669小说网

chater ne acr the deert（第1页）

"HOVEdreadful!Howperfectlydreadful!"whimperedLasaraleen。"Ohdarling，Iamsofrightened。I'mshakingallover。Feelme。"

"Comeon，"saidAravis，whowastremblingherself。"They'vegonebacktothenewpalace。Oncewe'reoutofthisroomwe'resafeenough。Butit'swastedaterribletime。Getmedowntothatwater-gateasquickasyoucan。"

"Darling，howcanyou?"squeakedLasaraleen。"Ican'tdoanything-notnow。Mypoornerves!No:wemustjustliestillabitandthengoback。"

"Whyback?"askedAravis。

"Oh，youdon'tunderstand。You'resounsympathetic，"saidLasaraleen，beginningtocry。Aravisdecideditwasnooccasionformercy。

。"Lookhere!"shesaid，catchingLasaraleenandgivingheragoodshake。。Ifyousayanotherwordaboutgoingback，andifyoudon'tstarttakingmetothatwater-gateatonce-doyouknowwhatI'lldo?I'llrushoutintothatpassageandscream。Thenwe'llbothbecaught。"

"Butweshallbothbek-k-killed!"saidLasaraleen。"Didn'tyouhearwhattheTisroc（mayheliveforever）said?"

"Yes，andI'dsoonerbekilledthanmarriedtoAhoshta。Socomeon。"

"Ohyouareunkind，"saidLasaraleen。"AndIinsuchastate!"

ButintheendshehadtogiveintoAravis。Sheledthewaydownthestepstheyhadalreadydescended，andalonganothercorridorandsofinallyoutintotheopenair。Theywerenowinthepalacegardenwhichslopeddowninterracestothecitywall。Themoonshonebrightly。Oneofthedrawbacksaboutadventuresisthatwhenyoucometothemostbeautifulplacesyouareoftentooanxiousandhurriedtoappreciatethem;sothatAravis（thoughsherememberedthemyearslater）hadonlyavagueimpressionofgreylawns，quietlybubblingfountains，andthelongblackshadowsofcypresstrees。

Whentheyreachedtheverybottomandthewallrosefrowningabovethem，Lasaraleenwasshakingsothatshecouldnotunboltthegate。Aravisdidit。There，atlast，wastheriver，fullofreflectedmoonlight，andalittlelandingstageandafewpleasureboats。

"Good-bye，"saidAravis，"andthankyou。I'msorryifI'vebeenapig。ButthinkwhatI'mflyingfrom!"

"OhAravisdarling，"saidLasaraleen。"Won'tyouchangeyourmind?Nowthatyou'veseenwhataverygreatmanAhoshtais!"

"Greatman!"saidAravis。"Ahideousgrovellingslavewhoflatterswhenhe'skickedbuttreasuresitallupandhopestogethisownbackbyeggingonthathorribleTisroctoplothisson'sdeath。Faugh!I'dsoonermarrymyfather'sscullionthanacreaturelikethat。"

"OhAravis，Aravis!Howcanyousaysuchdreadfulthings;andabouttheTisroc（mayheliveforever）too。Itmustberightifhe'sgoingtodoit!"

"Good-bye，"saidAravis，"andIthoughtyourdresseslovely。AndIthinkyourhouseislovelytoo。I'msureyou'llhavealovelylife-thoughitwouldn'tsuitme。Closethedoorsoftlybehindme。"

Shetoreherselfawayfromherfriend'saffectionateembraces，steppedintoapunt，castoff，andamomentlaterwasoutinmidstreamwithahugerealmoonoverheadandahugereflectedmoondown，deepdown，intheriver。Theairwasfreshandcoolandasshedrewnearthefartherbanksheheardthehootingofanowl。"Ah!That'sbetter!"thoughtAravis。ShehadalwayslivedinthecountryandhadhatedeveryminuteofhertimeinTashbaan。

Whenshesteppedashoreshefoundherselfindarknessfortheriseoftheground，andthetrees，cutoffthemoonlight。ButshemanagedtofindthesameroadthatShastahadfound，andcamejustashehaddonetotheendofthegrassandthebeginningofthesand，andlooked（likehim）toherleftandsawthebig，blackTombs。Andnowatlast，bravegirlthoughshewas，herheartquailed。Supposingtheothersweren'tthere!Supposingtheghoulswere!Butshestuckoutherchin（andalittlebitofhertonguetoo）andwentstraighttowardsthem。

ButbeforeshehadreachedthemshesawBreeandHwinandthegroom。

"Youcangobacktoyourmistressnow，"saidAravis（quiteforgettingthathecouldn't，untilthecitygatesopenednextmorning）。"Hereismoneyforyourpains。"

"Tohearistoobey，"saidthegroom，andatoncesetoffataremarkablespeedinthedirectionofthecity。Therewasnoneedtotellhimtomakehaste:healsohadbeenthinkingagooddealaboutghouls。