CHAPTERTEJOKEAERS
ITwasofcoursetheLion'svoice。Thehadlohathecouldspeak:yetitwasalovelyandterribleshohedid。
Outofthetreeswildpeoplesteppedfodsahewood;withthemsandSatyrsandDwarfs。OutoftheriverrodwithhisNaiaddaughters。Andalltheseasandbirdsintheirdifferentvoices，lhorthickorclear，replied:“Hail，Aslan。Wehearandobey。elove。Wethink。Wespeak。Weknow。”
“Butplease，wedon'tknowverymuchyet，”saidanoseyandsnortykindofvoidthatreallydidmakethejump，foritwasthecab-horseoken。
“GoodoldStrawberry，”saidPolly。“IamgladhewasoheoobeaTalki。”AndtheCabby，stahe，said，“Strikemepink。Ialwaysdidsaythat'oss'adalotofsehough。”
&ures，Igiveyouyourselves，”saidthestrong，happyvoiceofAslaoyouforeverthislandiveyouthewoods，thefruits，therivers。IgiveyouthestarsandIgiveyoumyself。TheDumbBeastswhomIhavenotareyoursalso。TreatthemgentlyahembutdonotgobacktotheirwayslestyouceasetobeTalkis。Foroutofthemyouweretakenandintothemyou。Donotso。”
“No，Aslan，wewon't，wewon't，”saideveryooneperkyjackdawaddedinaloudvoiofear!”andeveryoneelsehadfibeforehesaiditsothathiswordscameoutquiteadeadsilendperhapsyouhavefoundouthowawfulthatbe—say，ataparty。TheJackdawbebarrassedthatithiditsheaduswingsasifitwasgoingtosleep。Aheranimalsbeganmakingvariousqueernoiseswhicharetheirwaysoflaughingandwhich，ofoonehaseverheardinourworld。Theytriedatfirsttorepressit，butAslansaid:“Laugha，creatures。Nowthatyerdumbandwitless，youalwaysbegrave。Forjokesaswellasjustieinwithspeech。”
Sotheyallletthemselvesgo。AndtherewassuchmerrimentthattheJackdawhimselfpluckedupcainahecab-horse'shead，betweenitsears，gitswings，andsaid:“Aslan!Aslahefirstjoke?WilleverybodyalwaysbetoldhowImadethefirstjoke?”
“No，littlefriend，”saidtheLion。“Youhavehefirstjoke;youhaveohefirstjoke。”TheneveryohaheJa'tmindaasloudtillthehorseshookitsheadandtheJackdawlostitsbalandfelloff，butremembereditswiill）beforeitreachedtheground。
“Andnow，”saidAslan，“Narablished。Wemustfitsafe。Iwilleofyoutomyehithertome，youthechiefDwarf，andyod，andyouOakandtheOwl，andboththeRavensandtheBull-Elephaalktogether。Fhtheworldisnotfivehoursoldanevilhasalreadye。”
&ureshehadnamedcameforwardaurwardwiththem。Theantalking，sayingthididhesayhadeheworld?—A'saNeevil?—No，hedidn'tsayaNeevil，hesaidahat'sthat?”
“Lookhere，”saidDigorytoPolly，“I'vegottogoafterhim—AslaheLion。Imustspeaktohim。”
“Doyouthinkwe?”saidPolly。“Iwouldn'tdare。”
“I'vegotto，”saidDigory。“It'saboutMother。Ifanyonecouldgivemesomethingthatwoulddood，itwouldbehim。”
“I'llealongwithyou，”saidtheCabby。“Ilikedthelooksof'im。AndIdon'tretheseotherbeastswillgoforus。AndIitholdStrawberry。”
Soallthreeofthemsteppedoutboldly—orasboldlyastheycould—towardtheassemblyofanimals。Thecreaturesweresobusytalkiherandmakitheydidn'threehumansuntiltheywereveryordidtheyhearUndreasstandingtremblinginhisbuttosagoodwayoffandshouting（butbyhetopofhisvoice）。
“Digory!ebaebayou'retold。Iforbidyoutogoastepfurther。”
&theywererightinamongtheanimals，theanimalsallstoppedtalkingahem。
“Well?”saidtheHe-Beaveratlast，“what，inthenameofAslahese?”
“Please，”beganDigoryihlessvoiaRabbitsaid，“They'reakindelettuce，that'smybelief。”
“No，we'relywe'renot，”saidPollyhastily。“We'renotatall。”
“There!”saidtheMole。“Theytalk。Whoeverheardofatalkiuce?”
&hey'retheSedjoke，”suggestedtheJackdaw。
APanther，whichhadbeenwashingitsface，stoppedforamomenttosay，“Well，iftheyare，they&#likesogoodasthefirsto，1don'tseeanythingveryfunnyaboutthem。”Ityaithits>
“Oh，please，”saidDigory。“I'minsuchahurry。IwaheLion。”
AllthistimetheCabbyhadbeentryingtocatchStrawberry'seye。Nowhedid。“Now，Strawberry，oldboy，”hesaid。“Youknowme。Youain'tgoingtostandthereandsayasyoudon'tknowme。”
“What'stheThingtalkingabout，Horse?”saidseveralvoices。
“Well，”saidStrawberryveryslowly，“Idolyknow，Ithinkmostofusdon'tknowmuchaboutanythiI'veasortofideaI'veseenathihisbefore。I'veafeelingIlivedsomewhereelse—orwassomethingelse—beforeAslanafewmi'sallverymuddled。Likeadream。Buttherewerethihreeinthedream。”