第311章 The Lion The Witch And The Wardrobe(91)

Then at last he began to wonder why the lion was standing so still.for it hadn’t moved one inch since he first set eyes on it. Edmund now ventured a little nearer， still keeping in the shadow of the arch as much as he could. He now saw from the way the lion was standing that it couldn‘t have been looking at him at all. （“But supposing it turns its head？” thought Edmund.） In fact it was staring at something else.namely a little dwarf who stood with his back to it about four feet away. “Aha！” thought Edmund. “When it springs at the dwarf then will be my chance to escape.” But still the lion never moved， nor did the dwarf. And now at last Edmund remembered what the others had said about the White Witch turning people into stone. Perhaps this was only a stone lion. And as soon as he had thought of that he noticed that the lion’s back and the top of its head were covered with snow. Of course it must be only a statue！ No living animal would have let itself get covered with snow. Then very slowly and with his heart beating as if it would burst， Edmund ventured to go up to the lion. Even now he hardly dared to touch it， but at last he put out his hand， very quickly， and did. It was cold stone. He had been frightened of a mere statue！