CHAPTER SIX INTO THE FOREST (第2/2页)

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“Is there anything written on it ？”asked Susan．

“Yes，I think there is，”answered Peter，“but I can’t read it in this light．Let’s get out into the open air．”

They all went out in the daylight and crowded round Peter as he read out the following words：

The former occupant of these premises，the Faun Tumnus， is under arrest and awaiting his trial on a charge of High Treason against her Imperial Majesty Jadis，Queen of Narnia，Chatelaine of Cair Paravel，Empress of the Lone Islands，etc，also of comforting her said Majesty’s enemies，harboring spies and fraternizing with Humans．

signed MAUGRIM，Captain of the Secret Police，LONG LIVE THE QUEEN ！

The children stared at each other．

“I don’t know that I’m going to like this place after all，”said Susan．

“Who is this Queen，Lu ？”said Peter．“Do you know anything about her ？”

“She isn’t a real queen at all，”answered Lucy；“she’s a horrible witch，the White Witch．Everyone—all the wood people-hate her. She has made an enchantment over the whole country so that it is always winter here and never Christmas．”

“I-I wonder if there’s any point in going on，”said Susan. “I mean，it doesn’t seem particularly safe here and it looks as if it won’t be much fun either．And it’s getting colder every minute， and we’ve brought nothing to eat．What about just going home ？”

“Oh，but we can’t，we can’t，”said Lucy suddenly；“don’t you see ？ We can’t just go home，not after this．It is all on my account that the poor Faun has got into this trouble．He hid me from the Witch and showed me the way back．That’s what it means by comforting the Queen’s enemies and fraternizing with Humans. We simply must try to rescue him．”

“A lot we could do ！ said Edmund，”when we haven’t even got anything to eat ！

“Shut up-you ！”said Peter，who was still very angry with Edmund．“What do you think，Susan ？”

“I’ve a horrid feeling that Lu is right，”said Susan．“I don’t want to go a step further and I wish we’d never come．But I think we must try to do something for Mr. Whatever-his-name—is-I mean the Faun．”

“That’s what I feel too，”said Peter．“I’m worried about having no food with us．I’d vote for going back and getting something from the larder，only there doesn’t seem to be any certainty of getting into this country again when once you’ve got out of it．I think we’ll have to go on．”

“So do I，”said both the girls．

“If only we knew where the poor chap was imprisoned ！” said Peter.

They were all still wondering what to do next，when Lucy said，“Look ！ There’s a robin，with such a red breast．It’s the first bird I’ve seen here．I say ！-I wonder can birds talk in Narnia ？ It almost looks as if it wanted to say something to us.” Then she turned to the Robin and said，“Please，can you tell us where Tumnus the Faun has been taken to ？”As she said this she took a step towards the bird．It at once flew away but only as far as to the next tree．There it perched and looked at them very hard as if it understood all they had been saying．Almost without noticing that they had done so，the four children went a step or two nearer to it. At this the Robin flew away again to the next tree and once more looked at them very hard.（You couldn’t have found a robin with a redder chest or a brighter eye．）

“Do you know，”said Lucy，“I really believe he means us to follow him．”

“I’ve an idea he does，”said Susan．“What do you think， Peter ？”

“Well，we might as well try it，”answered Peter．

The Robin appeared to understand the matter thoroughly．It kept going from tree to tree，always a few yards ahead of them， but always so near that they could easily follow it．In this way it led them on，slightly downhill．Wherever the Robin alighted a little shower of snow would fall off the branch．Presently the clouds parted overhead and the winter sun came out and the snow all around them grew dazzlingly bright．They had been travelling in this way for about half an hour，with the two girls in front，when Edmund said to Peter，“if you’re not still too high and mighty to talk to me，I’ve something to say which you’d better listen to．”

“What is it ？”asked Peter．

“Hush ！ Not so loud，”said Edmund；“there’s no good frightening the girls．But have you realized what we’re doing ？”

“What ？”said Peter，lowering his voice to a whisper．

“We’re following a guide we know nothing about．How do we know which side that bird is on ？ Why shouldn’t it be leading us into a trap ？”

“That’s a nasty idea．Still-a robin，you know．They’re good birds in all the stories I’ve ever read．I’m sure a robin wouldn’t be on the wrong side．”

“It if comes to that，which is the right side ？ How do we know that the Fauns are in the right and the Queen （yes，I know we’ve been told she’s a witch）is in the wrong ？ We don’t really know anything about either．”

“The Faun saved Lucy．”

“He said he did．But how do we know ？ And there’s another thing too．Has anyone the least idea of the way home from here ？”

“Great Scott ！”said Peter，“I hadn’t thought of that．”

“And no chance of dinner either，”said Edmund．