CHAPTER NINE THE FOUNDING OF NARNIA（第3/4页）

“It’s alive too-I mean，it’s lit，”said Digory．And so it was； though of course，the brightness of the sun made the little flame in the lantern hard to see unless your shadow fell on it．

“Remarkable，most remarkable，”muttered Uncle Andrew． “Even I never dreamt of Magic like this．We’re in a world where everything，even a lamp—post，comes to life and grows．Now I wonder what sort of seed a lamp—post grows from ？”

“Don’t you see ？”said Digory．“This is where the bar fell-the bar she tore off the lamp-post at home．It sank into the ground and now it’s coming up as a young lamp—post．”(But not so very young now；it was as tall as Digory while he said this．）

“That’s it ！ Stupendous，stupendous，”said Uncle Andrew， rubbing his hands harder than ever．“Ho，ho ！ They laughed at my Magic．That fool of a sister of mine thinks I’m a lunatic． I wonder what they’ll say now ？ I have discovered a world where everything is bursting with life and growth．Columbus，now， they talk about Columbus．But what was America to this ？ The commercial possibilities of this country are unbounded．Bring a few old bits of scrap iron here，bury’em，and up they come as brand new railway engines，battleships，anything you please．They’ll cost nothing，and I can sell ’em at full prices in England．I shall be a millionaire．And then the climate ！ I feel years younger already．I can run it as a health resort．A good sanatorium here might be worth twenty thousand a year．Of course I shall have to let a few people into the secret．The first thing is to get that brute shot．”

“You’re just like the Witch，”said Polly．“All you think of is killing things．”

“And then as regards oneself，”Uncle Andrew continued， in a happy dream．“There’s no knowing how long I might live if I settled here．And that’s a big consideration when a fellow has turned sixty．I shouldn’t be surprised if I never grew a day older in this country ！ Stupendous ！ The land of youth ！”

“Oh ！”cried Digory．“The land of youth ！ Do you think it really is ？”For of course he remembered what Aunt Letty had said to the lady who brought the grapes，and that sweet hope rushed back upon him．“Uncle Andrew”，he said，“do you think there’s anything here that would cure Mother ？”

“What are you talking about ？”said Uncle Andrew．“This isn’t a chemist’s shop．But as I was saying-”

“You don’t care twopence about her，”said Digory savagely． “I thought you might；after all，she’s your sister as well as my Mother．Well，no matter．I’m jolly well going to ask the Lion himself if he can help me．”And he turned and walked briskly away.Polly waited for a moment and then went after him．

“Here ！ Stop ！ Come back ！ The boy’s gone mad，”said Uncle Andrew．He followed the children at a cautious distance behind；for he didn’t want to get too far away from the green rings or too near the Lion．

In a few minutes Digory came to the edge of the wood and there he stopped．The Lion was singing still．But now the song had once more changed．It was more like what we should call a tune，but it was also far wilder．It made you want to run and jump and climb．It made you want to shout．It made you want to rush at other people and either hug them or fight them．It made Digory hot and red in the face．It had some effect on Uncle Andrew，for Digory could hear him saying，“A spirited gel，sir．It’s a pity about her temper，but a dem fine woman all the same，a dem fine woman．”But what the song did to the two humans was nothing compared with what it was doing to the country．

Can you imagine a stretch of grassy land bubbling like water in a pot ？ For that is really the best description of what was happening．In all directions it was swelling into humps．They were of very different sizes，some no bigger than molehills，some as big as wheel barrows，two the size of cottages．And the humps moved and swelled till they burst，and the crumbled earth poured out of them，and from each hump there came out an animal．The moles came out just as you might see a mole come out in England． The dogs came out，barking the moment their heads were free，and struggling as you’ ve seen them do when they are getting through a narrow hole in a hedge．The stags were the queerest to watch， for of course the antlers came up a long time before the rest of them， so at first Digory thought they were trees．The frogs，who all came up near the river，went straight into it with a plop-plop and a loud croaking． The panthers，leopards and things of that sort，sat down at once to wash the loose earth off their hind quarters and then stood up against the trees to sharpen their front claws．Showers of birds came out of the trees．Butterflies fluttered．Bees got to work on the flowers as if they hadn’t a second to lose．But the greatest moment of all was when the biggest hump broke like a small earthquake and out came the sloping back，the large，wise head，and the four baggy-trousered legs of an elephant．And now you could hardly hear the song of the Lion；there was so much cawing，cooing，crowing，braying， neighing，baying，barking，lowing，bleating，and trumpeting．