“Staywhereyouare,”criedDigroundtofaceher,“orwe'llallvanish。Don'teaninearer。”
“Foolishboy,”saidtheWitch。“Whydoyourunfromme?Imeanyounoharm。Ifyoudonotstopaomenow,youwillmisssomekwouldhavemadeyouhappyallyourlife。”
“WellIdon'twahanks,”saidDigory。Buthedid。
“Iknowwhaterrandyouhaveeon,”uedtheWitch。“Foritasclosebesideyouinthewoodslastnightandheardallyoursels。Youhavepluckedfruitinthegardenyonder。Youhaveitinyourpoow。Aocarryitbatasted,totheLion;forhimtoeat,forhimtouse。Yousimpleton!Doyouknowwhatthatfruitis?Iwilltellyou。Itistheappleofyouth,theappleoflife。Iknow,forIhavetastedit;andIfeelalreadysugesiIknowIshallnevergrowoldordie。Eatit,Boy,eatit;andyouandIwillbothliveforeverandbekihiswholeworld—orofyourworld,ifwedecidetogobackthere。”
“Nothanks,”saidDigory,“Idon'tknowthatIcaremuchaboutlivingonandonaftereveryoneIknowisdead。I'dratherliveanordinarytimeaoHeaven。”
“ButwhataboutthisMotherofyourswhomyoupretendtoloveso?”
“What'sshegottodowithit?”saidDigory。
“Doyouhatoapplewouldhealher?Youhaveitinyourpocket。WeareherebyourselvesandtheLionisfaraway。Useyidgobacktoyourownworld。AmieryoubeatyourMother'sbedside,givi。Fivemieryouwillseetheingbacktoherface。Shewilltellyouthepainisgone。Sooellyoushefeelsstrohenshe—thinkofthat;hoursofsweetnaturalsleep,withoutpain,withs。dayeveryonewillbesayinghowwonderfullyshehasrecovered。Soonshewillbequitewellagain。Allwillbewellagain。Yourhomeyagain。Youwillbelikeotherboys。”
“Oh!”gaspedDigoryasifhehadbeenhurt,andputhishandtohishead。Forhehemostterriblechoicelaybeforehim。
“WhathastheLioneverdoneforyouthatyoushouldbehisslave?”saidtheWitch。“Whathedotoyouonceyouarebayourownworld?AndwhatwouldyourMotherthihatyoucouldhavetakenherpainawayandgivenherbackherlifeandsavedyourFather'sheartfrombeihatyouwouldn't—thatyou'dratherrunmessagesforawildanimalinastrahatisnobusinessofyours?”
“I—Idon'tthinkheisawildanimal,”saidDigoryiofvoice。“Heis—Idon'tknow—”
“Thehingworse,”saidtheWitch。“Lookwhathehasdooyoualready;lookhowheartlesshehasmadeyou。Thatiswhathedoestoeveryoenstohim。Cruel,pitilessboy!youwouldletyourowherthan—”
“Ohshutup,”saidthemiserableDigory,stillinthesamevoice。“DoyouthinkIdon'tsee?ButI—Ipromised。”
“Ah,butyoudidn'tknoerepromising。Andnooneheretyou。”
“Motherherself,”saidDigettingthewordsoutwithdifficulty,“wouldn'tlikeit—awfullystrictaboutkeepistealing—andallthatsortofthiellmenottodoit—quiything—ifshewashere。”
“Butsheneedneverknow,”saidtheWitch,speakilythanyouwouldhavethoughtahsofierceafacecouldspeak。“Youwouldn'ttellherhowyou'dgottheapple。YourFatherneedneverknow。Nooneinyourworldneedknowanythingaboutthiswholestory。Youtakethelittlegirlbackwithyou,youknow。”
ThatwaswheretheWitchmadeherfatalmistake。orykPollycouldgetawaybyheraseasilyashecouldgetawaybyhis。Butappare'tknowthis。AndthemeahesuggestionthatheshouldleavePollybehindsuddehestheWitchhadbeensayingtohimsoundfalseandhollow。Ahemidstofallhismisery,hisheadsuddenlycleared,andhesaid(iandmuchlouder'voice):“Lookhere;wheredoyoueintoallthis?WhyareyousopreyMotherallofasudden?What'sitgottodowithyou?Whatame?”
“Gs,”whisperedPollyinhisear。“Quick!Getawaynow。”Shehadn'tdaredtosayanythingallthroughtheargumentbecause,yousee,itwasn'therMotherwhowasdying。
“Upthen,”saidDigory,heavioFledge'sbadthensgupasquicklyashecould。Thehorsespreaditswings。
“Gothen,Fools,”calledtheWitkofme,Boy,whenyoulieoldandweakanddying,andrememberhowyouthrewawaythedlessyouth!Itwon'tbeain。”
Theywerealreadysohighthattheylyjusthearher。NordidtheWitchwasteanytimegazingupatthem;theysawhersetoffnorthwarddowntheslopeofthehill。
&artedearlythatmandehegardenhadnottakenverylong,sothatFledgeandPollybothsaidtheywouldeasilygetbaiabefhtfall。Digoryneverspokeonthewaybadtheotherswereshyofspeakingtohim。Hewasverysadandhewasn'tevehetimethathehaddhtthing;butwheneverherememberedtheshiningtearsinAslan'seyeshebecamesure。
AlldayFledgeflewsteadilywithuntiringwiwardwiththerivertoguidehim,throughthemountaihewildwoodedhills,ahegreatwaterfallanddown,anddowhewoodsofNarniaweredarkeheshadowofthemightycliff,tillatlast,whentheskyithsuhem,hesalacewheremauresweregatheredtogetherbytheriverside。AndsoonhecouldseeAslahemidstofthem。Fledgeglideddowhisfs,closedhiswings,aering。Thehedismounted。Digorysawalltheanimals,dwarfs,satyrs,nymphs,ahingsdrawingbacktotheleftandrighttomakewayforhim。HetoAslaheappleandsaid:“Ihtyoutheappleyouwanted,sir。”