CHAPTER FIVE BACK ON THIS SIDE OF THE DOOR (第2/2页)

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“Madness，you mean ？”said the Professor quite coolly．“Oh， you can make your minds easy about that．One has only to look at her and talk to her to see that she is not mad．”

“But then，”said Susan，and stopped．She had never dreamed that a grown-up would talk like the Professor and didn’t know what to think．

“Logic ！”said the Professor half to himself．“Why don’t they teach logic at these schools？ There are only three possibilities. Either your sister is telling lies，or she is mad，or she is telling the truth．You know she doesn’t tell lies and it is obvious that she is not mad For the moment then and unless any further evidence turns up，we must assume that she is telling the truth．”

Susan looked at him very hard and was quite sure from the expression on his face that he was no making fun of them．

“But how could it be true，sir ？”said Peter．

“Why do you say that ？”asked the Professor．

“Well，for one thing，”said Peter，“if it was true why doesn’t everyone find this country every time they go to the wardrobe ？ I mean，there was nothing there when we looked；even Lucy didn’t pretend there was．”

“What has that to do with it ？”said the Professor．

“Well，sir，if things are real，they’re there all the time．”

“Are they ？”said the Professor；and Peter did’nt know quite what to say．

“But there was no time，”said Susan．“Lucy had no time to have gone anywhere，even if there was such a place．She came running after us the very moment we were out of the room．It was less than minute，and she pretended to have been away for hours．”

“That is the very thing that makes her story so likely to be true，”said the Professor．“If there really is a door in this house that leads to some other world（and I should warn you that this is a very strange house，and even I know very little about it）-if，I say， she had got into another world，I should not be at all surprised to find that the other world had a separate time of its own；so that however long you stayed there it would never take up any of our time.On the other hand，I don’t think many girls of her age would invent that idea for themselves．If she had been pretending，she would have hidden for a reasonable time before coming out and telling her story．”

“But do you really mean，sir，”said Peter，“that there could be other worlds-all over the place，just round the corner-like that ？”

“Nothing is more probable，”said the Professor，taking off his spectacles and beginning to polish them，while he muttered to himself，“I wonder what they do teach them at these schools．”

“But what are we to do ？”said Susan．She felt that the conversation was beginning to get off the point．

“My dear young lady，”said the Professor，suddenly looking up with a very sharp expression at both of them，“there is one plan which no one has yet suggested and which is well worth trying．”

“What’s that ？”said Susan．

“We might all try minding our own business，”said he．And that was the end of that conversation．

After this things were a good deal better for Lucy．Peter saw to it that Edmund stopped jeering at her，and neither she nor anyone else felt inclined to talk about the wardrobe at all．It had become a rather alarming subject．And so for a time it looked as if all the adventures were coming to an end；but that was not to be．

This house of the Professor’s-which even he knew so little about-was so old and famous that people from all over England used to come and ask permission to see over it．It was the sort of house that is mentioned in guide books and even in histories；and well it might be，for all manner of stories were told about it，some of them even stranger than the one I am telling you now．And when parties of sightseers arrived and asked to see the house，the Professor always gave them permission，and Mrs. Macready，the housekeeper，showed them round，telling them about the pictures and the armour，and the rare books in the library．Mrs. Macready was not fond of children，and did not like to be interrupted when she was telling visitors all the things she knew．She had said to Susan and Peter almost on the first morning（along with a good many other instructions），“And please remember you’re to keep out of the way whenever I’m taking a party over the house．”

“Just as if any of us would want to waste half the morning trailing round with a crowd of strange grown-ups ！”said Edmund， and the other three thought the same．That was how the adventures began for the second time．

A few mornings later Peter and Edmund were looking at the suit of armour and wondering if they could take it to bits when the two girls rushed into the room and said，“Look out ！ Here comes the Macready and a whole gang with her．”

“Sharp’s the word，”said Peter，and all four made off through the door at the far end of the room．But when they had got out into the Green Room and beyond it，into the Library，they suddenly heard voices ahead of them，and realized that Mrs. Macready must be bringing her party of sightseers up the back stairs-instead of up the front stairs as they had expected．And after that-whether it was that they lost their heads，or that Mrs. Macready was trying to catch them，or that some magic in the house had come to life and was chasing them into Narnia——they seemed to find themselves being followed everywhere，until at last Susan said，“Oh bother those trippers ！ Here-let’s get into the Wardrobe Room till they’ve passed．No one will follow us in there.”But the moment they were inside they heard the voices in the passage-and then someone fumbling at the door-and then they saw the handle turning.

“Quick ！”said Peter，“there’s nowhere else，”and flung open the wardrobe．All four of them bundled inside it and sat there， panting，in the dark．Peter held the door closed but did not shut it；for，of course，he remembered，as every sensible person does，that you should never never shut yourself up in a wardrobe．