CHAPTER TEN WHO WILL GO INTO THE STABLE（第3/3页）

“My Father，”he said to the Captain，“I also desire to go in.”

“Peace，Emeth，”said the Captain，“Who called thee to counsel ？Does it become a boy to speak ？”

“My Father，”said Emeth.“Truly I am younger than thou，yet I also am of the blood of the Tarkaans even as thou art，and I also am the servant of Tash. Therefore...”

“Silence，”said Rishda Tarkaan.“Am I not thy Captain ？ Thou hast nothing to do with this stable. It is for the Narnians.”

“Nay，my Father，”answered Emeth.“Thou hast said that their Aslan and our Tash are all one. And if that is the truth，then Tash himself is in yonder. And how then sayest thou that I have nothing to do with him ？ For gladly would I die a thousand deaths if I might look once on the face of Tash.”

“Thou art a fool and understandest nothing，”said Rishda Tarkaan.“These be high matters.”

Emeth’s face grew sterner.“Is it then not true that Tash and Aslan are all one ？”he asked.“Has the Ape lied to us ？”

“Of course they’re all one，”said the Ape．

“Swear it，Ape，”said Emeth．

“Oh dear!”whimpered Shift，“I wish you’d all stop bothering me. My head does ache. Yes，yes，I swear it.”

“Then，my Father，”said Emeth，“I am utterly determined to go in.”

“Fool，”began Rishda Tarkaan，but at once the Dwarfs began shouting：“Come along，Darkie. Why don’t you let him in ？ Why do you let Narnians in and keep your own people out ？ What have you got in there that you don’t want your own men to meet ？”

Tirian and his friends could only see the back of Rishda Tarkaan，so they never knew what his face looked like as he shrugged his shoulders and said，“Bear witness all that I am guiltless of this young fool’s blood. Get thee in，rash boy，and make haste.”

Then，just as Ginger had done，Emeth came walking forward into the open strip of grass between the bonfire and the stable. His eyes were shining，his face very solemn，his hand was on his sword-hilt，and he carried his head high. Jill felt like crying when she looked at his face. And Jewel whispered in the King’s ear，“By the Lion’s Mane，I almost love this young warrior，Calormene though he be. He is worthy of a better god than Tash.”

“I do wish we knew what is really inside there，”said Eustace．

Emeth opened the door and went in，into the black mouth of the stable. He closed the door behind him. Only a few moments passed-but it seemed longer before the door opened again. A figure in Calormene armour reeled out，fell on its back，and lay still：the door closed behind it. The Captain leaped towards it and bent down to stare at its face. He gave a start of surprise. Then he recovered himself and turned to the crowd，crying out：

“The rash boy has had his will. He has looked on Tash and is dead. Take warning，all of you.”

“We will，we will，”said the poor Beasts. But Tirian and his friends stared first at the dead Calormene and then at one another. For they，being so close，could see what the crowd，being further off and beyond the fire，could not see：this dead man was not Emeth. He was quite different：an older man，thicker and not so tall，with a big beard．

“Ho-ho-ho，”chuckled the Ape.“Any more ？ Anyone else want to go in ？Well，as you’re all shy，I’ll choose the next. You， you Boar! On you come. Drive him up，Calormenes. He shall see Tashlan face to face.”

“O-o-mph，”grunted the Boar，rising heavily to his feet.“Come on，then. Try my tusks.”

When Tirian saw that brave Beast getting ready to fight for its life-and Calormene soldiers beginning to close in on it with their drawn scimitars-and no one going to its help-something seemed to burst inside him. He no longer cared if this was the best moment to interfere or not．

“Swords out，”he whispered to the others.“Arrow on string. Follow.”

Next moment the astonished Narnians saw seven figures leap forth in front of the stable，four of them in shining mail. The King’s sword flashed in the firelight as he waved it above his head and cried in a great voice：

“Here stand I，Tirian of Narnia，in Aslan’s name，to prove with my body that Tash is a foul fiend，the Ape a manifold traitor，and these Calormenes worthy of death. To my side，all true Narnians. Would you wait till your new masters have killed you all one by one ？”