CHAPTER NINE THE FOUNDING OF NARNIA（第2/4頁）

Nobody，least of all Jadis，could have missed at that range．The bar struck the Lion fair between the eyes．It glanced off and fell with a thud in the grass．The Lion came on．Its walk was neither slower nor faster than before；you could not tell whether it even knew it had been hit．Though its soft pads made no noise，you could feel the earth shake beneath their weight．

The Witch shrieked and ran：in a few moments she was out of sight among the trees．Uncle Andrew turned to do likewise， tripped over a root，and fell flat on his face in a little brook that ran down to join the river．The children could not move．They were not even quite sure that they wanted to．The Lion paid no attention to them．Its huge red mouth was open，but open in song not in a snarl．It passed by them so close that they could have touched its mane．They were terribly afraid it would turn and look at them，yet in some queer way they wished it would．But for all the notice it took of them they might just as well have been invisible and unsmellable．When it had passed them and gone a few paces further it turned，passed them again，and continued its march eastward．

Uncle Andrew，coughing and spluttering，picked himself up．

“Now，Digory，”he said，“we’ve got rid of that woman， and the brute of a lion is gone．Give me your hand and put on your ring at once．”

“Keep off，”said Digory，backing away from him．“Keep clear of him，Polly．Come over here beside me．Now I warn you，Uncle Andrew，don’t come one step nearer，we’ll just vanish．”

“Do what you’ re told this minute，sir，”said Uncle Andrew.

“ you’ re an extremely disobedient，ill-behaved little boy．”

“No fear，”said Digory．“We want to stay and see what happens．I thought you wanted to know about other worlds．Don’t you like it now you’re here ？”

“Like it ！”exclaimed Uncle Andrew．“Just look at the state I’m in．And it was my best coat and waistcoat，too．”He certainly was a dreadful sight by now：for of course，the more dressed up you were to begin with，the worse you look after you’ve crawled out of a smashed hansoncab and fallen into a muddy brook．“I’m not saying，”he added，“that this is not a most interesting place．If I were a younger man，now-perhaps I could get some lively young fellow to

come here first．One of those big-game hunters．Something might be made of this country．The climate is delightful．I never felt such air．I believe it would have done me good if-if circumstances had been more favourable．If only we’d had a gun．”

“Guns be blowed，”said the Cabby．“I think I’ll go and see if I can give Strawberry a rub down．That horse ‘as more sense than some ’umans as I could mention．”He walked back to Strawberry and began making the hissing noises that grooms make．

“Do you still think that Lion could be killed by a gun ？”asked Digory．“He didn’t mind the iron bar much．”

“With all her faults，”said Uncle Andrew，“that’s a plucky gel，my boy．It was a spirited thing to do．”He rubbed his hands and cracked his knuckles，as if he were once more forgetting how the Witch frightened him whenever she was really there．

“It was a wicked thing to do，”said Polly．“What harm had he done her ？”

“Hullo ！ What’s that ？”said Digory．He had darted forward to examine something only a few yards away．“I say，Polly，”he called back．“Do come and look．”

Uncle Andrew came with her；not because he wanted to see but because he wanted to keep close to the children—there might be a chance of stealing their rings．But when he saw what Digory was looking at，even he began to take an interest．It was a perfect little model of a lamp-post，about three feet high but lengthening，and thickening in proportion，as they watched it；in fact growing just as the trees had grown．

“It’s alive too-I mean，it’s lit，”said Digory．And so it was； though of course，the brightness of the sun made the little flame in the lantern hard to see unless your shadow fell on it．

“Remarkable，most remarkable，”muttered Uncle Andrew． “Even I never dreamt of Magic like this．We’re in a world where everything，even a lamp—post，comes to life and grows．Now I wonder what sort of seed a lamp—post grows from ？”

“Don’t you see ？”said Digory．“This is where the bar fell-the bar she tore off the lamp-post at home．It sank into the ground and now it’s coming up as a young lamp—post．”(But not so very young now；it was as tall as Digory while he said this．）

“That’s it ！ Stupendous，stupendous，”said Uncle Andrew， rubbing his hands harder than ever．“Ho，ho ！ They laughed at my Magic．That fool of a sister of mine thinks I’m a lunatic． I wonder what they’ll say now ？ I have discovered a world where everything is bursting with life and growth．Columbus，now， they talk about Columbus．But what was America to this ？ The commercial possibilities of this country are unbounded．Bring a few old bits of scrap iron here，bury’em，and up they come as brand new railway engines，battleships，anything you please．They’ll cost nothing，and I can sell ’em at full prices in England．I shall be a millionaire．And then the climate ！ I feel years younger already．I can run it as a health resort．A good sanatorium here might be worth twenty thousand a year．Of course I shall have to let a few people into the secret．The first thing is to get that brute shot．”