CHAPTER FIVE CASPIAN’S ADVENTURE IN THE MOUNTAINS（第3/3页）
“Bulbs and bolsters！ Nikabrik，”said Trumpkin．“Why need you talk so unhandsomely？ It isn’t the creature’s fault that it bashed its head against a tree outside our hole．And I don’t think it looks like a traitor．”
“I say，”said Caspian，“you haven’t yet found out whether I want to go back．I don’t．I want to stay with you-if you’ll let me.I’ve been looking for people like you all my life．”
“That’s a likely story，”growled Nikabrik．“You’re a Telmarine and a Human，aren’t you？ Of course you want to go back to your own kind．”
“Well，even if I did，I couldn’t，”said Caspian．“I was flying for my life when I had my accident．The King wants to kill me．If you’d killed me，you’d have done the very thing to please him．”
“Well now，”said Trufflehunter，“you don’t say so！”
“Eh？”said Trumpkin．“What’s that？ What have you been doing，Human，to fall foul of Miraz at your age？”
“He’s my uncle，”began Caspian，when Nikabrik jumped up with his hand on his dagger．
“There you are！”he cried．“Not only a Telmarine but close kin and heir to our greatest enemy．Are you still mad enough to let this creature live？”He would have stabbed Caspian then and there，if the Badger and Trumpkin had not got in the way and forced him back to his seat and held him down．
“Now，once and for all，Nikabrik，”said Trumpkin．“Will you contain yourself，or must Trufflehunter and I sit on your head？”
Nikabrik sulkily promised to behave，and the other two asked Caspian to tell his whole story．When he had done so there was a moment’s silence．
“This is the queerest thing I ever heard，”said Trumpkin．
“I don’t like it，”said Nikabrik．I didn’t know there were stories about us still told among the Humans．The less they know about us the better．That old nurse，now．She’d better have held her tongue．And it’s all mixed up with that Tutor: a renegade Dwarf．I hate them．I hate them worse than the Humans．You mark my words—no good will come of it．
“Don’t you go talking about things you don’t understand，Nikabrik，”said Trufflehunter．“You Dwarfs are as forgetful and changeable as the Humans themselves．I’m a beast，I am，and a Badger what’s more．We don’t change．We hold on．I say great good will come of it．This is the true King of Narnia we’ve got here: a true King，coming back to true Narnia．And we beasts remember，even if Dwarfs forget，that Narnia was never right except when a son of Adam was King．”
“Whistles and whirligigs！ Trufflehunter，”said Trumpkin．“You don’t mean you want to give the country to Humans？”
“I said nothing about that，”answered the Badger．“It’s not Men’s country (who should know that better than me？) but it’s a country for a man to be King of．We badgers have long enough memories to know that．Why，bless us all，wasn’t the High King Peter a Man？”
“Do you believe all those old stories？”asked Trumpkin．
“I tell you，we don’t change，we beasts，”said Trufflehunter．“We don’t forget．I believe in the High King Peter and the rest that reigned at Cair Paravel，as firmly as I believe in Aslan himself．”
“As firmly as that，I dare say，”said Trumpkin．“But who believes in Aslan nowadays？”
“I do，”said Caspian．“And if I hadn’t believed in him before，I would now．Back there among the Humans the people who laughed at Aslan would have laughed at stories about Talking Beasts and Dwarfs．Sometimes I did wonder if there really was such a person as Aslan: but then sometimes I wondered if there were really people like you．Yet there you are．”
“That’s right，”said Trufflehunter．“You’re right，King Caspian．And as long as you will be true to Old Narnia you shall be my King，whatever they say．Long life to your Majesty．”
“You make me sick，Badger，”growled Nikabrik．“The High King Peter and the rest may have been Men，but they were a different sort of Men．This is one of the cursed Telmarines．He has hunted beasts for sport．Haven’t you，now？”he added，rounding suddenly on Caspian．
“Well，to tell you the truth，I have，”said Caspian．“But they weren’t Talking Beasts．”
“It’s all the same thing，”said Nikabrik．
“No，no，no，”said Trufflehunter．“You know it isn’t．You know very well that the beasts in Narnia nowadays are different and are no more than the poor dumb，witless creatures you’d find in Calormen or Telmar．They’re smaller too．They’re far more different from us than the half-Dwarfs are from you．”
There was a great deal more talk，but it all ended with the agreement that Caspian should stay and even the promise that，as soon as he was able to go out，he should be taken to see what Trumpkin called“the Others””; for apparently in these wild parts all sorts of creatures from the Old Days of Narnia still lived on in hiding.