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CHAPTER SEVEN A DAY WITH THE BEAVERS（第2页）

Ohadledthemintoadarkspotwherefrewsoclosetogetherthattheirboughsmetandthebroineneedlescouldbeseebeosofallthere，diditbegintotalktothem。

&heSonsofAdamaersofEve?”itsaid。

“We'resomeofthem，”saidPeter。

“S-s-s-sh!”saidtheBeaver，“notsoloudplease。We'renotsafeevenhere。”

“Why，whoareyouafraidof?”saidPeter。“There'sourselves。”

&hetrees，”saidtheBeaver。“They'realwayslistening。Mostofthemareoherearetreesthatwouldbetrayustoher;youknowwhoImean，”anditsheadseveraltimes。

“Ifitestotalkingaboutsides，”saidEdmund，“hoyou'reafriend?”

“oberude，Mr。Beaver，”addedPeter，“butyousee，we&#ers。”

“Quiteright，quiteright，”saidtheBeaver。“Hereismytoken。”Withthesewordsithelduptothemalittlewhiteobject。TheyalllookedatitiillsuddenlyLucysaid，“Oh，ofcourse。It'smyhaheoopoorMr。Tumnus。”

“That&#ht，”saidtheBeaver。“Poorfellow，hegotwibeforeitactuallyhappenedahisovertome。HesaidthatifanythiohimImustmeetyouhereao—”HeretheBeaver'svoitosilegaveowoverymysteriousnods。Thensignallingtothetostandasclosearounditastheypossiblycould，sothattheirfaceswereactuallytickledbyitswhiskers，itaddedinalowwhisper—“TheysayAslanisonthemove—perhapshasalreadylanded。”

AndnowaverycuriousthinghappeheknewwhoAslanwasahanyoudo;butthemomenttheBeaverhadspokenthesewordseveryoedifferehassometimeshappeoyouisomeonesayssomethingwhi'tuandbutifeelsasifithadsomeeheraterrifyiurnsthewholedreamintoanightmareorelsealovelymeaningtoolovelytoputintowords，whichmakesthedreamsobeautifulthatyourememberitallyourlifeandarealwayswishingyoucouldgetintain。Itwaslikethatnow。AtthenameofAslahefeltsomethingjumpinitsinside。Edmuasensationofmysterioushorror。Peterfeltsuddenlybraveaurous。Susaasifsomedeliellorsomedelightfulstrainofmusichadjustfloatedbyher。AndLucygotthefeelingyouhavewhehemaisthebeginningofthehinningofsummer。

“AndwhataboutMr。Tumnus，”saidLucy;“whereishe?”

“S-s-s-sh，”saidtheBeaver，“bringyouwherewehavearealtalkandalsodinner。”

Edmuanydifficultyabthebeavernow，andeveryone，ingEdmuoheartheword“dinner”。

&hereforeallhurriedaloheirnewfrieasurprisinglyquickpadalwaysipartsoftheforest，foroveranhour。Everyonewasfeeliiredandveryhungrywhereesbegahinnerinfrohegroundtofallsteeplydownhill。Amiheycameoutuheopensky（thesunwasstillshining）andfoundthemselveslookingdowno。

&andingoeep，narrowvalleyatthebottomofwhi—atleastitwouldhavebeenrunningifithadn'tbeenfrozen—afairlylargeriver。Justbelowthemadamhadbeenbuiltacrossthisriver，aheysawiteveryonesuddehatofcoursebeaversarealwaysmakingdamsaesurethatMr。Beaverhadmadethisoheyalsohenowhadasortofmodestexpressionooflookpeoplehavewheihey'vemadeastorythey'vewritten。SoitwasonlyonpolitenesswhenSusansaid，“Whatalovelydam!”AndMr。Beaverdidn'tsay“Hush”thistimebut“Merelyatrifle!Merelyatrifle!Anditisn'treallyfinished!”

&hedamtherewaswhatoughttohavebeenadeeppoolbutwasnow，ofcourse，alevelflreenidbelowthedam，muchloasmoreisteadofbeingsmooththiswasallfrozenintothefoamyandesinwhichthewaterhadbeenrushingalongattheverymomehefrostdwherethewaterhadbeentrigoverandspurtingthroughthedamtherewasnowaglitteringwalloficicles，asifthesideofthedamhadbeencoveredalloverreathsaoosugar。Andoutinthemiddle，andpartlyontopofthedamwasafunnylittlehouseshapedratherlikeanenormousbeehiveandfromaholeintheroofsmokewasgoingup，sothatwhenyousawit（especiallyifyry）youatoofdbegrierthanyouwerebefore。

Thatwaswhattheothersoticed，butEdmuhilelowerdowherewasanothersmallriverwhichanothersmallvalleytojoinit。Andlookingupthatvalley，Edmundcouldseetwosmallhills，andhewasalmostsuretheywerethetwohillswhichtheWhiteoiohimwheedfromheratthelamp-postthatotherday。Ahem，hethought，mustbeherpalaileofforless。AaboutTurkishDelightandaboutbeingaKing（“Aerwilllikethat?”heaskedhimself）andhorribleideastohishead。

“Hereweare，”saidMr。Beaver，“anditlooksasifMrs。Beaverisexpegus。I'llleadtheway。Butbeddon'tslip。”

&hedamwaswideenoughtowalkon，thoughnot（forhumans）averyowalkbecauseitwascoveredwithidthoughthefrozenpoolwaslevelwithitoheretothelowerriveroher。AlongthisrouteMr。Beaverledtheminsiouttothemiddlewheretheycouldlookalongtheriverandalongwaydownit。Aheyhadreachedthemiddletheywereatthedoorofthehouse。

“Hereweare，Mrs。Beaver，”saidMr。Beaver，“I'vefoundthem。HerearetheSonsandDaughtersofAdamandEve'—andtheyallwentin。

&hingLuoticedasshewentinwasaburringsound，ahingshesawwasakind-lookingoldshe-beaversittingintheerwithathreadihwbusilyathersewiwasfromitthatthesouoppedherassoonasthe。

“Soyou'veeatlast!”shesaid，holdingoutbothherwrinkledoldpaws。“Atlast!TothinkthateverIshouldlivetoseethisday!Thepotatoesareonboilile'ssingingandIdaresay，Mr。Beaver，you'llgetussomefish。”

“ThatIwill，”saidMr。Beaver，aofthehouse（Peterwentwithhim），andacrosstheiceofthedeeppooltowherehehadalittleholeintheicewhichhekeptopeneverydaywithhishatchet。Theytookapailwiththem。Mr。Beaversatdowheedgeofthehole（hedidn'tseemtominditbeingsochilly），lookedhardintoit，theinhispaw，andbeforeyoucouldsayJasonhadwhiskedoutabeautifultrout。Theallainuntiltheyhadafichoffish。

&hegirlswerehelpiofillthekettleaableandcutthebreadaesianddrawahugejugofbeerforMr。Beaverfromabarrelwhichstoodinohehouse，andtoput-pahedrippinghot。LucythoughttheBeavershadaveryshoughitwasnotatalllikeMr。Tumnus'scave。Therewerenobooksorpidinsteadofbedstherewerebunks，likeonboardship，builtintothewall。Andtherewerehamsandstringsofonionshangingfromtheroof，andagainstthewallsweregumbootsandoilskinsasandpairsofshearsarowelsandthingsfmortarinandfishing-rodsandfishisandsadthethetable，thoughvery，wasveryrough。

Justasthefrying-panwasnicelyhissierandMr。BeaverwiththefishwhichMr。Beaverhadalreadyopehhisknifeaintheopenair。Youkhowgoodthefishsmelledwhiletheywerefryingandhowthehungrylohemtobedoneandhowverymugrierstilltheyhadber。Beaversaid，“Nowwe'renearlyready。”SusaatoesahemallbatheemptypottodryoherangewhileLucyiodishupthetrout，sothatinaveryfewminuteseveryuptheirstools（itwasallthree-leggedstoolsintheBeavers'houseexrs。Beaver'sownspecialrogchairbesidethefire）aoenjoythemselves。Therewasajugofcreamymilkforthe（Mr。Beaverstucktreatbiglumpofdeepyellowbutterinthemiddleofthetablefromwhietookasmuchashewaogowithhispotatoes，andallthethought—ahem—thatthere'snothigoodfreshwaterfishifyoueatitwhenithasbeenalivehalfanhoandhaseoutofthepanhalfaminuteago。AheyhadfihefishMrs。Beaverbroughtuoftheloriouslystickymarmaladeroll，steaminghot，aimemovedthekettleontothefire，sothatwhentheyhadfihemarmaladerolltheteawasmadeaobepouredout。Andersonhadgothis（orher）cupoftea，eashovedbackhis（orher）stoolsoastobeabletoleanagainstthewallandgavealongsighofent。

“Andnow，”saidMr。Beaver，pushingatybeermugandpullinghiscupofteatowardhim，“ifyou'lljustwaittillI'vegotmypipelitupandgoingnicely—egettobusi'ssnowingagain，”headded，ghiseyeatthewindow。“That'sallthebetter，becauseitmeansweshan'thaveanyvisitors;andifanyoneshouldhavebeentryingtofolloon'tfindanytracks。”