“O Lord Shift, mouthpiece of Aslan,”said the chief ene.“We bring you prisoners.By our skill and ce and by the permission of the great god Tash we have taken alive the two desperate murderers.”
“Give me that man’s sword,”said the Ape.So they took the King’s sword and ha, with the sword-belt and all, to the monkey.And he hung it round his own ned it made him look sillier than ever.
“We’ll e about tho two later,”said the Ape, spitting out a shell in the dire of the two prisoners.“I got some other business first.They wait.Now listen to me, everyohe first thing I want to say is about nuts.Where’s that Head Squirrel got to?”
“Here, Sir,”said a red squirrel, ing forward and making a nervous little bow.
“Oh you are, are you?”said the Ape with a nasty look.“Now attend to me.I want—I mean, Aslan wants—some more nuts.The you’ve brought aren’t anything like enough.You must bring some more, do you hear?Twice as many.And they’ve got to be here by sunt tomorrow, and there mustn’t be any bad ones or any small ones among them.”
A murmur of dismay ran through the other squirrels, and the Head Squirrel plucked up ce to say：
“Plea, would Aslan himlf speak to us about it?If we might be allowed to e him—”
“Well you won’t,”said the Ape.“He may be very kind（though it’s a lot more than most of you derve）and e out for a few mionight.Then you all have a look at him.But he will not have you all crowding round him aering him with questions.Anything you want to say to him will be pasd on through me：if I think it’s worth b him about.In the meantime all you squirrels had better go and e about the nuts.And make sure they are here by tomorrow evening or, my word！you’ll catch it.”
The poor squirrels all scampered away as if a dog were after them.This new order was terrible news for them.The nuts they had carefully hoarded for the winter had nearly all beeen by now; and of the few that were left they had already given the Ape far more than they could spare.
Then a deep voice—it beloo a great tusked and shaggy Boar—spoke from another part of the crowd.