“Oh， Mr Tumnus.I‘m so sorry to stop you， and I do love that tune.but really， I must go home. I only meant to stay for a few minutes.”
“It’s no good now， you know，” said the Faun， laying downits flute and shaking its head at her very sorrowfully.
“No good？” said Lucy， jumping up and feeling rather frightened. “What do you mean？ I‘ve got to go home at once. The others will be wondering what has happened to me.” But a moment later she asked， “Mr Tumnus！ Whateveris the matter？” for the Faun’s brown eyes had filled with tears and then the tears began trickling down its cheeks， and soon they were running off the end of its nose； and at last it covered its face with its hands and began to howl.
“Mr Tumnus！ Mr Tumnus！” said Lucy in great distress. “Don‘t！ Don’t！ What is the matter？ Aren‘ you well？ Dear Mr Tumnus， do tell me what is wrong.”
But the Faun continued sobbing as if its heart would break. And even when Lucy went over and put her arms round him and lent him her handkerchief， he did not stop. He merely took the handkerchief and kept on using it， wringing it out with both hands whenever it got too wet to be any more use， so that presently Lucy was standing in a damp patch.