Shasta walked through the gate and saw a slope of verdant grass and some heather spreading up from front to some of the trees.He didn't have anything to think about now, and he didn't need to make any plans: he just had to run forward, and he had to run as hard as he could, but that was enough for him.His limbs were shaking, his ribs were aching terribly, and beads of sweat were dripping into his eyes, blurring his vision and making his eyes ach.His steps were unsteady, and his ankle bone nearly kicked on the scattered stones more than once.The trees are getting thicker and thicker than before, and there are more open spaces with European ferns.The sun had set down the hillside, but instead of getting cooler in the place, it had turned into one of those hot, grey days, and there seemed to be twice as many flies as usual.Shasta's face was crawling with flies, and he didn't even try to drive them away, he had too much else to do in a hurry.Suddenly, he heard the sound of a trumpet not like the heart-pounding sound of a horn in Tashban, but a pleasant call, and the next moment Tirotto walked into a wide glade, and immediately he found himself in the midst of the crowd.At least, it seemed to him that it was a group of people.In fact, there were between fifteen and twenty of them, all gentlemen in green hunting suits and horses.Some straddle the saddle, others stand at the head of their horse.In the center of the group, one man was pulling the stirrup so that another could step onto the horse.And the man who was waited on his horse was, as you can imagine, the most lively, fat, apple-faced king with shining eyes.As soon as Shasta came into the king's sight, the king completely forgot about the horse.His face perked up, and he stretched out his arms to Shasta and shouted in a loud, deep voice that seemed to come from deep in his chest."
Colin, my son is actually walking, still wearing tattered clothes or something" "No," Shasta said breathlessly, shaking his head, "I'm not Prince Colin.I know that I look a lot like him, and I have seen His Royal Highness the Prince in Tasban, sending him his greetings to you. ”There was a peculiar, unusual look on the king's face, and he kept staring at Shasta."
Are you King Lunn," said Shasta, gasping for breath, and then, without waiting for any reply, continued, "Your Majesty hastened to close the gates of Anwad, and the enemy has approached the Palmen of Rabadash with two hundred men and horses. ”"Son, do you promise that what you say is true?"
asked another gentleman."
I've seen them with my own eyes," Shasta said, "I've seen them.Starting from Tashban, I've been racing against them all the way. ”"On foot," the gentleman asked, raising an eyebrow and disapprovingly."
I came on horseback and stayed in the hermit's house."
Shasta said."
Darlan, don't ask him any more," said King Lunn, "and I see the truth in his face.Gentlemen, we must get on the horse immediately.There was a spare horse for the boy to ride.Friend, can you ride a fast horse?"
In reply, Shasta put his foot on the stirrup of the horse facing him, and then spun over and sat down in the saddle in the blink of an eye.He'd done it more than a hundred times in the last few weeks under Brie's training, and on the first night he climbed on horseback, Brie said it was like climbing onto a haystack, but things were very different now.He was glad to hear the prince of Darlan say to the king, "This boy has the bearing of a true knight, Your Majesty.I can guarantee that he must have a noble bloodline. ”"His pedigree, yes, that's the point."
The king said.He stared intently at Shasta again, his calm grey eyes revealing an exploratory almost hungry look.But now the crowd was all jogging briskly.Shasta sat firmly in the saddle, but he was troubled by how the reins were to be used, knowing that he would never touch the reins on Brie's back.However, he cautiously watched the movements of others, just as some of us at a banquet are not sure whether to use a knife or a fork, and try to correct the position of his fingers.But he didn't dare to really command the horse with the reins, and he always believed that the horse would follow the other horses.The horse, of course, was just an ordinary horse, not a talking horse, but it was wise enough to make it realize that the strange child riding on its back had neither a whip nor a spur, and that in this case he was not its owner.That's why it wasn't long before Shasta found himself at the bottom of the entire team.Even so, he ran fast.Now there are no flies on his face, and the air blowing into his face is fresh and beautiful.Now his breathing has become smoother, and his task of conveying the message has been completed.It seemed like a long time ago since he arrived in Tashban, and for the first time now, he felt so free, relaxed and happy.He looked up, wondering how far he was from the summit.To his disappointment, however, he could not see the top of the mountain at all, only a gray mass swarming towards him.He had never lived in a mountain village before, so he was amazed by the sight."
It's a cloud," he said to himself, "and a cloud is falling."
I realized that standing high above the mountains was really in the sky, so I could see what was in the clouds.It's so funny, I often wonder about it. ”Far to his left and not far behind him, the sun was slowly setting.Now they had come to the top of a rough mountain road, and they were speeding all the way.But Shasta's horses have always been at the back.Once or twice, when he came to the bend in the road, there were now long forests on both sides of the road, and there was always a second or two when the others disappeared from his sight.Then they sped into the fog, or rather, the fog engulfed them.The whole world went to ashes.Shasta had never realized that it could be so cold and damp in the clouds, nor did she expect it to be so dark.The gray fog turned black at an alarming rate.Every now and then, the horn sounded at the front of the procession, and each time it sounded, it sounded a little farther away than the last.He couldn't see anyone else now, but of course, it was possible that he would be able to see it immediately if he turned the corner again.But when he turned the corner, he still couldn't see them.In fact, he couldn't see anything at all.His horse was now walking slowly."
Chase, horse, chase."
Shasta urged.Immediately afterwards, there was a faint sound of a horn ahead.Brie had always told him that his heels must be facing outward, and Shasta developed the idea that something terrible would happen if he poked his heel into the horse's ribs.But at this time, he thought he could try."
Listen to me, horse," he said, in a fierce tone, "if you don't give me a quick run, do you know what I'm going to do I'm going to poke you in the ribs with my heel, I'll do what I say" Still, the horse was completely unimpressed by his threat.So, Shasta had no choice, he steadied himself in the saddle, clamped his knees, gritted his teeth, and then stabbed his heels hard at the horse's ribs with all his might.The only effect was that the horse trotted in pretence, but only five or six paces, and then walked slowly again.It was very dark now, and the team seemed to have stopped blowing their horns, and there was silence all around, except for the constant ticking of water from the branches."
Well, even if it is used, it will always take me somewhere at a certain time."
Shasta said to himself, "My only wish is not to meet Prince Rabadash and his men along the way. ”He kept walking, and he felt as if he had walked for a long time, always at that strolling pace.He began to feel that the horse was annoying, and he began to feel very hungry.Soon he came to a fork in the road, and he was wondering which one would lead to Anwad.At this moment, a startled voice sounded behind him, it was the sound of a horse running."
Prince Rabadash" Shasta immediately had the answer in his mind.He could not have predicted which path Prince Rabadash would take."
But if I go this way," Shasta muttered to himself, "then maybe he'll go that way, but if I stay at the fork in the road, I'll be caught by them." ”Thinking of this, he quickly dismounted, and pulled the horse along the right side of the road with all his might.The voices of the cavalry were getting closer, and within a minute or two Shasta knew they were at a fork in the road.He held his breath and waited to see which path they would choose.Then a deep voice commanded: "Stop going," and for the next moment there was a cacophony of horses, the sound of snorts snorting from the horse's nose, the sound of the horse's hooves scraping the ground, the sound of squeaking and biting the horse's chew, the sound of the horse's neck being gently patted.Then, a voice spoke."
All of you, give me attention," the voice said, "we are now less than an eighth-mile from the castle.You must remember the commandment.Once we enter Narnia, normally we should arrive at sunrise, and you must kill as little as possible.In this adventure, you will value every drop of Narnia's blood more than every gallon of your own.I'm talking about a good time for the gods to give me joy in this adventure, when you won't have to leave anything alive between Kelparaville and the Western Desert.But we haven't entered Narnia yet.We're in Achin Lan now, so that's another story.When it comes to raiding King Lunn's castle, nothing but speed matters.Show your courage.It must be occupied within an hour.If you succeed, I will give you all the spoils.I myself will not leave anything.Kill for me every savage man in the wall, even if it is a baby born yesterday, and the rest belongs to you, and divide it as you please, including women, gold, jewels, weapons, and wine.When we reach the gates, if we find anyone who dares to retreat, I will burn him alive.Set off in the name of the irresistible, unstoppable god Tash" With the sound of rattling horses' hooves, the procession began to move, and Shasta could finally breathe again.They chose a different path.Shasta thought it had taken them a long time to set out, and though he was thinking about "two hundred centaurs" every day, he wasn't sure how many of them there were.Eventually, the sound of the cavalry finally disappeared from his ears, and he was once again left alone listening to the ticking sound from the trees.In this way, he finally knew which way to go to Anwad, but of course he could not go there now, which meant that he would run headlong into the sword of Rabadash's army."
What am I going to do next?"
Shasta said to himself.Then he got back on his horse and continued along the path he had chosen, with a glimmer of hope that he might come across a cottage where he might ask for a break and a meal.Of course, he had thought of going back to the hermit's house to be with Aravis, Brie, and Herwin, but he couldn't go back, because he didn't know where he was."
After all," Shasta thought to himself, "the road will lead somewhere." ”But it all depends on what you mean by somewhere.The road continued to stretch somewhere ahead, and he could feel more and more trees along the way, and all of them were black, and the water was dripping down continuously, and the air was getting colder and colder, and the strange and icy cold wind continued to blow past him, but it never blew away the thick fog that permeated the surroundings.If he had been accustomed to living in the wilderness in a mountain village, he would have understood that this meant that he had climbed to a very high place, perhaps right at the top of the pass.But Shasta knew nothing about the mountains."
I really think," said Shasta indignantly, "that I must be the most unfortunate boy of all the people who ever exist in this world."
Except for me, everyone is happy.The Narnia princes and young ladies made it out of Tashban, safe and sound, but I was left behind.Alavis, Brie, Herwin, how comfortable they should be with the old hermit.Of course, I'm the one who was sent out to run errands.King Lunn and his men must have returned to the castle safely, and had closed the gates before Prince Rabadash arrived, but I was left out. ”He was very tired now, and his stomach was empty, and he had eaten nothing, and he was very sad for himself, and then large tears rolled down his cheeks.A sudden sense of dread halted all of Shasta's thoughts, and he felt someone or something walking beside him.It was still pitch black, so he couldn't see anything.And the sound of this thing or person walking was so quiet that he could barely hear the footsteps.All he could hear was breathing.His companion hidden in the shadows seemed to breathe on a large scale, and Shasta could tell from this that it was a very large animal.And he gradually noticed the breathing, so he really didn't know how long it had been around.The discovery frightened him.At this time, a thought popped into his mind, he remembered that he had heard a long time ago that there were giants in various countries in the north.He bit his lip in panic, something did make him cry now, but he couldn't cry.The behemoth, unless it was a person, continued to walk beside him, but it was so quiet that Shasta began to wish it was nothing more than his imagination.But just when he thought it was really just an illusion, suddenly a deep sigh came from the darkness around him.It couldn't have been an illusion, and he felt a wave of hot breath from the long sigh rush onto his cold left hand.If the horse is of some use, or if he knows how to make it useful, then he will be willing to take any risk and run wildly.But he knew he couldn't control the horse at a gallop.So he could only continue to walk slowly, and the invisible companion walked beside him like this, breathing.In the end, he couldn't endure it any longer."
Who are you?"
he asked, almost like whispering."
I've been waiting for you to speak for a long time."
The guy said, not very loud, but very loud and deep."
Are you a giant," Shasta asked tremblingly."
You can call me a giant," the loud voice said, "but I don't look like the creature that people call giants." ”"I can't see you at all."
Shasta stared hard for a long time, then said.Then an even more terrible thought came into his head, and he almost screamed, "You're not something dead, aren't you, oh, please, go away."
I haven't done anything to hurt you, oh, I'm really the unluckiest person in the world," he felt once more of a warm breath rush into his hands and face."
You see," it said, "it's not the breath of a ghost.Tell me about your sadness. ”Shasta's doubts about the breath were slightly dispelled, so he told the other that he had never known who his father or mother really was, and that he had been raised harshly by a fisherman.Then he told the story of what happened during his escape, how they were chased by lions so madly that they were forced to swim to escape, he told about all the dangers they had experienced in the city of Tashban, he told about his night in the cemetery and how the animals roared at him outside the desert.He told it about the heat and thirst of the desert journey, and how the other lion chased them and scratched Alaves when they were almost reaching their destination.In the same way, he also talked about the fact that it was a long, long time ago that he had last finished eating."
I wouldn't call your experience unfortunate."
The loud voice said."
Don't you think it's very unfortunate to meet so many lions," Shasta said."
There was only one lion from beginning to end."
The voice said."
What do you mean by that, didn't I just tell you that there were at least two lions on the first night, and that there was only one lion, but it was very quick and agile. ”The voice replied."
How do you know?"
asked Shasta, puzzled."
Because I'm the lion."
When Shasta heard this, he immediately opened his mouth with nervousness, but he couldn't say anything, and the voice continued, "I am the lion who forced you to walk with Aravis.I am the cat that comforts you in that dead man's house.I am the lion who casts out the wolves for you while you are asleep.I am the lion that gives the horse new strength in fear and gallops all the way to the end, so that you can meet King Lunn in time.And I'm still the lion you have no memory of, no memory at all, when you were dying in a small boat, and it was I who pushed the boat and let it drift towards a sleepless man sitting on the beach, and he finally took you in. ”"So, you also scratched Alaves," Shasta asked."
It's me."
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The voice replied."
But what is that for?"
Shasta asked, puzzled."
Child," the voice said, "I'm telling you your own story, not hers.I only tell one person his own story, I don't talk about others. ”"What do I call you?"
asked Shasta."
Myself."
The voice was so low that the earth shook.And then again: "Myself." ”Loud, clear, happy; Then followed by a third time: "Myself." ”It whispers so softly that you can barely hear it, yet it seems to come from all directions around you, as if even the leaves are rustling with it.Shasta was no longer afraid of the sound of what he thought was going to eat him, and he was no longer afraid that it was the voice of a ghost.But a new and completely different shiver welled up in his heart.But it made him very happy.The fog turned from black to gray, and then from gray to white.This change must have been going on for a while, but Shasta was too busy talking to the giant companion around him to notice the change around him.Now, the white that surrounded him was beginning to turn into a shimmering white.His eyes began to blink.He could hear a bird singing somewhere ahead.He knew the night was finally over.Now he can see the horse's head, ears, and mane fairly easily.A golden light fell on him from the left.He thought it was the sun.He looked back and saw a lion taller than a horse pacing beside him.The horse doesn't seem to be afraid of it, or else it can't see it.The golden light that had just descended came from the lion.No one has ever seen anything more terrifying or beautiful.Luckily, Shasta had lived in the remote south of Calemun and had never heard the story of Tashban's story about the terrible Narnia devil incarnated as a lion.Of course, Shasta has no knowledge of the true story of Aslan, the son of the Great Lion's Overseas Emperor, the Supreme King of the Kings of Narnia.But as soon as he glanced at the lion's face, he rolled out of his saddle and fell to his knees.He couldn't say anything, but he didn't have anything to say at that time, and he knew in his heart that he didn't have to say anything.The supreme king above the kings bowed down to him.Its mane, and the strange aroma it emitted, all surrounds Shasta.It licked his forehead with its tongue.He looked up.They looked at each other, and then the pale light of the mist and the fiery light of the lion immediately mixed and swirled, turning into a whirlpool of brilliance, converging and shrinking upwards, and finally vanishing without a trace.Beneath the blue sky, Shasta stood alone with his horse on a grassy hillside.I heard the song of birds.t1706231537: