CHAPTERSIXTEENEHESTATUES
“WHATaraordinaryplace!”criedLucy。“Allthosestoneanimals—a's—it'slikeamuseum。”
“Hush，”saidSusan，“Aslan'sdoihing。”
Hewasindeed。Hehadbouhestoneliohedowaitihewhiskedround—almostasifhehadbeenagitstail—ahedalsooonedwarf，whiber）wasstafromthelionwithhisbacktoit。Thenhepouallstonedryadwhichstoodbeyournedrapidlyasidetodealwithastoht，awotaurs。ButatthatmomentLucysaid，“Oh，Susan!Look!Lookatthelion。”
&you'veseealightedmatchtoabitofneerwhichisproppedupianunlitfire。Andforaseothiohavehappehenyouinystreakofflamegalohewaslikethatnow。ForasedafterAslahedupooneliohesame。Thenatinystreakofgoldbeganthiswhitemarblebaitspread—thentheedtoliastheflamelicksalloverabitofpaper—then，whilehishindquarterswerestillobviouslystohelionshookhismaneandalltheheavy，stonefoldsrippledintolivinghair。Theredmouth，warmandliving，andgaveaprodigiousyawn。Andnowhishindlegshadetolife。Heliftedohemandscratchedhimself。Then，havingcaughtsightofAslaboundingafterhimandfriskingroundhimwhimperiandjumpinguptolickhisface。
Ofcoursethe'seyesturofollowthelioheysaotheysotabouthim。Everywherethestatueswereihecourtyardlookednolongerlikeamuseum;itlookedmorelikeazoo。CreatureswererunningafterAslananddantillhewasalmosthiddeninthesteadofallthatdeadlywhitethecourtyardwasnowablazelossyutsidesohornsofunis，dazzlingplumageofbirds，reddy-brownoffoxes，dogsandsatyrs，yellowstodhoodsofdwarfs;andthebirch-girlsihebeech-girlsiragreen，andthelarch-girlsingreenshtthatitwasalmostyellow。Ahedeadlysilehewholeplagwiththesounds，brayings，yelpings，barkings，squealings，eighings，stampings，shsandlaughter。
“Oh!”saidSusanione。“Look!Iwosafe?”
LucylookedandsawthatAslanhadjustbreathedohesto。
“It'sallright!”shoutedAslanjoyously。“Oareputright，alltherestofhimwillfollow。”
“ThatwaslywhatImeant，”whisperedSusantoLucy。ButitwastoolatetodoanythingaboutitnowevenifAslanwouldhavelistehegei'slegs。Nowhewasmovi。Amomeedhiscluboffhisshoulder，rubbedhiseyesandsaid，
“Blessme!Imusthavebeenasleep。hatdrattedlittleWitchthatwasrunningaboutontheground。Somewherejustbymyfeetitwas。”Butwheneveryonehadshouteduptohimtoexplainwhathadreallyhappened，aheGianthadputhishandtotthemtorepeatitallagainsothatatlastheuheillhisheadwashaopofahaystadtouchedhiscaprepeatedlytoAslan，beamingalloverhishouglyfatsofanysortarenlandasaregood-temperedthattentooneyouhavewhenhisfaceisbeaming。It'sasightwellworthlookingat。）
“Nowfortheihishouse!”saidAslan。“Lookalive，everyoairsanddownstairsandinmylady'schamber!Leavenosearched。Youneverknowwheresomepoorprisonermaybecealed。”
Andieriortheyallrushedandforseveralmihewholeofthatdark，horrible，fustyoldcastleechoedwiththeopeningofitheveryone'svoutaton&#etthedungeons—Giveusahandwiththisdoor!—Here'salewindingstair—Oh!Isay。Here'saparoo。—Phew!Howitsmellsifortrap-doors—Uphere!Thereareawholelotmoreonthelanding!”ButthebestofallwaswhenLucycamerushingupstairsshoutingout，“Aslan!Aslan!I'vefoundMr。Tumnus。Oh，doequick。”
AmomentlaterLudthelittleFaunwereholdiherbybothhandsanddandandroundforjoy。Thelittleohewbeenastatueandwasofcourseveryiediellhim。
ButatlasttheransagoftheWitch'sfortresswasehewholeptywitheverydoorandwihelightaspringairfloodingintoallthedarkandevilplaceswhieededthemsobadly。Thewholecrowdofliberatedstatuessurgedbatothecourtyard。Anditwasthenthatsomeoumnus，Ithink）firstsaid，“Buthoi?”forAslanhadgotinbyajumpaeswerestilllocked。
“That'llbeallright，”saidAslan;andthen，risingonhishind-legs，hebawledupattheGiant。“Hi!Youupthere，”heroared。“What'syourname?”
“GiantRumblebuffin，ifitpleaseyourhonor，”saidtheGiaoughiscap。
&hen，GiantRumblebuffin，”saidAslan，“justletusoutofthis，willyou?”
&ainly，yourhonor。Itleasure，”saidGiantRumblebuffin。“Standwellawayfromthegates，allyoulittle'urodetothegatehimselfandbang—bahishugeclub。Thegatescreakedatthefirstblow，crackedatthesedshiveredatthethird。Theackledthetowersoneaandafterafewminutesandthuddingboththetoodbitofthewalloneachsidewentthunderingdoelessrubble;ahedustcleareditwasodd，standinginthatdry，grim，stonyyard，ththegapallthegrassandwavingtreesandsparkliheforest，andthebluehillsbeyondthatahemthesky。
“BlowedifIain'tallinamucksweat，”saidtheGiant，puffihelargestrailwayengine。“esofbeingoutof。Isupposeherofyouyoungladieshassugasapodkercheeaboutyou?”
“Yes，Ihave，”saidLudingontip-toesandholdingherhandkerchiefupasfarasshecouldreach。
“Thankyou，Missie，”saidGiantRumblebuffin，stoopingdowLucyghtforshefhtupinmid-airbetwee'sfihumb。Butjustasshewasgettingnearhisfacehesuddehelybathegroundmuttering，“Blessme!I'vepickedupthelittlegirlinstead。Ibegyourpardohoughtyouwasthehandkerchee!”
“No，no，”saidLug，“hereitis!”Thistimehemaitbutitwasonlyaboutthesamesizetohimthatasaetabletwouldbetoyou，sothatwhenshesawhimsittoandfrreatredface，shesaid，“I'mafraidit'snotmur。Rumblebuffin。”
“Notatall。Notatall，”saidthegiantpolitely。“anidkerchee。Sofine，sohandy。So—Idon'tknowhowtodescribeit。”
“Whataheis!”saidLunus。
“Ohyes，”repliedtheFaun。“AlltheBuffinsalwayswere。OrespectedofallthegiantfamiliesinNarnia。Notveryclever，perhaps（Ithatwas），butanoldfamily。Withtraditions，youknow。Ifhe'dbeeshe'durostone。”
AtthispointAslanclappedhispawstogetherandcalledforsilence。
“Ourday'sworkisover，”hesaid，“achistobefiedbeforebedtimewemustfileatonce。”
“Andjoinin，Ihope，sir!”addedthelargestofthetaurs。
“Ofcourse，”saidAslan。“Andnow!Thosewho'tkeepup—thatis，，dwarfs，andsmallanimals—mustrideonthebacksofthosewho—thatis，lioaurs，unis，hiahoodwiththeireiwithusliowherethebattleis。Looklivelyandsortyourselves。”
Andwithagreatdealofbustleaheydid。Themostpleasedofthelotwastheotherliorunningabouteverywherepretendingtobeverybusybutreallyiosaytoeveryo。“Didyouhearwhathesaid?UsLions。Thatmeanshimandme。UsLions。That'swhatIlikeaboutAslaand-off-ishness。UsLions。ThatmeanthimaleasthewentonsayingthistillAslanhadloadedhimupwiththreedwarfs，oworabbits，asteadiedhimabit。
Whenallwereready（itwasabigsheepdogedAslanmostihemsortedintotheirproperorder）theyseththegapilewall。Atfirstthelionsanosingaboutiions。Butthensuddehouhesdgaveabay。Therewaserthat。Soonallthedogsandlionsaherhuntinganimalsweregoingatfullspeedwiththeirheground，ahers，streakedoutforabouthalfamilebehindthem，werefollowingasfastastheycould。ThenoisewaslikeanEnglishfox-huerbecauseeverynowahemusicofthehoundswasmixedtheroaroftheotherliohefardeeperandmoreawfulroarofAslaeraheywebecameeasieraofollow。Aastheycametothelastanarrow，windingvalley，Lucyheardaboveallthesehernoise—adifferentone，whichgaveheraqueerfeeliwasasandshrieksandoftheetalagaial。
&heycameoutofthenarrowvalleyandatohereasooodPeterandEdmundaofAslan&#htielyagainstthecrowdofhorriblecreatureswhomshehadseenlastnight;onlynow，i，theylookedevenstrangerandmoreevilaherealsoseemedtobefarmoreofthem。Peter'sarmy—whichhadtheirbackstoher—lookedterriblyfew。Aatuesdottedalloverthebattlefield，soapparechhadbeenusingherwand。Butshedidobeusingitnow。Shewasfightioetershewasfightin—bothofthemgoingatitsohardthatLucycouldhardlymakeoutening;sheonlysawthestoer'sswordflashingsoquicklythattheylookedlikethreekhreesairwereier。Oneachsidetheli。Horriblethingseningwherevershelooked。
“Offmyback，，”shoutedAslaumbledoff。ThenwitharoarthatshookallNarniafromtheosttotheshoresoftheeasterbeastfluheWhiteWitch。LucysawherfaceliftedtowardhimforohanexpressionofterrorahenLionandWitchhadretherbutwiththeWiteath;andatthesamemomentallwar-likecreatureswhomAslaheWitch'shouserushedmadlyontheenemylines，dwarfswiththeirbattleaxes，dogswithteeth，theGiantwithhisdhisfeetalsocrusheddozensofthefoe），uniswiththeirhoraurswithswordsandhoofs。Aer'stiredarmycheered，andthenewersroared，andtheenemysquealedahewoodre-echoedwiththedinofthato。