“Well， now you have，” said Jill. “I say， Scrubb， isn‘t it all simply too exciting and scrumptious for words？” She had forgotten all about the signs and the lost Prince for the moment.
“Oh！ That’s what you think， is it？” said Scrubb： and then， after a pause， “I wish to goodness we‘d never come.”
“Why on earth？”
“I can’t bear it，” said Scrubb. “Seeing the King-Caspian-a doddering old man like that. It‘s-it’s frightful.”
“Why， what harm does it do you？”
“Oh， you don‘t understand. Now that I come to think of it， you couldn’t. I didn‘t tell you that this world has a different time from ours.”
“How do you mean？”
“The time you spend here doesn’t take up any of our time. Do you see？ I mean， however long we spend here， we shall still get back to Experiment House at the moment we left it-”
“That won‘t be much fun-”
“Oh， dry up！ Don’t keep interrupting. And when you‘re back in England-in our world-you can’t tell how time is going here. It might be any number of years in Narnia while we‘re having one year at home. The Pevensies explained it all to me， but， like a fool， I forgot about it. And now apparently it’s been about seventy years-Narnian years-since I was here last. Do you see now？ And I come back and find Caspian an old， old man.”
“Then the King was an old friend of yours！” said Jill. A horrid thought had struck her.
“I should jolly well think he was，” said Scrubb miserably. “About as good a friend as a chap could have. And last time he was only a few years older than me. And to see that old man with a white beard， and to remember Caspian as he was the morning we captured the Lone Islands， or in the fight with the Sea Serpent-oh， it‘s frightful. It’s worse than coming back and finding him dead.”
“Oh， shut up，” said Jill impatiently. “It‘s far worse than you think. We’ve muffed the first Sign.” Of course Scrubb did not understand this. Then Jill told him about her conversation with Aslan and the four signs and the task of finding the lost prince which had been laid upon them.
“So you see，” she wound up， “you did see an old friend， just as Aslan said， and you ought to have gone and spoken to him at once. And now you haven‘t， and everything is going wrong from the very beginning.”
“But how was I to know？” said Scrubb.
“If you’d only listened to me when I tried to tell you， we‘d be all right，” said Jill.
“Yes， and if you hadn’t played the fool on the edge of that cliff and jolly nearly murdered me-all right， I said murder， and I‘ll say it again as often as I like， so keep your hair on-we’d have come together and both known what to do.”
“I suppose he was the first person you saw？” said Jill. “You must have been here hours before me. Are you sure you didn‘t see anyone else first？”
“I was only here about a minute before you，” said Scrubb. “He must have blown you quicker than me. Making up for lost time： the time you lost.”
“Don’t be a perfect beast， Scrubb，” said Jill. “Hullo！ What‘s that？”
It was the castle bell ringing for supper， and thus what looked like turning into a first-rate quarrel was happily cut short. Both had a good appetite by this time.
Supper in the great hall of the castle was the most splendid thing either of them had ever seen； for though Eustace had been in that world before， he had spent his whole visit at sea and knew nothing of the glory and courtesy of the Narnians at home in their own land.
The banners hung from the roof， and each course came in with trumpeters and kettledrums. There were soups that would make your mouth water to think of， and the lovely fishes called pavenders， and venison and peacock and pies， and ices and jellies and fruit and nuts， and all manner of wines and fruit drinks. Even Eustace cheered up and admitted that it was “something like”. And when all the serious eating and drinking was over， a blind poet came forward and struck up the grand old tale of Prince Cor and Aravis and the horse Bree， which is called The Horse and his Boy and tells of an adventure that happened in Narnia and Calormen and the lands between， in the golden Age when Peter was High King in Cair Paravel. （I haven’t time to tell it now， though it is well worth hearing.）
When they were dragging themselves upstairs to bed， yawning their heads off， Jill said， “I bet we sleep well， tonight”； for it had been a full day. Which just shows how little anyone knows what is going to happen to them next.
中文阅读
斯克拉布看上去惨不忍睹（吉尔的模样也不雅观，假若她能看到自己的话）的原因，是由于他们周围豪华氛围的映衬。我最好先描述一下这个氛围。当吉尔接近陆地时，透过群山中的一个缺口，她已经远远望见了内陆。阳光倾泻在平坦的草坪上。在草坪的远处，风向标在阳光下闪烁着光芒，一座有着许多塔楼和角楼的城堡矗立在那里。那是吉尔所见过的最漂亮的城堡。在草坪这一边，是一个白色大理石的码头，一艘船停泊在那里。那艘船很壮观，船身漆成了金色和猩红色，有着高高的首楼和船尾楼，桅杆顶上悬挂着一面大纛，甲板上有许多旗帜在随风飘舞。沿着舷墙摆放着一排银子般明亮的盾牌。面对着吉尔的跳板边上，站着一位年纪老迈的人，他正准备登上大船。老人身披一件猩红的华丽斗篷，胸前敞着，露出了里面银色的铠甲。他头戴一个细细的金环，胡须白如羊毛，几乎垂到了腰间。他的腰板挺得笔直，一只手搭在一位比他略显年轻的大臣的肩上。那位大臣衣着雍容华贵，但你看得出来，他不但年老，而且体弱，仿佛一阵风就能把他给吹走，他的眼睛里闪着泪花。登船之前，国王转身对他的臣民发表了告别演说--紧挨着国王的是一辆小轮椅车，椅子前面套着一头比猎犬大不了多少的小毛驴，椅子上坐着一个胖嘟嘟的小矮人。他像国王一样衣饰华美，但由于他的肥胖，加之他蜷缩在层层叠叠的垫子中间，使得两者的效果大相径庭。看起来他就像是一小堆凌乱的皮毛、丝绸和天鹅绒。他和国王的年纪在伯仲之间，但他显得更加矍铄，更加开心，而且目光犀利。他的秃脑袋上什么都没有戴，硕大的头颅明晃晃的，就像一个巨型的台球在落日的余晖中闪闪发光。