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the horse and his boy_c·s·刘易斯-第28部分

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presently queen lucy came out from the castle and joined them and king lune  said to aravis; 〃my dear; here is a loving friend of our house; and she has been  seeing that your apartments are put to rights for you better than i could have done it。鈥

〃youd like to e and see them; wouldnt you?〃 said lucy; kissing aravis。  they liked each other at once and soon went away together to talk about araviss  bedroom and araviss boudoir and about getting clothes for her; and all the sort of  things girls do talk about on such an occasion。

after lunch; which they had on the terrace (it was cold birds and cold game  pie and wine and bread and cheese); king lune ruffled up his brow and heaved a sigh and  said; 〃heigh…ho! we have still that sorry creature rsh on our hands; my  friends; and must needs resolve what to do with him。鈥

lucy was sitting on the kings right and aravis on his left。 king edmund  sat at one end of the table and the lord darrin faced him at the other。 dar and peridan  and cor and corin were on the same side as the king。

〃your majesty would have a perfect right to strike off his head;〃 said  peridan。 〃such an assault as he made puts him on a level with assassins。鈥

〃it is very true;〃 said edmund。 〃but even a traitor may mend。 i have known  one that did。鈥

and he looked very thoughtful。

〃to kill this rsh would go near to raising war with the tisroc;〃 said  darrin。

〃a fig for the tisroc;〃 said king lune。 〃his strength is in numbers and  numbers will never cross the desert。 but i have no stomach for killing men (even  traitors) in cold blood。 to have cut his throat in the battle would have eased my heart  mightily; but this is a different thing。鈥

〃by my counsel;〃 said lucy; 〃your majesty shall give him another trial。 let  him go free on strait promise of fair dealing in the future。 it may be that he will  keep his word。鈥

〃maybe apes will grow honest; sister;〃 said edmund。 〃but; by the lion; if  he breaks it again; may it be in such time and place that any of us could swap off his  head in clean battle。鈥

〃it shall be tried;〃 said the king: and then to one of the attendants;  〃send for the prisoner; friend。鈥

rsh was brought before them in chains。 to look at him anyone would  have supposed that he had passed the night in a noisome dungeon without food or  water; but in reality he had been shut up in quite a fortable room and provided with  an excellent supper。 but as he was sulking far too furiously to touch the supper and had  spent the whole night stamping and roaring and cursing; he naturally did not now look  his best。

〃your royal highness needs not to be told;〃 said king lune; 〃that by the  law of nations as well as by all reasons of prudent policy; we have as good right to your  head as ever one mortal man had against another。 nevertheless; in consideration of your  youth and the ill nurture; devoid of all gentilesse and courtesy; which you have  doubtless had in the land of slaves and tyrants; we are disposed to set you free; unharmed; on  these conditions: first; that…鈥

〃curse you for a barbarian dog!〃 spluttered rsh。 〃do you think i will  even hear your conditions? faugh! you talk very largely of nurture and i know not  what。 its easy; to a man in chains; ha! take off these vile bonds; give me a sword; and let  any of you who dares then debate with me。鈥

nearly all the lords sprang to their feet; and corin shouted:  

〃father! can i box him? please。鈥

〃peace! your majesties! my lords!〃 said king lune。 〃have we no more gravity  among us than to be so chafed by the taunt of a pajock? sit down; corin; or shaft  leave the table。

i ask your highness again; to hear our conditions。鈥

〃i hear no conditions from barbarians and sorcerers;〃 said rsh。 〃not  one of you dare touch a hair of my head。 every insult you have heaped on me shall be  paid with oceans of narnian and archenlandish blood。 terrible shall the vengeance of  the tisroc be: even now。 but kill me; and the burnings and torturings in these  northern lands shall bee a tale to frighten the world a thousand years hence。 beware! beware!  beware!

the bolt of tash falls from above!鈥

〃does it ever get caught on a hook half…way?〃 asked corin。

〃shame; corin;〃 said the king。 〃never taunt a man save when he is stronger  than you: then; as you please。鈥

〃oh you foolish rsh;〃 sighed lucy。

next moment cor wondered why everyone at the table had risen and was  standing perfectly still。 of course he did the same himself。 and then he saw the  reason。 aslan was among them though no one had seen him ing。 rsh started as the  immense shape of the lion paced softly in between him and his accusers。

〃rsh;〃 said aslan。 〃take heed。 your doom is very near; but you may  still avoid it。

forget your pride (what have you to be proud of?) and your anger (who has  done you wrong?) and accept the mercy of these good kings。鈥

then rsh rolled his eyes and spread out his mouth into a horrible;  long mirthless grin like a shark; and wagged his ears up and down (anyone can learn how to  do this if they take the trouble)。 he had always found this very effective in  calormen。 the bravest had trembled when he made these faces; and ordinary people had fallen to  the floor; and sensitive people had often fainted。 but what rsh hadnt realized is  that it is very easy to frighten people who know you can have them boiled alive the moment  you give the word。 the grimaces didnt look at all alarming in archenland; indeed  lucy only thought rsh was going to be sick。

〃demon! demon! demon!〃 shrieked the prince。 〃i know you。 you are the foul  fiend of narnia。 you are the enemy of the gods。 learn who i am; horrible phantasm。 i  am descended from tash; the inexorable; the irresistible。 the curse of tash is  upon you。

lightning in the shape of scorpions shall be rained on you。 the mountains  of narnia shall be ground into dust。 the…鈥

〃have a care; rsh;〃 said aslan quietly。 〃the doom is nearer now: it is  at the door: it has lifted the latch。鈥

〃let the skies fall;〃 shrieked rsh。 〃let the earth gape! let blood and  fire obliterate the world! but be sure i will never desist till i have dragged to my palace  by her hair the barbarian queen; the daughter of dogs; the …鈥

〃the hour has struck;〃 said aslan: and rsh saw; to his supreme horror;  that everyone had begun to laugh。

they couldnt help it。 rsh had been wagging his ears all the time and  as soon as aslan said; 〃the hour has struck!〃 the ears began to change。 they grew  longer and more pointed and soon were covered with grey hair。 and while everyone was  wondering where they had seen ears like that before; rshs face began to change too。  it grew longer; and thicker at the top and larger eyed; and the nose sank back into the  face (or else the face swelled out and became all nose) and there was hair all over it。 and  his arms grew longer and came down in front of him till his hands were resting on the  ground: only they werent hands; now; they were hoofs。 and he was standing on all fours; and  his clothes disappeared; and everyone laughed louder and louder (because they couldnt  help it) for now what had been rsh was; simply and unmistakably; a donkey。 the  terrible thing was that his human speech lasted just a moment longer than his human shape;  so that when he realized the change that was ing over him; he screamed out:  〃oh; not a donkey! mercy! if it were even a horse … een … a hor … eeh …  auh; eeh…auh。鈥

and so the words died away into a donkeys bray。

〃now hear me; rsh;〃 said aslan。 〃justice shall be mixed with mercy。  you shall not always be an ass。鈥

at this of course the donkey twitched its ears forward and that also was so  funny that everybody laughed all the more。 they tried not to; but they tried in vain。

〃you have appealed to tash;〃 said aslan。 〃and in the temple of tash you  shall be healed。

you must stand before the altar of tash in tashbaan at the great autumn  feast this year and there; in the sight of all tashbaan; your asss shape will fall from  you and all men will know you for prince rsh。 but as long as you live; if ever you go  more than ten miles away from the great temple in tashbaan you shall instantly bee  again as you now are。 and from that second change there will be no return。鈥

there was a short silence and then they all stirred and looked at one  another as if they were waking from sleep。 aslan was gone。 but there was a brightness in the  air and on the grass; and a joy in their hearts; which assured them that he had been no  dream: and anyway; there was the donkey in front of them。

king lune was the kindest…hearted of men and on seeing his enemy in this  regrettable condition he forgot all his anger。

〃your royal highness;〃 he said。 〃i am most truly sorry that things have  e to this extremity。 your highness will bear witness that it was none of our doing。  and of course we shall be delighted to provide your highness with shipping back to  tashbaan for the … er … treatment which aslan has prescribed。 you shall have every fort  which your highnesss situation allows: the best of the cattleboats … the freshest  carrots and thistles …鈥

but a deafening bray from the donkey and a well…aimed kick at one of t
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