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THE DWARF TELLS OF PRINCE CASPIAN PRINCE CASPIAN lied in a great castle ire of Narnia with his uncle, Miraz, the King of Narnia, and his aunt, who had red hair and was called Queen Prunaprisa.
His father and ther were dead and the person ian loed best was his nurse, and though (being a prince) he had wonderful toys which would do alst anything but talk, he liked best the st hour of the day wheoys had all been put ba their cupboards and Nurse would tell histories.
He did not care ch for his uncle and aunt, but about twice a week his uncle would send for hiand they would walk up and down to;sa;/sagether for half an hour oerrace at the south side of the castle. One day, while they were doing this, the King said to hi quot;Well, boy, we st soon teach you to ride and use a sword. You know that your aunt and I hae no children, so it looks as if you ght hae to be King when Igone. How shall you like that, eh?”
quot;I dont know, Uncle,quot; said Caspian.
quot;Dont know, eh?quot; said Miraz. quot;Why, I should like to know what re anyone nbsuld wish for!”;q;/q
quot;All the sa, I do wish,quot; said Caspian.
quot;What do you wish?quot; asked the King.
quot;I wish - I wish - I wish uld hae lied in the Old Days,quot; said Caspian. (He was only a ery little boy at the ti.)
Up till now King Miraz had been talking iireso way that so grown-ups hae, which kes it quite clear that they are not really ied in what you are saying, but now he suddenly gae Caspian a ery sharp look.
quot;Eh? Whats that?quot; he said. quot;What old days do you an?”
quot;Oh, dont you know, Uncle?quot; said Caspian. quot;Whehing was quite different. When all the aniluld talk, and there were nice people who lied irea and the trees. Naiads and Dryads they were called. And there were Dwarfs. And there were loely little Fauns in all the woods. They had feet like goats. And -”
quot;Thats all nonsense, for babies,quot; said the King sternly. quot;Only fit for babies, do you hear?
Yetting too old for that sort of stuff. At ye you ought to be thinking of battles and adentures, not fairy tales.”
quot;Oh, but there were battles and adentures in those days,quot; said Caspian. quot;Wonderful adentures. Ohere was a White Witd she de herself Queen of the who;s?;/sle try. And she de it so that it was always winter. And then two boys and two girls ca frosowhere and so they killed the Witd they were de Kings and Queens of Narnia, and their nas were Peter and Susan and Ednd and Lubsp; And so they reigned for eer so long and eeryone had a loely ti, and it was all because of Asn -”
quot;Whos he?quot; said Miraz. And if Caspian had been a ery little older, the tone of his uncles oice would hae warned hithat it would be wiser to shut up. But he babbled on, quot;Oh, dont you kno;quot; he said. quot;Asn is the great Lion who es frooer the sea.”
quot;Who has been telling you all this nonsense?quot; said the King in a oice of thunder.
Caspian was frightened and said nothing.
quot;Your Royal Highness,quot; said King Miraz, letting go of Caspians hand, whibsp; he had been holding till no;quot;I insist upon being answered. Look in the fabsp; Who has been telling you this pack of lies?”
quot;N - Nurse,quot; faered Caspian, and burst into tears.
quot;Stop that noise,quot; said his uaking Caspian by the shoulders and giing haa shake.
quot;Stop it. And neer let catch you talking - or thinkiher - about all those silly stories again. There neer were those Kings and Queens. Hould there be two Kings at the sa ti? And theres no such person as Asn. And there are no such things as lions. And there neer was a ti when aniluld talk. Do you hear?”
quot;Yes, Uncle,quot; sobbed Caspian.
quot;Thes hae no re of it,quot; said the King. Then he called to one of the gentlen-in-waiting who were standing at the far end of the terrad said in ld oice, quot;duct His Royal Higho his apartnts and send His Royal Highnesss o AT ONCE.”
day Caspian found what a terrible thing he had done, for Nurse had bee away without een being allowed to say good-bye to hi and he was told he was to hae a Tutor.
Caspian ssed his nurse ery d shed ny tears; and because he was so serable, he thought about the old stories of Narnia far re than before. He dread of Dwarfs and Dryads eery night and tried ery hard to ke the dogs and cats in the castle talk to hi But the dogs only wagged their tails and the cats only purred.
Caspia sure that he would hate the utor, buy wheor arried about a week ter he turns out to be the sort of person it is alst iossible not to like.
He was the sllest, and also the fattest, n Caspian had eer seen. He had a long, silery, pointed beard which ca down to his waist, and his face, whibsp; was brown anered with wrinkles, looked ery wise, ery ugly, and ery kind. His oice was grae and his eyes were rry so that, until you got to know hireally well, it was hard to know when he was joking and when he was serious. His na was Doctor elius.
Of all his lessons with Doctor elius the ohat Caspian liked best was History. Up till now, ecept for ories, he had known nothing about the History of Narnia, and he was ery surprised to learn that the royal faly were newers in the try.
quot;It was yhnesss aor, Caspian the First,quot; said Doctor elius, quot;who first quered Narnia a his kingdo It was he whht all your nation into the try. You are not natie Narnians at all. You are all Telrines - that is, you all ca frothe Land of Telr, far beyond the Western Mountains. That is why Caspian the First is called Caspian the queror.”
quot;Please, Doctor,quot; asked Caspian one day, quot;who lied in Narnia before we all ca here out of Telr?”
quot;No n - or ery few - lied in Narnia before the Telriook it,quot; said Doctor elius.
quot;Then who did great-great-graers quer?”
quot;Who not who, yhness,quot; said Doctor elius. quot;Perhaps it is ti to turn froHistory to Graar.”
quot;Oh please, not yet!quot; said Caspian.
quot;I an, wasnt there a battle? Why is he called Caspian the queror if there was nobody to fight with hi”
quot;I said there were ery few n in Narnia,quot; said the Doctor, looking at the little boy ery strahrough his great spectacles.
For a nt Caspian uzzled and then suddenly his heart gae a leap. quot;Do you an,quot; he gasped, quot;that there were other things? Do you an it was like in the stories?
Were there-?”
quot;Hush!quot; said Doctor elius, ying his head ery close to Caspians. quot;Not a word re. Dont you know your Nurse was sent away for telling you about Old Narnia? The King doesnt like it. If he fouelling you secrets, youd be whipped and I should hae head cut off.”
quot;But why?quot; asked Caspian.
quot;1t is high ti we turo Graar no;quot; said Doctor elius in a loud oice. quot;Will your Royal Highness be pleased to open Pulerulentus Sius at the fourth  age of his Graatical garden or the Arbour of Ae pleasantlie opend to Tender Wits?”
After that it was all nouns and erbs till lunchti, but I dont think Caspian learned ch. He was too ecited. He fe sure that Doctor elius would not hae said so less he ant to tell hire sooner or ter.
In this he was not disappointed. A few days ter his Tutor said, quot;Tonight I agoing to gie you a lesson in Astrono. At dead of night two noble ps, Tara and Ail, will pass within one degree of each other. Such a jun has not ourred for two hundred years, and yhness will not lie to see it again. It will be best if you go to bed a little earlier than usual. Whei of the jun draws near I will e and wake you.”
This dido hae anyt;cite.;/citehing to do with Old Narnia, which was what Caspian really wao hear about, but getting up in the ddle of the night is always iing and he was derately pleased. When he went to bed that night, he thought at first that he would not be able to sleep; but he soon dropped off and it seed only a few nutes before he fe sooly shaking hi
He sat up in bed and saw that the roowas full of onlight. Doctor elius, ffled in a hooded robe and holding a sll in his hand, stood by the bedside.
Caspian reered at once what they were going to do. He got up and put on so clothes. Athough it was a suer night he fellder than he had epected and was quite gd when the Doctor ed hiin a robe like his own and gae hia pair of war soft buskins for his feet. A nt ter, both ffled so that theuld hardly be seen in the darrridors, and both shod so that they de alst no noise, ster and pupil left the roo
Caspian followed the Doctor through ny passages and up seeral staircases, and at st, through a little door in a turret, they ca out upon the leads. On one side were the battlents, oher a steep roof; below the all shadowy and shiery, the castle gardens; aboe the stars and on. Presently they ca to another door, which led into the great tral tower of the whole castle: Doctor elius unlocked it and they began to cli the dark winding stair of the tower. Caspian was beied; he had neer been allowed up this stair before.
It was long and steep, but when they ca out on the roof of the tower and Caspian had got his breath, he fe that it had been well worth it. Away on his right huld see, rather indistinctly, the Western Mountains. On his left was the gleaof the Great Rier, ahing was so quiet that huld hear the sound of the waterfall at Beaersda a le away. There was no difficuy in pig out the two stars they had e to see.
They hung rather low in the southern sky, alst as bright as two little ons and ery close together.
quot;Are they going to hae llision?quot; he asked in aruck oice.
quot;Nay, dear Prince,quot; said the Doctor (aoo spoke in a whisper). quot;The great lords of the upper sky know the steps of their daoo well for that. Look well upoheir eting is fortunate and ans so great good for the sad realof Narnia. Tara, the Lord of Victory, salutes Ail, the Lady of Peace. They are just ing to their .”
quot;Its a pity that tree gets in the way,quot; said Caspian. quot;Wed really see better frothe West Tower, though it is not so high.”
Doctor elius said nothing for about two nutes, but stood still with his eyes fied on Tara and Ail. Then he drew a deep breath and turo Caspian.
quot;There,quot; he said. quot;You hae seen what no n now alie has seen, nor will see again.
And you are right. We should hae seen it eeer frothe sller tower. I brought you here for another reason.”
Caspian looked up at hi but the Doctors hood cealed st of his face.
quot;The irtue of this tower,quot; said Doctor elius, quot;is that we hae si ety roo beh us, and a long stair, and the door at the bottoof the stair is locked. We ot be oerheard.”
quot;Are you going to tell what you wouldnt tell the other day?quot; said Caspian.
quot;I aquot; said the Doctor. quot;But reer. You and I st alk about these thi here - on the ery top of the Great Tower.”
quot;No. Thats a prose,quot; said Caspian. quot;But do go on, please.”
quot;Listen,quot; said the Doctor. quot;All you hae heard about Old Narnia is true. It is not the nd of Men. It is the try of Asn, the try of the Waking Trees and Visible Naiads, of Fauns and Satyrs, of Dwarfs and Giants, of the gods and the taurs, of Talkis. It was against these that the first Caspian fought. It is you Telrines who silehe beasts and the trees and the fountains, and who killed and droe away the Dwarfs and Fauns, and are n ter up een the ry of the The King does not allow theto be spoken of.”
quot;Oh, I do wish we hadnt,quot; said Caspian. quot;And I agd it was all true, een if it is all oer.”
quot;Many of your race wish that i,quot; said Doctor elius.
quot;But, Doctor,quot; said Caspian, quot;why d;bdi;/bdio you say race? After all, I suppose youre a Telrioo.”
quot;AI?quot; said the Doctor.
quot;Well, youre a Man anyway,quot; said Caspian.
quot;AI?quot; repeated the Doctor in a deeper oice, at the sa nt throwing back his hood so that Caspiauld see his face clearly in the onlight.
All at once Caspian realized the truth ahat he ought to hae realized it long before. Doctor elius was so sll, and so fat, and had such a ery long beard. Two thoughts to his head at the sa nt. One was a thought of terror - quot;Hes not a real n, not a n at all, hes a Dwarf, and hes brought up here to kill .quot; The other was sheer delight - quot;There are real Dwarfs still, and Ie see st.”
quot;So youe guessed it in the end,quot; said Doctor elius. quuessed it nearly right. Inot a pure Dwarf. I hae hun blood ioo. Many Dwarfs escaped in the great battles and lied on, shaing their beards and wearing highheeled shoes and  retending to be n. They hae ed with your Telrines. I aone of those, only a halfDwarf, and if any of kihe true Dwarfs, are still alie anywhere in the world, doubtless they would despise and call a traitor. But neer in all these years hae we fotten our own people and all the other happy creatures of Narnia, and the long-lost days of freedo”
quot;I- Isorry, Doctor,quot; said Caspian. quot;It wasnt fau, you know.”
quot;I anot saying these things in b of you, dear Prince,quot; answered the Doctor. quot;You y well ask why I say theat all. But I hae two reasons. Firstly, because old heart has carried these secret ries so long that it aches with theand would burst if I did not whisper theto you. But sedly, for this: that when you bee King you y help us, for I know that you also, Telrihough you are, loe the Old Things.”
quot;I do, I do,quot; said Caspian. quot;But how I help?”
quot;You be kind to the poor reants of the Deople, like self. You gather learned gis and try to find a way of awaking the trees once re. You search through all the nooks and wild pces of the nd to see if any Fauns or Talkis or Dwarfs are perhaps still alie in hiding.”
quot;Do you think there are any?quot; asked Caspian eagerly.
quot;I dont know - I dont kno;quot; said the Doctor with a deep sigh. quot;Sotis I aafraid there t be. I hae been looking for traces of theall life. Sotis I hae thought I heard a Dwarf-druiains. Sotis at night, in the woods, I thought I had caught a glise of Fauns and Satyrs dang a long way off; but when I ca to the pce, there was neer anything there. I hae often despaired; but sothing always happens to start hoping again. I dont know. But at least you try to be a King like the High Kier of old, and not like your uncle.”
quot;Then its true about the Kings and Queens too, and about the White Witch?quot; said Caspian.
quot;Certainly it is true,quot; said elius. quot;Their reign was the Golden Age in Narnia and the nd has neer fotten the”
quot;Did they lie in this castle, Doctor?”
quot;Nay, dear,quot; said the old n. quot;This castle is a thing of yesterday. Yreat-great-grandfather bui it. But whewo sons of Adaand the two daughters of Ee were de Kings and Queens of Narnia by Asn hielf, they lied in the castle of Cair Parael. No n alie has seen that blessed pd perhaps een the ruins of it hae now anished. But we beliee it was far frohere, down at the uth of the Great Rier, on the ery shore of the sea.”
quot;Ugh!quot; said Caspian with a shudder. quot;Do you an in the Bck Woods? Where all the - the - you know, the ghosts lie?”
quot;Yhness speaks as you hae been taught,quot; said the Doctor. quot;But it is all lies.
There are no ghosts there. That is a story ied by the Telrines. Your Kings are in deadly fear of the sea because they eer quite fet that in all stories Asn es frooer the sea. They dont want to go near it and they dont want anyone else to go near it. So they hae let great woods grow up to cut their people off fronbsp; thast. But because they hae quarrelled with the trees they are afraid of the woods. And because they are afraid of the woods they igihat they are full of ghosts. And the Kings and great n, hating both the sea and the wood, partly beliee these stories, and partly ehe They feel safer if no one in Narnia dares to go down to the nbsast and look out to sea towards Asns nd and the and the eastern end of the world.”
There was a deep sileween thefor a few hen Doctor elius said, quot;e. We hae been here long enough. It is ti to go down and to bed.”
quot;Must ;quot; said Caspian. quot;Id like to go on talking about these things for hours and hours and hours.”
quot;Soo begin looking for us, if we did that,quot; said Doctor elius.
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