Andhedid。Hestruckupatonceaharvestthanksgivinghymn,allab“safelygatheredin”。Itwasabletoaplacewhichfeltasifnothiheresihebeginniwastheoneheberbest。Hehadafihejoiwasveryg。UheWitotjoinin。
TowardtheendofthehymnDigoryfeltsomeoneplugathiselbeneralsmellofbrandyanddgoodclotheshedecidedthatitmustbeUndrew。Undrewwascautiouslypullinghimawayfromtheothers。WhentheyhadgoledistaheoldmanputhismouthsoclosetoDigory'searthatittidwhispered:
“Now,myboy。Slip。Let'sbeoff。”
ButtheWitchhadverygoodears。“Fool!”camehervoidsheleapedoffthehorse。“HaveyottenthatIhearmen'sthoughts?Letgotheboy。IfyouattempttreacheryIwilltakesuyouasneverwasheardofinallworldsfromthebeginning。”
“And,”addedDigory,“ifyouthinkI'msupigastogooffandleavePolly—andthedthehorseihis,you're>
“Youareaverynaughtyalittleboy,”saidUndrew。
“Hush!”saidtheCabby。Theyalllistened。
Inthedarkhingeningatlast。Avoicehadbeguntosing。ItwasveryfarawayandDigoryfoundithardtodewhatdireitwasesitseemedtoalldiresatoimeshealmostthoughtitwasingoutoftheearthbeslowernotesweredeepenoughtobethevoiceoftheearthherself。Therewerenowords。Therewashardlyevewas,beyondostbeautifulnoisehehadeverheard。Itwassobeautifulhecouldhardlybearit。Thehorseseemedtolikeittoo;hegavethesortofwhinneyahorsewouldgiveif,afteryearsofbeingacab-horse,itfounditselfbatheoldfieldwhereithadplayedasafoal,andsawsomeorememberedandlovedingacrossthefieldtitalumpofsugar。
“Gawd!”saidtheCabby。“Ain'titlovely?”
&woehesamemomethevoicewassuddehervoices;morevoiyoucouldpossiblyt。Theywereinharmonywithit,butfarhigherupthescale:gling,silveryvoices。Thesederwasthattheblaessoverhead,allatonce,wasblazingwithstars。Theydidn'teoutgentlyoheydoonasummereveherehadbeennothingbutdarkathousand,thousandpointsoflightleapedout—siars,stellations,as,brighterahananyinourworld。Therewerenoclouds。Thearsandthenewvoiatexactlythesametime。Ifyouhadsee,asDigorydid,youwouldhavefeltquitethatitwasthestarsthemselveswhichweresinging,andthatitwastheFirstVoice,thedeepone,whichhadmadethemappearahemsing。
“Glorybe!”saidtheCabby。“I'dha'beeermanallmylifeifI'dkhihis。”
TheVoitheearthwasnowlouderariumphant;butthevoithesky,aftersingingloudlywithitforatime,begaer。Andhingelseening。
Faraway,ahehorizon,theskybeganthtwind,veryfresh,begantostir。Thesky,inthatoneplace,grewslowlyandsteadilypaler。Youcouldseeshapesofhillsstandingupdarkagainstit。AllthetimetheVoisinging。
Therewassoonlightenoughforthemtoseeoher'sfaces。Thedthetwohadopenmouthsandshiheyweredrinkinginthesound,andtheylookedasifitremihemofsomething。Undrew'smouthentoo,buthjoy。Helookedmoreasifhishadsimplydroppedawayfromtherestofhisface。Hisshoulderswerestoppedandhiskneesshook。HewasnotlikingtheVoice。Ifhecouldhavegotawayfromitbygintoarat'shole,hewouldhavedotheWitchlookedasif,inaway,sheuhemusicbetterthananyofthem。Hermouthwasshut,herlipswerepressedtogether,aswereched。EversihesongbegathatthisasfilledwithaMagitfromhersandstro。Shewouldhavesmashedthatwholeworld,orallworlds,topieces,ifitwouldonlystopthesioodwithitsearswellforward,andtwitg。Everynowasampedtheground。Itnolongerlookedlikeatiredoldcab-horse;youowwellbelievethatitsfatherhadbeeninbattles。
&ernskygedfromwhitetopinkandfrompinktogold。TheVoidrose,tillalltheairwasshakingwithit。Andjustasitswelledtothemightiestandmostglorioussoundithadyetproduced,thesunarose。
Digoryhadneverseensu。Thesuheruinsofhadlookedolderthanours:thislookedyounger。Youagilaughedforjoyasitcameup。Andasitsbeamsshotacrossthelaravellerscouldseeforthefirsttimewhatsortofplacetheywerein。Itwasavalleythroughwhichabroad,swiftriverwounditsardtowardthesun。Southwardthereweremountains,northwardtherewerelowerhills。Butitwasavalleyofmereearth,rodwater;therewasabush,notabladeofgrasstobeseehwasofmanycolors:theywerefresh,hotandvivid。TheymadeyoufeelextilyousawtheSihenyelse。
ItwasaLion。Huge,shaggy,andbright,itstoodfagtherisensun。Itsmoutheninsonganditwasaboutthreehundredyardsa>
“Thisisaterribleworld,”saidtheWitch。“WemustflyatoheMagic。”
“Iquiteagreewithyou,Madam,”saidUndrew。“Amostdisagreeableplapletelyuncivilized。Ifermanandhadagun—”
“Garn!”saidtheCabby。“Youdon'tthinkyoucouldshoot'im,doyou?”
“Andwhoolly。
&heMagic,oldfool,”saidJadis。
&ainly,Madam,”saidUndrewgly。“Imusthaveboththetougme。Putonyourhatonce,Digory。”HewaawaywithouttheWitch。
“Oh,its,isit?”criedJadis。ShewouldhavehadherhandsinDigory'spocketbeforeyoucouldsaykDigrabbedPollyaakecare。Ifeitherofyouehalfaniwowillvanishandyou'llbeleftherefood。Yes:Ihavearingiollyandmehome。Andlook!Myhandisjustready。Sokeepyourdistansorryaboutyou(helookedatthedaboutthehorse,butI'thelpthat。Asforyoutwo(helookedatUheQueen),you'rebothmagis,soyououghttoenjoyliviher。”
“Oldyournoise,everyone,”saidtheCabby。“Iwanttolistentothemoosic。”
Fhadno