"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 high-heeled shoes and pretending to be men.They have mixed with your Telmarines.I am one of those，only a half-Dwarf，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-grand-father 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.

中文閱讀

卡斯賓王子住在納尼亞中部的一個巨大城堡里，與他的叔父，納尼亞國王米拉茲，還有紅頭發(fā)的嬸娘，被稱為浦露娜普利斯米亞的王后住在一起。他的父母都已亡故。他最喜愛的人是他的保姆。盡管（身為王子）他擁有大量精巧奇妙的玩具，這些玩具除了不能講話之外，幾乎具備所有的功能，可是他最喜歡的還是每晚上床后的那段時間。當玩具都被收到柜櫥中之后，保姆就會給他講故事。

他對叔叔和嬸娘并沒有多少感情。每周大約兩次，他的叔父會把他召來，同他一起在城堡南邊的平臺上散步，來回走上半個小時。一天，正在散步的時候，叔叔對他說道：

“喂，孩子，很快我們就該教你如何騎馬和擊劍了。你知道，我跟你的嬸娘沒有后嗣，看起來，我駕崩之后，要由你來繼承王位。你對此有何感想，嗯？”

“我不知道，叔叔。”卡斯賓答道。

“不知道，嗯？”米拉茲說，“那么，我倒想要知道，除此之外，一個人還能有什么更大的奢望！”

“不過，我確實有個愿望，”卡斯賓說。

“你希望得到什么？”國王問道。

“我希望——我希望——我希望能夠生活在過去的歲月。”卡斯賓說（當時他還年幼）。

直到那會兒，米拉茲王說的都是一些老生常談，使人能清楚地意識到，他對談話并不真正感興趣，但此刻他突然用銳利的目光看了卡斯賓一眼。

“嗯？你說什么？”他問道，“你指的是哪些過去的歲月？”

“啊，叔叔，你不知道嗎？”卡斯賓說，“那時一切都和現(xiàn)在大不相同。所有的動物都會說話，一些漂亮的人兒住在溪水里和樹木中，她們是水中仙女和林中仙女。還有小矮人。在所有的樹林中都有可愛的小潘恩，它們的腳像山羊蹄子。還有——”

“這完全是一派胡言，是哄小孩子的！”國王嚴厲地打斷了他的話，“只能哄吃奶的小孩子，你聽見了嗎？你已經(jīng)過了那個階段，不該再去聽信那些胡言亂語。在你這個年紀，應(yīng)該喜歡打仗和歷險的故事，而不是天方夜譚。”

“啊，在那些日子里，也有打仗和歷險，”卡斯賓說，“一些奇妙的歷險故事。從前有個白女巫，她自封為整個國家的女王。她施法術(shù)讓納尼亞永遠都是冬天。后來不知從哪兒來了兩個男孩子和兩個女孩子，他們殺死了女巫，做了納尼亞的國王和女王。他們的名字是彼得、蘇珊、埃德蒙和露西。他們統(tǒng)治了很長時間，每個人都過上了美好的生活，這都是由于阿斯蘭——”

“他是誰？”米拉茲問。如果卡斯賓的年齡稍大一點兒，叔叔說話的語調(diào)會警示他，閉口不言是更加明智的行為。可是他還在說個不停。

“啊，你難道不知道？”他說，“阿斯蘭是從大海那邊來的偉大獅王。”

“是誰告訴你這些亂七八糟的東西？”國王的聲音像是打了個炸雷。卡斯賓嚇了一大跳，什么話也說不出來了。