CHAPTER FOURTEEN NIGHT FALLS ON NARNIA（第3/3页）

Then Aslan said，“Now make an end.”

The giant threw his horn into the sea. Then he stretched out one arm-very black it looked，and thousands of miles long-across the sky till his hand reached the Sun. He took the Sun and squeezed it in his hand as you would squeeze an orange. And instantly there was total darkness．

Everyone except Aslan jumped back from the ice-cold air which now blew through the Doorway. Its edges were already covered with icicles．

“Peter，High King of Narnia，”said Aslan.“Shut the Door.”

Peter，shivering with cold，leaned out into the darkness and pulled the Door to. It scraped over ice as he pulled it. Then，rather clumsily (for even in that moment his hands had gone numb and blue) he took out a golden key and locked it．

They had seen strange things enough through that Doorway. But it was stranger than any of them to look round and find themselves in warm daylight，the blue sky above them，flowers at their feet，and laughter in Aslan’s eyes．

He turned swiftly round，crouched lower，lashed himself with his tail and shot away like a golden arrow．

“Come further in! Come further up!”he shouted over his shoulder. But who could keep up with him at that pace ？ They set out walking Westward to follow him．

“So，”said Peter，“night falls on Narnia. What，Lucy! You’re not crying ？ With Aslan ahead，and all of us here ？”

“Don’t try to stop me，Peter，”said Lucy，“I am sure Aslan would not. I am sure it is not wrong to mourn for Narnia. Think of all that lies dead and frozen behind that door.”

“Yes and I did hope，”said Jill，“that it might go on for ever. I knew our world couldn’t. I did think Narnia might.”

“I saw it begin，”said the Lord Digory.“I did not think I would live to see it die.”

“Sirs，”said Tirian.“The ladies do well to weep. See，I do so myself. I have seen my mother’s death. What world but Narnia have I ever known ？ It were no virtue，but great discourtesy，if we did not mourn.”

They walked away from the Door and away from the Dwarfs who still sat crowded together in their imaginary stable. And as they went they talked to one another about old wars and old peace and ancient Kings and all the glories of Narnia．

The Dogs were still with them. They joined in the conversation but not very much because they were too busy racing on ahead and racing back and rushing off to sniff at smells in the grass till they made themselves sneeze. Suddenly they picked up a scent which seemed to excite them very much. They all started arguing about it-“Yes it is-No it isn’t-That’s just what I said-anyone can smell what that is-Take your great nose out of the way and let someone else smell.”

“What is it，cousins ？”said Peter．

“A Calormene，Sire，”said several Dogs at once．

“Lead on to him，then，”said Peter.“Whether he meets us in peace or war，he shall be welcome.”

The Dogs darted on ahead and came back a moment later， running as if their lives depended on it，and barking loudly to say that it really was a Calormene. (Talking Dogs，just like the common ones，behave as if they thought whatever they are doing at the moment immensely important.)

The others followed where the Dogs led them and found a young Calormene sitting under a chestnut tree beside a clear stream of water. It was Emeth. He rose at once and bowed gravely．

“Sir，”he said to Peter，“I know not whether you are my friend or my foe，but I should count it my honor to have you for either. Has not one of the poets said that a noble friend is the best gift and a noble enemy the next best ？”

“Sir，”said Peter，“I do not know that there need be any war between you and us.”

“Do tell us who you are and what’s happened to you，”said Jill．

“If there’s going to be a story，let’s all have a drink and sit down，”barked the Dogs.“We’re quite blown.”

“Well of course you will be if you keep tearing about the way you have done，”said Eustace．

So the humans sat down on the grass. And when the Dogs had all had a very noisy drink out of the stream they all sat down，bolt upright，panting，with their tongues hanging out of their heads a little on one side to hear the story. But Jewel remained standing， polishing his horn against his side．