CHAPTER TEN THE RETURN OF THE LION（第3/4頁）

She got up，her heart beating wildly，and walked towards them．There was certainly a noise in the glade，a noise such as trees make in a high wind，though there was no wind tonight.Yet it was not exactly an ordinary tree-noise either．Lucy felt there was a tune in it，but she could not catch the tune any more than she had been able to catch the words when the trees had so nearly talked to her the night before．But there was，at least，a lilt; she felt her own feet wanting to dance as she got nearer．And now there was no doubt that the trees were really moving— moving in and out through one another as if in a complicated country dance．(“And I suppose，”thought Lucy，“When trees dance,it must be a very,very country dance indeed.” She was almost among them now．

The first tree she looked at seemed at first glance to be not a tree at all but a huge man with a shaggy beard and great bushes of hair．She was not frightened: she had seen such things before．But when she looked again he was only a tree，though he was still moving.You couldn’t see whether he had feet or roots，of course，because when trees move they don’t walk on the surface of the earth; they wade in it as we do in water．The same thing happened with every tree she looked at.At one moment they seemed to be the friendly，lovely giant and giantess forms which the tree-people put on when some good magic has called them into full life: next moment they all looked like trees again．But when they looked like trees，it was like strangely human trees，and when they looked like people，it was like strangely branchy and leafy people—and all the time that queer lilting，rustling，cool，merry noise．

“They are almost awake，not quite，”said Lucy．She knew she herself was wide awake，wider than anyone usually is．

She went fearlessly in among them，dancing herself as she leaped this way and that to avoid being run into by these huge partners．But she was only half interested in them．She wanted to get beyond them to something else; it was from beyond them that the dear voice had called．

She soon got through them (half wondering whether she had been using her arms to push branches aside，or to take hands in a Great Chain with big dancers who stooped to reach her) for they were really a ring of trees round a central open place．She stepped out from among their shifting confusion of lovely lights and shadows.

A circle of grass，smooth as a lawn，met her eyes，with dark trees dancing all round it．And then—oh joy！ For he was there: the huge Lion，shining white in the moonlight，with his huge black shadow underneath him．

But for the movement of his tail he might have been a stone lion，but Lucy never thought of that．She never stopped to think whether he was a friendly lion or not．She rushed to him．She felt her heart would burst if she lost a moment．And the next thing she knew was that she was kissing him and putting her arms as far round his neck as she could and burying her face in the beautiful rich silkiness of his mane．

“Aslan，Aslan．Dear Aslan，”sobbed Lucy．“At last．”

The great beast rolled over on his side so that Lucy fell，half sitting and half lying between his front paws．He bent forward and just touched her nose with his tongue．His warm breath came all round her．She gazed up into the large wise face．

“Welcome，child，”he said．

“Aslan，”said Lucy，“you’re bigger．”

“That is because you are older，little one，”answered he．

“Not because you are？”

“I am not．But every year you grow，you will find me bigger．”

For a time she was so happy that she did not want to speak．But Aslan spoke．

“Lucy，”he said，“we must not lie here for long．You have work in hand，and much time has been lost today．”

“Yes，wasn’t it a shame？”said Lucy．“I saw you all right.They wouldn’t believe me．They’re all so—”

From somewhere deep inside Aslan’s body there came the faintest suggestion of a growl．

“I’m sorry，”said Lucy，who understood some of his moods．“I didn’t mean to start slanging the others．But it wasn’t my fault anyway，was it？”

The Lion looked straight into her eyes．

“Oh，Aslan，”said Lucy．“You don’t mean it was？ How could I—I couldn’t have left the others and come up to you alone，how could I？ Don’t look at me like that…oh well，I suppose I could．Yes，and it wouldn’t have been alone，I know，not if I was with you．But what would have been the good？”

Aslan said nothing．

“You mean，”said Lucy rather faintly，“that it would have turned out all right—somehow？ But how？ Please，Aslan！ Am I not to know？”

“To know what would have happened，child？”said Aslan.“No．Nobody is ever told that．”

“Oh dear，”said Lucy．

“But anyone can find out what will happen，”said Aslan．“If you go back to the others now，and wake them up; and tell them you have seen me again; and that you must all get up at once and follow me—what will happen？ There is only one way of finding out．”