CHAPTER FOUR TURKISH DELIGHT

“BUT what are you ？”said the Queen again．“Are you a great overgrown dwarf that has cut off its beard ？”

“No，your Majesty，”said Edmund，“I never had a beard，I’m a boy．”

“A boy ！”said she．“Do you mean you are a Son of Adam ？”

Edmund stood still，saying nothing．He was too confused by this time to understand what the question meant．

“I see you are an idiot，whatever else you may be，”said the Queen．“Answer me，once and for all，or I shall lose my patience. Are you human ？”

“Yes，your Majesty，”said Edmund．

“And how，pray，did you come to enter my dominions ？”

“Please，your Majesty，I came in through a wardrobe．”

“A wardrobe ？ What do you mean ？”

“I-I opened a door and just found myself here，your Majesty，”said Edmund．

“Ha！”said the Queen，speaking more to herself than to him. “A door．A door from the world of men ！ I have heard of such things. This may wreck all．But he is only one，and he is easily dealt with .”As she spoke these words she rose from her seat and looked Edmund full in the face，her eyes flaming；at the same moment she raised her wand．Edmund felt sure that she was going to do something dreadful but he seemed unable to move．Then，just as he gave himself up for lost，she appeared to change her mind．

“My poor child，”she said in quite a different voice，“how cold you look ！ Come and sit with me here on the sledge and I will put my mantle round you and we will talk．”

Edmund did not like this arrangement at all but he dared not disobey；he stepped on to the sledge and sat at her feet，and she put a fold of her fur mantle round him and tucked it well in．

“Perhaps something hot to drink ？”said the Queen．“Should you like that ？”

“Yes please，your Majesty，”said Edmund，whose teeth were chattering．

The Queen took from somewhere among her wrappings a very small bottle which looked as if it were made of copper．Then， holding out her arm，she let one drop fall from it on to the snow beside the sledge．Edmund saw the drop for a second in mid-air， shining like a diamond．But the moment it touched the snow there was a hissing sound and there stood a jewelled cup full of something that steamed．The dwarf immediately took this and handed it to Edmund with a bow and a smile；not a very nice smile．Edmund felt much better as he began to sip the hot drink．It was something he had never tasted before，very sweet and foamy and creamy， and it warmed him right down to his toes．

“It is dull，Son of Adam，to drink without eating，”said the Queen presently．“What would you like best to eat ？”

“Turkish Delight，please，your Majesty，”said Edmund．

The Queen let another drop fall from her bottle on to the snow，and instantly there appeared a round box，tied with green silk ribbon，which，when opened，turned out to contain several pounds of the best Turkish Delight．Each piece was sweet and light to the very centre and Edmund had never tasted anything more delicious．He was quite warm now，and very comfortable．

While he was eating the Queen kept asking him questions．At first Edmund tried to remember that it is rude to speak with one’s mouth full，but soon he forgot about this and thought only of trying to shovel down as much Turkish Delight as he could，and the more he ate the more he wanted to eat，and he never asked himself why the Queen should be so inquisitive．She got him to tell her that he had one brother and two sisters，and that one of his sisters had already been in Narnia and had met a Faun there，and that no one except himself and his brother and his sisters knew anything about Narnia．She seemed especially interested in the fact that there were four of them，and kept on coming back to it．“You are sure there are just four of you ？”she asked．“Two Sons of Adam and two Daughters of Eve，neither more nor less ？”and Edmund，with his mouth full of Turkish Delight，kept on saying，“Yes，I told you that before，”and forgetting to call her“Your Majesty”，but she didn’t seem to mind now．

At last the Turkish Delight was all finished and Edmund was looking very hard at the empty box and wishing that she would ask him whether he would like some more．Probably the Queen knew quite well what he was thinking；for she knew，though Edmund did not，that this was enchanted Turkish Delight and that anyone who had once tasted it would want more and more of it，and would even，if they were allowed，go on eating it till they killed themselves．But she did not offer him any more．Instead，she said to him，

“Son of Adam，I should so much like to see your brother and your two sisters．Will you bring them to see me ？”

“I’ll try，”said Edmund，still looking at the empty box．

“Because，if you did come again-bringing them with you of course-I’d be able to give you some more Turkish Delight．I can’t do it now，the magic will only work once．In my own house it would be another matter．”