Prince Caspian tcon-4
Page 14
“I do indeed, Sir,” said Caspian. “I was wishing that I came of a more honourable lineage.”
“You come of the Lord Adam and the Lady Eve,” said Aslan. “And that is both honour enough to erect the head of the poorest beggar, and shame enough to bow the shoulders of the greatest emperor on earth. Be content.”
Caspian bowed.
“And now,” said Aslan, “you men and women of Telmar, will you go back to that island in the world of men from which your fathers first came? It is no bad place. The race of those pirates who first found it has died out, and it is without inhabitants. There are good wells of fresh water, and fruitful soil, and timber for building, and fish in the lagoons; and the other men of that world have not yet discovered it. The chasm is open for your return; but this I must warn you, that once you have gone through, it will close behind you for ever. There will be no more commerce between the worlds by that door.”
There was silence for a moment. Then a burly, decent looking fellow among the Telmarine soldiers pushed forward and said:
“Well, I'll take the offer.”
“It is well chosen,” said Aslan. “And because you have spoken first, strong magic is upon you. Your future in that world shall be good. Come forth.”
The man, now a little pale, came forward. Aslan and his court drew aside, leaving him free access to the empty doorway of the stakes.
“Go through it, my son,” said Aslan, bending towards him and touching the man's nose with his own. As soon as the Lion's breath came about him, a new look came into the man's eyes—startled, but not unhappy—as if he were trying to remember something. Then he squared his shoulders and walked into the Door.
Everyone's eyes were fixed on him. They saw the three pieces of wood, and through them the trees and grass and sky of Narnia. They saw the man between the doorposts: then, in one second, he had vanished utterly.
From the other end of the glade the remaining Telmarines set up a wailing. “Ugh! What's happened to him? Do you mean to murder us? We won't go that way.” And then one of the clever Telmarines said:
“We don't see any other world through those sticks. If you want us to believe in it, why doesn't one of you go? All your own friends are keeping well away from the sticks.”
Instantly Reepicheep stood forward and bowed. “If my example can be of any service, Aslan,” he said, “I will take eleven mice through that arch at your bidding without a moment's delay.”
“Nay, little one,” said Aslan, laying his velvety paw ever so lightly on Reepicheep's head. “They would do dreadful things to you in that world. They would show you at fairs. It is others who must lead.”
“Come on,” said Peter suddenly to Edmund and Lucy. “Our time's up.”
“What do you mean?” said Edmund.
“This way,” said Susan, who seemed to know all about it. “Back into the trees. We've got to change.”
“Change what?” asked Lucy.
“Our clothes, of course,” said Susan. “Nice fools we'd look on the platform of an English station in these.”
“But our other things are at Caspian's castle,” said Edmund.
“No, they're not,” said Peter, still leading the way into the thickest wood. “They're all here. They were brought down in bundles this morning. It's all arranged.”
“Was that what Aslan was talking to you and Susan about this morning?” asked Lucy.
“Yes—that and other things,” said Peter, his face very solemn. “I can't tell it to you all. There were things he wanted to say to Su and me because we're not coming back to Narnia.”
“Never?” cried Edmund and Lucy in dismay.
“Oh, you two are,” answered Peter. “At least, from what he said, I'm pretty sure he means you to get back some day. But not Su and me. He says we're getting too old.”
“Oh, Peter,” said Lucy. “What awful bad luck. Can you bear it?”
“Well, I think I can,” said Peter. “It's all rather different from what I thought. You'll understand when it comes to your last time. But, quick, here are our things.”
It was odd, and not very nice, to take off their royal clothes and to come back in their school things (not very fresh now) into that great assembly. One or two of the nastier Telmarines jeered. But the other creatures all cheered and rose up in honour of Peter the High King, and Queen Susan of the Horn, and King Edmund, and Queen Lucy. There were affectionate and (on Lucy's part) tearful farewells with all their old friends—animal kisses, and hugs from Bulgy Bears, and hands wrung by Trumpkin, and a last tickly, whiskerish embrace with Trufflehunter. And of course Caspian offered the Horn back to Susan and of course Susan told him to keep it. And then, wonderfully and terribly, it was farewell to Aslan himself, and Peter took his place with Susan's hands on his shoulders and Edmund's on hers and Lucy's on his and the first of the Telmarine's on Lucy's, and so in a long line they moved forward to the Door. After that came a moment which is hard to describe, for the children seemed to be seeing three things at once. One was the mouth of a cave opening into the glaring green and blue of an island in the Pacific, where all the Telmarines would find themselves the moment they were through the Door. The second was a glade in Narnia, the faces of Dwarfs and Beasts, the deep eyes of Aslan, and the white patches on the Badger's cheeks. But the third (which rapidly swallowed up the other two) was the grey, gravelly surface of a platform in a country station, and a seat with luggage round it, where they were all sitting as if they had never moved from it—a little flat and dreary for a moment after all they; had been through, but also, unexpectedly, nice in its own way, what with the familiar railway smell and the English sky and the summer term before them.
“Well!” said Peter. “We have had a time.”
“Bother!” said Edmund. “I've left my new torch in Narnia.”
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