Edmund crept up to the arch and looked inside into the courtyard， and there he saw a sight that nearly made his heart stop beating. Just inside the gate， with the moonlight shining on it， stood an enormous lion crouched as if it was ready to spring. And Edmund stood in the shadow of the arch， afraid to go on and afraid to go back， with his knees knocking together. He stood there so long that his teeth would have been chattering with cold even if they had not been chattering with fear. How long this really lasted I don‘t know， but it seemed to Edmund to last for hours.
Then at last he began to wonder why the lion was standing so still- for it hadn’t moved one inch since he first set eyes on it. Edmund now ventured a little nearer， still keeping in the shadow of the arch as much as he could. He now saw from the way the lion was standing that it couldn‘t have been looking at him at all. （“But supposing it turns its head？” thought Edmund.） In fact it was staring at something else- namely a little dwarf who stood with his back to it about four feet away. “Aha！” thought Edmund. “When it springs at the dwarf then will be my chance to escape.” But still the lion never moved， nor did the dwarf. And now at last Edmund remembered what the others had said about the White Witch turning people into stone. Perhaps this was only a stone lion. And as soon as he had thought of that he noticed that the lion’s back and the top of its head were covered with snow. Of course it must be only a statue！ No living animal would have let itselfget covered with snow. Then very slowly and with his heart beating as if it would burst， Edmund ventured to go up to the lion. Even now he hardly dared to touch it， but at last he put out his hand， very quickly， and did. It was cold stone. He had been frightened of a mere statue！
The relief which Edmund felt was so great that in spite of the cold he suddenly got warm all over right down to his toes， and at the same timethere came into his head what seemed a perfectly lovely idea. “Probably，” he thought， “this is the great Lion Aslan that they were all talking about. She‘s caught him already and turned him into stone. So that’s the end of all their fine ideas about him！ Pooh！ Who‘s afraid of Aslan？”
And he stood there gloating over the stone lion， and presently he did something very silly and childish. He took a stump of lead pencil out of his pocket and scribbled a moustache on the lion’s upper lip and then a pair of spectacles on its eyes. Then he said， “Yah！ Silly old Aslan！ How do you like being a stone？ You thought yourself mighty fine， didn‘t you？” But in spite of the scribbles on it the face of the great stone beast still looked so terrible， and sad， and noble， staring up in the moonlight， that Edmund didn’t really get any fun out of jeering at it. He turned away and began to cross the courtyard.
As he got into the middle of it he saw that there were dozens of statues all about-standing here and there rather as the pieces stand on a chess-board when it is halfway through the game. There were stone satyrs， and stone wolves， and bears and foxes and cat-amountains of stone. There were lovely stone shapes that looked like women but who were really the spirits of trees. There was the great shape of a centaur and a winged horse and a long lithe creature that Edmund took to be a dragon. They all looked so strange standing there perfectly life-like and also perfectly still， in the bright cold moonlight， that it was eerie work crossing the courtyard. Right in the very middle stood a huge shape like a man， but as tall as a tree， with a fierce face and a shaggy beard and a great club in its right hand. Even though he knew that it was only a stone giant and not a live one， Edmund did not like going past it.
He now saw that there was a dim light showing from a doorway on the far side of the courtyard. He went to it； there was a flight of stone steps going up to an open door. Edmund went up them. Across the threshold lay a great wolf.
“It‘s all right， it’s all right，” he kept saying to himself； “it‘s only a stone wolf. It can’t hurt me，” and he raised his leg to step over it. Instantly the huge creature rose， with all the hair bristling along its back， opened a great， red mouth and said in a growling voice：
“Who‘s there？ Who’s there？ Stand still， stranger， and tell me who you are.”
“If you please， sir，” said Edmund， trembling so that he could hardly speak， “my name is Edmund， and I‘m the Son of Adam that Her Majesty met in the wood the other day， and I’ve come to bring her the news that my brother and sisters are now in Narnia-quite close， in the Beavers‘ house. She-she wanted to see them.”
“I will tell Her Majesty，” said the Wolf. “Meanwhile， stand still onthe threshold， as you value your life.” Then it vanished into the house.
Edmund stood and waited， his fingers aching with cold and his heart pounding in his chest， and presently the grey wolf， Maugrim， the Chief of the Witch’s Secret Police， came bounding back and said， “Come in！ Come in！ Fortunate favourite of the Queen-or else not so fortunate.”
And Edmund went in， taking great care not to tread on the Wolf ‘spaws.
He found himself in a long gloomy hall with many pillars， full， as the courtyard had been， of statues. The one nearest the door was a little Faun with a very sad expression on its face， and Edmund couldn’t help wondering if this might be Lucy‘s friend. The only light came from a single lamp and close beside this sat the White Witch.
“I’m come， your Majesty，” said Edmund， rushing eagerly forward. “How dare you come alone？” said the Witch in a terrible voice. “DidI not tell you to bring the others with you？”