CHAPTER FOURTEEN HOW BREE BECAME A WISER HORSE（第3/4页）

"Yes, there are," said Aravis."But get on with the story."

"Well, as soon as he saw Corin and me, it seems this Centaur looked at me and said, A day will come when that boy will save Archenland from the deadliest danger in which ever she lay. So of course my Father and Mother were very pleased. But there was someone present who wasn' t. This was a chap called the Lord Bar who had been Father' s Lord Chancellor. And apparently he'd done something wrong—bezzling or some word like that—I didn't understand that part very well—and Father had had to dismiss him. But nothing else was done to him and he was allowed to go on living in Archenland. But he must have been as bad as he could be, for it came out afterwards he had been in the pay of the Tisroc and had sent a lot of secret information to Tashbaan. So as soon as he heard I was going to save Archenland from a great danger he decided I must be put out of the way. Well, he succeeded in kidnapping me (I don't exactly know how) and rode away down the Winding Arrow to the coast. He'd had everything prepared and there was a ship manned with his own followers lying ready for him and he put out to sea with me on board. But Father got wind of it, though not quite in time, and was after him as quickly as he could. The Lord Bar was already at sea when Father reached the coast, but not out of sight. And Father was embarked in one of his own warships within twenty minutes.

"It must have been a wonderful chase.They were six days following Bar s galleon and brought her to battle on the seventh. It was a great sea-fight (I heard a lot about it yesterday evening) from ten o clock in the morning till sunset. Our people took the ship in the end. But I wasn t there. The Lord Bar himself had been killed in the battle. But one of his men said that, early that morning, as soon as he saw he was certain to be overhauled, Bar had given me to one of his knights and sent us both away in the ship s boat. And that boat was never seen again. But of course that was the same boat that Aslan (he seems to be at the back of all the stories) pushed ashore at the right place for Arsheesh to pick me up. I wish I knew that knight s name, for he must have kept me alive and starved himself to do it."

"I suppose Aslan would say that was part of someone else's story,"said Aravis.

"I was forgetting that," said Cor.

"And I wonder how the prophecy will work out," said Aravis, "and what the great danger is that you're to save Archenland from."

"Well," said Cor rather awkwardly, "they seem to think I've done it already."

Aravis clapped her hands. "Why, of course !"she said. "How stupid I am. And how wonderful ! Archenland can never be in much greater danger than it was when Rabadash had crossed the Arrow with his two hundred horse and you hadn t yet got through with your message.Don t you feel proud ?"

"I think I feel a bit scared," said Cor.

"And you'll be living at Anvard now," said Aravis rather wistfully.

"Oh !" said Cor, "I'd nearly forgotten what I came about. Father wants you to come and live with us. He says there s been no lady in the court (they call it the court, I don t know why) since Mother died. Do, Aravis. You ll like Father—and Corin. They re not like me;they ve been properly brought up. You needn t be afraid that—"

"Oh stop it," said Aravis, "or we'll have a real fight. Of course I ll come."

"Now let's go and see the Horses," said Cor. There was a great and joyous meeting between Bree and Cor, and Bree,who was still in a rather subdued frame of mind, agreed to set out for Anvard at once: he and Hwin would cross into Narnia on the following day.All four bade an affectionate farewell to the Hermit and promised that they would soon visit him again.By about the middle of the morning they were on their way. The Horses had expected that Aravis and Cor would ride, but Cor explained that except in war,where everyone must do what he can do best,no one in Narnia or Archenland ever dreamed of mounting a Talking Horse.

This reminded poor Bree again of how little he knew about Narnian customs and what dreadful mistakes he might make. So while Hwin strolled along in a happy dream,Bree got more nervous and more self-conscious with every step he took.

"Buck up, Bree," said Cor. "It's far worse for me than for you. You aren t going to be educated. I shall be learning reading and writing and heraldry and dancing and history and music while you ll be galloping and rolling on the hills of Narnia to your heart s content."

"But that's just the point," groaned Bree."Do Talking Horses roll ? Supposing they don t ? I can t bear to give it up. What do you think, Hwin ?"

"I'm going to roll anyway," said Hwin."I don't suppose any of them will care two lumps of sugar whether you roll or not."

"Are we near that castle ?" said Bree to Cor.

"Round the next bend," said the Prince.

"Well," said Bree,"I'm going to have a good one now: it may be the last.Wait for me a minute."