CHAPTERELEVENDIGORYANDHISUHINTROUBLE
YOUmaythinktheanimalswereverystupidoUhesamekiureasthetwoandtheCabby。Butyoumustrememberthattheahingaboutclothes。TheythoughtthatPolly'sfrodDigory'sNorfolksuitandtheCabby'showlethatartsofthemastheirownfuraheywouldn'thavekhosethreewereallofthesamekindiftheyhadn'tspokentothemandifStrawberryhadhinkso。AndUndrewwasagreatdealtallerthantheandagooddealthiheCabby。Hewasalliforhiswhitewaistotverywhitebynow),agraymopofhishair(nowverywildindeed)didn'tlooktothemlikeanythingtheyhadseeherhumans。Soitwasonlynaturalthattheyshouldbepuzzled。Worstofall,hedidn'tseemtobeabletotalk。
&riedto。WhentheBulldogspoketohim(or,ashethought,firstshehim)heheldouthisshakinghandandgasped“GoodDoggie,then,pooroldfellow。”Butthebeastsotuandhimahanhederstaheydidn'thearanywords:onlyavaguesizzlingwasjustaswelltheydidnthatIeverkofallaTalkingDogofNarnia,likesbeingcalledaGoodDoggiethen;ahanyouwouldlikebeileMan。
ThenUndrewdroppeddow。
“There!”saidaWarthog,“it'sonlyatree。Ialwaysthoughtso。”(Remember,theyhadseenafaintorevenafall。)
TheBulldog,whohadbeensniffingUndrewallover,raiseditsheadandsaid,“It'sanaainlyananimal。Andprobablythesamekindasthoseotherones。”
“Idon'tseethat,”saidoheBears。“Ananimalwouldn'tjustrolloverlikethat。We'reanimalsandwedon'trollover。。Likethis。”Herosetohishiookastepbackpedoveralowbraonhisback。
&hirdJoke,theThirdJoke,theThirdjoke!”saidtheJagreatext。
“Istillthinkit'sasortoftree,”saidthe>
“Ifit'satree,”saidtheotherBear,“theremightbeabees'。”
“I'msureit'snotatree,”saidtheBadger。“Ihadasortofideaitwastryingtospeakbeforeittoppledover。”
“Thatwasonlythewindinitsbranches,”saidthe>
“Yousurelydon'tmean,”saidtheJackdawtotheBadger,“thatyouthinkitsatalkinganimal!Itdidn'tsayanywords。”
“A,youknow,”saidtheElephant(theSheElephant,ofcourse;herhusband,asyouremember,hadbeencalledawaybyAsla,youknow,itmightbeananimalofsomekind。Mightn'tthewhitishlumpatthiseoffad'tthoseholesbeeyesandamouth?Nonose,ofcourse。Butthen'tbenarrow-minded。Veryfewofushavewhatcouldexactlybeose。”Shesquihelerunkwithpardonablepride。
“Iobjearkverystrongly,”saidtheBulldog。
&isquiteright,”saidtheTapir。
“Itellyouwhat!”saidtheDhtly,“perhapsit'sananimalthat'ttalkbutthinksit。”
“itbemadetostandup?”saidtheElephantthoughtfully。ShetookthelimpformofUlyiruhimuponend:upsidedown,uhattwohalf-sns,threehalfdasixpeofhispocket。Butitwasnouse。Undrewmerelycollapsedagain。
“There!”saidseveralvoices。“Itisn'tananimalatall,It'snotalive。”
“Itellyou,itisananimal,”saidtheBulldog。“Smellitforyourself。”
“Smellingishing,”saidtheElephant。
“Why,”saidtheBulldog,“ifafellow'ttrusthisishetotrust?”
“Well,hisbrainsperhaps,”sherepliedmildly。
“Iobjearkverystrongly,”saidtheBulldog。
“Well,wemustdosomethingaboutit,”saidtheElephamaybetheNeevil,anditmustbeshowntoAslan。Whatdomostofusthink?Isitananimalorsomethireekind?”
&ree!”saidadozenvoices。
“Verywell,”saidtheElepha'satreeitwaed。Wemustdigahole。”
&woMolessettledthatpartofthebusiyquickly。TherewassomedisputeastoUobeputintothehole,andhehadaverynarroefrombeingputinheadforemost。Severalanimalssaidhislegsmustbehisbraherefray,fluffythihishead)mustbehisroot。Butthehattheforkedendofhimwasthemuddierandthatitspreadoutmhttodo。Sofinallyhela。Wheteddowcameupabovehisknees。
“Itlooksdreadfullywithered,”saidtheDonkey。
“Ofcourseitwaering,”saidtheElephant。“IthinkImightsay(meanioahat,perhaps,forthatsortofwork,mykindofnose—”
“Iobjearkverystrongly,”saidtheBulldog。ButtheElephalytotheriver,filledhertrunkwithwater,aoattendtoUhesagaalwentondoingthistillgallonsofwaterhadbeensquirtedoverhim,andwaterwasrunningoutoftheskirtsofhisfrock-coatasifhehadbeenforabathwithallhis。Irevivedhim。Heawokefromhisfaint。as!Butwemustleavehimtothinkoverhiswickeddeed(ifhewaslikelytodoanythingsoseurantthings。
StrawberrytrottedonwithDigoryonhisbacktilltheheotheranimalsdiedaway,alegroupofAslanandhiscillorswasquiteclose。Digorykhe'tpossiblybreakinoing,buttherewasodoso。AtawordfromAsla,theRavens,aofthemdrewaside。DigoryslippedoffthehorseandfouofacewithAslan。AndAslanwasbiggeraifulalygoldeerriblethahought。Hedarednotlookieyes。
“Please—Mr。Lion—Aslan—Sir,”saidDigory,“ayI—please,willyougivemesomemagicfruitofthisotherwell?”
HehadbeeelyhopingthattheLionwouldsay“Yes“;hehadbeenhorriblyafraiditmightsay“No“。Buthewastakenabaitdidher。
“ThisistheBoy,”saidAslan,looking,notatDigory,butathiscillors。“ThisistheBoywhodidit。”
“htDigory,“whathaveIdonenow?”
“SonofAdam,”saidtheLion。“ThereisaynewlandofhesegoodBeastshowshecamehere。”
AdozehingsthathemightsayflashedthroughDigory'smiheseosayheexacttruth。
“Ibroughther,Aslan,”heansweredinalowvoice。