波波小说

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chater ix the wild wate nd f the nrth（第1页）

ATaboutnineo’clocknextmorningthreelonelyfiguresmighthavebeenseenpickingtheirwayacrosstheShribblebytheshoalsandstepping-stones.Itwasashallow，noisystream，andevenJillwasnotwetaboveherkneeswhentheyreachedthenorthernbank.Aboutfiftyyardsahead，thelandroseuptothebeginningofthemoor，everywheresteeply，andoftenincliffs.

“Isupposethat’sourway！”saidScrubb，pointingleftandwesttowhereastreamfloweddownfromthemoorthroughashallowgorge.ButtheMarsh-wiggleshookhishead.

“Thegiantsmainlylivealongthesideofthatgorge，”hesaid.“YoumightsaythegorgewaslikeastreettotheWe’lldobetterstraightahead，eventhoughit’sabitsteep.”

Theyfoundaplacewheretheycouldscrambleup，andinabouttenminutesstoodpantingatthetop.Theycastalonginglookbackatthevalley-landofNarniaandthenturnedtheirfacestotheNorth.Thevast，lonelymoorstretchedonandupasfarastheycouldsee.Ontheirleftwasrockierground.Jillthoughtthatmustbetheedgeofthegiants’gorgeanddidnotmuchcareaboutlookinginthatdirection.Theysetout.

Itwasgood，springygroundforwalking，andadayofpalewintersunlight.Astheygotdeeperintothemoor，thelonelinessincreased：onecouldhearpeewitsandseeanoccasionalhawk.Whentheyhaltedinthemiddleofthemorningforarestandadrinkinalittlehollowbyastream，Jillwasbeginningtofeelthatshemightenjoyadventuresafterall，andsaidso.

“Wehaven’thadanyyet，”saidtheMarsh-wiggle.

Walksafterthefirsthalt—likeschoolmorningsafterbreakorrailwayjourneysafterchangingtrains—nevergoonastheywerebefore.Whentheysetoutagain，Jillnoticedthattherockyedgeofthegorgehaddrawnnearer.Andtherockswerelessflat，moreupright，thantheyhadbeen.Infacttheywerelikelittletowersofrock.Andwhatfunnyshapestheywere！

“Idobelieve，”thoughtJill，“thatallthestoriesaboutgiantsmighthavecomefromthosefunnyrocks.Ifyouwerecomingalongherewhenitwashalfdark，youcouldeasilythinkthosepilesofrockweregiants.Lookatthatone，now！Youcouldalmostimaginethatthelumpontopwasahead.Itwouldberathertoobigforthebody，butitwoulddowellenoughforanuglygiant.Andallthatbushystuff—Isupposeit’sheatherandbirds’nests，really—woulddoquitewellforhairandbeard.Andthethingsstickingoutoneachsidearequitelikeears.They’dbehorriblybig，butthenIdaresaygiantswouldhavebigears，likeelephants.

And—o-o-o-h！—”

Herbloodfroze.Thethingmoved.Itwasarealgiant.Therewasnomistakingit；shehadseenitturnitshead.Shehadcaughtaglimpseofthegreat，stupid，puffcheekedface.Allthethingsweregiants，notrocks.Therewerefortyorfiftyofthem，allinarow；obviouslystandingwiththeirfeetonthebottomofthegorgeandtheirelbowsrestingontheedgeofthegorge，justasmenmightstandleaningonawall-lazymen，onafinemorningafterbreakfast.

“Keepstraighton，”whisperedPuddleglum，whohadnoticedthemtoo.“Don’tlookattheAndwhateveryoudo，don’trun.They’dbeafterusinamoment.”

Sotheykepton，pretendingnottohaveseenthegiants.Itwaslikewalkingpastthegateofahousewherethereisafiercedog，onlyfarworse.Thereweredozensanddozensofthesegiants.Theydidn’tlookangry—orkind—orinterestedatall.Therewasnosignthattheyhadseenthetravellers.

Then—whizz-whizz-whizz—someheavyobjectcamehurtlingthroughtheair，andwithacrashabigboulderfellabouttwentypacesaheadoftheAndthen—thud！—anotherfelltwentyfeetbehind.

“Aretheyaimingatus？”askedScrubb.

“No，”saidPuddleglu“We’dbeagooddealsaferiftheywere.They’retryingtohitthat—thatcairnovertheretotheright.Theywon’thitit，youknow.It’ssafeenough；they’resuchverybadshots.Theyplaycock-shiesmostfinemornings.Abouttheonlygamethey’recleverenoughtounderstand.”

Itwasahorribletime.Thereseemednoendtothelineofgiants，andtheyneverceasedhurlingstones，someofwhichfellextremelyclose.Quiteapartfromtherealdanger，theverysightandsoundoftheirfacesandvoiceswereenoughtoscareanyone.Jilltriednottolookatthe

Afterabouttwenty-fiveminutesthegiantsapparentlyhadaquarrel.Thisputanendtothecock-shies，butitisnotpleasanttobewithinamileofquarrellinggiants.Theystormedandjeeredatoneanotherinlong，meaninglesswordsofabouttwentysyllableseach.Theyfoamedandgibberedandjumpedintheirrage，andeachjumpshooktheearthlikeabomb.Theylammedeachotherontheheadwithgreat，clumsystonehammers；buttheirskullsweresohardthatthehammersbouncedoffagain，andthenthemonsterwhohadgiventheblowwoulddrophishammerandhowlwithpainbecauseithadstunghisfingers.Buthewassostupidthathewoulddoexactlythesamethingaminutelater.Thiswasagoodthinginthelongrun，forbytheendofanhourallthegiantsweresohurtthattheysatdownandbegantocry.Whentheysatdown，theirheadswerebelowtheedgeofthegorge，sothatyousawthemnomore；butJillcouldhearthemhowlingandblubberingandboo-booinglikegreatbabiesevenaftertheplacewasamilebehind.

Thatnighttheybivouackedonthebaremoor，andPuddleglumshowedthechildrenhowtomakethebestoftheirblanketsbysleepingbacktoback（Thebackskeepeachotherwarmandyoucanthenhavebothblanketsontop）.Butitwaschillyevenso，andthegroundwashardandlumpy.TheMarsh-wiggletoldthemtheywouldfeelmorecomfortableifonlytheythoughthowverymuchcolderitwouldbelateronandfarthernorth；butthisdidn’tcheerthemupatall.

TheytravelledacrossEttinsmoorformanydays，savingthebaconandlivingchieflyonthemoor-fowl（theywerenot，ofcourse，talkingbirds）whichEustaceandthewiggleshot.JillratherenviedEustaceforbeingabletoshoot；hehadlearneditonhisvoyagewithKingCaspian.Astherewerecountlessstreamsonthemoor，theywerenevershortofwater.Jillthoughtthatwhen，inbooks，peopleliveonwhattheyshoot，itnevertellsyouwhatalong，smelly，messyjobitispluckingandcleaningdeadbirds，andhowcolditmakesyourfingers.Butthegreatthingwasthattheymethardlyanygiants.Onegiantsawthem，butheonlyroaredwithlaughterandstumpedawayabouthisownbusiness.

Aboutthetenthday，theyreachedaplacewherethecountrychanged.Theycametothenorthernedgeofthemoorandlookeddownalong，steepslopeintoadifferent，andgrimmer，land.Atthebottomoftheslopewerecliffs：beyondthese，acountryofhighmountains，darkprecipices，stonyvalleys，ravinessodeepandnarrowthatonecouldnotseefarintothem，andriversthatpouredoutofechoinggorgestoplungesullenlyintoblackdepths.Needlesstosay，itwasPuddleglumwhopointedoutasprinklingofsnowonthemoredistantslopes.

“Butthere’llbemoreonthenorthsideofthem，Ishouldn’twonder，”headded.

Ittookthemsometimetoreachthefootoftheslopeand，whentheydid，theylookeddownfromthetopofthecliffsatariverrunningbelowthemfromwesttoeast.Itwaswalledinbyprecipicesonthefarsideaswellasontheirown，anditwasgreenandsunless，fullofrapidsandwaterfalls.Theroarofitshooktheearthevenwheretheystood.

“Thebrightsideofitis，”saidPuddleglum，“thatifwebreakournecksgettingdownthecliff，thenwe’resafefrombeingdrownedintheriver.”

“Whataboutthat？”saidScrubbsuddenly，pointingupstreamtotheirleft.Thentheyalllookedandsawthelastthingtheywereexpecting—abridge.Andwhatabridge，too！Itwasahuge，singlearchthatspannedthegorgefromcliff-toptocliff-top；andthecrownofthatarchwasashighabovethecliff-topsasthedomeofSt.Paul’sisabovethestreet.

“Why，itmustbeagiants’bridge！”saidJill.

“Orasorcerer’s，morelikely，”saidPuddleglu“We’vegottolookoutforenchantmentsinaplacelikethis.Ithinkit’satrap.Ithinkit’llturnintomistandmeltawayjustwhenwe’reoutonthemiddleofit.”

“Oh，forgoodness’sake，don’tbesuchawetblanket，”saidScrubb.“Whyonearthshouldn’titbeaproperbridge？”

“Doyouthinkanyofthegiantswe’veseenwouldhavesensetobuildathinglikethat？”saidPuddleglu

“Butmightn’tithavebeenbuiltbyothergiants？”saidJill.“Imean，bygiantswholivedhundredsofyearsago，andwerefarclevererthanthemodernkind.Itmighthavebeenbuiltbythesameoneswhobuiltthegiantcitywe’relookingfor.Andthatwouldmeanwewereontherighttrack—theoldbridgeleadingtotheoldcity！”

“That’sarealbrain-wave，Pole，”saidScrubb.“Itmustbethat.Comeon.”

Sotheyturnedandwenttothebridge.Andwhentheyreachedit，itcertainlyseemedsolidenough.ThesinglestoneswereasbigasthoseatStonehengeandmusthavebeensquaredbygoodmasonsonce，thoughnowtheywerecrackedandcrumbled.Thebalustradehadapparentlybeencoveredwithrichcarvings，ofwhichsometracesremained；moulderingfacesandformsofgiants，minotaurs，squids，centipedes，anddreadfulgods.Puddleglumstilldidn’ttrustit，butheconsentedtocrossitwiththechildren.

Theclimbuptothecrownofthearchwaslongandheavy.Inmanyplacesthegreatstoneshaddroppedout，leavinghorriblegapsthroughwhichyoulookeddownontheriverfoamingthousandsoffeetbelow.Theysawaneagleflythroughundertheirfeet.Andthehighertheywent，thecolderitgrew，andthewindblewsothattheycouldhardlykeeptheirfooting.Itseemedtoshakethebridge.

Whentheyreachedthetopandcouldlookdownthefartherslopeofthebridge，theysawwhatlookedliketheremainsofanancientgiantroadstretchingawaybeforethemintotheheartofthemountains.Manystonesofitspavementweremissingandtherewerewidepatchesofgrassbetweenthosethatremained.Andridingtowardsthemonthatancientroadweretwopeopleofnormalgrown-uphumansize.

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