CHAPTER FOUR A PARLIAMENT OF OWLS
It is a very funny thing that the sleepier you are, the longer you take about getting to bed; especially if you are lucky enough to have a fire in your room. Jill felt she couldn’t even start undressing unless she sat down in front of the fire for a bit first. And once she had sat down, she didn’t want to get up again. She had already said to herself about five times, “I must go to bed”, when she was startled by a tap on the window.
She got up, pulled the curtain, and at first saw nothing but darkness. Then she jumped and started backwards, for something very large had dashed itself against the window, giving a sharp tap on the glass as it did so. A very unpleasant idea came into her head—“Suppose they have giant moths in this country！Ugh！” But then the thing came back, and this time she was almost sure she saw a beak, and that the beak had made that tapping noise. “It’s some huge bird,” thought Jill. “Could it be an eagle?” She didn’t very much want a visit even from an eagle, but she opened the window and looked out. Instantly, with a great whirring noise, the creature alighted on the window-sill and stood there filling up the whole window, so that Jill had to step back to make room for it. It was the Owl.
“Hush, hush！Tu-whoo, tu-whoo,” said the Owl. “Don’t make a noise. Now, are you two really in earnest about what you’ve got to do?”
“About the lost Prince, you mean?” said Jill. “Yes, we’ve got to be.” For now she remembered the Lion’s voice and face, which she had nearly forgotten during the feasting and story-telling in the hall.
“Good！” said the Owl. “Then there’s no time to waste. You must get away from here at once. I’ll go and wake the other human. Then I’ll come back for you. You’d better change those court clothes and put on something you can travel in. I’ll be back in two twos. Tu-whoo！” And without waiting for an answer, he was gone.
If Jill had been more used to adventures, she might have doubted the Owl’s word, but this never occurred to her: and in the exciting idea of a midnight escape she forgot her sleepiness. She changed back into sweater and shorts there was a guide’s knife on the belt of the shorts which might come in useful—and added a few of the things that had been left in the room for her by the girl with the willowy hair. She chose a short cloak that came down to her knees and had a hood（“just the thing, if it rains,” she thought）, a few handkerchiefs and a comb. Then she sat down and waited.
She was getting sleepy again when the Owl returned.
“Now we’re ready,” it said.
“You’d better lead the way,” said Jill. “I don’t know all these passages yet.”
“Tu-whoo！” said the Owl. “We’re not going through the castle. That would never do. You must ride on me. We shall fly.”
“Oh！” said Jill, and stood with her mouth open, not much liking the idea. “Shan’t I be too heavy for you?”
“Tu-whoo, tu-whoo！Don’t you be a fool. I’ve already carried the other one. Now. But we’ll put out that lamp first.”
As soon as the lamp was out, the bit of the night which you saw through the window looked less dark—no longer black, but grey. The Owl stood on the window-sill with his back to the room and raised his wings. Jill had to climb on to his short fat body and get her knees under the wings and grip tight. The feathers felt beautifully warm and soft but there was nothing to hold on by.
“I wonder how Scrubb liked his ride！” thought Jill. And just as she was thinking this, with a horrid plunge they had left the window-sill, and the wings were making a flurry round her ears, and the night air, rather cool and damp, was flying in her face.
It was much lighter than she expected, and though the sky was overcast, one patch of watery silver showed where the moon was hiding above the clouds. The fields beneath her looked grey, and the trees black. There was a certain amount of wind—a hushing, ruffling sort of wind which meant that rain was coming soon.
The Owl wheeled round so that the castle was now ahead of them. Very few of the windows showed lights. They flew right over it, northwards, crossing the river: the air grew colder, and Jill thought she could see the white reflection of the Owl in the water beneath her. But soon they were on the north bank of the river, flying above wooded country.
The Owl snapped at something which Jill couldn’t see.
“Oh, don’t, please！” said Jill. “Don’t jerk like that. You nearly threw me off.”
“I beg your pardon,” said the Owl. “I was just nabbing a bat. There’s nothing so sustaining, in a small way, as a nice plump little bat. Shall I catch you one?”
“No, thanks,” said Jill with a shudder.
He was flying a little lower now and a large, black looking object was looming up towards them. Jill had just time to see that it was a tower—a partly ruinous tower, with a lot of ivy on it, she thought—when she found herself ducking to avoid the archway of a window, as the Owl squeezed with her through the ivied cobwebby opening, out of the fresh, grey night into a dark place inside the top of the tower. It was rather fusty inside and, the moment she slipped off the Owl’s back, she knew（as one usually does somehow）that it was quite crowded And when voices began saying out of the darkness from every direction “Tuwhoo！Tu-whoo！” she knew it was crowded with owls. She was rather relieved when a very different voice said：“Is that you, Pole?”
“Is that you, Scrubb?” said Jill.
“Now,” said Glimfeather, “I think we’re all here. Let us hold a parliament of owls.”
“Tu-whoo, tu-whoo. True for you. That’s the right thing to do,” said several voices.
“Half a moment,” said Scrubb’s voice. “There’s something I want to say first.”
“Do, do, do,” said the owls; and Jill said, “Fire ahead.”
“I suppose all you chaps-owls, I mean,” said Scrubb, “I suppose you all know that King Caspian the Tenth, in his young days, sailed to the eastern end of the world. Well, I was with him on that journey: with him and Reepicheep the Mouse, and the Lord Drinian and all of them. I know it sounds hard to believe, but people don’t grow older in our world at the same speed as they do in yours. And what I want to say is this, that I’m the King’s man; and if this parliament of owls is any sort of plot against the King, I’m having nothing to do with it.”
“Tu-whoo, tu-whoo, we’re all the King’s owls too,” said the owls.
“What’s it all about then?” said Scrubb.
“It’s only this,” said Glimfeather. “That if the Lord Regent, the Dwarf Trumpkin, hears you are going to look for the lost Prince, he won’t let you start. He’d keep you under lock and key sooner.”
“Great Scott！” said Scrubb. “You don’t mean that Trumpkin is a traitor? I used to hear a lot about him in the old days, at sea. Caspian—the King, I mean—trusted him absolutely.”
“Oh no,” said a voice. “Trumpkin’s no traitor. But more than thirty champions（knights, centaurs, good giants, and all sorts）have at one time or another set out to look for the lost Prince, and none of them have ever come back. And at last the King said he was not going to have all the bravest Narnians destroyed in the search for his son. And now nobody is allowed to go.”
“But surely he’d let us go,” said Scrubb. “When he knew who I was and who had sent me.”
“Sent both of us,” put in Jill.
“Yes,” said Glimfeather, “I think, very likely, he would. But the King’s away. And Trumpkin will stick to the rules. He’s as true as steel, but he’s deaf as a post and very peppery. You could never make him see that this might be the time for making an exception to the rule.”
“You might think he’d take some notice of us, because we’re owls and everyone knows how wise owls are,” said someone else. “But he’s so old now he’d only say, ‘You’re a mere chick. I remember you when you were an egg. Don’t come trying to teach me, Sir. Crabs and crumpets！’”
This owl imitated Trumpkin’s voice rather well, and there were sounds of owlish laughter all round. The children began to see that the Narnians all felt about Trumpkin as people feel at school about some crusty teacher, whom everyone is a little afraid of and everyone makes fun of and nobody really dislikes.
“How long is the King going to be away?” asked Scrubb.
“If only we knew！” said Glimfeather. “You see, there has been a rumour lately that Aslan himself has been seen in the islands—in Terebinthia, I think it was. And the King said he would make one more attempt before he died to see Aslan face to face again, and ask his advice about who is to be King after him. But we’re all afraid that, if he doesn’t meet Aslan in Terebinthia, he’ll go on east, to Seven Isles and Lone Islands—and on and on. He never talks about it, but we all know he has never forgotten that voyage to the world’s end. I’m sure in his heart of hearts he wants to go there again.”
“Then there’s no good waiting for him to come back?” said Jill.
“No, no good,” said the Owl. “Oh, what a to-do！If only you two had known and spoken to him at once！He’d have arranged everything—probably given you an army to go with you in search of the Prince.”
Jill kept quiet at this and hoped Scrubb would be sporting enough not to tell all the owls why this hadn’t happened. He was, or very nearly. That is, he only muttered under his breath, “Well, it wasn’t my fault,” before saying out loud：“Very well. We’ll have to manage without it. But there’s just one thing more I want to know. If this owls’parliament, as you call it, is all fair and above board and means no mischief, why does it have to be so jolly secret—meeting in a ruin in dead of night, and all that?”
“Tu-whoo！Tu-whoo！” hooted several owls. “Where should we meet? When would anyone meet except at night?”
“You see,” explained Glimfeather, “most of the creatures in Narnia have such unnatural habits. They do things by day, in broad blazing sunlight（ugh！）when everyone ought to be asleep. And, as a result, at night they’re so blind and stupid that you can’t get a word out of them. So we owls have got into the habit of meeting at sensible hours, on our own, when we want to talk about things.”
“I see,” said Scrubb. “Well now, let’s get on. Tell us all about the lost Prince.”
Then an old owl, not Glimfeather, related the story.
About ten years ago, it appeared, when Rilian, the son of Caspian, was a very young knight, he rode with the Queen his mother on a May morning in the north parts of Narnia. They had many squires and ladies with them and all wore garlands of fresh leaves on their heads, and horns at their sides; but they had no hounds with them, for they were maying, not hunting. In the warm part of the day they came to a pleasant glade where a fountain flowed freshly out of the earth, and there they dismounted and ate and drank and were merry. After a time the Queen felt sleepy, and they spread cloaks for her on the grassy bank, and Prince Rilian with the rest of the party went a little way from her, that their tales and laughter might not wake her.
And so, presently, a great serpent came out of the thick wood and stung the Queen in her hand. All heard her cry out and rushed towards her, and Rilian was first at her side. He saw the worm gliding away from her and made after it with his sword drawn. It was great, shining, and as green as poison, so that he could see it well: but it glided away into thick bushes and he could not come at it. So he returned to his mother, and found them all busy about her.
But they were busy in vain, for at the first glance of her face Rilian knew that no physic in the world would do her good. As long as the life was in her she seemed to be trying hard to tell him something. But she could not speak clearly and, whatever her message was, she died without delivering it. It was then hardly ten minutes since they had first heard her cry.
They carried the dead Queen back to Cair Paravel, and she was bitterly mourned by Rilian and by the King, and by all Narnia. She had been a great lady, wise and gracious and happy, King Caspian’s bride whom he had brought home from the eastern end of the world. And men said that the blood of the stars flowed in her veins. The Prince took his mother’s death very hardly, as well he might. After that, he was always riding on the northern marches of Narnia, hunting for that venomous worm, to kill it and be avenged. No one remarked much on this, though the Prince came home from these wanderings looking tired and distraught. But about a month after the Queen’s death, some said they could see a change in him. There was a look in his eyes as of a man who has seen visions, and though he would be out all day, his horse did not bear the signs of hard riding. His chief friend among the older courtiers was the Lord Driman, he who had been his father’s captain on that great voyage to the east parts of the earth.
One evening Drinian said to the Prince, “Your Highness must soon give over seeking the worm. There is no true vengeance on a witless brute as there might be on a man. You weary yourself in vain.” The Prince answered him, “My Lord, I have almost forgotten the worm this seven days.” Drinian asked him why, if that were so, he rode so continually in the northern woods. “My lord,” said the Prince, “I have seen there the most beautiful thing that was ever made.”“Fair Prince,” said Drinian, “of your courtesy let me ride with you tomorrow, that I also may see this fair thing.”“With a good will,” said Rilian.
Then in good time on the next day they saddled their horses and rode a great gallop into the northern woods and alighted at that same fountain where the Queen got her death.
Drinian thought it strange that the Prince should choose that place of all places, to linger in. And there they rested till it came to high noon: and at noon Drinian looked up and saw the most beautiful lady he had ever seen; and she stood at the north side of the fountain and said no word but beckoned to the Prince with her hand as if she bade him come to her. And she was tall and great, shining, and wrapped in a thin garment as green as poison. And the Prince stared at her like a man out of his wits. But suddenly the lady was gone, Driman knew not where; and the two returned to Cair Paravel. It stuck in Drinian’s mind that this shining green woman was evil.
Drinian doubted very much whether he ought not to tell this adventure to the King, but he had little wish to be a blab and a tale-bearer and so he held his tongue. But afterwards he wished he had spoken. For next day Prince Rilian rode out alone. That night he came not back, and from that hour no trace of him was ever found in Narnia nor any neighbouring land, and neither his horse nor his hat nor his cloak nor anything else was ever found.
Then Drinian in the bitterness of his heart went to Caspian and said, “Lord King, slay me speedily as a great traitor: for by my silence I have destroyed your son.” And he told him the story. Then Caspian caught up a battle-axe and rushed upon the Lord Drinian to kill him, and Drinian stood still as a stock for the death blow. But when the axe was raised, Caspian suddenly threw it away and cried out, “I have lost my queen and my son: shall I lose my friend also?” And he fell upon the Lord Drinian’s neck and embraced him and both wept, and their friendship was not broken.
Such was the story of Rilian.
And when it was over, Jill said, “I bet that serpent and that woman were the same person.”
“True, true, we think the same as you,” hooted the owls.
“But we don’t think she killed the Prince,” said Glimfeather, “because no bones—”
“We know she didn’t,” said Scrubb. “Aslan told Pole he was still alive somewhere.”
“That almost makes it worse,” said the oldest owl. “It means she has some use for him, and some deep scheme against Narnia. Long, long ago, at the very beginning, a White Witch came out of the North and bound our land in snow and ice for a hundred years. And we think this may be some of the same crew.”
“Very well, then,” said Scrubb.“Pole and I have got to Find this Prince. Can you help us?”
“Have you any clue, you two?” asked Glimfeather.
“Yes,” said Scrubb. “We know we’ve got to go north. And we know we’ve got to reach the ruins of a giant city.”
At this there was a greater tu-whooing than ever, and noise of birds shifting their feet and ruffling their feathers, and then all the owls started speaking at once. They all explained how very sorry they were that they themselves could not go with the children on their search for the lost Prince.
“You’d want to travel by day, and we’d want to travel by night,” they said. “It wouldn’t do, wouldn’t do.” One or two owls added that even here in the ruined tower it wasn’t nearly so dark as it had been when they began, and that the parliament had been going on quite long enough. In fact, the mere mention of a journey to the ruined city of giants seemed to have damped the spirits of those birds.
But Glimfeather said：“If they want to go that way—into Ettinsmoor—we must take them to one of the Marshwiggles. They’re the Only people who can help them much.”
“'True, true. Do,” said the owls.
“Come on, then,” said Glimfeather. “I’ll take one.
Who’ll take the other? It must be done tonight.”
“I will: as far as the Marsh-wiggles,” said another owl.
“Are you ready?” said Glimfeather to Jill.
“I think Pole’s asleep,” said Scrubb.
第四章 猫头鹰会议
说来倒有趣，你越困的时候，入睡所花的时间越长，尤其是当你的房间里还生着火的时候。吉尔要是不先在火边坐会儿暖暖身子，甚至不想脱衣服。而一旦坐下，她便不愿站起身来。当她大概是第五次自言自语说“我得上床了”的时候，有人在窗户上轻轻敲了一声，着实把她吓了一跳。
她起身拉开窗帘，但一眼望去除了一片黑暗，什么也看不见。然后她看到一个庞然大物冲过来抵在窗子上，在玻璃上猛地敲了一下，于是她立马跳了起来，朝后退了几步。她的脑海里闪现出一个不太好的念头——“是不是这个国家有巨型蛾子！啊！”谁知这东西又回来了，这一回她几乎可以肯定，刚刚敲窗的是一只尖尖的嘴。吉尔想，“这只大鸟会不会是鹰呢？”她可不太希望一头鹰找上门来，不过她还是开了窗，探出头，只听见呼呼的一阵声响。那只大鸟站在窗台上，它那庞大的身躯堵住了整扇窗户，吉尔只好后退几步为它腾出地方。那只大鸟原来是只猫头鹰。
“嘘！喔呼，喔呼，”猫头鹰说，“别出声。再确认一遍，你们俩是真心诚意想去完成你们的任务吗？”
“你说的是那失踪王子的事？”吉尔说，“是啊，我们一定会干。”这时她记起狮王的声音和面容，在晚宴和听故事时她几乎全忘了狮王嘱托之事。
“很好！”猫头鹰说，“你们没有多少时间了，你们必须立马离开这儿。我去叫醒那个男孩，然后我再回来接你。你最好脱下宫廷的衣服，换上方便赶路的衣服。我马上就带着那个男孩过来。喔呼！”还没等到吉尔回话，他就飞走了。
要是吉尔一向冒险惯了，她也许会怀疑猫头鹰的话，但是她从来没有过冒险的想法。半夜出逃实在是一件令人激动的事情，吉尔完全把困倦抛在脑后。她重新换上羊毛衫和短裤，在短裤裤带上别了一把刀，以备不时之需；又另外带上了几样东西，是先前那个长发飘逸的女仆留在她房间里的。她选了一件长到膝盖的连帽短斗篷，想着下雨时正好用得着。除此之外，还带了几块手帕和一把梳子。所有都准备好后，她坐下等猫头鹰。
等猫头鹰回来时，她又犯困了。
“咱们可以走啦。”他说。
“最好由你带路，”吉尔说，“我还不熟悉这些走廊。”
“喔呼，”猫头鹰说，“我们不从城堡大门出去，那样是绝对行不通的。你必须骑到我身上来，我们一起飞。”
“等等！”吉尔嘴巴张得老大，看起来不大喜欢这个主意，“你真能载得动我吗？”
“喔呼，喔呼！别犯傻了，我已经送走你的同伴啦。行啦，不过我们先得把灯灭了。”
灯一灭，从窗子里望出去，那片夜空就不那么黑了——天空不再是黑色，而更像是灰色。猫头鹰站在窗台上，背朝里，抬起了双翅。吉尔爬上他那又胖又矮的身体，膝盖抵在翅膀下面，双膝紧紧夹住。猫头鹰的羽毛温暖而柔软，就是没个抓处。
“真想知道斯科拉博觉得这次飞行怎么样！”吉尔正想着，猫头鹰就猛地向前一冲，转眼间他们就离开了窗台，翅膀在她耳边呼起一阵疾风，晚上的空气凉爽湿润，扑面而来。
这次飞行比她预想中轻松得多。尽管天空阴云密布，水汪汪的银光勾勒出躲在云层上面的月亮。往下看，田野灰蒙蒙，树林黑沉沉。耳边的风声簌簌直响，看来很快要下雨了。
猫头鹰调了个头，正对着城堡的方向。没几扇窗户亮着灯了。他们飞过城堡后向北，穿过了河。气温似乎变冷了一些，吉尔猜想如果低头一定能看见猫头鹰在水面白色的倒影。但不一会儿他们就已经飞到河的北岸，来到了林区上空。
猫头鹰突然猛地咬住了吉尔没看见的什么东西。
“天，请你别那样！”吉尔说，“别像那样颠簸，我差点就摔下去了。”
“不好意思，”猫头鹰向吉尔道歉，“我刚刚抓了一只蝙蝠，一只胖胖的小蝙蝠用来填饱肚子再好不过啦。要我给你抓一只吗？”
“不用了，谢谢。”吉尔打了个哆嗦。
猫头鹰这会儿飞得低些了，吉尔看到眼前隐约出现一个黑乎乎的庞然大物。看清后，发现原来是一座塔，塔身塌陷了一角，上面爬满了常春藤。还没有回过神来，猫头鹰已经带着她闯入蛛网密布的窗户，她赶忙弯下身子，免得撞上拱窗。从清冷灰蒙的夜空钻进黑咕隆咚的塔顶，一股霉味冲鼻而来。一从猫头鹰背上滑落下来，她就感觉到这地方很挤。只听见“喔呼，喔呼”的声音从各个黑暗的角落传来，原来这个屋子里全是猫头鹰。这时角落里传来一个不同的声音，吉尔顿时轻松了许多：“波尔，是你吗？”
“斯科拉博，是你吗？”吉尔寻声问道。
“好了”，格里姆费瑟说，“我想人都齐了吧。我们的猫头鹰会议就此开始吧。”
“喔呼，喔呼。没错，开始吧。”几个声音跟着应和。
“等等，”斯科拉博开了腔，“有件事情我要先告知各位。”
“说吧，说吧。”猫头鹰们齐声说道。“来吧。”吉尔也跟着说。
“我想你们大伙儿，我指的是猫头鹰家族，”斯科拉博说，“我想你们都知道国王凯斯宾十世年轻时，曾航行去过世界最东部。其实，那次航行我就跟他在一起，一路同行的人除了我与他之外，还有雷佩契普老鼠将军、德里宁勋爵等等。我知道这听起来不大可信，但在我们的世界里变老的速度跟你们在你们的世界里不一样。我要告诉你们的是，我是国王的人，要是这次猫头鹰会议有任何背叛国王的阴谋，我都不会参与其中。”
“喔呼，喔呼，我们也都听命于国王啊。”那些猫头鹰说。
“那这是怎么回事呢？”斯科拉博说。
“是这样的，”格里姆费瑟说，“要是摄政王，就是小矮人杜鲁普金听说你们要去找失踪的王子，他是绝不会同意的，他会把你们关起来。”
“天哪！”斯科拉博说，“你该不会是说杜鲁普金是个*国卖**贼吧？以前在海上的时候，我听说过很多他的事。凯斯宾国王对他非常信任。”
“当然不是，”一个声音说，“杜鲁普金不是*国卖**贼。但已有三十多位勇士（包括骑士、人头马、勇猛的巨人）先后出发去寻找失踪的王子，没有一位回来过。最后国王说他不会为了寻找他的儿子而让纳尼亚所有的勇士送命。如今，谁也不准去了。”
“但我敢保证，等他知道了我是谁，是谁派我来的时候，他肯定会让我们去的。”斯科拉博说。
“是派我们来的。”吉尔插了一句。
“是啊，”格里姆费瑟说，“我想他很可能会准许你们的计划。但国王不在，杜鲁普金会照章办事。他很忠诚，但他耳朵完全聋了，而且脾气又暴躁。你根本没法说服他这回可以破例办事。”
“你可能认为他多多少少会听取我们的意见，因为我们是猫头鹰，大家都知道我们很聪明。”一只猫头鹰说，“可他毕竟年高望重，他只会说，‘你只是只小鸟儿罢了，我可还记得你还是个鸟蛋的时候呢。别想来教导我，猫头鹰先生。多嘴多舌！’”
这只猫头鹰模仿杜鲁普金的腔调说话，真是学得惟妙惟肖，引得满堂的猫头鹰们都笑了。两个孩子明白了其实纳尼亚人对杜鲁普金的感觉就像学生们对一个爱发脾气的老师一样，大家有点怕他，人人都取笑他，但大家又不是真的不喜欢他。
“国王要去多长时间呢？”斯科拉博问。
“我们知道就好了！”格里姆费瑟说，“你们要知道，最近传出谣言说有人看见在特里宾西亚群岛上见到了阿斯兰。国王说在他咽下最后一口气前想再碰碰运气，看看能不能再见上阿斯兰一面，听听他的建议决定王位继承人。但我们都害怕，要是他在特里宾西亚岛上没见着阿斯兰，他就要一路向东，航行去七群岛和孤独群岛，然后再继续向东。虽然他从来没提起过，但我们都知道那次世界航行对他来说是多么难忘。我敢肯定在他内心深处，他一定是想再去一遭的。”
“这么说等他回来是指望不上了？”吉尔问。
“是啊，估计悬了”，猫头鹰说，“唉，怎么办呢！要是你们俩那天能一眼认出他，立即跟他说清就好了。他会把一切都安排好的，或许会拨一支*队军**跟着你们一起去找王子呢。”
吉尔不敢吱声，她希望斯科拉博够男子汉，别把真相全抖出来。斯科拉博还算是个男子汉吧，他只是小声嘀咕了一句：“那可不是我的错。”然后又提高了声音：“好吧，那我们只好在没有*队军**的情况下想办法了。但还有一件事我想知道。要是你们这个猫头鹰会议是绝对光明磊落的，那为什么要搞得这么神秘？你们为什么非要深更半夜在这鬼地方开会呢？”
“喔呼！喔呼！”几只猫头鹰齐声叫喊道，“除了这里，我们还能去哪儿碰头呢？除了半夜，还有什么时候能召集全员呢？”
“你可能不知道，”格里姆费瑟解释说，“在纳尼亚，大多数人都有不合自然规律的习惯。他们白天干活，在耀眼的太阳光下忙活。哼！那时应该用来睡觉的呀。结果呢，到了晚上，他们变得又瞎又笨，你别想从他们嘴里得到一句话。而我们猫头鹰一直保持着在最适宜的时间开会的习惯。当我们有什么事需要讨论的时候，我们就自己开会。”
“原来如此，”斯科拉博终于恍然大悟，“没问题了，那就继续开会吧。先跟我们说说王子失踪是怎么回事。”
另一只年迈的猫头鹰开了腔，讲述了这个故事。
大约十年前，那时凯斯宾的儿子瑞廉还是一位很年轻的骑士。五月的一天早晨，他陪王后一起骑马去纳尼亚北部。他们一行中还有好多乡绅和贵妇人，大家都头戴新鲜树叶编成的花环，身上都带着号角，但没有带*狗猎**同行，因为当时他们是在*花采**，不是打猎。白天稍暖些的时候，他们来到一片舒适的林中空地，一股清凉的喷泉从泥土里喷涌而出。他们在那儿下马，吃吃喝喝，快乐无比。过了一会儿，王后觉得困了，随从们把斗篷铺在草地上，好让王后休息，而瑞廉王子跟同行的其他人都走开了，免得他们的说笑声吵醒她。
过了没多久，密林里爬出一条大毒蛇，在王后手上咬了一口。听见王后的叫喊声，大家都跑过去，瑞廉第一个赶到她身边，他看见那条蛇正从王后身边溜走，就拔出剑追了过去。那是一条发亮的、青绿色的大蛇，很容易辨识。但它随即就溜到浓密的灌木丛中去了，王子进不去。于是他回到母亲身边，发现大家都围着王后忙得团团转。
可惜，这一切都是白费力气。瑞廉看见母后脸色的那一刹那，就知道任何医术都回天无力了。她临死前似乎拼命要告诉他什么事，但她已经口齿不清了，她的遗言没说出来就死了。王后咽气时，距离他们听见她的喊叫声还不到十分钟。
他们把死去的王后运回凯尔帕拉维尔，瑞廉和国王以及纳尼亚举国上下都痛哭悼念她。她是一位伟大的王后，智慧、和善、快乐，是凯斯宾从世界最东部娶回国的新娘。人们说她血管里流淌着星星的血。母亲的死让王子心痛不已。从那以后，他常骑马出没在纳尼亚北部沼泽地区，寻找那条毒蛇的踪迹，要杀了它为母后*仇报**。尽管每次王子归来时，总是一副神色疲劳、忧心忡忡的样子，但大家从不以为意。王后死后的一个月，一些人说，王子变了。他的眼神变得迷离，尽管他整天在外面，他的马看起来却不像是跑了很多路。在那些年长的大臣中，王子最贴心的朋友就是德里宁勋爵，勋爵曾在国王那次伟大的东部远航中担任船长。
一天傍晚，德里宁对王子说：“殿下一定得赶快放下寻找那条毒蛇的念头。对一只无知野兽的仇恨，不比对一个人的怨恨。您别白白把自己累坏了。”王子回答说：“爵爷，最近几天以来，我已忘掉那条毒蛇了。”德里宁问：“既然如此，那殿下为何还每天骑马到北部树林里去呢？”“爵爷，我在那儿看见了天底下最美的东西。”王子说。“请王子殿下恩准，”德里宁说，“老臣明天陪你走一遭，让我也瞧瞧那不凡之物。”“我很乐意带你随行。”瑞廉说。
第二天一早他们就跨上马，一路飞奔到北部森林，随后在王后遇难的喷泉附近下马。
德里宁觉得很奇怪，王子怎么就偏偏挑中这个地方歇息呢？他们一直在那歇到正午。就在正午时分，德里宁抬头一看，他生平见过的最美丽的女人就站在喷泉北面，一言不发，只对王子招手，好像要叫王子到她那儿去。她个子高高的，长得很美，光彩照人，身穿一件青绿色薄外套。王子失魂落魄地盯着她，但突然间那女人就消失得无影无踪，德里宁不知道她上哪儿去了。他们俩就此回到凯尔帕拉维尔，但德里宁心里总觉得那个绿衣女人是魔鬼。
德里宁拿不准自己是否应该把这次经历报告国王，但又不想做个多嘴的人，于是他把这件事埋在心里。可是不久后他就后悔了。瑞廉王子第二天一个人骑马外出，晚上竟没回来。从那天起不管是在纳尼亚，还是在邻近国家都无人发现他的踪影，就连他的马、帽子、斗篷和其他随行物品也都无影无踪。
德里宁心里实在痛苦难忍，于是他就去见凯斯宾国王：“陛下，赶紧杀了我这个大叛徒吧，都怪我没有及时告诉您真相，都是我害了王子。”然后他把前天跟着王子一起外出的见闻告诉了国王。凯斯宾听罢抓起一把战斧，对准德里宁勋爵冲过来要杀了他。可德里宁就像一根木头，一动不动，就等着国王一斧子砍下来。但是国王举起斧子的那一刹那，又突然把斧子一把扔开，哭喊道：“我已经失去了我的王后和儿子，难道我还要失去我的朋友吗？”他搂住德里宁的脖子，紧紧抱住他。两个人都哭了，就这样，他们的友谊没有破裂。
这就是失踪王子的故事。
听完故事，吉尔说：“我敢说那毒蛇和那个女人就是同一个人。”
“不错，不错，我们的想法和你一样。”猫头鹰都叫着附和。
“但我们觉得王子没死，”格里姆费瑟说，“因为我们没有找到骨头……”
“我们知道她没有杀死王子，”斯科拉博说，“阿斯兰告诉波尔说，王子现在还活着。”
“那事情就更糟了，”最老的一只猫头鹰说，“那就意味着王子对那个妖女有用处，她正在策划一场毁灭纳尼亚的阴谋。在很久很久以前，北方来了个白女巫，把我们这里都冻成冰天雪地，足足冻了有一百年。我们觉得这个妖女没准是同伙。”
“好吧，”斯科拉博说，“我和波尔下定决心去找这位王子。你们能帮助我们吗？”
“你们俩目前有什么线索吗？”格里姆费瑟问。
“有，”斯科拉博说，“我们要上北方去，然后去一个废弃的巨城寻找下落。”
一听到这句话，猫头鹰们喔呼喔呼的叫喊声、扑通的跳跃声、抖动羽毛的杂音炸开了锅，然后所有的猫头鹰都七嘴八舌说起话来。他们都解释说，不能陪这两个孩子去寻找失踪的王子实在太遗憾了。
“你们要在白天赶路，而我们得在晚上。”他们说，“这怎么行，这行不通的。”还有一两只猫头鹰又说，这个塔里没有刚开会时那么黑了，这次会也开得已经够长了。其实一提到要去废弃巨城，这些猫头鹰就有些泄气。
但格里姆费瑟说：“要是他们想走那条路——到艾丁斯荒原去——我们一定得把他们带到一个沼泽怪那儿去。沼泽怪是唯一能帮这两个孩子大忙的人。”
“没错，没错，去吧。”猫头鹰们说。
“那咱们赶紧走吧，”格里姆费瑟说，“我带一个孩子。另一个谁来带？这事一定得在今晚办成。”
“我愿意去，把孩子送到沼泽怪那儿。”另一只猫头鹰说。
“你准备好了吗？”格里姆费瑟问吉尔。
“我想波尔睡着了。”斯科拉博说。
