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prince caspian_c·s·刘易斯-第18部分

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〃its the high king; king peter;〃 said trumpkin。

〃your majesty is very wele;〃 said caspian。

〃and so is your majesty;〃 said peter。 〃i havent e to take your place;  you know; but to put you into it。〃 ;  〃your majesty;〃 said another voice at peters elbow。 he turned and found  himself face to face with the badger。

peter leaned forward; put his arms round the beast and kissed the furry  head: it wasnt a girlish thing for him to do; because he was the high king。

〃best of badgers;〃 he said。 〃you never doubted us all through。鈥

〃no credit to me; your majesty;〃 said trufflehunter。 〃1m a beast and we  dont change。

im a badger; whats more; and we hold on。鈥

〃i am sorry for nikabrik;〃 said caspian; 〃though he hated me from the first  moment he saw me。 he had gone sour inside from long suffering and hating。 if we had  won quickly he might have bee a good dwarf in the days of peace。 i dont know which  of us killed him。 im glad of that。鈥

〃youre bleeding;〃 said peter。

〃yes; im bitten;〃 said caspian。 〃it was that … that wolf thing。〃 cleaning  and bandaging the wound took a long time; and when it was done trumpkin said; 〃now。  before everything else we want some breakfast。鈥

〃but not here;〃 said peter。

〃no;〃 said caspian with a shudder。 〃and we must send someone to take away  the bodies。鈥

〃let the vermin be flung into a pit;〃 said peter。 〃but the dwarf we will  give to his people to be buried in their own fashion。鈥

they breakfasted at last in another of the dark cellars of aslans how。 it  was not such a breakfast as they would have chosen; for caspian and cornelius were  thinking of venison pasties; and peter and edmund of buttered eggs and hot coffee; but what  everyone got was a little bit of cold bear…meat (out of the boys pockets); a lump of  hard cheese; an onion; and a mug of water。 but; from the way they fell to; anyone would  have supposed it was delicious。

w锛穡锛氾紵



CHAPTER THIRTEEN

锝涘皬锝濓經璇达綕锝泃锝濓經xt锝濓經澶╋綕锝涘爞
the high king in mand  〃now;〃 said peter; as they finished their meal; 〃aslan and the girls  (thats queen susan and queen lucy; caspian) are somewhere close。 we dont know when he will  act。 in his time; no doubt; not ours。 in the meantime he would like us to do what we  can on our own。

you say; caspian; we are not strong enough to meet miraz in pitched  battle?鈥

〃im afraid not; high king;〃 said caspian。 he was liking peter very much;  but was rather tongue…tied。 it was much stranger for him to meet the great kings out of  the old stories than it was for them to meet him。

〃very well; then;〃 said peter; 〃ill send him a challenge to single  bat。〃 no one had thought of this before。

〃please;〃 said caspian; 〃could it not be me? i want to avenge my father。鈥

〃youre wounded;〃 said peter。 〃and anyway; wouldnt he just laugh at a  challenge from you? i mean; we have seen that you are a king and a warrior but he thinks  of you as a kid。鈥

〃but; sire;〃 said the badger; who sat very close to peter and never took  his eyes off him。

〃will he accept a 。 challenge even from you? he knows he has the stronger 。  army。鈥

〃very likely he wont;〃 said peter; 〃but theres always the chance。 and  even if he doesnt; we shall spend the best part of the day sending heralds to and fro and all  that。 by then aslan may have done something。 and at least i can inspect the army and  strengthen the position。 i will send the challenge。 in fact i will write it at once。 have  you pen and ink; master doctor?鈥

〃a scholar is never without them; your majesty;〃 answered doctor cornelius。

〃very well; i will dictate;〃 said peter。 and while the doctor spread out a  parchment and opened his ink…horn and sharpened his pen; peter leant back with half… closed eyes and recalled to his mind the language in which he had written such things long  ago in narnias golden age。

〃right;〃 he said at last。 〃and now; if you are ready; doctor?鈥

doctor cornelius dipped his pen and waited。 peter dictated as follows:  〃peter; by the gift of aslan; by election; by prescription; and by  conquest; high king over all kings in narnia; emperor of the lone islands and lord of cair paravel;  knight of the most noble order of the lion; to miraz; son of caspian the eighth; sometime  lord protector of narnia and now styling himself king of narnia; greeting。 have  you got that?鈥

〃narnia; ma; greeting;〃 muttered the doctor。 〃yes; sire。鈥

〃then begin a new paragraph;〃 said peter。 〃for to prevent the effusion of  blood; and for the avoiding all other inconveniences likely to grow from the wars now  levied in our realm of narnia; it is our pleasure to adventure our royal person on behalf  of our trusty and well…beloved caspian in clean wager of battle to prove upon your  lordships body that the said caspian is lawful king under us in narnia both by our gift  and by the laws of the telmarines; and your lordship twice guilty of treachery both in  withholding the dominion of narnia from the said caspian and in the most abhominable; …  dont forget to spell it with an h; doctor … bloody; and unnatural murder of your kindly  lord and brother king caspian ninth of that name。 wherefore we most heartily provoke;  challenge; and defy your lordship to the said bat and monomachy; and have sent these  letters by the hand of our well beloved and royal brother edmund; sometime king under us  in narnia; duke of lantern waste and count of the western march; knight of the noble  order of the table; to whom we have given full power of determining with your  lordship all the conditions of the said battle。 given at our lodging in aslans how this xii  day of the month greenroof in the first year of caspian tenth of narnia。

〃that ought to do;〃 said peter; drawing a deep breath。

〃and now we must send two others with king edmund。 i think the giant ought  to be one。鈥

〃hes … hes not very clever; you know;〃 said caspian。

〃of course not;〃 said peter。 〃but any giant looks impressive if only he  will keep quiet。

and it will cheer him up。 but who for the other?鈥

〃upon my word;〃 said trumpkin; 〃if you want someone who can kill with  looks; reepicheep would be the best。鈥

〃he would indeed; from all i hear;〃 said peter with a laugh。 〃if only he  wasnt so small。

they wouldnt even see him till he was close!鈥

〃send glenstorm; sire;〃 said trufflehunter。 〃no one ever laughed at a  centaur。鈥

an hour later two great lords in the army of miraz; the lord glozelle and  the lord sopespian; strolling along their lines and picking their teeth after  breakfast; looked up and saw ing down to them from the wood the centaur and giant  wimbleweather; whom they had seen before in battle; and between them a figure they could  not recognize。

nor indeed would the other boys at edmunds school have recognized him if  they could have seen him at that moment。 for aslan had breathed on him at their  meeting and a kind of greatness hung about him。

〃whats to do?〃 said the lord glozelle。 〃an attack?鈥

〃a parley; rather;〃 said sopespian。 〃see; they carry green branches。 they  are ing to surrender most likely。鈥

〃he that is walking between the centaur and the giant has no look of  surrender in his face;〃 said glozelle。 〃who can he be? it is not the boy caspian。鈥

〃no indeed;〃 said sopespian。 〃this is a fell warrior; i warrant you;  wherever the rebels have got him from。 he is (in your lordships private ear) a kinglier man  than ever miraz was。 and what mail he wears! none of our smiths can make the like。鈥

〃ill wager my dappled pomely he brings a challenge; not a surrender;〃 said  glozelle。

〃how then?〃 said sopespian。 〃we hold the enemy in our fist here。 miraz  would never be so hair…brained as to throw away his advantage on a bat。鈥

〃he might be brought to it;〃 said glozelle in a much lower voice。

〃softly;〃 said sopespian。 〃step a little aside here out of earshot of those  sentries。 now。

have i taken your lordships meaning aright?鈥

〃if the king undertook wager of battle;〃 whispered glozelle; 〃why; either  he would kill or be killed。鈥

〃so;〃 said sopespian; nodding his head。

〃and if he killed we should have won this war。鈥

〃certainly。 and if not?鈥

〃why; if not; we should be as able to win it without the kings grace as  with him。 for i need not tell your lordship that miraz is no very great captain。 and after  that; we should be both victorious and kingless。鈥

〃and it is your meaning; my lord; that you and i could hold this land quite  as conveniently without a king as with one?鈥

glozelles face grew ugly。 〃not forgetting;〃 said he; 〃that it was we who  first put him on the throne。 and in all the years that he has enjoyed it; what fruits have  e our way?

what gratitude has he shown us?鈥

〃say no more;〃 answered sopespian。 〃but look … herd es one to fetch us  to the kings tent。〃  ‘  when they reached mirazs tent they saw edmund and his two panions  seated outside it and being entertained with cakes and wine; having already delivered the  challenge; and withdrawn while the king was considering it。 when they saw them thus at  close quarters the two telmarine lords thought all three of them very alarming。

inside; they found miraz; unarmed and finishing his breakfast。 his face was  flushed and there was a scowl on his brow。

〃there!〃 he growled; flinging the parchment across the table to them。 〃see  what a pack of nursery tales our jackanapes of a nephew has sent us。鈥

〃by your leave; sire;〃 said glozelle。 〃if the young warrior whom we have  just seen outside is the king edmund mentioned in the writing; then i would not call  him a nursery tale but a very dangerous knight。鈥

〃king edmund; pah!〃 said miraz。 〃does your lordship believe those old  wives fables about peter and edmund and the rest?鈥

〃i believe my eyes; your majesty;〃 said glozelle。

〃well; this is to no purpose;〃 said miraz; 〃but as touching the challenge;  i suppose there is only one opinion between us?鈥

〃i suppose so; indeed; sire;〃 said glozelle。

〃and what is that?〃 asked the king。

〃most infallibly to refuse it;〃 said glozelle。 〃for though i have never  been called a coward; i must plainly say that to meet that young man in battle is more  than my heart would 
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