CHAPTER SEVENTEEN THE HUNTING OF THE WHITE STAG（第2/3頁）

But amid all these rejoicings Aslan himself quietly slipped away．And when the Kings and Queens noticed that he wasn’t there they said nothing about it．For Mr. Beaver had warned them，“He’ll be coming and going，”he had said．“One day you’ll see him and another you won’t．He doesn’t like being tied down—and of course he has other countries to attend to．It’s quite all right. He’ll often drop in．Only you mustn’t press him．He’s wild，you know．Not like a tame lion．”

And now，as you see，this story is nearly（but not quite） at an end．These two Kings and two Queens governed Narnia well，and long and happy was their reign．At first much of their time was spent in seeking out the remnants of the White Witch’s army and destroying them，and indeed for a long time there would be news of evil things lurking in the wilder parts of the forest-a haunting here and a killing there，a glimpse of a werewolf one month and a rumour of a hag the next．But in the end all that foul brood was stamped out．And they made good laws and kept the peace and saved good trees from being unnecessarily cut down， and liberated young dwarfs and young satyrs from being sent to school，and generally stopped busybodies and interferers and encouraged ordinary people who wanted to live and let live．And they drove back the fierce giants（quite a different sort from Giant Rumblebuffin）on the north of Narnia when these ventured across the frontier．And they entered into friendship and alliance with countries beyond the sea and paid them visits of state and received visits of state from them．And they themselves grew and changed as the years passed over them．And Peter became a tall and deep-chested man and a great warrior，and he was called King Peter the Magnificent．And Susan grew into a tall and gracious woman with black hair that fell almost to her feet and the kings of the countries beyond the sea began to send ambassadors asking for her hand in marriage．And she was called Susan the Gentle．Edmund was a graver and quieter man than Peter，and great in council and judgement．He was called King Edmund the Just．But as for Lucy，she was always gay and golden-haired，and all princes in those parts desired her to be their Queen，and her own people called her Queen Lucy the Valiant．

So they lived in great joy and if ever they remembered their life in this world it was only as one remembers a dream．And one year it fell out that Tumnus（who was a middle-aged Faun by now and beginning to be stout）came down river and brought them news that the White Stag had once more appeared in his parts-the White Stag who would give you wishes if you caught him．So these two Kings and two Queens with the principal members of their court，rode a-hunting with horns and hounds in the Western Woods to follow the White Stag．And they had not hunted long before they had a sight of him．And he led them a great pace over rough and smooth and through thick and thin，till the horses of all the courtiers were tired out and these four were still following．And they saw the stag enter into a thicket where their horses could not follow．Then said King Peter（for they talked in quite a different style now，having been Kings and Queens for so long），“Fair Consorts，let us now alight from our horses and follow this beast into the thicket；for in all my days I never hunted a nobler quarry．”

“Sir，”said the others，“even so let us do．”

So they alighted and tied their horses to trees and went on into the thick wood on foot．And as soon as they had entered it Queen Susan said，

“Fair friends，here is a great marvel，for I seem to see a tree of iron．”

“Madam，”said，King Edmund，“if you look well upon it you shall see it is a pillar of iron with a lantern set on the top thereof. ”

“By the Lion’s Mane，a strange device，”said King Peter， “to set a lantern here where the trees cluster so thick about it and so high above it that if it were lit it should give light to no man ！”

“Sir，”said Queen Lucy．“By likelihood when this post and this lamp were set here there were smaller trees in the place，or fewer， or none．For this is a young wood and the iron post is old. ” And they stood looking upon it．Then said King Edmund，

“I know not how it is，but this lamp on the post worketh upon me strangely．It runs in my mind that I have seen the like before； as it were in a dream，or in the dream of a dream．”

“Sir，”answered they all，“it is even so with us also．”

“And more，”said Queen Lucy，“for it will not go out of my mind that if we pass this post and lantern either we shall find strange adventures or else some great change of our fortunes．”

“Madam，”said King Edmund，“the like foreboding stirreth in my heart also．”

“And in mine，fair brother，”said King Peter．

“And in mine too，”said Queen Susan．“Wherefore by my counsel we shall lightly return to our horses and follow this White Stag no further．”