Lewis, C.S. - Narnia 7 - The Last Battle

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The Last Battle
C.S. Lewis
CHAPTER ONE
BY CALDRON POOL
IN the last days of Narnia, far up to the west beyond Lantern Waste and close beside the great
waterfall, there lived an Ape. He was so old that no one could remember when he had first come to
live in those parts, and he was the cleverest, ugliest, most wrinkled Ape you can imagine. He had
a little house, built of wood and thatched with leaves, up in the fork of a great tree, and his
name was Shift. There were very few Talking Beasts or Men or Dwarfs, or people of any sort, in
that part of the wood, but Shift had one friend and neighbour who was a donkey called Puzzle. At
least they both said they were friends, but from the way things went on you might have thought
Puzzle was more like Shift's servant than his friend. He did all the work. When they went together
to the river, Shift filled the big skin bottles with water but it was Puzzle who carried them
back. When they wanted anything from the towns further down the river it was Puzzle who went down
with empty panniers on his back and came back with the panniers full and heavy. And all the nicest
things that Puzzle brought back were eaten by Shift; for as Shift said, "You see, Puzzle, I can't
eat grass and thistles like you, so it's only fair I should make it up in other ways." And Puzzle
always said, "Of course, Shift, of course. I see that." Puzzle never complained, because he knew
that Shift was far cleverer than himself and he thought it was very kind of Shift to be friends
with him at all. And if ever Puzzle did try to argue about anything, Shift would always say, "Now,
Puzzle, I understand what needs to be done better than you. You know you're not clever, Puzzle."
And Puzzle always said, "No, Shift. It's quite true. I'm not clever." Then he would sigh and do
whatever Shift had said.
One morning early in the year the pair of them were out walking along the shore of Caldron Pool.
Caldron Pool is the big pool right under the cliffs at the western end of Narnia. The great
waterfall pours down into it with a noise like everlasting thunder, and the River of Narnia flows
out on the other side. The waterfall keeps the Pool always dancing and bubbling and churning round
and round as if it were on the boil, and that of course is how it got its name of Caldron Pool. It
is liveliest in the early spring when the waterfall is swollen with all the snow that has melted
off the mountains from up beyond Narnia in the Western Wild from which the river comes. And as
they looked at Caldron Pool Shift suddenly pointed with his dark, skinny finger and said,
"Look! What's that?"
"What's what?" said Puzzle.
"That yellow thing that's just come down the waterfall. Look! There it is again, it's floating. We
must find out what it is."
"Must we?" said Puzzle.
"Of course we must," said Shift. "It may be something useful. Just hop into the Pool like a good
fellow and fish it out. Then we can have a proper look at it."
"Hop into the Pool?" said Puzzle, twitching his long ears.
"Well how are we to get it if you don't?" said the Ape.
"But - but," said Puzzle, "wouldn't it be better if you went in? Because, you see, it's you who
wants to know what it is, and I don't much. And you've got hands, you see. You're as good as a Man
or a Dwarf when it comes to catching hold of things. I've only got hoofs."
"Really, Puzzle," said Shift, "I didn't think you'd ever say a thing like that. I didn't think it
of you, really."
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"Why, what have I said wrong?" said the Ass, speaking in rather a humble voice, for he saw that
Shift was very deeply offended. "All I meant was -"
"Wanting me to go into the water," said the Ape. "As if you didn't know perfectly well what weak
chests Apes always have and how easily they catch cold! Very well. I will go in. I'm feeling cold
enough already in this cruel wind. But I'll go in. I shall probably die. Then you'll be sorry."
And Shift's voice sounded as if he was just going to burst into tears.
"Please don't, please don't, please don't," said Puzzle, half braying, and half talking. "I never
meant anything of the sort, Shift, really I didn't. You know how stupid I am and how I can't think
of more than one thing at a time. I'd forgotten about your weak chest. Of course I'll go in. You
mustn't think of doing it yourself. Promise me you won't, Shift."
So Shift promised, and Puzzle went cloppety-clop on his four hoofs round the rocky edge of the
Pool to find a place where he could get in. Quite apart from the cold it was no joke getting into
that quivering and foaming water, and Puzzle had to stand and shiver for a whole minute before he
made up his mind to do it. But then Shift called out from behind him and said: "Perhaps I'd better
do it after all, Puzzle." And when Puzzle heard that he said, "No, no. You promised. I'm in now,"
and in he went.
A great mass of foam got him in the face and filled his mouth with water and blinded him. Then he
went under altogether for a few seconds, and when he came up again he was in quite another part of
the Pool. Then the swirl caught him and carried him round and round and faster and faster till it
took him right under the waterfall itself, and the force of the water plunged him down, deep down,
so that he thought he would never be able to hold his breath till he came up again. And when he
had come up and when at last he got somewhere near the thing he was trying to catch, it sailed
away from him till it too got under the fall and was forced down to the bottom. When it came up
again it was further from him than ever. But at last, when he was almost tired to death, and
bruised all over and numb with cold, he succeeded in gripping the thing with his teeth. And out he
came carrying it in front of him and getting his front hoofs tangled up in it, for it was as big
as a large hearthrug, and it was very heavy and cold and slimy.
He flung it down in front of Shift and stood dripping and shivering and trying to get his breath
back. But the Ape never looked at him or asked him how he felt. The Ape was too busy going round
and round the Thing and spreading it out and patting it and smelling it. Then a wicked gleam came
into his eye and he said:
"It is a lion's skin."
"Ee - auh - auh - oh, is it?" gasped Puzzle.
"Now I wonder . . . I wonder . . . I wonder," said Shift to himself, for he was thinking very
hard.
"I wonder who killed the poor lion," said Puzzle presently. "It ought to be buried. We must have a
funeral."
"Oh, it wasn't a Talking Lion," said Shift. "You needn't bother about that. There are no Talking
Beasts up beyond the Falls, up in the Western Wild. This skin must have belonged to a dumb, wild
lion."
This, by the way, was true. A Hunter, a Man, had killed and skinned this lion somewhere up in the
Western Wild several months before. But that doesn't come into this story.
"All the same, Shift," said Puzzle, "even if the skin only belonged to a dumb, wild lion, oughtn't
we to give it a decent burial? I mean, aren't all lions rather - well, rather solemn? Because of
you know Who. Don't you see?"
"Don't you start getting ideas into your head, Puzzle," said Shift. "Because, you know, thinking
isn't your strong point. We'll make this skin into a fine warm winter coat for you."
"Oh, I don't think I'd like that," said the Donkey. "It would look - I mean, the other Beasts
might think - that is to say, I shouldn't feel -"
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"What are you talking about?" said Shift, scratching himself the wrong way up as Apes do.
"I don't think it would be respectful to the Great Lion, to Aslan himself, if an ass like me went
about dressed up in a lion-skin," said Puzzle.
"Now don't stand arguing, please," said Shift. "What does an ass like you know about things of
that sort? You know you're no good at thinking, Puzzle, so why don't you let me do your thinking
for you? Why don't you treat me as I treat you? I don't think I can do everything. I know you're
better at some things than I am. That's why I let you go into the Pool; I knew you'd do it better
than me. But why can't I have my turn when it comes to something I can do and you can't? Am I
never to be allowed to do anything? Do be fair. Turn and turn about."
"Oh, well, of course, if you put it that way," said Puzzle.
"I tell you what," said Shift. "You'd better take a good brisk trot down river as far as
Chippingford and see if they have any oranges or bananas."
"But I'm so tired, Shift," pleaded Puzzle.
"Yes, but you are very cold and wet," said the Ape. "You want something to warm you up. A brisk
trot would be just the thing. Besides, it's market day at Chippingford today." And then of course
Puzzle said he would go.
As soon as he was alone Shift went shambling along, sometimes on two paws and sometimes on four,
till he reached his own tree. Then he swung himself up from branch to branch, chattering and
grinning all the time, and went into his little house. He found needle and thread and a big pair
of scissors there; for he was a clever Ape and the Dwarfs had taught him how to sew. He put the
ball of thread (it was very thick stuff, more like cord than thread) into his mouth so that his
cheek bulged out as if he were sucking a big bit of toffee. He held the needle between his lips
and took the scissors in his left paw. Then he came down the tree and shambled across to the lion-
skin. He squatted down and got to work.
He saw at once that the body of the lion-skin would be too long for Puzzle and its neck too short.
So he cut a good piece out of the body and used it to make a long collar for Puzzle's long neck.
Then he cut off the head and sewed the collar in between the head and the shoulders. He put
threads on both sides of the skin so that it would tie up under Puzzle's chest and stomach. Every
now and then a bird would pass overhead and Shift would stop his work, looking anxiously up. He
did not want anyone to see what he was doing. But none of the birds he saw were Talking Birds, so
it didn't matter.
Late in the afternoon Puzzle came back. He was not trotting but only plodding patiently along, the
way donkeys do.
"There weren't any oranges," he said, "and there weren't any bananas. And I'm very tired." He lay
down.
"Come and try on your beautiful new lion-skin coat," said Shift.
"Oh bother that old skin," said Puzzle. "I'll try it on in the morning. I'm too tired tonight."
"You are unkind, Puzzle," said Shift. "If you're tired what do you think I am? All day long, while
you've been having a lovely refreshing walk down the valley, I've been working hard to make you a
coat. My paws are so tired I can hardly hold these scissors. And you won't say thank you -and you
won't even look at the coat -and you don't care - and- and-"
"My dear Shift," said Puzzle getting up at once, "I am so sorry. I've been horrid. Of course I'd
love to try it on. And it looks simply splendid. Do try it on me at once. Please do."
"Well, stand still then," said the Ape. The skin was very heavy for him to lift, but in the end,
with a lot of pulling and pushing and puffing and blowing, he got it on to the donkey. He tied it
underneath Puzzle's body and he tied the legs to Puzzle's legs and the tail to Puzzle's tail. A
good deal of Puzzle's grey nose and face could be seen through the open mouth of the lion's head.
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No one who had ever seen a real lion would have been taken in for a moment. But if someone who had
never seen a lion looked at Puzzle in his lion-skin he just might mistake him for a lion, if he
didn't come too close, and if the light was not too good, and if Puzzle didn't let out a bray and
didn't make any noise with his hoofs.
"You look wonderful, wonderful," said the Ape. "If anyone saw you now, they'd think you were
Aslan, the Great Lion, himself."
"That would be dreadful," said Puzzle.
"No it wouldn't," said Shift. "Everyone would do whatever you told them."
"But I don't want to tell them anything."
"But you think of the good we could do!" said Shift. "You'd have me to advise you, you know. I'd
think of sensible orders for you to give. And everyone would have to obey us, even the King
himself. We would set everything right in Narnia."
"But isn't everything right already?" said Puzzle.
"What!" cried Shift. "Everything right?-when there are no oranges or bananas?"
"Well, you know," said Puzzle, "there aren't many people - in fact, I don't think there's anyone
but yourself who wants those sort of things."
"There's sugar too," said Shift.
"H'm yes," said the Ass. "It would be nice if there was more sugar."
"Well then, that's settled," said the Ape. "You will pretend to be Aslan, and I'll tell you what
to say."
"No, no, no," said Puzzle. "Don't say such dreadful things. It would be wrong, Shift. I maybe not
very clever but I know that much. What would become of us if the real Aslan turned up?"
"I expect he'd be very pleased," said Shift. "Probably he sent us the lion-skin on purpose, so
that we could set things to right. Anyway, he never does turn up, you know. Not nowadays."
At that moment there came a great thunderclap right overhead and the ground trembled with a small
earthquake. Both the animals lost their balance and were flung on their faces.
"There!" gasped Puzzle, as soon as he had breath to speak. "It's a sign, a warning. I knew we were
doing something dreadfully wicked. Take this wretched skin off me at once."
"No, no," said the Ape (whose mind worked very quickly). "It's a sign the other way. I was just
going to say that if the real Aslan, as you call him, meant us to go on with this, he would send
us a thunderclap and an earth-tremor. It was just on the tip of my tongue, only the sign itself
came before I could get the words out. You've got to do it now, Puzzle. And please don't let us
have any more arguing. You know you don't understand these things. What could a donkey know about
signs?"
CHAPTER TWO
THE RASHNESS OF THE KING
About three weeks later the last of the Kings of Narnia sat under the great oak which grew beside
the door of his little hunting lodge, where he often stayed for ten days or so in the pleasant
spring weather. It was a low, thatched building not far from the Eastern end of Lantern Waste and
some way above the meeting of the two rivers. He loved to live there simply and at ease, away from
the state and pomp of Cair Paravel, the royal city. His name was King Tirian, and he was between
twenty and twenty-five years old; his shoulders were already broad and strong and his limbs full
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of hard muscle, but his beard was still scanty. He had blue eyes and a fearless, honest face.
There was no one with him that spring morning except his dearest friend, Jewel the Unicorn. They
loved each other like brothers and each had saved the other's life in the wars. The lordly beast
stood close beside the King's chair, with its neck bent round polishing its blue horn against the
creamy whiteness of its flank.
"I cannot set myself to any work or sport today, Jewel," said the King. "I can think of nothing
but this wonderful news. Think you we shall hear any more of it today?"
"They are the most wonderful tidings ever heard in our days or our fathers' or our grandfathers'
days, Sire," said Jewel, "if they are true."
"How can they choose but be true?" said the King. "It is more than a week ago that the first birds
came flying over us saying, Aslan is here, Aslan has come to Narnia again. And after that it was
the squirrels. They had not seen him, but they said it was certain he was in the woods. Then came
the Stag. He said he had seen him with his own eyes, a great way off, by moonlight, in Lantern
Waste. Then came that dark Man with the beard, the merchant from Calormen. The Calormenes care
nothing for Aslan as we do; but the man spoke of it as a thing beyond doubt. And there was the
Badger last night; he too had seen Aslan."
"Indeed, Sire," answered Jewel, "I believe it all. If I seem not to, it is only that my joy is too
great to let my belief settle itself. It is almost too beautiful to believe."
"Yes," said the King with a great sigh, almost a shiver, of delight. "It is beyond all that I ever
hoped for in all my life."
"Listen!" said Jewel, putting his head on one side and cocking his ears forward.
"What is it?" asked the King.
"Hoofs, Sire," said Jewel. "A galloping horse. A very heavy horse. It must be one of the Centaurs.
And look, there he is."
A great, golden bearded Centaur, with man's sweat on his forehead and horse's sweat on his
chestnut flanks, dashed up to the King, stopped, and bowed low. "Hail, King," it cried in a voice
as deep as a bull's.
"Ho, there!" said the King, looking over his shoulder towards the door of the hunting lodge. "A
bowl of wine for the noble Centaur. Welcome, Roonwit. When you have found your breath you shall
tell us your errand."
A page came out of the house carrying a great wooden bowl, curiously carved, and handed it to the
Centaur. The Centaur raised the bowl and said,
"I drink first to Aslan and truth, Sire, and secondly to your Majesty."
He finished the wine (enough for six strong men) at one draught and handed the empty bowl back to
the page.
"Now, Roonwit," said the King. "Do you bring us more news of Aslan?"
Roonwit looked very grave, frowning a little.
"Sire," he said. "You know how long I have lived and studied the stars; for we Centaurs live
longer than you Men, and even longer than your kind, Unicorn. Never in all my days have I seen
such terrible things written in the skies as there have been nightly since this year began. The
stars say nothing of the coming of Aslan, nor of peace, nor of joy. I know by my art that there
have not been such disastrous conjunctions of the planets for five hundred years. It was already
in my mind to come and warn your Majesty that some great evil hangs over Narnia. But last night
the rumour reached me that Aslan is abroad in Narnia. Sire, do not believe this tale. It cannot
be. The stars never lie, but Men and Beasts do. If Aslan were really coming to Narnia the sky
would have foretold it. If he were really come, all the most gracious stars would be assembled in
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his honour. It is all a lie."
"A lie!" said the King fiercely. "What creature in Narnia or all the world would dare to lie on
such a matter?" And, without knowing it, he laid his hand on his sword hilt.
"That I know not, Lord King," said the Centaur. "But I know there are liars on earth; there are
none among the stars."
"I wonder," said Jewel, "whether Aslan might not come though all the stars foretold otherwise. He
is not the slave of the stars but their Maker. Is it not said in all the old stories that He is
not a tame lion."
"Well said, well said, Jewel," cried the King. "Those are the very words: not a tame lion. It
comes in many tales."
Roonwit had just raised his hand and was leaning forward to say something very earnestly to the
King when all three of them turned their heads to listen to a wailing sound that was quickly
drawing nearer. The wood was so thick to the West of them that they could not see the newcomer
yet. But they could soon hear the words.
"Woe, woe, woe!" called the voice. "Woe for my brothers and sisters! Woe for the holy trees! The
woods are laid waste. The axe is loosed against us. We are being felled. Great trees are falling,
falling, falling."
With the last "falling" the speaker came in sight. She was like a woman but so tall that her head
was on a level with the Centaur's yet she was like a tree too. It is hard to explain if you have
never seen a Dryad but quite unmistakable once you have - something different in the colour, the
voice, and the hair. King Tirian and the two Beasts knew at once that she was the nymph of a beech
tree.
"Justice, Lord King!" she cried. "Come to our aid. Protect your people. They are felling us in
Lantern Waste.
Forty great trunks of my brothers and sisters are already on the ground."
"What, Lady! Felling Lantern Waste? Murdering the talking trees?" cried the King, leaping to his
feet and drawing his sword. "How dare they? And who dares it? Now by the Mane of Aslan-"
"A-a-a-h," gasped the Dryad shuddering as if in pain - shuddering time after time as if under
repeated blows. Then all at once she fell sideways as suddenly as if both her feet had been cut
from under her. For a second they saw her lying dead on the grass and then she vanished. They knew
what had happened. Her tree, miles away, had been cut down.
For a moment the King's grief and anger were so great that he could not speak. Then he said:
"Come, friends. We must go up river and find the villains who have done this, with all the speed
we may. I will leave not one of them alive."
"Sire, with a good will," said Jewel.
But Roonwit said, "Sire, be wary in your just wrath. There are strange doings on foot. If there
should be rebels in arms further up the valley, we three are too few to meet them. If it would
please you to wait while -"
"I will not wait the tenth part of a second," said the King. "But while Jewel and I go forward, do
you gallop as hard as you may to Cair Paravel. Here is my ring for your token. Get me a score of
men-at-arms, all well mounted, and a score of Talking Dogs, and ten Dwarfs (let them all be fell
archers), and a Leopard or so, and Stonefoot the Giant. Bring all these after us as quickly as may
be."
"With a good will, Sire," said Roonwit. And at once he turned and galloped Eastward down the
valley.
The King strode on at a great pace, sometimes muttering to himself and sometimes clenching his
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fists. Jewel walked beside him, saying nothing; so there was no sound between them but the faint
jingle of a rich gold chain that hung round the Unicorn's neck and the noise of two feet and four
hoofs.
They soon reached the River and turned up it where there was a grassy road: they had the water on
their left and the forest on their right. Soon after that they came to the place where the ground
grew rougher and thick wood came down to the water's edge. The road, what there was of it, now ran
on the Southern bank and they had to ford the River to reach it. It was up to Tirian's arm-pits,
but Jewel (who had four legs and was therefore steadier) kept on his right so as to break the
force of the current, and Tirian put his strong arm round the Unicorn's strong neck and they both
got safely over. The King was still so angry that he hardly noticed the cold of the water. But of
course he dried his sword very carefully on the shoulder of his cloak, which was the only dry part
of him, as soon as they came to shore.
They were now going Westward with the River on their right and Lantern Waste straight ahead of
them. They had not gone more than a mile when they both stopped and both spoke at the same moment.
The King said "What have we here?" and Jewel said "Look!"
"It is a raft," said King Tirian.
And so it was. Half a dozen splendid tree-trunks, all newly cut and newly lopped of their
branches, had been lashed together to make a raft, and were gliding swiftly down the river. On
the front of the raft there was a water rat with a pole to steer it.
"Hey! Water-Rat! What are you about?" cried the King.
"Taking logs down to sell to the Calormenes, Sire," said the Rat, touching his ear as he might
have touched his cap if he had had one.
"Calormenes!" thundered Tirian. "What do you mean? Who gave order for these trees to be felled?"
The River flows so swiftly at that time of the year that the raft had already glided past the King
and Jewel. But the Water-Rat looked back over its shoulder and shouted out:
"The Lion's orders, Sire. Aslan himself." He added something more but they couldn't hear it.
The King and the Unicorn stared at one another and both looked more frightened than they had ever
been in any battle.
"Aslan," said the King at last, in a very low voice. "Aslan. Could it be true? Could he be felling
the holy trees and murdering the Dryads?"
"Unless the Dryads have all done something dreadfully wrong-" murmured Jewel.
"But selling them to Calormenes!" said the King. "Is it possible?"
"I don't know," said Jewel miserably. "He's not a tame lion."
"Well," said the King at last, "we must go on and take the adventure that comes to us."
"It is the only thing left for us to do, Sire," said the Unicorn. He did not see at the moment how
foolish it was for two of them to go on alone; nor did the King. They were too angry to think
clearly. But much evil came of their rashness in the end.
Suddenly the King leaned hard on his friend's neck and bowed his head.
"Jewel," he said, "what lies before us? Horrible thoughts arise in my heart. If we had died before
today we should have been happy."
"Yes," said Jewel. "We have lived too long. The worst thing in the world has come upon us." They
stood like that for a minute or two and then went on.
Before long they could hear the hack-hack-hack of axes falling on timber, though they could see
nothing yet because there was a rise of the ground in front of them. When they had reached the top
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of it they could see right into Lantern Waste itself. And the King's face turned white when he saw
it.
Right through the middle of that ancient forest - that forest where the trees of gold and of
silver had once grown and where a child from our world had once planted the Tree of Protection - a
broad lane had already been opened. It was a hideous lane like a raw gash in the land, full of
muddy ruts where felled trees had been dragged down to the river. There was a great crowd of
people at work, and a cracking of whips, and horses tugging and straining as they dragged at the
logs. The first thing that struck the King and the Unicorn was that about half the people in the
crowd were not Talking Beasts but Men. The next thing was that these men were not the fair-haired
men of Narnia: they were dark, bearded men from Calormen, that great and cruel country that lies
beyond Archenland across the desert to the south. There was no reason, of course, why one should
not meet a Calormene or two in Narnia - a merchant or an ambassador - for there was peace between
Narnia and Calormen in those days. But Tirian could not understand why there were so many of them:
nor why they were cutting down a Narnian forest. He grasped his sword tighter and rolled his cloak
round his left arm. They came quickly down among the men.
Two Calormenes were driving a horse which was harnessed to a log. Just as the King reached them
the log had got stuck in a bad muddy place.
"Get on, son of sloth! Pull, you lazy pig!" cried the Calormenes, cracking their whips. The horse
was already straining himself as hard as he could; his eyes were red and he was covered with foam.
"Work, lazy brute," shouted one of the Calormenes: and as he spoke he struck the horse savagely
with his whip. It was then that the really dreadful thing happened.
Up till now Tirian had taken it for granted that the horses which the Calormenes were driving were
their own horses; dumb, witless animals like the horses of our own world. And though he hated to
see even a dumb horse overdriven, he was of course thinking more about the murder of the Trees. It
had never crossed his mind that anyone would dare to harness one of the free Talking Horses of
Narnia, much less to use a whip on it. But as that savage blow fell the horse reared up and said,
half screaming:
"Fool and tyrant! Do you not see I am doing all I can?"
When Tirian knew that the Horse was one of his own Narnians, there came over him and over Jewel
such a rage that they did not know what they were doing. The King's sword went up, the Unicorn's
horn went down. They rushed forward together. Next moment both the Calormenes lay dead, the one
beheaded by Tirian's sword and the other gored through the heart by Jewel's horn.
CHAPTER THREE
THE APE IN ITS GLORY
"MASTER Horse, Master Horse," said Tirian as he hastily cut its traces, "how came these aliens to
enslave you? Is Narnia conquered? Has there been a battle?"
"No, Sire," panted the horse, "Aslan is here. It is all by his orders. He has commanded -"
"'Ware danger, King," said Jewel. Tirian looked up and saw that Calormenes (mixed with a few
Talking Beasts) were beginning to run towards them from every direction. The two dead men had died
without a cry and so it had taken a moment before the rest of the crowd knew what had happened.
But now they did. Most of them had naked scimitars in their hands.
"Quick. On my back," said Jewel.
The King flung himself astride of his old friend who turned and galloped away. He changed
direction twice or thrice as soon as they were out of sight of their enemies, crossed a stream,
and shouted without slackening his pace, "Whither away, Sire? To Cair Paravel?"
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"Hold hard, friend," said Tirian. "Let me off." He slid off the Unicorn's back and faced him.
"Jewel," said the King. "We have done a dreadful deed."
"We were sorely provoked," said Jewel.
"But to leap on them unawares - without defying them while they were unarmed - faugh! We are two
murderers, Jewel. I am dishonoured forever."
Jewel drooped his head. He too was ashamed.
"And then," said the King, "the Horse said it was by Aslan's orders. The Rat said the same. They
all say Aslan is here. How if it were true?"
"But, Sire, how could Aslan be commanding such dreadful things?"
"He is not a tame lion," said Tirian. "How should we know what he would do? We, who are murderers.
Jewel, I will go back. I will give up my sword and put myself in the hands of these Calormenes and
ask that they bring me before Aslan. Let him do justice on me."
"You will go to your death, then," said Jewel.
"Do you think I care if Aslan dooms me to death?" said the King. "That would be nothing, nothing
at all. Would it not be better to be dead than to have this horrible fear that Aslan has come and
is not like the Aslan we have believed in and longed for? It is as if the sun rose one day and
were a black sun."
"I know," said Jewel. "Or as if you drank water and it were dry water. You are in the right, Sire.
This is the end of all things. Let us go and give ourselves up."
"There is no need for both of us to go."
"If ever we loved one another, let me go with you now," said the Unicorn. "If you are dead and if
Aslan is not Aslan, what life is left for me?"
They turned and walked back together, shedding bitter tears.
As soon as they came to the place where the work was going on the Calormenes raised a cry and came
towards them with their weapons in hand. But the King held out his sword with the hilt towards
them and said:
"I who was King of Narnia and am now a dishonoured knight give myself up to the justice of Aslan.
Bring me before him."
"And I give myself up too," said Jewel.
Then the dark men came round them in a thick crowd, smelling of garlic and onions, their white
eyes flashing dreadfully in their brown faces. They put a rope halter round Jewel's neck. They
took the King's sword away and tied his hands behind his back. One of the Calormenes, who had a
helmet instead of a turban and seemed to be in command, snatched the gold circlet off Tirian's
head and hastily put it away somewhere among his clothes. They led the two prisoners uphill to a
place where there was a big clearing. And this was what the prisoners saw. At the centre of
the clearing, which was also the highest point of the hill, there was a little hut like a stable,
with a thatched roof. Its door was shut. On the grass in front of the door there sat an Ape.
Tirian and Jewel, who had been expecting to see Aslan and had heard nothing about an Ape yet, were
very bewildered when they saw it. The Ape was of course Shift himself, but he looked ten times
uglier than when he lived by Caldron Pool, for he was now dress- ed up. He was wearing a scarlet
jacket which did not fit him very well, having been made for a dwarf. He had Jewelled slippers on
his hind paws which would not stay on properly because, as you know, the hind paws of an Ape are
really like hands. He wore what seemed to be a paper crown on his head. There was a great pile of
nuts beside him and he kept cracking nuts with his jaws and spitting out the shells. And he also
kept on pulling up the scarlet jacket to scratch himself. A great number of Talking Beasts stood
facing him, and nearly every face in that crowd looked miserably worried and bewildered. When they
saw who the prisoners were they all groaned and whimpered.
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"O Lord Shift, mouthpiece of Aslan," said the chief Calormene. "We bring you prisoners. By our
skill and courage and by the permission of the great god Tash we have taken alive these two
desperate murderers."
"Give me that man's sword," said the Ape. So they took the King's sword and handed it, with the
sword-belt and all, to the monkey. And he hung it round his own neck: and it made him look sillier
than ever.
"We'll see about those two later," said the Ape, spitting out a shell in the direction of the two
prisoners. "I got some other business first. They can wait. Now listen to me, everyone. The first
thing I want to say is about nuts. Where's that Head Squirrel got to?"
"Here, Sir," said a red squirrel, coming forward and making a nervous little bow.
"Oh you are, are you?" said the Ape with a nasty look. "Now attend to me. I want - I mean, Aslan
wants - some more nuts. These you've brought aren't anything like enough. You must bring some
more, do you hear? Twice as many. And they've got to be here by sunset tomorrow, and there mustn't
be any bad ones or any small ones among them."
A murmur of dismay ran through the other squirrels, and the Head Squirrel plucked up courage to
say:
"Please, would Aslan himself speak to us about it? If we might be allowed to see him -"
"Well you won't," said the Ape. "He may be very kind (though it's a lot more than most of you
deserve) and come out for a few minutes tonight. Then you can all have a look at him. But he will
not have you all crowding round him and pestering him with questions. Anything you want to say to
him will be passed on through me: if I think it's worth bothering him about. In the meantime all
you squirrels had better go and see about the nuts. And make sure they are here by tomorrow
evening or, my word! you'll catch it."
The poor squirrels all scampered away as if a dog were after them. This new order was terrible
news for them. The nuts they had carefully hoarded for the winter had nearly all been eaten by
now; and of the few that were left they had already given the Ape far more than they could spare.
Then a deep voice - it belonged to a great tusked and shaggy Boar - spoke from another part of the
crowd.
"But why can't we see Aslan properly and talk to him?" it said. "When he used to appear in Narnia
in the old days everyone could talk to him face to face."
"Don't you believe it," said the Ape. "And even if it was true, times have changed. Aslan says
he's been far too soft with you before, do you see? Well, he isn't going to be soft any more. He's
going to lick you into shape this time. He'll teach you to think he's a tame lion!"
A low moaning and whimpering was heard among the Beasts; and, after that, a dead silence which was
more miserable still.
"And now there's another thing you got to learn," said the Ape. "I hear some of you are saying I'm
an Ape. Well, I'm not. I'm a Man. If I look like an Ape, that's because I'm so very old: hundreds
and hundreds of years old. And it's because I'm so old that I'm so wise. And it's because I'm so
wise that I'm the only one Aslan is ever going to speak to. He can't be bothered talking to a lot
of stupid animals. He'll tell me what you've got to do, and I'll tell the rest of you. And take my
advice, and see you do it in double quick time, for he doesn't mean to stand any nonsense."
There was a dead silence except for the noise of a very young badger crying and its mother trying
to make it keep quiet.
"And now here's another thing," the Ape went on, fitting a fresh nut into its cheek, "I hear some
of the horses are saying, Let's hurry up and get this job of carting timber over as quickly as we
can, and then we'll be free again. Well, you can get that idea out of your heads at once. And not
only the Horses either. Everybody who can work is going to be made to work in future. Aslan has it
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