CHAPTER NINE THE ISLAND OF THE VOICES（第2/3页）

“We could swim，”said Lucy．

“Your Majesties all，”said Reepicheep，“hear me．It is folly to think of avoiding an invisible enemy by any amount of creeping and skulking．If these creatures mean to bring us to battle，be sure they will succeed．And whatever comes of it I’d sooner meet them

face to face than be caught by the tail．”

“I really think Reep is in the right this time，”said Edmund．

“Surely，”said Lucy，“if Rhince and the others on the Dawn Treader see us fighting on the shore they’ll be able to do something．”

“But they won’t see us fighting if they can’t see any enemy，”said Eustace miserably．“They’ll think we’re just swinging our swords in the air for fun．”

There was an uncomfortable pause．

“Well，”said Caspian at last，“let’s get on with it．We must go and face them．Shake hands all round—arrow on the string， Lucy—swords out，everyone else—and now for it．Perhaps they’ll parley．”

It was strange to see the lawns and the great trees looking so peaceful as they marched back to the beach．And when they arrived there，and saw the boat lying where they had left her，and the smooth sand with no one to be seen on it，more than one doubted whether Lucy had not merely imagined all she had told them．But before they reached the sand，a voice spoke out of the air．

“No further，masters，no further now，”it said．“We’ve got to talk with you first．There’s fifty of us and more here with weapons in our fists．”

“Hear him，hear him，”came the chorus．“That’s our Chief． You can depend on what he says．He’s telling you the truth，he is．”

“I do not see these fifty warriors，”observed Reepicheep．

“That’s right，that’s right，”said the Chief Voice．“You don’t see us．And why not ？ Because we’re invisible．”

“Keep it up，Chief，keep it up，”said the Other Voices．“You’re talking like a book．They couldn’t ask for a better answer than that．”

“Be quiet，Reep，”said Caspian，and then added in a louder voice，“You invisible people，what do you want with us ？And what have we done to earn your enmity ？”

“We want something that little girl can do for us，”said the Chief Voice．(The others explained that this was just what they would have said themselves．)

“Little girl ！”said Reepicheep．“The lady is a queen．”

“We don’t know about queens，”said the Chief Voice．

(“No more we do，no more we do，”chimed in the others．)“But we want something she can do．”

“What is it ？”said Lucy．

“And if it is anything against her Majesty’s honour or safety，”added Reepicheep，“you will wonder to see how many we can kill before we die．”

“Well，”said the Chief Voice．“It’s a long story．Suppose we all sit down ？”，

The proposal was warmly approved by the other voices but the Narnians remained standing．

“Well，”said the Chief Voice．“It’s like this．This island has been the property of a great magician time out of mind．And we all are-or perhaps in a manner of speaking，I might say，we were-his servants．Well，to cut a long story short，this magician that I was speaking about，he told us to do something we didn’t like. And why not ？ Because we didn’t want to．Well，then，this same magician he fell into a great rage；for I ought to tell you he owned the island and he wasn’t used to being crossed．He was terribly downright，you know．But let me see，where am I ？ Oh yes，this magician then，he goes upstairs(for you must know he kept all his magic things up there and we all lived down below)， I say he goes upstairs and puts a spell on us．An uglifying spell．If you saw us now，which in my opinion you may thank your stars you can’t，you wouldn’t believe what we looked like before we were uglified. You wouldn’t really．So there we all were so ugly we couldn’t bear to look at one another．So then what did we do ？ Well，I’ll tell you what we did．We waited till we thought this same magician would be asleep in the afternoon and we creep upstairs and go to his magic book，as bold as brass，to see if we can do anything about this uglification．But we were all of a sweat and a tremble，so I won’t deceive you．But，believe me or believe me not，I do assure you that we couldn’t find any thing in the way of a spell for taking off the ugliness．And what with time getting on and being afraid that the old gentleman might wake up any minute—I was all of a muck sweat，so I won’t deceive you— well，to cut a long story short，whether we did right or whether we did wrong，in the end we see a spell for making people invisible. And we thought we’d rather be invisible than go on being as ugly as all that．And why ？ Because we’d like it better．So my little girl，who’s just about your little girl’s age，and a sweet child she was before she was uglified，though now—but least said soonest mended—I say，my little girl she says the spell，for it’s got to be a little girl or else the magician himself，if you see my meaning， for otherwise it won’t work．And why not ？Because nothing happens．So my Clipsie says the spell，for I ought to have told you she reads beautifully，and there we all were as invisible as you could wish to see．And I do assure you it was a relief not to see one another’s faces．At first，anyway．But the long and the short of it is we’re mortal tired of being invisible．And there’s another thing．We never reckoned on this magician(the one I was telling you about before)going invisible too．But we haven’t ever seen him since．So we don’t know if he’s dead，or gone．away， or whether he’s just sitting upstairs being invisible，and perhaps coming down and being invisible there．And，believe me，it’s no manner of use listening because he always did go about with his bare feet on，making no more noise than a great big cat．And I’ll tell all you gentlemen straight，it’s getting more than what our nerves can stand．”

Such was the Chief Voice’s story，but very much shortened， because I have left out what the Other Voices said．Actually he never got out more than six or seven words without being interrupted by their agreements and encouragements，which drove the Narnians nearly out of their minds with impatience．When it was over there was a very long silence．

“But，”said Lucy at last，“what’s all this got to do with us ？ I don’t understand．”

“Why，bless me，if I haven’t gone and left out the whole point，”said the Chief Voice．

“That you have，that you have，”roared the Other Voices with great enthusiasm．“No one couldn’t have left it out cleaner and better．Keep it up，Chief，keep it up．”

“Well，I needn’t go over the whole story again，”began the Chief Voice．