Chapter 2 What Lucy found there (2)

It was a little, dry,
clean cave of reddish stone with a carpet on the floor and two little chairs
("one for me and one for a friend," said Mr Tumnus) and a table and a
dresser and a mantelpiece over the fire and above that a picture of an old
Faun with a grey beard. In one corner there was a door which Lucy
thought must lead to Mr Tumnus's bedroom, and on one wall was a shelf
full of books. Lucy looked at these while he was setting out the tea things.
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They had titles like The Life and Letters of Silenus or Nymphs and Their
Ways or Men, Monks and Gamekeepers; a Study in Popular Legend or
Is Man a Myth?
"Now, Daughter of Eve!" said the Faun.
And really it was a wonderful tea. There was a nice brown egg, lightly
boiled, for each of them, and then sardines on toast, and then buttered
toast, and then toast with honey, and then a sugar-topped cake. And when
Lucy was tired of eating the Faun began to talk. He had wonderful tales to
tell of life in the forest. He told about the midnight dances and how the
Nymphs who lived in the wells and the Dryads who lived in the trees
came out to dance with the Fauns; about long hunting parties after the
milk-white stag who could give you wishes if you caught him; about
feasting and treasure-seeking with the wild Red Dwarfs in deep mines and
caverns far beneath the forest floor; and then about summer when the
woods were green and old Silenus on his fat donkey would come to visit
them, and sometimes Bacchus himself, and then the streams would run
with wine instead of water and the whole forest would give itself up to
jollification for weeks on end. "Not that it isn't always winter now," he
added gloomily. Then to cheer himself up he took out from its case on
the dresser a strange little flute that looked as if it were made of straw and
began to play. And the tune he played made Lucy want to cry and laugh
and dance and go to sleep all at the same time. It must have been hours
later when she shook herself and said:
"Oh, Mr Tumnus—I'm so sorry to stop you, and I do love that tune—
but really, I must go home. I only meant to stay for a few minutes."
"It's no good now, you know," said the Faun, laying down its flute and
shaking its head at her very sorrowfully.
"No good?" said Lucy, jumping up and feeling rather frightened.
"What do you mean? I've got to go home at once. The others will be
wondering what has happened to me." But a moment later she asked, "Mr
Tumnus! Whatever is the matter?" for the Faun's brown eyes had filled
with tears and then the tears began trickling down its cheeks, and soon
they were running off the end of its nose; and at last it covered its face
with its hands and began to howl.
"Mr Tumnus! Mr Tumnus!" said Lucy in great distress. "Don't! Don't!
What is the matter? Aren' you well? Dear Mr Tumnus, do tell me what is
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wrong." But the Faun continued sobbing as if its heart would break. And
even when Lucy went over and put her arms round him and lent him her
hand kerchief, he did not stop. He merely took the handker chief and
kept on using it, wringing it out with both hands whenever it got too wet to
be any more use, so that presently Lucy was standing in a damp patch.