CHAPTER FOUR THE DWARF TELLS OF PRINCE CASPIAN（第4/5页）
“Oh，I do wish we hadn’t，”said Caspian．“And I am glad it was all true，even if it is all over．”
“Many of your race wish that in secret，”said Doctor Cornelius．
“But，Doctor，”said Caspian，“why do you say my race？ After all，I suppose you’re a Telmarine too．”
“Am I？”said the Doctor．
“Well，you’re a Man anyway，”said Caspian．
“Am I？”repeated the Doctor in a deeper voice，at the same moment throwing back his hood so that Caspian could see his face clearly in the moonlight．
All at once Caspian realized the truth and felt that he ought to have realized it long before．Doctor Cornelius was so small，and so fat，and had such a very long beard．Two thoughts came into his head at the same moment．One was a thought of terror-“He’s not a real man，not a man at all，he’s a Dwarf，and he’s brought me up here to kill me．”The other was sheer delight—“There are real Dwarfs still，and I’ve seen one at last．”
“So you’ve guessed it in the end，”said Doctor Cornelius．“Or guessed it nearly right．I’m not a pure Dwarf．I have human blood in me too．Many Dwarfs escaped in the great battles and lived on，shaving their beards and wearing high-heeled shoes and pretending to be men．They have mixed with your Telmarines．I am one of those，only a half-Dwarf，and if any of my kindred，the true Dwarfs，are still alive anywhere in the world，doubtless they would despise me and call me a traitor．But never in all these years have we forgotten our own people and all the other happy creatures of Narnia，and the long-lost days of freedom．”
“I’m—I’m sorry，Doctor，”said Caspian．“It wasn’t my fault，you know．”
“I am not saying these things in blame of you，dear Prince，”answered the Doctor．“You may well ask why I say them at all．But I have two reasons．Firstly，because my old heart has carried these secret memories so long that it aches with them and would burst if I did not whisper them to you．But secondly，for this: that when you become King you may help us，for I know that you also，Telmarine though you are，love the Old Things．”
“I do，I do，”said Caspian．“But how can I help？”
“You can be kind to the poor remnants of the Dwarf people，like myself．You can gather learned magicians and try to find a way of awaking the trees once more．You can search through all the nooks and wild places of the land to see if any Fauns or Talking Beasts or Dwarfs are perhaps still alive in hiding．”
“Do you think there are any？”asked Caspian eagerly．
“I don’t know-I don’t know，”said the Doctor with a deep sigh．“Sometimes I am afraid there can’t be．I have been looking for traces of them all my life．Sometimes I have thought I heard a Dwarf-drum in the mountains．Sometimes at night，in the woods，I thought I had caught a glimpse of Fauns and Satyrs dancing a long way off; but when I came to the place，there was never anything there．I have often despaired; but something always happens to start me hoping again．I don’t know．But at least you can try to be a King like the High King Peter of old，and not like your uncle．”
“Then it’s true about the Kings and Queens too，and about the White Witch？”said Caspian．
“Certainly it is true，”said Cornelius．“Their reign was the Golden Age in Narnia and the land has never forgotten them．”
“Did they live in this castle，Doctor？”
“Nay，my dear，”said the old man．“This castle is a thing of yesterday．Your great-great-grandfather built it．But when the two sons of Adam and the two daughters of Eve were made Kings and Queens of Narnia by Aslan himself，they lived in the castle of Cair Paravel．No man alive has seen that blessed place and perhaps even the ruins of it have now vanished．But we believe it was far from here，down at the mouth of the Great River，on the very shore of the sea．”