CHAPTERTWODIGORYANDHISUNCLE
ITwassosudden,andsohorriblyuhingthathadeverhappeoDigoryeveninaheletoutasstantlyUndrew'shandwasoverhismouth。“!”hehissedinDigory'sear。“Ifyaher'llhearit。Andyouknowwhatafrightmightdotoher。”
AsDigorysaidafterward,thehorriblemeatingatathatway,almostmadehimsick。Butofcoursehedidnain。“That'sbetter,”saidUndresyou'thelpit。Itisashoyoufirstseesomeonevanish。Why,itgaveeveurheguinea-pigdidittheht。”
“Wasthatwhenyouyelled?”askedDigory。
“Oh,youheardthat,didyou?Ihopeyouhaven'tbeenspyingonme?”
“,”saidDignantly。“Butwhat'shappeoPolly?”
“gratulateme,mydearboy,”saidUndrew,rubbinghishahassucceeded。Thelittlegirl'sgooutoftheworld。”
“Whathaveyoudooher?”
&o—lace。”
“Whatdoyoumean?”askedDigory。
Udownandsaid,“Well,I'lltellyouallaboutit。HaveyoueverheardofoldMrs。Lefay?”
“Wasn'tsheagreat-auhing?”saidDigory。
“ly,”saidUndrew。“Shewasmygodmother。That'sher,there,onthe>
Digorylookedandsahotograph:itshowedthefaani。Andheberthathehadooofthesamefaolddrawer,athome,iry。HehadaskedhisMotherwhoitwasaseemedtowanttotalkaboutthesubjectmuch。Itwasnotatallaniceface,Dight,thoughofcoursewiththraphsoneeverreallytell。
“Wasthere—wasn'tthere—somethingwrongabouther,Undre>
“Well,”saidUhachuckle,“itdependswhaty。Peoplearesonarrow-miainlygotveryqueerinlaterlife。Didveryuhings。Thatwaswhytheyshutherup。”
“Inanasylum,doyoumean?”
“Ohno,no,no,”saidUndrewinashockedvoiothingofthatsort。Onlyinprison。”
“Isay!”saidDigory。“Whathadshedone?”
“Ah,poorwoman,”saidUndrew。“Shehadbeenveryuherewereagoodmahings。Wegointoallthat。Shewasalwaysverykindtome。”
“Butlookhere,whathasallthisgottodowithPolly?Idowishyou'd—”
“Allingoodtime,myboy,”saidUheyletoldMrs。LefayoutbeforeshediedandIwasoheveryfeouldallowtoseeheriilltodislikenorantpeople,youuand。Idomyself。Butsheaediofthings。ItwasonlyafewdaysbeforeherdeaththatshetoldmetogotoanoldbureauinherhouseandopedrawerandbrileboxthatIwouldfihemomeboxIcouldtellbytheprimyfiIheldsomegreatsemyhameandmademepromisethatassoonasshewasdeadIwouldburnit,uhies。ThatpromiseIdidnotkeep。”
&hen,itwasjollyrottenofyou,”saidDigory。
“Rotten?”saidUhapuzzledlook。
“Oh,Isee。Youmeanthatlittleboysoughttokeeptheirpromises。Verytrue:mhtandproper,I'msure,andIladyouhavebeentaughttodoit。Butofustuhatrulesofthatsort,howeverexttheymaybeforlittleboys—as—andeopleingeneral,'tpossiblybeexpectedtoapplytoprofousahinkersandsages。No,Digory。Menlikeme,whopossesshiddenwisdom,arefreedfromoasweareonpleasures。Ours,myboy,isahighainy。”
&hishesighedandlookedsograveaeriousthatforasedDigoryreallythoughthewassayiherfiheheuglylookhehadseenonhisUncle'sfaentbeforePollyhadvanished:andallatohroughUndrew'sgrandwords。“Allitmeaohimself,“Isthathethinksheythias。”
“Ofcourse,”saidUndrew,“Ididn'tdaretoopenthebtime,forIkmightethinghighlydangerodmotherwasaveryremarkablewomahis,shewasomortalsinthistrywhohadfairybloodinher。(Shesaidtherehadbeentwoothersiime。Onewasadudtheotherwasaan。)Infact,Digory,youarenowtalkiman(possibly)whoreallyhadafairygodmother。There!That'llbesomethingforyoutorememberwhenyouareanoldmanyourself。”
&shewasabadfairy,”thoughtDigory;aloud。“Butolly?”
“Howyoudoharponthat!”saidUndrew。“Asifthatwaswhatmattered!Myfirsttaskwasofcoursetostudytheboxitself。Itwasverya。AndIkneweoknowthatitwasn'tGreek,yptian,orBabylonian,orHittite,orese。Itwasolderthananyofthosenations。Ah—thatwasagreatdaywhenIatlastfouheboxwasAtlathelostislandofAtlantis。Thatmeantitwasturiesolderthanaoheydigupiwasnh,glikethemeither。Forintheverydawiswasalreadyagreatcitywithpaladtemplesandlearnedmen。”
HepausedforamomentasifheexpectedDigorytosaysomething。ButDigorywasdislikinghisUnclemoreeveryminute,sohesaidnothing。
“MeainuedUndrew,“Iwaslearningagooddealinotherways(itwouldn'tbepropertoexplaioaagieral。ThatmeantthatIcametohaveafairideawhatsortofthingsmightbeinthebox。ByvarioustestsIhepossibilities。Ihadtogettoknowsome—well,somedevilishqueerpeople,andghsreeableexperiewaswhatturnedmyheadgray。ObeagiothihbrokedowIgotbetter。AndatlastIaew。”
Althoughtherewasheleastythem,heleanedforwardandalmostwhisperedashesaid:“TheAtlanteanboxedsomethingthathadbeenbroughtfromanotherorldwasonlyjustbeginning。”
“What?”askedDigory,ieofhimself。