CHAPTER ELEVEN ASLAN IS NEARER（第2/3頁）

“What is the meaning of this ？”asked the Witch Queen． Nobody answered．

“Speak，vermin ！”she said again．“Or do you want my dwarf to find you a tongue with his whip ？ What is the meaning of all this gluttony，this waste，this selfindulgence ？ Where did you get all these things ？”

“Please，your Majesty，”said the Fox，“we were given them. And if I might make so bold as to drink your Majesty’s very good health-”

“Who gave them to you ？”said the Witch．

“F-F-F-Father Christmas，”stammered the Fox．

“What ？”roared the Witch，springing from the sledge and taking a few strides nearer to the terrified animals．“He has not been here ！ He cannot have been here ！ How dare you-but no．Say you have been lying and you shall even now be forgiven．”

At that moment one of the young squirrels lost its head completely．

“He has-he has-he has ！”it squeaked，beating its little spoon on the table．Edmund saw the Witch bite her lips so that a drop of blood appeared on her white cheek．Then she raised her wand． “Oh，don’t，don’t，please don’t，”shouted Edmund，but even while he was shouting she had waved her wand and instantly where the merry party had been there were only statues of creatures（one with its stone fork fixed forever halway to its stone mouth）seated round a stone table on which there were stone plates and a stone plum pudding．

“As for you，”said the Witch，giving Edmund a stunning blow on the face as she re-mounted the sledge，“let that teach you to ask favour for spies and traitors．Drive on ！”And Edmund for the first time in this story felt sorry for someone besides himself．It seemed so pitiful to think of those little stone figures sitting there all the silent days and all the dark nights，year after year，till the moss grew on them and at last even their faces crumbled away．

Now they were steadily racing on again．And soon Edmund noticed that the snow which splashed against them as they rushed through it was much wetter than it had been all last night．At the

same time he noticed that he was feeling much less cold．It was also becoming foggy．In fact every minute it grew foggier and warmer．And the sledge was not running nearly as well as it had been running up till now．At first he thought this was because the reindeer were tired，but soon he saw that that couldn’t be the real reason．The sledge jerked，and skidded and kept on jolting as if it had struck against stones．And however the dwarf whipped the poor reindeer the sledge went slower and slower．There also seemed to be a curious noise all round them，but the noise of their driving and jolting and the dwarf’s shouting at the reindeer prevented Edmund from hearing what it was，until suddenly the sledge stuck so fast that it wouldn’t go on at all．When that happened there was a moment’s silence．And in that silence Edmund could at last listen to the other noise properly．A strange，sweet，rustling， chattering noise-and yet not so strange，for he’d heard it before-if only he could remember where ！ Then all at once he did remember. It was the noise of running water．All round them though out of sight，there were streams，chattering，murmuring，bubbling， splashing and even（in the distance）roaring．And his heart gave a great leap（though he hardly knew why）when he realized that the frost was over．And much nearer there was a drip-drip-drip from the branches of all the trees．And then，as he looked at one tree he saw a great load of snow slide off it and for the first time since he had entered Narnia he saw the dark green of a fir tree．But he hadn’t time to listen or watch any longer，for the Witch said：

“Don’t sit staring，fool ！ Get out and help．”

And of course Edmund had to obey．He stepped out into the snow-but it was really only slush by now-and began helping the dwarf to get the sledge out of the muddy hole it had got into． They got it out in the end，and by being very cruel to the reindeer the dwarf managed to get it on the move again，and they drove a little further．And now the snow was really melting in earnest and patches of green grass were beginning to appear in every direction. Unless you have looked at a world of snow as long as Edmund had been looking at it，you will hardly be able to imagine what a relief those green patches were after the endless white．Then the sledge stopped again．

“It’s no good，your Majesty，”said the dwarf．“We can’t sledge in this thaw．”

“Then we must walk，”said the Witch．

“We shall never overtake them walking，”growled the dwarf. “Not with the start they’ve got．”

“Are you my councillor or my slave ？”said the Witch．“Do as you’re told．Tie the hands of the human creature behind it and keep hold of the end of the rope．And take your whip．And cut the harness of the reindeer；they’ll find their own way home．”