingle of a rich goldchain that hung round the Unicorn's neck and the noiseof two feet and four hoofs.

They soon reached the River and turned up it wherethere was a grassy road: they had the water on their leftand the forest on their right. Soon after that they cameto the place where the ground grew rougher and thickwood came down to the water's edge. The road, whatthere was of it, now ran on the southern bank and theyhad to ford the River to reach it. It was up to Tirian'sarmpits, but Jewel (who had four legs and was thereforesteadier) kept on his right to break the force of thecurrent, and Tirian put his strong arm round theUnicorn's strong neck and they both got safely over. TheKing was still so angry that he hardly noticed the coldof the water. But of course he dried his sword verycarefully on the shoulder of his cloak, which was the onlydry part of him, as soon as they came to shore.

They were now going westward with the River ontheir right and Lantern Waste straight ahead of them.They had not gone more than a mile when they bothstopped and both spoke at the same moment. The Kingsaid "What have we here" and Jewel said "Look!"

"It is a raft," said King Tirian.

And so it was. Half a dozen splendid tree trunks, allnewly cut and newly lopped of their branches, had beenlashed together to make a raft, and were gliding swiftlydown the River. On the front of the raft there was awater rat with a pole to steer it.

"Hey! Water Rat! What are you about?" cried the King.

"Taking logs down to sell to the Calormenes, Sire,"said the Rat, touching his ear as he might have touchedhis cap if he had had one.

"Calormenes!" thundered Tirian. "What do youmean? Who gave order for these trees to be felled?"

The River flows so swiftly at that time of the year thatthe raft had already glided past the King and Jewel. Butthe Water Rat looked back over its shoulders andshouted:

"The Lion's orders, Sire. Aslan himself." He addedsomething more but they couldn't hear it.

The King and the Unicorn stared at one another andboth looked more frightened than they had ever beenin any battle.

"Aslan," said the King at last, in a very low voice. "Aslan.Could it be true? Could he be felling the holy treesand murdering the Dryads?"

"Unless the Dryads have all done something dreadfullywrong——" murmured Jewel.

"But selling them to Calormenes!" said the King. "Isit possible?"

"I don't know," said Jewel miserably. "He's not atame Lion."

"Well," said the King at last, "we must go on and takethe adventure that comes to us."

"It is the only thing left for us to do, Sire," said theUnicorn. He did not see at the moment how foolish itwas for two of them to go alone; nor did the King. Theywere too angry to think clearly. But much evil came oftheir rashness in the end.

Suddenly the King leaned hard on his friend's neckand bowed his head.

"Jewel," he said, "What lies before us? Horriblethoughts arise in my heart. If we had died before to-daywe should have been happy."

"Yes," said Jewel. "We have lived too long. The worstthing in the world has come upon us." They stood likethat for a minute or two and then went on.

Before long they could hear the hack-hack-hack ofaxes falling on timber, though they could see nothingyet because there was a rise of the ground in front ofthem. When they had reached the top of it they couldsee right into Lantern Waste itself. And the King's faceturned white when he saw it.

Right through the middle of that ancient forest—thatforest where the trees of gold and of silver had oncegrown and where a child from our world had onceplanted the Tree of Protection—a broad lane hadalready been opened. It was a hideous lane like a raw gashin the land, full of muddy ruts where felled trees hadbeen dragged down to the river. There was a great crowdof people at work, and a cracking of whips, and horsestugging and straining as they dragged at the logs. Thefirst thing that struck the King and the Unicorn was thatabout half the people in the crowd were not TalkingBeasts but Men. The next thing was that these men werenot the fair-haired men of Narnia: they were dark,bearded men from Calormen, that great and cruel countrythat lies beyond Archenland across the desert to thesouth. There was no reason, of course, why one shouldnot meet a Calormene or two in Narnia—a merchant oran ambassador—for there was peace between Narnia andCalormen in those days. But Tirian could notunderstand why there are so many of them: nor why theywere cutting down a Narnian forest. He grasped hissword tighter and rolled his cloak round his left arm.They came quickly down among the men.

Two Calormenes were driving a horse which was harnessedto a log. Just as the King reached them, the loggot stuck in a bad muddy place.

"Get on, son of sloth! Pull, you lazy pig!" cried theCalormenes, cracking their whips. The horse was alreadystraining himself as hard as he could; his eyes werered and he was covered with foam.

"Work, lazy brute," shouted one of the Calormenes:and as he spoke he struck the horse savagely with hiswhip. It was then that the really dreadful thing happened.

Up till now Tirian had taken it for granted that thehorses which the Calormenes were driving were theirown horses; dumb, witless animals like the horses of ourown world. And though he hated to see even a dumbhorse overdriven, he was of course thinking more aboutthe murder of the Trees. It had never crossed his mindthat anyone would dare to harness one of the freeTalking Horses of Narnia, much less to use a whip on it. Butas that savage blow fell the horse reared up and said, halfscreaming:

"Fool and tyrant! Do you not see I am doing all I can?"

When Tirian knew that the Horse was one of his ownNarnians, there came over him and over Jewel such arage that they did not know what they were doing. TheKing's sword went up, the Unicorn's horn went down.They rushed forward together. Next moment both theCalormenes lay dead, the one beheaded by Tirian'ssword and the other gored through the heart by Jewel'shorn.

CHAPTER III

The Ape in Its Glory

"Master Horse, Master Horse," said Tirian as hehastily cut its traces, "how came these aliens toenslave you? Is Narnia conquered? Has therebeen a battle?"

"No, Sire," panted the horse. "Aslan is here. It is allby his orders. He has commanded——"

"'Ware danger, King," said Jewel. Tirian looked upand saw that Calormenes (mixed with a few TalkingBeasts) were beginning to run towards them from everydirection. The two dead men had died without a cry andso it had taken a moment before the rest of the crowdknew what had happened. But now they did. Most ofthem had naked scimitars in their hands.

"Quick. On my back," said Jewel.

The King flung himself astride of his old friend whoturned and galloped away. He changed direction twiceor thrice as soon as they were out of sight of theirenemies, crossed a stream, and shouted without slackeninghis pace, "Whither away, Sire? To Cair Paravel?"

"Hold hard, friend," said Tirian. "Let me off." Heslid off the Unicorn's back and faced him.

"Jewel," said the King. "We have done a dreadful deed."

"We were sorely provoked," said Jewel.

"But to leap on them unawares—without defyingthem—while they were unarmed—faugh! We are twomurderers, Jewel. I am dishonoured forever."

Jewel drooped his head. He too was ashamed.

"And then," said the King, "the Horse said it was byAslan's orders. The Rat said the same. They all sayAslan is here. But if it were true?"

"But, Sire, how could Aslan be commanding suchdreadful things?"

"He is not a tame Lion," said Tirian. "How should weknow what he would do? We, who are murderers. Jewel,I will go back. I will give up my sword and put myselfin the hands of these Calormenes and ask that they bringme before Aslan. Let him do justice to me."

"You will go to your death, then," said Jewel.

"Do you think I care if Aslan dooms me to death?"said the King. "That would be nothing, nothing at all.Would it not be better to be dead than to have thishorrible fear that Aslan has come and is not like the Aslanwe have believed in and longed for? It is as if the sunrose one day and were a black sun."

"I know," said Jewel. "Or as if you drank water and itwere dry water. You are in the right, Sire. This is theend of all things. Let us go and give ourselves up."

"There is no need for both of us to go."

"If ever we loved one another, let me go with younow," said the Unicorn. "If you are dead and if Aslan isnot Aslan, what life is left for me?"

They turned and walked back together, shedding bittertears.

As soon as they came to the place where the work wasgoing on the Calormenes raised a cry and came towardsthem with their weapons in hand. But the King held outhis sword with the hilt towards them and said:

"I who was King of Narnia and am now a dishonouredknight give myself up to the justice of Aslan. Bring mebefore him."

"And I give myself up too," said Jewel.

Then the dark men came round them in a thickcrowd, smelling of garlic and onions, their white eyesflashing dreadfully in their brown faces. They put arope halter round Jewel's neck. They took the King'ssword away and tied his hands behind his back. One ofthe Calormenes, who had a helmet instead of a turbanand seemed to be in command, snatched the gold circletoff Tirian's head and hastily put it away somewhereamong his clothes. They led the two prisoners uphill toa place where there was a big clearing. And this waswhat the prisoners saw.

At the centre of the clearing, which was also the highestpoint of the hill, there was a little hut like a stable,with a thatched roof. Its door was shut. On the grass infront of the door there sat an Ape. Tirian and Jewel,who had been expecting to see Aslan and had heardnothing about an Ape yet, were very bewildered when theysaw it. The Ape was of course Shift himself, but helooked ten times uglier than when he lived by CaldronPool, for he was now dressed up. He was wearing ascarlet jacket which did not fit him very well, having beenmade for a dwarf. He had jewelled slippers on his hindpaws which would not stay on properly because, as youknow, the hind paws of an Ape are really like hands. Hewore what seemed to be a paper crown on his head.There was a great pile of nuts beside him and he keptcracking nuts with his jaws and spitting out the shells.And he also kept on pulling up the scarlet jacket toscratch himself. A great number of Talking Beasts stoodfacing him, and nearly every face in that crowd lookedmiserably worried and bewildered. When they saw whothe prisoners were, they all groaned and whimpered.

"O Lord Shift, mouthpiece of Aslan," said the chiefCalormene. "We bring you prisoners. By our skill andcourage and by the permission of the great god Tash wehave taken alive these two desperate murderers."

"Give me that man's sword," said the Ape. So theytook the King's sword and handed it, with the sword-beltand all, to the monkey. And he hung it round his ownneck: and it made him look sillier than ever.

"We'll see about those two later," said the Ape, spittingout a shell in the direction of the two prisoners. "Igot some other business first. They can wait. Now listento me, everyone. The first thing I want to say is aboutnuts. Where's that Head Squirrel got to?"

"Here, Sir," said a red squirrel, coming forward andmaking a nervous little bow.

"Oh you are, are you?" said the Ape with a nasty look."Now attend to me. I want—I mean, Aslan wants—somemore nuts. These you've brought aren't anything nearenough. You must bring some more, do you hear? Twiceas many. And they got to be here by sunset tomorrow,and there mustn't be any bad ones or any small onesamong them."

A murmur of dismay ran through the other squirrels,and the Head Squirrel plucked up courage to say:

"Please, would Aslan himself speak to us about it? Inwe might be allowed to see him——"

"Well you won't," said the Ape. "He may be very kind(though it's a lot more than most of you deserve) andcome out for a few minutes to-night. Then you can allhave a look at him. But he will not have you all crowdinground him and pestering him with questions. Anythingyou want to say to him will be passed on through me: ifI think it's worth bothering him about. In themeantime all you squirrels had better go and see about thenuts. And make sure they are here by tomorrowevening or, my word! you'll catch it."

The poor squirrels all scampered away as if a dogwere after them. This new order was terrible news forthem. The nuts they had carefully hoarded for thewinter had nearly all been eaten by now; and of the fewthat were left they had already given the Ape far morethan they could spare.

Then a deep voice—it belonged to a great tusked andshaggy Boar—spoke from another part of the crowd.

"But why can't we see Aslan properly and talk tohim?" it said. "When he used to appear in Narnia in theold days everyone could talk to him face to face."

"Don't you believe it," said the Ape. "And even if itwas true, times have changed. Aslan says he's been fartoo soft with you before, do you see? Well, he isn't goingto be soft any more. He's going to lick you into shapethis time. He'll teach you to think he's a tame lion!"

A low moaning and whimpering was heard amongthe Beasts; and, after that, a dead silence which was moremiserable still.

"And now there's another thing you got to learn,"said the Ape. "I hear some of you are saying I'm an Ape.Well, I'm not. I'm a Man. If I look like an Ape, that'sbecause I'm so very old: hundreds and hundreds ofyears old. And it's because I'm so old that I'm so wise.And it's because I'm so wise that I'm the only one Aslanis ever going to speak to. He can't be bothered talking toa lot of stupid animals. He'll tell me what you've got todo, and I'll tell the rest of you. And take my advice,and see you do it in double quick time, for He doesn'tmean to stand any nonsense."

There was dead silence except for the noise of a veryyoung badger crying and its mother trying to make itkeep quiet.

"And now here's another thing," the Ape went on,fitting a fresh nut into its cheek, "I hear some of thehorses are saying, Let's hurry up and get this job ofcarting timber over as quickly as we can, and then we'll befree again. Well, you can get that idea out of your headsat once. And not only the Horses either. Everybody whocan work is going to be made to work in the future.Aslan has it all settled with the King of Calormen—TheTisroc, as our dark-faced friends, the Calormenes, callhim. All you horses and bulls and donkeys are to be sentdown into Calormen to work for your living—pullingand carrying the way horses and such do in other countries.And all you digging animals like moles and rabbitsand Dwarfs are going down to work in the Tisroc'smines. And——"

"No, no, no," howled the Beasts. "It can't be true.Aslan would never sell us into slavery to the King ofCalormen."

"None of that! Hold your noise!" said the Ape with asnarl. "Who said anything about slavery? You won't beslaves. You'll be paid—very good wages too. That is tosay, your pay will be paid in to Aslan's treasury and hewill use it all for everybody's good." Then he glanced,and almost winked, at the chief Calormene. The Calormenebowed and replied, in the pompous Calormene way:

"Most sapient Mouthpiece of Aslan, the Tisroc (mayhe live forever) is wholly of one mind with your lordshipin this judicious plan."

"There! You see!" said the Ape. "It's all arranged.And all for your own good. We'll be able, with themoney you earn, to make Narnia a country worth livingin. There'll be oranges and bananas pouring in—androads and big cities and schools and offices and whipsand muzzles and saddles and cages and kennels andprisons—Oh, everything."

"But we don't want all those things," said an old Bear."We want to be free. And we want to hear Aslan speakhimself."

"Now don't you start arguing," said the Ape, "for it'sa thing I won't stand. I'm a Man: you're only a fat,stupid old Bear. What do you know about freedom? Youthink freedom means doing what you like. Well, you'rewrong. That isn't true freedom. True freedom meansdoing what I tell you."

"H-n-n-h," grunted the Bear and scratched its head;it found this sort of thing hard to understand.

"Please, please," said the high voice of a woolly lamb,who was so young that everyone was surprised he daredto speak at all.

"What is it now?" said the Ape. "Be quick."

"Please," said the Lamb, "I can't understand. Whathave we to do with the Calormenes? We belong to Aslan.They belong to Tash. They have a god called Tash.They say he has four arms and the head of a vulture.They kill Men on his altar. I don't believe there's anysuch person as Tash. But if there was, how could Aslanbe friends with him?"

All the animals co*cked their heads sideways and alltheir bright eyes flashed towards the Ape. They knew itwas the best question anyone had asked yet.

The Ape jumped up and spat at the Lamb.

"Baby!" he hissed. "Silly little bleater! Go home toyour mother and drink milk. What do you understand ofsuch things? But you others, listen. Tash is only anothername for Aslan. All that old idea of us being right andthe Calormenes wrong is silly. We know better now. TheCalormenes use different words but we all mean thesame thing. Tash and Aslan are only two different namesfor you know Who. That's why there can never be anyquarrel between them. Get that into your heads, youstupid brutes. Tash is Aslan: Aslan is Tash."

You know how sad your own dog's face can look sometimes.Think of that and then think of all the faces ofthose Talking Beasts—all those honest, humble, bewilderedbirds, bears, badgers, rabbits, moles, and mice—allfar sadder than that. Every tail was down, every whiskerdrooped. It would have broken your heart with very pityto see their faces. There was only one who did not lookat all unhappy.

It was a ginger cat—a great big Tom in the prime oflife—who sat bolt upright with his tail curled round histoes, in the very front row of all the Beasts. He had beenstaring hard at the Ape and the Calormene captain allthe time and had never once blinked his eyes.

"Excuse me," said the Cat very politely, "but thisinterests me. Does your friend from Calormen say thesame?"

"Assuredly," said the Calormene. "The enlightenedApe—Man, I mean—is in the right. Aslan means neitherless nor more than Tash."

"Especially, Aslan means no more than Tash?"suggested the Cat.

"No more at all," said the Calormene, looking the Catstraight in the face.

"Is that good enough for you, Ginger?" said the Ape.

"Oh certainly," said Ginger coolly. "Thank you verymuch. I only wanted to be quite clear. I think I ambeginning to understand."

Up till now the King and Jewel had said nothing:they were waiting until the Ape should bid them speak,for they thought it was no use interrupting. But now, asTirian looked round on the miserable faces of theNarnians, and saw how they would all believe that Aslanand Tash were one and the same, he could bear it nolonger.

"Ape," he cried with a great voice, "you lie. You liedamnably. You lie like a Calormene. You lie like an Ape."

He meant to go on and ask how the terrible god Tashwho fed on the blood of his people could possibly be thesame as the good Lion by whose blood all Narnia wassaved. If he had been allowed to speak, the rule of theApe might have ended that day; the Beasts might haveseen the truth and thrown the Ape down. But before hecould say another word two Calormenes struck himin the mouth with all their force, and a third, frombehind, kicked his feet from under him. And as he fell,the Ape squealed in rage and terror:

"Take him away. Take him away. Take him wherehe cannot hear us, nor we hear him. There tie him to atree. I will—I mean, Aslan will—do justice to him later."

CHAPTER IV

What Happened that Night

The King was so dizzy from being knocked downthat he hardly knew what was happening untilthe Calormenes untied his wrists and put hisarms straight down by his sides and set him with his backagainst an ash tree. Then they bound ropes round hisankles and his knees and his waist and his chest and lefthim there. What worried him worst at the moment—forit is often little things that are hardest to stand—wasthat his lip was bleeding where they had hit him and hecouldn't wipe the little trickle of blood away althoughit tickled him.

From where he was he could still see the little stableon the top of the hill and the Ape sitting in front of it.He could just hear the Ape's voice still going on and,every now and then, some answer from the crowd but hecould not make out the words.

"I wonder what they've done to Jewel," thought the King.

Presently the crowd of Beasts broke up and began goingaway in different directions. Some passed close toTirian. They looked at him as if they were bothfrightened and sorry to see him tied up but none of themspoke. Soon they had all gone and there was silence inthe wood. Then hours and hours went past and Tirianbecame first very thirsty and then very hungry; and asthe afternoon dragged on and turned into evening, hebecame cold too. His back was very sore. The sun wentdown and it began to be twilight.

When it was almost dark Tirian heard a lightpitter-patter of feet and saw some small creatures comingtowards him. The three on the left were Mice, andthere was a Rabbit in the middle: on the right were twoMoles. Both of these were carrying little bags on theirbacks which gave them a curious look in the dark so thatat first he wondered what kind of beasts they were. Then,in a moment, they were all standing up on their hindlegs, laying their cool paws on his knees and giving hisknees snuffly animal kisses. (They could reach his kneesbecause Narnian Talking Beasts of that sort are biggerthan the dumb beasts of the same kinds in England.)

"Lord King! dear Lord King," said their shrill voices,"we are so sorry for you. We daren't untie you becauseAslan might be angry with us. But we've brought youyour supper."

At once the first Mouse climbed nimbly up till he wasperched on the rope that bound Tirian's chest and wascrinkling his blunt nose just in front of Tirian's face.Then the second Mouse climbed up and hung on justbelow the first Mouse. The other beasts stood on theground and began handing things up.

"Drink, Sire, and then you'll find you are able to eat,"said the topmost Mouse, and Tirian found that a littlewooden cup was being held to his lips. It was only thesize of an eggcup so that he had hardly tasted the winein it before it was empty. But then the Mouse passed itdown and the others re-filled it and it was passed upagain and Tirian emptied it a second time. In this waythey went on till he had quite a good drink, which was allthe better for coming in little doses, for that is morethirst-quenching than one long draught.

"Here is cheese, Sire," said the first Mouse, "but notvery much, for fear it would make you too thirsty." Andafter the cheese they fed him with oatcakes and freshbutter, and then with some more wine.

"Now hand up the water," said the first Mouse, "andI'll wash the King's face. There is blood on it."

Then Tirian felt something like a tiny spongedabbing his face, and it was most refreshing.

"Little friends," said Tirian, "how can I thank you forall this?"

"You needn't, you needn't," said the little voices."What else could we do? We don't want any other King.We're your people. If it were only the Ape and theCalormenes who were against you, we would have foughttill we were cut into pieces before we'd have let them tieyou up. We would, we would indeed. But we can't goagainst Aslan."

"Do you think it really is Aslan?" asked the King.

"Oh yes, yes," said the Rabbit. "He came out of thestable last night. We all saw him."

"What was he like?" said the King.

"Like a terrible, great Lion, to be sure," said one ofthe Mice.

"And you think it is really Aslan who is killing theWood-Nymphs and making you all slaves to the King ofCalormen?"

"Ah, that's bad, isn't it?" said the second Mouse. "Itwould have been better if we'd died before all thisbegan. But there's no doubt about it. Everyone says it isAslan's orders, and we've seen him. We didn't thinkAslan would be like that. Why, we—we wanted him to comeback to Narnia."

"He seems to have come back very angry this time,"said the first Mouse. "We must all have done somethingdreadfully wrong without knowing it. He must be punishingus for something. But I do think we might be toldwhat it was!"

"I suppose what we're doing now may be wrong," said the Rabbit.

"I don't care if it is," said one of the Moles. "I'd do itagain."

But the others said, "Oh hush," and "do be careful,"and then they all said, "We're sorry, dear King, but wemust go back now. It would never do for us to be caughthere."

"Leave me at once, dear Beasts," said Tirian. "I wouldnot for all Narnia bring any of you into danger."

"Good night, good night," said the Beasts, rubbingtheir noses against his knees. "We will come back—if wecan." Then they all pattered away and the wood seemeddarker and colder and lonelier than it had been beforethey came.

The stars came out and time went slowly on—imaginehow slowly—while the last King of Narnia stood stiff andsore and upright against the tree in his bonds. But at lastsomething happened.

Far away there appeared a red light. Then itdisappeared for a moment and came back again, bigger andstronger. Then he could see dark shapes going to and froon this side of the light and carrying bundles andthrowing them down. He knew now what he was looking at. Itwas a bonfire, newly lit, and people were throwingbundles of brushwood onto it. Presently it blazed up andTirian could see that it was on the very top of the hill.He could see quite clearly the stable behind it, all lit upin the red glow, and a great crowd of Beasts and Menbetween the fire and himself. A small figure, hunched upbeside the fire, must be the Ape. It was saying somethingto the crowd, but he could not hear what. Then it wentand bowed three times to the ground in front of the doorof the stable. Then it got up and opened the door. Andsomething on four legs—something that walked ratherstiffly—came out of the stable and stood facing the crowd.

A great wailing or howling went up, so loud thatTirian could hear some of the words.

"Aslan! Aslan! Aslan!" cried the Beasts. "Speak to us.Comfort us. Be angry with us no more."

From where Tirian was, he could not make out veryclearly what the thing was; but he could see that it wasyellow and hairy. He had never seen the Great Lion.He had never seen even a common lion. He couldn't besure that what he saw was not the real Aslan. He had notexpected Aslan to look like that stiff thing which stoodand said nothing. But how could one be sure? For amoment horrible thoughts went through his mind: thenhe remembered the nonsense about Tash and Aslanbeing the same and knew that the whole thing must be acheat.

The Ape put his head close up to the yellow thing'shead as if he were listening to something it waswhispering to him. Then he turned and spoke to the crowd,and the crowd wailed again. Then the yellow thingturned clumsily round and walked—you might almostsay, waddled—back into the stable and the Ape shut thedoor behind it. After that the fire must have been putout for the light vanished quite suddenly, and Tirianwas once more alone with the cold and the darkness.

He thought of other Kings who had lived and died inNarnia in old times and it seemed to him that none ofthem had ever been so unlucky as himself. He thoughtof his great-grandfather's great-grandfather, KingRilian, who had been stolen away by a Witch when he wasonly a young prince and kept hidden for years in thedark caves beneath the land of the Northern Giants.But then it had all come right in the end, for twomysterious children had suddenly appeared from the landbeyond the world's end and had rescued him so that hecame home to Narnia and had a long and prosperousreign. "It's not like that with me," said Tirian to himself.Then he went further back and thought about Rilian'sfather, Caspian the Seafarer, whose wicked uncle KingMiraz had tried to murder him, and how Caspian fledaway into the woods and lived among the Dwarfs. Butthat story too had all come right in the end too: forCaspian also had been helped by children—only there werefour of them that time—who came from somewherebeyond the world and fought a great battle and set himon his father's throne. "But it was all long ago," saidTirian to himself. "That sort of thing doesn't happennow." And then he remembered (for he had always beengood at history when he was a boy) how those samefour children who had helped Caspian had been inNarnia over a thousand years before; and it was then thatthey had defeated the terrible White Witch and endedthe Hundred Years of Winter, and after that they hadreigned (all four of them together) at Cair Paravel, tillthey were no longer children but great Kings and lovelyQueens, and their reign had been the golden age ofNarnia. And Aslan had come into that story a lot. He hadcome into all the other stories too, as Tirian nowremembered. "Aslan—and children from another world,"thought Tirian. "They have always come in when thingswere at their worst. Oh, if only they could now."

And he called out "Aslan! Aslan! Aslan! Come andhelp us Now."

But the darkness and the cold and the quietness wenton just the same.

"Let me be killed," cried the King. "I ask nothing formyself. But come and save all Narnia."

And still there was no change in the night or the wood,but there began to be a kind of change inside Tirian.Without knowing why, he began to feel a faint hope.And he felt somehow stronger. "Oh Aslan, Aslan," hewhispered. "If you will not come yourself, at least sendme the helpers from beyond the world. Or let me callthem. Let my voice carry beyond the world." Then,hardly knowing that he was doing it, he suddenly criedout in a great voice:

"Children! Children! Friends of Narnia! Quick.Come to me. Across the worlds I call you; I Tirian, Kingof Narnia, Lord of Cair Paravel, and Emperor of theLone Islands!"

And immediately he was plunged into a dream (if itwas a dream) more vivid than any he had had in his life.

He seemed to be standing in a lighted room whereseven people sat round a table. It looked as if they hadjust finished their meal. Two of these people were veryold, an old man with a white beard and an old womanwith wise, merry, twinkling eyes. He who sat at the righthand of the old man was hardly full grown, certainlyyounger than Tirian himself, but his face had alreadythe look of a king and a warrior. And you could almostsay the same of the other youth who sat at the right handof the old woman. Facing Tirian across the table sat afair-haired girl younger than either of these, and oneither side of her, a boy and girl who were younger still.They were all dressed in what seemed to Tirian theoddest kind of clothes.

But he had no time to think about details like that,for instantly the youngest boy and both the girls startedto their feet, and one of them gave a little scream. Theold woman started and drew in her breath sharply. Theold man must have made some sudden movement toofor the wine glass which stood at his right hand wasswept off the table: Tirian could hear the tinkling noiseas it broke on the floor.

Then Tirian realised that these people could see him;they were staring at him as if they saw a ghost. But henoticed that the king-like one who sat at the old man'sright never moved (though he turned pale) except thathe clenched his hand very tight. Then he said:

"Speak, if you're not a phantom or a dream. You havea Narnian look about you and we are the seven friendsof Narnia."

Tirian was longing to speak, and he tried to cry outaloud that he was Tirian of Narnia, in great need ofhelp. But he found (as I have sometimes found in dreamstoo) that his voice made no noise at all.

The one who had already spoken to him arose to hisfeet. "Shadow or spirit or whatever you are," he said,fixing his eyes full upon Tirian. "If you are fromNarnia, I charge you in the name of Aslan, speak to me. Iam Peter the High King."

The room began to swim before Tirian's eyes. Heheard the voices of those seven people all speaking atonce, and all getting fainter every second, and theywere saying things like, "Look! It's fading." "It'smelting away." "It's vanishing." Next moment he was wideawake, still tied to the tree, colder and stiffer than ever.The wood was full of the pale, dreary light that comesbefore sunrise, and he was soaking wet with dew; it wasnearly morning.

That waking was about the worst moment he had everhad in his life.

CHAPTER V

How Help Came to the King

But his misery did not last long. Almost at oncethere came a bump, and then a second bump, andtwo children were standing before him. The woodin front of him had been quite empty a second beforeand he knew they had not come from behind his tree, forhe would have heard them. They had in fact simplyappeared from nowhere. He saw at a glance that they werewearing the same queer, dingy sort of clothes as thepeople in his dream; and he saw, at a second glance, thatthey were the youngest boy and girl out of that party of seven.

"Gosh!" said the Boy, "that took one's breath away!I thought——"

"Hurry up and get him untied," said the girl. "Wecan talk afterwards." Then she added, turning toTirian, "I'm sorry we've been so long. We came themoment we could."

While she was speaking the Boy had produced a knifefrom his pocket and was quickly cutting the King'sbonds: too quickly, in fact, for the King was so stiff andnumb that when the last cord was cut he fell forward onhis hands and knees. He couldn't get up again till he hadbrought some life back into his legs by a good rubbing.

"I say," said the girl. "It was you, wasn't it, whoappeared to us that night when we were all at supper?Nearly a week ago."

"A week, fair maid?" said Tirian. "My dream led meinto your world scarce ten minutes since."

"It's the usual muddle about times, Pole," said the Boy.

"I remember now," said Tirian. "That too comes inall the old tales. The time of your strange land isdifferent from ours. But if we speak of Time, 'tis time to begone from here: for my enemies are close at hand. Willyou come with me?"

"Of course," said the girl. "It's you we've come to help."

Tirian got to his feet and led them rapidly downhill,southward and away from the stable. He knew wellwhere he meant to go but his first aim was to get to rockyplaces where they would leave no trail, and his second tocross some water so that they would leave no scent. Thistook them about an hour's scrambling and wading andwhile that was going on nobody had any breath to talk.But even so, Tirian kept on stealing glances at hiscompanions. The wonder of walking beside the creaturesfrom another world made him feel a little dizzy: but italso made all the old stories seem far more real thanthey had ever seemed before ... anything might happen now.

"Now," said Tirian as they came to the head of a littlevalley which ran down before them among young birchtrees, "we are out of danger of those villains for a spaceand may walk more easily." The sun had risen,dew-drops were twinkling on every branch, and birds weresinging.

"What about some grub?—I mean for you, Sir; wetwo have had our breakfast," said the Boy.

Tirian wondered very much what he meant by"grub," but when the Boy opened a bulgy satchel whichhe was carrying and pulled out a rather greasy andsquashy packet, he understood. He was ravenouslyhungry, though he hadn't thought about it till that moment.There were two hard-boiled egg sandwiches, and twocheese sandwiches, and two with some kind of paste inthem. If he hadn't been so hungry, he wouldn't havethought much of the paste, for that is a sort of foodnobody eats in Narnia. By the time he had eaten all sixsandwiches they had come to the bottom of the valleyand there they found a moss cliff with a little fountainbubbling out of it. All three stopped and drank andsplashed their hot faces.

"And now," said the girl as she tossed her wet hairback from her forehead, "aren't you going to tell us whoyou are and why you were tied up and what it's allabout?"

"With a good will, damsel," said Tirian. "But wemust keep on the march." So while they went on walkinghe told them who he was and all the things that hadhappened to him. "And now," he said at the end, "I amgoing to a certain tower, one of three that were built inmy grandsire's time to guard Lantern Waste againstcertain perilous outlaws who dwelled there in his day. ByAslan's good will I was not robbed of my keys. In thattower we shall find store of weapons and mail and somevictuals also, though no better than dry biscuit. Therealso we can lie safe while we make our plans. And now,prithee, tell me who you two are and all your story."

"I'm Eustace Scrubb and this is Jill Pole," said theBoy. "And we were here once before, ages and ages ago,more than a year ago by our time, and there was a chapcalled Prince Rilian, and they were keeping this chapunderground, and Puddle-glum put his foot in——"

"Ha!" cried Tirian, "are you then that Eustace andthat Jill who rescued King Rilian from his long enchantment?"

"Yes, that's us," said Jill. "So he's King Rilian now, ishe? Oh of course he would be. I forgot——"

"Nay," said Tirian, "I am the seventh in descent fromhim. He has been dead over two hundred years."

Jill made a face. "Ugh!" she said. "That's the horridpart about coming back to Narnia." But Eustace went on.

"Well now you know who we are, Sire," he said. "Andit was like this. The Professor and Aunt Polly had gotall us friends of Narnia together——"

"I know not these names, Eustace," said Tirian.

"They're the two who came into Narnia at the verybeginning, the day all the animals learned to talk."

"By the Lion's Mane," cried Tirian. "Those two! TheLord Digory and the Lady Polly! From the dawn of theworld! And still alive in your place? The wonder andthe glory of it! But tell me, tell me."

"She isn't really our aunt, you know," said Eustace."She's Miss Plummer, but we call her Aunt Polly. Well,those two got us all together: partly just for fun so thatwe could all have a good jaw about Narnia (for of coursethere's no one else we can ever talk to about things likethat) but partly because the Professor had a feeling thatwe were somehow wanted over here. Well then youcame in like a ghost or goodness-knows-what andnearly frightened the lives out of us and vanishedwithout saying a word. After that, we knew for certain therewas something up. The next question was how to gethere. You can't go just by wanting to. So we talked andtalked and at last the Professor said the only way wouldbe by the Magic Rings. It was by those Rings that he andAunt Polly got here long, long ago when they were onlykids, years before we younger ones were born. But theRings had all been buried in the garden of a house inLondon (that's our big town, Sire) and the house hadbeen sold. So then the problem was how to get at them.You'll never guess what we did in the end! Peter andEdmund—that's the High King Peter, the one who spoketo you—went up to London to get into the garden fromthe back, early in the morning before people were up.They were dressed like workmen so that if anyone didsee them it would look as if they'd come to do somethingabout the drains. I wish I'd been with them: it must havebeen glorious fun. And they must have succeeded fornext day Peter sent us a wire—that's a sort of message,Sire, I'll explain about it some other time—to say he'dgot the Rings. And the day after that was the day Poleand I had to go back to school—we're the only two whoare still at school and we're at the same one. So Peter andEdmund were to meet us at a place on the way down toschool and hand over the Rings. It had to be us two whowere to go to Narnia, you see, because the older onescouldn't come again. So we got into the train—that'skind of thing people travel in in our world: a lot ofwagons chained together—and the Professor and Aunt Pollyand Lucy came with us. We wanted to keep together aslong as we could. Well there we were in the train. Andwe were just getting to the station where the others wereto meet us, and I was looking out of the window to seeif I could see them when suddenly there came a mostfrightful jerk and a noise: and there we were in Narniaand there was your Majesty tied up to the tree."

"So you never used the Rings?" said Tirian.

"No," said Eustace. "Never even saw them. Aslan didit all for us in his own way without any Rings."

"But the High King Peter has them," said Tirian.

"Yes," said Jill. "But we don't think he can use them.When the two other Pevensies—King Edmund andQueen Lucy—were last here, Aslan said they wouldnever come to Narnia again. And he said something ofthe same sort to the High King, only longer ago. Youmay be sure he'll come like a shot if he's allowed."

"Gosh!" said Eustace. "It's getting hot in this sun. Arewe nearly there, Sire?"

"Look," said Tirian and pointed. Not many yardsaway grey battlements rose above the treetops, and aftera minute's more walking they came out in an opengrassy space. A stream ran across it and on the far side ofthe stream stood a squat, square tower with very few andnarrow windows and one heavy-looking door in the wallthat faced them.

Tirian looked sharply this way and that to make surethat no enemies were in sight. Then he walked up to thetower and stood still for a moment fishing up his bunchof keys which he wore inside his hunting-dress on anarrow silver chain that went round his neck. It was a nicebunch of keys that he brought out, for two were goldenand many were richly ornamented: you could see at oncethat they were keys made for opening solemn and secretrooms in palaces, or chests and caskets of sweet-smellingwood that contained royal treasures. But the key whichhe now put into the lock of the door was big and plainand more rudely made. The lock was stiff and for amoment Tirian was afraid that he would not be able toturn it: But at last he did and the door swung open witha sullen creak.

"Welcome, friends," said Tirian. "I fear this is thebest palace that the King of Narnia can now offer to hisguests."

Tirian was pleased to see that the two strangers hadbeen well brought up. They both said not to mention itand that they were sure it would be very nice.

As a matter of fact it was not particularly nice. It wasrather dark and smelled very damp. There was only oneroom in it and this room went right up to the stone roof:a wooden staircase in one corner led up to a trap door bywhich you could get out on the battlements. There werea few rude bunks to sleep in, and a great many lockersand bundles. There was also a hearth which looked as ifnobody had lit a fire in it for a great many years.

"We'd better go out and gather some firewood firstthing, hadn't we?" said Jill.

"Not yet, comrade," said Tirian. He was determinedthat they should not be caught unarmed, and begansearching the lockers, thankfully remembering that hehad always been careful to have these garrison towersinspected once a year to make sure that they were stockedwith all things needful. The bow strings were therein their coverings of oiled silk, the swords and spearswere greased against rust, and the armour was keptbright in its wrappings. But there was something evenbetter. "Look!" said Tirian as he drew out a long mailshirt of a curious pattern and flashed it before thechildren's eyes.

"That's funny looking mail, Sire," said Eustace.

"Aye, lad," said Tirian. "No Narnian dwarf smithiedthat. 'Tis mail of Calormen, outlandish gear. I have everkept a few suits of it in readiness, for I never knew whenI or my friends might have reason to walk unseen in theTisroc's land. And look on this stone bottle. In this thereis a juice which, when we have rubbed it on our handsand faces, will make us brown as Calormenes."

"Oh hurrah!" said Jill. "Disguises! I love disguises."

Tirian showed them how to pour out a little of thejuice into the palms of their hands and then rub it wellover their faces and necks, right down to the shoulders,and then on their hands, right up to the elbows. He didthe same himself.

"After this has hardened on us," he said, "we may washin water and it will not change. Nothing but oil andashes will make us white Narnians again. And now, sweetJill, let us go see how this mail-shirt becomes you. 'Tissomething too long, yet not so much as I feared. Doubtlessit belonged to a page in the train of one of their Tarkaans."

After the mail shirts they put on Calormene helmets,which are little round ones fitting tight to the head andhaving a spike on top. Then Tirian took long rolls ofsome white stuff out of the locker and wound them overthe helmets till they became turbans: but the little steelspike still stuck up in the middle. He and Eustace tookcurved Calormene swords and little round shields.There was no sword light enough for Jill, but he gaveher a long, straight hunting knife which might do for asword at a pinch.

"Hast any skill with the bow, maiden?" said Tirian.

"Nothing worth talking of," said Jill blushing."Scrubb's not bad."

"Don't you believe her, Sire," said Eustace. "We'veboth been practicing archery ever since we got back fromNarnia last time, and she's about as good as I now. Notthat either of us is much."

Then Tirian gave Jill a bow and a quiver full of arrows.The next business was to light a fire, for insidethat tower it still felt more like a cave than like anythingindoors and set one shivering. But they got warmgathering the wood—the sun was now at its highest—and whenonce the blaze was roaring up the chimney the placebegan to look cheerful. Dinner was, however, a dull meal,for the best they could do was to pound up some of thehard biscuit which they found in a locker and pour itinto boiling water, with salt, so as to make a kind ofporridge. And there was nothing to drink but water.

"I wish we'd brought a packet of tea," said Jill.

"Or a tin of cocoa," said Eustace.

"A firkin or so of good wine in each of these towerswould not have been amiss," said Tirian.

CHAPTER VI

A Good Night's Work

About four hours later Tirian flung himself intoone of the bunks to snatch a little sleep. The twochildren were already snoring: he had madethem go to bed before he did because they would haveto be up most of the night and he knew that at their agethey couldn't do without sleep. Also, he had tired themout. First he had given Jill some practice in archery andfound that, though not up to Narnian standards, she wasreally not too bad. Indeed she had succeeded in shootinga rabbit (not a Talking rabbit, of course: there arelots of the ordinary kind about in Western Narnia) andit was already skinned, cleaned, and hanging up. He hadfound that both the children knew all about this chillyand smelly job; they had learned that kind of thing ontheir great journey through Giant-Land in the days ofPrince Rilian. Then he had tried to teach Eustace howto use his sword and shield. Eustace had learned quite alot about sword fighting on his earlier adventures butthat had been all with a straight Narnian sword. He hadnever handled a curved Calormene scimitar and thatmade it hard, for many of the strokes are quite differentand some of the habits he had learned with the longsword had now to be unlearned again. But Tirian foundthat he had a good eye and was very quick on his feet.He was surprised at the strength of both the children:in fact they both seemed to be already much strongand bigger and more grown-up than they had been whenhe first met them a few hours ago. It is one of the effectswhich Narnian air often has on visitors from our world.

All three of them agreed that the very first thing theymust do was to go back to Stable Hill and try to rescueJewel the Unicorn. After that, if they succeeded, theywould try to get away Eastward and meet the little armywhich Roonwit the Centaur would be bringing fromCair Paravel.

An experienced warrior and huntsman like Tiriancan always wake up at the time he wants. So he gavehimself till nine o'clock that night and then put all worriesout of his head and fell asleep at once. It seemed only amoment later when he woke but he knew by the lightand the very feel of things that he had timed his sleepexactly. He got up, put on his helmet-and-turban (hehad slept in his mail-shirt), and then shook the othertwo till they woke up. They looked, to tell the truth,very grey and dismal as they climbed out of their bunksand there was a good deal of yawning.

"Now," said Tirian, "we go due North from here—bygood fortune 'tis a starry night—and it will be muchshorter than our journey this morning, for then we wentroundabout but now we shall go straight. If we arechallenged, then do you two hold your peace and I will domy best to talk like a curst, cruel, proud lord ofCalormen. If I draw my sword then thou, Eustace, must dolikewise and let Jill leap behind us and stand with anarrow on the string. But if I cry 'Home,' then fly for theTower both of you. And let none try to fight on—noteven one stroke—after I have given the retreat: such falsevalour has spoiled many notable plans in the wars. Andnow friends, in the name of Aslan let us go forward."

Out they went into the cold night. All the greatnorthern stars were burning above the treetops. The North-Starof that world is called the Spear-Head: it is brighterthan our Pole Star.

For a time they could go straight towards the Spear-Headbut presently they came to a dense thicket so thatthey had to go out of their course to get round it. Andafter that—for they were still overshadowed by branches—itwas hard to pick up their bearings. It was Jill whoset them right again: she had been an excellent Guide inEngland. And of course she knew her Narnian starsperfectly, having travelled so much in the wild NorthernLands, and could work out the direction from other starseven when the Spear-Head was hidden. As soon asTirian saw that she was the best pathfinder of the threeof them he put her in front. And then he was astonishedto find how silently and almost invisibly she glided onbefore them.

"By the Mane!" he whispered to Eustace. "This girl isa wondrous wood-maid. If she had Dryad's blood in hershe could scarce do it better."

"She's so small, that's what helps," whispered Eustace.But Jill from in front said: "S-s-s-h, less noise."

All round them the wood was very quiet. Indeed itwas far too quiet. On an ordinary Narnian night thereought to have been noises—an occasional cheery "Goodnight" from a hedgehog, the cry of an owl overhead,perhaps a flute in the distance to tell of Fauns dancing, orsome throbbing, hammering noises from Dwarfsunderground. All that was silenced: gloom and fear reignedover Narnia.

After a time they began to go steeply uphill and thetrees grew further apart. Tirian could dimly make outthe well known hilltop and the stable. Jill was nowgoing with more and more caution: she kept on makingsigns to the others with her hand to do the same. Thenshe stopped dead still and Tirian saw her gradually sinkdown into the grass and disappear without a sound. Amoment later she rose again, put her mouth close toTirian's ear, and said in the lowest possible whisper,"Get down. Thee better." She said thee for see notcause she had a lisp but because she knew that thehissing letter S is the part of a whisper most likely to beoverhead. Tirian at once lay down, almost as silentlyas Jill, but not quite for he was heavier and older. Andonce they were down, he saw how from that positionyou could see the edge of the hill sharp against thestar-strewn sky. Two black shapes rose against it: one was thestable, and the other, a few feet in front of it, was aCalormene sentry. He was keeping very ill watch: notwalking or even standing but sitting with his spear overhis shoulder and his chin on his chest. "Well done," saidTirian to Jill. She had shown him exactly what heneeded to know.

They got up and Tirian now took the lead. Veryslowly, hardly daring to breathe, they made their wayup to a little clump of trees which was not more thanforty feet away from the sentinel.

"Wait here till I come again," he whispered to theother two. "If I miscarry, fly." Then he sauntered outboldly in full view of the enemy. The man started whenhe saw him and was just going to jump to his feet: he wasafraid Tirian might be one of his own officers and thathe would get into trouble for sitting down. But beforehe could get up, Tirian had dropped on one knee besidehim, saying:

"Art thou a warrior of the Tisroc's, may he liveforever? It cheers my heart to meet thee among all thesebeasts and devils of Narnians. Give me thy hand, friend."

Before he well knew what was happening the Calormenesentry found his right hand seized in a mighty grip.Next instant someone was kneeling on his legs anddagger was pressed against his neck.

"One noise and thou art dead," said Tirian in his ear."Tell me where the Unicorn is and thou shall live."

"B—behind the stable, O My Master," stammered theunfortunate man.

"Good. Rise up and lead me to him."

As the man got up the point of the dagger never lefthis neck. It only travelled round (cold and ratherticklish) as Tirian got behind him and settled it at aconvenient place under his ear. Tremblingly he wentround to the back of the stable.

Though it was dark Tirian could see the white shapeof Jewel at once.

"Hush!" he said. "No, do not neigh. Yes, Jewel, it is I.How have they tied thee?"

"Hobbled by all four legs and tied with a bridle to aring in the stable wall," came Jewel's voice.

"Stand here, sentry, with your back to the wall. So.Now, Jewel: set the point of your horn against thisCalormene's breast."

"With a good will, Sire," said Jewel.

"If he moves, rive him to the heart." Then in a fewseconds Tirian cut the ropes. With the remains of themhe bound the sentry hand and foot. Finally he made himopen his mouth, stuffed it full of grass and tied him upfrom scalp to chin so that he could make no noise,lowered the man into a sitting position and set him againstthe wall.

"I have done thee some discourtesy, soldier," saidTirian. "But such was my need. If we meet again I mayhappen to do thee a better turn. Now, Jewel, let us gosoftly."

He put his left arm round the beast's neck and bentand kissed its nose and both had great joy. They wentback as quietly as possible to the place where he had leftthe children. It was darker in there under the trees andhe nearly ran into Eustace before he saw him.

"All's well," whispered Tirian. "A good night's work.Now for home."

They turned and had gone a few paces when Eustacesaid, "Where are you, Pole?" There was no answer. "IsJill on the other side of you, Sire?" he asked.

"What?" said Tirian. "Is she not on the other side of you?"

It was a terrible moment. They dared not shout butthey whispered her name in the loudest whispers theycould manage. There was no reply.

"Did she go from you while I was away?" asked Tirian.

"I didn't see or hear her go," said Eustace. "But shecould have gone without my knowing. She can be asquiet as a cat; you've seen for yourself."

At that moment a far off drumbeat was heard. Jewelmoved his ears forward. "Dwarfs," he said.

"And treacherous Dwarfs, enemies, as likely as not."muttered Tirian.

"And here comes something on hoofs, much nearer,"said Jewel.

The two humans and the Unicorn stood dead still.There were now so many different things to worry aboutthat they didn't know what to do. The noise of hoofscame steadily nearer. And then, quite close to them,voice whispered:

"Hallow! Are you all there?"

Thank heaven, it was Jill's.

"Where the devil have you been to?" said Eustace in afurious whisper, for he had been very frightened.

"In the Stable," gasped Jill, but it was the sort of gaspyou give when you're struggling with suppressed laughter.

"Oh," growled Eustace, "you think it funny, do you?Well all I can say is——"

"Have you got Jewel, Sire?" asked Jill.

"Yes. Here he is. What is that beast with you?"

"That's him," said Jill. "But let's be off home beforeanyone wakes up." And again there came little explosionsof laughter.

The others obeyed at once for they had alreadylingered long enough in that dangerous place and thedwarf drums seemed to have come a little nearer. It wasonly after they had been walking southward for severalminutes that Eustace said:

"Got him? What do you mean?"

"The false Aslan," said Jill.

"What!" said Tirian. "Where have you been? Whathave you done?"

"Well, Sire," said Jill. "As soon as I saw that you'd gotthe sentry out of the way I thought, hadn't I better havea look inside the Stable and see what really is there? So Icrawled along. It was as easy as anything to draw thebolt. Of course it was pitch-black inside and smelled likeany other stable. Then I struck a light and—would youbelieve it?—there was nothing at all there but this olddonkey with a bundle of lionskin tied onto his back. SoI drew my knife and told him he'd have to come alongwith me. As a matter of fact I needn't have threatenedhim with the knife at all. He was very fed up with thestable and quite ready to come—weren't you, Puzzledear?"

"Great Scott!" said Eustace. "Well I'm—I'm jiggered.I was jolly angry with you a moment ago, and I stillthink it was mean of you to sneak off without the rest ofus: but I must admit—well, I mean to say—well it was aperfectly gorgeous thing to do. If she were a boy, she'dhave to be knighted, wouldn't she, Sire?"

"If she were a boy," said Tirian, "she'd be whippedfor disobeying orders." And in the dark no one could seewhether he said this with a frown or a smile. Nextminute there was a sound of rasping metal.

"What are you doing, Sire?" asked Jewel sharply.

"Drawing my sword to smite off the head of the accursedAss," said Tirian in a terrible voice. "Stand clear,girl."

"Oh don't, please don't," said Jill. "Really, youmustn't. It wasn't his fault. It was all the Ape. He didn'tknow any better. And he's very sorry. He's a nice donkey.His name's Puzzle. And I've got my arms round his neck."

"Jill," said Tirian, "you are the bravest and mostwoodwise of all my subjects, but also the most malapertand disobedient. Well: let the Ass live. What have you tosay for yourself, Ass?"

"Me, Sire?" came the donkey's voice. "I'm sure I'mvery sorry if I've done wrong. The Ape said Aslanwanted me to dress up like that. And I thought he'dknow. I'm not clever like him. I only did what I was told.It wasn't any fun for me living in that Stable. I don'teven know what's been going on outside. He never letme out except for a minute or two at night. Some daysthey forgot to give me any water too."

"Sire," said Jewel. "Those Dwarfs are coming nearerand nearer. Do we want to meet them?"

Tirian thought for a moment and then suddenly gavea great laugh out loud. Then he spoke, not this time ina whisper. "By the Lion," he said, "I am growingslow-witted! Meet them? Certainly we will meet them. Wewill meet anyone now. We have this Ass to show them.Let them see the thing they have feared and bowed to.We can show them the truth of the Ape's vile plot. Hissecret's out. The tide's turned. Tomorrow we shall hangthat Ape on the highest tree in Narnia. No morewhispering and skulking and disguises. Where are thesehonest Dwarfs? We have good news for them."

When you have been whispering for hours the meresound of anyone talking out loud has a wonderfullystirring effect. The whole party began talking and laughing:even Puzzle lifted up his head and gave a grandHaw-hee-haw-hee-hee; a thing the Ape hadn't allowed him todo for days. Then they set off in the direction of thedrumming. It grew steadily louder and soon they couldsee torchlight as well. They came out on one of thoserough roads (we should hardly call them roads at all inEngland) which ran through Lantern Waste. And there,marching sturdily along, were about thirty Dwarfs, allwith their little spades and mattocks over theirshoulders. Two armed Calormenes led the column and twomore brought up the rear.

"Stay!" thundered Tirian as he stepped out on theroad. "Stay, soldiers. Whither do you lead these NarnianDwarfs and by whose orders?"

CHAPTER VII

Mainly About Dwarfs

The two Calormene soldiers at the head of thecolumn, seeing what they took for a Tarkaan orgreat lord with two armed pages, came to a haltand raised their spears in salute.

"O My Master," said one of them, "We lead thesemanikins to Calormen to work in the mines of theTisroc, may-he-live-forever."

"By the great god Tash, they are very obedient," saidTirian. Then suddenly he turned to the Dwarfs themselves.About one in six of them carried a torch and bythat flickering light he could see their bearded faces alllooking at him with grim and dogged expressions. "Hasthe Tisroc fought a great battle, Dwarfs, and conqueredyour land," he asked, "that thus you go patiently to diein the salt pits of Pugrahan?"

The two soldiers glared at him in surprise but theDwarfs all answered, "Aslan's orders, Aslan's orders.He's sold us. What can we do against him?"

"Tisroc indeed!" added one and spat. "I'd like to seehim try it!"

"Silence, dog!" said the chief soldier.

"Look!" said Tirian, pulling Puzzle forward into thelight. "It has all been a lie. Aslan has not come to Narniaat all. You have been cheated by the Ape. This is thething he brought out of the stable to show you. Look at it."

What the Dwarfs saw, now that they could see it close,was certainly enough to make them wonder how theyhad ever been taken in. The lionskin had got prettyuntidy already during Puzzle's long imprisonment inthe stable and it had been knocked crooked during hisjourney through the dark wood. Most of it was in a biglump on one shoulder. The head, besides being pushedsidewise, had somehow got very far back so that anyonecould now see his silly, gentle, donkey face gazing outof it. Some grass stuck out of one corner of his mouth, forhe'd been doing a little quiet nibbling as they broughthim along. And he was muttering, "It wasn't my fault,I'm not clever. I never said I was."

For one second all the Dwarfs were staring at Puzzlewith wide open mouths and then one the soldierssaid sharply, "Are you mad, My Master! What are youdoing to the slaves?" and the other said, "And who areyou?" Neither of their spears were at the salutenow—both were down and ready for action.

"Give the password," said the chief soldier.

"This is my password," said the King as he drew hissword. "The light is dawning, the lie broken. Now guardthee, miscreant, for I am Tirian of Narnia."

He flew upon the chief soldier like lightning, Eustace,who had drawn his sword when he saw the King drawhis, rushed at the other one: his face was deadly pale, butI wouldn't blame him for that. And he had the luck thatbeginners sometimes do have. He forgot all that Tirianhad tried to teach him that afternoon, slashed wildly(indeed I'm not sure his eyes weren't shut) and suddenlyfound, to his own great surprise, that the Calormene laydead at his feet. And though that was a great relief, itwas, at the moment, rather frightening. The King'sfight lasted a second or two longer: then he too hadkilled his man and shouted to Eustace, "'Ware the other two."

But the Dwarfs had settled the two remaining Calormenes.There was no enemy left.

"Well struck, Eustace!" cried Tirian, clapping himon the back. "Now, Dwarfs, you are free. Tomorrow Iwill lead you to free all Narnia. Three cheers for Aslan!"

But the result which followed was simply wretched.There was a feeble attempt from a few Dwarfs (aboutfive) which died away all at once: from several othersthere were sulky growls. Many said nothing at all.

"Don't they understand?" said Jill impatiently.

"What's wrong with all you Dwarfs? Don't you hearwhat the King says? It's all over. The Ape isn't going torule Narnia any longer. Everyone can go back toordinary life. You can have fun again. Aren't you glad?"

After a pause of nearly a minute a not-very-nice lookingDwarf with hair and beard as black as soot said:

"And who might you be, Missie?"

"I'm Jill," she said. "The same Jill who rescued KingRilian from the enchantment—and this is Eustace whodid it too—and we've come back from another worldafter hundreds of years. Aslan sent us."

The Dwarfs all looked at one another with grins;sneering grins, not merry ones.

"Well," said the Black Dwarf (whose name was Griffle),"I don't know how all you chaps feel, but I feel I'veheard as much about Aslan as I want to for the rest ofmy life."

"That's right, that's right," growled the other Dwarfs."It's all a trick, all a blooming trick."

"What do you mean?" said Tirian. He had not beenpale when he was fighting but he was pale now. He hadthought this was going to be a beautiful moment, but itwas turning out more like a bad dream.

"You must think we're blooming soft in the head, thatyou must," said Griffle. "We've been taken in once andnow you expect us to be taken in again the next minute.We've no more use for stories about Aslan, see! Look athim! An old moke with long ears!"

"By heaven, you make me mad," said Tirian. "Whichof us said that was Aslan? That is the Ape's imitation ofthe real Aslan. Can't you understand?"

"And you've got a better imitation, I suppose!" saidGriffle. "No thanks. We've been fooled once and we'renot going to be fooled again."

"I have not," said Tirian angrily, "I serve the real Aslan."

"Where's he? Who's he? Show him to us!" said severalDwarfs.

"Do you think I keep him in my wallet, fools?" saidTirian. "Who am I that I could make Aslan appear atmy bidding? He's not a tame lion."

The moment those words were out of his mouth herealised that he had made a false move. The Dwarfs atonce began repeating "not a tame lion, not a tame lion,"in a jeering singsong. "That's what the other lot kept ontelling us," said one.

"Do you mean you don't believe in the real Aslan?"said Jill. "But I've seen him. And he has sent us two hereout of a different world."

"Ah," said Griffle with a broad smile. "So you say.They've taught you your stuff all right. Saying yourlessons, ain't you?"

"Churl," cried Tirian, "will you give a lady a lie toher very face?"

"You keep a civil tongue in your head, Mister," repliedthe Dwarf. "I don't think we want any more kings—ifyou are Tirian, which you don't look like him—nomore than we want any Aslans. We're going to look afterourselves from now on and touch our caps to nobody. See?"

"That's right," said the other Dwarfs. "We're on ourown now. No more Aslan, no more kings, no more sillystories about other worlds. The Dwarfs are for theDwarfs." And they began to fall into their places and toget ready for marching back to wherever they had comefrom.

"Little beasts!" said Eustace. "Aren't you even goingto say thank you for being saved from the salt-mines?"

"Oh, we know all about that," said Griffle over hisshoulder. "You wanted to make use of us, that's why yourescued us. You're playing some game of your own.Come on you chaps."

And the Dwarfs struck up the queer little marchingsong which goes with the drumbeat, and off theytramped into the darkness.

Tirian and his friends stared after them. Then he saidthe single word "Come," and they continued their journey.

They were a silent party. Puzzle felt himself to be stillin disgrace, and also he didn't really quite understandwhat had happened. Jill, besides being disgusted withthe Dwarfs, was very impressed with Eustace's victoryover the Calormene and felt almost shy. As for Eustace,his heart was still beating rather quickly. Tirian andJewel walked sadly together in the rear. The King hadhis arm on the Unicorn's shoulder and sometimes theUnicorn nuzzled the King's cheek with his soft nose.They did not try to comfort one another with words. Itwasn't very easy to think of anything to say that wouldbe comforting. Tirian had never dreamed that one ofthe results of an Ape's setting up a false Aslan wouldbe to stop people from believing in the real one. Hehad felt quite sure that the Dwarfs would rally to hisside the moment he showed them how they had beendeceived. And then next night he would have led them toStable Hill and shown Puzzle to all the creatures andeveryone would have turned against the Ape and,perhaps after a scuffle with the Calormenes, the whole thingwould have been over. But now, it seemed, he couldcount on nothing. How many other Narnians mightturn the same way as the Dwarfs?

"Somebody's coming after us, I think," said Puzzlesuddenly.

They stopped and listened. Sure enough, there was athump-thump of small feet behind them.

"Who goes there!" shouted the King.

"Only me, Sire," came a voice. "Me, Poggin the Dwarf.I've only just managed to get away from the others. I'mon your side, Sire: and on Aslan's. If you can put aDwarfish sword in my fist, I'd gladly strike a blow on theright side before all's done."

Everyone crowded round him and welcomed him andpraised him and slapped him on the back. Of course onesingle Dwarf could not make a very great difference, butit was somehow very cheering to have even one. Thewhole party brightened up. But Jill and Eustace didn'tstay bright for very long, for they were now yawningtheir heads off and too tired to think about anything butbed.

It was at the coldest hour of the night, just beforedawn, that they got back to the Tower. If there had beena meal ready for them they would have been glad enoughto eat, but the bother and delay of getting one was not tobe thought of. They drank from a stream, splashed theirfaces with water, and tumbled into their bunks, exceptfor Puzzle and Jewel who said they'd be more comfortableoutside. This perhaps was just as well, for a Unicornand a fat, full-grown donkey indoors always make aroom feel rather crowded.

Narnian Dwarfs, though less than four feet high, arefor their size about the toughest and strongest creaturesthere are, so that Poggin, in spite of a heavy day and alate night, woke fully refreshed before any of the others.He at once took Jill's bow, went out and shot a couple ofwood pigeons. Then he sat plucking them on thedoor-step and chatting to Jewel and Puzzle. Puzzle looked andfelt a good deal better this morning. Jewel, being aUnicorn and therefore one of the noblest and most delicateof beasts, had been very kind to him, talking to himabout things of the sort they could both understand likegrass and sugar and the care of one's hoofs. When Jilland Eustace came out of the Tower yawning and rubbingtheir eyes at almost half past ten, the Dwarf showedthem where they could gather plenty of a Narnian weedcalled Wild Fresney, which looks rather like our woodsorel but tastes a good deal nicer when cooked. (It needsa little butter and pepper to make it perfect, but theyhadn't these.) So with one thing and another, they hadthe makings of a capital stew for their breakfast ordinner, whichever you choose to call it. Tirian went alittle further off into the wood with an axe and broughtback some branches for fuel. While the meal wascooking—which seemed a very long time, especially as itsmelled nicer and nicer the nearer it came to beingdone—the King found a complete Dwarfish outfit forPoggin: mail-shirt, helmet, shield, sword, belt, anddagger. Then he inspected Eustace's sword and foundthat Eustace had put it back in the sheath all messy fromkilling the Calormene. He was scolded for that andmade to clean and polish it.

All this while Jill went to and fro, sometimes stirringthe pot and sometimes looking out enviously at theDonkey and the Unicorn who were contentedly grazing.How many times that morning she wished she could eatgrass!

But when the meal came everyone felt it had beenworth waiting for, and there were second helpings allround. When everyone had eaten as much as he could,the three humans and the Dwarf came and sat on thedoorstep, the four-footed ones lay down facing them, theDwarf (with permission both from Jill and fromTirian) lit his pipe, and the King said:

"Now, friend Poggin, you have more news of theenemy, most likely, than we. Tell us all you know. Andfirst, what tale do they tell of my escape?"

"As cunning a tale, Sire, as ever was devised," saidPoggin. "It was the Cat, Ginger, who told it, and most likelymade it up too. This Ginger, Sire—oh, he's a slyboots ifever a cat was—said he was walking past the tree to whichthose villains bound your Majesty. And he said (savingyour reverence) that you were howling and swearing andcursing Aslan: 'language I wouldn't like to repeat' werethe words he used, looking ever so prim and proper—youknow the way a Cat can when it pleases. And then,says Ginger, Aslan himself suddenly appeared in a flashof lightning and swallowed your Majesty up at onemouthful. All the Beasts trembled at this story and somefainted right away. And of course the Ape followed itup. There, he says, see what Aslan does to those whodon't respect him. Let that be a warning to you all. Andthe poor creatures wailed and whined and said, it will,it will. So that in the upshot your Majesty's escape hasnot set them thinking whether you still have loyalfriends to aid you, but only made them more afraid andmore obedient to the Ape."

"What devilish policy!" said Tirian. "This Ginger,then, is close in the Ape's counsels."

"It's more a question by now, Sire, if the Ape is in hiscounsels," replied the Dwarf. "The Ape has taken todrinking, you see. My belief is that the plot is now mostlycarried on by Ginger or Rishda—that's the Calormenecaptain. And I think some words that Ginger hasscattered among the Dwarfs are chiefly to blame for thescurvy return they made you. And I'll tell you why. Oneof those dreadful midnight meetings had just brokenup the night before last and I'd gone a bit of the wayhome when I found I'd left my pipe behind. It was areal good 'un, an old favourite, so I went back to lookfor it. But before I got to the place where I'd beensitting (it was black as pitch there), I heard a cat's voice sayMew and a Calormene voice say 'here ... speak softly,' soI just stood as still as if I were frozen. And these two wereGinger and Rishda Tarkaan as they call him. 'NobleTarkaan,' said the Cat in that silky voice of his. 'I justwanted to know exactly what we both meant to-dayabout Aslan meaning no more than Tash.' 'Doubtless,most sagacious of cats,' says the other, 'you haveperceived my meaning.' 'You mean,' says Ginger, 'thatthere's no such person as either.' 'All who are enlightenedknow that,' said the Tarkaan. 'Then we can understandone another,' purrs the Cat. 'Do you, like me, growa little weary of the Ape?' 'A stupid, greedy brute,' saysthe other, 'but we must use him for the present. Thouand I must provide for all things in secret and make theApe do our will.' 'And it would be better, wouldn't it,'said Ginger, 'to let some of the more enlightenedNarnians into our counsels: one by one, as we find them apt.For the Beasts who really believe in Aslan may turn atany moment: and will, if the Ape's folly betrays hissecret. But those who care neither for Tash nor Aslan buthave only an eye to their own profit, and such rewardas the Tisroc may give them when Narnia is a Calormeneprovince, will be firm.' 'Excellent Cat,' said theCaptain. 'But choose which ones carefully.'"

While the Dwarf had been speaking the day seemedto have changed. It had been sunny when they sat down.Now Puzzle shivered. Jewel shifted his head uneasily.Jill looked up.

"It's clouding over," she said.

"And it's so cold," said Puzzle.

"Cold enough, by the Lion!" said Tirian, blowing onhis hands. "And faugh! What foul smell is this?"

"Phew!" gasped Eustace. "It's like something dead. Isthere a dead bird somewhere about? And why didn't wenotice it before?"

With a great upheaval Jewel scrambled to his feet andpointed with his horn.

"Look!" he cried. "Look at it! Look, look!"

Then all six of them saw; and over all their facesthere came an expression of uttermost dismay.

CHAPTER VIII

What News the Eagle Brought

In the shadow of the trees on the far side of the clearingsomething was moving. It was gliding very slowlyNorthward. At first glance you might have mistakenit for smoke, for it was grey and you could see thingsthrough it. But the deathly smell was not the smell ofsmoke. Also, this thing kept its shape instead ofbillowing and curling as smoke would have done. It wasroughly the shape of a man but it had the head of a bird;some bird of prey with a cruel, curved beak. It had fourarms which it held high above its head, stretching themout Northward as if it wanted to snatch all Narnia inits grip; and its fingers—all twenty of them—were curvedlike its beak and had long, pointed, bird-like clawsinstead of nails. It floated on the grass instead of walking,and the grass seemed to wither beneath it.

After one look at it Puzzle gave a screaming bray anddarted into the Tower. And Jill (who was no coward, asyou know) hid her face in her hands to shut out the sightof it. The others watched it for perhaps a minute, untilit streamed away into the thicker trees on their right anddisappeared. Then the sun came out again, and the birdsonce more began to sing.

Everyone started breathing properly again andmoved. They had all been still as statues while it was insight.

"What was it?" said Eustace in a whisper.

"I have seen it once before," said Tirian. "But thattime it was carved in stone and overlaid with gold andhad solid diamonds for eyes. It was when I was no olderthan thou, and had gone as a guest to the Tisroc's courtin Tashbaan. He took me into the great temple of Tash.There I saw it, carved above the altar."

"Then that—that thing—was Tash?" said Eustace.

But instead of answering him Tirian slipped his armbehind Jill's shoulders and said, "How is it with you,Lady?"

"A-all right," said Jill, taking her hands away fromher pale face and trying to smile. "I'm all right. It onlymade me feel a little sick for a moment."

"It seems, then," said the Unicorn, "That there is areal Tash, after all."

"Yes," said the Dwarf. "And this fool of an Ape, whodidn't believe in Tash, will get more than he bargainedfor! He called for Tash: Tash has come."

"Where has it—he—the Thing—gone to?" said Jill.

"North into the heart of Narnia," said Tirian. "It hascome to dwell among us. They have called it and it hascome."

"Ho, ho, ho!" chuckled the Dwarf, rubbing its hairyhands together. "It will be a surprise for the Ape.People shouldn't call for demons unless they really meanwhat they say."

"Who knows if Tash will be visible to the Ape?" saidJewel.

"Where has Puzzle got to?" said Eustace.

They all shouted out Puzzle's name and Jill wentround to the other side of the Tower to see if he hadgone there. They were quite tired of looking for himwhen at last his large grey head peered cautiously out ofthe doorway and he said, "Has it gone away?" And whenat last they got him to come out, he was shivering theway a dog shivers before a thunderstorm.

"I see now," said Puzzle, "that I really have been avery bad donkey. I ought never to have listened to Shift.I never thought things like this would begin to happen."

"If you'd spent less time saying you weren't clever andmore time trying to be as clever as you could——" beganEustace but Jill interrupted him.

"Oh leave poor old Puzzle alone," she said. "It was alla mistake; wasn't it, Puzzle dear?" And she kissed himon the nose.

Though rather shaken by what they had seen, thewhole party now sat down again and went on withtheir talk.

Jewel had little to tell them. While he was a prisonerhe had spent nearly all his time tied up at the back of theStable, and had of course heard none of the enemies'plans. He had been kicked (he'd done some kicking backtoo) and beaten and threatened with death unless hewould say that he believed it was Aslan who was broughtout and shown to them by firelight every night. In facthe was going to be executed this very morning if he hadnot been rescued. He didn't know what had happenedto the Lamb.

The question they had to decide was whether theywould go to Stable Hill again that night, show Puzzle tothe Narnians and try to make them see how they hadbeen tricked, or whether they should steal awayeastward to meet the help which Roonwit the Centaur wasbringing up from Cair Paravel and return against theApe and his Calormenes in force. Tirian would verymuch like to have followed the first plan: he hated theidea of leaving the Ape to bully his people one momentlonger than need be. On the other hand, the way theDwarfs had behaved last night was a warning. Apparentlyone couldn't be sure how people would take it evenif he showed them Puzzle. And there were the Calormenesoldiers to be reckoned with. Poggin thought therewere about thirty of them. Tirian felt sure that if theNarnians all rallied to his side, he and Jewel and thechildren and Poggin (Puzzle didn't count for much)would have a good chance of beating them. But how ifhalf the Narnians—including all the Dwarfs—just satand looked on? or even fought against him? The riskwas too great. And there was, too, the cloudy shape ofTash. What might it do?

And then, as Poggin pointed out, there was no harmin leaving the Ape to deal with his own difficulties for aday or two. He would have no Puzzle to bring out andshow now. It wasn't easy to see what story he—orGinger—could make up to explain that. If the Beasts askednight after night to see Aslan, and no Aslan was broughtout, surely even the simplest of them would get suspicious.

In the end they all agreed that the best thing was to gooff and try to meet Roonwit.

As soon as they had decided this, it was wonderful howmuch more cheerful everyone became. I don't honestlythink that this was because any of them was afraid of afight (except perhaps Jill and Eustace). But I daresaythat each of them, deep down inside was very glad not togo any nearer—or not yet—to that horrible bird-headedthing which, visible or invisible, was now probablyhaunting Stable Hill. Anyway, one always feels betterwhen one has made up one's mind.

Tirian said they had better remove their disguises, asthey didn't want to be mistaken for Calormenes andperhaps attacked by any loyal Narnians they might meet.The Dwarf made up a horrid-looking mess of ashes fromthe hearth and grease out of the jar of grease, which waskept for rubbing on swords and spearheads. Then theytook off their Calormene armour and went down to thestream. The nasty mixture made a lather just like softsoap: it was a pleasant, homely sight to see Tirian andthe two children kneeling beside the water and scrubbingthe backs of their necks or puffing and blowing asthey splashed the lather off. Then they went back to theTower with red, shiny faces, looking like people whohave been given an extra-specially good wash before aparty. They re-armed themselves in true Narnian stylewith straight swords and three-cornered shields. "Bodyof me," said Tirian. "That is better. I feel a true managain."

Puzzle begged very hard to have the lionskin takenoff him. He said it was too hot and the way it was ruckedup on his back was uncomfortable: also, it made himlook so silly. But they told him he would have to wear ita bit longer, for they still wanted to show him in thatget-up to the other Beasts, even though they were nowgoing to meet Roonwit first.

What was left of the pigeon meat and rabbit meat wasnot worth bringing away but they took some biscuits.Then Tirian locked the door of the Tower and that wasthe end of their stay there.

It was a little after two in the afternoon when they setout, and it was the first really warm day of that spring.The young leaves seemed to be much further out thanyesterday: the snowdrops were over, but they sawseveral primroses. The sunlight slanted through the trees,birds sang, and always (though usually out of sight)there was the noise of running water. It was hard tothink of horrible things like Tash. The children felt,"This is really Narnia at last." Even Tirian's heart grewlighter as he walked ahead of them, humming an oldNarnian marching song which had the refrain:

Ho, rumble, rumble, rumble, rumble,
Rumble drum belaboured.

After the King came Eustace and Poggin the Dwarf.Poggin was telling Eustace the names of all theNarnian trees, birds, and plants which he didn't knowalready. Sometimes Eustace would tell him about Englishones.

After them came Puzzle, and after him Jill and Jewelwalking very close together. Jill had, as you might sayquite fallen in love with the Unicorn. She thought—andshe wasn't far wrong—that he was the shiningest,delicatest, most graceful animal she had ever met: and hewas so gentle and soft of speech that, if you hadn'tknown, you would hardly have believed how fierce andterrible he could be in battle.

"Oh, this is nice!" said Jill. "Just walking along likethis. I wish there could be more of this sort of adventure.It's a pity there's always so much happening in Narnia."

But the Unicorn explained to her that she was quitemistaken. He said that the Sons and Daughters of Adamand Eve were brought out of their own strange worldinto Narnia only at times when Narnia was stirred andupset, but she mustn't think it was always like that. Inbetween their visits there were hundreds andthousands of years when peaceful King followed peacefulKing till you could hardly remember their names orcount their numbers, and there was really hardlyanything to put into the History Books. And he went on totalk of old Queens and heroes whom she had never heardof. He spoke of Swanwhite the Queen who had livedbefore the days of the White Witch and the Great Winter,who was so beautiful that when she looked into anyforest pool the reflection of her face shone out of thewater like a star by night for a year and a day afterwards.He spoke of Moonwood the Hare, who had such ears thathe could sit by Caldron Pool under the thunder of thegreat waterfall and hear what men spoke in whispers atCair Paravel. He told how King Gale, who was ninth indescent from Frank the first of all Kings, had sailed faraway into the Eastern seas and delivered the LoneIslanders from a dragon and how, in return, they hadgiven him the Lone Islands to be part of the royal landsof Narnia for ever. He talked of whole centuries inwhich all Narnia was so happy that notable dances andfeasts, or at most tournaments, were the only things thatcould be remembered, and every day and week had beenbetter than the last. And as he went on, the picture of allthose happy years, all the thousands of them, piled upin Jill's mind till it was rather like looking down from ahigh hill onto a rich, lovely plain full of woods andwaters and cornfields, which spread away and away till itgot thin and misty from distance. And she said:

"Oh, I do hope we can soon settle the Ape and getback to those good, ordinary times. And then I hopethey'll go on for ever and ever and ever. Our world isgoing to have an end some day. Perhaps this one won't.Oh, Jewel—wouldn't it be lovely if Narnia just went onand on—like what you said it has been?"

"Nay, sister," answered Jewel, "all worlds draw to anend; except Aslan's own country."

"Well, at least," said Jill, "I hope the end of this one ismillions of millions of millions of years away—hullo! whatare we stopping for?"

The King and Eustace and the Dwarf were all staringup at the sky. Jill shuddered, remembering whathorrors they had seen already. But it was nothing of thatsort this time. It was small, and looked black againstthe blue.

"I dare swear," said the Unicorn, "from its flight, thatit is a Talking bird."

"So think I," said the King. "But is it a friend, or a spyof the Ape's?"

"To me, Sire," said the Dwarf, "it has a look of Farsightthe Eagle."

"Ought we to hide under the trees!" said Eustace.

"Nay," said Tirian, "best stand still as rocks. Hewould see us for certain if we moved."

"Look! He wheels, he has seen us already," said Jewel,"He is coming down in wide circles."

"Arrow on string, Lady," said Tirian to Jill. "But byno means shoot till I bid you. He may be a friend."

If one had known what was going to happen next, itwould have been a treat to watch the grace and ease withwhich the huge bird glided down. He alighted on a rockycrag a few feet from Tirian, bowed his crested head,and said in his strange eagle's voice, "Hail, King."

"Hail, Farsight," said Tirian. "And since you call meKing, I may well believe you are not a follower of theApe and his false Aslan. I am glad of your coming."

"Sire," said the Eagle, "when you have heard my newsyou will be sorrier at my coming than of the greatestwoe that ever befell you."

Tirian's heart seemed to stop beating at these words,but he set his teeth and said "Tell on."

"Two sights have I seen," said Farsight. "One was CairParavel filled with dead Narnians and livingCalormenes: the Tisrocs banner advanced upon your royalbattlements: and your subjects flying from the city—thisway and that, into the woods. Cair Paravel was takenfrom the sea. Twenty great ships of Calormen put inthere in the dark of the night before last night."

No one could speak.

"And the other sight, five leagues nearer than CairParavel, was Roonwit the Centaur lying dead withCalormene arrow in his side. I was with him in his lasthour and he gave me this message to your Majesty: toremember that all worlds draw to an end and that nobledeath is a treasure which no one is too poor to buy."

"So," said the King, after a long silence, "Narnia is nomore."

CHAPTER IX

The Great Meeting on Stable Hill

For a long time they could not speak nor even sheda tear. Then the Unicorn stamped the ground withhis hoof, and shook his mane, and spoke.

"Sire," he said, "There is now no need of counsel. Wesee that the Ape's plans were laid deeper than wedreamed. Doubtless he has been long in secret trafficwith the Tisroc, and as soon as he had found thelionskin, he sent him word to make ready his navy for thetaking of Cair Paravel and all Narnia. Nothing nowremains for us seven but to go back to Stable Hill,proclaim the truth, and take the adventure that Aslan sendsus. And if, by a great marvel, we defeat those thirtyCalormenes who are with the Ape, then to turn againand die in battle with the far greater host of them thatwill soon march from Cair Paravel."

Tirian nodded. But he turned to the children andsaid: "Now, friends, it is time for you to go hence intoyour own world. Doubtless you have done all that youwere sent to do."

"B—but we've done nothing," said Jill who was shivering,not with fear exactly but because everything washorrible.

"Nay," said the King, "you loosed me from the tree:you glided before me like a snake last night in the woodand took Puzzle: and you, Eustace, killed your man. Butyou are too young to share in such a bloody end as weothers must meet to-night or, it may be, three dayshence. I entreat you—nay, I command you—to return toyour own place. I should be put to shame if I let suchyoung warriors fall in battle on my side."

"No, no, no," said Jill (very white when she beganspeaking and then suddenly very red and then whiteagain). "We won't, I don't care what you say. We'regoing to stick with you whatever happens, aren't we,Eustace?"

"Yes, but there's no need to get so worked up aboutit," said Eustace who had stuck his hands in his pockets(forgetting how very odd that looks when you are wearinga mail shirt). "Because you see, we haven't anychoice. What's the good of talking about our going back!How? We've got no magic for doing it!"

This was very good sense but, at the moment, Jillhated Eustace for saying it. He was fond of beingdreadfully matter-of-fact when other people got excited.

When Tirian realised that the two strangers could notget home (unless Aslan suddenly whisked them away) henext wanted them to go across the southern mountainsinto Archenland where they might possibly be safe. Butthey didn't know their way and there was no one to sendwith them. Also, as Poggin said, once the Calormeneshad Narnia they would certainly take Archenland in thenext week or so: the Tisroc had always wanted to havethese Northern countries for his own. In the end Eustaceand Jill begged so hard that Tirian said they could comewith him and take their chance—or, as he much moresensibly called it "the adventure that Aslan would sendthem."

The King's first idea was that they should not go backto Stable Hill—they were sick of the very name of it bynow—till after dark. But the Dwarf told them that if theyarrived here by daylight they would probably find theplace deserted, except perhaps for a Calormene sentry.The Beasts were far too frightened by what the Ape(and Ginger) had told them about this new angry Aslan—orTashlan—to go near it except when they were calledtogether for those horrible midnight meetings. AndCalormenes are never good woodsmen. Poggin thought thateven by daylight they could easily get round tosomewhere behind the stable without being seen. This wouldbe much harder to do when the night had come and theApe might be calling the Beasts together and all theCalormenes were on duty. And when the meeting didbegin they could leave Puzzle at the back of the stable,completely out of sight, till the moment at which theywanted to produce him. This was obviously a goodthing: for their only chance was to give the Narnians asudden surprise.

Everyone agreed and the whole party set off on a newline—north-west—towards the hated Hill. The Eaglesometimes flew to and fro above them, sometimes he satperched on Puzzle's back. No one—not even the Kinghimself except in some great need—would dream ofriding on a Unicorn.

This time Jill and Eustace walked together. They hadbeen feeling very brave when they were begging to beallowed to come with the others, but now they didn't feelbrave at all.

"Pole," said Eustace in a whisper. "I may as well tellyou I've got the wind up."

"Oh you're all right, Scrubb," said Jill. "You canfight. But I—I'm just shaking, if you want to know thetruth."

"Oh shaking's nothing," said Eustace. "I'm feelingI'm going to be sick."

"Don't talk about that, for goodness' sake," said Jill.

They went on in silence for a minute or two.

"Pole," said Eustace presently.

"What?" said she.

"What'll happen if we get killed here?"

"Well, we'll be dead, I suppose."

"But I mean, what will happen in our own world?Shall we wake up and find ourselves back in that trail?Or shall we just vanish and never be heard of any more?Or shall we be dead in England?"

"Gosh. I never thought of that."

"It'll be rum for Peter and the others if they saw mewaving out of the window and then when the traincomes in we're nowhere to be found! Or if they foundtwo—I mean, if we're dead over there in England."

"Ugh!" said Jill. "What a horrid idea."

"It wouldn't be horrid for us," said Eustace. "Weshouldn't be there."

"I almost wish—no I don't, though," said Jill.

"What were you going to say?"

"I was going to say I wished we'd never come. But Idon't, I don't, I don't. Even if we are killed. I'd ratherbe killed fighting for Narnia than grow old and stupidat home and perhaps go about in a bathchair and thendie in the end just the same."

"Or be smashed up by British Railways!"

"Why d'you say that?"

"Well when that awful jerk came—the one thatseemed to throw us into Narnia—I thought it was thebeginning of a railway accident. So I was jolly glad to findourselves here instead."

While Jill and Eustace were talking about this, theothers were discussing their plans and becoming lessmiserable. That was because they were now thinking ofwhat was to be done this very night and the thought ofwhat had happened to Narnia—the thought that all herglories and joys were over—was pushed away into theback part of their minds. The moment they stoppedtalking it would come out and make them wretchedagain: but they kept on talking. Poggin was really quitecheerful about the nights' work they had to do. He wassure that the Boar and the Bear, and probably all theDogs would come over to their side at once. And hecouldn't believe that all the other Dwarfs would stick toGriffle. And fighting by firelight and in and out amongtrees would be an advantage to the weaker side. Andthen, if they could win tonight, need they really throwtheir lives away by meeting the main Calormene army afew days later?

Why not hide in the woods, or even up in the WesternWaste beyond the great waterfall and live like outlaws?And they might gradually get stronger and stronger,for Talking Beasts and Archenlanders would be joiningthem every day. And at last they'd come out of hidingand sweep the Calormenes (who would have got carelessby then) out of the country and Narnia would be revived.After all, something very like that had happened in thetime of King Miraz!

And Tirian heard all this and thought "But whatabout Tash?" and felt in his bones that none of it wasgoing to happen. But he didn't say so.

When they got nearer to Stable Hill of courseeveryone became quiet. Then the real wood-work began.From the moment at which they first saw the Hill to themoment at which they all arrived at the back of theStable, it took them over two hours. It's the sort of thing onecouldn't describe properly unless one wrote pages andpages about it. The journey from each bit of cover to thenext was a separate adventure, and there were very longwaits in between, and several false alarms. If you are agood Scout or a good Guide, you will know already whatit must have been like. By about sunset they were all safein a clump of holly trees about fifteen yards behind thestable. They all munched some biscuit and lay down.

Then came the worst part, the waiting. Luckily forthe children they slept for a couple of hours, but ofcourse they woke up when the night grew cold, andwhat's worse, woke up very thirsty and with no chanceof getting a drink. Puzzle just stood, shivering a littlewith nervousness, and said nothing. But Tirian, with hishead against Jewel's flank, slept as sound as if he werein his royal bed at Cair Paravel, till the sound of a gongbeating awoke him and he sat up and saw that there wasfirelight on the far side of the stable and knew that thehour had come.

"Kiss me, Jewel," he said. "For certainly this is ourlast night on earth. And if ever I offended against you inany matter great or small, forgive me now."

"Dear King," said the Unicorn, "I could almost wishyou had, so that I might forgive it. Farewell. We haveknown great joys together. If Aslan gave me my choice Iwould choose no other life than the life I have had andno other death than the one we go to."

Then they woke up Farsight who was asleep with hishead under his wing (it made him look as if he had nohead at all) and crept forward to the stable. They leftPuzzle (not without a kind word, for no one was angrywith him now) just behind it, telling him not to movetill someone came to fetch him, and took up theirposition at one end of the stable.

The bonfire had not been lit for long and was justbeginning to blaze up. It was only a few feet away fromthem, and the great crowd of Narnian creatures were onthe other side of it, so that Tirian could not at first seethem very well, though of course he saw dozens of eyesshining with the reflection of the fire, as you've seen arabbit's or cat's eyes in the headlights of a car. And justas Tirian took his place, the gong stopped beating andfrom somewhere on his left three figures appeared. Onewas Rishda Tarkaan, the Calormene Captain. Thesecond was the Ape. He was holding onto the Tarkaan'shand with one paw and kept whimpering and muttering,"Not so fast, don't go so fast, I'm not at all well. Ohmy poor head! These midnight meetings are getting toomuch for me. Apes aren't meant to be up at night: It'snot as if I was a rat or a bat—oh my poor head." On theother side of the Ape, walking very soft and stately, withhis tail straight up in the air, came Ginger the Cat. Theywere heading for the bonfire and were so close to Tirianthat they would have seen him at once if they had lookedin the right direction. Fortunately they did not. ButTirian heard Rishda say to Ginger in a low voice:

"Now Cat, to thy post. See thou play thy part well."

"Miaow, miaow. Count on me!" said Ginger. Then hestepped away beyond the bonfire and sat down in thefront row of the assembled Beasts: in the audience, asyou might say.

For really, as it happened, the whole thing was ratherlike a theatre. The crowd of Narnians were like thepeople in the seats; the little grassy place just in front of thestable, where the bonfire burned and the Ape and theCaptain stood to talk to the crowd, was like the stage;the stable itself was like the scenery at the back of thestagehand Tirian and his friends were like peoplepeering round from behind the scenery. It was a splendidposition. If any of them stepped forward into the fullfirelight, all eyes would be fixed on him at once: on theother hand, so long as they stood still in the shadow ofthe end wall of the stable, it was a hundred to one againsttheir being noticed.

Rishda Tarkaan dragged the Ape up close to the fire.The pair of them turned to face the crowd, and this ofcourse meant that their backs were towards Tirian andhis friends.

"Now, Monkey," said Rishda Tarkaan in a low voice."Say the words that wiser heads have put into thy mouth.And hold up thy head." As he spoke he gave the Ape alittle prod or kick from behind with the point of his toe.

"Do leave me alone," muttered Shift. But he sat upstraighter and began, in a louder voice——

"Now listen, all of you. A terrible thing has happened.A wicked thing. The wickedest thing that ever was donein Narnia. And Aslan——"

"Tashlan, fool," whispered Rishda Tarkaan.

"Tashlan I mean, of course," said the Ape, "is veryangry about it."

There was a terrible silence while the Beasts waited tohear what new trouble was in store for them. The littleparty by the end-wall of the stable also held their breath.What on earth was coming now?

"Yes," said the Ape. "At this very moment, when theTerrible One himself is among us—there in the stablejust behind me—one wicked Beast has chosen to do whatyou'd think no one would dare to do even if He were athousand miles away. It has dressed itself up in alionskin and is wandering about in these very woodspretending to be Aslan."

Jill wondered for a moment if the Ape had gone mad.Was he going to tell the whole truth? A roar of horrorand rage went up from the Beasts. "Grrr!" came thegrowls, "Who is he? Where is he? Just let me get myteeth into him!"

"It was seen last night," screamed the Ape, "but it gotaway. It's a donkey! A common, miserable Ass! If any ofyou see that Ass——"

"Grrr!" growled the Beasts. "We will, we will. He'dbetter keep out of our way."

Jill looked at the King: his mouth was open and hisface was full of horror. And then she understood thedevilish cunning of the enemies' plan. By mixing a littletruth with it they had made their lie far stronger. Whatwas the good, now, of telling the Beasts that an ass hadbeen dressed up as a lion to deceive them? The Apewould only say, "That's just what I've said." What wasthe good of showing them Puzzle in his lionskin? Theywould only tear him in pieces. "That's taken the windout of our sails," whispered Eustace. "The ground istaken from under our feet," said Tirian. "Curst, curstcleverness!" said Poggin. "I'll be sworn that this new lieis of Ginger's making."

CHAPTER X

Who Will Go into the Stable?

Jill felt something tickling her ear. It was Jewel theUnicorn, whispering to her with the wide whisperof a horse's mouth. As soon as she heard what he wassaying she nodded and tiptoed back to where Puzzle wasstanding. Quickly and quietly she cut the last cords thatbound the lionskin to him. It wouldn't do for him to becaught with that on, after what the Ape had said! Shewould like to have hidden the skin itself somewhere veryfar away, but it was too heavy. The best she could dowas to kick it in among the thickest bushes. Then shemade signs to Puzzle to follow her and they both joinedthe others.

The Ape was speaking again.

"And after a horrid thing like that, Aslan—Tashlan—isangrier than ever. He says he's been a great deal toogood to you, coming out every night to be looked at, see!Well, he's not coming out any more."

Howls and mewings and squeals and grunts were theAnimals' answer to this, but suddenly a quite differentvoice broke in with a loud laugh.

"Hark what the monkey says," it shouted. "We knowwhy he isn't going to bring his precious Aslan out. I'lltell you why: because he hasn't got him. He never hadanything except an old donkey with a lionskin on itsback. Now he's lost that and he doesn't know what to do."

Tirian could not see the faces on the other side of thefire very well but he guessed this was Griffle the ChiefDwarf. And he was quite certain of it when, a secondlater, all the Dwarfs' voices joined in, singing:

"Don't know what to do! Don't know what to do!Don't know what to do-o-o!"

"Silence!" thundered Rishda Tarkaan, "Silence,children of mud! Listen to me, you other Narnians, lest Igive command to my warriors to fall upon you with theedge of the sword. The Lord Shift has already told youof that wicked Ass. Do you think, because of him thatthere is no real Tashlan in the Stable! Do you? Beware,beware."

"No, no," shouted most of the crowd. But the Dwarfssaid "That's right, Darkie, you've got it. Come on,Monkey, show us what's in the stable, seeing is believing."

When next there was a moment's quiet the Ape said:

"You Dwarfs think you're very clever, don't you? Butnot so fast. I never said you couldn't see Tashlan.Anyone who likes, can see him."

The whole assembly became silent. Then, after nearlya minute, the Bear began in a slow, puzzled voice.

"I don't quite understand all this," it grumbled, "Ithought you said——"

"You thought!" repeated the Ape. "As if anyone couldcall what goes on in your head thinking. Listen, youothers. Anyone can see Tashlan. But he's not coming out.You have to go in and see him."

"Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you," said dozensof voices. "That's what we wanted! We can go in and seehim face to face. And now he'll be kind and it will all beas it used to be." And the Birds chattered, and the Dogsbarked excitedly. Then suddenly, there was a great stirringand a noise of creatures rising to their feet, and in asecond the whole lot of them would have been rushingforward and trying to crowd into the Stable door alltogether. But the Ape shouted:

"Get back! Quiet! Not so fast."

The Beasts stopped, many of them with one paw inthe air, many with tails wagging, and all of them withheads on one side.

"I thought you said," began the Bear, but Shift interrupted.

"Anyone can go in," he said. "But, one at a time.Who'll go first? He didn't say he was feeling very kind.He's been licking his lips a lot since he swallowed up thewicked King the other night. He's been growling a gooddeal this morning. I wouldn't much like to go into thatStable myself tonight. But just as you please. Who'dlike to go in first? Don't blame me if he swallows youwhole or blasts you into a cinder with the mere terror ofhis eyes. That's your affair. Now then! Who's first? Whatabout one of you Dwarfs?"

"Dilly, dilly, come and be killed!" sneered Griffle."How do we know what you've got in there?"

"Ho-ho!" cried the Ape. "So you're beginning tothink there's something there, eh? Well, all you Beastswere making noise enough a minute ago. What's struckyou all dumb? Who's going in first?"

But the Beasts all stood looking at one another andbegan backing away from the Stable. Very few tails werewagging now. The Ape waddled to and fro jeering atthem. "Ho-ho-ho!" he chuckled. "I thought you were allso eager to see Tashlan face to face! Changed your mind, eh!"

Tirian bent his head to hear something that Jill wastrying to whisper in his ear. "What do you think is reallyinside the Stable?" she said. "Who knows?" said Tirian."Two Calormenes with drawn swords, as likely as not,one on each side of the door." "You don't think," saidJill "It might be ... you know ... that horrid thing wesaw?" "Tash himself?" whispered Tirian. "There's noknowing. But courage, child: we are all between thepaws of the true Aslan."

Then a most surprising thing happened. Ginger theCat said, in a cool, clear voice, not at all as if he wasexcited, "I'll go in, if you like."

Every creature turned and fixed its eyes on the Cat.

"Mark their subtleties, Sire," said Poggin to the King."This curst cat is in the plot, in the very centre of it.Whatever is in the Stable will not hurt him, I'll bebound. Then Ginger will come out again and say thathe has seen some wonder."

But Tirian had no time to answer him. The Ape wascalling the Cat to come forward. "Ho-ho!" said the Ape,"so you, a pert Puss, would look upon Him face to face.Come on, then! I'll open the door for you. Don't blameme if He scares the whiskers off your face. That's youraffair."

And the Cat got up and came out of its place in thecrowd, walking primly and daintily, with its tail in theair, not one hair on its sleek coat out of place. It came ontill it had passed the fire and was so close that Tirian,from where he stood with his shoulder against the end-wallof the stable, could look right into its face. Its biggreen eyes never blinked. ("Cool as a cucumber,"muttered Eustace. "It knows it has nothing to fear.") TheApe, chuckling and making faces, shuffled across besidethe Cat: put up his paw: drew the bolt and opened thedoor. Tirian thought he could hear the Cat purring as itwalked into the dark doorway.

"Aii-aii-aouwee!——" The most horrible caterwaulyou ever heard made everyone jump. You have beenwakened yourself by cats quarrelling or making love onthe roof in the middle of the night: you know the sound.

This was worse. The Ape was knocked head over heelsby Ginger coming back out of the Stable at top speed. Ifyou had not known he was a cat, you might have thoughthe was a ginger-coloured streak of lightning. He shotacross the open grass, back into the crowd. No one wantsto meet a cat in that state. You could see animals gettingout of his way, left and right. He dashed up a tree,whisked round, and hung head downwards. His tail wasbristled out till it was nearly as thick as his whole body:his eyes were like saucers of green fire: along his backevery single hair stood on end.

"I'd give my beard," whispered Poggin, "to knowwhether that brute is only acting or whether it has reallyfound something in there that frightened it!"

"Peace, friend," said Tirian, for the Captain and theApe were also whispering and he wanted to hear whatthey said. He did not succeed, except that he heard theApe once more whimpering "My head, my head," buthe got the idea that those two were almost as puzzled bythe cat's behaviour as himself.

"Now, Ginger," said the Captain. "Enough of thatnoise. Tell them what thou hast seen."

"Aii—Aii—Aaow—Awah," screamed the Cat.

"Art thou not called a Talking Beast?" said theCaptain. "Then hold thy devilish noise and talk."

What followed was rather horrible. Tirian felt quitecertain (and so did the others) that the Cat was trying tosay something: but nothing came out of its mouth exceptthe ordinary, ugly cat-noises you might hear from anyangry or frightened old Tom in a backyard in England.And the longer he caterwauled the less like a TalkingBeast he looked. Uneasy whimperings and little sharpsqueals broke out from among the other Animals.

"Look, look!" said the voice of the Boar. "It can't talk.It has forgotten how to talk! It has gone back to being adumb beast. Look at its face." Everyone saw that it wastrue. And then the greatest terror of all fell upon thoseNarnians. For every one of them had been taught—whenit was only a chick or a puppy or a cub—how Aslan atthe beginning of the world had turned the beasts ofNarnia into Talking Beasts and warned them that if theyweren't good they might one day be turned back againand be like the poor witless animals one meets in othercountries. "And now it is coming upon us," they moaned.

"Mercy! Mercy!" wailed the Beasts. "Spare us, LordShift, stand between us and Aslan, you must always go inand speak to him for us. We daren't, we daren't."

Ginger disappeared further up into the tree. No oneever saw him again.

Tirian stood with his hand on his sword-hilt and hishead bowed. He was dazed with the horrors of that night.Sometimes he thought it would be best to draw hissword at once and rush upon the Calormenes: then nextmoment he thought it would be better to wait and seewhat new turn affairs might take. And now a new turncame.

"My Father," came a clear, ringing voice from the leftof the crowd. Tirian knew at once that it was one of theCalormenes speaking, for in the Tisroc's army thecommon soldiers call the officers, "My Master," but theofficers call their senior officers, "My Father." Jill andEustace didn't know this but, after looking this way and that,they saw the speaker, for of course people at the sides ofthe crowd were easier to see than people in the middlewhere the glare of the fire made all beyond it look ratherblack. He was young and tall and slender, and evenrather beautiful in the dark, haughty, Calormene way.

"My Father," he said to the Captain, "I also desire togo in."

"Peace, Emeth," said the Captain, "Who called theeto counsel? Does it become a boy to speak?"

"My Father," said Emeth. "Truly I am younger thanthou, yet I also am of the blood of the Tarkaans even asthou art, and I also am the servant of Tash. Therefore...."

"Silence," said Rishda Tarkaan. "Am I not thy Captain?Thou has nothing to do with this Stable. It is forthe Narnians."

"Nay, my Father," answered Emeth. "Thou hast saidthat their Aslan and our Tash are all one. And if thatis the truth, then Tash himself is in yonder. And howthen sayest thou that I have nothing to do with Him? forgladly would I die a thousand deaths if I might look onceon the face of Tash."

"Thou art a fool and understandest nothing," saidRishda Tarkaan. "These be high matters."

Emeth's face grew sterner. "Is it then not true thatTash and Aslan are all one?" he asked. "Has the Ape liedto us?"

"Of course they're all one," said the Ape.

"Swear it, Ape," said Emeth.

"Oh dear!" whimpered Shift, "I wish you'd all stopbothering me. My head does ache. Yes, yes, I swear it."

"Then, My Father," said Emeth, "I am utterly determinedto go in."

"Fool," began Rishda Tarkaan, but at once theDwarfs began shouting: "Come along, Darkie. Whydon't you let him in? Why do you let Narnians in andkeep your own people out? What have you got in therethat you don't want your own men to meet?"

Tirian and his friends could only see the back ofRishda Tarkaan, so they never knew what his facelooked like as he shrugged his shoulders and said, "Bearwitness all that I am guiltless of this young fool's blood.Get thee in, rash boy, and make haste."

Then, just as Ginger had done, Emeth came walkingforward into the open strip of grass between the bonfireand the Stable. His eyes were shining, his face verysolemn, his hand was on his sword-hilt, and he carried hishead high. Jill felt like crying when she looked at hisface. And Jewel whispered in the King's ear, "By theLion's Mane, I almost love this young warrior, Calormenethough he be. He is worthy of a better god than Tash."

"I do wish we knew what is really inside there," saidEustace.

Emeth opened the door and went in, into the blackmouth of the Stable. He closed the door behind him.Only a few moments passed—but it seemed longer—beforethe door opened again. A figure in Calormene armourreeled out, fell on its back, and lay still: the doorclosed behind it. The Captain leaped towards it andbent down to stare at its face. He gave a start of surprise.Then he recovered himself and turned to the crowd,crying out:

"The rash boy has had his will. He has looked on Tashand is dead. Take warning, all of you."

"We will, we will," said the poor Beasts. But Tirianand his friends stared first at the dead Calormene andthen at one another. For they, being so close, could seewhat the crowd, being further off and beyond the fire,could not see: this dead man was not Emeth. He wasquite different: an older man, thicker and not so tall,with a big beard.

"Ho-ho-ho," chuckled the Ape. "Any more? Any oneelse want to go in? Well, as you're all shy, I'll choose thenext. You, you Boar! On you come. Drive him up, Calormenes.He shall see Tashlan face to face."

"O-o-mpy," grunted the Boar, rising heavily to hisfeet. "Come on, then. Try my tusks."

When Tirian saw that brave Beast getting ready tofight for its life—and Calormene soldiers beginning toclose in on it with their drawn scimitars—and no onegoing to its help—something seemed to burst inside him.He no longer cared if this was the best moment tointerfere or not.

"Swords out," he whispered to the others. "Arrow onstring. Follow."

Next moment the astonished Narnians saw seven figuresleap forth in front of the Stable, four of them inshining mail. The King's sword flashed in the firelight ashe waved it above his head and cried in a great voice:

"Here stand I, Tirian of Narnia, in Aslan's name, toprove with my body that Tash is a foul fiend, the Ape, amanifold traitor, and these Calormenes, worthy of death.To my side, all true Narnians. Would you wait till yournew masters have killed you all one by one?"

CHAPTER XI

The Pace Quickens

Quick as lightning, Rishda Tarkaan leaped backout of reach of the King's sword. He was nocoward, and would have fought single-handedagainst Tirian and the Dwarf if need were. But he couldnot take on the Eagle and the Unicorn as well. He knewhow Eagles can fly into your face and peck at your eyesand blind you with their wings. And he had heard fromhis father (who had met Narnians in battle) that no man,except with arrows or a long spear, can match a Unicorn,for it rears on its hind legs as it falls upon you and thenyou have its hoofs and its horn and its teeth to deal withall at once. So he rushed into the crowd and stood callingout:

"To me, to me, warriors of the Tisroc, may-he-live-for-ever.To me, all loyal Narnians, lest the wrath ofTashlan fall upon you!"

While this was happening two other things happenedas well. The Ape had not realised his danger as quicklyas the Tarkaan. For a second or so he remained squattingbeside the fire staring at the newcomers. Then Tirianrushed upon the wretched creature, picked it up by thescruff of the neck, and dashed back to the Stableshouting, "Open the door!" Poggin opened it. "Go and drinkyour own medicine, Shift!" said Tirian and hurled theApe through into the darkness. But as the Dwarf bangedthe door shut again, a blinding greenish-blue light shoneout from the inside of the Stable, the earth shook, andthere was a strange noise—a clucking and screaming as ifit was the hoarse voice of some monstrous bird. TheBeasts moaned and howled and called out "Tashlan!Hide us from him!" and many fell down, and many hidtheir faces in their wings or paws. No one exceptFarsight the Eagle, who has the best eyes of all living things,noticed the face of Rishda Tarkaan at that moment.And from what Farsight saw there he knew at once thatRishda was just as surprised, and nearly as frightened, aseveryone else. "There goes one," thought Farsight,"who had called on gods he does not believe in. How willit be with him if they have really come?"

The third thing—which also happened at the samemoment—was the only really beautiful thing that night.Every single Talking Dog in the whole meeting (therewere fifteen of them) came bounding and barking joyouslyto the King's side. They were mostly great big dogswith thick shoulders and heavy jaws. Their coming waslike the breaking of a great wave on the seabeach: itnearly knocked you down. For though they were TalkingDogs they were just as doggy as they could be: andthey all stood up and put their front paws on theshoulders of the humans and licked their faces, all saying atonce: "Welcome! Welcome! We'll help, we'll help,help, help. Show us how to help, show us how, how.How-how-how?"

It was so lovely that it made you want to cry. This, atlast, was the sort of thing they had been hoping for. Andwhen, a moment later, several little animals (mice andmoles and a squirrel or so) came pattering up, squealingwith joy, and saying "See, see. We're here," and when,after that, the Bear and the Boar came too, Eustacebegan to feel that perhaps, after all, everything might begoing to come right. But Tirian gazed round and sawhow very few of the animals had moved.

"To me! to me!" he called. "Have you all turnedcowards since I was your King?"

"We daren't," whimpered dozens of voices. "Tashlanwould be angry. Shield us from Tashlan."

"Where are all the Talking Horses?" asked Tirian.

"We've seen, we've seen," squealed the Mice. "TheApe has made them work. They're all tied—down at thebottom of the hill."

"Then all you little ones," said Tirian, "you nibblersand gnawers and nutcrackers, away with you as fast asyou can scamper and see if the Horses are on our side.And if they are, get your teeth into the ropes and gnawtill the Horses are free, and bring them hither."

"With a good will, Sire," came the small voices, andwith a whisk of tails those sharp-eyed and sharp-toothedfolk were off. Tirian smiled for mere love as he saw themgo. But it was already time to be thinking of otherthings. Rishda Tarkaan was giving his orders.

"Forward," he said. "Take all of them alive if you canand hurl them into the Stable: or drive them into it.When they are all in we will put fire to it and make theman offering to the great god Tash."

"Ha!" said Farsight to himself. "So that is how hehopes to win Tash's pardon for his unbelief."

The enemy line—about half of Rishda's force—wasnow moving forward, and Tirian had barely time togive his orders.

"Out on the left, Jill, and try to shoot all you maybefore they reach us. Boar and Bear next to her. Pogginon my left, Eustace on my right. Hold the right wing,Jewel. Stand by him, Puzzle, and use your hoofs. Hoverand strike, Farsight. You Dogs, just behind us. Go inamong them after the swordplay has begun. Aslan toour aid!"

Eustace stood with his heart beating terribly, hopingand hoping that he would be brave. He had never seenanything (though he had seen both a dragon and asea-serpent) that made his blood run so cold as that line ofdark-faced bright-eyed men. There were fifteenCalormenes, a Talking Bull of Narnia, Slinkey the Fox, andWraggle the Satyr. Then he heard twang-and-zipp on hisleft and one Calormene fell: then twang-and-zipp againand the Satyr was down. "Oh, well done, daughter!"came Tirian's voice; and then the enemy were upon them.

Eustace could never remember what happened in thenext two minutes. It was all like a dream (the sort youhave when your temperature is over 100) until he heardRishda Tarkaan's voice calling out from the distance:

"Retire. Back hither and re-form."

Then Eustace came to his senses and saw the Calormenesscampering back to their friends. But not all ofthem. Two lay dead, pierced by Jewel's horn, one byTirian's sword. The Fox lay dead at his own feet, and hewondered if it was he who had killed it. The Bull alsowas down, shot through the eye by an arrow from Jilland gashed in his side by the Boar's tusk. But our sidehad its losses too. Three dogs were killed and a fourthwas hobbling behind the line on three legs andwhimpering. The Bear lay on the ground, moving feebly.Then it mumbled in its throaty voice, bewildered to thelast, "I—I don't——understand," laid its big head downon the grass as quietly as a child going to sleep, andnever moved again.

In fact, the first attack had failed. Eustace didn't seemable to be glad about it: he was so terribly thirsty and hisarm ached so.

As the defeated Calormenes went back to their commander,the Dwarfs began jeering at them.

"Had enough, Darkies?" they yelled. "Don't you likeit? Why doesn't your great Tarkaan go and fight himselfinstead of sending you to be killed? Poor Darkies!"

"Dwarfs," cried Tirian. "Come here and use yourswords, not your tongues. There is still time. Dwarfs ofNarnia! You can fight well, I know. Come back to yourallegiance."

"Yah!" sneered the Dwarfs. "Not likely. You're justas big humbugs as the other lot. We don't want anyKings. The Dwarfs are for the Dwarfs. Boo!"

Then the Drum began: not a Dwarf drum this time,but a big bull's hide Calormene drum. The childrenfrom the very first hated the sound. Boom—boom—ba-ba-boomit went. But they would have hated it far worseif they had known what it meant. Tirian did. It meantthat there were other Calormene troops somewherenear and that Rishda Tarkaan was calling them to hisaid. Tirian and Jewel looked at one another sadly. Theyhad just begun to hope that they might win that night:but it would be all over with them if new enemies appeared.

Tirian gazed despairingly round. Several Narnianswere standing with the Calormenes whether throughtreachery or in honest fear of "Tashlan." Others weresitting still, staring, not likely to join either side. Butthere were fewer animals now: the crowd was muchsmaller. Clearly, several of them had just crept quietlyaway during the fighting.

Boom—boom—ba-ba-boom went the horrible drum.Then another sound began to mix with it. "Listen!" saidJewel: and then "Look!" said Farsight. A moment laterthere was no doubt what is was. With a thunder ofhoofs, with tossing heads, widened nostrils, and wavingmanes, over a score of Talking Horses of Narnia camecharging up the hill. The gnawers and nibblers haddone their work.

Poggin the Dwarf and the children opened theirmouths to cheer but that cheer never came. Suddenly theair was full of the sound of twanging bow-strings andhissing arrows. It was the Dwarfs who were shootingand—for a moment Jill could hardly believe her eyes—theywere shooting the Horses. Dwarfs are deadly archers.Horse after horse rolled over. Not one of those nobleBeasts ever reached the King.

"Little swine," shrieked Eustace, dancing in his rage."Dirty, filthy, treacherous little brutes." Even Jewelsaid, "Shall I run after those Dwarfs, Sire, and spit ten ofthem on my horn at each plunge?" But Tirian, with hisface as stern as stone, said, "Stand fast, Jewel. If you mustweep, sweetheart (this was to Jill) turn your face asideand see you wet not your bowstring. And peace, Eustace.Do not scold, like a kitchen-girl. No warrior scolds.Courteous words or else hard knocks are his only language."

But the Dwarfs jeered back at Eustace. "That was asurprise for you, little boy, eh? Thought we were onyour side, did you? No fear. We don't want any TalkingHorses. We don't want you to win any more than theother gang. You can't take us in. The Dwarfs are forthe Dwarfs."

Rishda Tarkaan was still talking to his men, doubtlessmaking arrangements for the next attack and probablywishing he had sent his whole force into the first. Thedrum boomed on. Then, to their horror, Tirian and hisfriends heard, far fainter as if from a long way off, ananswering drum. Another body of Calormenes hadheard Rishda's signal and were coming to support him.You would not have known from Tirian's face that hehad now given up all hope.

"Listen," he whispered in a matter-of-fact voice, "wemust attack now, before yonder miscreants arestrengthened by their friends."

"Bethink you, Sire," said Poggin, "that here we havethe good wooden wall of the Stable at our backs. If weadvance, shall we not be encircled and get sword-pointsbetween our shoulders?"

"I would say as you do, Dwarf," said Tirian, "were itnot their very plan to force us into the Stable. Thefurther we are from its deadly door, the better."

"The King is right," said Farsight. "Away from thisaccursed Stable, and whatever goblin lives inside it, atall costs."

"Yes, do let's," said Eustace. "I'm coming to hate thevery sight of it."

"Good," said Tirian. "Now look yonder to our left.You see a great rock that gleams white like marble in thefirelight. First we will fall upon those Calormenes. You,maiden, shall move out on our left and shoot as fast asever you may into their ranks: and you, Eagle, fly at theirfaces from the right. Meanwhile we others will becharging them. When we are so close, Jill, that you can nolonger shoot at them for fear of striking us, go back tothe white rock and wait. You others, keep your earswide even in the fighting. We must put them to flight ina few minutes or else not at all, for we are fewer thanthey. As soon as I call Back, then rush to join Jill at thewhite rock, where we shall have protection behind usand can breathe awhile. Now, be off, Jill."

Feeling terribly alone, Jill ran out about twenty feet,put her right leg back and her left leg forward, and setan arrow to her string. She wished her hands were notshaking so. "That's a rotten shot!" she said as her firstarrow sped towards the enemy and flew over their heads.But she had another on the string next moment: sheknew that speed was what mattered. She saw somethingbig and black, darting into the faces of the Calormenes.That was Farsight. First one man, and then another,dropped his sword and put up both his hands to defendhis eyes. Then one of her own arrows hit a man, andanother hit a Narnian wolf, who had, it seemed, joinedthe enemy. But she had been shooting only for a fewseconds when she had to stop. With a flash of swordsand of the Boar's tusks and Jewel's horn, and with deepbaying from the dogs, Tirian and his party were rushingon their enemies, like men in a hundred yards' race. Jillwas astonished to see how unprepared the Calormenesseemed to be. She did not realise that this was the resultof her work and the Eagle's. Very few troops can keep onlooking steadily to the front if they are getting arrowsin their faces from one side and being pecked by an eagleon the other.

"Oh well done. Well done!" shouted Jill. The King'sparty were cutting their way right into the enemy. TheUnicorn was tossing men as you'd toss hay on a fork.Even Eustace seemed to Jill (who after all didn't knowvery much about swordsmanship) to be fightingbrilliantly. The Dogs were at the Calormenes' throats. Itwas going to work! It was victory at last——

With a horrible, cold shock Jill noticed a strangething. Though Calormenes were falling at each Narniansword-stroke, they never seemed to get any fewer. In fact,there were actually more of them now than when thefight began. There were more every second. They wererunning up from every side. They were new Calormenes.These ones had spears. There was such a crowdof them that she could hardly see her own friends. Thenshe heard Tirian's voice crying:

"Back! To the rock!"

The enemy had been reinforced. The drum had doneits work.

CHAPTER XII

Through the Stable Door

Jill ought to have been back at the white rock alreadybut she had quite forgotten that part of her ordersthe excitement of watching the fight. Now sheremembered. She turned at once and ran to it, and arrivedthere barely a second before the others. It thushappened that all of them, for a moment, had their backsto the enemy. They all wheeled round the moment theyhad reached it. A terrible sight met their eyes.

A Calormene was running towards the Stable doorcarrying something that kicked and struggled. As hecame between them and the fire they could see clearlyboth the shape of the man and the shape of what hecarried. It was Eustace.

Tirian and the Unicorn rushed out to rescue him. Butthe Calormene was now far nearer to the door than they.Before they had covered half the distance he had flungEustace in and shut the door on him. Half a dozen moreCalormenes had run up behind him. They formed lineon the open space before the Stable. There was nogetting at it now.

Even then Jill remembered to keep her face turnedaside, well away from her bow. "Even if I can't stopblubbing, I won't get my string wet," she said.

"'Ware arrows," said Poggin suddenly.

Everyone ducked and pulled his helmet well over hisnose. The Dogs crouched behind. But though a fewarrows came their way, it soon became clear that they werenot being shot at. Griffle and his Dwarfs were at theirarchery again. This time they were coolly shooting at theCalormenes.

"Keep it up, boys!" came Griffle's voice. "Alltogether. Carefully. We don't want Darkies any more thanwe want Monkeys—or Lions—or Kings. The Dwarfs arefor the Dwarfs."

Whatever else you may say about Dwarfs, no one cansay they aren't brave. They could easily have got away tosome safe place. They preferred to stay and kill as manyof both sides as they could, except when both sides werekind enough to save them trouble by killing one another.They wanted Narnia for their own.

What perhaps they had not taken into account wasthat the Calormenes were mailclad and the Horses hadhad no protection. Also the Calormenes had a leader.Rishda Tarkaan's voice cried out:

"Thirty of you keep watch on those fools by the whiterock. The rest, after me, that we may teach these sons ofearth a lesson."

Tirian and his friends, still panting from their fightand thankful for a few minutes' rest, stood and lookedon while the Tarkaan led his men against the Dwarfs. Itwas a strange scene by now. The fire had sunk lower:the light it gave was now less and of a darker red. As faras one could see, the whole place of assembly was nowempty except for the Dwarfs and the Calormenes. Inthat light one couldn't make out much of what washappening. It sounded as if the Dwarfs were putting up agood fight. Tirian could hear Griffle using dreadfullanguage, and every now and then the Tarkaan calling"Take all you can alive! Take them alive!"

Whatever that fight may have been like, it did not lastlong. The noises of it died away. Then Jill saw theTarkaan coming back to the stable: eleven men followedhim, dragging eleven bound Dwarfs. (Whether theothers had all been killed, or whether some of them hadgot away, was never known.)

"Throw them into the shrine of Tash," said Rishda Tarkaan.

And when the eleven Dwarfs, one after the other, hadbeen flung or kicked into that dark doorway and thedoor had been shut again, he bowed low to the Stableand said:

"These also are for thy burnt offering, Lord Tash."

And all the Calormenes banged the flats of theirswords on their shields and shouted, "Tash! Tash! Thegreat god Tash! Inexorable Tash!" (There was nononsense about "Tashlan" now.)

The little party by the white rock watched thesedoings and whispered to one another. They had found atrickle of water coming down the rock and all haddrunk eagerly—Jill and Poggin and the King in theirhands, while the four-footed ones lapped from the littlepool which it had made at the foot of the stone. Suchwas their thirst that it seemed the most delicious drinkthey had ever had in their lives, and while they weredrinking they were perfectly happy and could not thinkof anything else.

"I feel in my bones," said Poggin, "that we shall all,one by one, pass through that dark door before morning.I can think of a hundred deaths I would rather have died."

"It is indeed a grim door," said Tirian. "It is morelike a mouth."

"Oh, can't we do anything to stop it?" said Jill in ashaken voice.

"Nay, fair friend," said Jewel, nosing her gently. "Itmay be for us the door to Aslan's country and we shallsup at his table tonight."

Rishda Tarkaan turned his back on the Stable andwalked slowly to a place in front of the white rock.

"Hearken," he said. "If the Boar and the Dogs and theUnicorn will come over to me and put themselves in mymercy, their lives shall be spared. The Boar shall go to acage in the Tisroc's garden, the Dogs to the Tisroc'skennels, and the Unicorn, when I have sawn his horn off,shall draw a cart. But the Eagle, the children, and hewho was the King shall be offered to Tash this night."

The only answer was growls.

"Get on, warriors," said the Tarkaan. "Kill the beasts,but take the two-legged ones alive."

And then the last battle of the last King of Narniabegan.

What made it hopeless, even apart from the numbersof the enemy, was the spears. The Calormenes who hadbeen with the Ape almost from the beginning had hadno spears: that was because they had come into Narniaby ones and twos, pretending to be peaceful merchants,and of course they had carried no spears for a spear is nota thing you can hide. The new ones must have come inlater, after the Ape was already strong and they couldmarch openly. The spears made all the difference. Witha long spear you can kill a boar before you are in reach ofhis tusks and a unicorn before you are in reach of hishorn; if you are very quick and keep your head. Andnow the levelled spears were closing in on Tirian andhis last friends. Next minute they were all fighting fortheir lives.

In a way it wasn't quite so bad as you might think.When you are using every muscle to the full—duckingunder a spear-point here, leaping over it there, lungingforward, drawing back, wheeling round—you haven'tmuch time to feel either frightened or sad. Tirian knewhe could do nothing for the others now; they were alldoomed together. He vaguely saw the Boar go down onone side of him, and Jewel fighting furiously on theother. Out of the corner of one eye he saw, but only justsaw, a big Calormene pulling Jill away somewhere byher hair. But he hardly thought about any of thesethings. His only thought now was to sell his life as dearlyas he could. The worst of it was that he couldn't keep tothe position in which he had started, under the whiterock. A man who is fighting a dozen enemies at oncemust take his chances wherever he can; must dart inwherever he sees an enemy's breast or neck unguarded.In a very few strokes this may get you quite a distancefrom the spot where you began. Tirian soon found thathe was getting further and further to the right, nearerto the Stable. He had a vague idea in his mind that therewas some good reason for keeping away from it. But hecouldn't now remember what the reason was. And anyway,he couldn't help it.

All at once everything came quite clear. He found hewas fighting the Tarkaan himself. The bonfire (whatwas left of it) was straight in front. He was in factfighting in the very doorway of the Stable, for it had beenopened and two Calormenes were holding the door,ready to slam it shut the moment he was inside. Heremembered everything now, and he realised that theenemy had been edging him to the Stable on purposeever since the fight began. And while he was thinkingthis, he was still fighting the Tarkaan as hard as he could.

A new idea came into Tirian's head. He dropped hissword, darted forward, in under the sweep of theTarkaan's scimitar, seized his enemy by the belt with bothhands, and jumped back into the Stable, shouting:

"Come in and meet Tash yourself!"

There was a deafening noise. As when the Ape hadbeen flung in, the earth shook and there was a blindinglight.

The Calormene soldiers outside screamed, "Tash,Tash!" and banged the door. If Tash wanted their ownCaptain, Tash must have him. They, at any rate, did notwant to meet Tash.

For a moment or two Tirian did not know where hewas or even who he was. Then he steadied himself,blinked, and looked around. It was not dark inside theStable, as he had expected. He was in strong light: thatwas why he was blinking.

He turned to look at Rishda Tarkaan, but Rishda wasnot looking at him. Rishda gave a great wail andpointed; then he put his hands before his face and fellflat, face downwards on the ground. Tirian looked in thedirection where the Tarkaan had pointed. And then heunderstood.

A terrible figure was coming towards them. It was farsmaller than the shape they had seen from the Tower,though still much bigger than a man, and it was thesame. It had a vulture's head and four arms. Its beak wasopen and its eyes blazed. A croaking voice came from itsbeak.

"Thou hast called me into Narnia, Rishda Tarkaan.Here I am. What hast thou to say?"

But the Tarkaan neither lifted his face from theground nor said a word. He was shaking like a man witha bad hiccup. He was brave enough in battle: but half hiscourage had left him earlier that night when he firstbegan to suspect that there might be a real Tash. The restof it had left him now.

With a sudden jerk—like a hen stooping to pick up aworm—Tash pounced on the miserable Rishda andtucked him under the upper of his two left arms. ThenTash turned his head sidewise to fix Tirian with one ofhis terrible eyes: for of course, having a bird's head, hecouldn't look at you straight.

But immediately, from behind Tash, strong and calmas the summer sea, a voice said:

"Begone, Monster, and take your lawful prey to yourown place: in the name of Aslan and Aslan's greatFather, the Emperor-over-sea."

The hideous creature vanished, with the Tarkaan stillunder its arm. And Tirian turned to see who had spoken.And what he saw then set his heart beating as it hadnever beaten in any fight.

Seven Kings and Queens stood before him, all withcrowns on their heads and all in glittering clothes, butthe Kings wore fine mail as well and had their swordsdrawn in their hands. Tirian bowed courteously and wasabout to speak when the youngest of the Queens laughed.

He stared hard at her face, and then gasped with amazement,for he knew her. It was Jill: but not Jill as he hadlast seen her with her face all dirt and tears and an olddrill dress half slipping off one shoulder. Now she lookedcool and fresh, as fresh as if she had just come frombathing. And at first he thought she looked older, but thendidn't, and he could never make up his mind on thatpoint. And then he saw that the youngest of the Kingswas Eustace: but he also was changed as Jill was changed.

Tirian suddenly felt awkward about coming amongthese people with the blood and dust and sweat of abattle still on him. Next moment he realised that he wasnot in that state at all. He was fresh and cool and clean,and dressed in such clothes as he would have worn for agreat feast at Cair Paravel. (But in Narnia your goodclothes were never your uncomfortable ones. They knewhow to make things that felt beautiful as well as lookingbeautiful in Narnia: and there was no such thing asstarch or flannel or elastic to be found from one end ofthe country to the other.)

"Sire," said Jill, coming forward and making a beautifulcurtsey, "let me make you known to Peter the HighKing over all Kings in Narnia."

Tirian had no need to ask which was the High King,for he remembered his face (though here it was farnobler) from his dream. He stepped forward, sank on oneknee and kissed Peter's hand.

"High King," he said. "You are welcome to me."

And the High King raised him and kissed him on bothcheeks as a High King should. Then he led him to theeldest of the Queens—but even she was not old, and therewere no grey hairs on her head and no wrinkles on hercheek—and said, "Sir, this is that Lady Polly who cameinto Narnia on the First Day, when Aslan made the treesgrow and the Beasts talk." He brought him next to a manwhose golden beard flowed over his breast and whoseface was full of wisdom. "And this is my brother, kingEdmund: and this my sister, the Queen Lucy."

"Sir," said Tirian, when he had greeted all these. "If Ihave read the chronicles aright, there should be another.Has not your Majesty two sisters? Where is Queen Susan?"

"My sister Susan," answered Peter shortly and gravely,"is no longer a friend of Narnia."

"Yes," said Eustace, "and whenever you've tried to gether to come and talk about Narnia or do anything aboutNarnia, she says 'What wonderful memories you have!Fancy your still thinking about all those funny gameswe used to play when we were children.'"

"Oh Susan!" said Jill, "she's interested in nothingnow-a-days except nylons and lipstick and invitations.She always was a jolly sight too keen on being grown-up."

"Grown-up, indeed," said the Lady Polly. "I wish shewould grow up. She wasted all her school time wantingto be the age she is now, and she'll waste all the rest of herlife trying to stay that age. Her whole idea is to race onto the silliest time of one's life as quick as she can andthen stop there as long as she can."

"Well, don't let's talk about that now," said Peter."Look! Here are lovely fruit trees. Let us taste them."

And then, for the first time, Tirian looked about himand realised how very queer this adventure was.

CHAPTER XIII

How the Dwarfs Refused to be Taken In

Tirian had thought—or he would have thought ifhe had had time to think at all—that they wereinside a little thatched stable, about twelve feetlong and six feet wide. In reality they stood on grass, thedeep blue sky was overhead, and the air which blewgently on their faces was that of a day in early summer.Not far away from them rose a grove of trees, thicklyleaved, but under every leaf there peeped out the goldor faint yellow or purple or glowing red of fruits suchas no one has seen in our world. The fruit made Tirianfeel that it must be autumn: but there was something inthe feel of the air that told him it could not be later thanJune. They all moved towards the trees.

Everyone raised his hand to pick the fruit he best likedthe look of, and then everyone paused for a second. Thisfruit was so beautiful that each felt, "It can't be meantfor me ... surely we're not allowed to pluck it."

"It's all right," said Peter. "I know what we're allthinking. But I'm sure, quite sure, we needn't. I've afeeling we've got to the country where everything is allowed."

"Here goes, then!" said Eustace. And they all beganto eat.

What was the fruit like? Unfortunately, no one candescribe a taste. All I can say is that, compared with thosefruits, the freshest grapefruit you've ever eaten was dull,and the juiciest orange was dry, and the most meltingpear was hard and woody, and the sweetest wild strawberrywas sour. And there were no seeds or stones, and nowasps. If you had once eaten that fruit, all the nicestthings in this world would taste like medicines afterit. But I can't describe it. You can't find out what itis like unless you can get to that country and taste foryourself.

When they had eaten enough, Eustace said to KingPeter, "You haven't yet told us how you got here. Youwere just going to, when King Tirian turned up."

"There's not much to tell," said Peter. "Edmund andI were standing on the platform and we saw your traincoming in. I remember thinking it was taking the bendfar too fast. And I remember thinking how funny it wasthat our people were probably in the same train thoughLucy didn't know about it——"

"Your people, High King?" said Tirian.

"I mean my Father and Mother—Edmund's andLucy's and mine."

"Why were they?" asked Jill. "You don't mean to saythey know about Narnia?"

"Oh no, it had nothing to do with Narnia. They wereon their way to Bristol. I'd only heard they were goingthat morning. But Edmund said they'd be bound to begoing by that train." (Edmund was the sort of personwho knows about railways).

"And what happened then?" said Jill.

"Well, it's not very easy to describe, is it, Edmund?"said the High King.

"Not very," said Edmund. "It wasn't at all like thatother time when we were pulled out of our own world byMagic. There was a frightful roar and something hit mewith a bang, but it didn't hurt. And I felt not so muchscared as—well, excited. Oh—and this is one queer thing.I'd had a rather sore knee, from a hack at rugger. Inoticed it had suddenly gone. And I felt very light. Andthen—here we were."

"It was much the same for us in the railway carriage,"said the Lord Digory, wiping the last traces of the fruitfrom his golden beard. "Only I think you and I, Polly,chiefly felt that we'd been unstiffened. You youngsterswon't understand. But we stopped feeling old."

"Youngsters, indeed!" said Jill. "I don't believe youtwo really are much older than we are here."

"Well if we aren't, we have been," said the Lady Polly.

"And what has been happening since you got here?"asked Eustace.

"Well," said Peter, "for a long time (at least Isuppose it was a long time) nothing happened. Then thedoor opened——"

"The door?" said Tirian.

"Yes," said Peter, "The door you came in—or cameout—by. Have you forgotten?"

"But where is it?"

"Look," said Peter and pointed.

Tirian looked and saw the queerest and most ridiculousthing you can imagine. Only a few yards away, clearto be seen in the sunlight, there stood up a roughwooden door and, round it, the framework of the doorway:nothing else, no walls, no roof. He walked towards it,bewildered, and the others followed, watching to seewhat he would do. He walked round to the other side ofthe door. But it looked just the same from the other side:he was still in the open air, on a summer morning. Thedoor was simply standing up by itself as if it had grownthere like a tree.

"Fair Sir," said Tirian to the High King, "this is agreat marvel."

"It is the door you came through with that Calormenefive minutes ago," said Peter smiling.

"But did I not come in out of the wood into theStable? Whereas this seems to be a door leading fromnowhere to nowhere."

"It looks like that if you walk round it," said Peter."But put your eye to that place where there is a crackbetween two of the planks and look through."

Tirian put his eye to the hole. At first he could seenothing but blackness. Then, as his eyes grew used to it,he saw the dull red glow of a bonfire that was nearlygoing out, and above that, in a black sky, stars. Then hecould see dark figures moving about or standing betweenhim and the fire: he could hear them talking andtheir voices were like those of Calormenes. So he knewthat he was looking out through the Stable door into thedarkness of Lantern Waste where he had fought his lastbattle. The men were discussing whether to go in andlook for Rishda Tarkaan (but none of them wanted todo that) or to set fire to the Stable.

He looked round again and could hardly believe hiseyes. There was the blue sky overhead, and grassycountry spreading as far as he could see in every direction,and his new friends all round him, laughing.

"It seems, then," said Tirian, smiling himself, "thatthe Stable seen from within and the Stable seen fromwithout are two different places."

"Yes," said the Lord Digory. "Its inside is bigger thanits outside."

"Yes," said Queen Lucy. "In our world too, a Stableonce had something inside it that was bigger than ourwhole world." It was the first time she had spoken, andfrom the thrill in her voice Tirian now knew why. Shewas drinking everything in more deeply than the others.She had been too happy to speak. He wanted to hearher speak again, so he said:

"Of your courtesy, Madam, tell on. Tell me yourwhole adventure."

"After the shock and the noise," said Lucy, "we foundourselves here. And we wondered at the door, as you did.Then the door opened for the first time (we sawdarkness through the doorway when it did) and there camethrough a big man with a naked sword. We saw by hisarms that he was a Calormene. He took his stand besidethe door with his sword raised, resting on his shoulder,ready to cut down anyone who came through. We wentto him and spoke to him, but we thought he couldneither see nor hear us. And he never looked round onthe sky and the sunlight and the grass: I think hecouldn't see them either. So then we waited a long time.Then we heard the bolt being drawn on the other sideof the door. But the man didn't get ready to strike withhis sword till he could see who was coming. So wesupposed he had been told to strike some and spare others.But at the very moment when the door opened, all of asudden Tash was there, on this side of the door; none ofus saw where he came from. And through the door therecame a big Cat. It gave one look at Tash and ran for itslife: just in time, for he pounced at it and the door hithis beak as it was shut. The man could see Tash. Heturned very pale and bowed down before the Monster:but it vanished.

"Then we waited a long time again. At last the dooropened for the third time and there came in a youngCalormene. I liked him. The sentinel at the door started,and looked very surprised, when he saw him. I thinkhe'd been expecting someone quite different——"

"I see it all now," said Eustace (he had the bad habitof interrupting stories). "The Cat was to go in first andthe sentry had orders to do him no harm. Then the Catwas to come out and say he's seen their beastly Tashlanand pretend to be frightened to scare the otherAnimals. But what Shift never guessed was that the realTash would turn up; so Ginger came out really frightened.And after that, Shift would send in anyone hewanted to get rid of and the sentry would kill them.And——"

"Friend," said Tirian softly, "you hinder the lady inher tale."

"Well," said Lucy, "the sentry was surprised. Thatgave the other man just time to get on guard. They had afight. He killed the sentry and flung him outside thedoor. Then he came walking slowly forward to wherewe were. He could see us, and everything else. We triedto talk to him but he was rather like a man in a trance.He kept on saying, 'Tash, Tash, where is Tash? I go toTash.' So we gave it up and he went away somewhere—overthere. I liked him. And after that ... ugh!" Lucymade a face.

"After that," said Edmund, "someone flung a monkeythrough the door. And Tash was there again. My sisteris so tender-hearted she doesn't like to tell you that Tashmade one peck and the Monkey was gone!"

"Serves him right!" said Eustace. "All the same, I hopehe'll disagree with Tash too."

"And after that," said Edmund, "came about a dozenDwarfs: and then Jill, and Eustace, and last of allyourself."

"I hope Tash ate the Dwarfs too," said Eustace."Little swine."

"No, he didn't," said Lucy. "And don't be horrid.They're still here. In fact you can see them from here.And I've tried and tried to make friends with them butit's no use."

"Friends with them!" cried Eustace. "If you knewhow those Dwarfs have been behaving!"

"Oh stop it, Eustace," said Lucy. "Do come and seethem. King Tirian, perhaps you could do somethingwith them."

"I can feel no great love for Dwarfs to-day," saidTirian. "Yet at your asking, Lady, I would do a greaterthing than this."

Lucy led the way and soon they could all see theDwarfs. They had a very odd look. They weren'tstrolling about or enjoying themselves (although the cordswith which they had been tied seemed to have vanished)nor were they lying down and having a rest. They weresitting very close together in a little circle facing oneanother. They never looked round or took any notice ofthe humans till Lucy and Tirian were almost nearenough to touch them. Then the Dwarfs all co*cked theirheads as if they couldn't see any one but were listeninghard and trying to guess by the sound what was happening.

"Look out!" said one of them in a surly voice. "Mindwhere you're going. Don't walk into our faces!"

"All right!" said Eustace indignantly. "We're notblind. We've got eyes in our heads."

"They must be darn good ones if you can see in here,"said the same Dwarf whose name was Diggle.

"In where?" asked Edmund.

"Why you bone-head, in here of course," said Diggle."In this pitch-black, poky, smelly little hole of a stable."

"Are you blind?" said Tirian.

"Ain't we all blind in the dark!" said Diggle.

"But it isn't dark, you poor stupid Dwarfs," said Lucy."Can't you see? Look up! Look round! Can't you see thesky and the trees and the flowers? Can't you see me?"

"How in the name of all Humbug can I see what ain'tthere? And how can I see you any more than you can seeme in this pitch darkness?"

"But I can see you," said Lucy. "I'll prove I can seeyou. You've got a pipe in your mouth."

"Anyone that knows the smell of baccy could tellthat," said Diggle.

"Oh the poor things! This is dreadful," said Lucy.Then she had an idea. She stooped and picked some wildviolets. "Listen, Dwarf," she said. "Even if your eyes arewrong, perhaps your nose is all right: can you smellthat." She leaned across and held the fresh, damp flowersto Diggle's ugly nose. But she had to jump back quicklyin order to avoid a blow from his hard little fist.

"None of that!" he shouted. "How dare you! What doyou mean by shoving a lot of filthy stable-litter in myface? There was a thistle in it too. It's like your sauce!And who are you anyway?"

"Earth-man," said Tirian, "she is the Queen Lucy,sent hither by Aslan out of the deep past. And it is forher sake alone that I, Tirian, your lawful King, do notcut all your heads from your shoulders, proved andtwice-proved traitors that you are."

"Well if that doesn't beat everything!" exclaimedDiggle. "How can you go on talking all that rot? Yourwonderful Lion didn't come and help you, did he?Thought not. And now—even now—when you've beenbeaten and shoved into this black hole, just the same asthe rest of us, you're still at your old game. Starting anew lie! Trying to make us believe we're none of us shutup, and it ain't dark, and heaven knows what."

"There is no black hole, save in your own fancy,fool," cried Tirian. "Come out of it." And, leaningforward, he caught Diggle by the belt and the hood andswung him right out of the circle of Dwarfs. But themoment Tirian put him down, Diggle darted back to hisplace among the others, rubbing his nose and howling:

"Ow! Ow! What d'you do that for! Banging my faceagainst the wall. You've nearly broken my nose."

"Oh dear!" said Lucy "What are we to do for them?"

"Let 'em alone," said Eustace: but as he spoke theearth trembled. The sweet air grew suddenly sweeter.A brightness flashed behind them. All turned. Tirianturned last because he was afraid. There stood his heart'sdesire, huge and real, the golden Lion, Aslan himself,and already the others were kneeling in a circle roundhis forepaws and burying their hands and faces in hismane as he stooped his great head to touch them with histongue. Then he fixed his eyes upon Tirian, and Tiriancame near, trembling, and flung himself at the Lion'sfeet, and the Lion kissed him and said, "Well done, lastof the Kings of Narnia who stood firm at the darkesthour."

"Aslan," said Lucy through her tears, "couldyou—will you—do something for these poor Dwarfs?"

"Dearest," said Aslan, "I will show you both what Ican, and what I cannot, do." He came close to theDwarfs and gave a low growl: low, but it set all the airshaking. But the Dwarfs said to one another, "Hearthat? That's the gang at the other end of the Stable.Trying to frighten us. They do it with a machine of somekind. Don't take any notice. They won't take us inagain!"

Aslan raised his head and shook his mane. Instantly aglorious feast appeared on the Dwarfs' knees: pies andtongues and pigeons and trifles and ices, and each Dwarfhad a goblet of good wine in his right hand. But itwasn't much use. They began eating and drinkinggreedily enough, but it was clear that they couldn't tasteit properly. They thought they were eating and drinkingonly the sort of things you might find in a Stable.One said he was trying to eat hay and another said hehad got a bit of an old turnip and a third said he'd founda raw cabbage leaf. And they raised golden goblets ofrich red wine to their lips and said "Ugh! Fancydrinking dirty water out of a trough that a donkey's been at!Never thought we'd come to this." But very soon everyDwarf began suspecting that every other Dwarf hadfound something nicer than he had, and they startedgrabbing and snatching, and went on to quarrelling, tillin a few minutes there was a free fight and all the goodfood was smeared on their faces and clothes or troddenunder foot. But when at last they sat down to nursetheir black eyes and their bleeding noses, they all said:

"Well, at any rate there's no Humbug here. Wehaven't let anyone take us in. The Dwarfs are for theDwarfs."

"You see," said Aslan. "They will not let us helpthem. They have chosen cunning instead of belief.Their prison is only in their own minds, yet they are inthat prison; and so afraid of being taken in that they cannot be taken out. But come, children. I have other workto do."

He went to the Door and they all followed him. Heraised his head and roared "Now it is time!" then louder"Time!"; then so loud that it could have shaken thestars, "TIME." The Door flew open.

CHAPTER XIV

Night Falls on Narnia

They all stood beside Aslan, on his right side, andlooked through the open doorway.

The bonfire had gone out. On the earth allwas blackness: in fact you could not have told that youwere looking into a wood, if you had not seen where thedark shapes of the trees ended and the stars began. Butwhen Aslan had roared yet again, out on their left theysaw another black shape. That is, they saw another patchwhere there were no stars: and the patch rose up higherand higher and became the shape of a man, the hugestof all giants. They all knew Narnia well enough to workout where he must be standing. He must be on the highmoorlands that stretch away to the North beyond theRiver Shribble. Then Jill and Eustace remembered howonce long ago, in the deep caves beneath those moors,they had seen a great giant asleep and been told that hisname was Father Time, and that he would wake on theday the world ended.

"Yes," said Aslan, though they had not spoken. "Whilehe lay dreaming his name was Time. Now that he isawake he will have a new one."

Then the great giant raised a horn to his mouth.They could see this by the change of the black shape hemade against the stars. After that—quite a bit later,because sound travels so slowly—they heard the sound ofthe horn: high and terrible, yet of a strange, deadlybeauty.

Immediately the sky became full of shooting stars.Even one shooting star is a fine thing to see; but thesewere dozens, and then scores, and then hundreds, till itwas like silver rain: and it went on and on. And when ithad gone on for some while, one or two of them began tothink that there was another dark shape against the skyas well as the giant's. It was in a different place, rightoverhead, up in the very roof of the sky as you mightcall it. "Perhaps it is a cloud," thought Edmund. At anyrate, there were no stars there: just blackness. But allaround, the downpour of stars went on. And then thestarless patch began to grow, spreading further andfurther out from the centre of the sky. And presently aquarter of the whole sky was black, and then a half, andat last the rain of shooting stars was going on only lowdown near the horizon.

With a thrill of wonder (and there was some terror init too) they all suddenly realized what was happening.The spreading blackness was not a cloud at all: it wassimply emptiness. The black part of the sky was the partin which there were no stars left. All the stars werefalling: Aslan had called them home.

The last few seconds before the rain of stars had quiteended were very exciting. Stars began falling all roundthem. But stars in that world are not the great flamingglobes they are in ours. They are people (Edmund andLucy had once met one). So now they found showers ofglittering people, all with long hair like burning silverand spears like white-hot metal, rushing down to themout of the black air, swifter than falling stones. Theymade a hissing noise as they landed and burnt the grass.And all these stars glided past them and stood somewherebehind, a little to the right.

This was a great advantage, because otherwise, nowthat there were no stars in the sky, everything wouldhave been completely dark and you could have seennothing. As it was, the crowd of stars behind them cast afierce, white light over their shoulders. They could seemile upon mile of Narnian woods spread out beforethem, looking as if they were flood-lit. Every bush andalmost every blade of grass had its black shadow behindit. The edge of every leaf stood out so sharp that you'dthink you could cut your finger on it.

On the grass before them lay their own shadows. Butthe great thing was Aslan's shadow. It streamed away totheir left, enormous and very terrible. And all this wasunder a sky that would now be starless for ever.

The light from behind them (and a little to theirright) was so strong that it lit up even the slopes of theNorthern Moors. Something was moving there. Enormousanimals were crawling and sliding down intoNarnia: great dragons and giant lizards and featherlessbirds with wings like bat's wings. They disappeared intothe woods and for a few minutes there was silence. Thenthere came—at first from very far off—sounds of wailingand then, from every direction, a rustling and apattering and a sound of wings. It came nearer and nearer.Soon one could distinguish the scamper of little feetfrom the padding of big paws, and the clack-clack oflight little hoofs from the thunder of great ones. Andthen one could see thousands of pairs of eyes gleaming.And at last, out of the shadow of the trees, racing up thehill for dear life, by thousands and by millions, came allkinds of creatures—Talking Beasts, Dwarfs, Satyrs,Fauns, Giants, Calormenes, men from Archenland,Monopods, and strange unearthly things from theremote islands or the unknown Western lands. And allthese ran up to the doorway where Aslan stood.

This part of the adventure was the only one whichseemed rather like a dream at the time and rather hardto remember properly afterwards. Especially, onecouldn't say how long it had taken. Sometimes it seemedto have lasted only a few minutes, but at others it feltas if it might have gone on for years. Obviously, unlesseither the Door had grown very much larger or thecreatures had suddenly grown as small as gnats, a crowd likethat couldn't ever have tried to get through it. But noone thought about that sort of thing at the time.

The creatures came rushing on, their eyes brighterand brighter as they drew nearer and nearer to thestanding Stars. But as they came right up to Aslan one orother of two things happened to each of them. They alllooked straight in his face; I don't think they had anychoice about that. And when some looked, the expressionof their faces changed terribly—it was fear andhatred: except that, on the faces of Talking Beasts, thefear and hatred lasted only for a fraction of a second.You could see that they suddenly ceased to be TalkingBeasts. They were just ordinary animals. And all thecreatures who looked at Aslan in that way swerved totheir right, his left, and disappeared into his huge blackshadow, which (as you have heard) streamed away to theleft of the doorway. The children never saw them again.I don't know what became of them. But the otherslooked in the face of Aslan and loved him, though someof them were very frightened at the same time. And allthese came in at the Door, in on Aslan's right. Therewere some queer specimens among them. Eustace evenrecognised one of those very Dwarfs who had helped toshoot the Horses. But he had no time to wonder aboutthat sort of thing (and anyway it was no business of his)for a great joy put everything else out of his head.Among the happy creatures who now came crowdinground Tirian and his friends were all those whom theyhad thought dead. There was Roonwit the Centaur andJewel the Unicorn, and the good Boar and the good Bearand Farsight the Eagle, and the dear Dogs and theHorses, and Poggin the Dwarf.

"Further in and higher up!" cried Roonwit and thunderedaway in a gallop to the West. And though they didnot understand him, the words somehow set themtingling all over. The Boar grunted at them cheerfully.The Bear was just going to mutter that he still didn'tunderstand, when he caught sight of the fruit treesbehind them. He waddled to those trees as fast as he couldand there, no doubt, found something he understoodvery well. But the Dogs remained, wagging their tailsand Poggin remained, shaking hands with everyone andgrinning all over his honest face. And Jewel leaned hissnowy white head over the King's shoulder and the Kingwhispered in Jewel's ear. Then everyone turned hisattention again to what could be seen through the Doorway.

The Dragons and Giant Lizards now had Narnia tothemselves. They went to and fro tearing up the trees bythe roots and crunching them up as if they were sticks ofrhubarb. Minute by minute the forests disappeared.The whole country became bare and you could see allsorts of things about its shape—all the little humps andhollows—which you had never noticed before. The grassdied. Soon Tirian found that he was looking at a worldof bare rock and earth. You could hardly believe thatanything had ever lived there. The monsters themselvesgrew old and lay down and died. Their flesh shrivelledup and the bones appeared: soon they were only hugeskeletons that lay here and there on the dead rock, lookingas if they had died thousands of years ago. For a longtime everything was still.

At last something white—long, level line of whitenessthat gleamed in the light of the standing stars—camemoving towards them from the eastern end of theworld. A widespread noise broke the silence: first amurmur, then a rumble, then a roar. And now theycould see what it was that was coming, and how fast itcame. It was a foaming wall of water. The sea was rising.In that treeless world you could see it very well. Youcould see all the rivers getting wider and the lakesgetting larger, and separate lakes joining into one, andvalleys turning into new lakes, and hills turning intoislands, and then those islands vanishing. And the highmoors to their left and the higher mountains to theirright crumbled and slipped down with a roar and asplash into the mounting water; and the water cameswirling up to the very threshold of the Doorway (butnever passed it) so that the foam splashed about Aslan'sforefeet. All now was level water from where they stoodto where the water met the sky.

And out there it began to grow light. A streak ofdreary and disastrous dawn spread along the horizon,and widened and grew brighter, till in the end theyhardly noticed the light of the stars who stood behindthem. At last the sun came up. When it did, the LordDigory and the Lady Polly looked at one another andgave a little nod: those two, in a different world, hadonce seen a dying sun, and so they knew at once that thissun also was dying. It was three times—twenty times—asbig as it ought to be, and very dark red. As its rays fellupon the great Time-giant, he turned red too: and in thereflection of that sun the whole waste of shoreless waterslooked like blood.

Then the Moon came up, quite in her wrong position,very close to the sun, and she also looked red. Andat the sight of her the sun began shooting out greatflames, like whiskers or snakes of crimson fire, towardsher. It is as if he were an octopus trying to draw her tohimself in his tentacles. And perhaps he did draw her.At any rate she came to him, slowly at first, but thenmore and more quickly, till at last his long flames lickedround her and the two ran together and became onehuge ball like a burning coal. Great lumps of fire camedropping out of it into the sea and clouds of steam rose up.

Then Aslan said, "Now make an end."

The giant threw his horn into the sea. Then hestretched out one arm—very black it looked, and thousandsof miles long—across the sky till his hand reachedthe Sun. He took the Sun and squeezed it in his hand asyou would squeeze an orange. And instantly there wastotal darkness.

Everyone except Aslan jumped back from the ice-coldair which now blew through the Doorway. Its edges werealready covered with icicles.

"Peter, High King of Narnia," said Aslan. "Shut the Door."

Peter, shivering with cold, leaned out into the darknessand pulled the Door to. It scraped over ice as hepulled it. Then, rather clumsily (for even in thatmoment his hands had gone numb and blue) he took out agolden key and locked it.

They had seen strange things enough through thatDoonvay. But it was stranger than any of them to lookround and find themselves in warm daylight, the bluesky above them, flowers at their feet, and laughter inAslan's eyes.

He turned swiftly round, crouched lower, lashedhimself with his tail and shot away like a golden arrow.

"Come further in! Come further up!" he shouted overhis shoulder. But who could keep up with him at thatpace? They set out walking westward to follow him.

"So," said Peter, "Night falls on Narnia. What, Lucy!You're not crying? With Aslan ahead, and all of us here?"

"Don't try to stop me, Peter," said Lucy, "I am sureAslan would not. I am sure it is not wrong to mourn forNarnia. Think of all that lies dead and frozen behindthat door."

"Yes and I did hope," said Jill, "that it might go onfor ever. I knew our world couldn't. I did think Narniamight."

"I saw it begin," said the Lord Digory. "I did notthink I would live to see it die."

"Sirs," said Tirian. "The ladies do well to weep. See Ido so myself. I have seen my mother's death. What worldbut Narnia have I ever known? It were no virtue, butgreat discourtesy, if we did not mourn."

They walked away from the Door and away from theDwarfs who still sat crowded together in their imaginaryStable. And as they went they talked to one anotherabout old wars and old peace and ancient Kings and allthe glories of Narnia.

The Dogs were still with them. They joined in theconversation but not very much because they were toobusy racing on ahead and racing back and rushing off tosniff at smells in the grass till they made themselvessneeze. Suddenly they picked up a scent which seemed toexcite them very much. They all started arguing aboutit—"Yes it is—No it isn't—That's just what I said—anyonecan smell what that is—Take your great nose out ofthe way and let someone else smell."

"What is it, cousins?" said Peter.

"A Calormene, Sire," said Several Dogs at once.

"Lead on to him, then," said Peter. "Whether hemeets us in peace or war, he shall be welcome."

The Dogs darted on ahead and came back a momentlater, running as if their lives depended on it, andbarking loudly to say that it really was a Calormene.(Talking Dogs, just like the common ones, behave as if theythought whatever they are doing at the moment,immensely important.)

The others followed where the Dogs led them andfound a young Calormene sitting under a chestnut treebeside a clear stream of water. It was Emeth. He rose atonce and bowed gravely.

"Sir," he said to Peter, "I know not whether you aremy friend or my foe, but I should count it my honour tohave you for either. Has not one of the poets said that anoble friend is the best gift and a noble enemy the nextbest?"

"Sir," said Peter, "I do not know that there need beany war between you and us."

"Do tell us who you are and what's happened to you,"said Jill.

"If there's going to be a story, let's all have a drink andsit down," barked the Dogs. "We're quite blown."

"Well of course you will be, if you keep tearing aboutthe way you have done," said Eustace.

So the humans sat down on the grass. And when theDogs had all had a very noisy drink out of the streamthey all sat down, bolt upright, panting, with theirtongues hanging out of their heads a little on one side, tohear the story. But Jewel remained standing, polishinghis horn against his side.

CHAPTER XV

Further Up and Further In

"Know, O Warlike Kings," said Emeth, "and you,O Ladies, whose beauty illuminates the universe,that I am Emeth, the seventh son of Harpa Tarkaanof the city of Tehishbaan, Westward beyond thedesert. I came lately into Narnia with nine and twentyothers under the command of Rishda Tarkaan. Nowwhen I first heard that we should march upon Narnia, Irejoiced; for I had heard many things of your Land anddesired greatly to meet you in battle. But when I foundthat we were to go in disguised as merchants (which isa shameful dress for a warrior and the son of aTarkaan) and to work by lies and trickery, then my joydeparted from me. And most of all when I found we mustwait upon a monkey, and when it began to be said thatTash and Aslan were one, then the world became darkin my eyes. For always since I was a boy, I have servedTash and my great desire was to know more of him and,if it might be, to look upon his face. But the name ofAslan was hateful to me.

"And, as you have seen, we were called together outsidethe straw-roofed hovel, night after night, and thefire was kindled, and the Ape brought forth out of thehovel something upon four legs that I could not well see.And the people and the Beasts bowed down and didhonour to it. But I thought, the Tarkaan is deceived bythe Ape: for this thing that comes out of the stable isneither Tash nor any other god. But when I watchedthe Tarkaan's face, and marked every word that he saidto the Monkey, then I changed my mind: for I saw thatthe Tarkaan did not believe in it himself. And then Iunderstood that he did not believe in Tash at all: for ifhe had, how could he dare to mock him?

"When I understood this, a great rage fell upon meand I wondered that the true Tash did not strike downboth the Monkey and the Tarkaan with fire fromheaven. Nevertheless I hid my anger and held mytongue and waited to see how it would end. But lastnight, as some of you know, the Monkey brought forthnot the yellow thing, but said that all who desired tolook upon Tashlan—for so they mixed the two words topretend that they were all one—must pass one by oneinto the hovel. And I said to myself, Doubtless this issome other deception. But when the Cat had gone inand had come out again in a madness of terror, then Isaid to myself, 'Surely the true Tash, whom they calledon without knowledge or belief, has now come amongus, and will avenge himself.' And though my heart wasturned into water inside me because of the greatness andterror of Tash, yet my desire was stronger than my fear,and I put force upon my knees to stay them fromtrembling, and on my teeth that they should not chatter, andresolved to look upon the face of Tash, though he shouldslay me. So I offered myself to go into the hovel; and theTarkaan, though unwillingly, let me go.

"As soon as I had gone through the door, the firstwonder was that I found myself in this great sunlight (as weall are now) though the inside of the hovel had lookeddark from outside. But I had no time to marvel at this,for immediately I was forced to fight for my head againstone of our own men. As soon as I saw him, I understoodthat the Monkey and the Tarkaan had set him there toslay any who came in if he were not in their secrets: sothat this man also was a liar and a mocker and no trueservant of Tash. I had the better will to fight him; andhaving slain the villain, I cast him out behind methrough the door.

"Then I looked about me and saw the sky and thewide lands and smelled the sweetness. And I said, Bythe Gods, this is a pleasant place: it may be that I amcome into the country of Tash. And I began to journeyinto the strange country and to seek him.

"So I went over much grass and many flowers andamong all kinds of wholesome and delectable trees tilllo! in a narrow place between two rocks there came tomeet me a great Lion. The speed of him was like theostrich, and his size was an elephant's; his hair was likepure gold and the brightness of his eyes, like gold that isliquid in the furnace. He was more terrible than theFlaming Mountain of Lagour, and in beauty he surpassedall that is in the world, even as the rose in bloomsurpasses the dust of the desert. Then I fell at his feetand thought, Surely this is the hour of death, for theLion (who is worthy of all honour) will know that I haveserved Tash all my days and not him. Nevertheless, it isbetter to see the Lion and die than to be Tisroc of theworld and live and not to have seen him. But theGlorious One bent down his golden head and touched myforehead with his tongue and said, Son, thou artwelcome. But I said, Alas, Lord, I am no son of Thine butthe servant of Tash. He answered, Child, all the servicethou hast done to Tash, I account as service done to me.Then by reason of my great desire for wisdom andunderstanding, I overcame my fear and questioned theGlorious One and said, Lord, is it then true, as the Apesaid, that thou and Tash are one? The Lion growled sothat the earth shook (but his wrath was not against me)and said, It is false. Not because he and I are one, butbecause we are opposites, I take to me the services whichthou hast done to him, for I and he are of such differentkinds that no service which is vile can be done to me, andnone which is not vile can be done to him. Therefore ifany man swear by Tash and keep his oath for the oath'ssake, it is by me that he has truly sworn, though he knowit not, and it is I who reward him. And if any man do acruelty in my name, then, though he says the nameAslan, it is Tash whom he serves and by Tash his deed isaccepted. Dost thou understand, Child? I said, Lord,thou knowest how much I understand. But I said also(for the truth constrained me), Yet I have been seekingTash all my days. Beloved, said the Glorious One, unlessthy desire had been for me thou wouldst not have soughtso long and so truly. For all find what they truly seek.

"Then he breathed upon me and took away the tremblingfrom my limbs and caused me to stand upon myfeet. And after that, he said not much but that we shouldmeet again, and I must go further up and further in.Then he turned him about in a storm and flurry of goldand was gone suddenly.

"And since then, O Kings and Ladies, I have beenwandering to find him and my happiness is so great thatit even weakens me like a wound. And this is the marvelof marvels, that he called me, Beloved, me who am butas a dog——"

"Eh? What's that?" said one of the Dogs.

"Sir," said Emeth. "It is but a fashion of speech whichwe have in Calormen."

"Well, I can't say it's one I like very much," said theDog.

"He doesn't mean any harm," said an older Dog."After all, we call our puppies, Boys, when they don'tbehave properly."

"So we do," said the first Dog. "Or, girls."

"S-s-sh!" said the Old Dog. "That's not a nice word touse. Remember where you are."

"Look!" said Jill suddenly. Someone was coming,rather timidly, to meet them; a graceful creature on fourfeet, all silvery-grey. And they stared at him for a wholeten seconds before five or six voices said all at once,"Why, it's old Puzzle!" They had never seen him by daylight with the lionskin off, and it made an extraordinarydifference. He was himself now: a beautiful donkeywith such a soft, grey coat and such a gentle, honest facethat if you had seen him youwould have done just what Jilland Lucy did—rushed forwardand put your arms round hisneck and kissed his nose andstroked his ears.

When they asked him wherehe had been, he said he hadcome in at the door along withall the other creatures but hehad—well, to tell the truth, hehad been keeping out of theirway as much as he could; andout of Aslan's way. For the sightof the real Lion had made himso ashamed of all that nonsense about dressing up in alionskin that he did not know how to look anyone in theface. But when he saw that all his friends were goingaway westward, and after he had had a mouthful or soof grass ("And I've never tasted such good grass in mylife," said Puzzle), he plucked up his courage andfollowed. "But what I'll do if I really have to meet Aslan,I'm sure I don't know," he added.

"You'll find it will be all right when you really do,"said Queen Lucy.

Then they all went forward together, always westward,for that seemed to be the direction Aslan hadmeant when he cried out "Further up and further in." Manyother creatures were slowly moving the same way,but that grassy country was very wide and there was nocrowding.

It still seemed to be early and the morning freshnesswas in the air. They kept on stopping to look round andto look behind them, partly because it was so beautifulbut partly also because there was something about itwhich they could not understand.

"Peter," said Lucy, "where is this, do you suppose?"

"I don't know," said the High King. "It reminds meof somewhere but I can't give it a name. Could it besomewhere we once stayed for a holiday when we werevery, very small?"

"It would have to have been a jolly good holiday,"said Eustace. "I bet there isn't a country like thisanywhere in our world. Look at the colours? You couldn'tget a blue like the blue on those mountains in ourworld."

"Is it not Aslan's country?" said Tirian.

"Not like Aslan's country on top of that mountain beyondthe eastern end of the world," said Jill. "I've beenthere."

"If you ask me," said Edmund, "Its like somewhere inthe Narnian world. Look at those mountains ahead—andthe big ice-mountains beyond them. Surely they'rerather like the mountains we used to see from Narnia,the ones up Westward beyond the Waterfall?"

"Yes, so they are," said Peter. "Only these are bigger."

"I don't think those ones are so very like anything inNarnia," said Lucy. "But look there." She pointed southward to their left, and everyone stopped and turned tolook. "Those hills," said Lucy, "the nice woody ones andthe blue ones behind—aren't they very like the southernborder of Narnia?"

"Like!" cried Edmund after a moment's silence."Why they're exactly like. Look, there's Mount Pirewith his forked head, and there's the pass intoArchenland and everything!"

"And yet they're not like," said Lucy. "They'redifferent. They have more colours on them and they lookfurther away than I remembered and they're more ... more... oh, I don't know...."

"More like the real thing," said the Lord Digorysoftly.

Suddenly Farsight the Eagle spread his wings, soaredthirty or forty feet up into the air, circled round andthen alighted on the ground.

"Kings and Queens," he cried, "we have all beenblind. We are only beginning to see where we are. Fromup there I have seen it all—Ettinsmuir, Beaversdam, theGreat River, and Cair Paravel still shining on the edgeof the Eastern Sea. Narnia is not dead. This is Narnia."

"But how can it be?" said Peter. "For Aslan told usolder ones that we should never return to Narnia, andhere we are."

"Yes," said Eustace. "And we saw it all destroyed andthe sun put out."

"And it's all so different," said Lucy.

"The Eagle is right," said the Lord Digory. "Listen,Peter. When Aslan said you could never go back toNarnia, he meant the Narnia you were thinking of. But thatwas not the real Narnia. That had a beginning and anend. It was only a shadow or a copy of the real Narnia,which has always been here and always will be here: justas our own world, England and all, is only a shadow orcopy of something in Aslan's real world. You need notmourn over Narnia, Lucy. All of the old Narnia thatmattered, all the dear creatures, have been drawn intothe real Narnia through the Door. And of course it isdifferent; as different as a real thing is from a shadow oras waking life is from a dream." His voice stirred everyonelike a trumpet as he spoke these words: but when headded under his breath "It's all in Plato, all in Plato:bless me, what do they teach them at these schools!" theolder ones laughed. It was so exactly like the sort ofthing they had heard him say long ago in that otherworld where his beard was grey instead of golden. Heknew why they were laughing and joined in the laughhimself. But very quickly they all became grave again:for, as you know, there is a kind of happiness andwonder that makes you serious. It is too good to waste onjokes.

It is as hard to explain how this sunlit land wasdifferent from the old Narnia, as it would be to tell you howthe fruits of that country taste. Perhaps you will get someidea of it, if you think like this. You may have been in aroom in which there was a window that looked out on alovely bay of the sea or a green valley that wound awayamong mountains. And in the wall of that roomopposite to the window there may have been a looking glass.And as you turned away from the window you suddenlycaught sight of that sea or that valley, all over again, inthe looking glass. And the sea in the mirror, or the valleyin the mirror, were in one sense just the same as the realones: yet at the same time they were somehow different—deeper,more wonderful, more like places in a story:in a story you have never heard but very much want toknow. The difference between the old Narnia and thenew Narnia was like that. The new one was a deepercountry: every rock and flower and blade of grass lookedas if it meant more. I can't describe it any better thanthat: if you ever get there, you will know what I mean.

It was the Unicorn who summed up what everyonewas feeling. He stamped his right fore-hoof on theground and neighed and then cried:

"I have come home at last! This is my real country!I belong here. This is the land I have been looking for allmy life, though I never knew it till now. The reason whywe loved the old Narnia is that it sometimes looked alittle like this. Bree-hee-hee! Come further up, comefurther in!"

He shook his mane and sprang forward into a greatgallop—a Unicorn's gallop which, in our world, wouldhave carried him out of sight in a few moments. But nowa most strange thing happened. Everyone else began torun, and they found, to their astonishment, that theycould keep up with him: not only the Dogs and thehumans but even fat little Puzzle and short-legged Pogginthe Dwarf. The air flew in their faces as if they weredriving fast in a car without a windscreen. The countryflew past as if they were seeing it from the windows of anexpress train. Faster and faster they raced, but no onegot hot or tired or out of breath.

CHAPTER XVI

Farewell to Shadow-Lands

If one could run without getting tired, I don't thinkone would often want to do anything else. But theremight be special reasons for stopping, and it was aspecial reason which made Eustace presently shout:

"I say! Steady! Look what we're coming to!"

And well he might. For now they saw before themCaldron Pool and beyond the Pool, the high unclimbablecliffs and, pouring down the cliffs, thousands oftons of water every second, flashing like diamonds insome places and dark, glassy green in others, the GreatWaterfall; and already the thunder of it was in theirears.

"Don't stop! Further up and further in," calledFarsight, tilting his flight a little upwards.

"It's all very well for him," said Eustace, but Jewelalso cried out:

"Don't stop. Further up and further in! Take it inyour stride."

His voice could only just be heard above the roar ofthe water but next moment everyone saw that he hadplunged into the Pool. And helter-skelter behind him,with splash after splash, all the others did the same. Thewater was not bitingly cold as all of them (and especiallyPuzzle) expected, but of a delicious foamy coolness.They all found they were swimming straight for theWaterfall itself.

"This is absolutely crazy," said Eustace to Edmund.

"I know. And yet——" said Edmund.

"Isn't it wonderful?" said Lucy. "Have you noticedone can't feel afraid, even if one wants to? Try it."

"By Jove, one can't," said Eustace after he had tried.Jewel reached the foot of the Waterfall first, butTirian was only just behind him. Jill was last, so shecould see the whole thing better than the others. She sawsomething white moving steadily up the face of theWaterfall. That white thing was the Unicorn. You couldn'ttell whether he was swimming or climbing, but hemoved on, higher and higher. The point of his horndivided the water just above his head, and it cascadedout in two rainbow-coloured streams all round hisshoulders. Just behind him came King Tirian. He movedhis legs and arms as if he were swimming but he movedstraight upwards: as if one could swim up a wall.

What looked funniest was the Dogs. During the gallopthey had not been at all out of breath, but now, asthey swarmed and wriggled upwards, there was plentyof spluttering and sneezing among them; that wasbecause they would keep on barking, and every time theybarked they got their mouths and noses full of water.But before Jill had time to notice all these things fully,she was going up the Waterfall herself. It was the sort ofthing that would have been quite impossible in ourworld. Even if you hadn't been drowned, you wouldhave been smashed to pieces by the terrible weight ofwater against the countless jags of rock. But in that worldyou could do it. You went on, up and up, with all kindsof reflected lights flashing at you from the water and allmanner of coloured stones flashing through it, till itseemed as if you were climbing up light itself—andalways higher and higher till the sense of height wouldhave terrified you if you could be terrified, but here itwas only gloriously exciting. And then at last one cameto the lovely, smooth green curve in which the waterpoured over the top and found that one was out on thelevel river above the waterfall. The current was racingaway behind you, but you were such a wonderful swimmerthat you could make headway against it. Soon theywere all on the bank, dripping but happy.

A long valley opened ahead and great snow-mountains,now much nearer, stood up against the sky.

"Further up and further in," cried Jewel and instantlythey were off again.

They were out of Narnia now and up into the WesternWild which neither Tirian nor Peter nor even theEagle had ever seen before. But the Lord Digory and theLady Polly had. "Do you remember? Do you remember?"they said—and said it in steady voices too, withoutpanting, though the whole party was now runningfaster than an arrow flies.

"What, Lord?" said Tirian. "Is it then true, as storiestell, that you two journeyed here on the very day theworld was made?"

"Yes," said Digory, "and it seems to me as if it wereonly yesterday."

"And on a flying horse?" asked Tirian. "Is that parttrue?"

"Certainly," said Digory. But the Dogs barked,"Faster, faster!"

So they ran faster and faster till it was more like flyingthan running, and even the Eagle overhead was goingno faster than they. And they went through windingvalley after winding valley and up the steep sides of hillsand, faster than ever, down the other sides, following theriver and sometimes crossing it and skimming acrossmountain-lakes as if they were living speedboats, till atlast at the far end of one long lake, which looked as blueas a turquoise, they saw a smooth green hill. Its sideswere as steep as the sides of a pyramid and round thevery top of it ran a green wall: but above the wall rosethe branches of trees, whose leaves looked like silver andtheir fruit like gold.

"Further up and further in!" roared the Unicorn, andno one held back. They charged straight at the foot ofthe hill and then found themselves running up it almostas water from a broken wave runs up a rock out at thepoint of some bay. Though the slope was nearly as steepas the roof of a house and the grass was smooth as abowling green, no one slipped. Only when they hadreached the very top did they slow up; that was becausethey found themselves facing great golden gates. And fora moment none of them was bold enough to try if thegates would open. They all felt just as they had feltabout the fruit—"Dare we? Is it right? Can it be meantfor us?"

But while they were standing thus a great horn,wonderfully loud and sweet, blew from somewhere insidethat walled garden and the gates swung open.

Tirian stood holding his breath and wondering whowould come out. And what came out was the last thinghe had expected: a little, sleek, bright-eyed TalkingMouse with a red feather stuck in a circlet on its headand its left paw resting on a long sword. It bowed, amost beautiful bow, and said in its shrill voice:

"Welcome, in the Lion's name. Come further up andfurther in."

Then Tirian saw King Peter and King Edmund andQueen Lucy rush forward to kneel down and greet theMouse and they all cried out, "Reepicheep!" AndTirian breathed fast with the sheer wonder of it, fornow he knew that he was looking at one of the greatheroes of Narnia, Reepicheep the Mouse, who hadfought at the great Battle of Beruna and afterwardssailed to the World's end with King Caspian the Seafarer.But before he had had much time to think of this,he felt two strong arms thrown about him and felt abearded kiss on his cheeks and heard a well-rememberedvoice saying:

"What, lad? Art thicker and taller since I last touchedthee?"

It was his own father, the good King Erlian: but notas Tirian had seen him last when they brought himhome pale and wounded from his fight with the giant,nor even as Tirian remembered him in his later yearswhen he was a grey-headed warrior. This was his fatheryoung and merry as he could just remember him fromvery early days, when he himself had been a little boyplaying games with his father in the castle garden atCair Paravel, just before bedtime on summer evenings.The very smell of the bread-and-milk he used to have forsupper came back to him.

Jewel thought to himself, "I will leave them to talkfor a little and then I will go and greet the good KingErlian. Many a bright apple did he give me when I wasbut a colt." But next moment he had something else tothink of, for out of the gateway there came a horse somighty and noble that even a Unicorn might feel shy inits presence: a great winged horse. It looked a moment atthe Lord Digory and the Lady Polly and neighed out"What, cousins!" and they both shouted "Fledge! Goodold Fledge!" and rushed to kiss it.

But by now the Mouse was again urging them to comein. So all of them passed in through the golden gates,into the delicious smell that blew towards them out ofthat garden and into the cool mixture of sunlight andshadow under the trees, walking on springy turf that wasall dotted with white flowers. The very first thing whichstruck everyone was that the place was far larger than ithad seemed from outside. But no one had time to thinkabout that for people were coming up to meet thenewcomers from every direction.

Everyone you had ever heard of (if you knew the historyof those countries) seemed to be there. There wasGlimfeather the Owl and Puddleglum the Marshwiggle,and King Rilian the Disenchanted, and his mother, theStar's daughter, and his great father, Caspian himself.And close beside him were the Lord Drinian and theLord Berne and Trumpkin the Dwarf and Trufflehunter,the Good Badger, with Glenstorm the Centaurand a hundred other heroes of the great War of Deliverance.And then from another side came Cor the King ofArchenland with King Lune, his father, and his wife,Queen Aravis and the brave prince, Corin Thunder-Fist,his brother and Bree the Horse and Hwin theMare. And then—which was a wonder beyond allwonders to Tirian—there came from further away in thepast, the two good Beavers and Tumnus the Faun. Andthere was greeting and kissing and handshaking and oldjokes revived, (you've no idea how good an old jokesounds when you take it out again after a rest of five orsix hundred years) and the whole company moved forwardto the centre of the orchard where the Phoenix satin a tree and looked down upon them all and at the footof that tree were two thrones and in those two thrones, aKing and Queen so great and beautiful that everyonebowed down before them. And well they might, forthese two were King Frank and Queen Helen fromwhom all the most ancient Kings of Narnia and Archenlandare descended. And Tirian felt as you would feel ifyou were brought before Adam and Eve in all their glory.

About half an hour later—or it might have been half ahundred years later, for time there is not like timehere—Lucy stood with her dear friend, her oldest Narnianfriend, the Faun Tumnus, looking down over the wall ofthat garden, and seeing all Narnia spread out below.But when you looked down you found that this hill wasmuch higher than you had thought: it sank down withshining cliffs, thousands of feet below them and trees inthat lower world looked no bigger than grains of greensalt. Then she turned inward again and stood with herback to the wall and looked at the garden.

"I see," she said at last, thoughtfully. "I see now. Thisgarden is like the Stable. It is far bigger inside than itwas outside."

"Of course, Daughter of Eve," said the Faun. "Thefurther up and the further in you go, the bigger everythinggets. The inside is larger than the outside."

Lucy looked hard at the garden and saw that it wasnot really a garden at all but a whole world, with its ownrivers and woods and sea and mountains. But they werenot strange: she knew them all.

"I see," she said. "This is still Narnia, and, more realand more beautiful than the Narnia down below, just asit was more real and more beautiful than the Narniaoutside the Stable door! I see ... world within world,Narnia within Narnia...."

"Yes," said Mr. Tumnus, "like an onion: except thatas you continue to go in and in, each circle is larger thanthe last."

And Lucy looked this way and that and soon foundthat a new and beautiful thing had happened to her.Whatever she looked at, however far away it might be,once she had fixed her eyes steadily on it, became quiteclear and close as if she were looking through a telescope.She could see the whole southern desert and beyond itthe great city of Tashbaan: to eastward she could seeCair Paravel on the edge of the sea and the very windowof the room that had once been her own. And far out tosea she could discover the islands, island after island tothe end of the world, and, beyond the end, the hugemountain which they had called Aslan's country. Butnow she saw that it was part of a great chain ofmountains which ringed round the whole world. In front ofher it seemed to come quite close. Then she looked toher left and saw what she took to be a great bank ofbrightly-coloured cloud, cut off from them by a gap. Butshe looked harder and saw that it was not a cloud at allbut a real land. And when she had fixed her eyes on oneparticular spot of it, she at once cried out, "Peter!Edmund! Come and look! Come quickly." And they cameand looked, for their eyes also had become like hers.

"Why!" exclaimed Peter. "It's England. And that'sthe house itself—Professor Kirk's old home in thecountry where all our adventures began!"

"I thought that house had been destroyed," said Edmund.

"So it was," said the Faun. "But you are now lookingat the England within England, the real England just asthis is the real Narnia. And in that inner England nogood thing is destroyed."

Suddenly they shifted their eyes to another spot, andthen Peter and Edmund and Lucy gasped with amazementand shouted out and began waving: for therethey saw their own father and mother, waving back atthem across the great, deep valley. It was like when yousee people waving at you from the deck of a big shipwhen you are waiting on the quay to meet them.

"How can we get at them?" said Lucy.

"That is easy," said Mr. Tumnus. "That countryand this country—all the real countries—are only spursjutting out from the great mountains of Aslan. We haveonly to walk along the ridge, upward and inward, till itjoins on. And listen! There is King Frank's horn: wemust all go up."

And soon they found themselves all walking together—anda great, bright procession it was—up towardsmountains higher than you could see in this world evenif they were there to be seen. But there was no snow onthose mountains: there were forests and green slopes andsweet orchards and flashing waterfalls, one above theother, going up for ever. And the land they were walkingon grew narrower all the time, with a deep valley on eachside: and across that valley the land which was the realEngland grew nearer and nearer.

The light ahead was growing stronger. Lucy saw thata great series of many-coloured cliffs led up in frontof them like a giant's staircase. And then she forgoteverything else, because Aslan himself was coming, leapingdown from cliff to cliff like a living cataract of powerand beauty.

And the very first person whom Aslan called to himwas Puzzle the Donkey. You never saw a donkey lookfeebler and sillier than Puzzle did as he walked up toAslan; and he looked, beside Aslan, as small as a kittenlooks beside a St. Bernard. The Lion bowed down hishead and whispered something to Puzzle at which hislong ears went down; but then he said something else atwhich the ears perked up again. The humans couldn'thear what he had said either time. Then Aslan turnedto them and said:

"You do not yet look so happy as I mean you to be."

Lucy said, "We're so afraid of being sent away, Aslan.And you have sent us back into our own world so often."

"No fear of that," said Aslan. "Have you not guessed?"

Their hearts leaped and a wild hope rose within them.

"There was a real railway accident," said Aslan softly."Your father and mother and all of you are—as you usedto call it in the Shadow-Lands—dead. The term is over:the holidays have begun. The dream is ended: this is themorning."

And as He spoke He no longer looked to them like alion; but the things that began to happen after that wereso great and beautiful that I cannot write them. Andfor us this is the end of all the stories, and we can mosttruly say that they all lived happily ever after. But forthem it was only the beginning of the real story. Alltheir life in this world and all their adventures inNarnia had only been the cover and the title page: now atlast they were beginning Chapter One of the GreatStory, which no one on earth has read: which goes on forever: in which every chapter is better than the one before.

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The Chronicles of Narnia

THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE
PRINCE CASPIAN
THE VOYAGE OF "THE DAWN TREADER"
THE SILVER CHAIR
THE HORSE AND HIS BOY
THE MAGICIAN'S NEPHEW
THE LAST BATTLE

[End of The Last Battle, by C. S. Lewis]