CHAPTER TEN THE RETURN OF THE LION（第3/3页）
“That is because you are older，little one，”answered he．
“Not because you are？”
“I am not．But every year you grow，you will find me bigger．”
For a time she was so happy that she did not want to speak．But Aslan spoke．
“Lucy，”he said，“we must not lie here for long．You have work in hand，and much time has been lost today．”
“Yes，wasn’t it a shame？”said Lucy．“I saw you all right.They wouldn’t believe me．They’re all so—”
From somewhere deep inside Aslan’s body there came the faintest suggestion of a growl．
“I’m sorry，”said Lucy，who understood some of his moods．“I didn’t mean to start slanging the others．But it wasn’t my fault anyway，was it？”
The Lion looked straight into her eyes．
“Oh，Aslan，”said Lucy．“You don’t mean it was？ How could I—I couldn’t have left the others and come up to you alone，how could I？ Don’t look at me like that…oh well，I suppose I could．Yes，and it wouldn’t have been alone，I know，not if I was with you．But what would have been the good？”
Aslan said nothing．
“You mean，”said Lucy rather faintly，“that it would have turned out all right—somehow？ But how？ Please，Aslan！ Am I not to know？”
“To know what would have happened，child？”said Aslan.“No．Nobody is ever told that．”
“Oh dear，”said Lucy．
“But anyone can find out what will happen，”said Aslan．“If you go back to the others now，and wake them up; and tell them you have seen me again; and that you must all get up at once and follow me—what will happen？ There is only one way of finding out．”
“Do you mean that is what you want me to do？”gasped Lucy．
“Yes，little one，”said Aslan．
“Will the others see you too？”asked Lucy．
“Certainly not at first，”said Aslan．“Later on，it depends．”
“But they won’t believe me！”said Lucy．
“It doesn’t matter，”said Aslan．
“Oh dear，oh dear，”said Lucy．“And I was so pleased at finding you again．And I thought you’d let me stay．And I thought you’d come roaring in and frighten all the enemies away—like last time．And now everything is going to be horrid．”
“It is hard for you，little one，”said Aslan．“But things never happen the same way twice．It has been hard for us all in Narnia before now．”
Lucy buried her head in his mane to hide from his face．But there must have been magic in his mane．She could feel lion-strength going into her．Quite suddenly she sat up．
“I’m sorry，Aslan，”she said．“I’m ready now．”
“Now you are a lioness，”said Aslan．“And now all Narnia will be renewed．But come．We have no time to lose．”
He got up and walked with stately，noiseless paces back to the belt of dancing trees through which she had just come: and Lucy went with him，laying a rather tremulous hand on his mane．The trees parted to let them through and for one second assumed their human forms completely．Lucy had a glimpse of tall and lovely wood—gods and wood—goddesses all bowing to the Lion; next moment they were trees again，but still bowing，with such graceful sweeps of branch and trunk that their bowing was itself a kind of dance.
“Now，child，”said Aslan，when they had left the trees behind them，“I will wait here．Go and wake the others and tell them to follow．If they will not，then you at least must follow me alone．”
It is a terrible thing to have to wake four people，all older than yourself and all very tired，for the purpose of telling them something they probably won’t believe and making them do something they certainly won’t like．“I mustn’t think about it，I must just do it，”thought Lucy．
She went to Peter first and shook him．“Peter，”she whispered in his ear，“wake up．Quick．Aslan is here．He says we’ve got to follow him at once．”
“Certainly，Lu.Whatever you like，”said Peter unexpectedly．This was encouraging，but as Peter instantly rolled round and went to sleep again it wasn’t much use．
Then she tried Susan．Susan did really wake up，but only to say in her most annoying grown-up voice，“You’ve been dreaming，Lucy．Go to sleep again．”
She tackled Edmund next．It was very difficult to wake him，but when at last she had done it he was really awake and sat up．
“Eh？”he said in a grumpy voice．“What are you talking about？”
She said it all over again．This was one of the worst parts of her job，for each time she said it，it sounded less convincing．
“Aslan！”said Edmund，jumping up．“Hurray！ Where？”
Lucy turned back to where she could see the Lion waiting，his patient eyes fixed upon her．“There，”she said，pointing．
“Where？”asked Edmund again．
“There．There．Don’t you see？ Just this side of the trees．”
Edmund stared hard for a while and then said，“No．There’s nothing there．You’ve got dazzled and muddled with the moonlight．One does，you know．I thought I saw something for a moment myself．It’s only an optical what-do-you-call-it．”
“I can see him all the time，”said Lucy．“He’s looking straight
at us．”
“Then why can’t I see him？”
“He said you mightn’t be able to．”
“Why？”
“I don’t know．That’s what he said．”
“Oh，bother it all，”said Edmund．“I do wish you wouldn’t keep on seeing things．But I suppose we’ll have to wake the others．