The Marsh-wiggle gave a long whistle. “Phew！” he said. “Don’t you know？ I thought the owls had told you. They‘re giants.”
Jill winced. She had never liked giants even in books， and she had once met one in a nightmare. Then she saw Scrubb’s face， which had turned rather green， and thought to herself， “I bet he‘s in a worse funk than I am.” That made her feel braver.
“The King told me long ago，” said Scrubb- “that time when I was with him at sea-that he’d jolly well beaten those giants in war and made them pay him tribute.”
“That‘s true enough，” said Puddleglum. “They’re at peace with us all right. As long as we stay on our own side of the Shribble， they won‘t do us any harm. Over on their side， on the Moor-Still， there’s always a chance. If we don‘t get near any of them， and if none of them forget themselves， and if we’re not seen， it‘s just possible we might get a long way.”
“Look here！” said Scrubb， suddenly losing his temper， as people so easily do when they have been frightened. “I don’t believe the whole thing can be half as bad as you‘re making out； any more than the beds in the wigwam were hard or the wood was wet. I don’t think Aslan would ever have sent us if there was so little chance as all that.”
He quite expected the Marsh-wiggle to give him an angry reply， but he only said， “That‘s the spirit， Scrubb. That’s the way to talk. Put a good face on it. But we all need to be very careful about our tempers， seeing all the hard times we shall have to go through together. Won‘tdo to quarrel， you know. At any rate， don’t begin it too soon. I know these expeditions usually end that way： knifing one another， I shouldn‘t wonder， before all’s done. But the longer we can keep off it-”
“Well， if you feel it‘s so hopeless，” interrupted Scrubb， “I thinkyou’d better stay behind. Pole and I can go on alone， can‘t we， Pole？” “Shut up and don’t be an ass， Scrubb，” said Jill hastily， terrified lest
the Marsh-wiggle should take him at his word.
“Don‘t you lose heart， Pole，” said Puddleglum. “I’m coming， sure and certain. I‘m not going to lose an opportunity like this. It will do me good. They all say-I mean， the other wiggles all say-that I’m too flighty； don‘t take life seriously enough. If they’ve said it once， they‘ve said it a thousand times. ’Puddleglum，‘ they’ve said， ‘you’re altogether too full of bobance and bounce and high spirits. You‘ve got to learn that life isn’t all fricasseed frogs and eel pie. You want somethingto sober you down a bit. We‘re only saying it for your own good， Puddleglum.’ That‘s what they say. Now a job like this-a journey up north just as winter’s beginning， looking for a prince who probably isn‘t there， by way of a ruined city that no one has ever seen-will be just the thing. If that doesn’t steady a chap， I don‘t know what will.” And he rubbed his big frog-like hands together as if he were talking of going to a party or a pantomime. “And now，” he added， “let’s see how those eels are getting on.”
When the meal came it was delicious and the children had two large helpings each. At first the Marsh-wiggle wouldn‘t believe that they really liked it， and when they had eaten so much that he had to believe them， he fell back on saying that it would probably disagree with them horribly. “What’s food for wiggles may be poison for humans， I shouldn‘t wonder，” he said. After the meal they had tea， in tins （as you’ve seen men having it who are working on the road）， andPuddleglum had a good many sips out of a square black bottle. He offered the children some of it， but they thought it very nasty.
The rest of the day was spent in preparations for an early start the next tomorrow morning. Puddleglum， being far the biggest， said he would carry three blankets， with a large bit of bacon rolled up insidethem. Jill was to carry the remains of the eels， some biscuit， and the tinder-box. Scrubb was to carry both his own cloak and Jill‘s when they didn’t want to wear them. Scrubb （who had learned some shooting when he sailed to the east under Caspian） had Puddleglum‘s second- best bow， and Puddleglum had his best one； though he said that what with winds， and damp bowstrings， and bad light， and cold fingers， it was a hundred to one against either of them hitting anything. He and Scrubb both had swords-Scrubb had brought the one which had been left out for him in his room at Cair Paravel-but Jill had to be content with her knife. There would have been a quarrel about this， but as soon as they started sparring the wiggle rubbed his hands and said， “Ah， there you are. I thought as much. That’s what usually happens on adventures.” This made them both shut up.
All three went to bed early in the wigwam. This time the children really had a rather bad night. That was because Puddleglum， after saying， “You‘d better try for some sleep， you two； not that I suppose any of us will close an eye tonight，” instantly went off into such a loud， continuous snore that， when Jill at last got to sleep， she dreamed all night about road-drills and waterfalls and being in express trains in tunnels.
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吉尔的确睡着了。从猫头鹰议会一开始，她就呵欠连连，这阵子，她昏昏沉沉地睡着了。再一次被人叫醒，她感到很不痛快。她发现自己躺在钟楼满是灰尘的光秃地板上，黑咕隆咚的，周围到处都是猫头鹰。听到他们说，要出发到另外一个地方--而不是上床去睡觉--况且还要骑在猫头鹰的背上，她就更不开心了。
“啊，来吧，珀尔，打起精神，”斯克拉布的声音在给她打气，“毕竟，这是一场冒险。”
“我厌倦了冒险。”吉尔怒气冲冲地说。不管怎样，她还是同意了，爬到了格里姆费塞的背上。猫头鹰驮着她飞进茫茫黒夜，户外的冷空气使她完全清醒了过来（只持续了一小会儿）。月亮不见了踪影，也没有一颗星星。在身后远远的地方，她看到地面之上一扇窗户的灯还亮着。毫无疑问，那亮光来自凯尔帕拉维尔的塔楼。这使她渴望能够回到那间惬意的卧室，舒舒服服地躺在床上，望着映照在墙上的火光。
她把两只手放在斗篷之下，将斗篷紧紧地裹在身上。不远处的黑暗中传来了两个声音，听上去很是诡秘。那是斯克拉布和他的猫头鹰在交谈。“他听起来并不疲倦。”吉尔心想。她没有意识到，以前斯克拉布曾经在这个世界从事过伟大的冒险，纳尼亚的空气正在使他恢复力量，那力量是他与卡斯宾王在东海航行时所获得的。
吉尔只好使劲儿地掐自己，以免再次睡着。她知道，如果自己在格里姆费塞的背上打盹，很有可能会掉下去。两只猫头鹰终于停止了飞行，她手脚僵硬地从格里姆费塞的背上爬了下来，发现自己站在一块平坦的地面上。一阵寒风迎面吹了过来，看来他们是在一个没有树木的地方。“嘟－呜，嘟－呜！”格里姆费塞叫了起来，“醒醒，浦都格伦。醒醒。是狮子下达的使命。”
好半天没有人答应。最后，在很远的地方，出现了一个微弱的灯光，灯光逐渐接近他们，一个声音传了过来。
“猫头鹰呀，喂！”那声音说，“什么事儿呀？是国王驾崩了吗？有敌人侵犯纳尼亚了吗？是发了洪水，还是出了毒龙？”