puddleglum

jill. was asleep. ever since the owls' parliament began she had been yawning terribly and now she had dropped off. she was not at all pleased at being waked again, and at finding herself lying on bare boards in a dusty belfry sort of place, completely dark, and almost completely full of owls. she was even less pleased when she heard that they had to set off for somewhere else - and not, apparently, for bed - on the owl's back.

"oh, come on, pole, buck up," said scrubb's voice. "after all, it is an adventure."

"i'm sick of adventures," said jill crossly.

she did, however, consent to climb on to glimfeather's back, and was thoroughly waked up (for a while) by the unexpected coldness of the air when he flew out with her into the night. the moon had disappeared and there were no stars. far behind her she could see a single lighted window well above the ground; doubtless, in one of the towers of cair paravel. it made her long to be back in that delightful bedroom, snug in bed, watching the firelight on the walls. she put her hands under her cloak and wrapped it tightly round her. it was uncanny to hear two voices in the dark air a little distance away; scrubb and his owl were talking to one another. "he doesn't sound tired," thought jill. she did not realize that he had been on great adventures in that world before and that the narnian air was bringing back to him a strength he had won when he sailed the eastern seas with king caspian.

jill had to pinch herself to keep awake, for she knew that if she dozed on glimfeather's back she would probably fall off. when at last the two owls ended their flight, she climbed stiffly off glimfeather and found herself on flat ground. a chilly wind was blowing and they appeared to be in a place without trees. "tu-whoo, tu-whoo!" glimfeather was calling. "wake up, puddleglum. wake up. it is on the lion's business."

for a long time there was no reply. then, a long way off, a dim light appeared and began to come nearer. with it came a voice.

"owls ahoy!" it said. "what is it? is the king dead? has an enemy landed in narnia? is it a flood? or dragons?"

when the light reached them, it turned out to be that of a large lantern. she could see very little of the person who held it. he seemed to be all legs and arms. the owls were talking to him, explaining everything, but she was too tired to listen. she tried to wake herself up a bit when she realized that they were saying goodbye to her. but she could never afterwards remember much except that, sooner or later, she and scrubb were stooping to enter a low doorway and then (oh, thank heavens) were lying down on something soft and warm, and a voice was saying:

"there you are. best we can do. you'll lie cold and hard. damp too, i shouldn't wonder. won't sleep a wink, most likely; even if there isn't a thunderstorm or a flood or the wigwam doesn't fall down on top of us all, as i've known them do. must make the best of it -" but she was fast asleep before the voice had ended.

when the children woke late next morning they found that they were lying, very dry and warm, on beds of straw in a dark place. a triangular opening let in the daylight.

"where on earth are we?" asked jill.

"in the wigwam of a marsh-wiggle," said eustace.

"a what?"

"a marsh-wiggle. don't ask me what it is. i couldn't see it last night. i'm getting up. let's go and look for it."

"how beastly one feels after sleeping in one's clothes," said jill, sitting up.

"i was just thinking how nice it was not to have to dress," said eustace.

"or wash either, i suppose," said jill scornfully. but scrubb had already got up, yawned, shaken himself, and crawled out of the wigwam. jill did the same.

what they found outside was quite unlike the bit of narnia they had seen on the day before. they were on a great flat plain which was cut into countless little islands by countless channels of water. the islands were covered with coarse grass and bordered with reeds and rushes. sometimes there were beds of rushes about an acre in extent. clouds of birds were constantly alighting in them and rising from them again-duck, snipe, bitterns, herons. many wigwams like that in which they had passed the night could be seen dotted about, but all at a good distance from one another; for marsh-wiggles are people who like privacy. except for the fringe of the forest several miles to the south and west of them, there was not a tree in sight. eastward the flat marsh stretched to low sand-hills on the horizon, and you could tell by the salt tang in the wind which blew from that direction that the sea lay over there. to the north there were low pale-coloured hills, in places bastioned with rock. the rest was all flat marsh. it would have been a depressing place on a w et evening. seen under a morning sun, with a fresh wind blowing, and the air filled with the crying of birds, there was something fine and fresh and clean about its loneliness. the children felt their spirits rise.

"where has the thingummy got to, i wonder?" said jill.

"the marsh-wiggle," said scrubb, as if he were rather proud of knowing the word. "i expect-hullo, that must be him." and then they both saw him, sitting with his back to them, fishing, about fifty yards away. he had been hard to see at first because he was nearly the same colour as the marsh and because he sat so still.

"i suppose we'd better go and speak to him," said jill. scrubb nodded. they both felt a little nervous.

as they drew nearer, the figure turned its head and showed them a long thin face with rather sunken cheeks, a tightly shut mouth, a sharp nose, and no beard. he was wearing a high, pointed hat like a steeple, with an enormously wide flat brim. the hair, if it could be called hair, which hung over his large ears was greeny-grey, and each lock was flat rather than round, so that they were like tiny reeds. his expression was solemn, his complexion muddy, and you could see at once that he took a serious view of life.

"good morning, guests," he said. "though when i say good i don't mean it won't probably turn to rain or it might he snow, or fog, or thunder. you didn't get any sleep, i dare say.

"yes we did, though," said jill. "we had a lovely night."

"ah," said the marsh-wiggle, shaking his head. "i see you're making the best of a bad job. that's right. you've been well brought up, you have. you've learned to put a good face on things."

"please, we don't know your name," said scrubb.

"puddleglum's my name. but it doesn't matter if you forget it. i can always tell you again."

the children sat down on each side of him. they now saw that he had very long legs and arms, so that although his body was not much bigger than a dwarf's, he would be taller than most men when he stood up. the fingers of his hands were webbed like a frog's, and so were his bare feet which dangled in the muddy water. he was dressed in earthcoloured clothes that hung loose about him.

"i'm trying to catch a few eels to make an eel stew for our dinner," said puddleglum. "though i shouldn't wonder if i didn't get any. and you won't like them much if i do."

"why not?" asked scrubb.

"why, it's not in reason that you should like our sort of victuals, though i've no doubt you'll put a bold face on it. all the same, while i am a catching of them, if you two could try to light the fire - no harm trying -! the wood's behind the wigwam. it may be wet. you could light it inside the wigwam, and then we'd get all the smoke in our eyes. or you could light it outside, and then the rain would come and put it out. here's my tinder-box. you won't know how to use it, i expect."

but scrubb had learned that sort of thing on his last adventure. the children ran back together to the wigwam, found the wood (which was perfectly dry) and succeeded in lighting a fire with rather less than the usual difficulty. then scrubb sat and took care of it while jill went and had some sort of wash - not a very nice one - in the nearest channel. after that she saw to the fire and he had a wash. both felt a good deal fresher, but very hungry.

presently the marsh-wiggle joined them. in spite of his expectation of catching no eels, he had a dozen or so, which he had already skinned and cleaned. he put a big pot on, mended the fire, and lit his pipe. marsh-wiggles smoke a very strange, heavy sort of tobacco (some people say they mix it with mud) and the children noticed the smoke from puddleglum's pipe hardly rose in the air at all. it trickled out of the bowl and downwards and drifted along the ground like a mist. it was very black and set scrubb coughing.

"now," said puddleglum. "those eels will take a mortal long time to cook, and either of you might faint with hunger before they're done. i knew a little girl - but i'd better not tell you that story. it might lower your spirits, and that's a thing i never do. so, to keep your minds off your hunger, we may as well talk about our plans."

"yes, do let's," said jill. "can you help us to find prince rilian?"

the marsh-wiggle sucked in his cheeks till they were hollower than you would have thought possible. "well, i don't know that you'd call it help," he said. "i don't know that anyone can exactly help. it stands to reason we're not likely to get very far on a journey to the north, not at this time of the year, with the winter coming on soon and all. and an early winter too, by the look of things. but you mustn't let that make you down-hearted. very likely, what with enemies, and mountains, and rivers to cross, and losing our way, and next to nothing to eat, and sore feet, we'll hardly notice the weather. and if we don't get far enough to do any good, we may get far enough not to get back in a hurry."

both children noticed that he said "we", not "you", and both exclaimed at the same moment. "are you coming with us?"

"oh yes, i'm coming of course. might as well, you see. i don't suppose we shall ever see the king back in narnia, now that he's once set off for foreign parts; and he had a nasty cough when he left. then there's trumpkin. he's failing fast. and you'll find there'll have been a bad harvest after this terrible dry summer. and i shouldn't wonder if some enemy attacked us. mark my words."

"and how shall we start?" said scrubb.

"well," said the marsh-wiggle very slowly, "all the others who ever went looking for prince rilian started from that same fountain where the lord drinian saw the lady. they went north, mostly. and as none of them ever came back, we can't exactly say how they got on."

"we've got to start by finding a ruined city of giants," said jill. "aslan said so."

"got to start by finding it, have we?" answered puddleglum. "not allowed to start by looking for it, i suppose?"

"that's what i meant, of course," said jill. "and then, when we've found it-"

"yes, when!" said puddleglum very drily.

"doesn't anyone know where it is?" asked scrubb.

"i don't know about anyone," said puddleglum. "and i won't say i haven't heard of that ruined city. you wouldn't start from the fountain, though. you'd have to go across ettinsmoor. that's where the ruined city is, if it's anywhere. but i've been as far in that direction as most people and i never got to any ruins, so i won't deceive you."

"where's ettinsmoor?" said scrubb.

"look over there northward," said puddleglum, pointing with his pipe. "see those hills and bits of cliff? that's the beginning of ettinsmoor. but there's a river between it and us; the river shribble. no bridges, of course."

"i suppose we can ford it, though," said scrubb.

"well, it has been forded," admitted the marsh-wiggle.

"perhaps we shall meet people on ettinsmoor who can tell us the way," said jill.

"you're right about meeting people," said puddleglum.

"what sort of people live there?" she asked.

"it's not for me to say they aren't all right in their own way," answered puddleglum. "if you like their way."

"yes, but what are they?" pressed jill. "there are so many queer creatures in this country. i mean, are they animals, or birds, or dwarfs, or what?"

the marsh-wiggle gave a long whistle. "phew!" he said. "don't you know? i thought the owls had told you. they're giants."

jill winced. she had never liked giants even in books, and she had once met one in a nightmare. then she saw scrubb's face, which had turned rather green, and thought to herself, "i bet he's in a worse funk than i am." that made her feel braver.

"the king told me long ago," said scrubb - "that time when i was with him at sea-that he'd jolly well beaten those giants in war and made them pay him tribute."

"that's true enough," said puddleglum. "they're at peace with us all right. as long as we stay on our own side of the shribble, they won't do us any harm. over on their side, on the moor - still, there's always a chance. if we don't get near any of them, and if none of them forget themselves, and if we're not seen, it's just possible we might get a long way."

"look here!" said scrubb, suddenly losing his temper, as people so easily do when they have been frightened. "i don't believe the whole thing can be half as bad as you're making out; any more than the beds in the wigwam were hard or the wood was wet. i don't think aslan would ever have sent us if there was so little chance as all that."

he quite expected the marsh-wiggle to give him an angry reply, but he only said, "that's the spirit, scrubb. that's the way to talk. put a good face on it. but we all need to be very careful about our tempers, seeing all the hard times we shall have to go through together. won't do to quarrel, you know. at any rate, don't begin it too soon. i know these expeditions usually end that way: knifing one another, i shouldn't wonder, before all's done. but the longer we can keep off it-"

"well, if you feel it's so hopeless," interrupted scrubb, "i think you'd better stay behind. pole and i can go on alone, can't we, pole?"

"shut up and don't be an ass, scrubb," said jill hastily, terrified lest the marsh-wiggle should take him at his word.

"don't you lose heart, pole," said puddleglum. "i'm coming, sure and certain. i'm not going to lose an opportunity like this. it will do me good. they all say - i mean, the other wiggles all say-that i'm too flighty; don't take life seriously enough. if they've said it once, they've said it a thousand times. 'puddleglum,' they've said, `you're altogether too full of bobance and bounce and high spirits. you've got to learn that life isn't all fricasseed frogs and eel pie. you want something to sober you down a bit. we're only saying it for your own good, puddleglum.' that's what they say. now a job like this - a journey up north just as winter's beginning, looking for a prince that probably isn't there, by way of a ruined city that no one has ever seen - will be just the thing. if that doesn't steady a chap, i don't know what will." and he rubbed his big frog-like hands together as if he were talking of going to a party or a pantomime. "and now," he added, "let's see how those eels are getting on."

when the meal came it was delicious and the children had two large helpings each. at first the marsh-wiggle wouldn't believe that they really liked it, and when they had eaten so much that he had to believe them, he fell back on saying that it would probably disagree with them horribly. "what's food for wiggles may be poison for humans, i shouldn't wonder," he said. after the meal they had tea, in tins (as you've seen men having it who are working on the road), and puddleglum had a good many sips out of a square black bottle. he offered the children some of it, but they thought it very nasty.

the rest of the day was spent in preparations for an early start tomorrow morning. puddleglum, being far the biggest, said he would carry three blankets, with a large bit of bacon rolled up inside them. jill was to carry the remains of the eels, some biscuit, and the tinder-box. scrubb was to carry both his own cloak and jill's when they didn't want to wear them. scrubb (who had learned some shooting when he sailed to the east under caspian) had puddleglum's secondbest bow, and puddleglum had his best one; though he said that what with winds, and damp bowstrings, and bad light, and cold fingers, it was a hundred to one against either of them hitting anything. he and scrubb both had swords scrubb had brought the one which had been left out for him in his room at cair paravel, but jill had to be content with her knife. there would have been a quarrel about this, but as soon as they started sparring the wiggle rubbed his hands and said, "ah, there you are. i thought as much. that's what usually happens on adventures." this made them both shut up.

all three went to bed early in the wigwam. this time the children really had a rather bad night. that was because puddleglum, after saying, "you'd better try for some sleep, you two; not that i suppose any of us will close an eye tonight," instantly went off into such a loud, continuous snore that, when jill at last got to sleep, she dreamed all night about road-drills and waterfalls and being in express trains in tunnels.

5、普德格伦

吉尔睡着了。从猫头鹰会议一开始，她就呵欠连天，这会儿她早已睡熟了。她再次被叫醒，心里很不乐意，而且她还发现自己竟在一片漆黑、满是灰尘的钟塔一类的地方的光秃秃的木板上躺着，周围几乎挤满了猫头鹰。当她听到他们还得骑着猫头鹰出发到另外什么地方去——而且，显然不是去睡觉的——心里就更不高兴了。

“哦，来吧，波尔，打起精神来。”斯克罗布的声音说，”这毕竟是一次冒险呀。”

“我就讨厌冒险。”吉尔发脾气道。

不过，她还是答应爬到格里姆费瑟的背上，当它带着她飞进夜空，空气中那股出乎意料的寒意竟使她完全清醒过来(只有一会儿)。月亮已经不见了，也没有星星。在她后面远处，她能看见地面上有一扇亮着灯的窗户，毫无疑问，那窗户就在凯尔帕拉维尔的一座塔楼里。灯光使她渴望回到那间令人愉快的卧室，蜷在床上，望着墙上映着的火光。她把手放在斗篷下，用斗篷紧紧裹住身子。听着黑沉沉的夜空不远处传来两个声音真有点不可思议。斯克罗布和他那只猫头鹰正在说话呢。”听上去他倒不累。”吉尔想口她不明白斯克罗布以前在这个世界里参加过几场轰轰烈烈的冒险活动，纳尼亚的空气已经使他恢复了当初跟随凯斯宾国王去东部海域航海时获得的力量。

吉尔只好掐自己身子来保持清醒，因为她知道如果她在格里姆费瑟背上打瞌睡，恐怕就会掉下去。等到两只猫头鹰终于结束了它们的飞行，她手脚僵硬地从格里姆费瑟身上爬下来，站到平地上。一股凉飕飕的风迎面吹来，看来他们是在一个没有树木的地方。”喔响，喔嘀i”格里姆费瑟在呼唤，”醒醒吧，普德格伦，醒醒。狮王有要事。”

叫了半天没有回音。后来，远处出现了一圈暗淡的灯光，渐渐靠近。随即传来一个声音。

“喂，是猫头鹰吗?”它说，”怎么回事?是国王死了?敌人在纳尼亚登陆了？还是发大水了?龙来了?”

灯光来到他们身边，这才知道那原来是只大灯笼。她看不清那个拿着灯笼的人。它似乎浑身全是胳臂和腿。两只猫头鹰跟它说话，解释一切，但她太累了，没听他们说什么。当她明白它们在跟自己说再见，就尽量想让自己清醒一点。但事后，除此以外，她再也想不起更多的事了，不久，她和斯克罗布就弯腰走进一个低矮的门口，接着(啊呀，谢天谢地)就躺到又柔软又暖和的什么东西上。一个声音说：

“到了，我们尽了最大努力了。你们躺着会又冷又硬，又潮湿，这我不奇怪。很可能一点也睡不着;即使这儿没有雷雨、洪水，这棚屋没倒在我们大家身上，我以前就碰到过这种事。必须随遇而安……”不过话还没说完，她早已熟睡了。

第二天早上两个孩子醒得很晚，他们发现自己在一个阴暗的角落里两只又干燥又暖和的草铺上躺着。阳光从一块三角形的口子照进来。

“我们到底在哪儿呀?”吉尔问。

“在一个沼泽怪的棚屋里。”尤斯塔斯说。”一个什么?”

“一个沼泽怪。别问我它是什么。昨晚我看不见它。我要起来了。我们去看看它吧。”

“一个人穿着随身衣服睡觉，醒来感到多别扭呀。”吉尔说着坐了起来。

“我正在想起床时不用忙着穿衣服有多妙呢。”尤斯塔斯说。

“我看还不用洗脸吧。”吉尔轻蔑地说。但斯克罗布已经起床了，打着呵欠，抖擞精神，爬出了棚屋。吉尔也跟他一模一样。

他们在外面看到这儿和他们昨天看见的那一小块纳尼亚大不相同。他们是在一大片平原上，无数水沟把平原分割为无数小岛。这些小岛都覆盖着粗糙的草，四周都是芦苇和灯心草。有的地方是一片片有一英亩大的灯心草草圃。成群的鸟儿不断地在其中起降——有鸭子、鹊、苍莺。周围还看得见许多棚屋星罗棋布的，就像他们昨晚过夜住的一个样儿，不过所有的棚屋之间都拉开相当距离;因为沼泽怪都喜欢单独居住，不受打扰。除了西面和南面几英里以外的森林边缘外，这地方看不见一棵树。往东面看，平坦的沼泽地伸展到地平线附近低矮的沙丘，从那个方向刮来的风带有一股强烈的咸昧，你就知道那边是海了。北面是灰白色的低矮的山丘，处处筑有石头堡垒。其他地方都是平坦的沼泽地。碰到潮湿的晚上，这地方可真闷得慌。如今在朝阳下看看，还有清新的风吹拂着，空中鸟鸣不绝。这儿虽然荒凉却相当美食、清新、干净。孩子们觉得兴致又高了。

“不知道那个叫什么来着的东西上哪儿去了?”吉尔说。

“沼泽怪。”斯克罗布说，他知道这个叫法似乎相当得意，”我希望——嗨，那个一定就是它。”这时他们俩都看见它了，在约五十码以外，背对他们坐着钓鱼。起初他们看不清，因为它浑身几乎和沼泽一样颜色，而且它坐着一动也不动。-

“我看我们最好去跟它谈一谈。”吉尔说。斯克罗布点点头。他俩都觉得有点儿紧张。

他们走近时，那个身影扭过头来，露出一张瘦长脸，面颊凹陷，尖鼻子，嘴唇紧闭，没有胡子。它戴着一顶又高又尖的帽子，就像一座尖塔，还有圈其宽无比的帽檐。披在大耳朵上的头发，要是算得上头发的话，是绿灰色的。而且每根头发都是扁的，而不是圆的，因此更像小芦苇。它的表情很庄重，肤色跟泥巴一样。你立刻就能看出它对生活的态度是很严肃的。

“早上好，客人们，”它说，”可是我说‘好'，意思并不是说也许不会下雨，或可能下雪啊，有雾啊，打雷啊。我敢说你们一直没睡着吧。”

“可我们倒真睡着了。”吉尔说，”我们这一晚过得很好。”

“啊，”沼泽怪摇摇头说，”我明白你们能随遇而安。那是对的。你们有教养。学会了对事情要采取乐观态度。”

“对不起，我们还不知道你的大名。”斯克罗布说。

“我叫普德格伦。不过要是你们忘记了也没关系。我可以再告诉你们。”

两个孩子一边一个在它身边坐下。他们这会儿才看见它的胳臂和腿都很长很长，因此尽管它的身体并不比小矮人大，站起来却比多数人高。它的手指有蹼，像青蛙的爪子，两只在泥浆水里晃荡的脚也有蹼。它穿着土黄色的宽松衣服。

“我正想抓几条鲤鱼来做个炖鲤鱼当午饭，”普德格伦说，”可要是我一条也抓不到，也不奇怪。再说你们也不大会像我这样喜欢吃鲤鱼。”

“为什么不喜欢?”斯克罗布问。

“为什么，虽然我毫不怀疑你们会装得对此毫不在乎的样子，可是要你们喜欢我们这种食品是不合情理的。反正没关系，我在捉鱼的时候，如果你们俩能想法把火生起来——不妨试试看——木柴就在棚屋后面。可能是湿的。你们可以在棚屋里生火，那么所有的烟都会熏到我们眼睛里。你们也可以在外头生火，那么要是下雨，就会把火淋灭了。这是我的51火盒，我想你们不会知道怎么用吧?”"

但斯克罗布在上回探险时已经学过这一类事了。两个孩子一起奔回棚屋，找到了木柴(那完全是干的)，没费什么事就生起一堆火。于是斯克罗布坐下照顾火堆，吉尔到最近的水沟去洗洗脸——洗得不怎么痛快。洗好后她来照顾火堆，斯克罗布也去洗了一下。两个人都觉得清醒多了，但肚子都很饿了。

不一会儿，沼泽怪来了。虽然它估计过一条鲤鱼也捉不到，居然已经捉了十多条，而且已经把鱼皮剥了，洗干净了。它在火上搁了一只大锅，添了柴火，点上了烟斗。沼泽怪抽的是一种十分奇怪、味儿浓的烟草(有人说它们在烟草里搀了泥巴)。两个孩子还注意到普德格伦烟斗里的烟几乎不大往上升，而是从烟斗里一缕缕出来，往下飘，顺着地面像一层薄雾似的飘啊飘的。而且这烟很黑，熏得斯克罗布直咳嗽。

“好了，”普德格伦说，”那些鲤鱼要烧很长时间，没烧好你们哪个就会饿昏的。我认识一个小姑娘——不过我还是别告诉你们那个故事的好。你们听了会扫兴的，那种事我绝对不干。因此，为了让你们脑子别尽想肚子饿，我们还是先谈谈我们的计划吧。”

“是啊，我们谈谈吧。”吉尔说，”你能帮助我们找到瑞廉王子吗?”"

沼泽怪使劲。咂着烟斗，咂得两颊都凹下去，凹成那副样子你怎么也想像不出来。”嗯，我不知道你们称这为帮助。”它说，”我不知道哪个正好能帮这个忙。原因是一年中在这个季节，冬天很快就要到了，我们往北走不大可能走得很远。而且看趋势，今年冬天来得早。不过你们不必为此垂头丧气。由于会碰到敌人，又要爬山，又要过河，又是迷路，又是几乎没东西可吃，又是脚痛，我们多半不大会注意天气。而且要是我们走不远，成不了什么事，我们也用不着急于回来，不妨再走得远些。”

两个孩子都注意到它说”我们”而不是”你们”，两人都同时欢呼起来”你跟我们一起去吗?”

“哦，是啊，我当然去啦。干脆一起去，你们懂吗?既然国王已经动身出国了，我看我们再也见不到国王回到纳尼亚了，而且他走的时候咳嗽得很厉害。再说杜鲁普金呢，他老得很快。你们会看见这个夏季大旱之后遇上歉收。要是有什么敌人向我们进攻，我是不会奇怪的。记住我的话好了。”

“我们怎么着手呢?”斯克罗布说。

“恩”沼泽怪慢吞吞地说，”所有那些去寻找瑞廉王子的人都是从德里宁勋爵看见那个女人的喷泉出发的。他们大多朝北走。因为他们一个也没回来过。我们也说不准他们到底有什么进展。”

“我们开头得找到一座巨人城的废墟，”吉尔说，”阿斯兰这么说的。”

“我们开头就得找到它吧?”普德格伦说，”我看，不允许只是找找看了?”

“当然啦，我就是这个意思，”吉尔说，”然后，等我们找到以后......

“是啊，几时才找到呢i”普德格伦冷冰冰地说。”有谁认识这地方在哪儿吗?”斯克罗布问。

“我不知道有谁认识，”普德格伦说，”可我决不会说我没听说过那个废墟城。话说回来，你们不必从喷泉出发。你们得穿过艾丁斯荒原。要有的话，那个废墟城就在那儿。但我也朝那个方向走过，跟大多数人走得一样远，可我从来也没到过什么废墟，所以我决不会欺骗你们。”

“艾丁斯荒原在哪儿呢?”斯克罗布说

“从这儿往北边那儿看，”普德格伦说着用烟斗一指，”看见那些小山和悬崖吗?那儿就是艾丁斯荒原开始的地方。不过和我们这儿还隔着一条河，叫斯力布河。当然，没有桥。”

“话虽这么说，我看我们可以蹚水过去。”斯克罗布说。”得，已经有人蹚水去过了。”沼泽怪承认了。

“也许我们会在艾丁斯荒原遇见什么人能给我们指路。”吉尔说。

“遇见人，你算说对了。”普德格伦说。”那儿住的是什么样的人呢?”她问。

“要是你们喜欢他们那一套的话，我也不能说他们按自己那一套过日子有什么不好。”普德格伦回答说。

“是啊。但他们是什么呢?”吉尔追问道，”这个地方有这么多奇禽怪兽。我意思是他们是走兽还是飞禽，还是小矮人，还是什么?”

沼泽怪吹了一声长长的口哨。”嘘！”它说，”你们不知道吗?我还以为猫头鹰已经告诉你们了呢。他们是巨人呀。”

吉尔畏缩了，即使是书本里的巨人，她也从来没喜欢过，而且她有一次做噩梦还看见过一个巨人呢。这时她看见斯克罗布的脸也已经发青了，她暗自想道”我敢说他比我还要害怕昵。”这一想她就觉得自己勇敢些了。

“国王很久以前告诉过我，”斯克罗布说，”那时我跟他一起在海上，他说他在战争中把巨人打得大败而归，而且逼得他们向他进贡。”

“那倒一点不假，”普德格伦说，”他们跟我们相安无事没错。只要我们待在斯力布河自己这边，他们就不会伤害我们。不过，在他们那边呢，在荒原上——总有个万一。要是我们不接近任何巨人，要是他们没人忘乎所以，而我们又没被他们看见，那很可能走上一大段路。”

“听着，”斯克罗布说，他突然发脾气了，人们受了惊很容易发脾气，”我就不相信这件事有你说的一半那么吓人，跟你说的棚屋里的床是硬的、柴是湿的一样没什么可怕。要是这事真的那么希望渺茫，我认为阿斯兰就不会派我们来。”

他原以为沼泽怪也会怒气冲冲地回答他，但它只是说:“这种精神很好，斯克罗布。应该这样说话。摆出满不在乎的样子。不过我们对自己的脾气都要十分小心，要看到我们得一起度过所有的困难时刻。吵架是不行的，你知道吗?不管怎么说，别一开头就吵架。我知道这些探险队通常都是那样结束的:事情还没办成，就五相动刀子，我是不会奇怪的。不过我们避免这一点的时间要能长一点…”

“得了，要是你认为这事那么没希望，”斯克罗布插嘴说，”我想你还是待在后面的好。我和波尔可以自己去，对不对，波尔?”

“闭嘴，别犯傻了，斯克罗布。”吉尔赶紧说，生怕沼泽怪把他的话当真了。

“你别觉得扫兴，波尔，”普德格伦说，”我绝对肯定去的。我可不打算失掉这样一个机会。这对我有好处。人家都说——我是说，其他的沼泽怪都说——我太轻浮，对生活不够严肃。一旦他们说了一遍，就不止说上几千遍。’普德格伦，’他们说，’你实在太爱夸夸其谈，精力过剩。你得懂得生活并不全是油煎青蛙和鲤鱼馅饼。你需要有点事让你清醒一下，我们这么说都是为你好，普德格伦。'他们就是这样说的。眼下就在冬天快开始的时候，上北方走一趟，去找一个大概不在那儿的王子，取道一个谁也没见过的废墟城——这样一项差使正是我需要的。如果这种事还不能使一个家伙稳定下来，那我就不知道还有什么办法了。”说着它搓搓那双像青蛙爪子似的大手，仿佛它是在谈起去参加舞会或看哑剧似的。”现在呢，”它加上一句说，”我们看看那些鲤鱼煮得怎样了。”

那道菜端上来时，味道真美极了，两个孩子都吃了双份儿。起初沼泽怪不相信他们真的喜欢吃，后来看他们吃了那么多，它只好相信了。它退而说这些东西可能大大不合他们口味。”对沼泽怪来说是食物，对人类也许就是毒药，我不会奇怪的。”它说。吃完午饭以后他们又喝茶，茶装在铁皮罐里(就像你们看见那些在路上干活的人喝的一样)，普德格伦从一个方的黑瓶子里喝了好多口。他请两个孩子喝一点这种饮料，但他们觉得那东西非常难喝。

饭后半天时间就都用来准备第二天一早出发的事。普德格伦比起他们来算是最大的，说它将带上三条毯子，里面还包上一大块熏肉。吉尔把吃剩的鳝鱼带上，还有一些饼干和引火盒。斯克罗布就把他和吉尔不穿的斗篷带上。斯克罗布上次跟凯斯宾往东方航行时曾学过一点射箭，所以又带上普德格伦第二把好弓，普德格伦则带着自己最好的那把，可它又说，有风，加上弓弦潮湿，光线不好，手指冰凉，他们俩射中目标的可能性只有百分之一。它和斯克罗布都带上剑——斯克罗布把凯尔帕拉维尔宫在他房里专门为他准备的那把剑带来了。可吉尔只能将就带上那把刀算数。他们本来为此还吵了一架，但刚开始吵，沼泽怪就搓着于说，”啊，又来了吧。我就想到了。去探险往往有这种情况。”这么一说他们俩就都住口了。

他们三个都早早在棚屋里上了床。这一晚上两个孩子倒真的没睡好。那是因为普德格伦说”你们俩最好想法睡一会儿，我不是说我们大家今晚都睡不着。”说完它立刻解声如雷，接连不断，到吉尔终于睡着后，整晚都梦见路面钻孔机、瀑布，以及隧道里的特别快车。.