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 been eaten 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 belonged to a great tusked and shaggy Boar-spoke from another part of the crowd.
“But why can‘t we see Aslan properly and talk to him？” it said. “When he used to appear in Narnia in the old days everyone could talk to him face to face.”
“Don’t you believe it，” said the Ape. “And even if it was true， times have changed. Aslan says he‘s been far too soft with you before， do you see？ Well， he isn’t going to be soft any more. He‘s going to lick you into shape this time. He’ll teach you to think he‘s a tame lion！”
A low moaning and whimpering was heard among the Beasts； and after that， a dead silence which was more miserable still.
“And now there’s another thing you got to learn，” said the Ape. “I hear some of you are saying I‘m an Ape. Well， I’m not. I‘m a Man. If I look like an Ape， that’s because I‘m so very old： hundreds and hundreds of years old. And it’s because I‘m so old that I’m so wise. And it‘s because I’m so wise that I‘m the only one Aslan is ever going to speak to. He can’t be bothered talking to a lot of stupid animals. He‘ll tell me what you’ve got to do， and I‘ll tell the rest of you. And take my advice， and see you do it in double quick time， for he doesn’t mean to stand any nonsense.”
There was a dead silence except for the noise of a very young badger crying and its mother trying to make it keep quiet.
“And now here‘s another thing，” the Ape went on， fitting a fresh nut into its cheek， “I hear some of the horses are saying， ’Let‘s hurry up and get this job of carting timber over as quickly as we can， and then we’ll be free again.‘ Well， you can get that idea out of your heads at once. And not only the Horses either. Everybody who can work is going to be made to work in future. Aslan has it all settled with the King of Calormen-the Tisroc， as our dark faced friends the Calormenes callhim. All you Horses and bulls and donkeys are to be sent down intoCalormen to work for your living-pulling and carrying the way horses and such-like do in other countries. And all you digging animals like moles and rabbits and Dwarfs are going down to work in the Tisroc’s mines. And-”
“No， no， no，” howled the Beasts. “It can‘t be true. Aslan wouldnever sell us into slavery to the King of Calormen.”
“None of that！ Hold your noise！” said the Ape with a snarl. “Who said anything about slavery？ You won’t be slaves. You‘ll be paid-very good wages too. That is to say， your pay will be paid into Aslan’s treasury and he will use it all for everybody‘s good.” Then he glanced， and almost winked， at the chief Calormene.
The Calormene bowed and replied， in the pompous Calormene way：
“Most sapient Mouthpiece of Aslan， The Tisroc （may he live for ever） is wholly of one mind with your lordship in this judicious plan.”
“There！ You see！” said the Ape. “It’s all arranged. And all for your own good. We‘ll be able， with the money you earn， to make Narnia a country worth living in. There’ll be oranges and bananas pouring in- and roads and big cities and schools and offices and whips and muzzles and saddles and cages and kennels and prisons-oh， everything.”
“But we don‘t want all those things，” said an old Bear. “We want tobe free. And we want to hear Aslan speak himself.”
“Now don’t you start arguing，” said the Ape， “for it‘s a thing I won’t stand. I‘m a Man： you’re only a fat， stupid old Bear. What do you know about freedom？ You think freedom means doing what you like. Well， you‘re wrong. That isn’t true freedom. True freedom means doing what I tell you.”
“H-n-n-h，” grunted the Bear and scratched its head； it found this sort of thing hard to understand.
“Please， please，” said the high voice of a woolly lamb， who was so young that everyone was surprised he dared to speak at all.
“What is it now？” said the Ape. “Be quick.”
“Please，” said the Lamb， “I can‘t understand. What have we to do with the Calormenes？ We belong to Aslan. They belong to Tash. They have a god called Tash. They say he has four arms and the head of a vulture. They kill Men on his altar. I don’t believe there‘s any such person as Tash. But if there was， how could Aslan be friends with him？”
All the animals cocked their heads sideways and all their bright eyes flashed towards the Ape. They knew it was the best question anyone had asked yet.
The Ape jumped up and spat at the Lamb.
“Baby！” he hissed. “Silly little bleater！ Go home to your mother and drink milk. What do you understand of such things？ But you others， listen. Tash is only another name for Aslan. All that old idea of us being right and the Calormenes wrong is silly. We know better now. The Calormenes use different words but we all mean the same thing. Tash and Aslan are only two different names for you know Who.
That’s why there can never be any quarrel between them. Get that into your heads， you stupid brutes. Tash is Aslan： Aslan is Tash.”
You know how sad your own dog‘s face can look sometimes. Think of that and then think of all the faces of those Talking Beasts-all those honest， humble， bewildered birds， bears， badgers， rabbits， moles， and mice-all far sadder than that. Every tail was down， every whisker drooped. It would have broken your heart with very pity to see their faces. There was only one who did not look at all unhappy.
It was a ginger cat-a great big Tom in the prime of life-who sat bolt upright with his tail curled round his toes， in the very front row of all the Beasts. He had been staring hard at the Ape and the Calormene captain all the time and had never once blinked his eyes.
“Excuse me，” said the Cat very politely， “but this interests me. Does your friend from Calormen say the same？”
“Assuredly，” said the Calormene. “The enlight-ened Ape-Man， I mean-is in the right. Aslan means neither less nor more than Tash.”
“Especially， Aslan means no more than Tash？” suggested the Cat. “No more at all，” said the Calormene， looking the Cat straight inthe face.
“Is that good enough for you， Ginger？” said the Ape.
“Oh certainly，” said Ginger coolly. “Thank you very much. I only wanted to be quite clear. I think I am beginning to understand.”
