Chapter 4 Chapter 4 The Story of Prince Caspian

Prince Caspian lived in a huge castle in the central region of Narnia since he was a child, with his uncle and aunt, King Mirosz of Narnia, and the red-haired Queen Purna Presmir .Prince Caspian's parents died long ago, and the nanny became the closest person to him.As a prince, although he has many very delicate and wonderful toys that can do almost everything except talking, what fascinates him the most is the time before going to bed every day, when the kind nanny comes Tell him a story. His uncle didn't seem to care much about Caspian's growth, but twice a week he called him for a half-hour walk on the balcony.One day, when the uncle and nephew were walking and chatting, the uncle suddenly said to him

"Son, I'm going to have someone teach you horseback riding and fencing. You know, your aunt and I have no children. It seems that after my death, you will probably inherit the throne. You must be very happy! Huh?" "I don't know, uncle," answered Caspian. "I don't know'!" Miraz was surprised, "Then, I would like to ask, what else does a person want besides this?" "Uncle, I do have a hope," said Caspian earnestly. "What hope?" "I wish... I wish... I wished to live in the old days." (Remember, the little prince was only a young child at this point.

Hitherto the King had been talking to him in an obnoxious grown-up tone which showed no interest in the conversation, when suddenly he cast a very sharp glance at Caspian. "Huh? What's going on?" he said. "What was the old days?" "Why, don't you know, uncle?" Caspian opened his eyes wide. "It was a very different time then--the animals could talk, and there were good water-nymphs and wood-nymphs: dwarfs and those very Cute lamb monster, and... "That's all nonsense. It's for children!" the king snapped. At your age, you should be interested in combat and exploration, not this nonsense."

"Oh, but in those old days, there were battles and adventures!" said Caspian incredulously. "What a wonderful experience that was! There once was a White Witch who called herself Narnia." The queen used magic to make the whole of Narnia have only a cold winter and no bright spring. Later, two boys and two girls came from somewhere. They killed the witch and became the king and queen of Narnia. Named Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy. They have ruled for many years, and the people live a very happy life, and all of this is inseparable from Aslan... "Who is it?" Miraz asked sharply.If Caspian had been a little older, he would no doubt have been alerted by his uncle's tone, and shut his mouth sensibly at once.However, he continued on.

"Why, don't you know? Aslan is a lion, a great god, the embodiment of justice." "Who did you hear this nonsense from?" said the king in a rage, and took Caspian's hand.Caspian, a little frightened, kept his mouth shut and did not answer. "My lord prince," said King Myraz, letting go of Caspian's hand, "you must answer me! Look at my face. Who is telling you these lies?" "Na... nanny," said Caspian hesitantly, tears welling up in his eyes. "Listen!" said his uncle, grabbing him by the shoulders and shaking him. "Don't cry! Don't let me hear you talk about those stupid stories again, don't even think about those kings and queens. No! How can there be two kings and two queens at the same time? And there is no such thing as Aslan the lion, and there are no talking animals. Do you hear?"

"Yes, uncle," said Caspian, sobbing. "Okay, let's not talk about this." The king gestured and waited for the attendant on the other side of the balcony to come quickly.The king ordered solemnly: "Send His Royal Highness back to his room, and bring me his nanny." The next day, Caspian realized what a terrible thing he had done. The nanny was sent away, and he was not even allowed to say "goodbye" to the prince.He also heard that he would soon have a governess. Caspian missed his kind nurse so much that he cried many times over it.For some reason, the stories of old Narnia came to his mind more often.Every night he dreamed of dwarfs and forest fairies and talking animals, and during the day he tried every means to get the cats and dogs in the castle to talk to him.However, those dogs can only wag their tails, and the cats can only meow at him.

Caspian was convinced that the future governess must be very annoying.To his surprise, when the governess appeared to him a week later, Caspian found him very agreeable.He was the shortest and fattest man Caspian had ever seen, with a long beard that fell down to his stomach.His brown face was lined and ugly, but his kind eyes were full of wisdom.His voice is very solemn, but his eyes often flash with a humorous smile, so until you are very familiar with him, it is difficult for you to judge when he is joking and when he is very serious.His name is Dr. Knells. Of all the subjects Dr. Knells taught, Caspian liked History best.He knew nothing of the history of Narnia so far, save those stories of the nurse.When the professor told how the royal family migrated to Narnia and became the rulers, he was amazed.

"That is the ancestor of His Highness, Caspian I," said Dr. Knells slowly, "who was the first to conquer Narnia and be king there. Bring your whole people to Narnia You are not really Narnians, you are all Telmarines, from the country of Telmarines far beyond the mountains in the west. It is for this reason that Caspian I is called the Conqueror Caspian." "Pray, Doctor," asked Caspian one day, "who lived in Narnia before we came here from Telmarine?" "No man, or very few, came to Narnia before the Telmarines," said Dr. Knells. "Who then did my ancestors conquer?"

"Your Highness," Dr. Knells deliberately changed the subject, "it seems that we should end our history class and start learning grammar." "Oh, please, just wait a little longer!" pleaded Caspian. "Tell me, hasn't he been in war? Why is he called Caspian the Conqueror, if no one here fights him?" "As I said, there were very few humans in Narnia then," said the Doctor, looking at the little boy strangely through his spectacles. At first Caspian was puzzled, but immediately his heart beat violently. "So," he asked eagerly, "are there other beings? Like in the stories? There are..."

"Hush!" said Dr. Knells, leaning his head towards Caspian. "Stop talking, don't you know, your nurse was sent away for telling you stories about ancient Narnia? The King doesn't like it." This. If he finds out I'm telling you these secrets, you'll be flogged and I'll be beheaded." "Why then?" asked Caspian. "It's really time for us to start learning grammar," Dr. Knells said loudly, "His Royal Highness, please turn to the fourth page of "Grammar Analysis", the grammar field or interesting grammar points and the structure and magic of language."

After that, until lunch, the teacher talked about nouns, verbs and so on.But our little Caspian didn't listen much.He is so excited.He was convinced that Dr. Knells had more to tell him than that, and that sooner or later he would tell himself more. The prince was not disappointed.A few days later, his governess said to him, "Tonight I will give you an astronomy lesson. In the middle of the night, the two sacred planets Tawa and Arambir will pass within a degree or so of each other. This phenomenon has not happened for two hundred years, and His Royal Highness will never see it again in this life, it is best that you go to bed early tonight, and I will wake you up before the two stars meet." This didn't seem to have anything to do with ancient Narnia, and that wasn't what Caspian really wanted to know.But anyway, getting up in the middle of the night was always a new thing, and he was very happy.He thought he would be so excited that he would not be able to sleep, but in fact he fell asleep very quickly.However, it seemed that he had only slept for a few minutes before he felt someone pushing him gently. He sat up from the bed and saw that the room was filled with silvery moonlight. Dr. Knells, wrapped in a large cloak with a hood, was standing beside the bed with a lamp in his hand.Caspian came to his senses at once, and in a jerk he rose and began to dress.Even though it was summer, he felt unexpectedly cool.The Doctor threw a similar cloak over him, and helped him into a pair of warm, light high boots.With the cloak and boots, it is difficult to be seen in dark passages, and it is quiet to walk.Just like that, the two of them left the room. After passing through countless corridors, climbing many stairs, and finally passing through a small door in the tower, they finally came to the outer platform.Looking down from here, it is the dark castle garden, and looking up, it is a bright moon and a sky full of stars.They walked quickly to another door, which led to the great tower at the center of the castle.Dr. Knells unlocked it and led Caspian up the spiral staircase in the tower.Caspian began to get excited. He had never been allowed to climb the stairs before. The stairs are long and steep.Caspian was out of breath when he reached the top of the tower. But he soon found that it was worth the extra effort.Looking to the right, there are many mountains, which can be vaguely seen; on the left, there is a big river winding away.It was so still now that Caspian could hear the water at the beaver dam a mile away.It seemed easy enough to distinguish the two stars they wanted to see, low in the south, bright as little moons, and very close together. "Will they collide?" asked Caspian uneasily, bewildered by the wonder of the immensity of the universe. "No, my dear prince," said the doctor softly, "the great stars in the sky are too familiar with their dance steps, how could they collide. Just watch carefully, their gatherings are auspicious and will give Miserable Narnia brings great happiness. Behold, Tava, the God of Victory, salutes Alambir, the Goddess of Peace, and behold - they are coming to the nearest place!" Dr. Knells remained silent for a good two minutes, standing there like a statue, gazing at Tawa and Alambir.Then, with a deep breath, he turned to Caspian. "Very few people have seen this spectacle, His Royal Highness is lucky. Now, what I want to say is that there is another reason for me to bring you here." Caspian looked up at him, but the doctor's cloak hat hid most of his face. "I chose this place," said Dr. Knells, "because we have six empty rooms below us, and a long staircase, and the little door at the bottom of the staircase is locked, and no one can steal it." Listen to us." "Are you going to tell me something you refused to tell me that day?" Caspian burst into excitement. "Yes," said the Doctor, "but remember, we must never talk about such things—except here." "Yes, it's settled." Caspian nodded vigorously. "Go on!" "Listen," said the Doctor, "every legend you have heard about Narnia is true. Narnia was not originally the domain of men, it belonged to the great Aslan. In this country, there are The big sane tree, the sprightly water nymph, the faun, the satyr, the dwarf and the giant, the beaver and the centaur, and many other talking animals. It was they who fought Caspian I It is you Telmarines who have silenced all these creatures, trees and water, slaughtered and driven out dwarves and fauns, and now even want to banish all this from people's memory forever Erase. Come to think of it, why doesn't the king allow people to bring up these memories?" "Oh, how I wish my ancestors hadn't done such wicked things!" said Caspian, "but I am glad that all those legends are true, though they are all past." "Your fellow citizens are also secretly against what your ancestors did," Dr. Knells said. "But, Doctor," asked Caspian, "why do you say 'my countryman'? Aren't you a Telmarine yourself?"" "Do I look like that?" "Anyway, we are the same kind!" "Really?" repeated the Doctor in a deeper voice, pushing back the hat of his cloak.Then Caspian saw his face clearly in the moonlight. It dawned on Caspian--how had he not discovered this fact sooner? Dr. Knells was so small and fat and had such a long, bushy beard.Two thoughts flashed through his mind. "The Dr. Knells in front of me is a dwarf. He brought me here to kill me." Thinking of this, he couldn't help being a little scared.Another thought was delightful "There are dwarves who survived, and I finally got to see one." "I think you've finally figured out what's going on," said Dr. Knells, "or, you guessed it. I'm not a pure dwarf, I have human blood in me. Many dwarfs survived the war Down there, in order to survive, they shaved off their beards, put on high boots, pretended to be men, and mingled with you Telmarines, and I was one of them, only a half-dwarf. If my countrymen-- Purebred dwarves - if I were alive, they would have looked down on me, they would have called me a 'traitor.' But I have not for a single moment forgotten my countrymen, and the cheerful creatures of Narnia, all these years , and that free life." "I... I'm sorry, Doctor," said Caspian, "but it wasn't my fault, you know." "I don't mean to reproach you by saying this, my dear prince," replied the doctor, "but you should ask why I am telling you this. I have two reasons. First, my old The heart has kept these secrets for so long that it aches, and if I don't whisper them to you, I'm going to suffocate! Second, I hope you'll help us when you're king , because I firmly believe that although you are a Telmarine, you also love everything in the past. "Of course, of course," Caspian nodded, "but what can I do?" "You may show kindness to the poor survivors of the dwarf family: you may summon the learned magicians and try to find a way to reawaken the tree god: you may search every corner of this land and see Are there fauns, talking animals, and dwarves. They may be hiding somewhere and living silently." "Do you really think there is any trace of them in this world?" asked Caspian eagerly. "I don't know... I don't know," the doctor sighed deeply. "Sometimes I wonder if they still exist. I've been looking for them all my life. Sometimes I seem to hear the drums of the dwarfs in the mountains." Voice: Sometimes, at night, in the forest, I seem to see fauns and forest nymphs dancing in the distance. But when I walk by, there is nothing there. I always feel Disappointed, but then similar things happened again and again, igniting the fire of hope in my heart. I don’t know if they still exist in this world, but at least you can try to be a wise monarch like King Peter in ancient times , don't learn from your uncle." "So the legend about the king and queen is true, too? And the story about the White Witch?" asked Caspian. "Of course, that's all true," said Knells. "It was the golden age of Narnia, and the land will never forget them." "Did they live in this castle then, Doctor?" "No, my dear boy," said the old man, "this castle was built by your great-grandfather only in recent years. When Aslan made Adam's sons and Eve's daughters King and Queen, they have been In the castle of Cair Paravel, no one has ever seen that sacred place, and perhaps even its ruins are now lost. But we believe that it is very far from here, where the great river enters the sea." "Ah!" started Caspian. "In the 'Black Wood,' you mean? The place where ghosts live everywhere?" Your Royal Highness, it seems that someone has told you some lies," said the doctor, "there are no ghosts there at all, it is a piece of nonsense made up by the Telmarines.Your kings were terribly afraid of the sea, for they could never forget the tales of the past, when Aslan would return from overseas to punish evil and do justice.They dared not go near the sea themselves, nor wished any other near it.Therefore, they allowed thick forests to grow there, to separate their people from the coast.They were afraid of the forest because of their conflict with the tree god, so they imagined that it was full of ghosts.The kings and those ministers of all ages fabricated these lies out of hatred and fear of the sea and the forest. If anyone dared to go to the seaside to look at the sea, to look at the land of Aslan and the rising sun in the east, they would feel Be safe. " They stood in silence for a while, and it was Dr. Knells who said first, "Oh, we've been here for a long time, and it's time to go to bed." "Must you go?" said Caspian reluctantly. "I should like to talk a little longer." "It's almost dawn, beware of being spotted and looking for us," Dr. Knells said.