Chapter 6 Chapter 6: A Successful Night Raid

Four hours later Tirian threw herself on a bunk and took the time to catch a little sleep.Both children were already snoring.He had put the children to bed before he went to bed himself, because they would not have time to sleep most of the night, and he knew that a child of his age could not do without a little sleep.Also, he made them extremely tired.He first let Jill practice drawing the bow and archery, and found that although she was not up to Narnia standards, her skill was not too bad.In fact, she managed to shoot a hare (not a human-speaking rabbit of course, there are plenty of ordinary rabbits in the west of Narnia), which had been skinned and washed dry. Cleaned up and hung up to dry.He found that the two boys knew all the tricks of this cold, foul-smelling work; they had learned it in Prince Rilian's time, during their great travels in the Land of Giants.Then he taught Eustace how to use his sword and shield.Eustace had learned a good deal of sword fighting in his early adventures, but all with straight Narnian swords.He had never used a Calormene before, which was difficult, because many cuts with a cutlass were very different from the habits he had learned to use with long swords, and he had to get rid of them now.But Tirian found his eyes sharp and his feet quick.He was also amazed by the physical strength of the two children: in fact, they had grown stronger, bigger, and more mature than when they first met him a few hours earlier.The air of Narnia often has this effect on people who visit Narnia from our world.

The three agreed that the first thing they had to do was to go back to the hill where the stable was, and get Jewel the Unicorn out.If this was successful, they would try to push eastward and join up with a small force brought by Centaur Longwitt from Cair Paravel. An experienced fighter and hunter like Tirian could always wake up when he wanted to.So that night, he first set himself to sleep until he woke up at nine o'clock, and then he got rid of all the troubles in his mind, and fell asleep immediately.It seemed that he woke up only after a while, but he knew from the light outside and the feeling of things that he had grasped the time of sleep very precisely.He got out of bed, put on his helmet and hood (he slept in his chain mail), and shook the two boys awake.To tell the truth, the children rose from their beds very pale, sad, and yawning.

"Listen," said Tirian, "now we're going due north from here—we're lucky, the sky is full of stars tonight—and it's going to be a lot shorter than the one we took this morning, because then We went round and round, and now we go straight. If we are challenged, you two hold your breath and keep quiet, I will negotiate to the best of my ability, and become like a cruel proud quarrelsome Lord of Calormene Same. If I draw my sword, Eustace, you must draw my sword, and make Jill jump behind us, and stand and draw the bow, with the arrow on the string. But if I cry, 'Go home', and you two are to gallop back to the fort. After I give the order to retreat, neither try to fight - not even once - in war such false bravery destroys Many grand plans of battle. Friends, in the name of Aslan, let us now advance."

They walked into the cold night.All the magnificent stars of the north were burning above the treetops.The North Star of that world, called the Point of the Spear, is brighter than our North Star. For a while they were able to head straight in the direction of the Spearpoint, but soon they came upon a thick undergrowth, and they were obliged to take a detour from that direction.After this—for they were still shrouded in branches—it was difficult to get their bearings.It was Jill who set them back on the right track, and she was an excellent guide in England.She had traveled many places in the northern lands of the Narnia wilds, and of course she knew the stars of Narnia, and when the Spearpoint was obscured, she could also use other stars to know the direction.As soon as Tirian saw that she was the best finder of the three of them, he made her go ahead of them.Then he was surprised to see her stalking on so silently, almost without a trace.

"My God!" he whispered to Eustace, "this girl is a wonderful woodland girl. She couldn't have done better if she had dryad blood in her." "She's small, which helps her," said Eustace in a low voice.But Jill was up front and said "Shh, shhh, softly." The surrounding trees are very still.It was too quiet, too quiet.A normal Narnia night should have some sound—the occasional cheerful "good night" from a stingray, the hooting of an owl overhead, or the distant The sound of the flute, or the vibration and hammering from the Dwarfs beneath the earth, were all gone; and darkness and terror fell over Narnia.

After a while, they began to walk up the steep slope, and the distance between the trees widened.Tirian could dimly see the famous hilltop and the stables.Jill Walking more and more cautiously now: she kept gesturing to the others, telling them to be careful too.Then she stood still, and Tirian saw her sinking into the grass and disappearing without a sound.A moment later she stood up again, put her mouth close to Tirian's ear, and said in the lowest voice possible, "Get down. See better." She spoke very curtly, without saying "see better," Because if you talk too much, it is easy to be heard by the other party.Tirian dropped down at once, almost as silently as Jill, but more or less, for he was older and heavier.Once they were down, from this position the edge of the hill could be seen sharply against the starry night sky.Two shadows rose from the hill, one was the stable, and the other, a few feet in front of it, was a Calormene sentinel.He did a poor job of guarding: neither moving nor standing guard, he sat with his spear slung over his shoulder, his chin resting on his chest. "You've done a good job," Tirian said to Jill.She had made him see exactly what he needed to see. "

"You cry and you die," said Tirian in his ear, "tell me where the unicorn is, and I will spare your life." "My lord, it's—behind the stable," stammered the unfortunate man. "Okay. Get up and lead me to it." The point of the dagger never left his neck when the sentry stood up.While Tirian was in front of and behind him, the dagger simply moved (cold and itchy) around his neck, before stopping in a convenient spot under his ear.The sentinel trembled around the back of the stable. Although it was dark, Tirian immediately saw the white form of Jewel.

"Hush!" he said. "No, don't neigh. Yes, Jewel, it's me. How did they tie you up?" on one of the hoops." Jewel's voice came. "Sentry, stand there with your back against the wall. That's it. Listen, Jewel, and put the tip of your horn against the Calormene's chest." "Be sure to do your best to accompany you." Zhenbao said. "If he moves, you'll stab him straight to the heart." Tirian cut the rope in a few minutes.He tied the sentinel's hands and feet with the remaining rope.At last, he was told to open his mouth, stuffed his mouth full of grass, bound firmly from scalp to chin and cheeks, so that he could not make a sound, and pressed the man to a sitting position, leaning on his back. wall.

"Soldier, I have done something rude to you," said Tirian, "but I must. If we meet again, I may treat you better. Now, Jewel, let us quietly let's go." He put his left arm around the unicorn's neck, leaned down and kissed its nose, and they were very happy.They returned as quietly as possible to where he had left the children.It was darker under the trees there, and he almost ran into Eustace's arms before he saw him. "All is well," whispered Tirian. "A successful night raid. Now go home." They turned away, and before they had gone a few paces Eustace said, "Where are you, Pole?" There was no answer. "Sire, is Jill with you?" he asked. "What?" said Tirian, "isn't she with you?" It was a terrible moment.They dared not shout, but they whispered her name in the loudest whispers possible.But there was no answer. "Did she leave you when I went out?" asked Tirian. "I didn't see or hear her go," said Eustace, "but she can do it without me knowing it. She can do it as quietly as a cat, you've seen it yourself." of."

At this moment, the sound of drums was heard in the distance.Jewel pushed his ears forward. "Dwarfs," it said. "Treacherous dwarves, likely enemies," murmured Tirian. Two people and a unicorn stood there dumbfounded, not moving.There are so many different things to worry about now that they don't know what to do.With the sound of hoofbeats, they steadily walked closer and closer.Then, next to them, a voice whispered "Hello are you all here?" Thank goodness it's Jill's voice. "Where in the world have you been?" said Eustace in an angry whisper, for he had been so frightened and anxious for her.

"In the stables," Jill gasped, but it was the gasp of trying to hold back a laugh. "Ah," grumbled Eustace, "you thought it was funny, didn't you? All I could say was, 'Your Majesty, you got the jewel out of it?' asked Jill. "Yes. Here it is. What animal is that with you?" "That's it," said Jill, "but let's go home before anyone wakes up." But there was another small burst of laughter.The others obeyed at once, for they had lingered long enough in the perilous spot, and the drums of the Dwarfs seemed a little nearer.They had been only a few minutes south when Eustace said: "Caught it? What do you mean?" "Pseudo-Aslan," said Jill. "What?" said Tirian. "Where have you been? What have you done?" "Well, your Majesty," said Jill, "as soon as I saw you had led the sentries away, I thought I might as well look inside the stables and see what really was there. So I crept my way through , unlatched the stable door, easy as pie. It was dark in there, of course, and smelled like any stable. So I lighted a fire, and there—would you believe it?—was nothing in there at all, but this old donkey, I had a lion's skin tied about him. I drew my knife and told him to come with me. In fact, I didn't have to force him to go with a knife. He was so tired of the stables that he was very willing to come with me--dear Confused, isn't it?" "That's great," said Eustace, "I—damn me, I was out of temper for you just now, and I still think it's a nuisance for you to be sneaking away behind us all, and yet I And it must be admitted - oh, I mean - that you have done a very fine thing. If she had been a boy, she would have been knighted, don't you, Your Majesty?". "If she had been a boy," said Tirian, "she would have been whipped for disobeying orders." It was impossible to tell in the darkness whether he was frowning or smiling when he said this.Then the sound of metal clanging and rubbing was heard. "Your Majesty, what are you doing?" the unicorn asked warily. "Draw out my sword and decapitate the bloody donkey," said Tirian in a terrible voice, "get out of the way, little girl." "Oh, no, please don't kill him," said Jill." Seriously, you can't kill him. It's not his fault. It's all the Ape's fault. He doesn't see through. He's very upset. He's very upset. He's not a bad donkey. Its name is Confusion. My arms are round its neck." "Jill," said Tirian, "you are the bravest and wisest of all my people, but also the most reckless and disobedient. Come, spare the life of the donkey. Donkey, what do you say?" to defend yourself?" "My lord, me?" came the donkey's voice. "If I make a mistake, I believe I am very sorry. Aslan asked me to dress like this," said the Ape. I thought the Ape would I know. I'm not as smart as an ape. I just do what he tells me to do. Living in a stable is no fun to me. I don't even know what's going on outside. Except going out at night For a minute or two, the apes never let me out. Some days, they even forgot to give me water.", "Your Majesty," said Jewel, "the dwarves are getting closer and closer, we have to meet them huh?" Tirian thought for a moment, and then laughed aloud.So he spoke, not in a whisper this time. "By the Lion," he said, "I'm getting dull! Meet 'em? We must meet 'em. Now we'll meet anyone. We'll show 'em the donkey, let 'em Look at what they used to fear and bow to it. We can unmask the truth about the Ape's evil plot. Its secrets are exposed. The tide has changed. Tomorrow we will hang the Ape from the tallest tree in Narnia Come on. No more whispering, sneaking, and disguises. Where are the honest little people? We have good news for them." Whispered for hours, there is a magic in anyone's loud voice exciting effect.Everyone started talking and laughing, and even Puzzle raised his head and uttered a loud "ha-hee-hee-hee-hee!" The ape had not been allowed to whine like that for days.Then, they walked in the direction of the drumbeat.The drums grew steadily louder, and before long they could see the torches.They came on one of the several uneven roads (in England we shouldn't call them roads) that run through Lamppost Wild.Striding forward were thirty young dwarfs, all carrying small shovels and pickaxes on their shoulders.Two armed Calormenes led the column, and two more Calormenes followed. ) "Stop!" cried Tirian, thundering up the road, "Stop, soldiers, where are you taking these Narnian dwarfs? Who gave the order?