最后一战第二十三集 《最后一战》第19期:救援国王(3)

《最后一战》第19期:救援国王(3)  

The next question was how to get here. You can't go just by wanting to. So we talked and talked and at last the Professor said the only way would be by the Magic Rings. It was by those Rings that he and Aunt Polly got here long
long ago when they were only kids
years before we younger ones were born. But the Rings had all been buried in the garden of a house in London (that's our big town
Sire) and the house had been sold. So then the problem was how to get at them. You'll never guess what we did in the end! Peter and Edmund - that's the High King Peter
the one who spoke to you - went up to London to get into the garden from the back
early in the morning before people were up. They were dressed like workmen so that if anyone did see them it would look as if they'd e to do something about the drains. I wish I'd been with them: it must have been glorious fun. And they must have succeeded for next day Peter sent us a wire - that's a sort of message
Sire
I'll explain about it some other time - to say he'd got the Rings. And the day after that was the day Pole and I had to go back to school - we're the only o who are still at school and we're at the same one. So Peter and Edmund were to meet us at a place on the way down to school and hand over the Rings. It had to be us o who were to go to Narnia
you see
because the older ones couldn't e again. So we got into the train that's a kind of thing people travel in in our world: a lot of wagons chained together - and the Professor and Aunt Polly and Lucy came with us. We wanted to keep together as long as we could. Well there we were in the train. And we were just getting to the station where the others were to meet us
and I was looking out of the window to see if I could see them when suddenly there came a most frightful jerk and a noise: and there we were in Narnia and 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 did it 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 o other Pevensies - King Edmund and Queen Lucy - were last here
Aslan said they would never e to Narnia again. And he said something of the same sort to the High King
only longer ago. You may be sure he'll e like a shot if he's allowed."
"Gosh!" said Eustace. "It's getting hot in this sun. Are we nearly there
Sire?"
"Look
" said Tirian and pointed. Not many yards away grey battlements rose above the tree-tops
and after a minute's more walking they came out in an open grassy space. A stream ran across it and on the far side of the stream stood a squat
square tower with very few and narrow windows and one heavy-looking door in the wall that faced them.
Tirian looked sharply this way and that to make sure that no enemies were in sight. Then he walked up to the tower and stood still for a moment fishing up his bunch of keys which he wore inside his hunting-dress on a narrow silver chain that went round his neck. It was a nice bunch of keys that he brought out
for o were golden and many were richly ornamented: you could see at once that they were keys made for opening solemn and secret rooms in palaces
or chests and caskets of sweet-smelling wood that contained royal treasures. But the key which he now put into the lock of the door was big and plain and more rudely made. The lock was stiff and for a moment Tirian began to be afraid that he would not be able to turn it: but at last he did and the door swung open with a sullen creak.
"Wele friends
" said Tirian. "I fear this is the best palace that the King of Narnia can now offer to his guests."
Tirian was pleased to see that the o strangers had been well brought up. They both said not to mention it and that they were sure it would be very nice.