the queen of underland

two earthmen entered, but instead of advancing into the room, they placed themselves one on each side of the door, and bowed deeply. they were followed immediately by the last person whom anyone had expected or wished to see: the lady of the green kirtle, the queen of underland. she stood dead still in the doorway, and they could see her eyes moving as she took in the whole situation - the three strangers, the silver chair destroyed, and the prince free, with his sword in his hand.

she turned very white; but jill thought it was the sort of whiteness that comes over some people's faces not when they are frightened but when they are angry. for a moment the witch fixed her eyes on the prince, and there was murder in them. then she seemed to change her mind.

"leave us," she said to the two earthmen. "and let none disturb us till i call, on pain of death." the gnomes padded away obediently, and the witch-queen shut and locked the door.

"how now, my lord prince," she said. "has your nightly fit not yet come upon you, or is it over so soon? why stand you here unbound? who are these aliens? and is it they who have destroyed the chair which was your only safety?"

prince rilian shivered as she spoke to him. and no wonder: it is not easy to throw off in half an hour an enchantment which has made one a slave for ten years. then, speaking with a great effort, he said:

"madam, there will be no more need of that chair. and you, who have told me a hundred times how deeply you pitied me for the sorceries by which i was bound, will doubtless hear with joy that they are now ended for ever. there was, it seems, some small error in your ladyship's way of treating them. these, my true friends, have delivered me. i am now in my right mind, and there are two things i will say to you. first - as for your ladyship's design of putting me at the head of an army of earthmen so that i may break out into the overworld and there, by main force, make myself king over some nation that never did me wrong - murdering their natural lords and holding their throne as a bloody and foreign tyrant - now that i know myself, i do utterly abhor and renounce it as plain villainy. and second: i am the king's son of narnia, rilian, the only child of caspian, tenth of that name, whom some call caspian the seafarer. therefore, madam, it is my purpose, as it is also my duty, to depart suddenly from your highness's court into my own country. please it you to grant me and my friends safe conduct and a guide through your dark realm."

now the witch said nothing at all, but moved gently across the room, always keeping her face and eyes very steadily towards the prince. when she had come to a little ark set in the wall not far from the fireplace, she opened it, and took out first a handful of a green powder. this she threw on the fire. it did not blaze much, but a very sweet and drowsy smell came from it. and all through the conversation which followed, that smell grew stronger, and filled the room, and made it harder to think. secondly, she took out a musical instrument rather like a mandolin. she began to play it with her fingers - a steady, monotonous thrumming that you didn't notice after a few minutes. but the less you noticed it, the more it got into your brain and your blood. this also made it hard to think. after she had thrummed for a time (and the sweet smell was now strong) she began speaking in a sweet, quiet voice.

"narnia?" she said. "narnia? i have often heard your lordship utter that name in your ravings. dear prince, you are very sick. there is no land called narnia."

"yes there is, though, ma'am," said puddleglum. "you see, i happen to have lived there all my life."

"indeed," said the witch. "tell me, i pray you, where that country is?"

"up there," said puddleglum, stoutly, pointing overhead. "i - i don't know exactly where."

"how?" said the queen, with a kind, soft, musical laugh. "is there a country up among the stones and mortar of the roof?"

"no," said puddleglum, struggling a little to get his breath. "it's in overworld."

"and what, or where, pray is this . . . how do you call it. . . overworld?"

"oh, don't be so silly," said scrubb, who was fighting hard against the enchantment of the sweet smell and the thrumming. "as if you didn't know! it's up above, up where you can see the sky and the sun and the stars. why, you've been there yourself. we met you there."

"i cry you mercy, little brother," laughed the witch (you couldn't have heard a lovelier laugh). "i have no memory of that meeting. but we often meet our friends in strange places when we dream. and unless all dreamed alike, you must not ask them to remember it."

"madam," said the prince sternly, "i have already told your grace that i am the king's son of narnia."

"and shalt be, dear friend," said the witch in a soothing voice, as if she was humouring a child, "shalt be king of many imagined lands in thy fancies."

"we've been there, too," snapped jill. she was very angry because she could feel enchantment getting hold of her every moment. but of course the very fact that she could still feel it, showed that it had not yet fully worked.

"and thou art queen of narnia too, i doubt not, pretty one," said the witch in the same coaxing, half-mocking tone.

"i'm nothing of the sort," said jill, stamping her foot. "we come from another world."

"why, this is a prettier game than the other," said the witch. "tell us, little maid, where is this other world? what ships and chariots go between it and ours?"

of course a lot of things darted into jill's head at once: experiment house, adela pennyfather, her own home, radio-sets, cinemas, cars, aeroplanes, ration-books, queues. but they seemed dim and far away. (thrum thrum - thrum - went the strings of the witch's instrument.) jill couldn't remember the names of the things in our world. and this time it didn't come into her head that she was being enchanted, for now the magic was in its full strength; and of course, the more enchanted you get, the more certain you feel that you are not enchanted at all. she found herself saying (and at the moment it was a relief to say):

"no. i suppose that other world must be all a dream."

"yes. it is all a dream," said the witch, always thrumming.

"yes, all a dream," said jill.

"there never was such a world," said the witch.

"no," said jill and scrubb, "never was such a world."

"there never was any world but mine," said the witch.

"there never was any world but yours," said they.

puddleglum was still fighting hard. "i don't know rightly what you all mean by a world," he said, talking like a man who hasn't enough air. "but you can play that fiddle till your fingers drop off, and still you won't make me forget narnia; and the whole overworld too. we'll never see it again, i shouldn't wonder. you may have blotted it out and turned it dark like this, for all i know. nothing more likely. but i know i was there once. i've seen the sky full of stars. i've seen the sun coming up out of the sea of a morning and sinking behind the mountains at night. and i've seen him up in the midday sky when i couldn't look at him for brightness."

puddleglum's words had a very rousing effect. the other three all breathed again and looked at one another like people newly awaked.

"why, there it is!" cried the prince. "of course! the blessing of aslan upon this honest marsh-wiggle. we have all been dreaming, these last few minutes. how could we have forgotten it? of course we've all seen the sun."

"by jove, so we have!" said scrubb. "good for you, puddleglum! you're the only one of us with any sense, i do believe."

then came the witch's voice, cooing softly like the voice of a wood-pigeon from the high elms in an old garden at three o'clock in the middle of a sleepy, summer afternoon; and it said:

"what is this sun that you all speak of? do you mean anything by the word?"

"yes, we jolly well do," said scrubb.

"can you tell me what it's like?" asked the witch (thrum, thrum, thrum, went the strings).

"please it your grace," said the prince, very coldly and politely. "you see that lamp. it is round and yellow and gives light to the whole room; and hangeth moreover from the roof. now that thing which we call the sun is like the lamp, only far greater and brighter. it giveth light to the whole overworld and hangeth in the sky."

"hangeth from what, my lord?" asked the witch; and then, while they were all still thinking how to answer her, she added, with another of her soft, silver laughs: "you see? when you try to think out clearly what this sun must be, you cannot tell me. you can only tell me it is like the lamp. your sun is a dream; and there is nothing in that dream that was not copied from the lamp. the lamp is the real thing; the sun is but a tale, a children's story."

"yes, i see now," said jill in a heavy, hopeless tone. "it must be so." and while she said this, it seemed to her to be very good sense.

slowly and gravely the witch repeated, "there is no sun." and they all said nothing. she repeated, in a softer and deeper voice. "there is no sun." after a pause, and after a struggle in their minds, all four of them said together. "you are right. there is no sun." it was such a relief to give in and say it.

"there never was a sun," said the witch.

"no. there never was a sun," said the prince, and the marsh-wiggle, and the children.

for the last few minutes jill had been feeling that there was something she must remember at all costs. and now she did. but it was dreadfully hard to say it. she felt as if huge weights were laid on her lips. at last, with an effort that seemed to take all the good out of her, she said:

"there's aslan."

"aslan?" said the witch, quickening ever so slightly the pace of her thrumming. "what a pretty name! what does it mean?"

"he is the great lion who called us out of our own world," said scrubb, "and sent us into this to find prince rilian."

"what is a lion?" asked the witch.

"oh, hang it all!" said scrubb. "don't you know? how can we describe it to her? have you ever seen a cat?"

"surely," said the queen. "i love cats."

"well, a lion is a little bit - only a little bit, mind you like a huge cat - with a mane. at least, it's not like a horse's mane, you know, it's more like a judge's wig. and it's yellow. and terrifically strong."

the witch shook her head. "i see," she said, "that we should do no better with your lion, as you call it, than we did with your sun. you have seen lamps, and so you imagined a bigger and better lamp and called it the sun. you've seen cats, and now you want a bigger and better cat, and it's to be called a lion. well, 'tis a pretty makebelieve, though, to say truth, it would suit you all better if you were younger. and look how you can put nothing into your make-believe without copying it from the real world, this world of mine, which is the only world. but even you children are too old for such play. as for you, my lord prince, that art a man full grown, fie upon you! are you not ashamed of such toys? come, all of you. put away these childish tricks. i have work for you all in the real world. there is no narnia, no overworld, no sky, no sun, no aslan. and now, to bed all. and let us begin a wiser life tomorrow. but, first, to bed; to sleep; deep sleep, soft pillows, sleep without foolish dreams."

the prince and the two children were standing with their heads hung down, their cheeks flushed, their eyes half closed; the strength all gone from them; the enchantment almost complete. but puddleglum, desperately gathering all his strength, walked over to the fire. then he did a very brave thing. he knew it wouldn't hurt him quite as much as it would hurt a human; for his feet (which were bare) were webbed and hard and coldblooded like a duck's. but he knew it would hurt him badly enough; and so it did. with his bare foot he stamped on the fire, grinding a large part of it into ashes on the flat hearth. and three things happened at once.

first, the sweet heavy smell grew very much less. for though the whole fire had not been put out, a good bit of it had, and what remained smelled very largely of burnt marsh-wiggle, which is not at all an enchanting smell. this instantly made everyone's brain far clearer. the prince and the children held up their heads again and opened their eyes.

secondly, the witch, in a loud, terrible voice, utterly different from all the sweet tones she had been using up till now, called out, "what are you doing? dare to touch my fire again, mud-filth, and i'll turn the blood to fire inside your veins."

thirdly, the pain itself made puddleglum's head for a moment perfectly clear and he knew exactly what he really thought. there is nothing like a good shock of pain for dissolving certain kinds of magic.

"one word, ma'am," he said, coming back from the fire; limping, because of the pain. "one word. all you've been saying is quite right, i shouldn't wonder. i'm a chap who always liked to know the worst and then put the best face i can on it. so i won't deny any of what you said. but there's one thing more to be said, even so. suppose we have only dreamed, or made up, all those things - trees and grass and sun and moon and stars and aslan himself. suppose we have. then all i can say is that, in that case, the made-up things seem a good deal more important than the real ones. suppose this black pit of a kingdom of yours is the only world. well, it strikes me as a pretty poor one. and that's a funny thing, when you come to think of it. we're just babies making up a game, if you're right. but four babies playing a game can make a playworld which licks your real world hollow. that's why i'm going to stand by the play-world. i'm on aslan's side even if there isn't any aslan to lead it. i'm going to live as like a narnian as i can even if there isn't any narnia. so, thanking you kindly for our supper, if these two gentlemen and the young lady are ready, we're leaving your court at once and setting out in the dark to spend our lives looking for overland. not that our lives will be very long, i should think; but that's a small loss if the world's as dull a place as you say."

"oh, hurrah! good old puddleglum!" cried scrubb and jill. but the prince shouted suddenly, "ware! look to the witch."

when they did look their hair nearly stood on end.

the instrument dropped from her hands. her arms appeared to be fastened to her sides. her legs were intertwined with each other, and her feet had disappeared. the long green train of her skirt thickened and grew solid, and seemed to be all one piece with the writhing green pillar of her interlocked legs. and that writhing green pillar was curving and swaying as if it had no joints, or else were all joints. her head was thrown far back and while her nose grew longer and longer, every other part of her face seemed to disappear, except her eyes. huge flaming eyes they were now, without brows or lashes. all this takes time to write down; it happened so quickly that there was only just time to see it. long before there was time to do anything, the change was complete, and the great serpent which the witch had become, green as poison, thick as jill's waist, had flung two or three coils of its loathsome body round the prince's legs. quick as lightning another great loop darted round, intending to pinion his sword-arm to his side. but the prince was just in time. he raised his arms and got them clear: the living knot closed only round his chest - ready to crack his ribs like firewood when it drew tight.

the prince caught the creature's neck in his left hand, trying to squeeze it till it choked. this held its face (if you could call it a face) about five inches from his own. the forked tongue flickered horribly in and out, but could not reach him. with his right hand he drew back his sword for the strongest blow he could give. meanwhile scrubb and puddleglum had drawn their weapons and rushed to his aid. all three blows fell at once: scrubb's (which did not even pierce the scales and did no good) on the body of the snake below the prince's hand, but the prince's own blow and puddleglum's both on its neck. even that did not quite kill it, though it began to loosen its hold on rilian's legs and chest. with repeated blows they hacked off its head. the horrible thing went on coiling and moving like a bit of wire long after it had died; and the floor, as you may imagine, was a nasty mess.

the prince, when he had breath, said, "gentlemen, i thank you." then the three conquerors stood staring at one another and panting, without another word, for a long time. jill had very wisely sat down and was keeping quiet; she was saying to herself, "i do hope i don't faint or blub - or do anything idiotic."

"my royal mother is avenged," said rilian presently. "this is undoubtedly the same worm that i pursued in vain by the fountain in the forest of narnia, so many years ago. all these years i have been the slave of my mother's slayer. yet i am glad, gentlemen, that the foul witch took to her serpent form at the last. it would not have suited well either with my heart or with my honour to have slain a woman. but look to the lady." he meant jill.

"i'm all right, thanks," said she.

"damsel," said the prince, bowing to her. "you are of a high courage, and therefore, i doubt not, you come of a noble blood in your own world. but come, friends. here is some wine left. let us refresh ourselves and each pledge his fellows. after that, to our plans."

"a jolly good idea, sir," said scrubb.

12、地下世界的女王

两个地下人进了门，但他们没有再走进房间里面，而是在门口一边一个站好，然后深深鞠躬。紧跟在他们后面的正是他们任何人最不愿意见到的人：那个绿衣夫人，地下世界的女王。她站在门口一动不动，他们看得出她眼珠转来转去，想了解一下整个局面——三个陌生人，银椅毁了，王子自由了，手上还拿着剑。

她脸色发白，但吉尔认为这种白不是有些人受惊时那种白，而是愤怒时的那种白。女巫盯着王子看了一会儿，眼神杀气腾腾，随后她似乎改了主意。“下去吧，”她对两个地下人说。“不准让人来打扰我们，违反命令一律处死。”小精灵乖乖地轻轻走掉了，巫婆女王把门关上，锁好。“怎么回事，王子殿下，”她说，“你每晚都要发作，现在还没发作吗?还是一下子发过就好了?你怎么没绑上就站在这儿?这些外人是谁呀?是他们把你惟一的救命椅子毁了吗?”

她跟瑞廉王子说话的时候，他打了个哆嗦。这也难怪，要在半小时之内摆脱一种使人当了十年奴隶的魔法可不容易。因此，他费了好大的劲才说：

“夫人，那把椅子已经用不着了。你曾经干百次告诉过我，你是多么深切地怜悯我受到魔法禁锢，你听到这魔法如今已经永远完蛋，无疑也会高兴的。看来，夫人对待这消息的方式似乎有点不大对头。是我这些真诚的朋友解救了我。我现在头脑清醒了，有两件事我要告诉你。首先——说到夫人设计的让我率领一支地下人的军队，以便破土而出到上面世界去，全靠武力让我在一个从来没有对不起我的国家里当国王——杀害他们原来的贵族，像个残忍的外国暴君那样霸占他们的王位——如今我清醒了，我绝对憎恶和放弃这种十足的罪恶勾当。其次，我是纳尼亚国王的儿子，瑞廉，人称航海家凯斯宾，凯斯宾十世的独子。夫人，因此，突然离开陛下的宫廷回到我自己的国家是我的目的，也是我的责任。请你授予我和我的朋友安全通行证，并派一个向导领我们通过你的黑暗王国。”

这会儿女巫一言不发，只是轻轻穿过房间，脸和眼睛始终牢牢对着王子。她来到火炉边不远，墙上一套小柜子旁边，打开柜子，拿出一把绿色的粉末，把粉末撒在火上。那粉末不大发光，只发出一股让人昏昏欲睡的香味。接下来大家谈话时，那股气味一直越来越浓，弥漫在整个房间里，使人动不了脑筋。其次，她拿出一件类似曼陀林的乐器。开始用手指弹着乐器——一种没有变化、单调的噔噔声，开头一会儿你并不在意，但你越不去注意这声音，这声音却越钻到你脑子里和血液里。这也使你动不了脑筋。她这么弹了一阵子(那股香味儿也更浓了)，就开始用一副甜蜜、沉着的嗓音说话。

“纳尼亚?”她说，

“纳尼亚?我常常听见殿下说胡话时提到那个名字。亲爱的王子，你病重了。根本没有叫纳尼亚的地方。”

“可是，夫人，有这块地方，”普德格伦说，“你瞧，我恰巧一辈子都住在那儿。”

“真的啊，”女巫说，“那么请你告诉我，那个国家在什么地方?”

“在上面，”普德格伦说着顽强地指着头顶上，“我——我不知道究竟在哪儿。”

“怎么?”女王说着发出一串亲切、柔和、美妙动听的笑声，“在上面的石头和屋顶的灰泥当中有个国家?”

“不，”普德格伦挣扎了一阵才恢复正常，“是在上面世界。”

“那么请告诉我……你怎么叫它上面世界，是怎么回事，在哪儿?”

“哦，别犯傻了，”斯克罗布说，他一直在拼命跟那股香味和噔噔声的魔法斗，“好像你不知道似的!那世界在上面，在你能看得见天，看得见太阳和星星的地方。咦，你自己也到上面去过，我们在那儿遇见过你。”

“请原谅，小兄弟，”女巫笑了(你从来没听到过比这更可爱的笑声)，“我可记不得这次见面。但我们做梦时常常在希奇古怪的地方遇见我们的朋友。除非所有的梦全都一样，你不能要求人家记住梦。”

“夫人，”王子坚定地说，“我已经告诉你了，我就是纳尼亚国王的儿子。”

“将来会的，亲爱的朋友，”女巫用安慰的声音说话，像是在哄孩子，“在你幻想中会成为很多想像中地方的国王。”

“我们也到过那儿。”吉尔厉声说。她能感觉到魔法正逐渐在控制她，所以很生气。但从她还能感觉到这事实来看，当然说明魔法还没有完全起作用。

“那么我确信你也是纳尼亚的女王了，小美人。”女巫用同样哄骗、半带嘲弄的口气说。

“我可不是那种人，”吉尔顿着脚说，“我们是另一个世界的人。”

“咦，这个游戏比另一个游戏更有趣了，”女巫说，“告诉我们，小姑娘，另一个世界在哪儿?你们的世界和我们的世界之间来往乘什么船和车?”

吉尔脑子里当然立刻就出现了好多东西：实验学校、阿黛拉;潘尼法瑟、她自己的家、收音机、电影院、汽车、飞机、配给供应车、排队。但这些事都模模糊糊，在很远很远的地方(噔——噔——噔，那女巫的乐器一直响个不停)，吉尔想不起我们世界里那些东西的名字了。这回她没想到自己中了魔法，因为魔法已经充分发挥作用。当然，你入魔越深，你就根本感觉不到自己中了魔法。她不知不觉中竟说(当时那么说了，倒松了一口气)：;

“不。我猜想那另外的世界一定完全是个梦。”

“是啊。那完全是个梦。”女巫说着手里一直噔噔地弹着。

“是啊，完全是个梦。”吉尔说。

“从来没有那么个世界。”女巫说。

“对，”吉尔和斯克罗布说，“从来没有那么个世界。”

“除了我的世界根本没有任何别的世界。”女巫说。

“除了你的世界根本没有任何别的世界。”他们说。

普德格伦仍然在苦苦搏斗。“我不大明白你们大家说的只有一个世界是什么意思，”它说，说话那模样就像一个人得不到充足的空气一样，“但你尽管把那琴弹到手指掉下来，还是不能让我忘记纳尼亚和整个的上面世界。我们再也看不见这些了，这我不奇怪。你不妨把这些一笔抹杀，让这些都变得这么黑，谁知道呢。很有可能吧。但我知道我曾经到过那儿。我看到过满是星星的天空。我看到过早上太阳从海上升起，晚上在群山后面落下。我还看见过正午天空的太阳，亮得我不敢正眼看着它。”

普德格伦的话起到令人十分振奋的效果。另外三个人全都重新呼吸，彼此对望着，就像人们刚刚醒来一样。

“咦，是啊，”王子叫道，“阿斯兰保佑这个正直的沼泽怪。刚才这几分钟，我们全在做梦。我们怎么能忘记呢?当然我们全见过太阳。”“天哪，我们都见过的，”斯克罗布说，“好样的，普德格伦!我真的相信你是我们当中惟一有点头脑的。”'

接着女巫开口了，声音很柔，同寂静的夏日下午三点钟，从老花园里高高的榆树上发出的野鸽子叫声一样低柔：

她说：

“你们大家说到的太阳是什么呀?你们那个字眼是有什么意思的吧?”

“是啊，完全有的。”斯克罗布说。

“你能告诉我那是什么样子的吗?”女巫问道(噔，噔，噔，琴弦还在响)。

“遵命，陛下，”王子十分冷淡而有礼貌地说，“你看看那盏灯。灯是圆的，黄色的，给整个房间带来了光。而且是在屋顶上挂着。这会儿我们称之为太阳的东西正像这盏灯，只是太阳大得多，也亮得多。它照亮整个上面世界，而且在天上挂着。”

“在什么地方挂着，殿下?”女巫问道，随后，在他们大家还在想着怎么回答她的时候，她又发出一阵银铃似的柔和笑声，加了一句，“瞧，你们都在拼命想弄明白这个太阳该是个什么东西，可你们却说不出来。你们只能告诉我太阳就像灯。你们的太阳是个梦；梦里的东西没一样不是模仿这灯的。灯是件真正的东西；太阳只是个故事，是童话。”

“是啊，现在我明白了，”吉尔说话声调沉重，绝望，“一定是这么回事。”她这么说的时候，似乎这话对她还是很有道理的。

女巫沉着地慢慢重复说道：“没有太阳。”他们都一声不吭。她声音更柔和更深沉地重复着。“没有太阳。”歇了一会儿，他们四个心里挣扎了一番之后一起说道，“你说得对，没有太阳。”他们屈服了，说了这句话好像松了一口气。

“从来就没有过太阳。”女巫说。

“对，从来就没有太阳。”王子、沼泽怪和两个孩子说道。

刚才这几分钟里吉尔一直觉得有什么事她无论如何得想出来。如今她想起来了。但要说出口可真难哪。她只觉得嘴唇上好沉好沉。她终于用尽全身力量说道：

“有阿斯兰。”

“阿斯兰?”女巫说着稍稍加快了噔噔噔的拍子，“多好听的名字!那是什么意思?”

“他是伟大的狮王，他把我们从我们自己的世界里叫出来，”斯克罗布说，“派我们到这儿来找瑞廉王子。”

“狮子是什么?”女巫问。

“啊呀，见鬼!”斯克罗布说，“难道你不知道?我们怎么才能对她形容狮子呢?你见过猫吗?”

“当然，”女王说，“我喜欢猫。”

“好吧，一只狮子就有点——听着，只有一点儿——像一只大猫——还有鬃毛。至少，它不像马鬃，你知道，更像法官的假发。鬃毛是黄的。而且非常强壮。”

女巫摇摇头。“我明白了，”她说，“我们看你们称之为狮子跟你们的太阳都是一回事。你们看见过灯，于是你们想像出一个更大更好的灯，把它叫做太阳。你们见过猫，现在你们想要一只更大更好的猫，你们就叫它做狮子。好了，这都是有趣的想像。不过，老实说，要是你们年纪小一点，这样说说会更合适些。瞧你们不从我这个真正的世界里偷学些什么，你们又怎么能想像得出呢，我这个世界才是惟一的世界。但即使是你们两个孩子玩这套游戏也太大了。至于你，王子殿下，你是个成年人了，真亏你做得出!你玩这种玩意儿就不害臊吗?来吧，你们大伙儿。把这套孩子气的把戏收起来。在真正的世界里，我有活儿给你们大家干。没有什么纳尼亚，没有上面的世界，没有天空，没有太阳，没有阿斯兰。现在大家都上床去吧。让我们明天开始过得更懂事吧。

但首先是上床、睡觉，睡得熟熟的，软软的枕头，好好睡一觉，不做荒唐的梦。”

王子和两个孩子站在那儿，搭拉着脑袋，脸蛋红红的，眼睛半开半闭；他们浑身无力，魔法几乎就大功告成了。不料普德格伦拼命鼓起全身力量，走到火炉边。接着它干了一件非常勇敢的事。它知道火会烧伤它，但不会像烧伤人那么严重。因为它光着的脚像鸭子一样有蹼，又硬，而且又是冷血的。但它知道火也会把它烧得够呛；果然如此。它光着脚就去踩火，把浅浅的炉床里的大部分火都碾成了灰。这一来立刻就发生了三件事。

第一，那股又香又浓的味道大为减少。因为尽管火还没完全扑灭，也已经灭了一大半，而且留下了沼泽怪烧伤的浓烈焦臭味，那就完全不是魔法的气味了。这一下顿时使每个人的脑子都清醒多了。王子和两个孩子又抬起头，睁开了眼睛。

第二，女巫一反刚才一直用的甜言蜜语声调，扯起嗓门，怪吓人地大声叫道，“你干什么?再敢碰碰我的火，脏泥巴，我要把你血管里的血烧起来。”

第三，疼痛使普德格伦的头脑一时完全清醒了，它完全知道自己真正的想法。要解除一种魔法，没有比疼痛的强烈刺激更管用的了。

“再说一句，夫人，”它说着从火炉边走回来，因为脚痛，走路一瘸一拐，“再说一句。你刚才说的一切都很对，这我不奇怪。但我这家伙一向喜欢知道最坏的情况，然后尽量往好处想。因此我不否认你说的一切。但即使如此，也还得再说上一句。假定我们只是梦见，或者说捏造出了那一切——树木啊，草地啊，太阳啊，月亮啊，星星啊，还有阿斯兰本身。假定这都是我们梦见的。那么我能说的一切就是，既然那样，那捏造出来的东西似乎比真正的东西重要得多。假定你这个王国的黑洞就是惟一世界的话。咳，那我可觉得是一个挺可怜的世界。想起这点来倒也有趣。要是你说得对，我们只是些小娃娃，凑起来玩游戏。但四个小娃娃玩的游戏能成为一个游戏世界，把你那真正的世界打得落花流水。那就是我忠于游戏世界的原因。即使没有阿斯兰来领导这个世界，我也站在阿斯兰一边。即使没有纳尼亚这个地方，我也要尽量像一个纳尼亚人那样生活。所以，感谢你好意招待我们吃晚饭，要是这两位先生和小姐准备好了，我们立刻就离开你的王宫，在黑暗中出发，去为寻找上面的世界奉献一生。我想，这并不是说我们的一生会过得很长，但要是这个世界就像你说的这样沉闷，那么这也不是什么大损失。”

“哦，好哇，普德格伦真是好样的!”斯克罗布和吉尔大声叫道。但王子突然嚷起来：“小心!看那女巫!”

大家一看顿时毛骨悚然。

那个乐器已经从她手里掉了下来。她两条胳臂似乎紧紧贴在身体两侧。两条腿缠在一起，脚已经不见了。长长的绿裙裙摆变厚，变成了实心的，似乎跟两根连在一起的腿拧成一根蠕动的绿柱子。而那根蠕动的绿柱子正歪歪扭扭，摇摇摆摆，仿佛浑身没有关节，要不然就是浑身都是关节。她的脑袋远远朝后仰着，鼻子变得越来越长，脸上除了眼睛以外，其他部分似乎都不见了。这会儿只见两只火红的大眼晴，没有眉毛也没有睫毛。所有这一切写下来虽很费时间，但事情发生得那么快，差点看都来不及看。他们还没工夫动手干什么，女巫早就变成了一条大毒蛇，像毒药一样绿幽幽，有吉尔的腰那么粗，已经把它那令人恶心的身体在王子腿上绕了两三圈。另外一大圈也像闪电般冲上来，打算把王子拿剑的那条胳臂贴身捆住。但王子正好及时举起了双臂，没给缠上。那活结只缠到他胸脯——准备收紧后把王子的肋骨当木柴般弄断。

王子左手抓住蛇颈，拼命想把它掐闷。这一下抓得蛇脸(要是能称作脸的话)离他的脸大约只有五英寸了。那根开叉的舌头吓人地不停吐出缩进，但够不着王子。他又举起右手，抽出剑，使劲劈下去。同时普德格伦和斯克罗布也都抽出武器，冲上去帮助他。一下子就向蛇刺了三下。斯克罗布那一下刺在王子手下面的蛇身上(他连蛇鳞也没刺穿，毫无用处)，不过王子本人和普德格伦那一下都刺中了蛇颈。

即使如此，也还没有杀死它，可是绕在瑞廉腿上和胸脯上的蛇身却开始松动了。他们接连又刺了好多下，才把蛇头砍掉。那可怕的怪物死后还在继续盘绕扭动，就像一根电线一样。你们也不难想像地板上已经弄得一团糟了。9

但等王子缓过气来，才说：“感谢诸位。”于是这三个胜利者站在那儿，面面相觑，喘着粗气，久久说不出一句话。吉尔已经很聪明地坐下了，一声不吭。她心里正在嘀咕：“我真希望自己别昏过去——也别哭——别干什么傻事。”.

“我母后的仇报了，”一会儿瑞廉说，“这条蛇无疑就是我多年前在纳尼亚森林喷泉边白白追捕的那条。这些年来我竞成了杀害我母亲的凶手的奴隶。可是我很高兴，诸位，这恶毒的女巫终于现出了她毒蛇的原形。否则杀掉一个女人跟我的良心或荣誉都不大相称。不过照料一下这位小姐吧。”他指的是吉尔。

“我没事儿，谢谢。”她说。

“小姐，”王子说着对她鞠了一躬，“你非常勇敢，因此，我深信你出身于你们自己的世界里的高贵门第。啊，来吧，朋友们，这儿还剩下一点酒，我们喝一点，为大伙儿干杯。过后我们再想想办法。”

“好主意，殿下。”斯克罗布说。