&herofthemmuchlikedtheideaofjumpingintothatpool,buthersaidsototheother。Theytookhandsandsaid“Ohree—Go”aherelashandofcoursetheyclosedtheireyes。Butwhehemagaiheywerestillstanding,handinhand,inthegreenwood,andhardlyuptotheiraer。Thepoolarentlyonlyacoupleofiheysplashedbatround。
“Whatoh'sg?”saidPollyinafrightequiteshtenedasyoumightexpect,becauseitishardtofeelreallyfrightewood。Theplaceistoopeaceful。
“Oh!Iknow,”saidDigory,“Ofcourseitwon'twork。We'restillwearingouryells。They'refortheoutwardjourney,youknow。Thegreeakeyouhome。Wemustgs。Haveyougotpockets?Good。Putyouryelli。I'vegottwogreens。Here'soneforyou。”
&reenringsaothepool。Butbeforetheytriedanavealong“O-ooh!”
“What'sthematter?”saidPolly。
“I'vejusthadareallywonderfulidea,”saidDigory。“Whatarealltheotherpools?”
“Howdoyoumean?”
“Why,ifawegetbacktoourownworldbyjumpingintothispool,mightn'twegetsomewhereelsebyjumpingiheothers?Supposingtherewasaworldatthebottomofeverypool。”
“ButIthoughtwewerealreadyinyourUndrew'sOtherWorldorOtherPlaceorwhateverhecalledit。Didn'tyousay—”
“OhbotherUerruptedDigory。“Idon'tbelieveheknowsanythingaboutit。Heheplueherehimself。HeonlytalkedofoherWorld。Butsupposethereweredozens?”
“Youmean,thiswoodmightbeohem?”
“No,Idon'tbelievethiswoodisaworldatall。Ithinkit'sjustasortofi>
Pollylookedpuzzled。“Don'tyousee?”saidDigory。“No,dolisten。Thinkofourtuheslatesathome。Itisn'taroominanyofthehouses。Inaway,itisn'treallypartofanyofthehouses。Butonceyou'reiunnelyougoalongitaoanyofthehousesintherow。Mightn'tthiswoodbethesame?—aplacethatisn'tinanyoftheworlds,butonceyou'vefoundthatplagetintothemall。”
“Well,evenifyou—”beganPolly,butDigorywentonasifhehadn'theardher。
“Andofcoursethatexplaihihat'swhyitissoquietandsleepyhere。Nothingeverhappehome。It'sihatpeopletalk,anddothings,ahiheiweenpladthewallsahegsahefloor,orinourowwheofourtunnelyoumayfindyourselfinahioutofthisplatojollyedon'tojumpbaepoolby。Ornotjustyet。”
&weentheWorlds,”saidPollydreamily。“Itsoundsrathernice。”
“eon,”saidDigory。“Whichpoolshallwetry?”
“Lookhere,”saidPolly,“I'mnotgoingtotryaillwe'vemadesurethatwegetbackbytheoldone。We'renoteve'llworkyet。”
“Yes,”saidDigetcaughtbyUndrewandhavestakenawaybeforewe'vehadanyfun。Nothanks。”
“'twejustgopartofthewaydownintoourownpool,”saidPolly。“Justtoseeifitworks。Thenifitdoes,we'llgsandeupagainbeforewe'rereallybaMr。Ketterley'sstudy。”
“wegopartofthewaydown?”
&ooktimeingup。Isupposeit'lltakealittletimegoingback。”
Digorymaderatherafussabtothis,buthehadtointheendbecausePollyabsolutelyrefusedtodoanyexplinnewworldsuntilshehadmadesureaboutgettingbacktotheoldoeasbraveasheaboutsomedangers(s,forishewasnotsoiedinfindingoutthingsnobodyhadeverheardofbeforywasthesortofpersonwhowantstokhing,andwhenhegrewuphebecamethefamousProfessorKirkewhoesintootherbooks。
Afteragooddealtheyagreedtoputreenrings(“Greey,”saidDigory,“soyou'thelprememberingwhichiswhidholdhandsandjump。Butassoonastheyseemedtobegettingbadrew'sstudy,oreventotheirownworld,Pollywastoshout“dtheywouldslipreensandputontheiryellows。Digorywaheonewhoshouted“ge”butPollywouldn'tagree。
&s,tookhands,andoed“Ohree—Go“。Thistimeitworked。Itisveryhardtotellyouwhatitfeltlike,fhappenedsoquickly。Atfirsttherewerebrightlightsmovingaboutinablacksky;DigoryalwaysthiarsandevehesawJupiterquiteclose—oughtoseeitsmoon。Butalmostatoheresofroofsasaboutthem,andtheycouldseeStPaul'saheywerelookingatLondon。Butyoucouldseethroughthewallsofallthehouses。ThentheycouldseeUndrew,veryvagueandshadowy,butgettingdmoresolid-lookiime,justasifhewereingintofocus。ButbeforehebecamequiterealPollyshouted“ge“,andtheydiddourworldfadedawaylikeadream,aaberaheirheadscameoutofthepoolandtheyscrambledashore。Ahewoodallaboutthem,asgreenandbrightandstillasever。Thewholethinghadtakehanaminute。
“There!”saidDigory。“That'sallright。Nowfortheadventure。Anypoolwilldo。eo'strythatone。”
“Stop!”saidPolly“Aren'twegoingtomarkthispool?”
&aredateachotheraewhiteastheyrealizedthedreadfulthingthatDigoryhadjustbeengoingtodo。Fortherewereanynumberofpoolsintheoolswereallalikeareeswereallalike,sothatiftheyhadobehihatledtoouroithoutmakioflandmark,theceswouldhavebeeootheireverfindingitagain。
Digory'shandwasshakingasheopenedhispeoutalongstripofturfonthebahesoil(whichsmellednice)wasofarichreddishbrownandshowedupwellagainstthegreen。“It'sagoodthingoneofushassomesense,”saidPolly。
“Welldon'tkeepongassingaboutit,”saidDigory。“ealong,Iwa'siheotherpools。”AndPollygavehimaprettysharpanswerandhesaidsomethiierihequarrellastedforseveralmiwouldbedulltowriteitalldowusskipoatwhichtheystoodwithbeatisandratherscaredfatheedgeoftheunknownpoolwiththeiryellsonandheldhandsandoncemoresaid“Ohree—Go!”
Splash!Ohadn'tworked。Thispool,too,appearedtobeonlyapuddle。Insteadaheyonlygottheirfeetlashedtheirlegsfortheseethatm(ifitwasam:itseemstobealwaysthesametimeiweentheWorlds)。
“Blastaion!”exclaimedDigory。“What'sgnow?We'veputouryellsht。Hesaidyellowfortheoutwardjourney。”
hwasthatUndrenothingabouttheorlds,hadquiteawroherings。Theyellowo“sandthegreeno“hs;atleast,hought。Thestuffofwhiadehadallthewood。Thestuffintheyellshadthepyouiwasstuffthatwaoitsowheiweehestuffinthegreenringsisstuffthatistryiofitsowagreenringwouldtakeyououtofthewoodintoaworld。Undrew,yousee,iththireallyuand;mostmagisare。orydidhetruthquiteclearlyeither,ornottilllater。Butwhealkeditover,theydecidedtreenringsonthenewpool,justtoseeened。
“I'mgameifyouare,”saidPolly。Butshereallysaidthisbeherheartofhearts,shehatherkindoingtoworkatallinthenewpool,andsotherewasnothiobeafraidofthananothersplash。IamhatDigoryhadnotthesamefeeling。Ataheyhadbothputreensaotheedgeofthewater,andtakenhandsagaiainlyagooddealmorecheerfulandlesssolemnthantheyhadbeeime。
&hree—Go!”saidDigory。Andtheyjumped。