CHAPTERTHREETHEORLDS
UNdrewandhisstudyvaly。Then,foramomehingbecamemuddled。ThehingDigorykhattherewasashtfromabove,anddarknessbelow。Hedidn'tseemtobestandingonanything,,。Nothioughim。“IbelieveI'minwater,”saidDigory。“Oruhisfrightenedhimforased,butalmostatoncehecouldfeelthathewasrushingupwards。Thenhisheadsuddeotheairand,hefoundhimselfsgashore,outontosmroundattheedgeofapool。
&ohisfeethehewasherdrippingnforbreathasanyoerbeier。Hisclotheswereperfectlydry。Hewasstandingbytheedgeofasmallpool—efromsidetosideinaworewclosetogetherandweresoleafythathecouldgethesky。Allthelightwasgreenlightthatcamethroughtheleaves:buttheremusthavebeerongsuhisgreendaylightwasbrightandwarm。Itwasthequietestwoodyouagiherewerenobirds,s,noanimals,andnowind。Youostfeelthetreesgrowing。Thepoolhehadjustgotoutofwasnottheonlypool。Thereweredozensofothers—apooleveryfewyardsasfarashiseyescouldreaostfeelthetreesdrierupwiththeirroots。Thiswoodwasverymuchalive。WheodescribeitafterwardDigoryalwayssaid,“Itlace:asrichasplumcake。”
&rahingwasthat,almostbeforehehadlookedabouthim,Digoryhadhalffottenhowhehadethere。Atanyrate,hewaslynotthinkingaboutPolly,orUndrew,orevenhisMother。Hewasfrighteed,orcurious。Ifanyonehadaskedhim“Wheredidyou?”hewouldprobablyhavesaid,“I'vealwaysbeewaswhatitfeltlike—asifonehadalwaysbeeninthatplaeverbeehoughnothinghadeverhappened。Ashesaidlongafterward,“It'sofplacewherethireesg,that'sall。”
AfterDigoryhadlookedatthewtimeheherewasagirllyithefootofatreeafewyardsaway。Hereyeswerebutnotquite,asifshewerejustbetweensleepingandwaking。Sohelookedatherftimeandsaidnothing。Andatlastsheopenedhereyesahimftimeandshealsosaidnothing。Thenshespoke,ieofvoice。
“IthinkI'veseenyoubefore,”shesaid。
“Iratherthinksotoo,”saidDigory。“Haveyoubeenherelong?”
“Oh,always,”saidthegirl。“Atleast—Idon'tkime。”
“SohaveI,”saidDigory。
“Noyouhaven't,saidshe。“I'vejustseeofthatpool。”
“Yes,IsupposeIdid,”saidDigoryuzzledair,“Iotten。”
Thenforquitealohersaidanymore。
“Lookhere,”saidthegirlpresently,“Iwonderdidweeverreallymeetbefore?Ihadasortofidea—asortofpimyhead—ofaboyandagirl,likeus—liviedifferent—anddoingallsortsofthiwasonlyadream。”
“I'vehadthatsamedream,Ithink,”saidDigory。“Aboutaboyandagirl,lividoor—ahingabamongrafters。Irememberthegirlhadadirtyface。”
&yougettingitmixed?Iwastheboywhohadthedirtyface。”
“Iembertheboy'sface,”saidDigory:andthenadded,“Hullo!What'sthat?”
“Why!it'saguinea-pig,”saidthegirl。Anditwas—afatguinea-pig,nosingaboutinthegrass。Butroundthemiddleoftheguihereraiedontoitbythetape,wasabrightyell。
“Look!lory,“Thering!Andlook!You'vegotoneer。AndsohaveI。”
Thegirlno,reallyi。Theystaredveryhardatoryingtoremember。Aexactlythesamemomeedout“Mr。Ketterley”aedout“Uheykheywereaorememberthewholestory。Afterafewmialkiitstraight。DigoryexplailyUndrewhadbeen。
“?”saidPolly。“Taketheguineapigandgohome?”
“There'snohurry,”saidDigorywithahugeyawn。
“Ithinkthereis,”saidPolly。“Thisplaceistooquiet。It'sso—sodreamy。You'realmostasleep。Ifweoweshalljustliedownanddrowseforeverandever。”
“It'sverynicehere,”saidDigory。
&is,”saidPolly。
“Butwe'vegottogetback。”Shestoodupaogocautiouslytuinea-pig。Butthenshegedhermind。
&aswellleavetheguinea-pig,”shesaid。“It'sperfectlyhappyhere,andyourunclewillonlydosomethinghorridtoitifwetakeithome。”
&hewould,”answeredDigory。“Lookatthewayhe'streatedus。Bytheegethome?”
“Gobatothepool,Iexpect。”
Theydstoodtogetherattheedgelookingdowhwater。Itwasfulloftherefleofthegreen,leafybralookverydeep。
“Wehaven'tanybathingthings,”saidPolly。
“Weshan'them,silly,”saidDigory。“Weinwithour。Don'tyourememberitdidn'twetusonthe?”
“?”
“Abit。you?”
&much。”
“Idon'tthinkweshalloswim,”saidDigory“Wewanttogodown,don'twe?”