CHAPTER EIGHT THE FIGHT AT THE LAMP-POST（第3/3页）

“Glory be ！”said the Cabby．“I’d ha’ been a better man all my life if I’d known there were things like this．”

The Voice on the earth was now louder and more triumphant； but the voices in the sky，after singing loudly with it for a time，began to get fainter．And now something else was happening．

Far away，and down near the horizon，the sky began to turn grey．A light wind，very fresh，began to stir．The sky，in that one place，grew slowly and steadily paler．You could see shapes of hills standing up dark against it．All the time the Voice went on singing．

There was soon light enough for them to see one another’s faces ．The Cabby and the two children had open mouths and shining eyes；they were drinking in the sound，and they looked as if it reminded them of something．Uncle Andrew’s mouth was open too，but not open with joy．He looked more as if his chin had simply dropped away from the rest of his face．His shoulders were stopped and his knees shook．He was not liking the Voice．If he could have got away from it by creeping into a rat’s hole，he would have done so．But the Witch looked as if，in a way，she understood the music better than any of them．Her mouth was shut，her lips were pressed together，and her fists were clenched．Ever since the song began she had felt that this whole world was filled with a Magic different from hers and stronger．She hated it．She would have smashed that whole world，or all worlds，to pieces，if it would only stop the singing． The horse stood with its ears well forward，and twitching．Every now and then it snorted and stamped the ground．It no longer looked like a tired old cab-horse；you could now well believe that its father had been in battles．

The eastern sky changed from white to pink and from pink to gold．The Voice rose and rose，till all the air was shaking with it． And just as it swelled to the mightiest and most glorious sound it had yet produced，the sun arose．

Digory had never seen such a sun．The sun above the ruins of Charn had looked older than ours：this looked younger．You could imagine that it laughed for joy as it came up．And as its beams shot across the land the travellers could see for the first time what sort of place they were in．It was a valley through which a broad，swift river wound its way，flowing eastward towards the sun．Southward there were mountains，northward there were lower hills．But it was a valley of mere earth，rock and water；there was not a tree，not a bush，not a blade of grass to be seen．The earth was of many colours：they were fresh，hot and vivid．They made you feel excited；until you saw the Singer himself，and then you forgot everything else．

It was a Lion．Huge，shaggy，and bright，it stood facing the risen sun．Its mouth was wide open in song and it was about three hundred yards away．

“This is a terrible world，”said the Witch．“We must fly at once．Prepare the Magic．”

“I quite agree with you，Madam，”said Uncle Andrew．“A most disagreeable place．Completely uncivilized．If only I were a younger man and had a gun-”

“Garn ！”said the Cabby．“You don’t think you could shoot， im，do you ？”

“And who would ？”said Polly．

“Prepare the Magic，old fool，”said Jadis．

“Certainly，Madam，”said Uncle Andrew cunningly．“I must have both the children touching me．Put on your homeward ring at once，Digory．”He wanted to get away without the Witch．

“Oh，it’s rings，is it ？”cried Jadis．She would have had her hands in Digory’s pocket before you could say knife，but Digory grabbed Polly and shouted out：

“Take care．If either of you come half an inch nearer，we two will vanish and you’ll be left here for good．Yes：I have a ring in my pocket that will take Polly and me home．And look ！ My hand is just ready．So keep your distance．I’m sorry about you” （he looked at the Cabby）“and about the horse，but I can’t help that．As for you two”（he looked at Uncle Andrew and the Queen），“you’re both magicians，so you ought to enjoy living together．”

“Old your noise, everyone，”said the Cabby.“I want to listen to the moosic.”

For the song had now changed．