669小说网

chater eleven the duffleud ade hay（第2页）

“Don’ttheyadmireyou？”askedLucy．

“Oh，notme，”saidtheMagician．“Theywouldn’tadmireme．”

“Whatwasityouuglifiedthemfor-Imean，whattheycalluglified？”

“Well，theywouldn’tdowhattheyweretold．Theirworkistomindthegardenandraisefood-notforme，astheyimagine，butforthemselves．Theywouldn’tdoitatallifIdidn’tmakethem．Andofcourseforagardenyouwantwater．Thereisabeautifulspringabouthalfamileawayupthehill．Andfromthatspringthereflowsastreamwhichcomesrightpastthegarden．AllIaskedthemtodowastotaketheirwaterfromthestreaminsteadoftrudginguptothespringwiththeirbucketstwoorthreetimesadayandtiringthemselvesoutbesidesspillinghalfofitonthewayback．Buttheywouldn’tseeit．Intheendtheyrefusedpointblank．”

“Aretheyasstupidasallthat？”askedLucy．

TheMagiciansighed．“Youwouldn’tbelievethetroublesI’vehadwiththem．Afewmonthsagotheywereallforwashinguptheplatesandknivesbeforedinner：theysaiditsavedtimeafterwards。I’vecaughtthemplantingboiledpotatoestosavecookingthemwhentheyweredugup．Onedaythecatgotintothedairyandtwentyofthemwereatworkmovingallthemilkout；noonethoughtofmovingthecat．ButIseeyou’vefinished．Let’sgoandlookattheDuffersnowtheycanbelookedat．”

Theywentintoanotherroomwhichwasfullofpolishedinstrumentshardtounderstand-suchasAstrolabes，Orreries，Chronoscopes，Poesimeters，ChoriambusesandTheodolinds-andhere，whentheyhadcometothewindow，theMagiciansaid，“There．ThereareyourDuffers．”

“Idon’tseeanybody，”saidLucy．“Andwhatarethosemushroomthings？”

Thethingsshepointedatweredottedalloverthelevelgrass．Theywerecertainlyverylikemushrooms，butfartoobig-thestalksaboutthreefeethighandtheumbrellasaboutthesamelengthfromedgetoedge．Whenshelookedcarefullyshenoticedtoothatthestalksjoinedtheumbrellasnotinthemiddlebutatonesidewhichgaveanunbalancedlooktothem．Andtherewassomething-asortoflittlebundle-lyingonthegrassatthefootofeachstalk．Infactthelongershegazedatthemthelesslikemushroomstheyappeared．Theumbrellapartwasnotreallyroundasshehadthoughtatfirst．Itwaslongerthanitwasbroad，anditwidenedatoneend．Therewereagreatmanyofthem，fiftyormore．

Theclockstruckthree．

Instantlyamostextraordinarythinghappened．Eachofthe“mushrooms”suddenlyturnedupside-down．Thelittlebundleswhichhadlainatthebottomofthestalkswereheadsandbodies．Thestalksthemselveswerelegs．Butnottwolegstoeachbody．Eachbodyhadasinglethicklegrightunderit（nottoonesideliketheleg

ofaone-leggedman）andattheendofit，asingleenormousfoot-abroadtoedfootwiththetoescurlingupalittlesothatitlookedratherlikeasmallcanoe．Shesawinamomentwhytheyhadlookedlikemushrooms．Theyhadbeenlyingflatontheirbackseachwithitssinglelegstraightupintheairanditsenormousfootspreadoutaboveit．Shelearnedafterwardsthatthiswastheirordinarywayofresting；forthefootkeptoffbothrainandsunandforaMonopodtolieunderitsownfootisalmostasgoodasbeinginatent．

“Oh，thefunnies，thefunnies，”criedLucy，burstingintolaughter．“Didyoumakethemlikethat？”

“Yes，yes．ImadetheDuffersintoMonopods，”saidtheMagician．Hetoowaslaughingtillthetearsrandownhischeeks．“Butwatch，”headded．

Itwasworthwatching．Ofcoursetheselittleone-footedmencouldn’twalkorrunaswedo．Theygotaboutbyjumping，likefleasorfrogs．Andwhatjumpstheymade！asifeachbigfootwereamassofsprings．Andwithwhatabouncetheycamedown；thatwaswhatmadethethumpingnoisewhichhadsopuzzledLucyyesterday．Fornowtheywerejumpinginalldirectionsandcallingouttooneanother，“Hey，lads！We’revisibleagain．”

“Visibleweare，”saidoneinatasselledredcapwhowasobviouslytheChiefMonopod．“AndwhatIsayis，whenchapsarevisible，why，theycanseeoneanother．”

“Ah，thereitis，thereitis，Chief，”criedalltheothers．“There’sthepoint．Noone’sgotaclearerheadthanyou．Youcouldn’thavemadeitplainer．”

“Shecaughttheoldmannapping，thatlittlegirldid，”saidtheChiefMonopod．“We’vebeatenhimthistime．”

“Justwhatwewere，goingtosayourselves，”chimedthechorus．“You’regoingstrongerthanevertoday，Chief．Keepitup，keepitup．”

“Butdotheydaretotalkaboutyoulikethat？”saidLucy．“Theyseemedtobesoafraidofyouyesterday．Don’ttheyknowyoumightbelistening？”

“That’soneofthefunnythingsabouttheDuffers，”saidtheMagician．“OneminutetheytalkasifIraneverythingandoverheardeverythingandwasextremelydangerous．Thenextmomenttheythinktheycantakemeinbytricksthatababywouldseethrough-blessthem！”

“Willtheyhavetobeturnedbackintotheirpropershapes？”askedLucy．“Oh，Idohopeitwouldn’tbeunkindtoleavethemastheyare．Dotheyreallymindverymuch？Theyseemprettyhappy．Isay-lookatthatjump．Whatweretheylikebefore？”

“Commonlittledwarfs，”saidhe．“NothinglikesoniceasthesortyouhaveinNarnia．”

“Itwouldbeapitytochangethemback，”saidLucy．“They’resofunny：andthey’rerathernice．DoyouthinkitwouldmakeanydifferenceifItoldthemthat？”

“I’msureitwould-ifyoucouldgetitintotheirheads．”