"One moment
there had been nothing but darkness; next moment a thousand, thousand
points of light leaped out -- single stars, constellations and planets,
brighter and bigger than any in our world. .......
"The earth was of many
colors: they were fresh, hot and vivid. They made you feel excited;
until you saw the Singer Himself, and then you forgot everything else.
It was a Lion." 43....
"Now for the first time, the Lion was quite silent. He was going to
and fro among the animals. And every now and then he would go up to
two of them... and touch their noses with his. ... The pairs which
he had touched instantly left their own kinds and followed him....
At last he stood still and all the
creatures whom he had touched came and stood in a wide circle around
him....
"...the deepest,
wildest voice they had ever heard was saying: 'Narnia, Narnia Narnia
awake. Love. Think. Speak. Be walking trees. Be talking beasts. Be
divine waters.' It was of course the lion's voice....
"Out of the trees wild people
stepped forth, gods and goddesses of the wood; with them came Fauns and
Satyrs.... Out of the river rose the river god with his Naiad
daughters. And all these and all the beasts and birds in their
different voices.... replied: 'Hail, Aslan. We hear and
obey. We are awake. We love. We think. We speak,. We know."
48
"Creatures, I give you
yourselves," said the strong, happy voice of Aslan. "I give you
forever this land of Narnian.... I give you the stars and I give you
myself. ...
"Laugh and fear not,
creatures. Now that you are no longer dumb and witless, you need not
always be grave. For jokes as well as justice come in with speech." 49
"Narnia is established. We must next take thought for keeping it safe. I
will call some of you to my council. Come hither to me, you the chief
Dwarf, and you the River-god.... For though the world is not five hours
old and evil has already entered it."
"...a force of evil has already entered it; waked
and brought hither by this Son of Adam." The Beasts.... all turned their
eyes on Digory.... And as Adam's race has done the harm, Adam's race
shall help to heal it."
55
"The witch whom brought into
this world will come back to Narnia again.... It is my wish to plant in
Narnia a tree that she will not dare to approach, and that tree
will protect Narnian from her for many years.... You must get me the
seed from which that tree is to grow."
57
Digory "knew which was the right
tree at once, partly because it stood in the very center and partly
because the great silver apples with which it was loaded shone so.... He
walked straight across to it, picked an apple and put it in the breast
pocket of his Norfolk jacket. But he couldn't help looking at it and
smelling it before he put it away.
"It would have been better if he had
not. A terrible thirst and hunger came over him and a longing to taste
that fruit. He put it hastily into his pocket....
63
"I've brought you the apple
you wanted, sir." ...
"Well done," said Aslan.... For this
fruit you have hungered and thirsted and wept. No hand but yours shall
sow the seed to the tree that is to be the protection of Narnia. Throw
the apple toward the river bank."
65
"... they saw a tree which had certainly not been there
before. It must have grown up silently, as swiftly as a flag rises....
"Son of Adam," said Aslan,
you have sown well. And you, narnians, let it be your first care to
guard this Tree, for it is your Shield."
68
"Aslan, sir," said
Digory, turning red. "I forgot to tell you. The Witch as already
eaten one of those apples....."
"Child," [Aslan] replied.
"That is why all the rest are now a horror to her. That's what happens
to those who pluck and eat fruits at the wrong time in in the wrong
way. The fruit is good, but they loathe it ever after."
68
"Oh I see," said Polly. "And
I suppose because she took it the wrong way it won't ... make her always
young and all that?"
"Alas," said Aslan, shaking
his head. "It will. Things always work according to their nature. She
has won her heart's desire; she has unwearying strength and endless days
like a goddess. But length of days with and evil heart is only length of
misery...."
68-69
The end of this story and
the Beginning of all the Others
"We're not quite as bad as
that world, are we, Aslan?" [referring to Europe]
"Not yet, Daughter of Eve,"
he said.... but you are growing more like it. ... And soon.... great
nations in your world will be ruled by tyrants who care no more for joy
and justice and mercy than the Empress Jadis. Let your world beware."
69
"Digory... went softly into
his Mother's room And there she lay, ... propped up on the pillows, with
a thin, pale face. Digory took the Apple of Life out of his pocket....
And the smell of the Apple of Youth was as if there was a window in the
room that opened up on Heaven.
"'You will eat, it, won't you?
Please,' said Digory.... And no sooner had she finished it than she
smiled and her head same back on the pillow and she was asleep; a real,
natural, gently sleep....
"That evening he buried the core of the Apple
in the back garden...."
"Digory need not have marked
the place. Something was already coming up. It was not growing so that
you could see it grow as the new trees had done in Narnia, but it
was already well above ground. They got the trowel and buried all
the magic rings, including their own ones, in a circle round it.
"...it was quite certain
that Digory's Mother was getting better."
"...there came a long
letter from Father in India, which had wonderful news in it. Old Great-Uncle Kirke had died.... Father was now
very rich. He was going to retire and come home from India forever and
ever. And the great big house in the country, which Digory had heard of
all his life and never seen, would now be their home....
"The tree which sprang from
the core of the Apple that Digory planted in the back garden, lived and
grew into a fine tree. It did bear apples more beautiful than any other
in England and they were extremely good for you, though not fully
magical. But inside itself, in the very sap of it, the tree never forgot
that other tree in Narnia to which it belonged. Sometimes it would
move
mysteriously when there was no wind blowing: I think that when this
happened there were high winds in Narnian....
"However than might
be, it was proved later that there was still magic in its wood. For when
Digory was quite middle-aged (and he was a famous learned man, a Professor...) and the Ketterley's
old house belonged to him, there was a
great storm all over the south of England which blew the tree down. He
couldn't bear to have it simply chopped up for firewood, so he had part
of the timber made into a
wardrobe....
"And
though he himself did not discover the magic properties of that
wardrobe, someone else did. That was the beginning of all the
comings and goings between Narnia and our world...."
72