Chapter 9 Chapter 8. What happened after the meal

"Now," said Lucy, "will you please tell us what has happened to Mr. Tumnus?" "Oh, that's terrible," said Mr. Beaver, shaking his head. "That was a very, very bad thing. He was taken by the police, no doubt. I heard about it from a bird, which Saw him being taken away by them." "Where was he taken, then?" asked Lucy. "Well, when they were last seen, they were heading north. You all know what that means." "But we don't understand," said Susan.Mr. Beaver shook his head very sadly and said: "I'm afraid they've taken him to her place."

"What are they going to do with him, Mr. Beaver?" gasped Lucy. "Well," said Mr. Beaver, "it's hard to say. Not many of those who were captured could come out, and they were all turned into stone statues. It is said that in the yard where she lived, upstairs and in the hall, there were piles of She turned stone statues. She turned people..." He paused, then continued trembling, "turned them all to stone." "But, Mr. Beaver," said Lucy, "is there nothing we can do? I mean we ought to do everything we can to save him. How dreadful it is, and besides, if it weren't for me, he wouldn't suffer this."

"Children, I have no doubt that you could have saved his life if you had your way," said Mrs. Beaver, "but how are you going to force your way into her place and come out alive?" "Couldn't we use some sleight of hand?" said Peter, "for example, if we dress up as a peddler or something, or watch out and sneak into her palace when she's not home, or... oh well She really deserves to die. In short, we have to do everything possible to get him out. Mr. Beaver, the Faun saved my sister at the risk of his own life, how can we just ignore his life and look at him suffering?"

"No, son of Adam," said Mr. Beaver, "it's useless to try. Well, I hear Aslan is back..." "Oh, yes, tell us about Aslan!" Several people said in unison. When it comes to Aslan, that magical feeling is like the first signal of spring, like a dial of good news. Touching their heartstrings. "Who is Aslan?" asked Susan. "Aslan?" said Mr. Beaver, "don't you know that? He's the King, he's the King of the Forest, but he's not here very often. Neither in my father's life nor in mine, He has never been here. But now there is definite news that he has returned. He is currently in Narnia. He must wipe out the White Witch. It is he who can save Mr. Tumnus, not you .”

"Won't she turn him to stone too?" said Edmund. "My little ancestor, son of Adam, what a naive question you ask!" Mr. Beaver replied, laughing, "to turn him into stone? If she dares stand up before him and look him in the eye , she's kind. I'm sure she wouldn't dare to do it. Aslan will set things right, as it is written in an old poem: Aslan appeared before us, The phenomenon of right and wrong will change; When the people heard his roar, Sorrow will vanish in a moment; Aslan bared his teeth, The long winter will be gone; A flick of his mane,

We will see spring again. You will know when you see it. " "Are we going to see him?" Susan asked. "Of course, Daughter of Eve, that's why I brought you here. I'll take you where I met him," said Mr. Beaver. "He, is he human?" Lucy asked. "Aslan is a man?!" Mr. Beaver said seriously, "of course not. I have told you that he is the king of the forest and the son of the Great Overseas Emperor. Don't you know who is the king of beasts? Aslan A lion, a lion, the great king of beasts." "Oh, oh, oh," said Susan, "I thought he was a man. And would he—would hurt anyone? I'd be very frightened to meet a lion."

"It's no wonder you're afraid, my dear," said Mrs Beaver. "If anyone doesn't shake his knees before Aslan, he's either a great warrior or a fool." "Isn't that too scary to say?" said Lucy. "Afraid?" said Mr. Beaver. "Didn't you hear what my lady said? Of course he was a formidable man, but he was kind. He's a king, don't you understand?" "Even though I would be terrified to see him, I was eager to meet him," Peter said. "True, Son of Adam," said Mr. Beaver, smacking the table with his paw, so that all the glasses and saucers on the table jingled. "You should go to see him. I have received a message from here asking you to meet him. If possible, it will be tomorrow at Shitai."

"Where is the stone platform?" Lucy asked. "I'll show you the way," said Mr. Beaver. "It's a long way down the river, and I'll take you there." "It's such a long way to go, what will happen to Mr. Tumnus?" asked Lucy. "The quickest way you can help him is to go to Aslan," said Mr. Beaver. "As long as he's with us, we'll have a way, but that doesn't mean we don't need you. A few lines of old poetry: Once Adam's flesh and blood aboard Kyle Baravel's Throne, The age of evil will never return.

So now that Aslan has come, and you have come again, it must be over.We heard about Aslan coming to this area a long time ago—no one can say exactly when—but there has never been any footprints of you humans here. " "That's what I don't understand, Mr. Beaver," Peter asked. "I mean, isn't the queen herself a human being?" "She just wants us to believe that she is human," said Mr. Beaver, "that's how she proclaimed herself queen, but she is not Eve's daughter at all, she is your father King Adam's..." At this point, Mr. Beaver bowed He bowed, "The first wife was born to Li Lisi. Li Lisi is a goblin, so she has the blood of a witch and a giant. There is not a single drop of real human blood in this witch."

"No wonder she's so bad, Mr. Beaver," said Mrs. Beaver. "Exactly, ma'am," he replied, "there may be two opinions about human beings (I don't want to offend those present), but there are no two opinions about what looks like a human being and isn't." "I know good fairies," said Mrs. Beaver. "I know one too," said her husband, "but the really good ones are rare, and they are the least human. In short, you should take my advice, when you meet anyone who wants to be a human being but has not, or You must be vigilant and keep your axes at the ready for any creature that was once human but is no longer, or should be human but is not human. The White Witch is always afraid of humans appearing in Narnia, and she is wary of you It's been years. If she knew all four of you were here, she'd be more vicious."

"What's the reason?" Peter asked. "This is about an old prophecy," said Beaver, "at Cair Baravel, the castle near the mouth of this river, which is supposed to be the capital of the whole country, with four kings Thrones. A long time ago, no one can remember what year, there is such a legend in Narnia, once the two sons of Adam and the two daughters of Eve sit on these four thrones, not only the White Witch's rule , and her life will be finished together. That’s why we were so careful on the way we came just now, because if we let her know, she will kill you, just as easy as shaking my beard.” The children had been listening to Mr. Beaver so intently that for a long time they paid no attention to anything else.At the end of his speech, when everyone was silent, Lucy said suddenly: "Oh, where is Edmund?" There was a terrible silence, and then they all asked: "Who saw him last? How long has he been gone? Has he gone out of the house?" Everyone rushed to the door to look.It was snowing heavily outside, and the green ice on the pool had disappeared, but was covered with a thick blanket of snow.Standing at the door of the hut, you can barely see the banks on either side.They looked around in front of and behind houses, their feet buried in the soft, freshly fallen snow. "Edmund! Edmund!" they cried with all their might, their voices hoarse.However, their cries seemed to be drowned out by the silent snow, not even an echo could be heard. Finally, they went back to the house dejectedly. "It's dreadful!" said Susan. "Oh, if we didn't come here." "What are we going to do, Mr. Beaver?" Peter asked. "What to do?" said Mr. Beaver, who had put on his snowshoes. "What to do? We must go at once, and we must not stay for a moment!" "We'd better split up into four search parties," said Peter, "go in all directions, come back here as soon as we find him, and..." "Divided into search parties," asked Mr Beaver, "what are we going to do?" "Of course to Edmund Rowe!" "There's no need to look for him," said Mr. Beaver. "What do you mean?" said Peter, "he can't go far yet. We must get him back. What do you mean we don't have to look for him?" "The reason why we don't have to look for him," said Mr. Beaver, "is that we already know where he is!" After hearing this, everyone was puzzled for a while, and all stared in surprise. "Don't you know?" Mr. Beaver went on, "he's gone to the White Witch, and he's betrayed us." "Oh no, I'm sure," said Susan, "he wouldn't have done anything like that." "He won't?" asked Mr. Beaver, looking closely at the three children, who swallowed the words as soon as they reached their lips, for each of them knew at once that Edmund must have done that. "But does he know his way?" said Peter. "Has he been in this country before?" asked Mr. Beaver. "Has he ever been alone?" "He's been here," whispered Lucy, so low that it was hardly audible. "Did he tell you what he did, who he met?" "Well, no," said Peter. "Listen, then," said Mr. Beaver, "he's seen the White Witch, and he's joined her side, and he knows where she lives. I didn't like to tell at first, because he's your brother, but As soon as I met your brother, I knew he was unreliable. He had a certain expression on his face that only people who have been with the witch and eaten her food have. If you are in Narnia Over time, you can tell them by the look in their eyes." "Anyway," said Peter in an almost choked voice, "we've got to go find him, he's our brother after all, and even if he's a little brute, he's still a little boy." "Find him where the Witch lives?" said Mrs. Beaver. "Don't you see that the only way to save him, or yourselves, is to keep out of touch with her, and out of her sight?" "What the hell does that mean?" said Lucy. "Oh, all she wants is to catch the four of you in one go. She has been coveting the four thrones of Kyle Baravel. As soon as the four of you arrived in her residence, she just started. Before you have time to speak, Four new stone statues. But if he is caught alone, she will let him live, for she will use him as bait to lure the rest of you." "Oh, is there no one to help us?" Lucy cried loudly. "Only Aslan," said Mr. Beaver. "We must go to him. It's the only way we can do now." "My dear children, it seems to me," said Mrs. Beaver, "that the important thing is to know when he slips away. How much he can tell the witch depends on how much he hears. For example, before he slips away, we Already started to talk about Aslan? If not, we can do well as usual, because the Witch doesn't know that Aslan has come to Narnia yet, and doesn't know that we are going to see Aslan, no Knowing that we will avoid her as much as possible." "I don't remember if he was still here when we were talking about Aslan..." said Peter, but Lucy cut him off right away. "Oh, he is," she said sadly. "Do you remember that he was the one who asked the Witch if she could turn Aslan into stone too?" "Jesus, that's him," Peter said, "that's the kind of question he likes to ask." "Oh, hell," said Mr. Beaver, "and one more question. Was he still here when I told you to meet Aslan at the Terrace?" No one can answer this question. "Because, if he had been there then," continued Mr. Beaver, "the witch would have known of this, and she would have driven her sleigh straight up to the stone platform, inserted between us and the stone platform, and blocked us halfway. Us. In this way, our connection with Aslan will be severed." "But that's not the first thing she's going to do," said Mrs. Beaver. "I don't think she'll do that. If Edmund had told her we were all here, she'd be here tonight to catch Us. If she had slipped away half an hour ago, she would have come to us in twenty minutes." "You're right, ma'am," said Mr. Beaver, "we must start at once, and all get out of here!"