“You see， friends，” he said， “that before the new， clean world I gave you is seven hours old， a force of evil has already entered it； waked and brought hither by this son of Adam.” The Beasts， even Strawberry， all turned their eyes on Digory till he felt that he wished the ground would swallow him up. “But do not be cast down，” said Aslan， still speaking to the Beasts. “Evil will come of that evil， but it is still a long way off， and I will see to it that the worst falls upon myself. In the meantime， let us take such order that for many hundred years yet this shall be a merry land in a merry world. And as Adam’s race has done the harm， Adam‘s race shall help to heal it. Draw near， you other two.”
The last words were spoken to Polly and the Cabby who had now arrived. Polly， all eyes and mouth， was staring at Aslan and holding the Cabby’s hand rather tightly. The Cabby gave one glance at the Lion， and took off his bowler hat： no one had yet seen him without it. When it was off， he looked younger and nicer， and more like a countryman and less like a London cabman.
“Son，” said Aslan to the Cabby. “I have known you long. Do you know me？”
