The stars came out and time went slowly on—imagine how slowly—while that last King of Narnia stood stiff and sore and upright against the tree in his bonds.But at last something happened.
Far away there appeared a red light.Then it disappeared for a moment and came back again, bigger and strohen he could e dark shapes going to and fro on this side of the light and carrying bundles and throwing them down.He knehat he was looking at.It was a bonfire, newly lit, and people were throwing bundles of brushwood on to it.Prently it blazed up and Tirian could e that it was on the very top of the hill.He could e quite clearly the stable behind it, all lit up in the red glow, and a great crowd of Beasts and Meween the fire and himlf.A small figure, hunched up beside the fire, must be the Ape.It was saying something to the crowd, but he could not hear what.Then it went and bowed three times to the ground in front of the door of the stable.Then it got up and opehe door.And something on fs—something that walked rather stiffly—came out of the stable and stood fag the crowd.
A great wailing or howli up, so loud that Tirian could hear some of the words.
“Aslan！Aslan！Aslan！”cried the Beasts.“Speak to us.fort us.Be angry with us no more.”
From where Tirian was he could not make out very clearly what the thing was; but he could e that it was yellow and hairy.He had never en the Great Lion.He had never en a on lion.He couldn’t be sure that what he saw was not the real Aslan.He had not expected Aslan to look like that stiff thing which stood and said nothing.But how could one be sure?For a moment horrible thoughts went through his mind：then he remembered the nonn about Tash and Aslan being the same and khat the whole thing must be a cheat.
The Ape put his head clo up to the yellow thing’s head as if he were listening to something it was whispering to him.Theurned and spoke to the crowd, and the crowd wailed agaihe yellow thing turned clumsily round and walked—you might almost say, waddled—bato the stable and the Ape shut the door behind it.After that the fire must have been put out for the light vanished quite suddenly, and Tirian was once more aloh the cold and the darkness.