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The Last Battle-第4章

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; without knowing it; he laid his hand on his sword  hilt。

〃that i know not; lord king;〃 said the centaur。 〃but i know there are liars  on earth; there are none among the stars。”

〃i wonder;〃 said jewel; 〃whether aslan might not e though all the stars  foretold otherwise。 he is not the slave of the stars but their maker。 is it not said  in all the old stories that he is not a tame lion。”

〃well said; well said; jewel;〃 cried the king。 〃those are the very words:  not a tame lion。

it es in many tales。”

roonwit had just raised his hand and was leaning forward to say something  very earnestly to the king when all three of them turned their heads to listen  to a wailing sound that was quickly drawing nearer。 the wood was so thick to the west of  them that they could not see the newer yet。 but they could soon hear the words。

〃woe; woe; woe!〃 called the voice。 〃woe for my brothers and sisters! woe  for the holy trees! the woods are laid waste。 the axe is loosed against us。 we are being  felled。 great trees are falling; falling; falling。”

with the last 〃falling〃 the speaker came in sight。 she was like a woman but  so tall that her head was on a level with the centaurs yet she was like a tree too。 it  is hard to explain if you have never seen a dryad but quite unmistakable once you have …  something different in the colour; the voice; and the hair。 king tirian and the two  beasts knew at once that she was the nymph of a beech tree。

〃justice; lord king!〃 she cried。 〃e to our aid。 protect your people。  they are felling us in lantern waste。

forty great trunks of my brothers and sisters are already on the ground。”

〃what; lady! felling lantern waste? murdering the talking trees?〃 cried the  king; leaping to his feet and drawing his sword。 〃how dare they? and who dares  it? now by the mane of aslan…”

〃a…a…a…h;〃 gasped the dryad shuddering as if in pain … shuddering time  after time as if under repeated blows。 then all at once she fell sideways as suddenly as if  both her feet had been cut from under her。 for a second they saw her lying dead on the  grass and then she vanished。 they knew what had happened。 her tree; miles away; had been  cut down。

for a moment the kings grief and anger were so great that he could not  speak。 then he said:  〃e; friends。 we must go up river and find the villains who have done  this; with all the speed we may。 i will leave not one of them alive。”

〃sire; with a good will;〃 said jewel。

but roonwit said; 〃sire; be wary in your just wrath。 there are strange  doings on foot。 if there should be rebels in arms further up the valley; we three are too few  to meet them。 if it would please you to wait while …”

〃i will not wait the tenth part of a second;〃 said the king。 〃but while  jewel and i go forward; do you gallop as hard as you may to cair paravel。 here is my ring  for your token。 get me a score of men…at…arms; all well mounted; and a score of  talking dogs; and ten dwarfs (let them all be fell archers); and a leopard or so; and  stonefoot the giant。 bring all these after us as quickly as may be。”

〃with a good will; sire;〃 said roonwit。 and at once he turned and galloped  eastward down the valley。

the king strode on at a great pace; sometimes muttering to himself and  sometimes clenching his fists。 jewel walked beside him; saying nothing; so there was  no sound between them but the faint jingle of a rich gold chain that hung round the  unicorns neck and the noise of two feet and four hoofs。

they soon reached the river and turned up it where there was a grassy road:  they had the water on their left and the forest on their right。 soon after that they  came to the place where the ground grew rougher and thick wood came down to the waters edge。  the road; what there was of it; now ran on the southern bank and they had to ford the  river to reach it。 it was up to tirians arm…pits; but jewel (who had four legs and  was therefore steadier) kept on his right so as to break the force of the current; and  tirian put his strong arm round the unicorns strong neck and they both got safely over。 the king  was still so angry that he hardly noticed the cold of the water。 but of course he dried  his sword very carefully on the shoulder of his cloak; which was the only dry part of him;  as soon as they came to shore。

they were now going westward with the river on their right and lantern  waste straight ahead of them。 they had not gone more than a mile when they both stopped  and both spoke at the same moment。 the king said 〃what have we here?〃 and jewel said  〃look!”

〃it is a raft;〃 said king tirian。

and so it was。 half a dozen splendid tree…trunks; all newly cut and newly  lopped of their branches; had been lashed  together to make a raft; and were gliding  swiftly down the river。 on the front of the raft there was a water rat with a pole to steer  it。

〃hey! water…rat! what are you about?〃 cried the king。

〃taking logs down to sell to the calormenes; sire;〃 said the rat; touching  his ear as he might have touched his cap if he had had one。

〃calormenes!〃 thundered tirian。 〃what do you mean? who gave order for these  trees to be felled?”

the river flows so swiftly at that time of the year that the raft had  already glided past the king and jewel。 but the water…rat looked back over its shoulder and shouted  out:  〃the lions orders; sire。 aslan himself。〃 he added something more but they  couldnt hear it。

the king and the unicorn stared at one another and both looked more  frightened than they had ever been in any battle。

〃aslan;〃 said the king at last; in a very low voice。 〃aslan。 could it be  true? could he be felling the holy trees and murdering the dryads?”

〃unless the dryads have all done something dreadfully wrong…〃 murmured  jewel。

〃but selling them to calormenes!〃 said the king。 〃is it possible?”

〃i dont know;〃 said jewel miserably。 〃hes not a tame lion。”

〃well;〃 said the king at last; 〃we must go on and take the adventure that  es to us。”

〃it is the only thing left for us to do; sire;〃 said the unicorn。 he did  not see at the moment how foolish it was for two of them to go on alone; nor did the king。  they were too angry 
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