“Ialmostwish—noIdon't，though，”saidJill。
“Whatwereyougoingtosay?”
“IwasgoingtosayIwishedwe'dIdon't，Idon't，Idon't。Evenifwearekilled。I'dratherbekilledfightingforNarniathangroidathomeandperhapsgoaboutinabath-dtheheendjustthesame。”
“OrbesmashedupbyBritishRail>
“Whyd'yousaythat?”
&hatawfuljerkcame—theohrowusintoNarnia—Ithoughtitwasthebeginningofarailwayat。SoIwasjollygladtofindourselveshereinstead。”
WhileJillaalkingaboutthis，theothersweredisgtheirplansandbeinglessmiserable。Thatwasbecausetheywerenowthinkingofwhatwastobedoaofeothatallhergloriesandjoyswereover—ushedawayintothebaiheystoppedtalkingitwouldakethemwret:buttheykeptontalking。Poggiecheerfulaboutthenight'sworktheyhadtodo。HewassurethattheBoarandtheBear，andprobablyalltheDogswouldeovertotheirsideatondhe'tbelievethatalltheotherDwarfswouldsticktoGriffle。Andfightiandinandoutamongtreeswouldbeanadvaheweakerside。Aheytoheyreallythrowtheirlivesawaybymeetingthemainyafe>
Whyhewoods，orevenupierhegreatwaterfallalaws?AheymightgraduallygetstrorBeastsandArderswouldbejoiningthemeveryday。Andatlastthey'deoutofhidiheenes（whowouldhavegotcarelessbythen）outofthedNarniawouldberevived。Afterall，somethihathadhappeimeofKingMiraz!
AndTiriahisandthought“ButwhataboutTash?”aiwasgoingtohappen。Buthedidn'tsayso。
&heygotableHillofcourseeveryohentherealwan。FromthemomentatwhichtheyfirstsawtheHilltothemomentatwhichtheyallarrivedatthebackofthestable，ittookthemovertwohours。It'sthesortofthingone'tdescribeproperlyuepagesait。Thejourofcovertothearateadveherewereverylongwaitsiween，andseveralfalsealarms。IfyoodScuideyouwillkitmusthavebeenlike。Byaboutsuheywereallsafeinaclumpofhollytreesaboutfifteehestable。Theyallmuandlaydown。
&heworstpart，thewaiting。Luckilyforthetheysleptforacoupleofhours，butofcoursetheywokeupwhegrewdokeupverythirstyandwithingadrioalittlewithnervousness，andsaidnothing。ButTirian，withhisheadagainstJewel'sflaassoundlyasifhewereinhisroyalbedatCairParavel，tillthesoundofagoingawokehimaupandsawthattherewasfirelightonthefarsideofthestableahehourhade。
“Kissme，Jewel，”hesaid。“Forlythisishtoh。AndifeverIoffeyouinaorsmall，fivemenow。”
“DearKing，”saidtheUni，“Iostwishyouhad，sothatImightfiveit。Farewell。Wehavekogether。IfAslangavememychoiceIwouldootherlifethanthelifeIhavehadahao。”
&heywht，withhisheadunderhiswing（itmadehimlookasifhehadall），aforwardtothestable。TheyleftPuzzle（notwithoutakindword，fornoonewasangrywithhimnow）justbehindit，tellinghimnottomovetillsomeodtookuptheirpositiohestable。
Thebobeenlitfandwasjustbeginningtoblazeup。Itwasoawayfromthem，aarureswereohersideofit，sothatTirianotatfirstseethemverywell，thoughofcoursehesawdozensofeyesshiningwiththerefleofthefire，asyou'veseenarabbit'sorcat'seyesisofadjustasTiriantookhisplace，thegoingandfromsomewhereohreefiguresappeared。OnewasRishdaTarkaantheeain。Thesede。Hewasholdingoarkaan'shandwithonepatwhimperingandmuttering，“Notsofast，don'tgosofast，I'mnotatallwell。Ohmypoorhead!Thesemidioomue。Apesaren'tmeanight:It'snotasifIwasaratorabat—ohmypoorhead。”OhersideoftheApe，walkiahhistailstraightupintheair，gertheCat。TheywereheadingforthebonfireandweresoclosetoTirianthattheywouldhaveseenhimatoheyhadlookedidire。Fortu。ButTirianheardRishdasaytoGingerinalowvoiow，Cat，tothypost。Seethouplaythypartwell。”
“Miaow，miaow。e!”saidGieppedawaybeyondthebodowrowoftheassembledBeasts:intheaudienightsay。
Forreally，asithappehingwasratherlikeatheatre。Thearhepeopleihelittlegrassyplafroable，wherethebonfireburheApeaainstoodtotalktothecrowd，waslikethestage;thestableitselfwasliketheseryatthebackofthestage;andTirianandhisfriendswerelikeperouhesery。Itlendidposition。Ifaeppedforwardintothefullfirelight，alleyeswouldbefixedonhimatoheotherhand，solooodstillintheshadowoftheend-wallofthestable，itwasahuootheirbeingnoticed。
RishdaTarkaaheApeupclosetothefire。ThepairofthemturofacethedthisofeantthattheirbacksweretowardTirianandhisfriends。
“Now，Monkey，”saidRishdaTarkaaninalowvoice。“Saythewordsthatutintothymouth。Andholdupthyhead。”AshespokehegavetheApealittleprodorkibehindwiththepointofhistoe。
“DoleavemealoeredShift。Buthesatupstraighterandbegan，inaloudervoiowlisten，allofyou。Aterriblethinghashappened。Awig。ThewickedestthingthateverwasdoneinNarnia。AndAslan—”
“Tashlan，fool，”whisperedRishdaTarkaan。
“TashlanImean，ofcourse，”saidtheApe，“isveryangryaboutit。”
&erriblesileheBeastswaitedtohearwhatroublewasihem。Thelittlepartybytheend-wallofthestablealsoheldtheirbreath。Whatohwasingnow?
“Yes，”saidtheApe。“AtthisverymomeerribleOnehimselfisamohestablejustbehindme—ohastodowhatyou'dthinknoonewoulddaretodoevehousandmilesaway。Ithasdresseditselfupinalion-skinandiswanderingaboutintheseverywtobeAslan。”
JillwonderedforamomentiftheApehadgonemad。Washegoihewholetruth?AroarewentupfromtheBeasts。“Grrr!”camethegrowls。“Whoishe?Whereishe?Justletmegetmyteethintohim!”
“Itwasseenlastnight，”screamedtheApe，“butitgotaway。It'saDonkey!AiserableAss!IfanyofyouseethatAss—”
“Grrr!”growledtheBeasts。“ill。He'dbetterkeepoutofour>
JilllookedattheKing:hismouthenandhisfacewasfullofhorror。Andthehedevilishgoftheenemies'plan。Bymixingalittletruthwithittheyhadmadetheirliefarstrowasthegood，heBeaststhatanasshadbeendressedupasaliohem?TheApewouldonlysay，“That'sjustwhatI'vesaid。”WhatwasthegoodofshowingthemPuzzleinhislion-skin?Theywouldonlytearhimi'stakeofoursails，”whisperedEustace。“Thegroundistakenfromunderourfeet，”saidTirian。“Cursed，cursedess!”saidPoggin。“I'llbeswornthatthisnewlieisofGinger'smaking。”