“So you‘ve guessed it in the end，” said Doctor Cornelius. “Or guessed it nearly right. I’m not a pure Dwarf. I have human blood in me too. Many Dwarfs escaped in the great battles and lived on， shaving their beards and wearing high-heeled shoes and pretending to be men. They have mixed with your Telmarines. I am one of those， only a half-Dwarf， and if any of my kindred， the true Dwarfs， are still alive anywhere in the world， doubtless they would despise me and call me a traitor. But never in all these years have we forgotten our own people and all the other happy creatures of Narnia， and the long-lost days of freedom.”
“I‘m-I’m sorry， Doctor，” said Caspian. “It wasn‘t my fault， you know.”
“I am not saying these things in blame of you， dear Prince，” answered the Doctor. “You may well ask why I say them at all. But I have two reasons. Firstly， because my old heart has carried these secretmemories so long that it aches with them and would burst if I did not whisper them to you. But secondly， for this： that when you become King you may help us， for I know that you also， Telmarine though you are， love the Old Things.”
“I do， I do，” said Caspian. “But how can I help？”
“You can be kind to the poor remnants of the Dwarf people， like myself. You can gather learned magicians and try to find a way of awaking the trees once more. You can search through all the nooks and wild places of the land to see if any Fauns or Talking Beasts or Dwarfs are perhaps still alive in hiding.”
“Do you think there are any？” asked Caspian eagerly.
“I don’t know-I don‘t know，” said the Doctor with a deep sigh. “Sometimes I am afraid there can’t be. I have been looking for traces of them all my life. Sometimes I have thought I heard a Dwarf-drum in the mountains. Sometimes at night， in the woods， I thought I had caught a glimpse of Fauns and Satyrs dancing a long way off； but when I came to the place， there was never anything there. I have often despaired； but something always happens to start me hoping again. I don‘t know. But at least you can try to be a King like the High King Peter of old， and not like your uncle.”
“Then it’s true about the Kings and Queens too， and about the White Witch？” said Caspian.
“Certainly it is true，” said Cornelius. “Their reign was the Golden Age in Narnia and the land has never forgotten them.”
“Did they live in this castle， Doctor？”
“Nay， my dear，” said the old man. “This castle is a thing of yesterday. Your great-great-grand-father built it. But when the two sons of Adam and the two daughters of Eve were made Kings and Queens of Narnia by Aslan himself， they lived in the castle of Cair Paravel. No man alive has seen that blessed place and perhaps even the ruins of it have now vanished. But we believe it was far from here， down at the mouth of the Great River， on the very shore of the sea.”
“Ugh！” said Caspian with a shudder. “Do you mean in the Black Woods？ Where all the-the-you know， the ghosts live？”
“Your Highness speaks as you have been taught，” said the Doctor. “But it is all lies. There are no ghosts there. That is a story invented by the Telmarines. Your Kings are in deadly fear of the sea because they can never quite forget that in all stories Aslan comes from over the sea. They don‘t want to go near it and they don’t want anyone else to go near it. So they have let great woods grow up to cut their people off from the coast. But because they have quarrelled with the trees they are afraid of the woods. And because they are afraid of the woods they imagine that they are full of ghosts. And the Kings and great men， hating both the sea and the wood， partly believe these stories， and partly encourage them. They feel safer if no one in Narnia dares to go down to the coast and look out to sea-towards Aslan‘s land and themorning and the eastern end of the world.”
There was a deep silence between them for a few minutes. Then Doctor Cornelius said， “Come. We have been here long enough. It is time to go down and to bed.”
“Must we？” said Caspian. “I’d like to go on talking about these things for hours and hours and hours.”
“Someone might begin looking for us， if we did that，” said Doctor Cornelius.
中文阅读
卡斯宾王子住在纳尼亚中部的一个巨大城堡里，与他的叔父，纳尼亚国王米拉兹，还有红头发的婶娘，被称为浦露娜普利斯米亚的王后住在一起。他的父母都已亡故。他最喜爱的人是他的保姆。尽管（身为王子）他拥有大量精巧奇妙的玩具，这些玩具除了不能讲话之外，几乎具备所有的功能，可是他最喜欢的还是每晚上床后的那段时间。当玩具都被收到柜橱中之后，保姆就会给他讲故事。
他对叔叔和婶娘并没有多少感情。每周大约两次，他的叔父会把他召来，同他一起在城堡南边的平台上散步，来回走上半个小时。一天，正在散步的时候，叔叔对他说道：
“喂，孩子，很快我们就该教你如何骑马和击剑了。你知道，我跟你的婶娘没有后嗣，看起来，我驾崩之后，要由你来继承王位。你对此有何感想，嗯？”
“我不知道，叔叔。”卡斯宾答道。“不知道，嗯？”米拉兹说，“那么，我倒想要知道，除此之外，一个人还能有什么更大的奢望！”“不过，我确实有个愿望，”卡斯宾说。“你希望得到什么？”国王问道。
“我希望--我希望--我希望能够生活在过去的岁月。”卡斯宾说（当时他还年幼）。直到那会儿，米拉兹王说的都是一些老生常谈，使人能清楚地意识到，他对谈话并不真正感兴趣，但此刻他突然用锐利的目光看了卡斯宾一眼。“嗯？你说什么？”他问道，“你指的是哪些过去的岁月？”
“啊，叔叔，你不知道吗？”卡斯宾说，“那时一切都和现在大不相同。所有的动物都会说话，一些漂亮的人儿住在溪水里和树木中，她们是水中仙女和林中仙女。还有小矮人。在所有的树林中都有可爱的小潘恩，它们的脚像山羊蹄子。还有--”
“这完全是一派胡言，是哄小孩子的！”国王严厉地打断了他的话，“只能哄吃奶的小孩子，你听见了吗？你已经过了那个阶段，不该再去听信那些胡言乱语。在你这个年纪，应该喜欢打仗和历险的故事，而不是天方夜谭。”
“啊，在那些日子里，也有打仗和历险，”卡斯宾说，“一些奇妙的历险故事。从前有个白女巫，她自封为整个国家的女王。她施法术让纳尼亚永远都是冬天。后来不知从哪儿来了两个男孩子和两个女孩子，他们杀死了女巫，做了纳尼亚的国王和女王。他们的名字是彼得、苏珊、埃德蒙和露西。他们统治了很长时间，每个人都过上了美好的生活，这都是由于阿斯兰--”
“他是谁？”米拉兹问。如果卡斯宾的年龄稍大一点儿，叔叔说话的语调会警示他，闭口不言是更加明智的行为。可是他还在说个不停。
“啊，你难道不知道？”他说，“阿斯兰是从大海那边来的伟大狮王。”“是谁告诉你这些乱七八糟的东西？”国王的声音像是打了个炸雷。卡斯宾吓了一大跳，什么话也说不出来了。