The Chronicles of Narnia: The Silver Chair - Audiobook - Pt 2/5
Complete unabridged, read by Jeremy Northam
00:00:00 - Chapter 4
00:20:00 - Chapter 5
00:39:18 - Chapter 6
Complete unabridged, read by Jeremy Northam
00:00:00 - Chapter 4
00:20:00 - Chapter 5
00:39:18 - Chapter 6
Category
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FunTranscript
00:00:00Chapter 4 The Parliament of Owls
00:00:07It is a very funny thing that the sleepier you are, the longer you take about getting
00:00:10to bed, especially if you are lucky enough to have a fire in your room.
00:00:16Jill felt she couldn't even start undressing unless she sat down in front of the fire for
00:00:20a bit first, and once she had sat down, she didn't want to get up again.
00:00:26She had already said to herself about five times, I must go to bed, when she was startled
00:00:31by a tap on the window.
00:00:34She got up, pulled the curtain, and at first saw nothing but darkness.
00:00:38Then she jumped and started backwards, for something very large had dashed itself against
00:00:43the window, giving a sharp tap on the glass as it did so.
00:00:47A very unpleasant idea came into her head.
00:00:51Suppose they have giant moths in this country.
00:00:54But then the thing came back, and this time she was almost sure she saw a beak, and that
00:01:01the beak had made the tapping noise.
00:01:04It's some huge bird, thought Jill, could it be an eagle?
00:01:09She didn't very much want a visit even from an eagle, but she opened the window and looked
00:01:12out.
00:01:14Instantly, with a great whirring noise, the creature alighted on the windowsill and stood
00:01:19there filling up the whole window, so that Jill had to step back to make room for it.
00:01:24It was the owl.
00:01:25Hush!
00:01:26Hush!
00:01:27Toowoo!
00:01:28Toowoo!
00:01:29said the owl.
00:01:30Don't make a noise.
00:01:31Now, are you two really in earnest about what you've got to do?
00:01:37About the lost prince, you mean, said Jill.
00:01:39Yes, yes, we've got to be.
00:01:41For now she remembered the lion's voice and face, which she had nearly forgotten during
00:01:45the feasting and storytelling in the hall.
00:01:48Good, said the owl, then there's no time to waste.
00:01:52We must get away from here at once.
00:01:54I'll go and wake the other human, then I'll come back for you.
00:01:57You'd better change these court clothes and put on something you can travel in.
00:02:01I'll be back in two twos.
00:02:04And without waiting for an answer, he was gone.
00:02:08If Jill had been more used to adventures, she might have doubted the owl's word, but
00:02:13this never occurred to her.
00:02:14And in the exciting idea of a midnight escape, she forgot her sleepiness.
00:02:19She changed back into sweater and shorts, there was a guide's knife on the belt of the
00:02:23shorts which might come in useful, and added a few of the things that had been left in
00:02:28the room for her by the girl with the willowy hair.
00:02:31She chose a short cloak that came down to her knees, and had a hood, just the thing
00:02:36if it rains, she thought, a few handkerchiefs, and a comb.
00:02:41Then she sat down and waited.
00:02:45She was getting sleepy again when the owl returned.
00:02:47Now we're ready, it said.
00:02:50You'd better lead the way, said Jill, I don't know all these passages yet.
00:02:54To-woo, said the owl, we're not going through the castle, that would never do, you must
00:02:59ride on me, we shall fly.
00:03:02Oh, said Jill, and stood with her mouth open, not much liking the idea, shan't I be far
00:03:09too heavy for you?
00:03:10To-woo, to-woo, don't you be a fool, I've already carried the other one, now we'll put
00:03:17out that lamp first.
00:03:20As soon as the lamp was out, the bit of the night which she saw through the window looked
00:03:24less dark, no longer black but grey.
00:03:28The owl stood on the windowsill with his back to the room, and raised his wings.
00:03:34Jill had to climb onto his short fat body and get her knees under the wings and grip
00:03:38tight.
00:03:39The feathers felt beautifully warm and soft, but there was nothing to hold on by.
00:03:44I wonder how Scrub liked his ride, thought Jill, and just as she was thinking this, with
00:03:49a horrid plunge they had left the windowsill, and the wings were making a flurry around
00:03:54her ears, and the night air, rather cool and damp, was flying in her face.
00:04:01It was much lighter than she expected, and though the sky was overcast, one patch of
00:04:07watery silver showed where the moon was hiding above the clouds.
00:04:12The fields beneath her looked grey, and the trees black.
00:04:16There was a certain amount of wind, a hushing, ruffling sort of wind, which meant that rain
00:04:21was coming soon.
00:04:24The owl wheeled round so that the castle was now ahead of them.
00:04:29Very few of the windows showed lights.
00:04:32They flew right over it, northwards, crossing the river.
00:04:35The air grew colder, and Jill thought she could see the white reflection of the owl
00:04:40in the water beneath her.
00:04:42But soon they were on the north bank of the river, flying above wooded country.
00:04:48The owl snapped at something which Jill couldn't see.
00:04:51Oh, don't, please, said Jill, don't jerk like that, you nearly threw me off.
00:04:55Beg your pardon, said the owl, I was just nebbing a bet.
00:05:00There's nothing so sustaining in a small way as a nice plump little bet.
00:05:04Shall I catch you up?
00:05:06No, thanks, said Jill, with a shudder.
00:05:10He was flying a little lower now, and a large black-looking object was looming up towards
00:05:15them.
00:05:17Jill had just time to see that it was a tower, a partly ruinous tower, with a lot of ivy
00:05:22on it, she thought, when she found herself ducking to avoid the archway of a window,
00:05:27as the owl squeezed with her through the ivied and cobwebby opening, out of the fresh
00:05:33grey night, into a dark place inside the top of the tower.
00:05:38It was rather fusty inside, and the moment she slipped off the owl's back she knew,
00:05:43as one usually does somehow, that it was quite crowded.
00:05:47And when voices began saying out of the darkness, from every direction, to-woo, to-woo, she
00:05:54knew it was crowded with owls.
00:05:57She was rather relieved when a different voice said,
00:05:59Is that you, Pearl?
00:06:01Is that you, Scrub? said Jill.
00:06:04Now, said Glim-Feather, I think we're all here.
00:06:08Let us hold a Parliament of Owls.
00:06:11To-woo, to-woo, true for you, that's the right thing to do, said several voices.
00:06:18Half a moment, said Scrub's voice, there's something I want to say first.
00:06:23To-woo, to-woo, said the owls, and Jill said,
00:06:27Fire ahead.
00:06:28I suppose all you chaps—owls, I mean, said Scrub.
00:06:32I suppose you all know that King Caspian the Tenth, in his young days, sailed to the eastern
00:06:36end of the world.
00:06:38Well, I was with him on that journey, with him and Reepicheep the Mouse, and the Lord
00:06:44Drinian, and all of them—I know it sounds hard to believe, but people don't grow older
00:06:47in our world at the same speed as they do in yours—and what I want to say is this,
00:06:52that I'm the King's man, and if this Parliament of Owls is any sort of plot against the King,
00:06:58I'm having nothing to do with it.
00:07:00To-woo, to-woo, and all the King's owls, too, said the owls.
00:07:05What's it all about, then? said Scrub.
00:07:09It's only this, said Glim-Feather, that if the Lord Regent, the Dwarf Trumpkin, hears
00:07:16you are going to look for the lost prince, he won't let you start.
00:07:21He'd keep you, and a lock, and a key, sooner.
00:07:25Great Scott, said Scrub, you don't mean that Trumpkin is a traitor?
00:07:29I used to hear a lot about him in the old days at sea.
00:07:32Caspian, the King, I mean, trusted him absolutely.
00:07:36Oh, no, said a voice, Trumpkin's no traitor, but more than thirty champions, knights, centaurs,
00:07:44good giants, and all sorts, have at one time or another set out to look for the lost prince,
00:07:49and none of them have ever come back, and at last the King said he was not going to
00:07:53have all the bravest Narnians destroyed in the search for his son, and now nobody is
00:07:58allowed to go.
00:08:00But surely he'd let us go, said Scrub, when he knew who I was and who had sent me.
00:08:06Sent both of us, put in Jill.
00:08:09Yes, said Glim-Feather, I think very likely he would, but the King's away, and Trumpkin
00:08:15will stick to the rules.
00:08:18He's as true as steel, but he's deaf as a post and very peppery.
00:08:22You could never make him see that this might be the time for making an exception to the rule.
00:08:28You might think he'd taken some notice of us, because we're owls, and everyone knows
00:08:33how wise owls are, said someone else.
00:08:37But he's so old now, he'd only say, you're a mere chick, I remember you when you were
00:08:43an egg.
00:08:44Don't come trying to teach me, sir, crabs and crumpets.
00:08:50This owl imitated Trumpkin's voice rather well, and there were sounds of owlish laughter
00:08:56all round.
00:08:58The children began to see that the Narnians all felt about Trumpkin as people feel at
00:09:02school about some crusty teacher whom everyone is a little afraid of, and everyone makes
00:09:07fun of, and nobody really dislikes.
00:09:12How long is the King going to be away, asked Scrub?
00:09:15If only we knew, said Glimpfeather.
00:09:17You see, there has been a rumour lately that Aslan himself has been seen in the islands,
00:09:23in Terabinthia, I think it was, and the King said he would make one more attempt before
00:09:28he died to see Aslan face to face again, and ask his advice about who's to be king after
00:09:34him.
00:09:35But we're all afraid that if he doesn't meet Aslan in Terabinthia, he'll go on east to
00:09:39Seven Isles, and the Lone Islands, and on, and on.
00:09:44He never talks about it, but we all know he has never forgotten that voyage to the world's
00:09:49end.
00:09:50I'm sure in his heart of hearts he wants to go there again."
00:09:53Then there's no good waiting for him to come back, said Jill.
00:09:57No, no good, said the owl, oh, what are to do?
00:10:01If only you two had known and spoken to him at once, he'd have arranged everything, probably
00:10:07given you an army to go with you in search of the Prince.
00:10:12Jill kept quiet at this, and hoped Scrub would be sporting enough not to tell all the owls
00:10:16why this hadn't happened.
00:10:17He was—or very nearly—that is, he only muttered under his breath, it wasn't my fault,
00:10:25before saying out loud,
00:10:26Very well, we'll have to manage without it.
00:10:30But there's just one thing more I want to know.
00:10:33If this Owl's Parliament, as you call it, is all fair and above board and means no mischief,
00:10:39why does it have to be so jolly secret, meeting in a ruin at the dead of night and all that?
00:10:44Toot-a-woo, toot-a-woo, hooted several owls.
00:10:47Where should we meet?
00:10:48When would any one meet except at night?
00:10:50You see, explained Glim-Feather, most of the creatures in Narnia have such unnatural habits.
00:10:57They do things by day, in broad, blazing sunlight, when every one ought to be asleep, and as
00:11:04a result at night, they're so blind and stupid you can't get a word out of them.
00:11:09So we owls have got into the habit of meeting at sensible hours, on our own, when we want
00:11:15to talk about things.
00:11:17I see, said Scrub.
00:11:20Well now, let's get on.
00:11:22Tell us all about the lost Prince.
00:11:25Then an old owl, not Glim-Feather, related the story.
00:11:30About ten years ago it appeared, when Rillian, the son of Caspian, was a very young knight,
00:11:36he rode with the Queen, his mother, on a May morning in the north parts of Narnia.
00:11:41They had many squires and ladies with them, and all wore garlands of fresh leaves on their
00:11:46heads and horns at their sides, but they had no hounds with them, for they were maying,
00:11:53not hunting.
00:11:55In the warm part of the day they came to a pleasant glade where a fountain flowed freshly
00:12:00out of the earth, and there they dismounted, and ate and drank, and were merry.
00:12:07After a time the Queen felt sleepy, and they spread cloaks for her on the grassy bank,
00:12:12and Prince Rillian, with the rest of the party, went a little way from her, that their tales
00:12:17and laughter might not wake her.
00:12:20And so presently a great serpent came out of the thick wood and stung the Queen in her
00:12:26hand.
00:12:28All heard her cry out and rushed towards her, and Rillian was first at her side.
00:12:34He saw the worm gliding away from her, and made after it with his sword drawn.
00:12:40It was great, shining, and as green as poison, so that he could see it well.
00:12:47But it glided away into thick bushes, and he could not come at it.
00:12:53So he returned to his mother, and found them all busy about her.
00:12:58But they were busy in vain, for at the first glance of her face Rillian knew that no physic
00:13:04in the world would do her good.
00:13:07As long as the life was in her, she seemed to be trying hard to tell him something, but
00:13:12She could not speak clearly, and whatever her message was, she died without delivering
00:13:18it.
00:13:19It was then hardly ten minutes since they had heard her cry.
00:13:25They carried the dead Queen back to Caer Paravell, and she was bitterly mourned by Rillian and
00:13:31by the King, and by all Narnia.
00:13:35She had been a great lady, wise and gracious and happy.
00:13:39King Caspian's bride, whom he had brought home from the eastern end of the world, and
00:13:44men said that the blood of the stars flowed in her veins.
00:13:49The Prince took his mother's death very hardly, as well he might.
00:13:54After that, he was always riding on the northern marches of Narnia, hunting for that venomous
00:13:59worm to kill it and be avenged.
00:14:03No one remarked much on this, though the Prince came home from these wanderings looking tired
00:14:07and distraught.
00:14:09But about a month after the Queen's death, some said they could see a change in him.
00:14:15There was a look in his eyes as of a man who has seen visions, and though he would be out
00:14:20all day, his horse did not bear the signs of hard riding.
00:14:24His chief friend among the older courtiers was the Lord Drinian, he who had been his
00:14:29father's captain on that great voyage to the east parts of the earth.
00:14:34One evening Drinian said to the Prince,
00:14:37Your Highness must soon give over seeking the worm.
00:14:40There is no true vengeance on a witless brute as there might be on a man.
00:14:44You weary yourself in vain.
00:14:48The Prince answered him, My Lord, I have almost forgotten the worm this seven days.
00:14:54Drinian asked him why, if that were so, he rode so continually in the northern woods.
00:14:59My Lord, said the Prince, I have seen there the most beautiful thing that was ever made.
00:15:04Fair Prince, said Drinian, of your courtesy, let me ride with you to-morrow, that I also
00:15:10may see this fair thing.
00:15:13With a good will, said Rillian.
00:15:16And in good time on the next day they saddled their horses and rode a great gallop into
00:15:20the northern woods, and alighted at that same fountain where the Queen got her death.
00:15:27Drinian thought it strange that the Prince should choose that place of all places to
00:15:31linger in, and there they rested till it came to high noon, and at noon Drinian looked
00:15:39up and saw the most beautiful lady he had ever seen, and she stood at the north side
00:15:45of the fountain and said no word but beckoned to the Prince with her hand as if she bade
00:15:50him come to her, and she was tall and great, shining, and wrapped in a thin garment as
00:15:57green as poison.
00:16:01And the Prince stared at her like a man out of his wits.
00:16:05But suddenly the lady was gone, Drinian knew not where, and the two returned to Caer Paravell.
00:16:13It stuck in Drinian's mind that this shining, green woman was evil.
00:16:21Drinian doubted very much whether he ought not to tell this adventure to the King, but
00:16:25he had little wish to be a blab at a tale-bearer, and so he held his tongue.
00:16:31But afterwards he wished he had spoken, for next day Prince Rilian rode out alone.
00:16:37That night he came not back, and from that hour no trace of him was ever found in Narnia
00:16:43nor any neighbouring land, and neither his horse nor his hat nor his cloak nor anything
00:16:49else was ever found.
00:16:53Then Drinian, in the bitterness of his heart, went to Caspian and said,
00:16:56Lord King, slay me speedily as a great traitor, for by my silence I have destroyed your son.
00:17:05And he told him the story.
00:17:07Then Caspian caught up a battle-axe and rushed upon the Lord Drinian to kill him, and Drinian
00:17:14stood still as a stalk for the death-blow.
00:17:17But when the axe was raised, Caspian suddenly threw it away and cried out,
00:17:21I have lost my queen and my son, shall I lose my friend also?
00:17:28And he fell upon the Lord Drinian's neck and embraced him, and both wept, and their friendship
00:17:35was not broken.
00:17:37Such was the story of Rilian.
00:17:40And when it was over, Jill said, I bet that serpent and that woman were the same person.
00:17:45True, true, we think the same as you, hooted the owls.
00:17:50But we don't think she killed the prince, said Glimfeather, because no bones.
00:17:57We know she didn't, said Scrub.
00:17:59Aslan told Pole he was still alive somewhere.
00:18:02That almost makes it worse, said the oldest owl.
00:18:06It means she has some use for him, and some deep scheme against Narnia, long, long ago
00:18:13at the very beginning, a white witch came out of the north and bound our land in snow
00:18:19and ice for a hundred years, and we think this may be one of the same crew.
00:18:25Very well, then, said Scrub, Pole and I have got to find this prince.
00:18:31Can you help us?
00:18:32Have you any clue, you two? asked Glimfeather.
00:18:37Yes, said Scrub, we know we've got to go north, and we know we've got to reach the ruins of
00:18:43a giant city.
00:18:45At this there was a greater to-wooing than ever, and noises of birds shifting their feet
00:18:50and ruffling their feathers, and then all the owls started speaking at once.
00:18:55They all explained how very sorry they were that they themselves could not go with the
00:18:59children on their search for the lost prince.
00:19:03You would want to travel by day, and we'd want to travel by night, they said.
00:19:06It wouldn't do, wouldn't do.
00:19:08One or two owls added that even here, in the ruined tower, it wasn't nearly so dark as
00:19:13it had been when they began, and that the Parliament had been going on quite long enough.
00:19:17In fact, the mere mention of a journey to the ruined city of giants seemed to have damped
00:19:22the spirits of those birds.
00:19:25But Glimfeather said, If they want to go that way, into Aitensmoor, we must take them to
00:19:31one of the Marsh Wiggles.
00:19:33They're the only people who can help them much.
00:19:37True, true, do, said the owls.
00:19:40Come on, then, said Glimfeather, I'll take one.
00:19:43Who'll take the other?
00:19:45It must be done to-night.
00:19:46I will, as far as the Marsh Wiggles, said another owl.
00:19:52Are you ready? said Glimfeather to Jill.
00:19:55I think Pearl's asleep, said Scrub.
00:20:00Chapter 5 Puddle-Glum
00:20:05Jill was asleep.
00:20:07Ever since the Owls' Parliament began she'd been yawning terribly, and now she'd dropped
00:20:12off.
00:20:13She was not at all pleased at being waked again, and at finding herself lying on bare
00:20:18boards in a dusty belfry sort of place, completely dark and almost completely full of owls.
00:20:25She was even less pleased when she heard that they had to set off for somewhere else, and
00:20:29not, apparently, for bed, on the Owls' back.
00:20:33Oh, come on, Pearl, buck up, said Scrub's voice.
00:20:36After all, it is an adventure.
00:20:37I'm sick of adventures, said Jill Crossley.
00:20:41She did, however, consent to climb on to Glimfeather's back, and was thoroughly waked up for a while
00:20:46by the unexpected coldness of the air when he flew out with her into the night.
00:20:53The moon had disappeared, and there were no stars.
00:20:58Far behind her she could see a single lighted window well above the ground, doubtless in
00:21:03one of the towers of Caer Paravell.
00:21:07It made her long to be back in that delightful bedroom, snug in bed, watching the firelight
00:21:12on the walls.
00:21:15She put her hands under her cloak and wrapped it tightly round her.
00:21:18It was uncanny to hear two voices in the dark air a little distance away.
00:21:24Scrub and his Owl were talking to one another.
00:21:28He doesn't sound tired, thought Jill.
00:21:31She did not realize that he had been on great adventures in that world before, and that
00:21:35the Narnian air was bringing back to him a strength he had won when he sailed the Eastern
00:21:40Seas with King Caspian.
00:21:43Jill had to pinch herself to keep awake, for she knew that if she dozed on Glimfeather's
00:21:47back she would probably fall off.
00:21:50When at last the two Owls ended their flight, she climbed stiffly off Glimfeather and found
00:21:56herself on flat ground.
00:21:59A chilly wind was blowing, and they appeared to be in a place without trees.
00:22:04Toowoo, toowoo, Glimfeather was calling.
00:22:07Wake up, puddle-glam, wake up, it is on the lion's business.
00:22:14For a long time there was no reply.
00:22:17Then a long way off a dim light appeared and began to come nearer.
00:22:22With it came a voice.
00:22:24Owls, ahoy! it said.
00:22:27What is it?
00:22:28Is the king dead?
00:22:30Has an enemy landed in Narnia?
00:22:33Is it a flood?
00:22:34Or dragons?
00:22:37When the light reached them it turned out to be that of a large lantern.
00:22:42Jill could see very little of the person who held it.
00:22:45He seemed to be all legs and arms.
00:22:48The Owls were talking to him, explaining everything, but she was too tired to listen.
00:22:55She tried to wake herself up a bit when she realized that they were saying goodbye to
00:22:58her, but she could never afterwards remember much except that sooner or later she and Scrub
00:23:03were stooping to enter a low doorway, and then, oh, thank heavens, were lying down on
00:23:07something soft and warm, and a voice was saying,
00:23:12There you are, best we can do.
00:23:15You'll lie cold and hard.
00:23:17Damp, too, I shouldn't wonder.
00:23:20Won't sleep a wink, most likely.
00:23:23Even if there isn't a thunderstorm or a flood, or the wigwam didn't fall down on the top
00:23:27of us all as I've known them do, must make the best of it.
00:23:32But she was fast asleep before the voice had ended.
00:23:36When the children woke late the next morning they found that they were lying very dry and
00:23:40warm on beds of straw in a dark place.
00:23:45A triangular opening let in the daylight.
00:23:48Where on earth are we? asked Jill.
00:23:52In the wigwam of a marsh wiggle, said Eustace.
00:23:55A what?
00:23:56A marsh wiggle.
00:23:58Then asked me what it is.
00:23:59I couldn't see it last night.
00:24:00I'm getting up.
00:24:01Let's go and look for it.
00:24:03How beastly one feels after sleeping in one's clothes, said Jill, sitting up.
00:24:08I was just thinking how nice it was not to have to dress, said Eustace.
00:24:12Or wash, either, I suppose, said Jill scornfully.
00:24:15But Scrub had already got up, yawned, shaken himself, and crawled out of the wigwam.
00:24:21Jill did the same.
00:24:24What they found outside was quite unlike the bit of Narnia they had seen on the day before.
00:24:29They were on a great flat plain which was cut into countless little islands by countless
00:24:34channels of water.
00:24:36The islands were covered with coarse grass and bordered with reeds and rushes.
00:24:43Sometimes there were beds of rushes about an acre in extent.
00:24:47Clouds of birds were constantly alighting in them and rising from them again—ducks,
00:24:51snipe, bittens, herons.
00:24:55Many wigwams like that in which they had passed the night could be seen dotted about, but
00:24:59all at a good distance from one another, for marsh-wiggles are people who like privacy.
00:25:07Except for the fringe of the forest several miles to the south and west of them, there
00:25:11was not a tree in sight.
00:25:13Eastward, the flat marsh stretched to low sand-hills on the horizon, and you could tell
00:25:19by the salt tang in the wind which blew from that direction that the sea lay over there.
00:25:24To the north there were low, pale-coloured hills in places bastioned with rock.
00:25:31The rest was all flat marsh.
00:25:35It would have been a depressing place on a wet evening.
00:25:39Seen under a morning sun, with a fresh wind blowing, and the air filled with the crying
00:25:45of birds, there was something fine and fresh and clean about its loneliness.
00:25:51The children felt their spirits rise.
00:25:53"'Where has the thingamigot to, I wonder?' said Jill.
00:25:57"'The marsh-wiggle,' said Scrubb, as if he were rather proud of knowing the word.
00:26:01"'I expect to—'
00:26:02"'Oh, hello!
00:26:03That must be him!'
00:26:04And then they both saw him, sitting with his back to them, fishing, about fifty yards away.
00:26:11He had been hard to see at first, because he was nearly the same colour as the marsh,
00:26:16and because he sat so still.
00:26:17"'I suppose we had better go and speak to him,' said Jill.
00:26:21Scrubb nodded.
00:26:22They both felt a little nervous.
00:26:26As they drew nearer, the figure turned its head and showed them a long, thin face, with
00:26:31rather sunken cheeks, a tightly shut mouth, a sharp nose, and no beard.
00:26:38He was wearing a high-pointed hat like a steeple, with an enormously wide, flat brim.
00:26:45The hair—if it could be called hair, which hung over his large ears—was greeny-grey,
00:26:51and each lock was flat rather than round, so that they were like tiny reeds.
00:26:57His expression was solemn, his complexion muddy, and you could see at once that he took
00:27:02a serious view of life.
00:27:05"'Good-morning, guests,' he said.
00:27:09"'Though when I say good, I don't mean it won't probably turn to rain, or it might be
00:27:14snow or fog or thunder.
00:27:17You didn't get any sleep, I dare say.'
00:27:20"'Yes, we did, though,' said Jill.
00:27:21'We had a lovely night.'
00:27:22"'Ah,' said the Marsh Wiggle, shaking his head, 'I see you're making the best of a bad
00:27:28job.
00:27:29That's right.
00:27:30You've been well brought up, you have.
00:27:33You've learnt to put a good face on things.'
00:27:35"'Please, we don't know your name,' said Scrubb.
00:27:39"'Puddlegum's my name, but doesn't matter if you forget it.
00:27:43I can always tell you again.'
00:27:46The children sat down on each side of him.
00:27:50They now saw that he had very long legs and arms, so that although his body was not much
00:27:54bigger than a dwarf's, he would be taller than most men when he stood up.
00:27:59The fingers of his hands were webbed like a frog's, and so were his bare feet which
00:28:03dangled in the muddy water.
00:28:06He was dressed in earth-coloured clothes that hung loose about him.
00:28:09"'I'm trying to catch a few eels to make an eel stew for our dinner,' said Puddlegum.
00:28:16"'Though you shouldn't wonder if I didn't get any.
00:28:18You won't like them much if I do.'
00:28:20"'Why not?' asked Scrubb.
00:28:23"'Why, it's not in reason that you should like our sort of vittles, though I've no doubt
00:28:28you'll put a bold face on it.
00:28:30All the same, while I am a-catching of them, if you two could try to light the fire, there's
00:28:36no harm in trying.
00:28:38The wood's behind the wigwam.
00:28:40It may be wet.
00:28:42You could light it inside the wigwam, and then we'd get all the smoke in our eyes, or
00:28:47you could light it outside, and then the rain would come and put it out.
00:28:53Here is my tinder-box.
00:28:54You won't know how to use it, I expect.'
00:28:57But Scrubb had learnt that sort of thing on his last adventure.
00:29:01The children ran back together to the wigwam, found the wood, which was perfectly dry, and
00:29:06succeeded in lighting a fire with rather less than the usual difficulty.
00:29:11Then Scrubb sat and took care of it while Jill went and had some sort of wash, not a
00:29:15very nice one, in the nearest channel.
00:29:18After that she sought the fire, and he had a wash.
00:29:22Both felt a good deal fresher, but very hungry.
00:29:26Presently the Marsh Wiggle joined them.
00:29:29In spite of his expectation of catching no eels, he had a dozen or so, which he had already
00:29:34skinned and cleaned.
00:29:37He put a big pot on, mended the fire, and lit his pipe.
00:29:41Marsh Wiggles smoke a very strange, heavy sort of tobacco.
00:29:45Some people say they mix it with mud.
00:29:47And the children noticed the smoke from Puddleglum's pipe hardly rose in the air at all.
00:29:52It trickled out of the bowl, and downwards, and drifted along the ground like a mist.
00:29:58It was very black, and set Scrubb coughing.
00:30:03"'Now,' said Puddleglum, "'those eels will take a mortal long time to cook, and either
00:30:09of you might faint with hunger before they're done.
00:30:12I knew a little girl, but I better not tell you that story.
00:30:15Might lower your spirits, and that's a thing I never do.
00:30:18So to keep your minds off your hunger, we may as well talk about our plans.'
00:30:23"'Yes, do let,' said Jill.
00:30:26"'Can you help us to find Prince Rillian?'
00:30:29The Marsh Wiggles sucked in his cheeks till they were hollower than you would have thought
00:30:32possible.
00:30:33"'Well, don't know that you call it help,' he said.
00:30:38"'Don't know that anyone could exactly help.
00:30:42It stands to reason we're not likely to get very far on a journey to the North, not this
00:30:45time of year, with the winter coming on so soon and all.
00:30:49An early winter, too, by the look of things.
00:30:52But you mustn't let that make you down hard.
00:30:56Very likely what with enemies, and mountains, and rivers to cross, and losing our way, and
00:31:01next to nothing to eat, and sore feet, we'll already notice the weather.
00:31:05And if we don't get far enough to do any good, we may get far enough not to get back in a
00:31:10hurry.'
00:31:11Both children noticed that he said we, not you, and both exclaimed at the same moment,
00:31:17''Are you coming with us?'
00:31:19"'Oh, yes, I'm coming, of course.
00:31:22Might as well, you see.
00:31:23I suppose we shall ever see the King back in Narnia, now that he's once set off for
00:31:27foreign parts.'
00:31:28And he had a nasty cough when he left.
00:31:31"'And then there's Trumpkin.
00:31:33He's failing fast.
00:31:35You'll find there's been a bad harvest after this terrible dry summer.
00:31:39I shouldn't wonder if some enemy attacked us.
00:31:42Mark my words.'
00:31:43"'And how shall we start?' said Scrubb.
00:31:46"'Well,' said the Marsh Wiggle very slowly, ''all the others who ever went looking for
00:31:52Prince Rillian started from that same fountain where the Lord Drinian saw the Lady.
00:31:58They went north, mostly, and as none of them ever came back, we can't exactly say how they
00:32:05got on.'
00:32:06"'We've got to start by finding a ruined city of giants,' said Jill.
00:32:11Aslan said so.
00:32:13"'Got to start by finding it, have we?'
00:32:16answered Puddle-Glum.
00:32:17"'Not allowed to start by looking for it, I suppose.
00:32:21Well, that's what I meant, of course,' said Jill.
00:32:24And then when we've found it—'
00:32:25"'Yes.'
00:32:26"'When?' said Puddle-Glum very dryly.
00:32:29"'Doesn't anyone know where it is?' asked Scrubb.
00:32:32"'We don't know about anyone,' said Puddle-Glum, "'and I won't say I haven't heard of that ruined
00:32:38city.
00:32:39It wouldn't start from the fountain, though.
00:32:41You'd have to go across Ettinsmoor.
00:32:44That's where the ruined city is, if it's anywhere.
00:32:47But I've been as far in that direction as most people, and I never got to any ruins,
00:32:52so I won't deceive you.'
00:32:53"'Where's Ettinsmoor?' said Scrubb.
00:32:57"'Look over there, northward,' said Puddle-Glum, pointing with his pipe.
00:33:02"'You see those hills and bits of cliff?
00:33:05That's the beginning of Ettinsmoor.
00:33:08But there's a river between it and us, the River Shribble—no bridges, of course.'
00:33:13"'I suppose we can ford it, though,' said Scrubb.
00:33:18"'Well, it has been forded,' admitted the Marsh Wiggle.
00:33:22"'Perhaps we shall meet people on Ettinsmoor who can tell us the way,' said Jill.
00:33:27"'You're right about meeting people,' said Puddle-Glum.
00:33:29"'But what sort of people live there?' she asked.
00:33:32"'It's not for me to say they aren't all right in their own way,' answered Puddle-Glum.
00:33:38"'If you like their way—'
00:33:41"'Yes, but what are they?' pressed Jill.
00:33:43"'There are so many strange creatures in this country.
00:33:46I mean, are they animals, or birds, or dwarfs, or what?'
00:33:50The Marsh Wiggle gave a long whistle.
00:33:53"'Phew!' he said.
00:33:56"'Don't you know?
00:33:58I thought the owls had told you.
00:34:00"'They're giants.'
00:34:04Jill winced.
00:34:05She had never liked giants, even in books, and she had once met one in a nightmare.
00:34:11Then she saw Scrub's face, which had turned rather green, and thought to herself,
00:34:16"'I bet he's in a worse funk than I am.'
00:34:18That made her feel braver.
00:34:21"'The King told me long ago,' said Scrub,
00:34:24"'that time when I was with him at sea, that he'd jolly well beaten those giants in war and
00:34:29made them pay him tribute.'
00:34:31"'That's true enough,' said Puddle-Glum.
00:34:34"'They're at peace with us, all right.
00:34:36As long as we stay on our side of the shrivel, they won't do us any harm.
00:34:42Over on their side, on the moor, still there's always a chance.
00:34:47If we don't get near any of them, and if none of them forget themselves, and we're not seen,
00:34:52it's just possible we might get a long way.'
00:34:57"'Look here,' said Scrub, suddenly losing his temper, as people so easily do when they
00:35:01have been frightened.
00:35:03"'I don't believe the whole thing can be half as bad as you're making out, any more than
00:35:07the beds in the wigwam were hard or the wood was wet.
00:35:11I don't think Aslan would ever have sent us if there was so little chance as all that.'
00:35:16He quite expected the Marsh Wiggle to give him an angry reply, but he only said,
00:35:20"'That's the spirit, Scrub.
00:35:22That's the way to talk.
00:35:23Put a good face on it.
00:35:25But we all need to be very careful about our tempers, seeing all the hard times we shall
00:35:30have to go through together.
00:35:31Won't do to quarrel, you know.
00:35:33At any rate, don't begin it too soon.
00:35:36I know these expeditions usually end that way, knife in one another, I shouldn't wonder
00:35:40before all's done.
00:35:42But the longer we can keep off it—'
00:35:44"'If you feel it so hopeless,' interrupted Scrub,
00:35:47"'I think you'd better stay behind.
00:35:49Pole and I can go on alone, can't we, Pole?'
00:35:51"'Shut up and don't be an ass, Scrub,' said Jill, hastily, terrified lest the Marsh Wiggle
00:35:55should take him at his word.
00:35:57"'Don't you lose heart, Pole,' said Puddle-Glum.
00:36:00"'I'm coming, sure and certain.
00:36:03I'm not going to lose an opportunity like this.
00:36:05It would do me good.
00:36:07They all say—I mean the other Wiggles all say—that I'm too flighty.
00:36:12Don't take life seriously enough.
00:36:14They've said it once, they've said it a thousand times.
00:36:17Puddle-Glum, they've said, you're altogether too full of bobbants and bounce and high spirits.
00:36:23You've got to learn that life isn't all fricasseed frogs and eel pie.
00:36:26You want something to sober you down a bit.
00:36:29We're only saying it for your own good, Puddle-Glum.'
00:36:32"'That's what they say.'
00:36:34"'Now a job like this, a journey up north just as winter's beginning,
00:36:38looking for a prince who probably ain't there, by way of a ruined city that no one has ever seen,
00:36:43will be just the thing.
00:36:45If they don't steady a chap, I don't know what will.'
00:36:49And he rubbed his big frog-like hands together as if he were talking of going to a party,
00:36:54or a pantomime.
00:36:55"'I know,' he added,
00:36:58"'let's see how those eels are getting on.'
00:37:02When the meal came, it was delicious, and the children had two large helpings each.
00:37:08At first, the Marsh Wiggle wouldn't believe that they really liked it,
00:37:11and when they had eaten so much that he had to believe them,
00:37:14he fell back on saying that it would probably disagree with them horribly.
00:37:19"'Whilst food for Wiggles may be poison for humans, I shouldn't wonder,' he said.
00:37:25After the meal they had tea, in tins, as you've seen men having it who are working on the road,
00:37:31and Puddle-Glum had a good many sips out of a square black bottle.
00:37:36He offered the children some of it, but they thought it very nasty.
00:37:41The rest of the day was spent in preparations for an early start the next morning.
00:37:46Puddle-Glum, being far the biggest, said he would carry three blankets,
00:37:50with a large bit of bacon rolled up inside them.
00:37:54Jill was to carry the remains of the eels, some biscuit, and the tinderbox.
00:37:58Scrub was to carry both his own cloak and Jill's when they didn't want to wear them.
00:38:03Scrub, who had learned some shooting when he sailed to the east under Caspian,
00:38:07had Puddle-Glum's second-best bow, and Puddle-Glum had his best one,
00:38:12though he said that what with winds, and damp bow-strings, and bad light,
00:38:17and cold fingers, it was a hundred to one against either of them hitting anything.
00:38:23He and Scrub both had swords.
00:38:25Scrub had brought the one which had been left out for him in his room at Care Paravelle,
00:38:30but Jill had to be content with her knife.
00:38:33There would have been a quarrel about this, but as soon as they started sparring,
00:38:38the Wiggle rubbed his hands and said,
00:38:40"'Ah, there you are,' thought as much.
00:38:43"'That's what usually happens on adventures.'
00:38:46This made them both shut up.
00:38:49All three went to bed early in the wigwam.
00:38:52This time the children really had a rather bad night.
00:38:55That was because Puddle-Glum, after saying,
00:38:58"'You better try for some sleep, you two.
00:39:00Not that I suppose any of us will close an eye tonight,'
00:39:03instantly went off into such a loud continuous snore
00:39:07that when Jill at last got to sleep,
00:39:09she dreamed all night about road drills, and waterfalls,
00:39:13and being in express trains in tunnels."
00:39:16Chapter 6 The Wild Wastelands of the North
00:39:23At about nine o'clock the next morning, three lonely figures might have been seen
00:39:26picking their way across the shrivel by the shoals and stepping-stones.
00:39:31It was a shallow, noisy stream,
00:39:34and even Jill was not wet above her knees when they reached the northern bank.
00:39:38About fifty yards ahead, the land rose up to the beginning of the moor,
00:39:43everywhere steeply, and often in cliffs.
00:39:48"'I suppose that's our way,' said Scrub, pointing left and west
00:39:51to where a stream flowed down from the moor through a shallow gorge.
00:39:55But the marsh-wiggle shook his head.
00:39:57"'The giants mainly live along the side of that gorge,' he said.
00:40:01"'You might say the gorge was like a street to them.
00:40:05We'll do better straight ahead, even though it's a bit steep.'
00:40:09They found a place where they could scramble up,
00:40:12and in about ten minutes stood panting at the top.
00:40:16They cast a longing look back at the valley-land of Narnia,
00:40:20and then turned their faces to the north.
00:40:23The vast, lonely moor stretched on and up as far as they could see.
00:40:29On their left was rockier ground.
00:40:31Jill thought that must be the edge of the giants' gorge,
00:40:34and did not much care about looking in that direction.
00:40:37They set out.
00:40:39It was good, springy ground for walking, and a day of pale winter sunlight.
00:40:45As they got deeper into the moor, the loneliness increased.
00:40:49One could hear peewits, and see an occasional hawk.
00:40:53When they halted in the middle of the morning for a rest,
00:40:56and a drink in a little hollow by a stream,
00:40:58Jill was beginning to feel that she might enjoy adventures after all, and said so.
00:41:03And said so.
00:41:04We hadn't had any yet, said the Marsh Wiggle.
00:41:09Walks after the first halt, like school mornings after break,
00:41:13or railway journeys after changing trains, never go on as they were before.
00:41:19When they set out again, Jill noticed that the rocky edge of the gorge had drawn nearer,
00:41:23and the rocks were less flat, more upright, than they had been.
00:41:28In fact, they were like little towers of rock.
00:41:31And what funny shapes they were.
00:41:35I do believe, thought Jill, that all the stories about giants
00:41:37might have come from those funny rocks.
00:41:40If you were coming along here when it was half dark,
00:41:43you could easily think those piles of rock were giants.
00:41:46Look at that one now.
00:41:48You could almost imagine that the lump on top was a head.
00:41:52It would be rather too big for the body, but it would do well enough for an ugly giant.
00:41:56And all that bushy stuff, I suppose it's heather and birds' nests, really,
00:42:01would do quite well for hair and beard.
00:42:05And the things sticking out on each side are quite like ears.
00:42:08They'd be horribly big.
00:42:11But then I dare say giants would have big ears, like elephants, and—
00:42:14Oh!
00:42:14Her blood froze.
00:42:16The thing moved.
00:42:18It was a real giant.
00:42:20There was no mistaking it.
00:42:22She had seen it turn its head.
00:42:25She had caught a glimpse of the great, stupid, puff-cheeked face.
00:42:30All the things were giants.
00:42:32Not rocks.
00:42:33There were forty or fifty of them, all in a row,
00:42:37obviously standing with their feet on the bottom of the gorge,
00:42:40and their elbows resting on the edge of the gorge,
00:42:42just as men might stand leaning on a wall,
00:42:45lazy men, on a fine morning after breakfast.
00:42:49Keep straight on, whispered Puddlegum, who had noticed them too.
00:42:54Don't look at them, and whatever you do, don't run.
00:42:57They'd all be after us in a moment.
00:43:01So they kept on, pretending not to have seen the giants.
00:43:05It was like walking past the gate of a house where there is a fierce dog,
00:43:09only far worse.
00:43:10There were dozens and dozens of these giants.
00:43:14They didn't look angry, or kind, or interested at all.
00:43:18There was no sign that they had seen the travellers.
00:43:21Then some heavy object came hurtling through the air,
00:43:26and with a crash a big boulder fell about twenty paces ahead of them,
00:43:30and then thud!
00:43:31Another fell twenty feet behind.
00:43:35Are they aiming at us? asked Scrub.
00:43:38No, said Puddlegum.
00:43:40We'd be a good deal safer if they were.
00:43:42They're trying to hit that cairn over there to the right.
00:43:46They won't hit it, you know.
00:43:48It's safe enough.
00:43:49They're such very bad shots.
00:43:51They play cockshies most fine mornings,
00:43:54but the only game they're clever enough to understand.
00:43:57It was a horrible time.
00:43:59There seemed no end to the line of giants,
00:44:02and they never ceased hurling stones,
00:44:05some of which fell extremely close.
00:44:08Quite apart from the real danger,
00:44:10the very sight and sound of their faces and voices were enough to scare anyone.
00:44:15Jill tried not to look at them.
00:44:17After about twenty-five minutes, the giants apparently had a quarrel.
00:44:21This put an end to the cockshies,
00:44:23but it is not pleasant to be within a mile of quarrelling giants.
00:44:28They stormed and jeered at one another in long,
00:44:31meaningless words of about twenty syllables each.
00:44:34They foamed and gibbered and jumped in their rage,
00:44:37and each jump shook the earth like a bomb.
00:44:39They lambed each other on the head with great clumsy stone hammers,
00:44:44but their skulls were so hard that the hammers bounced off again,
00:44:48and then the monster who had given the blow would drop his hammer
00:44:50and howl with pain because it had stung his fingers.
00:44:54But he was so stupid that he would do exactly the same thing a minute later.
00:44:58This was a good thing in the long run, for by the end of an hour,
00:45:01all the giants were so hurt that they sat down and began to cry.
00:45:05When they sat down, their heads were below the edge of the gorge,
00:45:10so that you saw them no more.
00:45:12But Jill could hear them howling and blubbering and boo-hooing like great babies,
00:45:17even after the place was a mile behind.
00:45:21That night they bivouacked on the bare moor,
00:45:24and Puddleglum showed the children how to make the best of their blankets
00:45:27by sleeping back to back.
00:45:29The backs keep each other warm, and you can then have both blankets on top.
00:45:34But it was chilly even so, and the ground was hard and lumpy.
00:45:38The Marsh Wiggle told them they would feel more comfortable
00:45:41if only they thought how very much colder it would be later on and further north.
00:45:45But this didn't cheer them up at all.
00:45:49They travelled across Ettinsmoor for many days,
00:45:52saving the bacon and living chiefly on the moorfowl
00:45:56they were not, of course, talking birds, which Eustace and the Wiggle shot.
00:46:02Jill rather envied Eustace for being able to shoot.
00:46:04He had learnt it on his voyage with King Caspian.
00:46:08As there were countless streams on the moor, they were never short of water.
00:46:13Jill thought that when in books people live on what they shoot,
00:46:16it never tells you what a long, smelly, messy job it is plucking and cleaning dead birds,
00:46:22and how cold it makes your fingers.
00:46:25But the great thing was that they met hardly any giants.
00:46:29One giant saw them, but he only roared with laughter
00:46:33and stumped away about his own business.
00:46:37About the tenth day, they reached a place where the country changed.
00:46:42They came to the northern edge of the moor,
00:46:44and looked down a long, steep slope into a different and grimmer land.
00:46:50At the bottom of the slope were cliffs.
00:46:53Beyond these, a country of high mountains, dark precipices, stony valleys,
00:46:59ravines so deep and narrow that one could not see far into them,
00:47:04and rivers that poured out of echoing gorges to plunge sullenly into black depths.
00:47:10Needless to say, it was Puddle-Glum who pointed out a sprinkling of snow on the more distant slopes.
00:47:17But there'll be more on the north side of them, I shouldn't wonder, he added.
00:47:23It took them some time to reach the foot of the slope, and when they did,
00:47:27they looked down from the top of the cliffs at a river running below them from west to east.
00:47:32It was walled in by precipices on the far side as well as on their own,
00:47:37and it was green and sunless, full of rapids and waterfalls.
00:47:41The roar of it shook the earth, even where they stood.
00:47:45The bright side of it is, said Puddle-Glum,
00:47:48if we break our necks getting down the cliff, then we're safe from being drowned in the river.
00:47:54Well, what about that? said Scrub suddenly, pointing upstream to their left.
00:47:58Then they all looked and saw the last thing they were expecting, a bridge.
00:48:03And what a bridge, too!
00:48:06It was a huge single arch that spanned the gorge from clifftop to clifftop,
00:48:12and the crown of that arch was as high above the clifftops as the Dome of St. Paul's is above the street.
00:48:19Why, it must be a giant's bridge, said Jill.
00:48:22Or a sorcerer's, more likely, said Puddle-Glum.
00:48:27We've got to look out for enchantments in a place like this.
00:48:30I think it's a trap.
00:48:32I think it'll turn to mist and melt away just when we're out in the middle of it.
00:48:36Oh, for goodness sake, don't be such a wet blanket, said Scrub.
00:48:40Why on earth shouldn't it be a proper bridge?
00:48:43Do you think any of the giants we've seen would have the sense to build a thing like that?
00:48:47said Puddle-Glum.
00:48:49But mightn't it have been built by other giants, said Jill?
00:48:51I mean, by giants who lived hundreds of years ago and were far cleverer than the modern kind.
00:48:57It might have been built by the same ones who built the giant city we're looking for,
00:49:01and that would mean we were on the right track, the old bridge leading to the old city.
00:49:06That's a real brainwave pole, said Scrub. It must be that. Come on.
00:49:12So they turned and went to the bridge.
00:49:15And when they reached it, it certainly seemed solid enough.
00:49:19The single stones were as big as those at Stonehenge,
00:49:22and must have been squared by good masons once, though now they were cracked and crumbled.
00:49:28The balustrade had apparently been covered with rich carvings, of which some traces remained,
00:49:33mouldering faces and forms of giants, minotaurs, squids, centipedes, and dreadful gods.
00:49:40Puddle-Glum didn't trust it, but he consented to cross it with the children.
00:49:46The climb up to the crown of the arch was long and heavy.
00:49:51In many places the great stones had dropped out, leaving horrible gaps,
00:49:55through which you looked down on the river foaming thousands of feet below.
00:50:00They saw an eagle fly through under their feet, and the higher they went, the colder it grew,
00:50:07and the wind blew so that they could hardly keep their footing, it seemed to shake the bridge.
00:50:15When they reached the top and could look down the further slope of the bridge,
00:50:19they saw what looked like the remains of an ancient giant road stretching away before
00:50:23them into the heart of the mountains. Many stones of its pavement were missing,
00:50:29and there were wide patches of grass between those that remained,
00:50:33and riding towards them on that ancient road were two people of normal grown-up human size.
00:50:41Keep on, move towards them, said Puddle-Glum, anyone you meet in a place like this is as
00:50:47likely as not to be an enemy, but we mustn't let them think we're afraid.
00:50:52By the time they had stepped off the end of the bridge onto the grass,
00:50:55the two strangers were quite close. One was a knight in complete armour with his visor down.
00:51:03His armour and his horse were black. There was no device on his shield and no banneret on his spear.
00:51:11The other was a lady on a white horse, a horse so lovely that you wanted to kiss its nose and give
00:51:18it a lump of sugar at once. But the lady, who rode side-saddle and wore a long fluttering dress
00:51:25of dazzling green, was lovelier still.
00:51:29Good day, travellers, she cried out in a voice as sweet as the sweetest bird-song,
00:51:36trilling her Rs delightfully. Some of you are young pilgrims to walk this rough waste.
00:51:43That's as may be, ma'am, said Puddle-Glum, very stiffly and on his guard.
00:51:49We're looking for the ruined city of the giants, said Jill.
00:51:53The ruined city! said the lady. That is a strange place to be seeking.
00:51:59What will you do if you find it?
00:52:02We've got to, began Jill, but Puddle-Glum interrupted.
00:52:07Begging your pardon, ma'am, but we don't know you or your friend,
00:52:11Silent-Chapney, and you don't know us, and we'd as soon not talk to strangers
00:52:16about our business, if you don't mind. Shall we have a little rain soon, do you think?
00:52:22The lady laughed, the richest, most musical laugh you can imagine.
00:52:28Well, children, she said, you have a wise, solemn old guide with you.
00:52:35I think none the worse of him for keeping his own counsel, but I'll be free with mine.
00:52:40I have often heard the name of the giantish city ruinous,
00:52:43but never met any who would tell me the way thither.
00:52:47This road leads to the burg and castle of Harfang, where dwell the gentle giants.
00:52:53They are as mild, civil, prudent, and courteous as those of Ettinsmoor are foolish,
00:52:59fierce, savage, and given to all beastliness. And in Harfang you may or may not hear tidings
00:53:05of the city ruinous, but certainly you shall find good lodgings and merry hosts.
00:53:11You would be wise to winter there, or at the least to tarry certain days for your
00:53:16ease and refreshment. There you shall have steaming baths, soft beds, and bright hearths.
00:53:24And the roast and the baked and the sweet and the strong will be on the table four times in a day.
00:53:31I say, exclaimed Scrub, that's something like finger-sleeping in a bed again.
00:53:38Oh, yes, and having a hot bath, said Jill. Do you think they'll ask us to stay?
00:53:44We don't know them, you see.
00:53:46Only tell them, answered the lady, that she of the green curtail salutes them by you
00:53:53and has sent them two fair southern children for the autumn feast.
00:53:59Oh, thank you, thank you ever so much, said Jill and Scrub.
00:54:03But have a care, said the lady.
00:54:05On whatever day you reach Harfang, that you come not to the door too late,
00:54:10for they shut their gates a few hours after noon, and it is the custom of the castle
00:54:15that they open to none when once they have drawn bolt, how hard so ever he knock.
00:54:22The children thanked her again with shining eyes, and the lady waved to them.
00:54:27The Marsh Wiggle took off his steeple-hat and bowed very stiffly.
00:54:32Then the silent night, and the lady started walking their horses up the slope of the bridge
00:54:37with a great clatter of hoofs.
00:54:40Well, said Puddle-Glum, I give a good deal to know where she's coming from and where she's going.
00:54:48Not the sort you expect to meet in the wilds of Joyland, is she?
00:54:53Up to no good I'll be bound.
00:54:56Oh, rot, said Scrub.
00:55:00I thought she was simply super, and think of hot meals and warm rooms.
00:55:05I do hope Harfang isn't a long way off.
00:55:07Same here, said Jill.
00:55:09And hadn't she a scrumptious dress, and the horse?
00:55:13All the same, said Puddle-Glum, I wish we knew a bit more about her.
00:55:18I was going to ask her all about herself, said Jill, but how could I,
00:55:22when you wouldn't tell her anything about us?
00:55:24Yes, said Scrub, and why were you so stiff and unpleasant?
00:55:28Didn't you like them?
00:55:30Them? said the Wiggle.
00:55:33Who's them?
00:55:35I only saw one.
00:55:38Didn't you see the knight? asked Jill.
00:55:41I saw a suit of armour, said Puddle-Glum.
00:55:45Why didn't he speak?
00:55:47I expect he was shy, said Jill, or perhaps he just wants to look at her
00:55:52and listen to her lovely voice.
00:55:54I'm sure I would if I was him.
00:55:57I was wondering, remarked Puddle-Glum, what you'd really see if you
00:56:01lifted up the visor of that helmet and looked inside.
00:56:05Hang it all, said Scrub.
00:56:07Think of the shape of the armour.
00:56:08What could be inside it except a man?
00:56:11How about a skeleton? asked the Marsh Wiggle with gutterfulness.
00:56:16Or perhaps, he added as an afterthought, nothing at all.
00:56:20I mean, nothing you could see.
00:56:24Someone invisible.
00:56:27Really!
00:56:28Puddle-Glum, said Jill with a shudder, you do have the most horrible
00:56:33ideas.
00:56:34How do you think of them all?
00:56:36Oh, bother his ideas, said Scrub.
00:56:38He's always expecting the worst, and he's always wrong.
00:56:41Let's think about those gentle giants and get on to Harfang as quickly
00:56:44as we can.
00:56:46I wish I knew how far it is.
00:56:48And now they nearly had the first of those quarrels which Puddle-Glum
00:56:51had foretold.
00:56:53Not that Jill and Scrub hadn't been sparring and snapping at each
00:56:56other a good deal before, but this was the first really serious
00:57:00disagreement.
00:57:02Puddle-Glum didn't want them to go to Harfang at all.
00:57:05He said that he didn't know what a giant's idea of being gentle
00:57:08might be, and that, anyway, Aslan Sines had said nothing about
00:57:12staying with giants, gentle or otherwise.
00:57:15The children, on the other hand, who were sick of wind and rain and
00:57:19skinny fowl roasted over campfires and hard, cold earth to sleep on,
00:57:23were absolutely dead-set to visit the gentle giants.
00:57:26In the end, Puddle-Glum agreed to do so, but only on one condition.
00:57:32The others must give an absolute promise that, unless he gave them
00:57:36leave, they would not tell the gentle giants that they came from
00:57:39Narnia or that they were looking for Prince Rillian.
00:57:43And they gave him this promise, and went on.
00:57:48After that talk with the lady, things got worse in two different
00:57:51ways.
00:57:53In the first place, the country was much harder.
00:57:56The road led through endless, narrow valleys, down which a cruel
00:57:59north wind was always blowing in their faces.
00:58:03There was nothing that could be used for firewood, and there were
00:58:06no nice little hollows to camp in, as there had been on the moor.
00:58:10And the ground was all stony, and made your feet sore by day,
00:58:14and every bit of you sore by night.
00:58:18In the second place, whatever the lady had intended by telling them
00:58:21about Harfang, the actual effect on the children was a bad one.
00:58:27They could think about nothing but beds and baths and hot meals,
00:58:31and how lovely it would be to get indoors.
00:58:34They never talked about Aslan, or even about the lost prince now.
00:58:39And Jill gave up her habit of repeating the signs over to herself
00:58:43every night and morning.
00:58:45She said to herself at first that she was too tired, but she soon
00:58:49forgot all about it.
00:58:51And though you might have expected that the idea of having a good
00:58:54time at Harfang would have made them more cheerful, it really made
00:58:57them more sorry for themselves, and more grumpy and snappy with
00:59:01each other, and with Puddleglum.
00:59:04At last they came one afternoon to a place where the gorge in which
00:59:08they were travelling widened out, and dark fir-woods rose on
00:59:12either side.
00:59:14They looked ahead and saw that they had come through the mountains.
00:59:18Before them lay a desolate rocky plain, beyond it further
00:59:22mountains capped with snow, but between them and those further
00:59:27mountains rose a low hill with an irregular, flattish top.
00:59:32Look, look, cried Jill, and pointed across the plain, and there
00:59:37through the gathering dusk, from beyond the flat hill, everyone saw
00:59:41lights, lights, not moonlight nor fires, but a homely, cheering row
00:59:47of lighted windows.
00:59:50If you have never been in the wild wilderness day and night for
00:59:54weeks, you will hardly understand how they felt.
00:59:58Harfang, cried Scrub, and Jill in glad, excited voices, and Harfang,
01:00:05repeated Puddleglum in a dull, gloomy voice.
01:00:08But, he added, hello, wild geese, and had the bow off his shoulder
01:00:14in a second, he brought down a good fat goose.
01:00:18It was far too late to think of reaching Harfang that day, but they
01:00:22had a hot meal and a fire, and started the night warmer than they
01:00:25had been for over a week.
01:00:28After the fire had gone out, the night grew bitterly cold, and when
01:00:33they woke next morning, their blankets were stiff with frost.
01:00:37Never mind, said Jill, stamping her feet.
01:00:41Hot baths tonight.