Chronicles of Narnia/Books/The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe/Chapter 2

Overview
Title: What Lucy found there

Synopsis
Once the Faun had picked up his parcels, he greets Lucy politely, and asks if she is human, a Daughter of Eve. When Lucy confirms that she is, the Faun, apparently briefly confused, says what a delight it is to meet a Daughter of Eve at last, and introduces himself as Tumnus. Tumnus, after inquiring where Lucy has come from, mentions that here in Narnia it is winter, and has been for a long time. He then invites Lucy for tea, and the two of them walk off together to Tumnus' cave, which is a cozy apartment with a fire on the hearth and books on the wall.

The two of them have tea, and Tumnus tells stories of the way Narnia was before the winter, and when he is tired of that, takes down a set of pipes and plays a tune that makes Lucy want to laugh and cry and dance and sleep, all at once. Lucy suddenly realizes that she has been there for hours, and that she must go back, but Tumnus bursts into tears, saying that he is a bad Faun, that he has taken service with the White Witch, and has said that he would betray to her any Daughter of Eve who came to Narnia. It is the White Witch who has made it forever winter, and if she finds out that Tumnus had failed to hand Lucy over to her, she could turn him to stone, and he would stay that way until the Four Thrones at Cair Paravel are filled. Lucy eventually calms him down, and he agrees to take her back to the lantern, saying that now that he knows what a Daughter of Eve is like, he could never betray her to the White Witch.

The two of them walk back through the woods, much more carefully as Mr. Tumnus says that even some of the trees are on Her side. Once at the lantern, Lucy sees the light from the wardrobe, and returns to the Professor's house, saying that she is all right and she's back.

Analysis
We will see throughout the series that most Narnian residents have only one name. Tumnus is one such example; if we need to refer to him with more precision, one supposes he would be "Tumnus the faun". Lucy refers to him as "Mr. Tumnus", and so do the other Pevensie children, throughout the first part of this book. This actually is standard British practice for the era, particularly among minor children; at school, one introduced oneself by surname, and was addressed by surname, with "Mr." tacked on the front to indicate respect for elders.

While it is quite early in the book, we have already been given some idea of what the antagonist of this series is like. The White Witch, we have learned, is keeping the land of Narnia in a perpetual winter, and is threatening retribution on those who do not carry out her wishes.