小说园

chater fifteen the diaearance f jill（第1页）

THEpatchoflightdidnotshowupanythingdowninthedarknesswheretheywerestanding。Theotherscouldonlyhear，notsee，Jill’seffortstogetontotheMarsh-wiggle’sback。Thatis，theyheardhimsaying，“Youneedn’tputyourfingerinmyeye，”and，“Noryourfootinmymoutheither，”and，“That’smorelikeit，”and，“Now，I’llholdontoyourlegs。That’llleaveyourarmsfreetosteadyyourselfagainsttheearth。”

ThentheylookedupandsoontheysawtheblackshapeofJill’sheadagainstthepatchoflight。

“Well？”theyallshoutedupanxiously。

“It’sahole，”calledJill’svoice。“IcouldgetthroughitifIwasalittlebithigher。”

“Whatdoyouseethroughit？”askedEustace。

“Nothingmuchyet，”saidJill。“Isay，Puddleglum，letgomylegssothatIcanstandonyourshouldersinsteadofsittingonthem。Icansteadymyselfallrightagainsttheedge。”

Theycouldhearhermovingandthenmuchmoreofhercameintosightagainstthegreynessoftheopening；infact，allofherdowntothewaist。

“Isay—”beganJill，butsuddenlybrokeoffwithacry：notasharpcry。Itsoundedmoreasifhermouthhadbeenmuffleduporhadsomethingpushedintoit。Afterthatshefoundhervoiceandseemedtobeshoutingoutasloudasshecould，buttheycouldn’thearthewords。Twothingsthenhappenedatthesamemoment。Thepatchoflightwascompletelyblockedupforasecondorso；andtheyheardbothascuffling，strugglingsoundandthevoiceoftheMarsh-wigglegasping：“Quick！Help！Holdontoherlegs。Someone’spullingher。There！No，here。Toolate！”

Theopening，andthecoldlightwhichfilledit，werenowperfectlyclearagain。Jillhadvanished。

“Jill！Jill！”theyshoutedfrantically，buttherewasnoanswer。

“Whythedickenscouldn’tyouhaveheldherfeet？”saidEustace。

“Idon’tknow，Scrubb，”groanedPuddleglum。“Borntobeamisfit，Ishouldn’twonder。Fated。FatedtobePole’sdeath，justasIwasfatedtoeatTalkingStagatHarfang。Notthatitisn’tmyownfaultaswell，ofcourse。”

“Thisisthegreatestshameandsorrowthatcouldhavefallenonus，”saidthePrince。“Wehavesentabraveladyintothehandsofenemiesandstayedbehindinsafety。”

“Don’tpaintittooblack，Sir，”saidPuddleglum。“We’renotverysafeexceptfordeathbystarvationinthishole。”

“IwonderamIsmallenoughtogetthroughwhereJilldid？”saidEustace。

WhathadreallyhappenedtoJillwasthis。Assoonasshegotherheadoutoftheholeshefoundthatshewaslookingdownasiffromanupstairswindow，notupasifthroughatrap-door。Shehadbeensolonginthedarkthathereyescouldn’tatfirsttakeinwhattheywereseeing：exceptthatshewasnotlookingatthedaylit，sunnyworldwhichshesowantedtosee。Theairseemedtobedeadlycold，andthelightwaspaleandblue。Therewasalsoagooddealofnoisegoingonandalotofwhiteobjectsflyingaboutintheair。ItwasatthatmomentthatshehadshouteddowntoPuddleglumtoletherstanduponhisshoulders。

Whenshehaddonethis，shecouldseeandhearagooddealbetter。Thenoisesshehadbeenhearingturnedouttobeoftwokinds：therhythmicalthumpofseveralfeet，andthemusicoffourfiddles，threeflutes，andadrum。Shealsogotherownpositionclear。Shewaslookingoutofaholeinasteepbankwhichslopeddownandreachedthelevelaboutfourteenfeetbelowher。Everythingwasverywhite。Alotofpeopleweremovingabout。Thenshegasped！ThepeopleweretrimlittleFauns，andDryadswithleaf-crownedhairfloatingbehindthem。Forasecondtheylookedasiftheyweremovinganyhow；thenshesawthattheywerereallydoingadance—adancewithsomanycomplicatedstepsandfiguresthatittookyousometimetounderstandit。Thenitcameoverherlikeathunderclapthatthepale，bluelightwasreallymoonlight，andthewhitestuffonthegroundwasreallysnow。Andofcourse！Therewerethestarsstaringinablackfrostyskyoverhead。Andthetallblackthingsbehindthedancersweretrees。Theyhadnotonlygotoutintotheupperworldatlast，buthadcomeoutintheheartofNarnia。Jillfeltshecouldhavefaintedwithdelight；andthemusic-thewildmusic，intenselysweetandyetjusttheleastbiteerietoo，andfullofgoodmagicastheWitch’sthrumminghadbeenfullofbadmagic—madeherfeelitallthemore。

Allthistakesalongtimetotell，butofcourseittookaveryshorttimetosee。Jillturnedalmostatoncetoshoutdowntotheothers，“Isay！It’sallright。We’reout，andwe’rehome。”Butthereasonshenevergotfurtherthan“Isay”wasthis。CirclingroundandroundthedancerswasaringofDwarfs，alldressedintheirfinestclothes；mostlyscarletwithfur-linedhoodsandgoldentasselsandbigfurrytop-boots。Astheycircledroundtheywerealldiligentlythrowingsnowballs。（ThosewerethewhitethingsthatJillhadseenflyingthroughtheair。）Theyweren’tthrowingthematthedancersassillyboysmighthavebeendoinginEngland。Theywerethrowingthemthroughthedanceinsuchperfecttimewiththemusicandwithsuchperfectaimthatifallthedancerswereinexactlytherightplacesatexactlytherightmoments，noonewouldbehit。ThisiscalledtheGreatSnowDanceanditisdoneeveryyearinNarniaonthefirstmoonlitnightwhenthereissnowontheground。Ofcourseitisakindofgameaswellasadance，becauseeverynowandthensomedancerwillbetheleastlittlebitwrongandgetasnowballintheface，andtheneveryonelaughs。Butagoodteamofdancers，Dwarfs，andmusicianswillkeepitupforhourswithoutasinglehit。Onfinenightswhenthecoldandthedrum-taps，andthehootingoftheowls，andthemoonlight，havegotintotheirwild，woodlandbloodandmadeitevenwilder，theywilldancetilldaybreak。Iwishyoucouldseeitforyourselves。

WhathadstoppedJillwhenshegotasfarasthesayof“Isay”wasofcoursesimplyafinebigsnowballthatcamesailingthroughthedancefromaDwarfonthefarsideandgotherfairandsquareinthemouth。Shedidn’tintheleastmind；twentysnowballswouldnothavedampedherspiritsatthatmoment。Buthoweverhappyyouarefeeling，youcan’ttalkwithyourmouthfullofsnow。Andwhen，afterconsiderablespluttering，shecouldspeakagain，shequiteforgotinherexcitementthattheothers，downinthedark，behindher，stilldidn’tknowthegoodnews。Shesimplyleanedasfaroutoftheholeasshecould，andyelledtothedancers。

“Help！Help！We’reburiedinthehill。Comeanddigusout。”

TheNarnians，whohadnotevennoticedthelittleholeinthehillside，wereofcourseverysurprised，andlookedaboutinseveralwrongdirectionsbeforetheyfoundoutwherethevoicewascomingfrom。ButwhentheycaughtsightofJilltheyallcamerunningtowardsher，andasmanyascouldscrambledupthebank，andadozenormorehandswerestretcheduptohelpher。AndJillcaughtholdofthemandthusgotoutoftheholeandcameslitheringdownthebankheadfirst，andthenpickedherselfupandsaid：“Oh，dogoanddigtheothersout。Therearethreeothers，besidesthehorses。AndoneofthemisPrinceRilian。”

Shewasalreadyinthemiddleofacrowdwhenshesaidthis，forbesidesthedancersallsortsofpeoplewhohadbeenwatchingthedance，andwhomshehadnotseenatfirst，camerunningup。Squirrelscameoutofthetreesinshowers，andsodidOwls。Hedgehogscamewaddlingasfastastheirshortlegswouldcarrythem。BearsandBadgersfollowedataslowerpace。AgreatPanther，twitchingitstailinexcitement，wasthelasttojointheparty。

ButassoonastheyunderstoodwhatJillwassaying，theyallbecameactive。“Pickandshovel，boys，pickandshovel。Offforourtools！”saidtheDwarfs，anddashedawayintothewoodsattopspeed。“WakeupsomeMoles，they’rethechapsfordigging。They’requiteasgoodasDwarfs，”saidavoice。“WhatwasthatshesaidaboutPrinceRilian？”saidanother。“Hush！”saidthePanther。“Thepoorchild’scrazed，andnowonderafterbeinglostinsidethehill。Shedoesn’tknowwhatshe’ssaying。”“That’sright，”saidanoldBear。“Why，shesaidPrinceRilianwasahorse！”—“No，shedidn’t，”saidaSquirrel，verypert。“Yes，shedid，”saidanotherSquirrel，evenperter。

“It’squitet-t-t-true。D-d-don’tbesosilly，”saidJill。Shespokelikethatbecauseherteethwerenowchatteringwiththecold。

ImmediatelyoneoftheDryadsflungroundherafurrycloakwhichsomeDwarfhaddroppedwhenherushedtofetchhisminingtools，andanobligingFauntrottedoffamongthetreestoaplacewhereJillcouldseefirelightinthemouthofacave，togetherahotdrink。Butbeforeitcame，alltheDwarfsreappearedwithspadesandpick-axesandchargedatthehillside。ThenJillheardcriesof“Hi！Whatareyoudoing？Putthatsworddown，”and“Now，young’un：noneofthat，”and，“He’saviciousone，now，isn’the？”Jillhurriedtothespotanddidn’tknowwhethertolaughorcrywhenshesawEustace’sface，verypaleanddirty，projectingfromtheblacknessofthehole，andEustace’srighthandbrandishingaswordwithwhichhemadelungesatanyonewhocamenearhim。

ForofcourseEustacehadbeenhavingaverydifferenttimefromJillduringthelastfewminutes。HehadheardJillcryoutandseenherdisappearintotheunknown。LikethePrinceandPuddleglum，hethoughtthatsomeenemieshadcaughther。Andfromdownbelowhedidn’tseethatthepale，blueishlightwasmoonlight。Hethoughttheholewouldleadonlyintosomeothercave，litbysomeghostlyphosphorescenceandfilledwithgoodness-knows-whatevilcreaturesoftheUnderworld。SothatwhenhehadpersuadedPuddleglumtogivehimaback，anddrawnhissword，andpokedouthishead，hehadreallybeendoingaverybravething。Theotherswouldhavedoneitfirstiftheycould，buttheholewastoosmallforthemtoclimbthrough。Eustacewasalittlebigger，andalotclumsier，thanJill，sothatwhenhelookedouthebumpedhisheadagainstthetopoftheholeandbroughtasmallavalancheofsnowdownonhisface。Andso，whenhecouldseeagain，andsawdozensoffigurescomingathimashardastheycouldrun，itisnotsurprisingthathetriedtowardthemoff。

“Stop，Eustace，stop，”criedJill。“They’reallfriends。Can’tyousee？We’vecomeupinNarnia。Everything’sallright。”

ThenEustacedidsee，andapologizedtotheDwarfs（andtheDwarfssaidnottomentionit），anddozensofthick，hairy，dwarfishhandshelpedhimoutjustastheyhadhelpedJilloutafewminutesbefore。ThenJillscrambledupthebankandputherheadinatthedarkopeningandshoutedthegoodnewsintotheprisoners。AssheturnedawaysheheardPuddleglummutter。“Ah，poorPole。It’sbeentoomuchforher，thislastbit。Turnedherhead，Ishouldn’twonder。She’sbeginningtoseethings。”