《凱斯賓王子》第4章:凱斯賓王子的故事
PRINCE CASPIAN lived in a great castle in the centre of Narnia with his uncle, Miraz, the King of Narnia, and his aunt, who had red hair and was called Queen Prunaprismia. His father and mother were dead and the person whom Caspian loved best was his nurse, and though (being a prince) he had Wonderful toys which would do almost anything but talk, he liked best the last hour of the day when the toys had all been put back in their cupboards and Nurse would tell him stories.
He did not care much for his uncle and aunt, but about twice a week his uncle would send for him and they would walk up and down together for half an hour on the terrace at the south side of the castle. One day, while they were doing this, the King said to him,
"Well, boy, we must soon teach you to ride and use a sword. You know that your aunt and I have no children, so it looks as if you might have to be King when I'm gone. How shall you like that, eh?"
"I don't know, Uncle," said Caspian.
"Don't know, eh?" said Miraz. "Why, I should like to know what more anyone could wish for!"
"All the same, I do wish," said Caspian.
"What do you wish?" asked the King.
"I wish - I wish - I wish I could have lived in the Old Days," said Caspian. (He was only a very little boy at the time.)
Up till now King Miraz had been talking in the tiresome way that some grown-ups have, which makes it quite clear that they are not really interested in what you are saying, but now he suddenly gave Caspian a very sharp look.
"Eh? What's that?" he said. "What old days do you mean?"
"Oh, don't you know, Uncle?" said Caspian. "When everything was quite different. When all the animals could talk, and there were nice people who lived in the streams and the trees. Naiads and Dryads they were called. And there were Dwarfs. And there were lovely little Fauns in all the woods. They had feet like goats. And -"
"That's all nonsense, for babies," said the King sternly. "Only fit for babies, do you hear? You're getting too old for that sort of stuff. At your age you ought to be thinking of battles and adventures, not fairy tales."
"Oh, but there were battles and adventures in those days," said Caspian. "Wonderful adventures. Once there was a White Witch and she made herself Queen of the whole country. And she made it so that it was always winter. And then two boys and two girls came from somewhere and so they killed the Witch and they were made Kings and Queens of Narnia, and their names were Peter and Susan and Edmund and Lucy. And so they reigned for ever so long and everyone had a lovely time, and it was all because of Aslan -"
"Who's he?" said Miraz. And if Caspian had been a very little older, the tone of his uncle's voice would have warned him that it would be wiser to shut up. But he babbled on,
"Oh, don't you know?" he said. "Aslan is the great Lion who comes from over the sea."
"Who has been telling you all this nonsense?" said the King in a voice of thunder. Caspian was frightened and said nothing.
"Your Royal Highness," said King Miraz, letting go of Caspian's hand, which he had been holding till now, "I insist upon being answered. Look me in the face. Who has been telling you this pack of lies?"
"N - Nurse," faltered Caspian, and burst into tears.
"Stop that noise," said his uncle, taking Caspian by the shoulders and giving ham a shake. "Stop it. And never let me catch you talking - or thinking either - about all those silly stories again. There never were those Kings and Queens. How could there be two Kings at the same time? And there's no such person as Aslan. And there are no such things as lions. And there never was a time when animals could talk. Do you hear?"
"Yes, Uncle," sobbed Caspian.
"Then let's have no more of it," said the King. Then he called to one of the gentlemen-in-waiting who were standing at the far end of the terrace and said in a cold voice, "Conduct His Royal Highness to his apartments and send His Royal Highness's nurse to me AT ONCE."
Next day Caspian found what a terrible thing he had done, for Nurse had been sent away without even being allowed to say good-bye to him, and he was told he was to have a Tutor.
Caspian missed his nurse very much and shed many tears; and because he was so miserable, he thought about the old stories of Narnia far more than before. He dreamed of Dwarfs and Dryads every night and tried very hard to make the dogs and cats in the castle talk to him. But the dogs only wagged their tails and the cats only purred.
Caspian felt sure that he would hate the new Tutor, buy when the new Tutor arrived about a week later he turns out to be the sort of person it is almost impossible not to like. He was the smallest, and also the fattest, man Caspian had ever seen. He had a long, silvery, pointed beard which came down to his waist, and his face, which was brown and covered with wrinkles, looked very wise, very ugly, and very kind. His voice was grave and his eyes were merry so that, until you got to know him really well, it was hard to know when he was joking and when he was serious. His name was Doctor Cornelius.
Of all his lessons with Doctor Cornelius the one that Caspian liked best was History. Up till now, except for Nurse's stories, he had known nothing about the History of Narnia, and he was very surprised to learn that the royal family were newcomers in the country.
"It was your Highness's ancestor, Caspian the First," said Doctor Cornelius, "who first conquered Narnia and made it his kingdom. It was he who brought all your nation into the country. You are not native Narnians at all. You are all Telmarines - that is, you all came from the Land of Telmar, far beyond the Western Mountains. That is why Caspian the First is called Caspian the Conqueror."
"Please, Doctor," asked Caspian one day, "who lived in Narnia before we all came here out of Telmar?"
"No men - or very few - lived in Narnia before the Telmarines took it," said Doctor Cornelius.
"Then who did my great-great-grandcesters conquer?"
"Whom, not who, your Highness," said Doctor Cornelius. "Perhaps it is time to turn from History to Grammar."
"Oh please, not yet!" said Caspian.
"I mean, wasn't there a battle? Why is he called Caspian the Conqueror if there was nobody to fight with him?"
"I said there were very few men in Narnia," said the Doctor, looking at the little boy very strangely through his great spectacles.
For a moment Caspian was puzzled and then suddenly his heart gave a leap. "Do you mean," he gasped, "that there were other things? Do you mean it was like in the stories? Were there-?"
"Hush!" said Doctor Cornelius, laying his head very close to Caspian's. "Not a word more. Don't you know your Nurse was sent away for telling you about Old Narnia? The King doesn't like it. If he found me telling you secrets, you'd be whipped and I should have my head cut off."
"But why?" asked Caspian.
"1t is high time we turned to Grammar now," said Doctor Cornelius in a loud voice. "Will your Royal Highness be pleased to open Pulverulentus Siccus at the fourth page of his Grammatical garden or the Arbour of Accidence pleasantlie open'd to Tender Wits?"
After that it was all nouns and verbs till lunchtime, but I don't think Caspian learned much. He was too excited. He felt sure that Doctor Cornelius would not have said so much unless he meant to tell him more sooner or later.
In this he was not disappointed. A few days later his Tutor said, "Tonight I am going to give you a lesson in Astronomy. At dead of night two noble planets, Tarva and Alambil, will pass within one degree of each other. Such a conjunction has not occurred for two hundred years, and your Highness will not live to see it again. It will be best if you go to bed a little earlier than usual. When the time of the conjunction draws near I will come and wake you."
This didn't seem to have anything to do with Old Narnia, which was what Caspian really wanted to hear about, but getting up in the middle of the night is always interesting and he was moderately pleased. When he went to bed that night, he thought at first that he would not be able to sleep; but he soon dropped off and it seemed only a few minutes before he felt someone gently shaking him.
He sat up in bed and saw that the room was full of moonlight. Doctor Cornelius, muffled in a hooded robe and holding a small lamp in his hand, stood by the bedside.
Caspian remembered at once what they were going to do. He got up and put on some clothes. Athough it was a summer night he felt colder than he had expected and was quite glad when the Doctor wrapped him in a robe like his own and gave him a pair of warm, soft buskins for his feet. A moment later, both muffled so that they could hardly be seen in the dark corridors, and both shod so that they made almost no noise, master and pupil left the room.
Caspian followed the Doctor through many passages and up several staircases, and at last, through a little door in a turret, they came out upon the leads. On one side were the battlements, on the other a steep roof; below them, all shadowy and shimmery, the castle gardens; above them, stars and moon. Presently they came to another door, which led into the great central tower of the whole castle: Doctor Cornelius unlocked it and they began to climb the dark winding stair of the tower. Caspian was becoming excited; he had never been allowed up this stair before.
It was long and steep, but when they came out on the roof of the tower and Caspian had got his breath, he felt that it had been well worth it. Away on his right he could see, rather indistinctly, the Western Mountains. On his left was the gleam of the Great River, and everything was so quiet that he could hear the sound of the waterfall at Beaversdam, a mile away. There was no difficulty in picking out the two stars they had come to see. They hung rather low in the southern sky, almost as bright as two little moons and very close together.
"Are they going to have a collision?" he asked in an awestruck voice.
"Nay, dear Prince," said the Doctor (and he too spoke in a whisper). "The great lords of the upper sky know the steps of their dance too well for that. Look well upon them. Their meeting is fortunate and means some great good for the sad realm of Narnia. Tarva, the Lord of Victory, salutes Alambil, the Lady of Peace. They are just coming to their nearest."
"It's a pity that tree gets in the way," said Caspian. "We'd really see better from the West Tower, though it is not so high."
Doctor Cornelius said nothing for about two minutes, but stood still with his eyes fixed on Tarva and Alambil. Then he drew a deep breath and turned to Caspian.
"There," he said. "You have seen what no man now alive has seen, nor will see again. And you are right. We should have seen it even better from the smaller tower. I brought you here for another reason."
Caspian looked up at him, but the Doctor's hood concealed most of his face.
"The virtue of this tower," said Doctor Cornelius, "is that we have six empty rooms beneath us, and a long stair, and the door at the bottom of the stair is locked. We cannot be overheard."
"Are you going to tell me what you wouldn't tell me the other day?" said Caspian.
"I am," said the Doctor. "But remember. You and I must never talk about these things except here - on the very top of the Great Tower."
"No. That's a promise," said Caspian. "But do go on, please."
"Listen," said the Doctor. "All you have heard about Old Narnia is true. It is not the land of Men. It is the country of Aslan, the country of the Waking Trees and Visible Naiads, of Fauns and Satyrs, of Dwarfs and Giants, of the gods and the Centaurs, of Talking Beasts. It was against these that the first Caspian fought. It is you Telmarines who silenced the beasts and the trees and the fountains, and who killed and drove away the Dwarfs and Fauns, and are now trying to cover up even the memory of them. The King does not allow them to be spoken of."
"Oh, I do wish we hadn't," said Caspian. "And I am glad it was all true, even if it is all over."
"Many of your race wish that in secret," said Doctor Cornelius.
"But, Doctor," said Caspian, "why do you say my race? After all, I suppose you're a Telmarine too."
"Am I?" said the Doctor.
"Well, you're a Man anyway," said Caspian.
"Am I?" repeated the Doctor in a deeper voice, at the same moment throwing back his hood so that Caspian could see his face clearly in the moonlight.
All at once Caspian realized the truth and felt that he ought to have realized it long before. Doctor Cornelius was so small, and so fat, and had such a very long beard. Two thoughts came into his head at the same moment. One was a thought of terror - "He's not a real man, not a man at all, he's a Dwarf, and he's brought me up here to kill me." The other was sheer delight - "There are real Dwarfs still, and I've seen one at last."
"So you've guessed it in the end," said Doctor Cornelius. "Or guessed it nearly right. I'm not a pure Dwarf. I have human blood in me too. Many Dwarfs escaped in the great battles and lived on, shaving their beards and wearing highheeled shoes and pretending to be men. They have mixed with your Telmarines. I am one of those, only a halfDwarf, and if any of my kindred, the true Dwarfs, are still alive anywhere in the world, doubtless they would despise me and call me a traitor. But never in all these years have we forgotten our own people and all the other happy creatures of Narnia, and the long-lost days of freedom."
"I'm - I'm sorry, Doctor," said Caspian. "It wasn't my fault, you know."
"I am not saying these things in blame of you, dear Prince," answered the Doctor. "You may well ask why I say them at all. But I have two reasons. Firstly, because my old heart has carried these secret memories so long that it aches with them and would burst if I did not whisper them to you. But secondly, for this: that when you become King you may help us, for I know that you also, Telmarine though you are, love the Old Things."
"I do, I do," said Caspian. "But how can I help?"
"You can be kind to the poor remnants of the Dwarf people, like myself. You can gather learned magicians and try to find a way of awaking the trees once more. You can search through all the nooks and wild places of the land to see if any Fauns or Talking Beasts or Dwarfs are perhaps still alive in hiding."
"Do you think there are any?" asked Caspian eagerly.
"I don't know - I don't know," said the Doctor with a deep sigh. "Sometimes I am afraid there can't be. I have been looking for traces of them all my life. Sometimes I have thought I heard a Dwarf-drum in the mountains. Sometimes at night, in the woods, I thought I had caught a glimpse of Fauns and Satyrs dancing a long way off; but when I came to the place, there was never anything there. I have often despaired; but something always happens to start me hoping again. I don't know. But at least you can try to be a King like the High King Peter of old, and not like your uncle."
"Then it's true about the Kings and Queens too, and about the White Witch?" said Caspian.
"Certainly it is true," said Cornelius. "Their reign was the Golden Age in Narnia and the land has never forgotten them."
"Did they live in this castle, Doctor?"
"Nay, my dear," said the old man. "This castle is a thing of yesterday. Your great-great-grandfather built it. But when the two sons of Adam and the two daughters of Eve were made Kings and Queens of Narnia by Aslan himself, they lived in the castle of Cair Paravel. No man alive has seen that blessed place and perhaps even the ruins of it have now vanished. But we believe it was far from here, down at the mouth of the Great River, on the very shore of the sea."
"Ugh!" said Caspian with a shudder. "Do you mean in the Black Woods? Where all the - the - you know, the ghosts live?"
"Your Highness speaks as you have been taught," said the Doctor. "But it is all lies. There are no ghosts there. That is a story invented by the Telmarines. Your Kings are in deadly fear of the sea because they can never quite forget that in all stories Aslan comes from over the sea. They don't want to go near it and they don't want anyone else to go near it. So they have let great woods grow up to cut their people off from the coast. But because they have quarrelled with the trees they are afraid of the woods. And because they are afraid of the woods they imagine that they are full of ghosts. And the Kings and great men, hating both the sea and the wood, partly believe these stories, and partly encourage them. They feel safer if no one in Narnia dares to go down to the coast and look out to sea towards Aslan's land and the morning and the eastern end of the world."
There was a deep silence between them for a few minutes. Then Doctor Cornelius said, "Come. We have been here long enough. It is time to go down and to bed."
"Must we?" said Caspian. "I'd like to go on talking about these things for hours and hours and hours."
"Someone might begin looking for us, if we did that," said Doctor Cornelius.
叔父對凱斯賓的成長似乎並不十分在意，不過每週兩次喚他去陽臺上散半個鐘頭的步。一天，當叔侄倆散步閒談時，叔父突然對他說
"孩子，我打算派人教你騎馬和擊劍。你知道，我和你的嬸嬸沒有孩子。看來，我過世以後，多半要由你繼承王位。你一定非常開心吧！嗯？"
"不知道，叔父。"凱斯賓回答說。
"不知道'！"彌若茲感到很意外，"那麼，我倒要問問看，一個人除此之外，還想要些什麼？"
"叔父，我的確有一個希望。"凱斯賓認真地說。
"什麼希望？"
"我希望……我希望……我希望生活在過去的日子裏。"(別忘了，小王子這時還只是個年幼的孩子。
到現在爲止，國王一直是用一種成年人的令人討厭的腔調跟他談話，這表明他對談話並無興趣，然而這時他突然向凱斯賓投來非常銳利的一瞥。
"嗯？怎麼回事？"他說，"什麼過去的日子？"
"咦，你不知道，叔父？"凱斯賓睜大了眼睛，"那時候，所有一切與現在全不一樣——動物都會講話，有善良的水族仙女和林中仙女：小矮人和那些非常可愛的小羊怪，還有……
"那全是胡說八道，是哄小孩的！”國王嚴厲地呵斥道，"只能講給小娃娃聽，你聽見沒有？你已經長大了，不該再信這些胡言亂語。在你這樣的年齡，你應該對戰鬥和探險感興趣，而不是這類無稽之談。"
"哦，可是那古老的年代裏，也有戰鬥和探險呀！”凱斯賓不服氣地說，"那是多麼奇妙的經歷！那時候，曾經有一個白女巫，她自封爲納尼亞國的女王，用魔法使整個納尼亞只有寒冷的冬天，沒有明媚的春天。後來，從什麼地方來了兩個男孩和兩個女孩，他們殺了那女巫，成爲納尼亞的國王和女王，他們叫彼得、蘇珊、愛德蒙和露茜。他們統治多年，人民過着非常幸福的生活，而這一切又全都離不開阿斯蘭……
"它是誰？"彌若茲厲聲問道。假如凱斯賓的年齡再稍微大一點兒，他無疑會從叔父的語調中有所警覺，馬上識相地閉上嘴巴。可是，他繼續講了下去。
"怎麼，難道你不知道？阿斯蘭是隻獅子，偉大的神靈，正義的化身。"
"你從誰那裏聽來這些鬼話的？"
國王怒氣衝衝地說，並抓起凱斯賓的手。凱斯賓有些害怕了，閉着嘴沒有回答。
"尊貴的王子隆下，"國王彌若茲放開了凱斯賓的手，"你必須回答我！看着我的臉。是誰在向你講這些謊話？"
"保……保姆。"凱斯賓十分躊躇地說，眼淚一下涌了出來。
"聽着！"叔父緊緊抓住他的肩頭，使勁搖了一下，"不許哭！再也不要讓我聽到你談論那些愚蠢的故事，連想都不許想l那些什麼國王和女王，根本就不存在！怎麼可能同時有兩個國王、兩個女王？而且根本就沒有獅子阿斯蘭之類的東西，更不會有什麼說話的動物。你聽見沒有？"
"是的，叔父。"凱斯賓抽泣着說。
"好了，我們別談這些了。"國王打個手勢，恭候在陽臺另一端的侍從快步走過來。國王威嚴地吩咐道：”把王子殿下送回他的房間去，再把他的保姆給我帶來。"
第二天，凱斯賓才發現自己做了一件多麼可怕的事情，保姆被送走了，連向王子說一聲"再見"都不準。他還聽說，他馬上會有一位家庭教師。
凱斯賓非常懷念慈祥的保姆，爲此他還哭過好多次。不知爲什麼，古老納尼亞的故事反而更爲頻繁地出現在他的腦海中。他每天夜裏都夢到小矮人和林中仙女，還有那些會說話的動物，白天便想方設法要讓城堡裏的貓狗們開口和他說話。可是，那些狗只會搖尾巴，貓也只會衝着他咪咪叫。
凱斯賓深信未來的家庭教師一定非常討厭。出乎意料的是，一個禮拜後，當那家庭教師出現在他面前時，凱斯賓發現他竟然非常討人喜歡。他是凱斯賓見過的最矮也最肥胖的人，長長的鬍子一直垂到肚子上。他那張棕色的臉上佈滿了皺紋，雖然長得很醜，但和善的眼睛裏充滿了智慧。他的聲音十分莊重，他的眼睛卻時常閃爍着詼諧的笑意，所以在對他十分熟悉之前，你很難判斷出他什麼時候是在開玩笑，什麼時候卻是頂認真的。他叫克奈爾斯博士.
在克奈爾斯博士講授的所有課程中，凱斯賓最喜歡的莫過於歷史課了。迄今爲止，除了保姆的那些故事以外，他對納尼亞的歷史一無所知。當教授講到皇族是如何遷移到納尼亞併成爲統治者的時候，他感到驚訝萬分。
"那是殿下的祖先，凱斯賓一世，"克奈爾斯博士緩緩地說，"他第一個征服了納尼亞，併成爲那裏的國王。把你們整個民族帶到納尼亞來的就是他。你們並不是真正的納尼亞人，你們都是臺爾馬人，來自西部大山那邊十分遙遠的臺爾馬國。正是爲了這個緣故，凱斯賓一世被稱爲征服者凱斯賓。"
"請問，博士，"有一天凱斯賓問，"我們從臺爾馬國來到這兒以前，什麼人住在納尼亞？"
“沒有有人類，或者說極少有人在臺爾馬人之前來過納尼亞。"克奈爾斯博士說。
"那麼我的祖先征服的是誰呢？”
"王子殿下，"克奈爾斯博士有意換了個話題，"好像我們該結束歷史課，開始學習語法了。"
"噢，求求你，再等一會兒！"凱斯賓懇求道，"請告訴我，難道沒有經歷戰爭嗎？要是這裏沒人和他打仗，爲什麼稱他爲征服者凱斯賓？"
"我剛纔說了，那時在納尼亞很少有人類。"博士說着，透過眼鏡用一種奇怪的眼神望着這個小男孩。
開始凱斯賓感到有些迷惑不解，但他的心馬上劇烈地跳了起來。"這麼說，"他急切地問，"還有其他的生靈？就像故事裏講的那樣？有……”
"噓！"克奈爾斯博士把頭湊向凱斯賓，"不要再說了，你難道不知道，你的保姆就是因爲給你講了古代納尼亞的故事而被打發走了？國王不喜歡這個。假如他發現我對你講這些祕密，你會受到鞭苔，而我就會被殺頭。"
"那爲什麼？"凱斯賓問。
"咱們真的該開始學習語法了，"克奈爾斯博士高聲說，"請王子殿下翻開《語法解析》第四頁，語法園地或趣味語法點滴及語言的結構和妙用。"
打這以後，直到吃午飯，老師講的全是名詞呀、動詞呀等等。可我們的小凱斯賓並沒有聽進去多少。他太激動了。他深信克奈爾斯博士要對他講的並不止這些，他遲早會告訴自己更多的事情.
王子沒有失望。幾天以後，他的家庭教師對他說"今天晚上我要給你上天文課，在深夜時分，兩顆神聖的行星塔瓦和阿拉姆畢爾將在相距一度左右的位置上相遇而過。這種現象已經兩百年沒有發生過了，王子殿下今生也不會再見到了，最好你今晚早些上牀，兩星相遇之前我會來叫醒你的。"
這和古代納尼亞似乎並沒有什麼關係，凱斯賓真正想要知道的並不是這個。可不管怎麼說，半夜起牀總是件新鮮事，他感到十分高興。他原以爲會興奮得睡不着覺，可實際上很快就進入了夢鄉。不過，好像才睡了不過幾分鐘，便感到有人輕輕地在推他。
他從牀上坐起來，看到屋子裏灑滿了銀色的月光，克奈爾斯博士身上裹着一件帶頭罩的大斗篷，手裏提着一盞燈，站在牀邊。凱斯賓馬上清醒過來，他一骨碌爬起身，開始穿衣服。儘管這是夏天，他仍感到出乎意料的涼意。博士給他披上一件同樣的斗篷，又幫他穿上一雙溫暖輕便的高筒靴。有了斗篷和靴子，在黑暗的過道里就不容易被人看見，而且走起來一點兒聲音都沒有。就這樣，他們倆離開了房間。
也不知穿過了多少走廊，爬了多少樓梯，最後經過塔樓的一扇小門，他們終於來到外面的平臺上。從這裏朝下看，是幽暗的城堡花園，擡頭望去，是一輪明月和滿天的星斗。他們快步走向另一扇門，這門通向城堡中心巨大的高塔。克奈爾斯博士打開鎖，領着凱斯賓沿塔內的旋轉樓梯向上爬去。凱斯賓開始興奮起來，以前是從來不許他爬這樓梯的。
樓梯很長，也很陡。爬到塔頂時，凱斯賓已是氣喘吁吁。
但他馬上發現再累些也值得。向右邊極目望去，山巒重重，依稀可見：左邊則有一條大河，蜿蜒而去。此時萬籟俱寂，凱斯賓甚至聽得見一英里外海狸大壩的水聲。分辨那兩顆他們想看的星星似乎並非難事它們低垂在南方，明亮得就像小小的月亮，而且相距非常近。
"它們會撞在一起嗎？"凱斯賓對那無垠的宇宙感到神奇莫測，於是不安地問。
"不會的，親愛的王子，"博士輕聲地說，"蒼天那些偉大的星宿太熟悉它們的舞步了，怎麼會相撞呢。你好好地看着吧，它們的聚會是吉祥的，會給苦難的納尼亞帶來巨大的幸福。看啊，勝利之神塔瓦在向和平女神阿拉姆畢爾致敬了，看——它們就要到相距最近的位置了！”
足有兩分鐘克奈爾斯博士一言不發，像一尊雕像矗立在那裏，凝視着塔瓦和阿拉姆畢爾。然後，他深深吐了一口氣，轉向凱斯賓。
"極少有人看到這一奇景，王子殿下是幸運的。現在，我想說的是，我帶你到這裏來，還有另外一個原因。"
凱斯賓揚起頭來望着他，可是博士的斗篷帽子把他的臉遮住了一大半。
"我之所以選擇這個地方，"克奈爾斯博士說，"是因爲我們下面有六間空房子，還有一個長長的樓梯，而且樓梯底下的小門已經上了鎖，沒有人能偷聽我們講話。"
"你是不是要告訴我那天你不肯講的事情？"凱斯賓一下子激動起來。
"是的，"博士說，"可是記住，我們絕不可以隨便談論這類事情——除非在這裏。"
"好的，就這麼說定了。"凱斯賓使勁兒點點頭，"你快接着往下說呀！”
"聽着，"博士說，"你所聽到有關納尼亞的每一個傳說都是真實的，納尼亞原本不是人類的領土，它屬於偉大的阿斯蘭。在這個國家裏，有神志清醒的大樹，有機靈活潑的水中仙女，有羊怪，有森林之神、小矮人和巨人，有海狸和人頭馬，還有許多其他會講話的動物。與凱斯賓一世戰鬥的就是它們。正是你們臺爾馬人，使得所有這些生靈、樹木和流水都變得沉默不語，是你們屠殺並趕走了小矮人和羊怪，現在甚至想把這一切永遠地從人們的記憶中抹掉。想想看，國王爲什麼不允許人們提起這些往事？"
"噢，我多麼希望我的祖先沒有做過那些傷天害理的事情啊！”凱斯賓說，"但使我高興的是所有那些傳說都是真的，儘管它們都已經成爲過去。"
"你的同胞們同樣在暗地裏反對你們祖先所做過的那些事情。"克奈爾斯博士說。
"可是，博士，"凱斯賓問，"你爲什麼說’我的同胞'？你自己不也是臺爾馬人嗎？""
"我像嗎？"
"不管怎樣，咱們是同類呀！”
"是嗎？"博士用更加深沉的聲音重複着，同時把他斗篷上的帽子掀到腦後。於是，凱斯賓藉着月光清楚地看到了他的臉。
凱斯賓恍然大悟——怎麼沒能早些發現這個事實呢|克奈爾斯博士身材那麼矮小，又那麼胖，還有那麼又長又密的鬍子。他的腦子裏一下閃出兩個念頭。"眼前的這個克奈爾斯博士是個小矮人，他把我帶到這裏來，是想要殺掉我。"想到這裏，他禁不住有點害怕。另一個念頭倒很令人高興"果然有小矮人活了下來，我終於親眼見到了一個。"
"我想你終於已經明白是怎麼回事了吧，"克奈爾斯博士說，"或者，你猜着了。我不是純種小矮人，我身上也有人類的血液。許多小矮人戰後倖存了下來，爲了繼續生存，他們剃掉鬍鬚，穿上高底靴子，裝成人的模樣，與你們臺爾馬人混在一起，我就是其中的一個，只是個半小矮人。假如我的同胞——純種小矮人——還活在世上的話，他們一定會看不起我的，他們會叫我’叛徒'。可是，這麼多年來，我一刻也沒有忘記我的同胞，以及納尼亞那些愉快的生靈，還有那自由自在的生活。"
"我……我很抱歉，博士，"凱斯賓說，"可那不是我的過錯，你知道。"
"我講這些並沒有責備你的意思，親愛的王子，"博士答道，"你倒是應該問一問，我爲什麼要對你講這些。我有兩個理由。第一，我這顆衰老的心把這些祕密藏得實在太久了，久得使它隱隱作痛，我要是不悄悄地對你講出來，我就要憋死了！第二，我希望當你成爲國王時，你能幫助我們，因爲我深信你雖然是一個臺爾馬人，但你同樣熱愛過去的一切。
"當然，當然啦，"凱斯賓連連點頭，"可是我能做些什麼呢？"
"你可以仁慈地對待小矮人家族那些可憐的倖存者：你可以召集那些有學問的魔法師，想辦法找到一個重新喚醒樹神的祕訣：你可以找遍這塊國土上的每一個角落，看是不是還有羊怪、會講話的動物和小矮人。他們可能藏在什麼地方默默地生存着。"
"你真的以爲在這世上還能找到他們的蹤跡嗎？"凱斯賓熱切地問。
"我不知道……不知道，"博士深深地嘆了一口氣，"有時候我也懷疑他們是否還存在，我一生都在尋找他們的蹤跡。有時我好像聽到了山中小矮人們的鼓聲：有時，在夜裏，在森林中，我好像看到了羊怪和林中仙女在遠遠的地方跳舞。可是，當我走過去時，那兒卻空空蕩蕩，什麼也沒有了。我總是感到失望，可隨後又不斷有類似的事情發生，燃起我心中的希望之火。我也不知道究竟這世上還有沒有他們存在，可是至少你可以努力做一位像古代彼得國王那樣的賢明君主，可不要學你的叔父。"
"這麼說，關於國王和女王的傳說也是真的啦？還有那白女巫的故事？"凱斯賓問。
"當然，那都是真的，"克奈爾斯說，"那是納尼亞的黃金時代，這塊土地永遠不會忘記他們。"
"那時他們就住在這座城堡裏嗎，博士？"
"不，我親愛的孩子，"老人說，"這座城堡只是近些年你曾祖父修建的。當阿斯蘭加封亞當的兩個兒子和夏娃的兩個女兒爲國王和女王之後，他們就一直住在凱爾帕拉維爾城堡，沒人見過那神聖的地方，或許就連它的廢墟現在也找不到了。可是，我們相信那地方離這兒十分遙遠，在大河入海之處。"
"啊！"凱斯賓吃了一驚，"你是說在那’黑樹林'裏？那個到處都住着鬼的地方？"
王子殿下，看來有人曾經向你講過一些謊話，"博士說，"那裏根本就沒有鬼，那是臺爾馬人編出來的一派胡言。你們的國王們對那大海怕得要命，因爲他們總也忘不掉有關過去的傳說中，都少不了阿斯蘭會從海外歸來，懲處邪惡，伸張正義。他們自己不敢走近大海，也不希望其他任何人走近它。因此，他們任那裏長起茂密的森林，好把他們的人民與海岸隔開。由於和樹神的衝突，他們害怕森林，所以他們想象出那裏到處都是鬼魂。歷代國王和那些大臣們，由於仇視、懼怕大海和森林，就編造了這些謊言，如果誰都不敢到海邊去看大海，去遙望阿斯蘭的土地和東方初升的太陽，他們就會感到安全一些。"
他倆在寂靜中默默地站了好一會兒，還是克奈爾斯博士先說話"哦，咱們在這兒待的時間不短了，該下去睡覺了。"
"一定要走嗎？"凱斯賓有些依依不捨，"我真想多談一會兒。"
"天快亮了，當心別人發現並四處尋找我們。"克奈爾斯博士說。
