669小说网

chater five back n thi ide f the dr（第1页）

BECAUSEthegameofhide-and-seekwasstillgoingon，ittookEdmundandLucysometimetofindtheothers．Butwhenatlasttheywerealltogether（whichhappenedinthelongroom，wherethesuitofarmourwas），Lucyburstout：

“Peter！Susan！It’salltrue．Edmundhasseenittoo．Thereisacountryyoucangettothroughthewardrobe．EdmundandIbothgotin．Wemetoneanotherinthere，inthewood．Goon，Edmund；tellthemallaboutit．”

“What’sallthisabout，Ed？”saidPeter．

Andnowwecometooneofthenastiestthingsinthisstory．UptothatmomentEdmundhadbeenfeelingsick，andsulky，andannoyedwithLucyforbeingright，buthehadn’tmadeuphismindwhattodo．WhenPetersuddenlyaskedhimthequestionhedecidedallatoncetodothemeanestandmostspitefulthinghecouldthinkof．HedecidedtoletLucydown．

“Tellus，Ed，”saidSusan．

AndEdmundgaveaverysuperiorlookasifhewerefarolderthanLucy（therewasreallyonlyayear’sdifference）andthenalittlesniggerandsaid，“Oh，yes，LucyandIhavebeenplaying-pretendingthatallherstoryaboutacountryinthewardrobeistrue。justforfun，ofcourse．There’snothingtherereally．”

PoorLucygaveEdmundonelookandrushedoutoftheroom。

Edmund，whowasbecominganastierpersoneveryminute，thoughtthathehadscoredagreatsuccess，andwentonatoncetosay，“Thereshegoesagain．What’sthematterwithher？That’stheworstofyoungkids，theyalways-”

“Lookhere，”saidPeter，turningonhimsavagely，“shutup！You’vebeenperfectlybeastlytoLueversinceshestartedthisnonsenseaboutthewardrobe，andnowyougoplayinggameswithheraboutitandsettingheroffagain．Ibelieveyoudiditsimplyoutofspite．”

“Butit’sallnonsense，”saidEdmund，verytakenaback．

“Ofcourseit’sallnonsense，”saidPeter，“that’sjustthepoint。Luwasperfectlyallrightwhenwelefthome，butsincewe’vebeendownheresheseemstobeeithergoingqueerintheheadorelseturningintoamostfrightfulliar．Butwhicheveritis，whatgooddoyouthinkyou’lldobyjeeringandnaggingatheronedayandencouragingherthenext？”

“Ithought-Ithought，”saidEdmund；buthecouldn’tthinkofanythingtosay．

“Youdidn’tthinkanythingatall，”saidPeter；“it’sjustspite．You’vealwayslikedbeingbeastlytoanyonesmallerthanyourself；we’veseenthatatschoolbeforenow．”

“Dostopit，”saidSusan；“itwon’tmakethingsanybetterhavingarowbetweenyoutwo．Let’sgoandfindLucy．”

ItwasnotsurprisingthatwhentheyfoundLucy，agooddeallater，everyonecouldseethatshehadbeencrying．Nothingtheycouldsaytohermadeanydifference．Shestucktoherstoryandsaid：

“Idon’tcarewhatyouthink，andIdon’tcarewhatyousay。YoucantelltheProfessororyoucanwritetoMotheroryoucandoanythingyoulike．IknowI’vemetaFauninthereand-IwishI’dstayedthereandyouareallbeasts，beasts．”

Itwasanunpleasantevening．LucywasmiserableandEdmundwasbeginningtofeelthathisplanwasn’tworkingaswellashehadexpected．ThetwoolderoneswerereallybeginningtothinkthatLucywasoutofhermind．Theystoodinthepassagetalkingaboutitinwhisperslongaftershehadgonetobed．

TheresultwasthenextmorningtheydecidedthattheyreallywouldgoandtellthewholethingtotheProfessor．“He’llwritetoFatherifhethinksthereisreallysomethingwrongwithLu，”saidPeter；“it’sgettingbeyondus．”Sotheywentandknockedatthestudydoor，andtheProfessorsaid“Comein，”andgotupandfoundchairsforthemandsaidhewasquiteattheirdisposal．Thenhesatlisteningtothemwiththetipsofhisfingerspressedtogetherandneverinterrupting，tilltheyhadfinishedthewholestory．Afterthathesaidnothingforquitealongtime．Thenheclearedhisthroatandsaidthelastthingeitherofthemexpected：

“Howdoyouknow，”heasked，“thatyoursister’sstoryisnottrue？”

“Oh，but-”beganSusan，andthenstopped．Anyonecouldseefromtheoldman’sfacethathewasperfectlyserious．ThenSusanpulledherselftogetherandsaid，“ButEdmundsaidtheyhadonlybeenpretending．”

“Thatisapoint，”saidtheProfessor，“whichcertainlydeservesconsideration；verycarefulconsideration．Forinstance-ifyouwillexcusemeforaskingthequestion-doesyourexperienceleadyoutoregardyourbrotheroryoursisterasthemorereliable？Imean，whichisthemoretruthful？”

“That’sjustthefunnythingaboutit，sir，”saidPeter．“Uptillnow，I’dhavesaidLucyeverytime．”

“Andwhatdoyouthink，mydear？”saidtheProfessor，turningtoSusan．

“Well，”saidSusan，“ingeneral，I’dsaythesameasPeter，butthiscouldn’tbetrue-allthisaboutthewoodandtheFaun．”