CHAPTER FIVE THE DEPLORABLE WORD (第2/2页)

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“But the people ？”gasped Digory．

“What people，boy ？”asked the Queen．

“All the ordinary people，”said Polly，“who’d never done you any harm．And the women，and the children，and the animals．”

“Don’t you understand ？”said the Queen（still speaking to Digory）．“I was the Queen．They were all my people．What else were they there for but to do my will ？ ”

“It was rather hard luck on them，all the same，”said he．

“I had forgotten that you are only a common boy．How should you understand reasons of State ？ You must learn，child，that what would be wrong for you or for any of the common people is not wrong in a great Queen such as I．The weight of the world is on our shoulders．We must be freed from all rules．Ours is a high and lonely destiny．”

Digory suddenly remembered that Uncle Andrew had used exactly the same words．But they sounded much grander when Queen Jadis said them；perhaps because Uncle Andrew was not seven feet tall and dazzlingly beautiful．

“And what did you do then ？”said Digory．

“I had already cast strong spells on the hall where the images of my ancestors sit．And the force of those spells was that I should sleep among them，like an image myself，and need neither food nor fire，though it were a thousand years，till one came and struck the bell and awoke me．”

“Was it the Deplorable Word that made the sun like that ？”asked Digory．

“Like what ？”said Jadis

“So big，so red，and so cold．”

“It has always been so，”said Jadis．“At least，for hundreds of thousands of years．Have you a different sort of sun in your world ？”

“Yes，it’s smaller and yellower．And it gives a good deal more heat．”

The Queen gave a long drawn“A-a-ah ！”And Digory saw on her face that same hungry and greedy look which he had lately seen on Uncle Andrew’s．“So，”she said，“yours is a younger world．”

She paused for a moment to look once more at the deserted city-and if she was sorry for all the evil she had done there，she certainly didn’t show it-and then said：“Now，let us be going．It is cold here at the end of all the ages．”

“Going where ？”asked both the children．

“Where ？”repeated Jadis in surprise．“To your world，of course．”

Polly and Digory looked at each other，aghast．Polly had disliked the Queen from the first；and even Digory，now that he had heard the story，felt that he had seen quite as much of her as he wanted．Certainly，she was not at all the sort of person one would like to take home．And if they did like，they didn’t know how they could．What they wanted was to get away themselves： but Polly couldn’t get at her ring and of course Digory couldn’t go without her．Digory got very red in the face and stammered．

“Oh-oh-our world．I d-didn’t know you wanted to go there．”

“What else were you sent here for if not to fetch me ？”asked Jadis．

“I’m sure you wouldn’t like our world at all，”said Digory． “It’s not her sort of place，is it Polly ？ It’s very dull；not worth seeing，really．”

“It will soon be worth seeing when I rule it，”answered the Queen．

“Oh，but you can’t，”said Digory．“It’s not like that．They wouldn’t let you，you know．”

T he Que en gave a contempt uous sm i le．“Ma ny g reat kings，”she said，“thought they could stand against the House of Charn．But they all fell，and their very names are forgotten．Foolish boy ！ Do you think that I，with my beauty and my Magic，will not have your whole world at my feet before a year has passed ？ Prepare your incantations and take me there at once．”

“This is perfectly frightful，”said Digory to Polly. “Perhaps you fear for this Uncle of yours，”said Jadis．“But if he honours me duly，he shall keep his life and his throne．I am not coming to fight against him．He must be a very great Magician， if he has found how to send you here．Is he King of your whole world or only of part ？”

“He isn’t King of anywhere，”said Digory．

“You are lying，”said the Queen．“Does not Magic always go with the royal blood ？ Who ever heard of common people being Magicians ？ I can see the truth whether you speak it or not．Your Uncle is the great King and the great Enchanter of your world．And by his art he has seen the shadow of my face，in some magic mirror or some enchanted pool；and for the love of my beauty he has made a potent spell which shook your world to its foundations and sent you across the vast gulf between world and world to ask my favour and to bring me to him．Answer me：is that not how it was ？”

“Well，not exactly，”said Digory．

“Not exactly，”shouted Polly．“Why，it’s absolute bosh from beginning to end．”

“Minions ！”cried the Queen，turning in rage upon Polly and seizing her hair，at the very top of her head where it hurts most． But in so doing she let go of both the children’s hands．“Now，”shouted Digory；and “Quick ！” shouted Polly．They plunged their left hands into their pockets．They did not even need to put the rings on．The moment they touched them，the whole of that dreary， world vanished from their eyes．They were rushing upward and a warm green light was growing nearer over head．