《凱斯賓王子》第15章:阿斯蘭打開一道天門
AT the sight of Aslan the cheeks of the Telmarine soldiers became the colour of cold gravy, their knees knocked together, and many fell on their faces. They had not believed in lions and this made their fear greater. Even the Red Dwarfs, who knew that he came as a friend, stood with open mouths and could not speak. Some of the Black Dwarfs, who had been of Nikabrik's party, began to edge away. But all the Talking Beasts surged round the Lion, with purrs and grunts and squeaks and whinneys of delight, fawning on him with their tails, rubbing against him, touching him reverently with their noses and going to and fro under his body and between his legs. If you have ever seen a little cat loving a big dog whom it knows and trusts, you will have a pretty good picture of their behaviour. Then Peter, leading Caspian, forced his way through the crowd of animals.
"This is Caspian, Sir," he said. And Caspian knelt and kissed the Lion's paw.
"Welcome, Prince," said Aslan. "Do you feel yourself sufficient to take up the Kingship of Narnia?"
"I - I don't think I do, Sir," said Caspian. "I'm only a kid."
"Good," said Aslan. "If you had felt yourself sufficient, it would have been a proof that you were not. Therefore, under us and under the High King, you shall be King of Narnia, Lord of Cair Paravel, and Emperor of the Lone Islands. You and your heirs while your race lasts. And your coronation - but what have we here?" For at that moment a curious little procession was approaching - eleven Mice, six of whom carried between them something on a litter made of branches, but the litter was no bigger than a large atlas. No one has ever seen mice more woebegone than these. They were plastered with mud some with blood too - and their ears were down and their whiskers drooped and their tails dragged in the grass, and their leader piped on his slender pipe a melancholy tune. On the litter lay what seemed little better than a damp heap of fur; all that was left of Reepicheep. He was still breathing, but more dead than alive, gashed with innumerable wounds, one paw crushed, and, where his tail had been, a bandaged stump.
"Now, Lucy," said Aslan.
Lucy had her diamond bottle out in a moment. Though only a drop was needed on each of Reepicheep's wounds, the wounds were so many that there was a long and anxious silence before she had finished and the Master Mouse sprang from the litter. His hand went at once to his sword hilt, with the other he twirled his whiskers. He bowed.
"Hail, Aslan!" came his shrill voice. "I have the honour -" But then he suddenly stopped.
The fact was that he still had no tail - whether that Lucy had forgotten it or that her cordial, though it could heal wounds, could not make things grow again. Reepicheep became aware of his loss as he made his bow; perhaps it altered something in his balance. He looked over his right shoulder. Failing to see his tail, he strained his neck further till he had to turn his shoulders and his whole body followed. But by that time his hind-quarters had turned too and were out of sight. Then he strained his neck looking over his shoulder again, with the same result. Only after he had turned completely round three times did he realize the dreadful truth.
"I am confounded," said Reepicheep to Aslan. "I am completely out of countenance. I must crave your indulgence for appearing in this unseemly fashion."
"It becomes you very well, Small One," said Aslan.
"All the same," replied Reepicheep, "if anything could be done... Perhaps her Majesty?" and here he bowed to Lucy.
"But what do you want with a tail?" asked Aslan.
"Sir," said the Mouse, "I can eat and sleep and die for my King without one. But a tail is the honour and glory of a Mouse."
"I have sometimes wondered, friend," said Aslan, "whether you do not think too much about your honour."
"Highest of all High Kings," said Reepicheep, "permit me to remind you that a very small size has been bestowed on us Mice, and if we did not guard our dignity, some (who weigh worth by inches) would allow themselves very unsuitable pleasantries at our expense. That is why I have been at some pains to make it known that no one who does not wish to feel this sword as near his heart as I can reach shall talk in my presence about Traps or Toasted Cheese or Candles: no, Sir - not the tallest fool in Narnia!" Here he glared very fiercely up at Wimbleweather, but the Giant, who was always a stage behind everyone else, had not yet discovered what was being talked about down at his feet, and so missed the point.
"Why have your followers all drawn their swords, may I ask?" said Aslan.
"May it please your High Majesty," said the second Mouse, whose name was Peepiceek, "we are all waiting to cut off our own tails if our Chief must go without his. We will not bear the shame of wearing an honour which is denied to the High Mouse."
"Ah!" roared Aslan. "You have conquered me. You have great hearts. Not for the sake of your dignity, Reepicheep, but for the love that is between you and your people, and still more for the kindness your people showed me long ago when you ate away the cords that bound me on the Stone Table (and it was then, though you have long forgotten it, that you began to be Talking Mice), you shall have your tail again."
Before Aslan had finished speaking the new tail was in its place. Then, at Aslan's command, Peter bestowed the Knighthood of the Order of the Lion on Caspian, and Caspian, as soon as he was knighted, himself bestowed it on Trufflehunter and Trumpkin and Reepicheep, and made Doctor Cornelius his Lord Chancellor, and confirmed the Bulgy Bear in his hereditary office of Marshal of the Lists. And there was great applause.
After this the Telmarine soldiers, firmly but without taunts or blows, were taken across the ford and all put under lock and key in the town of Beruna and given beef and beer. They made a great fuss about wading in the river, for they all hated and feared running water just as much as they hated and feared woods and animals. But in the end the nuisance was over: and then the nicest parts of that long day began.
Lucy, sitting close to Aslan and divinely comfortable, wondered what the trees were doing. At first she thought they were merely dancing; they were certainly going round slowly in two circles, one from left to right and the other from right to left. Then she noticed that they kept throwing something down in the centre of both circles. Sometimes she thought they were cutting off long strands of their hair; at other times it looked as if they were breaking off bits of their fingers - but, if so, they had plenty of fingers to spare and it did not hurt them. But whatever they were throwing down, when it reached the ground, it became brushwood or dry sticks. Then three or four of the Red Dwarfs came forward with their tinder boxes and set light to the pile, which first crackled, and then blazed, and finally roared as a woodland bonfire on midsummer night ought to do. And everyone sat down in a wide circle round it.
Then Bacchus and Silenus and the Maenads began a dance, far wilder than the dance of the trees; not merely a dance for fun and beauty (though it was that too) but a magic dance of plenty, and where their hands touched, and where their feet fell, the feast came into existence sides of roasted meat that filled the grove with delicious smell, and wheaten cakes and oaten cakes, honey and many-coloured sugars and cream as thick as porridge and as smooth as still water, peaches, nectarines, pomegranates, pears, grapes, strawberries, raspberries pyramids and cataracts of fruit. Then, in great wooden cups and bowls and mazers, wreathed with ivy, came the wines; dark, thick ones like syrups of mulberry juice, and clear red ones like red jellies liquefied, and yellow wines and green wines and yellow-green and greenish-yellow.
But for the tree people different fare was provided. When Lucy saw Clodsley Shovel and his moles scuffling up the turf in various places (which Bacchus had pointed out to them) and realized that the trees were going to eat earth it gave her rather a shudder. But when she saw the earths that were actually brought to them she felt quite different. They began with a rich brown loam that looked almost exactly like chocolate; so like chocolate, in fact, that Edmund tried a piece of it, but he did not find it at all nice. When the rich loam had taken the edge off their hunger, the trees turned to an earth of the kind you see in Somerset, which is almost pink. They said it was lighter and sweeter. At the cheese stage they had a chalky soil, and then went on to delicate confections of the finest gravels powdered with choice silver sand. They drank very little wine, and it made the Hollies very talkative: for the most part they quenched their thirst with deep draughts of mingled dew and rain, flavoured with forest flowers and the airy taste of the thinnest clouds.
Thus Aslan feasted the Narnians till long after the sunset had died away, and the stars had come out; and the great fire, now hotter but less noisy, shone like a beacon in the dark woods, and the frightened Telmarines saw it from far away and wondered what it might mean. The best thing of all about this feast was that there was no breaking up or going away, but as the talk grew quieter and slower, one after another would begin to nod and finally drop off to sleep with feet towards the fire and good friends on either side, till at last there was silence all round the circle, and the chattering of water over stone at the Ford of Beruna could be heard once more. But all night Aslan and the Moon gazed upon each other with joyful and unblinking eyes.
Next day messengers (who were chiefly squirrels and birds) were sent all over the country with a proclamation to the scattered Telmarines - including, of course, the prisoners in Beruna. They were told that Caspian was now King and that Narnia would henceforth belong to the Talking Beasts and the Dwarfs and Dryads and Fauns and other creatures quite as much as to the men. Any who chose to stay under the new conditions might do so; but for those who did not like the idea, Aslan would provide another home. Anyone who wished to go there must come to Aslan and the Kings at the Ford of Beruna by noon on the fifth day. You may imagine that this caused plenty of head-scratching among the Telmarines. Some of them, chiefly the young ones, had, like Caspian, heard stories of the Old Days and were delighted that they had come back. They were already making friends with the creatures. These all decided to stay in Narnia. But most of the older men, especially those who had been important under Miraz, were sulky and had no wish to live in a country where they could not rule the roost. "Live here with a lot of blooming performing animals! No fear," they said. "And ghosts too," some added with a shudder. "That's what those there Dryads really are. It's not canny." They were also suspicious. "I don't trust 'em," they said. "Not with that awful Lion and all. He won't keep his claws off us long, you'll see." But then they were equally suspicious of his offer to give them a new home. "Take us off to his den and eat us one by one most likely," they muttered. And the more they talked to one another the sulkier and more suspicious they became. But on the appointed day more than half of them turned up.
At one end of the glade Aslan had caused to be set up two stakes of wood, higher than a man's head and about three feet apart. A third, and lighter, piece of wood was bound across them at the top, uniting them, so that the whole thing looked like a doorway from nowhere into nowhere. In front of this stood Aslan himself with Peter on his right and Caspian on his left. Grouped round them were Susan and Lucy, Trumpkin and Trufflehunter, the Lord Cornelius, Glenstorm, Reepicheep, and others. The children and the Dwarfs had made good use of the royal wardrobes in what had been the castle of Miraz and was now the castle of Caspian, and what with silk and cloth of gold, with snowy linen glancing through slashed sleeves, with silver mail shirts and jewelled sword-hilts, with gilt helmets and feathered bonnets, they were almost too bright to look at. Even the beasts wore rich chains about their necks. Yet nobody's eyes were on them or the children. The living and strokable gold of Aslan's mane outshone them all. The rest of the Old Narnians stood down each side of the glade. At the far end stood the Telmarines. The sun shone brightly and pennants fluttered in the light wind.
"Men of Telmar," said Aslan, "you who seek a new land, hear my words. I will send you all to your own country, which I know and you do not."
"We don't remember Telmar. We don't know where it is. We don't know what it is like," grumbled the Telmarines.
"You came into Narnia out of Telmar," said Aslan. "But you came into Telmar from another place. You do not belong to this world at all. You came hither, certain generations ago, out of that same world to which the High King Peter belongs."
At this, half the Telmarines began whimpering, "There you are. Told you so. He's going to kill us all, send us right out of the world," and the other half began throwing out their chests and slapping one another on the back and whispering, "There you are. Might have guessed we didn't belong to this place with all its queer, nasty, unnatural creatures. We're of royal blood, you'll see." And even Caspian and Cornelius and the children turned to Aslan with looks of amazement on their faces.
"Peace," said Aslan in the low voice which was nearest to his growl. The earth seemed to shake a little and every living thing in the grove became still as stone.
"You, Sir Caspian," said Aslan, "might have known that you could be no true King of Narnia unless, like the Kings of old, you were a son of Adam and came from the world of Adam's sons. And so you are. Many years ago in that world, in a deep sea of that world which is called the South Sea, a shipload of pirates were driven by storm on an island. And there they did as pirates would: killed the natives and took the native women for wives, and made palm wine, and drank and were drunk, and lay in the shade of the palm trees, and woke up and quarrelled, and sometimes killed one another. And in one of these frays six were put to flight by the rest and fled with their women into the centre of the island and up a mountain, and went, as they thought, into a cave to hide. But it was one of the magical places of that world, one of the chinks or chasms between chat world and this. There were many chinks or chasms between worlds in old times, but they have grown rarer. This was one of the last: I do not say the last. And so they fell, or rose, or blundered, or dropped right through, and found themselves in this world, in the Land of Telmar which was then unpeopled. But why it was unpeopled is a long story: I will not tell it now. And in Telmar their descendants lived and became a fierce and proud people; and after many generations there was a famine in Telmar and they invaded Narnia, which was then in some disorder (but that also would be a long story), and conquered it and ruled it. Do you mark all this well, King Caspian?"
"I do indeed, Sir," said Caspian. "I was wishing that I came of a more honourable lineage."
"You come of the Lord Adam and the Lady Eve," said Aslan. "And that is both honour enough to erect the head of the poorest beggar, and shame enough to bow the shoulders of the greatest emperor on earth. Be content."
Caspian bowed.
"And now," said Aslan, "you men and women of Telmar, will you go back to that island in the world of men from which your fathers first came? It is no bad place. The race of those pirates who first found it has died out, and it is without inhabitants. There are good wells of fresh water, and fruitful soil, and timber for building, and fish in the lagoons; and the other men of that world have not yet discovered it. The chasm is open for your return; but this I must warn you, that once you have gone through, it will close behind you for ever. There will be no more commerce between the worlds by that door."
There was silence for a moment. Then a burly, decent looking fellow among the Telmarine soldiers pushed forward and said:
"Well, I'll take the offer."
"It is well chosen," said Aslan. "And because you have spoken first, strong magic is upon you. Your future in that world shall be good. Come forth."
The man, now a little pale, came forward. Aslan and his court drew aside, leaving him free access to the empty doorway of the stakes.
"Go through it, my son," said Aslan, bending towards him and touching the man's nose with his own. As soon as the Lion's breath came about him, a new look came into the man's eyes - startled, but not unhappy - as if he were trying to remember something. Then he squared his shoulders and walked into the Door.
Everyone's eyes were fixed on him. They saw the three pieces of wood, and through them the trees and grass and sky of Narnia. They saw the man between the doorposts: then, in one second, he had vanished utterly.
From the other end of the glade the remaining Telmarines set up a wailing. "Ugh! What's happened to him? Do you mean to murder us? We won't go that way." And then one of the clever Telmarines said:
"We don't see any other world through those sticks. If you want us to believe in it, why doesn't one of you go? All your own friends are keeping well away from the sticks."
Instantly Reepicheep stood forward and bowed. "If my example can be of any service, Aslan," he said, "I will take eleven mice through that arch at your bidding without a moment's delay."
"Nay, little one," said Aslan, laying his velvety paw ever so lightly on Reepicheep's head. "They would do dreadful things to you in that world. They would show you at fairs. It is others who must lead."
"Come on," said Peter suddenly to Edmund and Lucy. "Our time's up."
"What do you mean?" said Edmund.
"This way," said Susan, who seemed to know all about it. "Back into the trees. We've got to change."
"Change what?" asked Lucy.
"Our clothes, of course," said Susan. "Nice fools we'd look on the platform of an English station in these."
"But our other things are at Caspian's castle," said Edmund.
"No, they're not," said Peter, still leading the way into the thickest wood. "They're all here. They were brought down in bundles this morning. It's all arranged."
"Was that what Aslan was talking to you and Susan about this morning?" asked Lucy.
"Yes - that and other things," said Peter, his face very solemn. "I can't tell it to you all. There were things he wanted to say to Su and me because we're not coming back to Narnia."
"Never?" cried Edmund and Lucy in dismay.
"Oh, you two are," answered Peter. "At least, from what he said, I'm pretty sure he means you to get back some day. But not Su and me. He says we're getting too old."
"Oh, Peter," said Lucy. "What awful bad luck. Can you bear it?"
"Well, I think I can," said Peter. "It's all rather different from what I thought. You'll understand when it comes to your last time. But, quick, here are our things."
It was odd, and not very nice, to take off their royal clothes and to come back in their school things (not very fresh now) into that great assembly. One or two of the nastier Telmarines jeered. But the other creatures all cheered and rose up in honour of Peter the High King, and Queen Susan of the Horn, and King Edmund, and Queen Lucy. There were affectionate and (on Lucy's part) tearful farewells with all their old friends - animal kisses, and hugs from Bulgy Bears, and hands wrung by Trumpkin, and a last tickly, whiskerish embrace with Trufflehunter. And of course Caspian offered the Horn back to Susan and of course Susan told him to keep it. And then, wonderfully and terribly, it was farewell to Aslan himself, and Peter took his place with Susan's hands on his shoulders and Edmund's on hers and Lucy's on his and the first of the Telmarine's on Lucy's, and so in a long line they moved forward to the Door. After that came a moment which is hard to describe, for the children seemed to be seeing three things at once. One was the mouth of a cave opening into the glaring green and blue of an island in the Pacific, where all the Telmarines would find themselves the moment they were through the Door. The second was a glade in Narnia, the faces of Dwarfs and Beasts, the deep eyes of Aslan, and the white patches on the Badger's cheeks. But the third (which rapidly swallowed up the other two) was the grey, gravelly surface of a platform in a country station, and a seat with luggage round it, where they were all sitting as if they had never moved from it - a little flat and dreary for a moment after all they; had been through, but also, unexpectedly, nice in its own way, what with the familiar railway smell and the English sky and the summer term before them.
"Well!" said Peter. "We have had a time."
"Bother!" said Edmund. "I've left my new torch in Narnia."
“這是凱斯賓王子，偉大的阿斯蘭。”他介紹說。凱斯賓單腿跪下，親吻了雄獅的巨爪。
“歡迎你，王子!”阿斯蘭說，“你有足夠的信心治理好納尼亞王國嗎?”
“我——沒有十分把握，陛下。我還太年輕，沒有經驗。”
“好，”阿斯蘭滿意地點點頭，“假如你自以爲很有把握，那其實只能證明你的不成熟。現在，你就要繼我們之後成爲納尼亞的國王、凱爾帕拉維爾的統治者、孤獨羣島的君主。只要你的人民仍在這片土地上繁衍生息，你和你的繼承人便將對他們負起責任。你將戴起王——哈!讓我們看看，那邊擡過來的是什麼——”
就在這時，一支小小的隊伍緩緩走了過來——那是十一隻老鼠。其中六隻擡着一個樹枝編的擔架，看不清上面放着什麼。鼠勇士們身上全是泥漿和血跡，一個個愁眉苦臉，耷拉着耳朵，低垂的鬍子失去了往日的神采，連尾巴也無精打采地拖在草地上。它們的領隊用短笛吹奏着一支憂傷的曲子。隊伍來到近前，大家這纔看清擔架上有一小堆溼漉漉的東西，那便是雷佩契普。它身上傷痕累累，一隻爪子被踩得粉碎，尾巴也不見了，眼看已經奄奄一息。+
“露茜，該看你的了。”阿斯蘭說。
露茜馬上取出她的鑽石小瓶子。雖然每個傷口只需一滴藥水，但是，在一片焦急的期待中，她用了很長的時間纔給雷佩契普上完藥，因爲它身上的傷口實在太多了。最後一滴藥水剛剛點上，老鼠將軍便翻身從擔架上跳下地來。只見它一手放在劍柄上，一手捻一捻鬍鬚，風度翩翩地向阿斯蘭鞠了一躬。
“你好，阿斯蘭!”場地上又響起它尖細的聲音，“我非常榮幸地——”說到這裏，它突然停了下來，似乎有什麼驚人的發現。
事實上，雖然傷口都已經痊癒，它現在仍然沒有尾巴——也許是露茜忘了治療這一部分，要不然就是她的藥水雖然可以治癒傷口卻無法使身體失去的部分重新長出來。雷佩契普鞠躬時突然發現自己身上的變化，不由失去了平時的鎮定。它越過右肩向身後望去，沒有看到自己的尾巴。於是，它又把脖子使勁向後伸去，直到整個身子和臀部都跟着扭動起來，結果仍然看不到自己的尾巴。就這樣，它反覆看了好幾次，終於確信了那可怕的事實。
“我真該死，”雷佩契普對阿斯蘭說，“在你面前表現得如此不冷靜。偉大的阿斯蘭，我這副不體面的樣子出現在你面前，請你千萬原諒我。”
“小傢伙，你這樣子沒什麼不好。”
“我的尾巴……如果能想想辦法，讓它再長出來纔好。”雷佩契普突然對露茜行了個禮，“也許女王陛下……”
“可是你要尾巴有什麼用呢?”阿斯蘭問道。
“陛下，”鼠將軍說，“沒有尾巴，我可以照樣吃，照樣睡，照樣爲你去戰鬥，去犧牲。然而，尾巴是一隻老鼠的榮譽和驕傲。”
“朋友，有時我不禁想，你對你的榮譽是否考慮得過多了?”阿斯蘭打趣說。
“至高無上的君主，請允許我提醒你，命運賦予我們老鼠這樣小的體形，假如我們不努力保護自己的尊嚴，那麼有一些以身材來衡量價值的傢伙，就會不恰當地尋我們的開心。這就是爲什麼我要不厭其煩地告誡人們，如果不想嚐嚐寶劍的滋味，就別在我面前說‘老鼠夾子’、‘老鼠藥’、‘上燈臺、下不來’這一類的話。無論他是誰!個子再大也不行!”雷佩契普說到這裏，狠狠地瞪了韋姆布威熱一眼。可是，像屏障般擋在大家身後的巨人此時並沒有注意到腳下的朋友在談論什麼，自然也沒有在意鼠將軍話裏的含沙射影。
“你的部下爲什麼都把寶劍抽出鞘來?”阿斯蘭詫異地問。
“稟報至高無上的君主，”名叫雷佩希克的老鼠副統帥回答說，“假如我們的頭兒無法恢復它的尾巴，我們將集體割去自己的尾巴，以分擔它的不幸。”
“哈!”阿斯蘭高聲叫道，“你們用高尚的心靈說服了我!雷佩契普，你將重新得到你的尾巴，不是爲了你的尊嚴，而是爲了你與同伴之間的友愛，更爲了你們對我的幫助。還記得嗎，是你們在大石桌咬斷了綁在我身上的繩索，也就是從那時起，你們學會了講話。”
阿斯蘭話音未落，雷佩契普就長出了一條新尾巴。接着，按阿斯蘭的指示，彼得授予凱斯賓雄獅騎士封號。凱斯賓當即封特魯佛漢特、杜魯普金和雷佩契普爲護國將軍，封克奈爾斯博士爲大法官，並且確定棕熊爲決鬥公證所所長。這些任命引起了一陣陣熱烈的掌聲。
那些被俘的臺爾馬士兵被押解過河，囚禁在柏盧納，每天發給他們牛肉、啤酒，以維持他們的生命。過河費了很大的勁兒，因爲那些士兵就像害怕森林一樣，也特別仇視、害怕奔流的河水。所以在膛水過河時他們一個個大呼小叫，驚恐萬狀。不管怎樣，該做的事情都做過了。於是，大家開始了這一天中最美好的一段時光。
露茜坐在阿斯蘭身邊，感到說不出的愉快。突然她注意到那些樹神，不知它們在那兒幹什麼。開始她以爲它們是在舞蹈。只見它們圍成兩個圓圈，緩慢地移動着；一個圈從左往右，另一個圈從右往左。這時露茜注意到，它們不停地往圓圈的中心拋擲着什麼。那些東西剛一落地，馬上就變成了乾柴。這時，三四個紅髮小矮人拿着火柴走上前去，點燃了地上的乾柴。先是點點火星，很快燃成了熊熊火焰，大家紛紛在火旁圍坐下來。
這時候，巴庫斯、野姑娘和塞利努斯開始翩翩起舞。那是十分奇特的舞蹈，不僅舞姿優美，而且簡直是在變魔術——他們的手足所及之處，立即冒出各式各樣的美味佳餚：一盤盤烤肉散發出令人饞涎欲滴的香味；各式各樣的蛋糕、餡餅和五光十色的糖果更是令人眼花繚亂、目不暇接，還有奶油、蜂蜜、鴨梨、葡萄、草莓、蜜桃、哈蜜瓜……接着，每人面前的草地上出現了一個巨大的木杯或木碗，裏面醇香的美酒不時變換着顏色和味道，而且總是喝不完。
阿斯蘭就以這樣的盛宴款待着納尼亞的臣民，直到夜幕降臨，天上星星眨起了眼睛。巨大的篝火像一座燈塔照亮了黑暗的山林。宴會還在繼續，但喧鬧聲漸漸低了下去，大家一個接一個垂下腦袋，或躺在草地上，依偎在好朋友中間，沉沉地進入了夢鄉。終於，篝火旁一片安靜，只有不遠處傳來柏盧納渡口潺潺的水聲。此時，只有一個身影清醒地伏在草地上，默默地仰望着天空皎潔的月亮。那是阿斯蘭。6
第二天，信使們(主要是松鼠和小鳥兒)被派往全國各地，向逃散的臺爾馬人——當然包括柏盧納的那些俘虜——宣告：凱斯賓已經成爲納尼亞的國王，因此這個國家不僅屬於人類，它從此也同樣屬於所有會講話的動物、小矮人和巨人。任何樂意在這塊土地上繼續生活下去的人都可以留下來，但絕不勉強。阿斯蘭將把那些持不同意見者送往他們新的家園，但這些人務必在第五天中午前到柏盧納渡口集合。不難想像，新法令使許多臺爾馬人大傷腦筋。他們當中有許多人，主要是年輕人，像凱斯賓一樣自小聽到過許多關於古代納尼亞的傳說，他們爲那美好時光的來臨而高興，並且已經開始和動物們交朋友了。這些人無一例外，都決定留在納尼亞。可多數上了年紀的人，尤其是那些在彌若茲統治下有權有勢的人卻悶悶不樂。他們無法想像，一旦失去了權勢，生活還會有什麼意義。他們說：“和那些無知的動物生活在一起!還有小矮人、巨人、人頭馬之類的幽靈鬼怪!嚇死人了，我們可不幹!”還有人持懷疑態度：“我無法信任那獅子和它的屬下，它不會讓我們過安穩日子的，等着瞧吧!”他們同樣不相信阿斯蘭會給他們新的家園：“它很可能會把我們帶回山洞，一個個吃掉!”類似的交談使他們更加憂心忡忡，疑慮不安。可是在指定的那一天，半數以上的人還是來了。
在一片林中空地上，阿斯蘭已經讓部下豎起兩根一人多高的木棍，間隔一米左右，又把另一根比較輕一些的木棍橫綁在那兩根木棍的頂端，看來就像個門框。阿斯蘭站在離這門框不遠處，左邊是彼得，右邊是凱斯賓，環繞他們站着愛德蒙、蘇珊、露茜和其他衆人。孩子們和小矮人們穿上了貴族的盛裝。這些華麗的衣服來自彌若茲城堡，當然，現在它已經成爲凱斯賓城堡了。連動物們也戴上了名貴的首飾。可是，沒有誰顧得上去注意和欣賞這些。阿斯蘭那充滿活力併發出金色光芒的鬣毛令他們目眩。．還有許多納尼亞臣民分立在空地兩旁。遠處站着那些臺爾馬人。這時陽光明媚，旌旗在微風中飄揚。
“臺爾馬的百姓們，”阿斯蘭莊嚴地開始說話了，“願去新的土地上重建家園的人們，請聽我說。我將把你們統統送回你們自己的國家，只有我知道那個地方。”
“我們不記得哪兒有這個國家!”“誰知道那裏是什麼樣子……”臺爾馬人七嘴八舌地咕噥着。
“你們從臺爾馬來到納尼亞，但你們並非祖祖輩輩都居住在臺爾馬。你們自己的國家根本不屬於這個世界。幾百年前，你們屬於另一個世界，也就是至尊王彼得的那個世界。”
聽到這兒，許多臺爾馬人開始坐不住了。“看看，我說得不錯吧!他就要把我們統統殺死，把我們從這個世界上消滅掉!”但是，另外一些人則挺起了胸，高興地拍拍彼此的肩膀，小聲說：“怎麼樣!我們早該猜出來，實際上我們根本不屬於這片土地，不該與這些奇形怪狀的傢伙爲伍。我們有着高貴的血統，等着瞧吧!”這時候，甚至凱斯賓、克奈爾斯和孩子們也都吃驚地向阿斯蘭望去。
“靜一靜!”阿斯蘭用一種低沉的、近乎吼叫的聲音說。大地似乎輕輕顫抖了一下，在場的每一個人都一下子閉上了嘴巴。
“凱斯賓國王，”阿斯蘭說，“你應該知道，只有像納尼亞的歷代君王一樣，身爲亞當的兒子，並來自亞當的兒子們的國家，纔有資格成爲納尼亞的真正國王。你正是亞當的兒子。很久以前，就在那世界上被稱爲南海的地方，一船海盜被風暴吹上一座小島。他們以海盜特有的方式，殺盡了當地的男人，強迫當地的婦女爲妻。島上有自制的椰子酒，他們便終日狂飲，常常喝得酩酊大醉，睡倒在椰子樹下，醒來後便互相爭吵，甚至自相殘殺。一次，其中六個人受到同伴的追殺，帶着他們的女人逃到小島中部的山頂上，躲進一個山洞藏身。沒想到那是個魔力山洞，是兩個世界之間的通道。古時候曾經有許多類似的通道把兩個世界連接起來，可惜如今絕大多數已自動封閉了。他們恰巧鑽進了其中的一個。結果，他們飛快地往下沉，或者往上升去。再睜開眼時，他們發現自己已置身於一個陌生的國度——臺爾馬國。當時這片土地還沒有人類的蹤跡。這六對男女從此在臺爾馬定居下來，生兒育女，世代相傳，漸漸形成一個兇猛而又驕傲的民族。許多年過去了。有一年，臺爾馬發生了饑荒，他們便去侵略納尼亞，佔領並統治這個國家直到昨天。凱斯賓國王，這些話你都記下了嗎?”
“我將牢記在心，陛下，”凱斯賓說，“我一直以爲自己出身於一個更體面的家族。”
“你的祖先是亞當和夏娃，這足以令最貧困的乞丐驕傲地挺起胸膛，也足以令最偉大異邦的君主自愧不如。青年人，可以知足了。”
凱斯賓深深鞠了一躬，表示回答。阿斯蘭轉過身去，說：
“那麼現在，你們這些臺爾馬的男人和女人們，你們願意重返你們祖先世代生活的那個人類世界嗎?那是個很好的地方。原來那個島上的海盜家族早死光了，那兒一直沒人居住。你們會有水源旺盛、水質甘甜的水井：肥沃的土地可以耕種，充足的木材可以造房，還有環礁水域中捕不盡的魚蝦。人類至今仍然沒有發現那個小島，世界通道也依然爲你們開放。可是，我必須提醒你們，一旦你們從那通道返回人類世界，天門將永遠關閉起來。”
一陣沉默。隨後，臺爾馬士兵中一個粗壯、體面的人走上前來，說：
“那麼好吧，我願意接受這個安排。”
“明智的選擇，”阿斯蘭說，“你敢於第一個做出決定，將得到神靈更多的幫助，你的命運會比別人更好。現在，請你往前走。”
那人臉色微微發白，邁步朝前走去。阿斯蘭和它的人往兩旁退去，閃出一條路來，一直通往木棍架起的那個孤零零的門框。
“走過去，我的孩子。”阿斯蘭說着探起身子，用鼻子在那人的鼻子上輕輕碰了一下。接觸到阿斯蘭的氣息，那人的神色隨之一變，彷彿一下子增添了無窮的勇氣。只見他聳聳肩，從容地走向那門框。
在場的人都緊緊盯着他。同時，人們清楚地看到那三根木棍和木棍那邊的草地、樹林和納尼亞的天空。他們看着那人一條腿跨過門框，然後——眨眼之間，他消失不見了。
空地的另一端，其餘的臺爾馬人齊聲驚叫起來：“天哪!他怎麼了?難道你想謀殺我們嗎?我們不去!”
這時，一個聰明的臺爾馬人站出來說：“從這門框望過去，我們根本看不到另外一個世界。如果要我們相信它的存在，除非派你的部下先走過去。爲什麼你的朋友們一個個都
遠遠地避開那門框呢?”
那人話音剛落，雷佩契普挺身而出，向阿斯蘭鞠了一躬。“假如我的榜樣能說服他們，尊敬的阿斯蘭，你一聲令下，我將帶着我的十一名兄弟，毫不遲疑地走過去。”
“不，小傢伙，”阿斯蘭把毛茸茸的爪子輕輕放在鼠將軍的頭上，“在那個世界裏，他們會虐待你們的。讓別人去吧。”
“快，該我們上了。”彼得突然對愛德蒙和露茜叫道。
“你要幹什麼?”愛德蒙迷惑不解地問。
“從這條路回家呀!”蘇珊搶着回答，似乎對將要發生的事一清二楚。“但我們必須先換下這身衣服。”
“爲什麼?”露茜問。
“要是穿這身衣服出現在火車站裏，那還不惹得別人都來看我們呀!”
“可是我們所有的行李都放在凱斯賓城堡裏了。”愛德蒙說。
“沒有。行李都在這裏——今天早晨送來的。這早已安排好了。”彼得說。
兩個年紀小的孩子更加驚奇了。露茜忍不住問道：
“今天早晨阿斯蘭對你和蘇珊談的就是這個嗎?”
“是的——還有一件事，”彼得說着臉色變得莊重起來，“我無法全部講給你聽。有些事情它只想要我和蘇珊明白，因爲我們將不會重返納尼亞了。”
“永不回來?”愛德蒙和露茜一齊叫起來。"
“哦，你們倆還會回來的，”彼得回答說，“至少從它的話裏，我相信你們倆總有一天會回到這裏來。可我與蘇珊卻不會了。它說我倆都長大了。”
“彼得，這真是不幸!”露茜憂傷地望着哥哥，“你怎麼能接受這樣的事實!”
“我想我能夠的，”彼得說，“我的思想已經有了許多改變，總有一天你也會這樣的。好了，讓我們行動起來，行李送來了。”
孩子們很不情願地脫下華麗的貴族服裝，穿上原先那身學生服，就聽見有幾個臺爾馬人在吃吃地笑。而所有的朋友們都起立歡呼，向至尊王彼得、神號女王蘇珊、愛德蒙國王和露茜女王致敬。大家戀戀不捨地互相道別——小動物們的親吻、大棕熊的擁抱，以及與杜魯普金長時間的握手。凱斯賓要把神號還給蘇珊。蘇珊猶豫了一下，然後鄭重地把號送回凱斯賓的手上，以作紀念。最後，他們以非常複雜的心情向阿斯蘭告了別。然後，四個孩子在前面領路，後面跟着一長隊臺爾馬人，依次向門框走去。隨之而來的是一陣天旋地轉，孩子們似乎同時看到三幅圖畫：第一幅是一個山洞口，看出去是太平洋上一個無名島嶼。臺爾馬人將從門框直接來到這裏，開始他們新的生活；第二幅是納尼亞，他們在瞬間看到了小矮人和動物們的笑臉，看到了阿斯蘭深邃的目光；第三幅圖畫很快取代了前面的兩幅，那是鄉間火車站那個灰濛濛、陰沉沉的站臺和站臺上那條長凳，周圍堆放着箱子和玩具盒。孩子們很快站穩並清醒過來，面對周圍熟悉的一切，想到即將開始的校園生活，不由產生一種非常親切
的感覺。
“怎麼樣，”彼得說，“我們度過了一段非常美好的時光。”
“糟糕，”愛德蒙突然叫道，“我的手電筒丟在納尼亞了。”
