Narnia Series #6 - The Stone Table - Book Exchange
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This cache can be quickly accessed from a lower parking lot, or one can hike down from Promontory along the Salmon Ridge trail. If your signal is too spotty, please use the hint.
Cache is an ammo box containing books. Please store all books in the available ziplocks for protection.
Welcome to our Narnia series, based on the books by C.S. Lewis. Although they were written for children, the books are rich with symbolism and parallels to real life, touching on themes that affect us all such as love, honor, courage and faith, as well as selfishness, hatred, and cruelty. Unlike so many children’s books that are enchanting at a young age, but boring for adults, the Chronicles of Narnia seem to improve as one grows older. More and deeper themes emerge with each reading. If you have never read the entire Chronicles, We encourage you to give them a try.
This was originally a series with a final. Each cache in the series contains an excerpt from the book (copyrighted of course by C.S. Lewis Pte. Ltd.) which highlights an important part of the story.
The first five caches contain five 35 mm film canisters. One of these is marked “Question” and contains a multiple choice question. The others represent each possible answer. Try to answer the questions from your knowledge of the book or movie first. Then check your answers. If you’re not familiar with the story – no problem … the answer is in one of the film canisters.
THE QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ARE NOW JUST FOR FUN SINCE THE FINAL CACHE LOCATION HAS BEEN MADE PUBLIC.
"THE STONE TABLE":
“Now! Follow me all and we will set about what remains of this war! It will not take us long to crush the human vermin and the traitors now that the great Fool, the great Cat, lies dead.”
As soon as the wood was silent again Susan and Lucy crept out into the open hill-top. The moon was getting low and thin clouds were passing across her, but still they could see the shape of the great Lion lying dead in his bonds. And down they both knelt in the wet grass and kissed his cold face, and stroked his beautiful fur - what was left of it - and cried till they could cry no more”
… “I wonder if we could untie him as well?” said Susan presently. But the enemies, out of pure spitefulness had drawn the cords so tight that the girls could make nothing of the knots.
… Hours and hours seemed to go by … and they hardly noticed that they were getting colder and colder. But at last Lucy noticed two other things. One was that the sky on the East side of the hill was a little less dark than it had been an hour ago. The other was some tiny movement going on in the grass at her feet. At first she took no interest in this. What did it matter? Nothing mattered now! But at last she saw that whatever-it-was had begun to move up the upright stones of the Stone Table. And now whatever-they-were were moving about on Aslan’s body. They were little grey things
“Ugh! … How beastly! There are horrid little mice crawling over him. Go away, you little beasts!” And she raised her hand to frighten them away.
“Wait!” said Lucy … “Can you see what they’re doing?”
“I do believe!” said Susan “But how queer. They’re nibbling away at the cords!”
…”I think they’re friendly mice. Poor little things - they don’t realize he’s dead. They think it will do some good untying him.”
At that moment they heard from behind them a loud noise—a great cracking, deafening noise as if a giant had broken a giant's plate.... The Stone Table was broken into two pieces by a great crack that ran down it from end to end; and there was no Aslan.
"Who's done it?" cried Susan. "What does it mean? Is it more magic?"
"Yes!" said a great voice from behind their backs. "It is more magic." They looked round. There, shining in the sunrise, larger than they had seen him before, shaking his mane (for it had apparently grown again) stood Aslan himself.
"Oh, Aslan!" cried both the children, staring up at him, almost as much frightened as they were glad....
"But what does it all mean?" asked Susan when they were somewhat calmer.
"It means," said Aslan, "that though the Witch knew the Deep Magic, there is a magic deeper still which she did not know. Her knowledge goes back only to the dawn of time. But if she could have looked a little further back, into the stillness and the darkness before Time dawned, she would have read there a different incantation. She would have known that when a willing victim who had committed no treachery was killed in a traitor's stead, the Table would crack and Death itself would start working backward."
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Orarngu guerr naq gjb jurer gur ebbgf pebff gur cngu, 50 ynetr nqhyg cnprf sebz gur gbc bs gur fgnvef.