小说园

chater eleven the unwele fellw traveller（第1页）

WHENShastawentthroughthegatehefoundaslopeofgrassandalittleheatherrunningupbeforehimtosometrees。Hehadnothingtothinkaboutnowandnoplanstomake:hehadonlytorun，andthatwasquiteenough。Hislimbswereshaking，aterriblestitchwasbeginninginhisside，andthesweatthatkeptdroppingintohiseyesblindedthemandmadethemsmart。Hewasunsteadyonhisfeettoo，andmorethanoncehenearlyturnedhisankleonaloosestone。

Thetreeswerethickernowthantheyhadyetbeenandinthemoreopenspacestherewasbracken。Thesunhadgoneinwithoutmakingitanycooler。Ithadbecomeoneofthosehot，greydayswhenthereseemtobetwiceasmanyfliesasusual。Shasta'sfacewascoveredwiththem;hedidn'teventrytoshakethemoff-hehadtoomuchelsetodo。

Suddenlyheheardahorn-notagreatthrobbinghornlikethehornsofTashbaanbutamerrycall，Ti-ro-to-to-ho!Nextmomenthecameoutintoawidegladeandfoundhimselfinacrowdofpeople。

Atleast，itlookedacrowdtohim。Inrealitytherewereaboutfifteenortwentyofthem，allgentlemeningreenhunting-dress，withtheirhorses;someinthesaddleandsomestandingbytheirhorses'heads。Inthecentresomeonewasholdingthestirrupforamantomount。Andthemanhewasholdingitforwasthejolliest，fat，apple-cheeked，twinkling-eyedKingyoucouldimagine。

AssoonasShastacameinsightthisKingforgotallaboutmountinghishorse。HespreadouthisarmstoShasta，hisfacelitup，andhecriedoutinagreat，deepvoicethatseemedtocomefromthebottomofhischest:

"Corin!Myson!Andonfoot，andinrags!What—""No，"pantedShasta，shakinghishead。"NotPrinceCorin。I-I-knowI'mlikehim…sawhisHighnessinTashbaan…senthisgreetings。"

TheKingwasstaringatShastawithanextraordinaryexpressiononhisface。

"AreyouK-KingLune?"gaspedShasta。Andthen，withoutwaitingforananswer，。LordKing-fly-Anvardshutthegates-enemiesuponyou-Rabadashandtwohundredhorse。"

"Haveyouassuranceofthis，boy?"askedoneoftheothergentlemen。

"Myowneyes，"saidShasta。。I'veseenthem。RacedthemallthewayfromTashbaan。"

"Onfoot?"saidthegentleman，raisinghiseyebrowsalittle。

"Horses-withtheHermit，"saidShasta。

"Questionhimnomore;Darrin，"saidKingLune。"Iseetruthinhisface。Wemustrideforit，gentlemen。Asparehorsethere，fortheboy。Youcanridefast，friend?"

ForanswerShastaputhisfootinthestirrupofthehorsewhichhadbeenledtowardshimandamomentlaterhewasinthesaddle。HehaddoneitahundredtimeswithBreeinthelastfewweeks，andhismountingwasverydifferentnowfromwhatithadbeenonthatfirstnightwhenBreehadsaidthatheclimbedupahorseasifhewereclimbingahaystack。

HewaspleasedtoheartheLordDarrinsaytotheKing，。Theboyhasatruehorseman'sseat，Sire。I'llwarrantthere'snoblebloodinhim。"

"Hisblood，aye，there'sthepoint，"saidtheKing。AndhestaredhardatShastaagainwiththatcuriousexpression，almostahungryexpression，inhissteady，greyeyes。

Butbynow-thewholepartywasmovingoffatabriskcanter。Shasta'sseatwasexcellentbuthewassadlypuzzledwhattodowithhisreins，forhehadnevertouchedthereinswhilehewasonBree'sback。Buthelookedverycarefullyoutofthecornersofhiseyestoseewhattheothersweredoing（assomeofushavedoneatpartieswhenweweren'tquitesurewhichknifeorforkweweremeanttouse）andtriedtogethisfingersright。Buthedidn'tdaretotryreallydirectingthehorse;hetrusteditwouldfollowtherest。Thehorsewasofcourseanordinaryhorse，notaTalkingHorse;butithadquitewitsenoughtorealizethatthestrangeboyonitsbackhadnowhipandnospursandwasnotreallymasterofthesituation。ThatwaswhyShastasoonfoundhimselfatthetailendoftheprocession。

Evenso，hewasgoingprettyfast。Therewerenofliesnowandtheairinhisfacewasdelicious。Hehadgothisbreathbacktoo。Andhiserrandhadsucceeded。ForthefirsttimesincethearrivalatTashbaan（howlongagoitseemed!）hewasbeginningtoenjoyhimself。

Helookeduptoseehowmuchnearerthemountaintopshadcome。Tohisdisappointmenthecouldnotseethematall:onlyavaguegreyness，rollingdowntowardsthem。Hehadneverbeeninmountaincountrybeforeandwassurprised。"It'sacloud，"hesaidtohimself，"acloudcomingdown。Isee。Uphereinthehillsoneisreallyinthesky。Ishallseewhattheinsideofacloudislike。Whatfun!I'veoftenwondered。"Farawayonhisleftandalittlebehindhim，thesunwasgettingreadytoset。

Theyhadcometoaroughkindofroadbynowandweremakingverygoodspeed。ButShasta'shorsewasstillthelastofthelot。Onceortwicewhentheroadmadeabend（therewasnowcontinuousforestoneachsideofit）helostsightoftheothersforasecondortwo。

Thentheyplungedintothefog，orelsethefogrolledoverthem。Theworldbecamegrey。Shastahadnotrealizedhowcoldandwettheinsideofacloudwouldbe;norhowdark。Thegreyturnedtoblackwithalarmingspeed。

Someoneattheheadofthecolumnwindedthehorneverynowandthen，andeachtimethesoundcamefromalittlefartheroff。Hecouldn'tseeanyoftheothersnow，butofcoursehe'dbeabletoassoonashegotroundthenextbend。Butwhenheroundedithestillcouldn'tseethem。Infacthecouldseenothingatall。Hishorsewaswalkingnow。"Geton，Horse，geton，"saidShasta。Thencamethehorn，veryfaint。Breehadalwaystoldhimthathemustkeephisheelswellturnedout，andShastahadgottheideathatsomethingveryterriblewouldhappenifhedughisheelsintoahorse'ssides。Thisseemedtohimanoccasionfortryingit。

"Lookhere，Horse，"hesaid，"ifyoudon'tbuckup，doyouknowwhatI'lldo?I'lldigmyheelsintoyou。Ireallywill。"Thehorse，however，tooknonoticeofthisthreat。SoShastasettledhimselffirmlyinthesaddle，grippedwithhisknees，clenchedhisteeth，andpunchedboththehorse'ssideswithhisheelsashardashecould。

Theonlyresultwasthatthehorsebrokeintoakindofpretenceofatrotforfiveorsixpacesandthensubsidedintoawalkagain。Andnowitwasquitedarkandtheyseemedtohavegivenupblowingthathorn。Theonlysoundwasasteadydrip-dripfromthebranchesofthetrees。

"Well，Isupposeevenawalkwillgetussomewheresometime，"saidShastatohimself。"IonlyhopeIshan'trunintoRabadashandhispeople。"

Hewentonforwhatseemedalongtime，alwaysatawalkingpace。Hebegantohatethathorse，andhewasalsobeginningtofeelveryhungry。

Presentlyhecametoaplacewheretheroaddividedintotwo。HewasjustwonderingwhichledtoAnvardwhenhewasstartledbyanoisefrombehindhim。Itwasthenoiseoftrottinghorses。"Rabadash!"thoughtShasta。HehadnowayofguessingwhichroadRabadashwouldtake。。ButifItakeone，"saidShastatohimself，。hemaytaketheother:andifIstayatthecross-roadsI'msuretobecaught。"Hedismountedandledhishorseasquicklyashecouldalongtheright-handroad。

ThesoundofthecavalrygrewrapidlynearerandinaminuteortwoShastarealizedthattheywereatthecrossroads。Heheldhisbreath，waitingtoseewhichwaytheywouldtake。

Therecamealowwordofcommand。Halt!"thenamomentofhorseynoises-nostrilsblowing，hoofspawing，bitsbeingchamped，necksbeingpatted。Thenavoicespoke。

"Attend，allofyou，"itsaid。。Wearenowwithinafurlongofthecastle。Rememberyourorders。OnceweareinNarnia，asweshouldbebysunrise，youaretokillaslittleaspossible。OnthisventureyouaretoregardeverydropofNarnianbloodasmorepreciousthanagallonofyourown。Onthisventure，Isay。ThegodswillsendusahappierhourandthenyoumustleavenothingalivebetweenCairParavelandtheWesternWaste。ButwearenotyetinNarnia。HereinArchenlanditisanotherthing。IntheassaultonthiscastleofKingLune's，nothingmattersbutspeed。Showyourmettle。Itmustbeminewithinanhour。Andifitis，Igiveitalltoyou。Ireservenobootyformyself。Killmeeverybarbarianmalewithinitswalls，downtothechildthatwasbornyesterday，andeverythingelseisyourstodivideasyouplease-thewomen，thegold，thejewels，theweapons，andthewine。ThemanthatIseehangingbackwhenwecometothegatesshallbeburnedalive。InthenameofTashtheirresistible，theinexorableforward!"

Withagreatcloppitty-clopthecolumnbegantomove，andShastabreathedagain。Theyhadtakentheotherroad。

Shastathoughttheytookalongtimegoingpast，forthoughhehadbeentalkingandthinkingabout。twohundredhorse"allday，hehadnotrealizedhowmanytheyreallywere。Butatlastthesounddiedawayandoncemorehewasaloneamidthedrip-dripfromthetrees。

HenowknewthewaytoAnvardbutofcoursehecouldnotnowgothere:thatwouldonlymeanrunningintothearmsofRabadash'stroopers。。WhatonearthamItodo?"saidShastatohimself。Butheremountedhishorseandcontinuedalongtheroadhehadchosen，inthefainthopeoffindingsomecottagewherehemightaskforshelterandameal。Hehadthought，ofcourse，ofgoingbacktoAravisandBreeandHwinatthehermitage，buthecouldn'tbecausebynowhehadnottheleastideaofthedirection。

"Afterall，"saidShasta，"thisroadisboundtogettosomewhere。"

Butthatalldependsonwhatyoumeanbysomewhere。Theroadkeptongettingtosomewhereinthesensethatitgottomoreandmoretrees，alldarkanddripping，andtocolderandcolderair。Andstrange，icywindskeptblowingthemistpasthimthoughtheyneverblewitaway。Ifhehadbeenusedtomountaincountryhewouldhaverealizedthatthismeanthewasnowveryhighup-perhapsrightatthetopofthepass。ButShastaknewnothingaboutmountains。