ETHEWRONGDOOR
THISisastoryaboutsomethingthathappenedlongagowhenyrandfatherwasachild。ItisaveryimportantstorybecauseitshowshowalltheingsandgoiweenourownworldandthelandofNarniafirstbegan。
InthosedaysMr。SherloeswasstillliviaableswerelookingfortreasureintheLewishamRoad。Inthosedays,ifyouwereaboyyouhadtowearastiffEtoncollareveryday,andschoolswereusuallyhannow。Butmealswerenidasforsweets,Iwon'ttellyouhoandgoodtheywere,becauseitwouldonlymakeyourmouthwaterinvain。AndiherelivedinLondonagirler。
Shelivedinoneofalongrowofhouseswhichwerealljoiher。shewasoutinthebawhenaboyscrambledupfromthegardedoorandputhisfaceovertheollywasverysurprisedbecauseuptillnowtherehadneverbeenahouse,butoerleyaerley,abrotherandsister,oldbadoldmaid,liviher。Soshelookedup,fullofcuriosity。Thefaceebrubby。Itcouldhardlyhavebeengrubbierifhehadfirstrubbedhishah,andthenhadagooddthendriedhisfacewithhishands。Asamatteroffact,thiswasveryhehadbeendoing。
“Hullo,”saidPolly。
“Hullo,”saidtheboy。“What'syourname?”
“Polly,”saidPolly。“What'syours?”
“Digory,”saidtheboy。
“Isay,whatafunnyname!”saidPolly。
“Itisn'thalfsofunnyasPolly,”saidDigory。
&is,”saidPolly。
“No,itisn't,”saidDigory。
“AtanyrateIdowashmyface,”saidPolly,“Whichiswhatyouodo;especiallyafter—”aopped。Shehadbeengoingtosay“Afteryou'vebeenblubbing,”butshethoughtthatwouldn'tbepolite。
“Allright,Ihavethen,”saidDigoryinamuchloudervoice,likeaboywhowassomiserablethathedidn'tcarewhoknewhehadbeeng。“Andsowouldyou,”hewenton,“ifyou'dlivedallyourlifeiryandhadapony,ahebottomofthegarden,andthetoliveilyHolelikethis。”
“Londonisn'taHole,”saidPollyindignantly。Buttheboywastoowounduptotakeanynoticeofher,aon—“AndifyourfatherwasawayinIndia—andyouhadtoeahanAuntandanUnad(whowouldlikethat?)—andifthereasonwasthattheywerelookingafteryourMother—andifyourMotherwasillandwasgoingto—goihehewrongsortofshapeasitdoesifytokeepbackyourtears。
“Ididn'tknow。I'msorry,”saidPollyhumbly。Andthen,becauseshehardlykosay,andalsory'smindtocheerfulsubjects,sheasked:“IsMr。Ketterleyreallymad?”
&herhe'smad,”saidDigory,“orthere'ssomeothermystery。HehasastudyoopflooraysaysImusthere。Well,thatlooksfishytobeginwith。Ahere'sahiriestosayanythimealtimes—heotalktoher—shealwaysshutshimup。Shesays,“Don'tworrytheboy,Andrew”or“Iorydoesn'twathat”orelse“Now,Digory,wouldn'tyouliketogooutandplayinthegarden?”
“Whatsortofthirytosay?”
“Idon'tksfarenough。Butthere'smorethanthat。Owaslastnightinfact—asIastthefootoftheattiywaytobed(andIdon'tmuchcarefpastthemeither)I'msureIheardayell。”
“Perhapshekeepsamadwifeshutupthere。”
“Yes,I'vethoughtofthat。”
“Orperhapshe'saer。”
“hthavebeehemanatthebeginningofTreasureIsland,andbealwayshidingfromhisoldshipmates。”
“Howexg!”saidPolly,“Ineverknewyourhousewass。”
“Youmaythiing,”saidDigory。“Butyouwouldn'tlikeitifyouhadtosleepthere。HowwouldyouliketolieawakelisteningforUndrew'ssteptalongthepassagetoyourroom?Andhehassuchawfuleyes。”
ThatollyandDigottokher:andasitwasjustthebeginningofthesummerholidaysahemwasgoiyear,theymetnearlyeveryday。
&uresbeganchieflybecauseitwasoasummerstherehadbeedrovethemtods:youmightsay,iion。Itiswonderfulhowmuchexplyoudoofabighouse,orinarowofhouses。Pollyhaddiscagothatifyouopetledoorinthebox-roomatticofherhouseyouwouldfiernandadarkpladitwhichyoucouldgetintobyalittlecarefulg。Thedarkplacewaslikealohbrionesideandslopingroofoherooftherewerelittleksoflightbetweees。Therewasnofloorinthistunnel:youhadtostepfromraftertorafter,aherelaster。Ifyousteppedonthisyouwouldfindyourselffallingthroughthegoftheroombelow。Pollyhadusedthebitofthetubesidetheasasmugglers'cave。Shehadbroughtupbitsofoldpagdtheseatsofbrokenkitdthingsofthatsort,ahemaraftertoraftersoastomakeabitoffloor。Hereshekeptacash-boxgvarioustreasures,andastoryshewaswritingandusuallyafeles。Shehadoftendruleofgihere:theoldbottlesmadeitlookmorelikeasmugglers'cave。