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prince caspian_c·s·刘易斯-第5部分

小说: prince caspian_c·s·刘易斯 字数: 每页4000字

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so the dwarf settled down and told his tale。 i shall not give it to you in  his words; putting in all the childrens questions and interruptions; because it would take  too long and be confusing; and; even so; it would leave out some points that the children  only heard later。

but the gist of the story; as they knew it in the end; was as follows。

xiaoshuot锛竧锛宑o锛



CHAPTER FOUR

锝炲皬  璇磘  xt 澶诲爞
the dwarf tells of prince caspian  prince caspian lived in a great castle in the centre of narnia with his  uncle; miraz; the king of narnia; and his aunt; who had red hair and was called queen  prunaprismia。

his father and mother were dead and the person whom caspian loved best was  his nurse; and though (being a prince) he had wonderful toys which would do almost  anything but talk; he liked best the last hour of the day when the toys had all been put  back in their cupboards and nurse would tell him stories。

he did not care much for his uncle and aunt; but about twice a week his  uncle would send for him and they would walk up and down together for half an hour on the  terrace at the south side of the castle。 one day; while they were doing this; the king  said to him;  〃well; boy; we must soon teach you to ride and use a sword。 you know that  your aunt and i have no children; so it looks as if you might have to be king when  im gone。 how shall you like that; eh?鈥

〃i dont know; uncle;〃 said caspian。

〃dont know; eh?〃 said miraz。 〃why; i should like to know what more anyone  could wish for!鈥

〃all the same; i do wish;〃 said caspian。

〃what do you wish?〃 asked the king。

〃i wish … i wish … i wish i could have lived in the old days;〃 said  caspian。 (he was only a very little boy at the time。)

up till now king miraz had been talking in the tiresome way that some  grown…ups have; which makes it quite clear that they are not really interested in what you  are saying; but now he suddenly gave caspian a very sharp look。

〃eh? whats that?〃 he said。 〃what old days do you mean?鈥

〃oh; dont you know; uncle?〃 said caspian。 〃when everything was quite  different。 when all the animals could talk; and there were nice people who lived in the  streams and the trees。 naiads and dryads they were called。 and there were dwarfs。 and there  were lovely little fauns in all the woods。 they had feet like goats。 and …鈥

〃thats all nonsense; for babies;〃 said the king sternly。 〃only fit for  babies; do you hear?

youre getting too old for that sort of stuff。 at your age you ought to be  thinking of battles and adventures; not fairy tales。鈥

〃oh; but there were battles and adventures in those days;〃 said caspian。  〃wonderful adventures。 once there was a white witch and she made herself queen of the  whole country。 and she made it so that it was always winter。 and then two boys  and two girls came from somewhere and so they killed the witch and they were made kings  and queens of narnia; and their names were peter and susan and edmund and lucy。  and so they reigned for ever so long and everyone had a lovely time; and it was  all because of aslan …鈥

〃whos he?〃 said miraz。 and if caspian had been a very little older; the  tone of his uncles voice would have warned him that it would be wiser to shut up。 but  he babbled on;  〃oh; dont you know?〃 he said。 〃aslan is the great lion who es from over  the sea。鈥

〃who has been telling you all this nonsense?〃 said the king in a voice of  thunder。

caspian was frightened and said nothing。

〃your royal highness;〃 said king miraz; letting go of caspians hand; which  he had been holding till now; 〃i insist upon being answered。 look me in the face。  who has been telling you this pack of lies?鈥

〃n … nurse;〃 faltered caspian; and burst into tears。

〃stop that noise;〃 said his uncle; taking caspian by the shoulders and  giving ham a shake。

〃stop it。 and never let me catch you talking … or thinking either … about  all those silly stories again。 there never were those kings and queens。 how could there be  two kings at the same time? and theres no such person as aslan。 and there are no  such things as lions。 and there never was a time when animals could talk。 do you hear?鈥

〃yes; uncle;〃 sobbed caspian。

〃then lets have no more of it;〃 said the king。 then he called to one of  the gentlemen…in…waiting who were standing at the far end of the terrace and said in a cold  voice; 〃conduct his royal highness to his apartments and send his royal highnesss nurse to  me at once。鈥

next day caspian found what a terrible thing he had done; for nurse had  been sent away without even being allowed to say good…bye to him; and he was told he was  to have a tutor。

caspian missed his nurse very much and shed many tears; and because he was  so miserable; he thought about the old stories of narnia far more than before。  he dreamed of dwarfs and dryads every night and tried very hard to make the dogs and cats  in the castle talk to him。 but the dogs only wagged their tails and the cats only purred。

caspian felt sure that he would hate the new tutor; buy when the new tutor  arrived about a week later he turns out to be the sort of person it is almost  impossible not to like。

he was the smallest; and also the fattest; man caspian had ever seen。 he  had a long; silvery; pointed beard which came down to his waist; and his face; which  was brown and covered with wrinkles; looked very wise; very ugly; and very kind。 his  voice was grave and his eyes were merry so that; until you got to know him really well; it  was hard to know when he was joking and when he was serious。 his name was doctor  cornelius。

of all his lessons with doctor cornelius the one that caspian liked best  was history。 up till now; except for nurses stories; he had known nothing about the  history of narnia; and he was very surprised to learn that the royal family were newers in  the country。

〃it was your highnesss ancestor; caspian the first;〃 said doctor  cornelius; 〃who first conquered narnia and made it his kingdom。 it was he who brought all your  nation into the country。 you are not native narnians at all。 you are all telmarines …  that is; you all came from the land of telmar; far beyond the western mountains。 that is why  caspian the first is called caspian the conqueror。鈥

〃please; doctor;〃 asked caspian one day; 〃who lived in narnia before we all  came here out of telmar?鈥

〃no men … or very few … lived in narnia before the telmarines took it;〃  said doctor cornelius。

〃then who did my great…great…grandcesters conquer?鈥

〃whom; not who; your highness;〃 said doctor cornelius。 〃perhaps it is time  to turn from history to grammar。鈥

〃oh please; not yet!〃 said caspian。

〃i mean; wasnt there a battle? why is he called caspian the conqueror if  there was nobody to fight with him?鈥

〃i said there were very few men in narnia;〃 said the doctor; looking at the  little boy very strangely through his great spectacles。

for a moment caspian was puzzled and then suddenly his heart gave a leap。  〃do you mean;〃 he gasped; 〃that there were other things? do you mean it was like in  the stories?

were there…?鈥

〃hush!〃 said doctor cornelius; laying his head very close to caspians。  〃not a word more。 dont you know your nurse was sent away for telling you about old  narnia? the king doesnt like it。 if he found me telling you secrets; youd be whipped  and i should have my head cut off。鈥

〃but why?〃 asked caspian。

〃1t is high time we turned to grammar now;〃 said doctor cornelius in a loud  voice。 〃will your royal highness be pleased to open pulverulentus siccus at the fourth  page of his grammatical garden or the arbour of accidence pleasantlie opend to tender  wits?鈥

after that it was all nouns and verbs till lunchtime; but i dont think  caspian learned much。 he was too excited。 he felt sure that doctor cornelius would not have  said so much unless he meant to tell him more sooner or later。

in this he was not disappointed。 a few days later his tutor said; 〃tonight  i am going to give you a lesson in astronomy。 at dead of night two noble planets; tarva  and alambil; will pass within one degree of each other。 such a conjunction has not  occurred for two hundred years; and your highness will not live to see it again。 it will be  best if you go to bed a little earlier than usual。 when the time of the conjunction draws  near i will e and wake you。鈥

this didnt seem to have anything to do with old narnia; which was what  caspian really wanted to hear about; but getting up in the middle of the night is always  interesting and he was moderately pleased。 when he went to bed that night; he thought at  first that he would not be able to sleep; but he soon dropped off and it seemed only a  few minutes before he felt someone gently shaking him。

he sat up in bed and saw that the room was full of moonlight。 doctor  cornelius; muffled in a hooded robe and holding a small lamp in his hand; stood by the  bedside。

caspian remembered at once what they were going to do。 he got up and put on  some clothes。 athough it was a summer night he felt colder than he had expected  and was quite glad when the doctor wrapped him in a robe like his own and gave him a pair  of warm; soft buskins for his feet。 a moment later; both muffled so that they could  hardly be seen in the dark corridors; and both shod so that they made almost no noise;  master and pupil left the room。

caspian followed the doctor through many passages and up several  staircases; and at last; through a little door in a turret; they came out upon the leads。 on  one side were the battlements; on the other a steep roof; below them; all shadowy and  shimmery; the castle gardens; above them; stars and moon。 presently they came to another door;  which led into the great central tower of the whole castle: doctor cornelius unlocked it  and they began to climb the dark winding stair of the tower。 caspian was being excited;  he had never been allowed up this stair before。

it was long and steep; but when they came out on the roof of the tower and  caspian had got his breath; he felt that it had been well worth it。 away on his right  he could see; rather indistinctly; the western mountains。 on his left was the gleam of th

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