Chapter 10 Chapter Ten Who Will Enter the Stable?

Jill felt something tickle her ear.It was Jewel the Unicorn, whispering a clear whisper to her with its horse mouth.She nodded at what he said, and tiptoed back to where Puzzle the Donkey was standing.Quickly and softly she cut the last ropes that bound the lion-skin to the donkey.Now that the Ape has said this, he will die if he is caught in a lion's pelt!She wanted to hide the lion fur far away, but the fur was too heavy.The best she could do was to kick them into the thick bushes.Then she beckoned Puzzled Donkey to follow her, and they joined the others. The Ape was talking again. "After such a dreadful thing as this happened, Aslan--Tashlan--was more and more angry. He said he had treated you too well, and came out every night to see you. Look! He was angry, He's never coming out again." The beasts reacted to this with howls, screams, coos, grunts, meows, mews, and then suddenly a different voice laughed I started talking. "Listen to what the monkey is saying," cried it; "we know why he doesn't get his darling Aslan out. I'll tell you why: because he didn't get Aslan. He never had any magic in his hands but an old donkey with a lion's skin on his back. Now he has lost the old donkey, and he doesn't know what to do."

Tirian could not quite see the face on the other side of the fire, but he guessed it was Griffle the chief of the dwarves who said it.A second later, he was sure of his guess, as all the dwarf voices echoed: "Don't know what to do! Don't know what to do! Don't know what to do!" "Don't yell!" raged Rishda "Tycan." "Stop yelling, sons of the dirt! You other Narnians, listen to what I say, or I'll make the warriors cut you with the blades. Lord Shift has told you about the wicked donkey. Don't you think, because of the donkey, there's no real Tashlan in the stable? Do you think so? Be careful, be careful."

"No, no," shouted most of the beasts.But the Dwarfs said, "That's right, Blackkin, you've hit the nail on the head. Come on, Monkey, let's see what's in the stable. Seeing is believing." In the silence that followed, the Ape said: "You dwarves think you're very clever, don't you? But wait a minute. I never said you couldn't see Tashlan. Anyone who wants to see him can see him." There was silence.Then, after about a minute, the bear began to speak in a drawn, bewildered voice. "I don't quite understand all this," he murmured, "I think you mean—") "You do!" the Ape repeated deliberately, "as if anybody could take you What's going on in your head is called thinking. Look, the rest of you. Anybody can go to Tashlan. But Tashlan doesn't come out by himself. You have to go in and see him."

"Ah, thank you, thank you, thank you," said a dozen voices, "we can go in and see him face to face. That's all we ask! Now he will be merciful, and will, as usual, Be kind everywhere." Birds twittered, dogs barked excitedly.Then, suddenly, there was a great commotion, a commotion, and the beasts rose to their feet, and in an instant the whole herd was rushing forward, all trying to squeeze into the stable together.But the Ape cried out: ' "Go back! Quiet! Wait a minute!" the beasts stopped, many of them with one paw dangling in the air, their tails wagging, their heads on one side.

"I think you mean—" the bear began, but Shift cut him off. "Any one can go in," said the Ape, "but only one at a time. Whoever goes in first, he doesn't say he is very kind. Since he swallowed the wicked King the day before yesterday, He's been licking his lips. He's been howling for a while this morning. I don't really feel like going into the stables myself tonight. But whatever you want. Who wants to be the first Go in, and don't blame me if he swallows you up whole, or just burns you to ashes with his blazing eyes. That's your own business. Oh, come in! Who comes in first? You dwarfs go first How about one?"

"Yeah, yeah, come in and be killed by you!" Grieve sneered, "How do we know what you put in that stable?" "Ha-ha!" cried the Ape, "then you're beginning to think there's something in there, aren't you? Well, you beasts were rowdy enough a minute ago. What beat you all to hell?" Mute? Who's going in first?" But the beasts stood there looking at each other, and started backing away from the stables.There are not many tails wagging now.The ape swaggered up and down, laughing at the beasts. "Ha-ha-ha!" it laughed, pursing its lips. "I thought you were all anxious to see Tashlan face to face! Changed your mind now, eh?"

Tirian bent her head to listen to what Jill was trying to whisper in his ear. "Do you think there really is anything in the stable," she said. "Who knows," said Tirian, "there are two Calormenes with drawn swords, and there may well be a soldier standing by the door on either side." "Don't you think," said Jill, "that's very Could it be... you know... that horrible thing we saw?" "Tash himself?" said Tirian. "Don't understand. But, boy, take courage: we're all caught between the real Aslan's paws." And then a most unexpected thing happened.Ginger the Cat said in a calm, clear voice, as if not at all agitated, "I'll go in if you like." Every Beast turned its head and kept its eyes fixed on the Cat. "Look out for their insidiousness, Your Majesty," said Poggin to the king. "The damned cat was involved in the plot, he was at the heart of the plot. Nothing in the stables could hurt him, I'm sure. Then Kim G will come out of the stable again, and say he has seen a miracle." But Tirian had no time to answer.The Ape was calling the Cat out. "Ho-ho!" said the Ape, "then you, a reckless cat, are going to meet him face to face. Come on, then, and I'll open the door for you. If he frightens your beard Don't blame me for falling off your face. That's your business."

So the cat got up, and stepped out of her seat in the crowd, walking with demure grace and quietness, with her tail up in the air, and not a single hair in her soft, shiny fur coat that was unseemly. .It went on, past the fire, and came very close; Tirian stood with his shoulder against the wall at the end of the stable, and could look closely at the Cat's face.Its big green eyes never blinked. ("Possibly," murmured Eustace, "he knows he has nothing to fear.") The Ape, giggling and grimacing, came shuffling up beside the Cat, Claw out: Pull the latch to open the stable door.Tirian thought he heard the cat purr as it entered the dark door. "Aai——Aai——Aowei——!" The scariest meowing of a cat that had never been heard made everyone jump up.You yourself have heard the sound of cats arguing and making love on the roof in the middle of the night, you know the sound.

Things got worse.Ginger sprinted back from the stable as fast as he could, knocking the Ape on its back as well.If you didn't know it was a cat, you'd think it was a ginger lightning bolt.It darted across the open meadow and back into the crowd.No one wants to come across a cat in this state.You can see the beasts move left and right to make way for it.It ran up a tree, bounced around, and hung upside down on the branch.Its tail stood upside down, and was almost as thick as its whole body; its eyes were green saucers of flame, and every hair on its back stood straight. "I'd rather pay for my beard," whispered Poggin, "to find out that the brute is only putting on a play, and that there is indeed something frightening to be found in the stable."

"Be still, my friend," said Tirian, for Captain Calormene was also whispering to the Ape, and he wanted to hear what they were talking about.He heard nothing but the whimpering of the ape again. "My head, my head hurts." But he had an idea: These two guys, like himself, were confused by the cat's actions. "Well, Ginger," said Captain Calormene, "you have howled enough. Tell them what you see." "Ai-Ai-Ao-Ava," cried the cat. "Aren't you called a talking beast," said the captain, "then stop your wicked howling and speak!"

What happened next was terrible.Tirian was quite sure (and everyone else too) that the cat was trying to speak, but no human words could come out of its mouth, only the usual, very ugly meows, which in England You can hear it from any angry or startled cat in your backyard.Moreover, the longer it chirped, the less it looked like a human-speaking beast.Disturbed whimpers and faint screams rose from among the other beasts. "Look, look," said the boar's voice, "he can't speak human. He has forgotten how to speak. He has regressed into a dumb beast. Look at his face." They saw that it was so .And the greatest horror of all horrors fell upon the Narnian beasts.For every one of them has been taught so--when they were a chicken or a puppy or a fox--Aslan made the beasts of Narnia at the beginning of the world and warn them that if they misbehave, they will one day revert to their old self, exactly like the poor, stupid beasts one encounters in other countries. "Now the change has come upon us," they lamented. "Have mercy, have mercy!" cried the beasts, "save us, Lord Shift, you stand between us and Aslan, you must go in often, and speak to him for us. We dare not, We dare not." Ginger disappeared deep in the woods.No one saw it again.Tirian shook her head deafly, and stood with her hand on the hilt of her sword.He was dazed with the horror of the night.Sometimes it occurred to him that it would be better at once to draw his sword and charge at the Calormenes; then he thought it better to wait and see the new development of the situation.Now a new evolution has come. "My father," came a clear and loud voice from the left of the crowd.Tirian recognized at once that it was a Calormene speaking, for in the army of Tithroc the rank and file called their officer "My Master," and the rank and file called his superior For "my father".Jill and Eustace didn't know the rule, but they looked left and right, and at last they caught sight of the speaker, for those on the sides of the group were easier to see than those in the middle, where the flames were so bright that they Everything behind it looked very dark.He was young, tall, slender, with a dark, pretentious Calormene air, and he looked handsome. "My father," he said to the captain, "I want to go in, too." "Quiet, Emeth," said the captain, "who asked you to come in for a discussion, is it proper for a child to speak?" "My father," said Emeth, "I am younger than you indeed, yet I am born of 'Tykhan' blood even like you, and a servant of the god Tash. Therefore..." "Shut up," said "Tycan" Rishda, "am I not your captain? You have nothing to do with the stables. The stables are for the people of Narnia." "No, my father," Emeth replied, "You have said yourself that their Aslan and our Tashland are two in one. If you tell the truth, then the god Tash is in the stable. So, How can you say that I have nothing to do with God Tash, if I can see God Tash face to face once, then I would be happy to die a thousand times." "You're an idiot who doesn't understand anything," said Rishda "Tycan." "These are high-level principles." Emeth's face hardened. "Is it not true, then, that Tash and Aslan are two persons," he asked, "is the ape lying to us?" "Of course they are two in one," said the Ape. "Ape, you swear," Emeth said. "Oops," Moaned Orange, "I wish you all would stop bothering me. I have a headache. Okay, okay, I swear." "It swears, my father," said Emeth, "I am determined to go in." "Fool," "Tycan," Rishda began, but the dwarves immediately began to shout: "Come, black skin .Why don't you let him in? Why do you let the Narnians in, but keep out your own people? What have you set up in the stables so you don't want your own people to touch them." Tirian and his friends saw Rishda "Tycan" only from the back, so they did not know the look on his face when he shrugged his shoulders: "Please bear witness that I am innocent of this fool's bloodshed. Reckless boy, go in, hurry up." Then, like Ginger, Emeth stepped forward into the open meadow between the fire and the stable.His eyes were shining, his face was solemn, his hands rested on the hilt of his sword, and his head was held high.Jill thought she was going to cry as she looked into his face.Jewel whispered in the king's ear, "Brigade of the Lion King, I am almost in love with this young warrior, though he is a Calormene soldier. A better god than Tash deserves his respect." "I wish we knew what was really set up in the stable," said Eustace. Emeth opened the door and stepped in, into the dark mouth of the stable.He closes the door behind him.After only a moment - but it felt like a longer period - the door opened again.A figure in calorie chain mail staggered out of the door and fell on its back to the ground, where it lay motionless.The stable door closed again.The captain jumped towards the man, leaning down to study his face carefully.He was startled.Then he regained his composure, turned to them, and cried out: "The reckless boy got his wish. He saw Tash and died. Be a warning to all of you." "We will, we will learn from it," said the poor beasts.But Tirian and his friends looked at the dead Calormene soldier first, and then at each other.Because they were so close to the body, they could see what the others (at a distance, and behind the fire) couldn't: the dead man was not Emeth.The dead man was quite different, an older man, thicker, not as tall as Imeth, and with a big beard. "Ho-ho-ho," chuckled the Ape, "anyone else, anyone else coming in, well, since you're all shy, I'll pick the next one. Come here, boar Calormene, bring him here. He must meet Tash face to face." "O-O-Mbi," murmured the boar, rising heavily to his feet, "then come .Try my teaser." When Tirian saw the brave boar ready to fight for its life—the Calormene soldiers began closing in on them with cutlasses drawn—none of them came running to aid the boar—something within him broke out.He no longer cared whether this was the best moment to intervene or not to intervene. "Draw the sword," he whispered to the others, "the arrow is on the string. Follow me." In the next instant the startled Beasts of Narnia saw seven dark figures spring out in front of the stables, four in glowing mail.The king's sword was shining in the firelight, and he was waving it over his head, and he cried with a loud voice: "I, Tirian King of Narnia, stand here to testify with my body in the name of Aslan that Tash is a wicked lord, that the Ape is a scheming traitor, and that these Calormenes A damned thing. Come on my side, all true Narnians. Are you going to wait till your new masters kill you all, one by one?"'