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chater ten the ell beg t break（第2页）

Lucyimmediatelystoopeddownandcrawledinafterhim．Thensheheardnoisesofscramblingandpuffingandpantingbehindherandinamomentallfiveofthemwereinside．

“Whereveristhis？”saidPeter’svoice，soundingtiredandpaleinthedarkness．（IhopeyouknowwhatImeanbyavoicesoundingpale．）

“It’sanoldhiding-placeforbeaversinbadtimes，”saidMr。Beaver，“andagreatsecret．It’snotmuchofaplacebutwemustgetafewhours’sleep．”

“Ifyouhadn’tallbeeninsuchaplagueyfusswhenwewerestarting，I’dhavebroughtsomepillows，”saidMrs。Beaver．

Itwasn’tnearlysuchanicecaveasMr。Tumnus’s，Lucythought-justaholeinthegroundbutdryandearthy．Itwasverysmallsothatwhentheyalllaydowntheywereallabundleofclothestogether，andwhatwiththatandbeingwarmedupbytheirlongwalktheywerereallyrathersnug．Ifonlythefloorofthecavehadbeenalittlesmoother！ThenMrs。Beaverhandedroundinthedarkalittleflaskoutofwhicheveryonedranksomething-itmadeonecoughandsplutteralittleandstungthethroat，butitalsomadeyoufeeldeliciouslywarmafteryou’dswalloweditandeveryonewentstraighttosleep．

ItseemedtoLucyonlythenextminute（thoughreallyitwashoursandhourslater）whenshewokeupfeelingalittlecoldanddreadfullystiffandthinkinghowshewouldlikeahotbath．Thenshefeltasetoflongwhiskersticklinghercheekandsawthecolddaylightcominginthroughthemouthofthecave．Butimmediatelyafterthatshewasverywideawakeindeed，andsowaseveryoneelse．Infacttheywereallsittingupwiththeirmouthsandeyeswideopenlisteningtoasoundwhichwastheverysoundthey’dallbeenthinkingof（andsometimesimaginingtheyheard）duringtheirwalklastnight．Itwasasoundofjinglingbells．

Mr。Beaverwasoutofthecavelikeaflashthemomentheheardit．Perhapsyouthink，asLucythoughtforamoment，thatthiswasaverysillythingtodo？Butitwasreallyaverysensibleone。Heknewhecouldscrambletothetopofthebankamongbushesandbrambleswithoutbeingseen；andhewantedaboveallthingstoseewhichwaytheWitch’ssledgewent．Theothersallsatinthecavewaitingandwondering．Theywaitednearlyfiveminutes．Thentheyheardsomethingthatfrightenedthemverymuch．Theyheardvoices．“Oh，”thoughtLucy，“he’sbeenseen．She’scaughthim！”

Greatwastheirsurprisewhenalittlelater，theyheardMr。Beaver’svoicecallingtothemfromjustoutsidethecave．

“It’sallright，”hewasshouting．“Comeout，Mrs。Beaver。Comeout，SonsandDaughtersofAdam．It’sallright！Itisn’tHer！”Thiswasbadgrammarofcourse，butthatishowbeaverstalkwhentheyareexcited；Imean，inNarnia-inourworldtheyusuallydon’ttalkatall．

SoMrs。Beaverandthechildrencamebundlingoutofthecave，allblinkinginthedaylight，andwithearthalloverthem，andlookingveryfrowstyandunbrushedanduncombedandwiththesleepintheireyes．

“Comeon！”criedMr。Beaver，whowasalmostdancingwithdelight．“Comeandsee！ThisisanastyknockfortheWitch！Itlooksasifherpowerisalreadycrumbling．”

“Whatdoyoumean，Mr。Beaver？”pantedPeterastheyallscrambledupthesteepbankofthevalleytogether．

“Didn’tItellyou，”answeredMr。Beaver，“thatshe’dmadeitalwayswinterandneverChristmas？Didn’tItellyou？Well，justcomeandsee！”

Andthentheywereallatthetopanddidsee．

Itwasasledge，anditwasreindeerwithbellsontheirharness。ButtheywerefarbiggerthantheWitch’sreindeer，andtheywerenotwhitebutbrown．Andonthesledgesatapersonwhomeveryoneknewthemomenttheyseteyesonhim．Hewasahugeman．inabrightredrobe（brightashollyberries）withahoodthathadfurinsideitandagreatwhitebeard，thatfelllikeafoamywaterfalloverhischest．

Everyoneknewhimbecause，thoughyouseepeopleofhissortonlyinNarnia，youseepicturesofthemandhearthemtalkedabouteveninourworld-theworldonthissideofthewardrobedoor。ButwhenyoureallyseetheminNarniaitisratherdifferent。SomeofthepicturesofFatherChristmasinourworldmakehimlookonlyfunnyandjolly．Butnowthatthechildrenactuallystoodlookingathimtheydidn’tfinditquitelikethat．Hewassobig，andsoglad，andsoreal，thattheyallbecamequitestill．Theyfeltveryglad，butalsosolemn．

“I’vecomeatlast，”saidhe．“Shehaskeptmeoutforalongtime，butIhavegotinatlast．Aslanisonthemove．TheWitch’smagicisweakening．”

AndLucyfeltrunningthroughherthatdeepshiverofgladnesswhichyouonlygetifyouarebeingsolemnandstill．

“Andnow，”saidFatherChristmas，“foryourpresents．Thereisanewandbettersewingmachineforyou，Mrs。Beaver．Iwilldropitinyourhouseas，Ipass．”

“Ifyouplease，sir，”saidMrs。Beaver，makingacurtsey．“It’slockedup．”

“Locksandboltsmakenodifferencetome，”saidFatherChristmas．“Andasforyou，Mr。Beaver，whenyougethomeyouwillfindyourdamfinishedandmendedandalltheleaksstoppedandanewsluicegatefitted．”