CHAPTER TWELVE SORCERY AND SUDDEN VENGEANCE (第2/2页)

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“But they also say that he came to life again，”said the Badger sharply．

“Yes，they say，”answered Nikabrik，“but you’ll notice that we hear precious little about anything he did afterwards．He just fades out of the story．How do you explain that，if he really came to life？ Isn’t it much more likely that he didn’t，and that the stories say nothing more about him because there was nothing more to say？”

“He established the Kings and Queens，”said Caspian．

“A King who has just won a great battle can usually establish himself without the help of a performing lion，”said Nikabrik．There was a fierce growl，probably from Trufflehunter．

“And anyway，”Nikabrik continued，“what came of the Kings and their reign？ They faded too．But it’s very different with the Witch．They say she ruled for a hundred years: a hundred years of winter．There’s power，if you like．There’s something practical．”

“But，heaven and earth！”said the King，“haven’t we always been told that she was the worst enemy of all？ Wasn’t she a tyrant ten times worse than Miraz？”

“Perhaps，”said Nikabrik in a cold voice．“Perhaps she was for you humans，if there were any of you in those days．Perhaps she was for some of the beasts．She stamped out the Beavers，I dare say; at least there are none of them in Narnia now．But she got on all right with us Dwarfs．I’m a Dwarf and I stand by my own people．We’re not afraid of the Witch．”

“But you’ve joined with us，”said Trufflehunter．

“Yes，and a lot of good it has done my people，so far，”snapped Nikabrik．“Who is sent on all the dangerous！raids？ The Dwarfs．Who goes short when the rations fail？ The Dwarfs．Who—？”

“Lies！ All lies！”said the Badger．

“And so，”said Nikabrik，whose voice now rose to a scream，“if you can’t help my people，I’ll go to someone who can．”

“Is this open treason，Dwarf？”asked the King．

“Put that sword back in its sheath，Caspian，”said Nikabrik.“Murder at council，eh？ Is that your game？ Don’t be fool enough to try it．Do you think I’m afraid of you？ There’s three on my side，and three on yours．”

“Come on，then，”snarled Trufflehunter，but he was immediately interrupted．

“Stop，stop，stop，”said Doctor Cornelius．“You go on too fast．The Witch is dead．All the stories agree on that．What does Nikabrik mean by calling on the Witch？”

That grey and terrible voice which had spoken only once before said，“Oh，is she？”

And then the shrill，whining voice began，“Oh，bless his heart，his dear little Majesty needn’t mind about the White Lady—that’s what we call her—being dead．The Worshipful Master Doctor is only making game of a poor old woman like me when he says that．Sweet Mastery Doctor，learned Master Doctor，who ever heard of a witch that really died？ You can always get them back．”

“Call her up，”said the grey voice．“We are all ready．Draw the circle．Prepare the blue fire．”

Above the steadily increasing growl of the Badger and Cornelius’s sharp“What？”rose the voice of King Caspian like thunder．

“So that is your plan，Nikabrik！ Black sorcery and the calling up of an accursed ghost．And I see who your companions are—a Hag and a Werewolf！”

The next minute or so was very confused．There was an animal roaring，a clash of steel; the boys and Trumpkin rushed in; Peter had a glimpse of a horrible，grey，gaunt creature，half man and half wolf，in the very act of leaping upon a boy about his own age，and Edmund saw a badger and a Dwarf rolling on the floor in a sort of cat fight．Trumpkin found himself face to face with the Hag．Her nose and chin stuck out like a pair of nut-crackers，her dirty grey hair was flying about her face and she had just got Doctor Cornelius by the throat．At one slash of Trumpkin’s sword her head rolled on the floor．Then the light was knocked over and it was all swords，teeth，claws，fists，and boots for about sixty seconds．Then silence．

“Are you all right，Ed？”

“I—I think so，”panted Edmund．“I’ve got that brute Nikabrik，but he’s still alive．”

Weights and water-bottles！”came an angry voice．“It’s me you’re sitting on．Get off．You’re like a young elephant．”

“Sorry，D．L．F．，”said Edmund．“Is that better？”

“Ow ！ No ！”bellowed Trumpkin．“You’re putting your boot in my mouth．Go away．”

“Is King Caspian anywhere？”asked Peter．

“I’m here，”said a rather faint voice．“Something bit me．”

They all heard the noise of someone striking a match．It was Edmund．The little flame showed his face，looking pale and dirty．He blundered about for a little，found the candle (they were no longer using the lamp，for they had run out of oil)，set it on the table，and lit it．When the flame rose clear，several people scrambled to their feet．Six faces blinked at one another in the candlelight．

“We don’t seem to have any enemies left，”said Peter．“There’s the Hag，dead．”(He turned his eyes quickly away from her．)“And Nikabrik，dead too．And I suppose this thing is a Were-wolf．It’s so long since I’ve seen one．Wolf’s head and man’s body．That means he was just turning from man into wolf at the moment he was killed．And you，I suppose，are King Caspian？”

“Yes，”said the other boy．“But I’ve no idea who you are．”

“It’s the High King，King Peter，”said Trumpkin．

“Your Majesty is very welcome，”said Caspian．

“And so is your Majesty，”said Peter．“I haven’t come to take your place，you know，but to put you into it．”

“Your Majesty，”said another voice at Peter’s elbow．He turned and found himself face to face with the Badger．Peter leaned forward，put his arms round the beast and kissed the furry head: it wasn’t a girlish thing for him to do，because he was the High King.

“Best of badgers，”he said．“You never doubted us all through．”

“No credit to me，your Majesty，”said Trufflehunter．“I’m a beast and we don’t change．I’m a badger，what’s more，and we hold on．”

“I am sorry for Nikabrik，”said Caspian，“though he hated me from the first moment he saw me．He had gone sour inside from long suffering and hating．If we had won quickly he might have become a good Dwarf in the days of peace．I don’t know which of us killed him．I’m glad of that．”

“You’re bleeding，”said Peter．

“Yes，I’m bitten，”said Caspian．“It was that—that wolf thing.”Cleaning and bandaging the wound took a long time，and when it was done Trumpkin said，“Now．Before everything else we want some breakfast．”

“But not here，”said Peter．

“No，”said Caspian with a shudder．“And we must send someone to take away the bodies．”

“Let the vermin be flung into a pit，”said Peter．“But the Dwarf we will give to his people to be buried in their own fashion．”

They breakfasted at last in another of the dark cellars of Aslan’s How．It was not such a breakfast as they would have chosen，for Caspian and Cornelius were thinking of venison pasties，and Peter and Edmund of buttered eggs and hot coffee，but what everyone got was a little bit of cold bear-meat (out of the boys’ pockets)，a lump of hard cheese，an onion，and a mug of water．But，from the way they fell to，anyone would have supposed it was delicious．