Which is the right side?

Which is the right side?

 

They were all still wondering [what to do next],

when Lucy said, “Look! There’s a robin, with such a red breast.

It’s the first bird () I’ve seen here. I say!—I wonder, can birds talk in Narnia? 

 

It almost looks /as if it wanted to say something to us.” 

 

Then she turned /to the Robin and said, “Please, can you tell us where Tumnus the Faun has been taken to?” 

 

As she said this she took a step toward the bird. It at once flew away but only as far as to the next tree. 

 

There it perched and looked at them /very hard /as if it understood all () they had been saying.

Almost without noticing that they had done so, the four children went [a step or two] /nearer to it. 

 

At this the Robin flew away /again /to the next tree and once more looked at them /very hard. . .

“Do you know,” said Lucy, “I really believe () he means us to follow him.”

“I’ve an idea () he does,” said Susan. “What do you think, Peter?”

“Well, we might as well try it,” answered Peter. . . 

They had been traveling /in this way /for about half an hour . . . 

 

when Edmund said to Peter, 

“if you’re not still too high and mighty to talk to me, I’ve something to say //which you’d better listen to. . .

 Have you realized [what we’re doing]? . . . 

We’re following a guide () we know nothing about.

How do we know [which side that bird is on]? Why shouldn’t it be leading us /into a trap?”

“That’s a nasty idea. Still—a robin, you know. 

They’re good birds in all the stories () I’ve ever read. I’m sure () a robin wouldn’t be on the wrong side.”

“If it comes to that, which is the right side? 

How do we know that the Fauns are in the right and the Queen (yes, I know () we’ve been told () she’s a witch) is in the wrong? 

We don’t really know anything about /either.”

“The Faun saved Lucy.”
“He said () he did. But how do we know?”

From The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
Compiled in A Year with Aslan

The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe. Copyright © 1950 by C. S. Lewis Pte., Ltd. Copyright renewed © 1978 by C. S. Lewis Pte. Ltd. All rights reserved. Used with permission of HarperCollins Publishers. A Year With Aslan: Daily Reflections from The Chronicles of Narnia. Copyright © 2010 by C. S. Lewis Pte. Ltd. Extracts taken from The Chronicles of Narnia. Copyright © C. S. Lewis Pte. Ltd. 1950-1956. All rights reserved. Used with permission of HarperCollins Publishers.