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CHAPTER NINE THE ISLAND OF THE VOICES（第3页）

said，andthenaddedinaloudervoivisiblepeople，whatdoyouwantwithus?Andwhathavewedooeary?”

&somethingthatlittlegirldoforus，”

saidtheChiefVoice.（Theothersexplaihiswasjustwhattheywouldhavesaidthemselves.）

“Littlegirl!”

saidReepicheep.“Theladyisaqueen.”

“Wedon'tknowaboutqueens，”

saidtheChiefVoice.

（“Nomorewedo，nomorewedo，”

theothers.）“Butwewahingshedo.”

“Whatisit?”

saidLucy.

“Andifitisanythingagaiy'shonourorsafety，”

addedReepicheep，“youwillwooseehowmanywekillbeforewedie.”

“Well，”

saidtheChiefVoice.“It'salongstory.Supposeweallsitdown?”

TheproposalrovedbytheothervoicesbuttheNaranding.

“Well，”

saidtheChiefVoice.“It'slikethis.Thisislaheprreatmagitimeoutofmind.Anderhapsinamannerofspeaking，Imightsay，wewere—hisservaogstoryshort，thismagithatIeakingabout，hetoldustodosomethingwedidn'tlike.Andwhynot?Becausewedidn'twahen，thissamemagihefellirage;fhttotellyouheowheislandandhewasn'tusedtobeingcrossed.Hewasterriblydht，youknow.Butletmesee，whereamI?Ohyes，thismagi，hegoesupstairs（foryoumustkallhismagigsupthereandweallliveddownbelow），Isayhegoesupstairsandputsaspellonus.Anuglifyingspell.Ifyousahimyopinionyoumaythankyourstarsyou't，youwouldn'tbelievewhatwelookedlikebeflified.Youwouldn'treally.Sothereweallweresouglywe'tbeartolookatohenell，I'lltellyouewaitedtillwethoughtthissamemagiiernoonaairsandgotohismagicbook，asboldasbrass，toseeifweythingaboutthisuglifi.Butwewereallofasweatandatremble，soIwon'tdeceiveyou.But，believemeorbelievemenot，Idoassureyouthatwe'tfindanythingintheellfofftheugliness.Andwhatwithtimegettingonandbeingafraidthattheoldgeanyminute—Iwasallofamucksweat，soIwon'tdeceiveyou—well，togstoryshort，whetherwedidrightorrong，intheendellfpeopleinvisible.Awe'dratherbeihangoonbeingasuglyasallthat.Andwhy?Becausewe'dlikeitbetter.Somylittlegirl，who'sjustabirl'sage，achildshewasbeforeshewasuglified，thoughsaidsoomended—Isay，mylittlegirlshesaysthespell，forit'sgottobealittlegirlorelsethemagihimself，ifyouseemymeaning，forotherwiseitwon'twork.Andwhyhinghappens.SomyClipsiesaysthespell，fhttohavetoldyoushereadsbeautifully，andthereweallwereasinvisibleasyoucouldwishtosee.AndIdoassureyouitwasareliefher'sfaces.Atfirst，anyway.Buttheloofitiswe'remortaltiredofbeingihere'sahing.Weneverreagi（theoellingyouabiwehaven'teverseenhimsince.Sowedon'tknowifhe'sdead，one.away，orwhetherhe'sjustsittingupstairsbeinginvisible，andperhapsingdownandbeingihere.A'snomaneningbecausehealwaysdidgoaboutwithhisbarefeeton，makihabigdI'lltellallyougeraight，it'sgettihanwhatourand.”

SuchwastheChiefVoice'sstory，butverymued，becauseIhaveleftoutwhattheOtherVoicessaid.Actuallyhemorethansixorsevenwordswithoutbeiedbytheiragreementsandes，whichdrovetheNaroftheirmindswithimpatiewasovertherewasaverylongsilence.

“But，”

saidLucyatlast，“what'sallthisgottodowithus?Idon'tuand.”

“Why，blessme，ifIhaven'tgohewholepoint，”

saidtheChiefVoice.

“Thatyouhave，thatyouhave，”

roaredtheOtherVoiceswithgreatenthusiasm.“Noone'thaveleftitoutdbetter.Keepitup，Chief，keepitup.”

“Well，IgooverthewhaiheChiefVoice.

“ainlynot，”

saiddEdmund.

&hen，toputitinanutshell，”

saidtheChiefVoice，“we'vebeenwaitingfforalegirlfrnparts，likeitmightbeyou，Missie—thatwouldgotothemagidfiakesofftheinvisibleness，andsayit.Andweallsworethatthefirststrangersaslahisisland（havilegirlwiththem，Imean，foriftheyhadn'tit'dbeaer）wewouldn'tletthemgoawayaliveuhey'ddoheneedfulforus.Andthat'swhy，gentlemen，ifyirldoesn'teuptoscratch，itwillbeourpainfuldutytocutallyourthroats.Merelyinthewayofbusiness，asyoumightsay，andnooffence，Ihope.”

“Idon'tseeallyourons，”

saidReepicheep.“Aretheyihewordswerescarouthbeforetheyheardawhizzingsouaspearhadstuck，quiverireesbehindthem.

“That'saspear，thatis，”

saidtheChiefVoice.