“It’s about two days‘ journey， the way you came，” said Peter. “For us， I mean. We can’t walk all day and night like you Dwarfs.” Then he turned to the others. “What Trumpkin calls Aslan‘s How is obviously the Stone Table itself. You remember it was about half a day’s march， or a little less， from there down to the Fords of Beruna-”
“Beruna‘s Bridge， we call it，” said Trumpkin.
“There was no bridge in our time，” said Peter. “And then from Beruna down to here was another day and a bit. We used to get home about teatime on the second day， going easily. Going hard， we could do the whole thing in a day and a half perhaps.”
“But remember it’s all woods now，” said Trumpkin， “and there are enemies to dodge.”
“Look here，” said Edmund， “need we go by the same way that Our Dear Little Friend came？”
“No more of that， your Majesty， if you love me，” said the Dwarf. “Very well，” said Edmund. “May I say our DLF？”
“Oh， Edmund，” said Susan. “Don‘t keep on at him like that.” “That’s all right， lass-I mean your Majesty，” said Trumpkin with achuckle. “A jibe won‘t raise a blister.” （And after that they often called
him the DLF till they’d almost forgotten what it meant.）
“As I was saying，” continued Edmund， “we needn‘t go that way. Why shouldn’t we row a little south till we come to Glasswater Creek and row up it？ That brings us up behind the Hill of the Stone Table， and we‘ll be safe while we’re at sea. If we start at once， we can be at thehead of Glasswater before dark， get a few hours‘ sleep， and be with Caspian pretty early tomorrow.”
“What a thing it is to know the coast，” said Trumpkin. “None of us know anything about Glasswater.”
“What about food？” asked Susan.
“Oh， we’ll have to do with apples，” said Lucy. “Do let‘s get on. We’ve done nothing yet， and we‘ve been here nearly two days.”
“And anyway， no one’s going to have my hat for a fishbasket again，” said Edmund.
They used one of the raincoats as a kind of bag and put a good many apples in it. Then they all had a good long drink at the well （for they would meet no more fresh water till they landed at the head of the Creek） and went down to the boat. The children were sorry to leave Cair Paravel， which， even in ruins， had begun to feel like home again.
“The DLF had better steer，” said Peter， “and Ed and I will take an oar each. Half a moment， though. We‘d better take off our mail： we’re going to be pretty warm before we‘re done. The girls had better be in the bows and shout directions to the DLF because he doesn’t know the way. You‘d better get us a fair way out to sea till we’ve passed the island.”
And soon the green， wooded coast of the island was falling away behind them， and its little bays and headlands were beginning to look flatter， and the boat was rising and falling in the gentle swell. The sea began to grow bigger around them and， in the distance， bluer， but close round the boat it was green and bubbly. Everything smelled salt and there was no noise except the swishing of water and the clop-clop of water against the sides and the splash of the oars and the joltingnoise of the rowlocks. The sun grew hot.
It was delightful for Lucy and Susan in the bows， bending over the edge and trying to get their hands in the sea which they could never quite reach. The bottom， mostly pure， pale sand but with occasional patches of purple seaweed， could be seen beneath them.
“It‘s like old times，” said Lucy. “Do you remember our voyage to Terebinthia-and Galma-and Seven Isles-and the Lone Islands？”
“Yes，” said Susan， “and our great ship the Splendour Hyaline， with the swan’s head at her prow and the carved swan‘s wings coming back almost to her waist？”
“And the silken sails， and the great stern lanterns？” “And the feasts on the poop and the musicians.”
“Do you remember when we had the musicians up in the rigging playing flutes so that it sounded like music out of the sky？”
Presently Susan took over Edmund’s oar and he came forward to join Lucy. They had passed the island now and stood closer in to the shore-all wooded and deserted. They would have thought it very pretty if they had not remembered the time when it was open and breezy and full of merry friends.
“Phew！ This is pretty gruelling work，” said Peter. “Can‘t I row for a bit？” said Lucy.
“The oars are too big for you，” said Peter shortly， not because he was cross but because he had no strength to spare for talking.
中文阅读
“就这样，”特伦普金说（你一定猜出来了吧，坐在凯尔帕拉维尔废墟的草地上，向四个孩子讲述这个故事的，正是特伦普金）--“就这样，我在衣袋里装上一两片面包，随身携带了一把匕首，把其余的武器全部留了下来。趁着天色蒙蒙亮，我快步走向密林。艰难跋涉了几个钟头后，突然传来了我这一辈子从未听到过的一种声音。嗯，我永远也忘不了那个声音。它充满了整个寰宇，像雷声一样响亮，但比雷声更加持久。又像掠过水面的音乐一样优美动听，但又强大得足以震撼树林。我自言自语道，’如果那不是号角声，就管我叫兔子。‘过了一会儿，我开始揣测，他为什么不早点吹响号角--”
“那是什么时间？”埃德蒙问。“在九点到十点之间。”特伦普金答道。
“正好是我们在火车站的时间！”四个孩子齐声说道，目光炯炯地互相望着。
“请继续往下讲。”露西对矮人说道。
“好吧，我一边揣测，一边拼命向前赶路。我整整走了一夜--今天早上，天还没有大亮，我不想沿着河绕一个大圈，就像巨人一样傻头傻脑，冒险走了一条捷径，想要直接穿过开阔地，结果被逮了个正着。我不是被军队抓住的，而是落到了一个自负的老傻瓜手中。他统治着一个小城堡，那城堡是米拉兹在通往海岸的路上所设的最后一个据点。我不必告诉你们，他们从我口中没有得到任何有用的信息。但我是一个小矮人，这就足够死罪了。龙虾和棒棒糖！好在主管是个自负的傻瓜。要是换成别人，当即就把我给宰了。但对于他来说，没有一个像样的死刑，简直就不成体统。他按照仪式，派人把我押送到这里’向鬼魂献祭‘。多亏这位年轻女士（他朝苏珊点了点头）射了一箭--我要说，真是好箭法--于是乎我们就来到了这个地方。可惜我的盔甲没有了，当然是被他们拿去了。”他磕了磕烟斗，又装上烟草。
“天哪！”彼得惊叹道，“这么说来是号角--你自己的号角，苏--昨天早上把我们从站台的座位上拉过来的！我实在难以相信。但是一切都清楚了。”
“我不明白你为什么不信，”露西说，“如果你相信魔法的话，不是有很多关于魔法的故事，把人从一个地方带出来--从一个世界带出来--进入另外一个地方吗？例如，在《一千零一夜》中，魔法师若召唤一个精灵，它顷刻就会出现。正如那个样子，我们也不得不来。”
“不错，”彼得说，“我猜想，那些故事之所以让人感到惊讶，往往是我们那个世界的人发出召唤。人们并不去认真思考，那个精灵究竟来自何方。”
“现在我们理解那个精灵的感觉了，”埃德蒙咯咯笑着说，“啊，知道我们被人家召之即来，感觉有点不爽。这可比老爸所谓的电话遥控还要糟糕。”
“可是我们乐意来这里，不是吗，”露西说，“如果阿斯兰想要我们来的话？”
“这会儿，”矮人说，“我们该做些什么？我想，我最好回到卡斯宾王那里，告诉他并没有人前来帮助。”
