CHAPTER EIGHT
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WHAT HE EAGLE BROUGHT IN the shadow of the trees on the far side of the clearing something was moving. It was gliding very slowly Northward. At a first glanight have mistaken it for smoke, for it was grey a<var></var>nd you could see things through it. But the deathly smell was not the smell of smoke. Also, this thi its shape instead of billowing and curling as smokewould have do was roughly the<mark>藏书网</mark> shape of a man but it had the head of a bird; some bird of prey with a cruel, curved beak. It had four arms which it held high above its head, stretg them out Northward as if it wao snatch all Narnia in its grip; and its fingers - all twenty of them - were curved like its beak and had long, pointed, bird-like claws instead of nails. It floated on the grass instead of walking, and the grass seemed to wither beh it.
After one look at it Puzzle gave a screaming bray and darted into the Tower. And Jill (who was no coward, as you know) hid her fa her hands to shut out the sight of it.
The others watched it for perhaps a minute, until it streamed away into the thicker trees on their right and disappeared. Then the sun came out again, and the birds once more began to sing.
Everyoarted breathing properly again and moved. They had all been still as statues while it was in sight.
"What was it?" said Eusta a whisper.
"I have seen it once before," said Tirian. "But that time it was carved in stone and overlaid with gold and had solid diamonds for eyes. It was when I was no older than thou, and had gone as a guest to The Tisrocs court in Tashbaan.
He took me into the great temple of Tash. There I saw it, carved above the altar.”
"Then that - that thing - was Tash?" said Eustace.
But instead of answering him Tirian slipped his arm behind Jills shoulders and said, "How is it with you, Lady?”
"A-all right," said Jill, taking her hands away from her pale fad trying to smile. "Im all right. It only made me feel a little sick for a moment.”
"It seems, then," said the Uni, "that there is a real Tash, after all.”
"Yes," said the Dwarf. "And this fool of an Ape, who didnt believe in Tash, will get more than he bargained for! He called for Tash: Tash has e.”
"Where has it - h<cite>?99ｌib.</cite>e - the Thing - goo?" said Jill.
"North into the heart of Narnia," said Tirian. "It has e to dwell among us. They have called it and it has e.”
"Ho, ho, ho!" chuckled the Dwarf, rubbing his hairy hands together. "It will be a surprise for the Ape. People shouldnt call for demons uhey really mean what they say.”
"Who knows if Tash will be visible to the Ape?" said Jewel.
"Where has Puzzle got to?" said Eustace.
They all shouted out Puzzles name and Jill went round to the other side of the Tower to see if he had gohere.
They were quite tired of looking for him when at last his large grey head peered cautiously out of the doorway and he said, "Has it gone away?" And when at last they got him to e out, he was shivering the way a dog shivers before a thuorm.
"I see now," said Puzzle, "that I really have been a very bad donkey. I ought o have listeo Shift. I hought things like this would begin to happen.”
"If youd speime saying you werent clever and more time trying to be as clever as you could -" begaace but Jill interrupted him.
"Oh leave poor old Puzzle alone," she said. "It was all a mistake; wasnt it, Puzzle dear?”
And she kissed him on the nose.
Though rather shaken by what they had seen, the whole party now sat down again a on with their talk.
Jewel had little to tell them. While he risoner he had spent nearly all his time tied up at the back of the stable, and had of course heard none of the enemies plans. He had been kicked (hed done some kig back too) aen and threatened with death unless he would say that he believed it was Aslan who was brought out and shown to them by firelight every night. In fact he was going to be executed this very m if he had not been rescued. He didnt know what had happeo the Lamb.
The question they had to decide was whether they would go to Stable Hill again that night, show Puzzle to the Narnians and try to make them see how they had been tricked, or whether they should steal away Eastward to meet the help which Roonwit the taur was bringing up from Cair Paravel aurn against the Ape and his enes in force. Tirian would very much like to have followed the first plan: he hated the idea of leaving the Ape to bully his people one moment lohan need be. Oher hand, the way the Dwarfs had behaved last night was a warning. Apparently one couldnt be sure how people would take it even if he showed them Puzzle. And there were the ene soldiers to be reed w<tt></tt>ith. Poggin thought there were about thirty of them.
Tiria sure that if the Narnians all rallied to his side, he and Jewel and the children and Poggin (Puzzle didnt t for much) would have a good ce of beating them.
But how if half the Narnians - including all the Dwarfs - just sat and looked on? or even fought against him? The risk was too great. And there was, too, the cloudy shape of Tash.
What might it do?
And then, as Poggin pointed out, there was no harm in leaving the Ape to deal with his own difficulties for a day or two. He would have no Puzzle t out and show now. It
wasnt easy to see what story he - inger could make up to explain that. If the Beasts asked night after night to see Aslan, and no Aslan was brought out, surely even the simplest of them would get suspicious.
In the end they all agreed that the best thing was to go off and try to meet Roonwit.
As soon as they had decided this, it was wonderful how much more cheerful everyone became. I dont holy think that this was because any of them was afraid of a fight (except perhaps Jill aace). But I daresay that each of them, deep down inside, was very glad not to go any nearer - or not yet - to that horrible bird-headed thing which, visible or invisible, was now probably haunting Stable Hill. Anyway, one always feels better when one has made up ones mind.
Tirian said they had better remove their disguises, as they didnt want to be mistaken for enes and perhaps attacked by any loyal Narnians they might meet. The Dwarf made up a horrid-looking mess of ashes from the hearth and grease out of the jar of grease which was kept for rubbing on swords and spear-heads. Theook off their ene armour a down to the stream. The nasty mixture made a lather just like soft soap: it leasant, homely sight to see Tirian and the two children kneeling beside the water and scrubbing the backs of their necks or puffing and blowing as they splashed the lather off. Then they went back to the Tower with red, shiny faces, like people who have been given ara good wash before a party. They re-armed themselves in true Narnian style, with straight swords and three-ered shields. "Body of me," said Tirian. "That is better. I feel a true man again.”
Puzzle begged very hard to have the lion-skin taken off him. He said it was too hot and the way it was rucked up on his back was unfortable: also, it made him look so silly.
But they told him he would have to wear it a bit longer, for they still wao show him in that get-up to the other Beasts, even though they were now going to meet Roonwit first.
What was left of the pigeo and rabbit-meat was not worth bringing away but they took some biscuits. Then Tirian locked the door of the Tower and that was the end of their stay there.
It was a little after two iernoohey set out, and it was the first really warm day of that spring. The young leaves seemed to be much further out thaerday: the snow-drops were over, but they saw several primroses. The sunlight slahrough the trees, birds sang, and always (though usually out of sight) there was the noise of running water. It was hard to think of horrible things like Tash. The childre, "This is really Narnia at last." Even Tiria grew lighter as he walked ahead of them, humming an old Narnian marg song which had the refrain: Ho, rumble, rumble, rumble, Rumble drum belaboured.
After the King came Eustad Poggin the Dwarf. Poggin was telliace the names of all the Narnian trees, birds, and plants which he didnt know already.
Sometimes Eustace would tell him about English ones.
After them came Puzzle, and after him Jill and Jewel walking very close together. Jill had, as you might say, quite fallen in love with the Uni. She thought- and she wasnt far wrong - that he was the shi, delicatest, most graceful animal she had ever met: and he was so gentle and soft of speech that, if you hadnt known, you would hardly have believed how fierd terrible he could be in battle.
"Oh, this is nice!" said Jill. "Just walking along like this. I wish there could be more of this sort of adves a pity theres always so much happening in Narnia.”
But the Uni explaio her that she was quite mistaken. He said that the Sons and Daughters of Adam and Eve were brought out of their own strange world into Narnia only at times when Narnia was stirred and upset, but she mustnt think it was always like that. Iween their visits there were hundreds and thousands of years when peaceful King followed peaceful King till you could hardly remember their names or t their numbers, and there was really hardly anything to put into the History Books. And he went on to talk of old Queens and heroes whom she had never heard of. He spoke of Swanwhite the Queen who had lived before the days of the White Witd the Great Winter, who was so beautiful that when she looked into any forest pool the refle of her face sho of the water like a star by night for a year and a day afterwards. He spoke of Moonwood the Hare who had such ears that he could sit by Caldron Pool uhe thunder of the great waterfall and hear what men spoke in whispers at Cair Paravel.
He told how King Gale, who was ninth in dest from Frank the first of all Kings, had sailed far away into the Eastern seas and delivered the Lone Islanders from a dragon and how, iurn, they had given him the Lone Islands to be part of the royal lands of Narnia for ever. He talked of whole turies in which all Narnia was so happy that notable dances as, or at most tours, were the only things that could be remembered, and every day and week had beeer than the last. And as he went on, the picture of all those happy years, all the thousands of them, piled up in Jills mind till it was rather like looking down from a high hill on to a rich, lovely plain full of woods and waters and fields, which spread away and away till it got thin and misty from distance. And she said: "Oh, I do hope we soole the Ape a back to those good, ordinary times.
And then I hope theyll go on for ever and ever and ever. Our world is going to have an end some day. Perhaps this one wont. Oh Jewel wouldnt it be lovely if Narnia just went on and on - like what you said it has been?”
"Nay, sister," answered Jewel, "all worlds draw to an end, except Aslans own try.”
"Well, at least," said Jill, "I hope the end of this one is millions of millions of millions of years away - hallo! what are we stopping for?”
The King aad the Dwarf were all staring up at the sky. Jill shuddered, remembering what horrors they had seen already. But it was nothing of that sort this time.
It was small, and looked black against the blue.
"I dare swear," said the Uni, "from its flight, that it is a Talking bird.”
"So think I," said the King. "But is it a friend, or a spy of the Apes?”
"To me, Sire," said the Dwarf, "it has a look of Far-sight the Eagle.”
"Ought we to hide uhe trees?" said Eustace.
"Nay," said Tirian, "best stand still as rocks. He would see us for certain if we moved.”
"Look! He wheels, he has seen us already," said Jewel. "He is ing down in wide circles.”
"Arrow on string, Lady," said Tirian to Jill. "But by no means shoot till I bid you. He may be a friend.”
If one had known what was going to happe it would have been a treat to watch the grad ease with which the huge bird glided down. He alighted on a rocky crag a few feet from Tirian, bowed his crested head, and said in his strange eagles- voice, "Hail, King.”
"Hail, Farsight," said Tirian. "And since you call me King, I may well believe you are not a follower of the Ape and his false Aslan. I am right glad of your ing.”
"Sire," said the Eagle, "when you have heard my news you will be sorrier of my ing than of the greatest woe that ever befell you.”
Tiria seemed to stop beating at these words, but he set his teeth and said, "Tell on.”
"Two sights have I seen," said Farsight. "One was Cair Paravel filled with dead Narnians and living ehe Tisrocs banner advanced upon your royal battlements: and your subjects flying from the city - this way and that, into the woods. Cair Paravel was taken from the sea. Twenty great ships of en put in there in the dark of the night before last night.”
No one could speak.
"And the ht, five leagues han Cair Paravel, was Roonwit the taur lying dead with a ene arrow in his side. I was with him in his last hour and he gave me this message to your Majesty: to remember that all worlds draw to an end and that noble death is a treasure whio one is too poor to buy.”
"So," said the King, after a long silence, "Narnia is no more.”
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