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the horse and his boy_c·s·刘易斯-第23章

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as soon as shasta came in sight this king forgot all about mounting his  horse。 he spread out his arms to shasta; his face lit up; and he cried out in a great; deep  voice that seemed to e from the bottom of his chest:  〃corin! my son! and on foot; and in rags! what…鈥

〃no;〃 panted shasta; shaking his head。 〃not prince corin。 i … i … know im  like him。。。 saw his highness in tashbaan。。。 sent his greetings。鈥

the king was staring at shasta with an extraordinary expression on his  face。

〃are you k…king lune?〃 gasped shasta。 and then; without waiting for an  answer; 〃lord king … fly … anvard shut the gates … enemies upon you … rsh and two  hundred horse。鈥

〃have you assurance of this; boy?〃 asked one of the other gentlemen。

〃my own eyes;〃 said shasta。 〃ive seen them。 raced them all the way from  tashbaan。鈥

〃on foot?〃 said the gentleman; raising his eyebrows a little。

horses…with the hermit;〃 said shasta。

〃question him no more; darrin;〃 said king lune。 〃i see truth in his face。  we must ride for it; gentlemen。 a spare horse there; for the boy。 you can ride fast;  friend?鈥

for answer shasta put his foot in the stirrup of the horse which had been  led towards him and a moment later he was in the saddle。 he had done it a hundred times  with bree in the last few weeks; and his mounting was very different now from what it had  been on that first night when bree had said that he climbed up a horse as if he were  climbing a haystack。

he was pleased to hear the lord darrin say to the king; 〃the boy has a true  horsemans seat; sire。 ill warrant theres noble blood in him。鈥

〃his blood; aye; theres the point;〃 said the king。 and he stared hard at  shasta again with that curious expression; almost a hungry expression; in his steady; grey  eyes。

but by now …the whole party was moving off at a brisk canter。 shastas seat  was excellent but he was sadly puzzled what to do with his reins; for he had never  touched the reins while he was on brees back。 but he looked very carefully out of the  corners of his eyes to see what the others were doing (as some of us have done at parties when  we werent quite sure which knife or fork we were meant to use) and tried to get his  fingers right。 but he didnt dare to try really directing the horse; he trusted it would  follow the rest。 the horse was of course an ordinary horse; not a talking horse; but it had  quite wits enough to realize that the strange boy on its back had no whip and no spurs and  was not really master of the situation。 that was why shasta soon found himself at the tail  end of the procession。

even so; he was going pretty fast。 there were no flies now and the air in  his face was delicious。 he had got his breath back too。 and his errand had succeeded。  for the first time since the arrival at tashbaan (how long ago it seemed!) he was  beginning to enjoy himself。

he looked up to see how much nearer the mountain tops had e。 to his disappointment he could not see them at all: only a vague greyness; rolling  down towards them。 he had never been in mountain country before and was surprised。 〃its  a cloud;〃 he said to himself; 〃a cloud ing down。 i see。 up here in the hills one is  really in the sky。

i shall see what the inside of a cloud is like。 what fun! ive often  wondered。〃 far away on his left and a little behind him; the sun was getting ready to set。

they had e to a rough kind of road by now and were making very good  speed。 but shastas horse was still the last of the lot。 once or twice when the road  made a bend (there was now continuous forest on each side of it) he lost sight of the  others for a second or two。

then they plunged into the fog; or else the fog rolled over them。 the world  became grey。

shasta had not realized how cold and wet the inside of a cloud would be;  nor how dark。

the grey turned to black with alarming speed。

someone at the head of the column winded the horn every now and then; and  each time the sound came from a little farther off。 he couldnt see any of the others  now; but of course hed be able to as soon as he got round the next bend。 but when he  rounded it he still couldnt see them。 in fact he could see nothing at all。 his horse was  walking now。

〃get on; horse; get on;〃 said shasta。 then came the horn; very faint。 bree  had always told him that he must keep his heels well turned out; and shasta had got  the idea that something very terrible would happen if he dug his heels into a horses  sides。 this seemed to him an occasion for trying it。 〃look here; horse;〃 he said; 〃if  you dont buck up; do you know what ill do? ill dig my heels into you。 i really will。〃  the horse; however; took no notice of this threat。 so shasta settled himself firmly in  the saddle; gripped with his knees; clenched his teeth; and punched both the horses  sides with his heels as hard as he could。

the only result was that the horse broke into a kind of pretence of a trot  for five or six paces and then subsided into a walk again。 and now it was quite dark and  they seemed to have given up blowing that horn。 the only sound was a steady drip…drip from  the branches of the trees。

〃well; i suppose even a walk will get us somewhere sometime;〃 said shasta  to himself。 〃i only hope i shant run into rsh and his people。鈥

he went on for what seemed a long time; always at a walking pace。 he began  to hate that horse; and he was also beginning to feel very hungry。

presently he came to a place where the road divided into two。 he was just  wondering which led to anvard when he was startled by a noise from behind him。 it was  the noise of trotting horses。 〃rsh!〃 thought shasta。 he had no way of guessing  which road rsh would take。 〃but if i take one;〃 said shasta to himself; 〃he may  take the other: and if i stay at the cross…roads im sure to be caught。〃 he dismounted and  led his horse as quickly as he could along the right…hand road。

the sound of the cavalry grew rapidly nearer and in a minute or two shasta  realized that they were at the crossroads。 he held his breath; waiting to see which way  they would take。

there came a low word of mand 〃halt!〃 then a moment of horsey noises …  nostrils blowing; hoofs pawing; bits being champed; necks being patted。 then a voice  spoke。

〃attend; all of you;〃 it said。 〃we are now within a furlong of the castle。  remember your orders。 once we are in narnia; as we should be by sunrise; you are to kill  as little as possible。 on this venture you are to regard every drop of narnian blood as  more precious than a gallon of your own。 on this venture; i say。 the gods will send us a  happier hour and then you must leave nothing alive between cair paravel and the western  waste。 but we are not yet in narnia。 here in archenland it is another thing。 in the  assault on this castle of king lunes; nothing matters but speed。 show your mettle。 it must  be mine  

within an hour。 and if it is; i give it all to you。 i reserve no booty for  myself。 kill me every barbarian male within its walls; down to the child that was born  yesterday; and everything else is yours to divide as you please … the women; the gold; the  jewels; the weapons; and the wine。 the man that i see hanging back when we e to the  gates shall be burned alive。 in the name of tash the irresistible; the inexorable  forward!鈥

with a great cloppitty…clop the column began to move; and shasta breathed  again。 they had taken the other road。

shasta thought they took a long time going past; for though he had been  talking and thinking about 〃two hundred horse〃 all day; he had not realized how many  they really were。 but at last the sound died away and once more he was alone amid the  drip…drip from the trees。

he now knew the way to anvard but of course he could not now go there: that  would only mean running into the arms of rshs troopers。 〃what on earth am i  to do?〃 said shasta to himself。 but he remounted his horse and continued along the road  he had chosen; in the faint hope of finding some cottage where he might ask for  shelter and a meal。 he had thought; of course; of going back to aravis and bree and hwin  at the hermitage; but he couldnt because by now he had not the least idea of the  direction。

〃after all;〃 sai
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