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CHAPTER TWO

WHAT LUCY FOUND THERE

"GOOD EVENING," said Lucy But the Faun was so busy picking up its parcels that at first it did not reply When it had finished it ood evening," said the Faun "Excuse ht in thinking that you are a Daughter of Eve?"

"My na hiive irl?" said the Faun

"Of course I’irl," said Lucy

"You are in fact Human?"

"Of course I’m human," said Lucy, still a little puzzled

"To be sure, to be sure," said the Faun "How stupid of hter of Eve before I ahted That is to say - " and then it stopped as if it had been going to say sohted, delighted," it went on "Allow me to introduce myself My name is Tumnus"

"I am very pleased to meet you, Mr Tuhter of Eve," said Mr Tumnus, "how you have come into Narnia?"

"Narnia? What’s that?" said Lucy

"This is the land of Narnia," said the Faun, "where we are now; all that lies between the lareat castle of Cair Paravel on the eastern sea And you - you have coot in through the wardrobe in the spare room," said Lucy

"Ah!" said Mr Tumnus in a rather raphy when I was a little Faun, I should no doubt know all about those strange countries It is too late now"

"But they aren’t countries at all," said Lucy, al "It’s only just back there - at least - I’m not sure It is summer there"

"Meanwhile," said Mr Tu, and we shall both catch cold if we stand here talking in the snow Daughter of Eve frons around the bright city of War Drobe, hoould it be if you came and had tea with me?"

"Thank you verywhether I ought to be getting back"

"It’s only just round the corner," said the Faun, "and there’ll be a roaring fire - and toast - and sardines - and cake"

"Well, it’s very kind of you," said Lucy "But I shan’t be able to stay long"

"If you will take hter of Eve," said Mr Tumnus, "I shall be able to hold the uo"

And so Lucy found herself walking through the wood are creature as if they had known one another all their lives

They had not gone far before they cah and there were rocks all about and little hills up and little hills down At the bottom of one soing to walk straight into an unusually large rock, but at the lasther into the entrance of a cave As soon as they were inside she found herself blinking in the light of a wood fire Then Mr Tu piece of wood out of the fire with a neat little pair of tongs, and lit a la," he said, and iht she had never been in a nicer place It was a little, dry, clean cave of reddish stone with a carpet on the floor and two little chairs ("one for me and one for a friend," said Mr Tumnus) and a table and a dresser and a mantelpiece over the fire and above that a picture of an old Faun with a grey beard In one corner there was a door which Lucy thought must lead to Mr Tumnus’s bedroom, and on one as a shelf full of books Lucy looked at these while he was setting out the tea things They had titles like The Life and Letters of Silenus or Nymphs and Their Ways or Men, Monks and Gaend or Is Man a Myth?

"Now, Daughter of Eve!" said the Faun

And really it was a wonderful tea There was a nice brown egg, lightly boiled, for each of them, and then sardines on toast, and then buttered toast, and then toast with honey, and then a sugar-topped cake And when Lucy was tired of eating the Faun began to talk He had wonderful tales to tell of life in the forest He told about the ht dances and how the Nymphs who lived in the wells and the Dryads who lived in the trees ca parties after the ht hi with the wild Red Dwarfs in deep mines and caverns far beneath the forest floor; and then about sureen and old Silenus on his fat donkey would come to visit them, and sometimes Bacchus himself, and then the streams would run ine instead of water and the whole forest would give itself up to jollification for weeks on end "Not that it isn’t alinter now," he added gloomily Then to cheer hie little flute that looked as if it were an to play And the tune he played o to sleep all at the same time It must have been hours later when she shook herself and said:

"Oh, Mr Tumnus - I’m so sorry to stop you, and I do love that tune - but really, I o home I only ood now, you know," said the Faun, laying down its flute and shaking its head at her very sorrowfully

"No good?" said Lucy, juhtened "What do you o ho what has happened to me" But a moment later she asked, "Mr Tumnus! Whatever is the matter?" for the Faun’s brown eyes had filled with tears and then the tears began trickling down its cheeks, and soon they were running off the end of its nose; and at last it covered its face with its hands and began to howl

"Mr Tureat distress "Don’t! Don’t! What is the matter? Aren’ you well? Dear Mr Tu" But the Faun continued sobbing as if its heart would break And even when Lucy went over and put her arms round him and lent him her hand kerchief, he did not stop Heit out with both hands whenever it got too wet to be anyin a damp patch

"Mr Tu hiht to be asha Faun like you What on earth are you crying about?"