WHAT made Scrubb look so dingy (and Jill too, if she could only have seen herself) was the splendour of their surroundings. I had better describe them at once.
Through a cleft in those mountains which Jill had seen far inland as she approached the land, the sunset light was pouring over a level lawn. On the far side of the lawn, its weather-vanes glittering in the light, rose a many-towered and many-turreted castle; the most beautiful castle Jill had ever seen. On the near side was a quay of white marble and, moored to this, the ship: a tall ship with high forecastle and high poop, gilded and crimson, with a great flag at the mast-head, and many banners waving from the decks, and a row of shields, bright as silver, along the bulwarks. The gang-plank was laid to her, and at the foot of it, just ready to go on board, stood an old, old man. He wore a rich mantle of scarlet which opened in front to show his silver mail shirt. There was a thin circlet of gold on his head. His beard, white as wool, fell nearly to his waist. He stood straight enough, leaning one hand on the shoulder of a richly dressed lord who seemed younger than himself: but you could see he was very old and frail. He looked as if a puff of wind could blow him away, and his eyes were watery.
Immediately in front of the King - who had turned round to speak to his people before going on board the ship - there was a little chair on wheels, and, harnessed to it, a little donkey: not much bigger than a big retriever. In this chair sat a fat little dwarf. He was as richly dressed as the King, but because of his fatness and because he was sitting hunched up among cushions, the effect was quite different: it made him look like a shapeless little bundle of fur and silk and velvet. He was as old as the King, but more hale and hearty, with very keen eyes. His bare head, which was bald and extremely large, shone like a gigantic billiard ball in the sunset light.
Farther back, in a half-circle, stood what Jill at once knew to be the courtiers. They were well worth looking at for their clothes and armour alone. As far as that went, they looked more like a flower-bed than a crowd. But what really made Jill open her eyes and mouth as wide as they would go, was the people themselves. If "people" was the right word. For only about one in every five was human. The rest were things you never see in our world. Fauns, satyrs, centaurs: Jill could give a name to these, for she had seen pictures of them. Dwarfs too. And there were a lot of animals she knew as well; bears, badgers, moles, leopards, mice, and various birds. But then they were so very different from the animals which one called by the same names in England. Some of them were much bigger - the mice, for instance, stood on their hind legs and were over two feet high. But quite apart from that, they all looked different. You could see by the expression in their faces that they could talk and think just as well as you could.
"Golly!" thought Jill. "So it's true after all." But next moment she added, "I wonder are they friendly?" For she had just noticed, on the outskirts of the crowd, one or two giants and some people whom she couldn't give a name to at all.
At that moment Aslan and the signs rushed back into her mind. She had forgotten all about them for the last half-hour.
"Scrubb!" she whispered, grabbing his arm. "Scrubb, quick! Do you see anyone you know?"
"So you've turned up again, have you?" said Scrubb disagreeably (for which he had some reason). "Well, keep quiet, can't you? I want to listen."
"Don't be a fool," said Jill. "There isn't a moment to lose. Don't you see some old friend here? Because you've got to go and speak to him at once."
"What are you talking about?" said Scrubb.
"It's Aslan - the Lion - says you've got to," said Jill despairingly. "I've seen him."
"Oh, you have, have you? What did he say?"
"He said the very first person you saw in Narnia would be an old friend, and you'd got to speak to him at once."
"Well, there's nobody here I've ever seen in my life before; and anyway, I don't know whether this is Narnia."
"Thought you said you'd been here before," said Jill.
"Well, you thought wrong then."
"Well, I like that! You told me -"
"For heaven's sake dry up and let's hear what they're saying."
The King was speaking to the Dwarf, but Jill couldn't hear what he said. And, as far as she could make out, the Dwarf made no answer, though he nodded and wagged his head a great deal. Then the King raised his voice and addressed the whole court: but his voice was so old and cracked that she could understand very little of his speech - especially since it was all about people and places she had never heard of. When the speech was over, the King stooped down and kissed the Dwarf on both cheeks, straightened himself, raised his right hand as if in blessing, and went, slowly and with feeble steps, up the gangway and on board the ship. The courtiers appeared to be greatly moved by his departure. Handkerchiefs were got out, sounds of sobbing were heard in every direction. The gangway was cast off, trumpets sounded from the poop, and the ship moved away from the quay. (It was being towed by a rowing-boat, but Jill didn't see that.)
"Now -" said Scrubb, but he didn't get any farther, because at that moment a large white object - Jill thought for a second that it was a kite - came gliding through the air and alighted at his feet. It was a white owl, but so big that it stood as high as a good-sized dwarf.
It blinked and peered as if it were short-sighted, and put its head a little on one side, and said in a soft, hooting kind of voice:
"Tu-whoo, tu-whoo! Who are you two?"
"My name's Scrubb, and this is Pole," said Eustace. "Would you mind telling us where we are?"
"In the land of Narnia, at the King's castle of Cair Paravel."
"Is that the King who's just taken ship?"
"Too true, too true," said the Owl sadly, shaking its big head. "But who are you? There's something magic about you two. I saw you arrive: you flew. Everyone else was so busy seeing the King off that nobody knew. Except me. I happened to notice you, you flew."
"We were sent here by Aslan," said Eustace in a low voice.
"Tu-whoo, tu-whoo!" said the Owl, ruffling out its feathers. "This is almost too much for me, so early in the evening. I'm not quite myself till the sun's down."
"And we've been sent to find the lost Prince," said Jill, who had been anxiously waiting to get into the conversation.
"It's the first I've heard about it," said Eustace. "What prince?"
"You had better come and speak to the Lord Regent at once," it said. "That's him, over there in the donkey carriage; Trumpkin the Dwarf." The bird turned and began leading the way, muttering to itself, "Whoo! Tu-whoo! What a to-do! I can't think clearly yet. It's too early."
"What is the King's name?" asked Eustace.
"Caspian the Tenth," said the Owl. And Jill wondered why Scrubb had suddenly pulled up short in his walk and turned an extraordinary colour. She thought she had never seen him look so sick about anything. But before she had time to ask any questions they had reached the dwarf, who was just gathering up the reins of his donkey and preparing to drive back to the castle. The crowd of courtiers had broken up and were going in the same direction, by ones and twos and little knots, like people coming away from watching a game or a race.
"Tu-whoo! Ahem! Lord Regent," said the Owl, stooping down a little and holding its beak near the Dwarf's ear.
"Heh? What's that?" said the Dwarf.
"Two strangers, my lord," said the Owl.
"Rangers! What d'ye mean?" said the Dwarf. "I see two uncommonly grubby man-cubs. What do they want?"
"My name's Jill," said Jill, pressing forward. She was very eager to explain the important business on which they had come.
"The girl's called Jill," said the Owl, as loud as it could.
"What's that?" said the Dwarf. "The girls are all killed! I don't believe a word of it. What girls? Who killed 'em?"
"Only one girl, my lord," said the Owl. "Her name is Jill."
"Speak up, speak up," said the Dwarf. "Don't stand there buzzing and twittering in my ear. Who's been killed?"
"Nobody's been killed," hooted the Owl.
"Who?"
"NOBODY."
"All right, all right. You needn't shout. I'm not so deaf as all that. What do you mean by coming here to tell me that nobody's been killed? Why should anyone have been killed?"
"Better tell him I'm Eustace," said Scrubb.
"The boy's Eustace, my lord," hooted the Owl as loud as it could.
"Useless?" said the Dwarf irritably. "I dare say he is. Is that any reason for bringing him to court? Hey?"
"Not useless," said the Owl. "EUSTACE."
"Used to it, is he? I don't know what you're talking about, I'm sure. I tell you what it is, Master Glimfeather; when I was a young Dwarf there used to be talking beasts and birds in this country who really could talk. There wasn't all this mumbling and muttering and whispering. It wouldn't have been tolerated for a moment. Not for a moment, Sir. Urnus, my trumpet please -"
A little Faun who had been standing quietly beside the Dwarf's elbow all this time now handed him a silver eartrumpet. It was made like the musical instrument called a serpent, so that the tube curled right round the Dwarf's neck. While he was getting it settled the Owl, Glimfeather, suddenly said to the children in a whisper:
"My brain's a bit clearer now. Don't say anything about the lost Prince. I'll explain later. It wouldn't do, wouldn't do, Tu-Whoo! Oh what a to-do!"
"Now," said the Dwarf, "if you have anything sensible to say, Master Glimfeather, try and say it. Take a deep breath and don't attempt to speak too quickly."
With help from the children, and in spite of a fit of coughing on the part of the Dwarf, Glimfeather explained that the strangers had been sent by Aslan to visit the court of Narnia. The Dwarf glanced quickly up at them with a new expression in his eyes.
"Sent by the Lion Himself, hey?" he said. "And from m'm - from that other Place - beyond the world's end, hey?"
"Yes, my lord," bawled Eustace into the trumpet.
"Son of Adam and Daughter of Eve, hey?" said the Dwarf. But people at Experiment House haven't heard of Adam and Eve, so Jill and Eustace couldn't answer this. But the Dwarf didn't seem to notice.
"Well, my dears," he said, taking first one and then the other by the hand and bowing his head a little. "You are very heartily welcome. If the good King, my poor Master, had not this very hour set sail for Seven Isles, he would have been glad of your coming. It would have brought back his youth to him for a moment - for a moment. And now, it is high time for supper. You shall tell me your business in full council tomorrow morning. Master Glimfeather, see that bedchambers and suitable clothes and all else are provided for these guests in the most honourable fashion. And - Glimfeather - in your ear -"
Here the Dwarf put his mouth close to the Owl's head and, no doubt, intended to whisper: but, like other deaf people, he wasn't a very good judge of his own voice, and both children heard him say, "See that they're properly washed."
After that, the Dwarf touched up his donkey and it set off towards the castle at something between a trot and a waddle (it was a very fat little beast), while the Faun, the Owl, and the children followed at a rather slower pace. The sun had set and the air was growing cool.
They went across the lawn and then through an orchard and so to the North Gate of Cair Paravel, which stood wide open. Inside, they found a grassy courtyard. Lights were already showing from the windows of the great hall on their right and from a more complicated mass of buildings straight ahead. Into these the Owl led them, and there a most delightful person was called to look after Jill. She was not much taller than Jill herself, and a good deal slenderer, but obviously full grown, graceful as a willow, and her hair was willowy too, and there seemed to be moss in it. She brought Jill to a round room in one of the turrets, where there was a little bath sunk in the floor and a fire of sweet-smelling woods burning on the flat hearth and a lamp hanging by a silver chain from the vaulted roof. The window looked west into the strange land of Narnia, and Jill saw the red remains of the sunset still glowing behind distant mountains. It made her long for more adventures and feel sure that this was only the beginning.
When she had had her bath, and brushed her hair, and put on the clothes that had been laid out for her - they were the kind that not only felt nice, but looked nice and smelled nice and made nice sounds when you moved as well - she would have gone back to gaze out of that exciting window, but she was interrupted by a bang on the door.
"Come in," said Jill. And in came Scrubb, also bathed and splendidly dressed in Narnian clothes. But his face didn't look as if he were enjoying it.
"Oh, here you are at last," he said crossly, flinging himself into a chair. "I've been trying to find you for ever so long."
"Well, now you have," said Jill. "I say, Scrubb, isn't it all simply too exciting and scrumptious for words." She had forgotten all about the signs and the lost Prince for the moment.
"Oh! That's what you think, is it?" said Scrubb: and then, after a pause, "I wish to goodness we'd never come."
"Why on earth?"
"I can't bear it," said Scrubb. "Seeing the King Caspian - a doddering old man like that. It's - it's frightful."
"Why, what harm does it do you?"
"Oh, you don't understand. Now that I come to think of it, you couldn't. I didn't tell you that this world has a different time from ours."
"How do you mean?"
"The time you spend here doesn't take up any of our time. Do you see? I mean, however long we spend here, we shall still get back to Experiment House at the moment we left it -"
"That won't be much fun."
"Oh, dry up! Don't keep interrupting. And when you're back in England - in our world - you can't tell how time is going here. It might be any number of years in Narnia while we're having one year at home. The Pevensies explained it all to me, but, like a fool, I forgot about it. And now apparently it's been about seventy years Narnian years - since I was here last. Do you see now? And I come back and find Caspian an old, old man."
"Then the King was an old friend of yours!" said Jill. A horrid thought had struck her.
"I should jolly well think he was," said Scrubb miserably. "About as good a friend as a chap could have. And last time he was only a few years older than me. And to see that old man with a white beard, and to remember Caspian as he was the morning we captured the Lone Islands, or in the fight with the Sea Serpent - oh, it's frightful. It's worse than coming back and finding him dead."
"Oh, shut up," said Jill impatiently. "It's far worse than you think. We've muffed the first Sign." Of course Scrubb did not understand this. Then Jill told him about her conversation with Aslan and the four signs and the task of finding the lost prince which had been laid upon them.
"So you see," she wound up, "you did see an old friend, just as Aslan said, and you ought to have gone and spoken to him at once. And now you haven't, and everything is going wrong from the very beginning."
"But how was I to know?" said Scrubb.
"If you'd only listened to me when I tried to tell you, we'd be all right," said Jill.
"Yes, and if you hadn't played the fool on the edge of that cliff and jolly nearly murdered me - all right, I said murder, and I'll say it again as often as I like, so keep your hair on - we'd have come together and both known what to do."
"I suppose he was the first person you saw?" said Jill. "You must have been here hours before me. Are you sure you didn't see anyone else first?"
"I was only here about a minute before you," said Scrubb. "He must have blown you quicker than me. Making up for lost time: the time you lost."
"Don't be a perfect beast, Scrubb," said Jill. "Hallo! What's that?"
It was the castle bell ringing for supper, and thus what looked like turning into a first-rate quarrel was happily cut short. Both had a good appetite by this time.
Supper in the great hall of the castle was the most splendid thing either of them had ever seen; for though Eustace had been in that world before, he had spent his whole visit at sea and knew nothing of the glory and courtesy of the Narnians at home in their own land. The banners hung from the roof, and each course came in with trumpeters and kettledrums. There were soups that would make your mouth water to think of, and the lovely fishes called pavenders, and venison and peacock and pies, and ices and jellies and fruit and nuts, and all manner of wines and fruit drinks. Even Eustace cheered up and admitted that it was "something like". And when all the serious eating and drinking was over, a blind poet came forward and struck up the grand old tale of Prince Cor and Aravis and the horse Bree, which is called The Horse and his Boy and tells of an adventure that happened in Narnia and Calormen and the lands between, in the Golden Age when Peter was High King in Cair Paravel. (I haven't time to tell it now, though it is well worth hearing.)
When they were dragging themselves upstairs to bed, yawning their heads off, Jill said, "I bet we sleep well, tonight"; for it had been a full day. Which just shows how little anyone knows what is going to happen to them next.

斯克罗布看上去那么遛逼的原因(吉尔也一样，只要她能看见自己这副模样就好了)是他们周围的景象雄伟。我最好立刻把这一切描绘一下。
吉尔快到陆地时，曾经从那些山峰的一条裂缝中看到过遥远的内地，夕阳的余辉正泻在一片平坦的草地上。草地尽头，风向标在夕阳下闪闪发光，矗立着一幢有很多尖塔和很多角楼的城堡，吉尔从没见过这么美丽的城堡。近处是一个大理石砌的码头，停泊在这儿的是一艘船;一艘高高的船，有高高的船首楼和高高的船尾楼，漆成金色和深红色，榄杆顶上有一面大旗，甲板上旗帜迎风招展，沿着舷墙是一排银光闪闪的盾形纹徽口一条跳板lI。.向船上，就在跳板脚下，有一个很老很老的人站在那儿，正准备走上跳板。他身披一件贵重的猩红色斗篷，前面敞着，露出里面银色的铠甲。头上有一条细细的金环。他的胡子白得像羊毛一样，一直垂到近腰部。他站得笔直，一只手搁在一个衣着华丽的贵族肩上，那人似于比他年轻一点，但你能看出他也很老了，而且身体虚弱。看上去一阵风就能把这人吹走，他两眼泪汪汪的。
国王这时趁着还没上船，转身向他的百姓讲话——紧挨着国王前面是一只小小的轮椅，前面套着一匹小小的驴子，比一只大猎狗大不了多少的驴子。这把椅子上坐着一个胖胖的小矮人，他的衣服和国王一样华贵，但因为他是胖子，又弓起身子坐在软垫堆上，结果看上去竟大不一样，他看上去就像乱糟糟一小堆毛皮、丝绸和丝绒。小矮人和国王一样老，但更健壮，目光锐利。他没戴帽子，脑袋都秃了，而且其大无比，在夕阳下就像一颗特大台球似的发亮。
再往后，一溜儿站成半园形的，吉尔一看就知道是大臣们。如果光看他们的衣服和盔甲，那倒是值得一看的。实际上他们看上去更像一个花坛，而不像一群人。但真正使吉尔自瞪口呆的是那些百姓。就是说，如果用”百姓”这个字眼合适的话。因为其中只有五分之一是人类。其他都是你在我们的世界里从来没见过的。有羊怪、树精、人头马，吉尔叫得出这些名字，因为她看见过这些怪物的图画。还有小矮人。还有很多动物她也认识有熊、灌、睡鼠、豹、老鼠以及各种鸟儿。不过这些动物比起英国的同类动物可大不相同。好多动物都大得多——比方说老鼠吧，它们用后腿站着，就不止两英尺高。而除了这点以外，它们看上去全都不一样。你从它们脸上的表情就看得出，它们能说话，也能想，就像你能说能想一样。
“天哪!II吉尔想道，”原来这竟是真的。”但过了一会她又说，”不知它们对人是不是友好?”因为她刚刚注意到在人群外围还有一两个巨人，以及她完全叫不出名字的百姓呢。
正在此时，阿斯兰和他的指示又突然回到她脑海里。这半个小时她本来已经忘记得干干净净了。
“斯克罗布!II她悄悄说，一面抓住他的胳臂，”斯克罗布，快!你看见哪个认识的人没有?”
“原来你又钻出来了啊?”斯克罗布不高兴地说(他这样也有道理)，”行了，安静点，好吗?我要听听。”
“别犯傻了，”吉尔说，”没时间耽搁了。你看见这儿有什么老朋友吗?因为你得马上去跟他说话。”
“你在说些什么呀?”斯克罗布说。
“阿斯兰——狮王——说你一定得去的，”吉尔绝望地说，”我见过他了。”
“啊呀，你见过他了吗?他说什么了?”
“他说你在纳尼亚看见的第一个人就是一个老朋友，你一定得马上去跟他说话。”
“唉，这儿可没有一个人是我以前见过的;再有呢，不管怎么说，我还不知道这究竟是不是纳尼亚。”
“我想你说过你以前到过这儿的。”吉尔说。”哼，那么你想错了。”
“亏你说得出口，你告诉过我……”
“看在老天的分上，快住口，我们听听他们在说什么。”国王正在跟那个小矮人说话，但吉尔听不出他在说什么。她只弄明白那小矮人虽然一个劲儿地点头或摇头，却没回答国王的话。接着国王扯开嗓门对全场的人讲话，但他的声音苍老嘶哑，她听得懂的话实在太少了——尤其是这番话全都是关于她从来没听见过的百姓和地方的。讲完以后，国王弯下腰吻了小矮人两颊，再站直身子，举起右手，似乎是在祝福，然后拖着有气无力的步子慢慢地走上跳板，上了船。那些大臣似乎都为他的起程深受感动。好多人拿出了手帕，四面八方都是哭声。跳板撤掉了，船尾楼响起了喇叭声，船离开了码头。(船是由一条划艇拖走的，不过吉尔没看见那划艇。
“好了……”斯克罗布说，不过他没说下去，因为就在这时一个又大又白的东西——吉尔一时还以为那是只风筝呢——从空中滑过来，停在他脚边。原来是一只白猫头鹰，不过个儿真大，站在那儿竟有一个大个儿小矮人那么高。
它眼睛眨巴眨巴，像近视眼似的盯着他们看，脑袋歪在一边，以一种柔和的唬唬叫声说:
“唷嗬，唷嗬!你们俩是什么人啊?”
“我叫斯克罗布，这一位是波尔，”尤斯塔斯说，”你能告诉我们，我们在哪儿吗?”
“在纳尼亚的土地上，在凯尔帕拉维尔国王的城堡。”
“那个刚刚上船的就是国王吗?”
“太对了，太对了，”猫头鹰晃着大脑袋伤心地说，”可你们是谁呢?你们两个身上有魔法。我看见你们到的你们是飞来的。大家都忙着为国王送行，没人知道。只有我。我正好注意到你们，你们飞过来了。”
“我们是阿斯兰派到这儿来的。”尤斯塔斯低声说。
“喔嗬，喔嗬，”猫头鹰说着，一边竖起了羽毛，”天色还很旱，我可受不了。太阳下山前我总是不大自在。”
“我们是派来寻找失踪的王子的。”吉尔说，她一直巴不得插进来谈谈。
“这事我可是第一回听到，”尤斯塔斯说，”什么王子?”
“你们最好马上就去跟摄政王谈谈，”它说，”那个就是，就在那边的驴车里，小矮人杜鲁普金。”猫头鹰转身开始领路，一面喃喃自语，”嗬!喔嗬!乱哄哄的!我还不能好好想一想呢。天太早了。”
“国王叫什么名字?”尤斯塔斯问。
“凯斯宾十世。”猫头鹰说。吉尔不知斯克罗布走着走着干吗突然停下，脸色也异常了。她心想自己还从来没见过他看上去对任何事那么难过呢。但她还来不及问什么，他们就已经走到小矮人身边，他正好收起驴子的缰绳，准备驾车回城堡去。那群大臣也散开了，三五成群，往同一个方向走去，就像人们看完运动会或比赛散场一样。
“喔嗬l嗯嗬!摄政王。”猫头鹰弯下身子，嘴巴凑近小矮人耳朵说。
“嗨！什么事?”小矮人说。
“两个陌生人，大人。”猫头鹰说。
“守林人①？你什么意思?”小矮人说，”我看见两个非常邋遢的野小子。他们要什么?”
“我叫吉尔。”吉尔说着挤到前面。她急于要说明他们来此办理的那件重要大事。
“姑娘名叫吉尔，”猫头鹰尽量大声说道。
“什么?”小矮人说，”姑娘都被杀了②叫我一点也不相信。什么姑娘?谁杀了她们?”
①英语中陌生人与守林人发音相似。
②英语中吉尔与被杀一词音相近，小矮人耳聋，听错了。
“只有一个姑娘，大人，”猫头鹰说，”她叫吉尔。”
“大声讲，大声讲，”小矮人说，”别站在那儿，对着我耳朵叽叽喳喳的。谁被杀了?”
“没人被杀。”猫头鹰叫道。
”谁.?”
“没人。”
“好了，好了。你用不着嚷嚷。我还没聋到那个地步。你到这儿来告诉我没人被杀是什么意思?为什么该有人被杀呢?”
“你最好告诉他我是尤斯塔斯。”斯克罗布说。
“这个男孩是尤斯塔斯，大人。”猫头鹰尽量大声叫道。”没用处?”小矮人性急地说，”我敢说他是没用处的。
你有什么理由把他带到宫里来呢?嗯?”
“不是没用处，”猫头鹰说，”是尤斯塔斯。”
“有事没事吗?说真的，我不知道你在说些什么。格里姆费瑟大师，我来告诉你是怎么回事吧，我年轻时，这个国家就有了会说话的兽类和鸟类，那才是真正会说话的。完全不是这种咕咕哝哝，叽叽喳喳，悄声细气。这种说话一刻都不能容忍。一刻都不行。乌纳斯，请拿我的助听器。”
一直悄悄站在小矮人身边的一只小羊怪就递给他一只银制的助听器，这东西做得就像一种蛇形的乐器，因此那管子就盘在小矮人的脖子上。他正在戴助听器时，猫头鹰格里姆费瑟突然悄悄对两个孩子说
“我脑子现在清楚一点了。别提任何有关失踪的王子的事。回头我再解释。那样不行的，不行的，喔嗬!哦，乱哄哄的!”
“行了，”小矮人说，”如果你有什么合情合理的话要说，格里姆费瑟大师，那就说说看吧。先深深吸口气，别企图说得太快了。”
在两个孩子的帮助下，尽管小矮人一阵阵咳嗽，格里姆费瑟总算解释说这两个陌生人是阿斯兰派来访问纳尼亚宫廷的。小矮人换上一种眼神迅速看了他们一眼。
“是狮王亲自派来的，嗯?”他说，”而且是从——咱——喝——从另一个地方，从世界尽头以外来的，嗯?”
“是的，爵爷。”尤斯塔斯对准助听器大声叫道。
“是亚当的儿子和夏娃的女儿吧，嗯?”小矮人说。但实验学校的人们都没听说过亚当和夏娃，因此吉尔和尤斯塔斯对此没法回答。不过小矮人似乎并不在意。
“好了，亲爱的，”他说着拉起第一个的手，接着又拉起第二个的手，稍微点了点头，”衷心欢迎你们。要是我可怜的主人，善良的国王此时此刻没乘船去七群岛的话，他准会对你们来到表示高兴的。这会把他暂时带回他的青年时代——暂时。而现在呢，该是吃晚饭的时候了。明天早上你们可以把你们的事在全体会议上告诉我。格里姆费瑟大师，务必要以最隆重的规格为这两个贵宾提供卧室和合身的衣服以及其他一切。还有——格里姆费瑟——你耳朵凑过来;…”
说到这儿，小矮人嘴巴凑到猫头鹰脑袋旁边，毫无疑问，他是打算悄悄说话的但正像其他聋子一样，他对自己的声音估计不足，两个孩子都听见他说”务必让他们好好洗洗干净。”:
说罢，小矮人用鞭轻轻打了一下小驴子，驴子就向城堡出发了，步子不快不慢，摇摇摆摆(拉车的是头很胖的小驴子)，而羊怪、猫头鹰和两个孩子就放慢步子跟着。这时太阳已经下山了，空气也变得凉爽了。
他们穿过草地，接着穿过果园，来到凯尔帕拉维尔的北门，大门敞开着。里面是一个长满青草的院子，在他们右面的大厅窗户里已经透出了灯光，正前方一大片更复杂的楼房里也有灯光。猫头鹰领他们走了进去。在那儿叫了一个很讨人喜欢的人来照顾吉尔。她跟吉尔个子差不多，却苗条得多，而且显然是个成人，她像杨柳一样文雅，头发也像杨柳，里面好像还有青苔呢。她把吉尔带到一座塔楼上的一间圆形的房间，那里地面上嵌着一只小浴缸，壁炉里生着火，木柴香气扑鼻，拱形屋顶垂下一条银链吊着一盏灯。从朝西的窗户里可以看见纳尼亚陌生的国土，吉尔看见落日的余辉仍然在远处的群山后发着红光。这使她渴望更多的奇遇，而且确信这还只是个开头。
她洗完澡，梳了梳头，穿上已经给她放好的衣服——这些衣服不仅摸上去舒服，看上去也好看，还有股香味，走动时还发出好听的声音——她本想再回去细看窗外令人兴奋的景色，不料门砰的一响打断了她的思绪。
“进来。”吉尔说。于是斯克罗布走了进来，他也洗了澡，穿着华丽的纳尼亚服装。但他脸上并没有高兴的神情。
“哦，总算看见你了。”他发着脾气说，一面一屁股坐在椅子上，”我老早就在想法找你了。”
“得，你现在找到啦，”吉尔说，”哎呀，斯克罗布，这儿的一切太令人激动了，好得没法说。”这时她已经把指示和失踪的王子忘得一干二净。
“哦，那是你的想法吧?”斯克罗布说，接着，他停了一下，”我倒但愿我们根本没来过。”
“究竟怎么啦?”
“我受不了，”斯克罗布说，”看到国王——凯斯宾——成了那样一个老态龙钟的老头儿。这真——这真可怕。”
“为什么，那碍你什么事?”
“哦，你不明白。现在我想起来了。你没法想像的。我没告诉你这个世界的时间跟我们的时间是不一样的。”
“什么意思?”
“你在这儿度过的时间并没花掉一丁点儿我们的时间。
你懂吗?我意思是说，无论我们在这儿过多久，我们将来回到实验学校仍然是我们离开的那会儿....
“那就不怎么有趣了……”
“哦，快住口，别老打断我。一旦你回到英国——在我们的世界里——你就说不出这儿的时间是怎么过的。我们在国内过上一年，这儿就可能是不知多少年了。佩文西家兄妹对我解释过这一切，可我竟像个傻瓜似的忘了。自从我上回到这儿来算起，按纳尼亚的年份来说——如今显然已经有七十年了。现在你懂了吧?我回来一看凯斯宾竟是个老老头了。”
“那么说国王原来是你的一个老朋友啰?”吉尔说。她突然有了一个可怕的想法。
“我真该认为他是的，”斯克罗布痛苦地说，”这位朋友要多好有多好。上回来的时候，他只比我大几岁，看看那个白胡子老头，再想想我们占领孤独群岛的那天早上的凯斯宾，还有大战海蛇那时的凯斯宾——哦，这真可怕，比我回来发现他死了更糟。”
“哦，住口，”吉尔不耐烦地说，”事情比你想的糟得多，我们已经把第一点指示错过了。”斯克罗布当然听不懂这句话，于是吉尔把自己和阿斯兰之间的谈话，以及四点指示，还有交给他们寻找失踪的王子的任务——告诉了他。
“因此你明白了吧，”她结束道，”正像阿斯兰所说的，你的确看到了一个老朋友，你本来应该立刻上去跟他说话的。而现在你没去，刚开头一切就都乱了套。”
“可我怎么会知道呢?”斯克罗布说。
“我想方设法告诉你的时候，你只要听我说，我们就没事了。”吉尔说。
“是啊，只要你不在悬崖边上胡闹，差点送了我的命——对了，我是说送命，我随时高兴还要再说，以便让你保持镇静——我们早就可以一起上这儿来，那么两个人都知道该干什么了。”
“我看，他就是你看见的第一个人吧？”吉尔说，”你一定比我早到了好几小时。你肯定没有先看见别人吗?”
“我只比你早到一分钟，”斯克罗布说，”他一定把你吹得比我快。补上耽搁的时间;你耽搁的时间。”
“别那么坏，斯克罗布，”吉尔说，”喂，什么事啊?”
原来是城堡里响起晚餐钟声，这样一来一场唇枪舌剑就此皆大欢喜地中断了。两个人这时候胃口都特别好。
在城堡大厅里用晚餐，可是他们两个人从未见识过的豪华大场面。因为尤斯塔斯虽然以前到过这个世界，可是他来访的整个时期都是在海上度过的，对纳尼亚人在自己国土上的排场和礼节一无所知。屋顶上垂下一面面旗帜，每道菜上来时都要吹号击鼓。一道道汤叫你一想到就要垂涎欲滴。那种叫帕文德的好吃的鱼，还有鹿肉、孔雀肉和馅饼，雪糕和果冻，水果和果仁，以及各种各样的美酒和果汁。就连尤斯塔斯也高兴起来，承认这顿饭”像样”。等到一本正经的吃喝全部结束，一个盲诗人就走上前来，开始演唱美妙的老故事<能言马与男孩>，讲的是科奥王子和阿拉维斯以及一匹叫布里的马，那是彼得在凯尔帕拉维尔当至尊王的黄金时代，发生在纳尼亚和卡乐门以及其交界土地上的一次奇遇。(尽管这故事很值得一听，可我现在没时间说了。)
等到他们拖着脚步慢吞吞上楼去睡觉，两个人都呵欠连天。吉尔说”我敢说我们今晚都会睡得好。”因为这一天己经过得满满当当了，而这仅仅说明没人知道下一步他们还将碰到什么事。<能言马与男孩>