CHAPTER TEN WHO WILL GO INTO THE STABLE（第3/4页）

What followed was rather horrible. Tirian felt quite certain (and so did the others) that the Cat was trying to say something：but nothing came out of his mouth except the ordinary，ugly cat-noises you might hear from any angry or frightened old Tom in a backyard in England. And the longer he caterwauled the less like a Talking Beast he looked. Uneasy whimperings and little sharp squeals broke out from among the other Animals．

“Look，look!”said the voice of the Bear.“It can’t talk. It has forgotten how to talk! It has gone back to being a dumb beast. Look at its face.”Everyone saw that it was true. And then the greatest terror of all fell upon those Narnians. For every one of them had been taught-when only a chick or a puppy or a cub-how Aslan at the beginning of the world had turned the beasts of Narnia into Talking Beasts and warned them that if they weren’t good they might one day be turned back again and be like the poor witless animals one meets in other countries.“And now it is coming upon us，”they moaned．

“Mercy! Mercy!”wailed the Beasts.“Spare us，Lord Shift， stand between us and Aslan，you must always go in and speak to him for us. We daren’t，we daren’t.”

Ginger disappeared further up into the tree. No one ever saw him again．

Tirian stood with his hand on his sword-hilt and his head bowed. He was dazed with the horrors of that night. Sometimes he thought it would be best to draw his sword at once and rush upon the Calormenes：then next moment he thought it would be better to wait and see what new turn affairs might take. And now a new turn came．

“My Father，”came a clear，ringing voice from the left of the crowd. Tirian knew at once that it was one of the Calormenes speaking，for in The Tisroc’s army the common soldiers call the officers“My Master”but the officers call their senior officers“My Father”. Jill and Eustace didn’t know this but，after looking this way and that，they saw the speaker，for of course people at the sides of the crowd were easier to see than people in the middle where the glare of the fire made all beyond it look rather black. He was young and tall and slender，and even rather beautiful in the dark，haughty，Calormene way．

“My Father，”he said to the Captain，“I also desire to go in.”

“Peace，Emeth，”said the Captain，“Who called thee to counsel ？Does it become a boy to speak ？”

“My Father，”said Emeth.“Truly I am younger than thou，yet I also am of the blood of the Tarkaans even as thou art，and I also am the servant of Tash. Therefore...”

“Silence，”said Rishda Tarkaan.“Am I not thy Captain ？ Thou hast nothing to do with this stable. It is for the Narnians.”

“Nay，my Father，”answered Emeth.“Thou hast said that their Aslan and our Tash are all one. And if that is the truth，then Tash himself is in yonder. And how then sayest thou that I have nothing to do with him ？ For gladly would I die a thousand deaths if I might look once on the face of Tash.”

“Thou art a fool and understandest nothing，”said Rishda Tarkaan.“These be high matters.”

Emeth’s face grew sterner.“Is it then not true that Tash and Aslan are all one ？”he asked.“Has the Ape lied to us ？”

“Of course they’re all one，”said the Ape．

“Swear it，Ape，”said Emeth．

“Oh dear!”whimpered Shift，“I wish you’d all stop bothering me. My head does ache. Yes，yes，I swear it.”

“Then，my Father，”said Emeth，“I am utterly determined to go in.”

“Fool，”began Rishda Tarkaan，but at once the Dwarfs began shouting：“Come along，Darkie. Why don’t you let him in ？ Why do you let Narnians in and keep your own people out ？ What have you got in there that you don’t want your own men to meet ？”

Tirian and his friends could only see the back of Rishda Tarkaan，so they never knew what his face looked like as he shrugged his shoulders and said，“Bear witness all that I am guiltless of this young fool’s blood. Get thee in，rash boy，and make haste.”