《銀椅》第10章:不見太陽的旅行
"WHO's there?" shouted the three travellers.
"I am the Warden of the Marches of Underland, and with me stand a hundred Earthmen in arms," came the reply. "Tell me quickly who you are and what is your errand in the Deep Realm?"
"We fell down by accident," said Puddleglum, truthfully enough.
"Many fall down, and few return to the sunlit lands," said the voice. "Make ready now to come with me to the Queen of the Deep Realm."
"What does she want with us?" asked Scrubb cautiously.
"I do not know," said the voice. "Her will is not to be questioned but obeyed."
While he said these words there was a noise like a soft explosion and immediately a cold light, grey with a little blue in it, flooded the cavern. All hope that the speaker had been idly boasting when he spoke of his hundred armed followers died at once. Jill found herself blinking and staring at a dense crowd. They were of all sizes, from little gnomes barely a foot high to stately figures taller than men. All carried three-pronged spears in their hands, and all were dreadfully pale, and all stood as still as statues. Apart from that, they were very different; some had tails and others not, some wore great beards and others had very round, smooth faces, big as pumpkins. There were long, pointed noses, and long, soft noses like small trunks, and great blobby noses. Several had single horns in the middle of their foreheads. But in one respect they were all alike: every face in the whole hundred was as sad as a face could be. They were so sad that, after the first glance, Jill almost forgot to be afraid of them. She felt she would like to cheer them up.
"Well!" said Puddleglum, rubbing his hands. "This is just what I needed. If these chaps don't teach me to take a serious view of life, I don't know what will. Look at that fellow with the walrus moustache - or that one with the -"
"Get up," said the leader of the Earthmen.
There was nothing else to be done. The three travellers scrambled to their feet and joined hands. One wanted the touch of a friend's hand at a moment like that. And the Earthmen came all round them, padding on large, soft feet, on which some had ten toes, some twelve, and others none.
"March," said the Warden: and march they did.
The cold light came from a large ball on the top of a long pole, and the tallest of the gnomes carried this at the head of the procession. By its cheerless rays they could see that they were in a natural cavern; the walls and roof were knobbed, twisted, and gashed into a thousand fantastic shapes, and the stony floor sloped downward as they proceeded. It was worse for Jill than for the others, because she hated dark, underground places. And when, as they went on, the cave got lower and narrower, and when, at last, the light-bearer stood aside, and the gnomes, one by one, stooped down (all except the very smallest ones) and stepped into a little dark crack and disappeared, she felt she could bear it no longer.
"I can't go in there, I can't! I can't! I won't," she panted. The Earthmen said nothing but they all lowered their spears and pointed them at her.
"Steady, Pole," said Puddleglum. "Those big fellows wouldn't be crawling in there if it didn't get wider later on. And there's one thing about this underground work, we shan't get any rain."
"Oh, you don't understand. I can't," wailed Jill.
"Think how 1 felt on that cliff, Pole," said Scrubb. "You go first, Puddleglum, and I'll come after her."
"That's right," said the Marsh-wiggle, getting down on his hands and knees. "You keep a grip of my heels, Pole, and Scrubb will hold on to yours. Then we'll all be comfortable."
"Comfortable!" said Jill. But she got down and they crawled in on their elbows. It was a nasty place. You had to go flat on your face for what seemed like half an hour, though it may really have been only five minutes. It was hot. Jill felt she was being smothered. But at last a dim light showed ahead, the tunnel grew wider and higher, and they came out, hot, dirty, and shaken, into a cave so large that it scarcely seemed like a cave at all.
It was full of a dim, drowsy radiance, so that here they had no need of the Earthmen's strange lantern. The floor was soft with some kind of moss and out of this grew many strange shapes, branched and tall like trees, but flabby like mushrooms. They stood too far apart to make a forest; it was more like a park. The light (a greenish grey) seemed to come both from them and from the moss, and it was not strong enough to reach the roof of the cave, which must have been a long way overhead. Across the mild, soft, sleepy place they were now made to march. It was very sad, but with a quiet sort of sadness like soft music.
Here they passed dozens of strange animals lying on the turf, either dead or asleep, Jill could not tell which. These were mostly of a dragonish or bat-like sort; Puddleglum did not know what any of them were.
"Do they grow here?" Scrubb asked the Warden. He seemed very surprised at being spoken to, but replied, "No. They are all beasts that have found their way down by chasms and caves, out of Overland into the Deep Realm. Many come down, and few return to the sunlit lands. It is said that they will all wake at the end of the world."
His mouth shut like a box when he had said this, and in the great silence of that cave the children felt that they would not dare to speak again. The bare feet of the gnomes, padding on the deep moss, made no sound. There was no wind, there were no birds, there was no sound of water. There was no sound of breathing from the strange beasts.
When they had walked for several miles, they came to a wall of rock, and in it a low archway leading into another cavern. It was not, however, so bad as the last entrance and Jill could go through it without bending her head. It brought them into a smaller cave, long and narrow, about the shape and size of a cathedral. And here, filling almost the whole length of it, lay an enormous man fast asleep. He was far bigger than any of the giants, and his face was not like a giant's, but noble and beautiful. His breast rose and fell gently under the snowy beard which covered him to the waist. A pure, silver light (no one saw where it came from) rested upon him.
"Who's that?" asked Puddleglum. And it was so long since anyone had spoken, that Jill wondered how he had the nerve.
"That is old Father Time, who once was a King in Overland," said the Warden. "And now he has sunk down into the Deep Realm and lies dreaming of all the things that are done in the upper world. Many sink down, and few return to the sunlit lands. They say he will wake at the end of the world."
And out of that cave they passed into another, and then into another and another, and so on till Jill lost count, but always they were going downhill and each cave was lower than the last, till the very thought of the weight and depth of earth above you was suffocating. At last they came to a place where the Warden commanded his cheerless lantern to be lit again. Then they passed into a cave so wide and dark that they could see nothing of it except that right in front of them a strip of pale sand ran down into still water. And there, beside a little jetty, lay a ship without mast or sail but with many oars. They were made to go on board her and led forward to the bows where there was a clear space in front of the rowers' benches and a seat running round inside the bulwarks.
"One thing I'd like to know," said Puddleglum, "is whether anyone from our world - from up-a-top, I mean has ever done this trip before?"
"Many have taken ship at the pale beaches," replied the Warden, "and-"
"Yes, I know," interrupted Puddleglum. "And few return to the sunlit lands. You needn't say it again. You are a chap of one idea, aren't you?"
The children huddled close together on each side of Puddleglum. They had thought him a wet blanket while they were still above ground, but down here he seemed the only comforting thing they had. Then the pale lantern was hung up amidships, the Earthmen sat to the oars, and the ship began to move. The lantern cast its light only a very short way. Looking ahead, they could see nothing but smooth, dark water, fading into absolute blackness.
"Oh, whatever will become of us?" said Jill despairingly.
"Now don't you let your spirits down, Pole," said the Marsh-wiggle. "There's one thing you've got to remember. We're back on the right lines. We were to go under the Ruined City, and we are under it. We're following the instructions again."
Presently they were given food - flat, flabby cakes of some sort which had hardly any taste. And after that, they gradually fell asleep. But when they woke, everything was just the same; the gnomes still rowing, the ship still gliding on, still dead blackness ahead. How often they woke and slept and ate and slept again, none of them could ever remember. And the worst thing about it was that you began to feel as if you had always lived on that ship, in that darkness, and to wonder whether sun and blue skies and wind and birds had not been only a dream.
They had almost given up hoping or being afraid about anything when at last they saw lights ahead: dreary lights, like that of their own lantern. Then, quite suddenly, one of these lights came close and they saw that they were passing another ship. After that they met several ships. Then, staring till their eyes hurt, they saw that some of the lights ahead were shining on what looked like wharfs, walls, towers, and moving crowds. But still there was hardly any noise.
"By Jove," said Scrubb. "A city!" and soon they all saw that he was right.
But it was a queer city. The lights were so few and far apart that they would hardly have done for scattered cottages in our world. But the little bits of the place which you could see by the lights were like glimpses of a great seaport. You could make out in one place a whole crowd of ships loading or unloading; in another, bales of stuff and warehouses; in a third, walls and pillars that suggested great palaces or temples; and always, wherever the light fell, endless crowds - hundreds of Earthmen, jostling one another as they padded softly about their business in narrow streets, broad squares, or up great flights of steps. Their continued movement made a sort of soft, murmuring noise as the ship drew nearer and nearer; but there was not a song or a shout or a bell or the rattle of a wheel anywhere. The City was as quiet, and nearly as dark, as the inside of an ant-hill.
At last their ship was brought alongside a quay and made fast. The three travellers were taken ashore and marched up into the City. Crowds of Earthmen, no two alike, rubbed shoulders with them in the crowded streets, and the sad light fell on many sad and grotesque faces. But no one showed any interest in the strangers. Every gnome seemed to be as busy as it was sad, though Jill never found what they were so busy about. But the endless moving, shoving, hurrying, and the soft pad-pad-pad went on.
At last they came to what appeared to be a great castle, though few of the windows in it were lighted. Here they were taken in and made to cross a courtyard, and to climb many staircases. This brought them in the end to a great murkily lit room. But in one corner of it - oh joy! - there was an archway filled with a quite different sort of light; the honest, yellowish, warm light of such a lamp as humans use. What showed by this light inside the archway was the foot of a staircase which wound upward between walls of stone. The light seemed to come from the top. Two Earthmen stood one on each side of the arch like sentries, or footmen.
The Warden went up to these two, and said, as if it were a password:
"Many sink down to the Underworld."
"And few return to the sunlit lands," they answered, as if it were the countersign. Then all three put their heads together and talked. At last one of the two gnomes-in-waiting said, "I tell you the Queen's grace is gone from hence on her great affair. We had best keep these top dwellers in strait prison till her homecoming. Few return to the sunlit lands."
At that moment the conversation was interrupted by what seemed to Jill the most delightful noise in the world. It came from above, from the top of the staircase; and it was a clear, ringing, perfectly human voice, the voice of a young man.
"What coil are you keeping down there, Mullugutherum?" it shouted. "Overworlders, ha! Bring them up to me, and that presently."
"Please it your Highness to remember," began Mullugutherum, but the voice cut him short.
"It pleases my Highness principally to be obeyed, old mutterer. Bring them up," it called.
Mullugutherum shook his head, motioned to the travellers to follow and began going up the staircase. At every step the light increased. There were rich tapestries hanging on the walls. The lamplight shone golden through thin curtains at the staircase-head. The Earthmen parted the curtains and stood aside. The three passed in. They were in a beautiful room, richly tapestried, with a bright fire on a clean hearth, and red wine and cut glass sparkling on the table. A young man with fair hair rose to greet them. He was handsome and looked both bold and kind, though there was something about his face that didn't seem quite right. He was dressed in black and altogether looked a little bit like Hamlet.
"Welcome, Overworlders," he cried. "But stay a moment! I cry you mercy! I have seen you two fair children, and this, your strange governor, before. Was it not you three that met me by the bridge on the borders of Ettinsmoor when I rode there by my Lady's side?"
"Oh . . . you were the black knight who never spoke?" exclaimed Jill.
"And was that lady the Queen of Underland?" asked Puddleglum, in no very friendly voice. And Scrubb, who was thinking the same, burst out, "Because if it was, I think she was jolly mean to send us off to a castle of giants who intended to eat us. What harm had we ever done her, I should like to know?"
"How?" said the Black Knight with a frown. "If you were not so young a warrior, Boy, you and I must have fought to the death on this quarrel. I can hear no words against my Lady's honour. But of this you may be assured, that whatever she said to you, she said of a good intent. You do not know her. She is a nosegay of all virtues, as truth, mercy, constancy, gentleness, courage, and the rest. I say what I know. Her kindness to me alone, who can in no way reward her, would make an admirable history. But you shall know and love her hereafter. Meanwhile, what is your errand in the Deep Lands?"
And before Puddleglum could stop her, Jill blurted out, "Please we are trying to find Prince Rilian of Narnia." And then she realized what a frightful risk she had taken; these people might be enemies. But the Knight showed no interest.
"Rilian? Narnia?" he said carelessly. "Narnia? What land is that? I have never heard the name. It must be a thousand leagues from those parts of the Overworld that I know. But it was a strange fantasy that brought you seeking this - how do you call him? - Billian? Trillian? in my Lady's realm. Indeed, to my certain knowledge, there is no such man here." He laughed very loudly at this, and Jill thought to herself, "I wonder is that what's wrong with his face? Is he a bit silly?"
"We had been told to look for a message on the stones of the City Ruinous," said Scrubb. "And we saw the words UNDER ME."
The Knight laughed even more heartily than before. "You were the more deceived," he said. "Those words meant nothing to your purpose. Had you but asked my Lady, she could have given you better counsel. For those words are all that is left of a longer script, which in ancient times, as she well remembers, expressed this verse:
Though under Earth and throneless now I be, Yet, while I lived, all Earth was under me.
From which it is plain that some great king of the ancient giants, who lies buried there, caused this boast to be cut in the stone over his sepulchre; though the breaking up of some stones, and the carrying away of others for new buildings, and the filling up of the cuts with rubble, has left only two words that can still be read. Is it not the merriest jest in the world that you should have thought they were written to you?"
This was like cold water down the back to Scrubb and
Jill; for it seemed to them very likely that the words had nothing to do with their quest at all, and that they had been taken in by a mere accident.
"Don't you mind him," said Puddleglum. "There are no accidents. Our guide is Aslan; and he was there when the giant King caused the letters to be cut, and he knew already all things that would come of them; including this."
"This guide of yours must be a long liver, friend," said the Knight with another of his laughs.
Jill began to find them a little irritating.
"And it seems to me, Sir," answered Puddleglum, "that this Lady of yours must be a long liver too, if she remembers the verse as it was when they first cut it."
"Very shrewd, Frog-face," said the Knight, clapping Puddleglum on the shoulder and laughing again. "And you have hit the truth. She is of divine race, and knows neither age nor death. I am the more thankful to her for all her infinite bounty to such a poor mortal wretch as I. For you must know, Sirs, I am a man under most strange afflictions, and none but the Queen's grace would have had patience with me. Patience, said I? But it goes far beyond that. She has promised me a great kingdom in Overland, and, when I am king, her own most gracious hand in marriage. But the tale is too long for you to hear fasting and standing. Hi there, some of you! Bring wine and Updwellers' food for my guests. Please you, be seated, gentlemen. Little maiden, sit in this chair. You shall hear it all."
“我們是不小心掉下來的。”普德格倫老老實實地說。
“掉下來的多，回到陽光下的大地上去的少。”那聲音說，“現在準備跟我走，到幽深王國女王那兒去。”
“她要我們幹什麼？”斯克羅布小心地問。
“我不知道，”那聲音說，“她的意願可問不得，只能服從。”
他說這些話的時候，有個聲音像是輕柔的爆炸聲，大巖洞裏頓時有一片冷光，灰沉沉中帶點藍幽幽的光。大家都希望那個一直在瞎吹牛，提到有一百個武裝的隨從的人馬上死掉。吉爾卻不知不覺對着密密麻麻一羣人眨眨眼睛，還盯着他們看。這些人個子高矮不一，有不到一英尺高的小精靈，也有比常人高的威武的大個子。手裏全都拿着三叉長矛，個個都蒼白得要命，全都一動不動站着，活像雕像。除此之外，他們就大不相同了；有的有尾巴，有的沒有，有的留着大鬍子，另外的人臉蛋圓滾滾，光溜溜，像只大南瓜。有的是長長的尖鼻子，有的是軟綿綿的長鼻子，像小象鼻似的，還有胖乎乎肉疙瘩似的大鼻子。還有幾個前額正中長了只獨角。但有一點他們卻很相像:在這百來張臉上每張都有無比傷心的神情。他們是那麼傷心，吉爾看了一眼後，幾乎忘了害怕他們。她感到她很想讓他們高興起來。
“得，”普德格倫搓搓手說，“這正是我需要的。如果這些傢伙教不會我對待生活要嚴肅，我不知道什麼會教我了。看看那個長着海象鬍子的傢伙——或者那個有……”
“起來。”地下人的頭頭說。
沒辦法，他們三個只好趕緊站起來，手拉着手。一個人在這種時候就需要摸着一個朋友的手。那些地下人全都圍在他們身邊，一雙雙又大又軟的腳慢慢走着，有的長着十個腳趾，有的長着十二個，另外一些一個也沒有。
“開步走。”看守說。他們就走了。
那團冷光是從一根長杆頂上的一個大球裏發出來的。
一個最高的小精靈舉着這根長杆，走在隊伍前面。在慘淡的光線下，他們看得出自己正在一個天然的大巖洞裏；洞壁和洞頂都疙疙瘩瘩，歪歪扭扭，裂成千奇百怪的形狀。他們走的石頭地往下傾斜。這對吉爾比對別人更糟，因爲她最討厭黑暗的地下場所。他們走下去時，那山洞變得越來越低，越來越窄，最後拿燈的那個站在一邊，小精靈一個一個彎下腰(只有最小的幾個不用彎腰)，踏進一條又小又黑的裂縫裏就不見了，她覺得自己再也受不了啦。
“我不能進去，我不能！我不能！我不去。”她氣喘吁吁地說。地下人不說話，只是全都把矛放低，用矛頭對着她。
“沉住氣，波爾，”普德格倫說，“要是這個洞回頭不變寬些，那些大個子傢伙就不會爬進去。而且這地下世界有一件事倒好，淋不到雨。”
“哦，你不懂的，我不能去。”吉爾哭叫着。
“想想我在那懸崖上是什麼感覺吧，波爾，”斯克羅布說，“你先走，普德格倫，我跟在她後面。”
“好吧，”沼澤怪說着兩手兩膝着地，”你抓着我的腳後跟，波爾，斯克羅布再抓住你的，那我們大家就都舒服了。”
“舒服”吉爾說。不過她還是跪下了，他們都用手拐兒撐着爬了進去。洞裏是個讓人噁心的地方，你得趴在地上，似乎爬上半小時光景，其實可能只有五分鐘。裏面很熱，吉爾覺得自己要悶死了。不過前面終於露出一點朦朧的光，地道也變得更寬更高了。他們走出來時又熱又髒，渾身發抖，來到一個山洞裏，這山洞很大，簡直完全不像一個山洞。
洞裏充滿朦朦朧朧、昏昏沉沉的光，因此他們不需要地下人那奇怪的燈籠了。地上軟軟的，長着一種青苔，青苔上長着好多奇形怪狀、分枝的、像樹那麼高像蘑菇那麼鬆軟的東西。這些東西離得太遠，形不成樹林，倒更像個公園。那種光(一種綠灰色的光)似乎就是從這些東西和青苔上發出來的，不過還不夠亮，照不到洞頂，想必離頭頂還有一大段距離吧。穿過這個不冷不熱，令人睏倦的柔軟地方，他們被迫往前走。這真叫人非常傷心，只是像柔和的音樂那樣，傷心中又帶點恬靜的味兒。
他們在這兒又經過許許多多躺在草地上的奇怪動物，吉爾說不清它們究竟是死了還是睡着了。這些動物大部分像是龍，或是蝙蝠一類，普德格倫一樣也不認識。:
“它們都是生長在這兒的嗎？”斯克羅布問那個看守。他對有人對他說話似乎十分驚訝，但回答說，“不，它們全是。從裂縫和山洞鑽下來的動物，從上面的世界鑽到幽深王國。下來的多，回到陽光下的大地上去的少。據說到了世界末日，它們纔會醒過來。”
說了這些話以後，他的嘴就緊緊閉上，在山洞的一片寂靜中，兩個孩子覺得自己也不敢再說話了。小精靈的一雙雙光腳走在深深的青苔上，一點聲音也沒有。沒有風，沒有鳥，沒有水聲。那些奇怪的動物連呼吸的聲音也沒有。
他們這樣走了好幾英里，來到一堵石牆面前，牆上有一道低低的拱門，通往另一個山洞。不過這個拱門不像上次那個入口那麼糟，吉爾走過去時不用低頭。走過拱門，他們就進入一個小一點的山洞，又長又窄，形狀大小就像個大教堂。有一個其大無比的人躺在那兒呼呼大睡，從山洞這頭到那頭幾乎都給他身子塞滿了。他個子比任何巨人都大得多，而臉卻不像巨人，顯得高貴而美麗。胸脯在垂到腰部的雪白鬍子下輕輕起伏。一股純銀色的光照在他身上(誰也沒看見這光是哪兒來的)。
“那是誰？”普德格倫問。隔了那麼久沒人說話，吉爾真想知道它怎麼有那股勇氣。
“那是時間老人，他從前是地上世界的一個國王，”看守說，“如今他掉進幽深王國，躺在那兒夢見在上面世界做過的一切事情。掉下來的多，回到陽光下的大地上去的少。據說到世界末日他纔會醒來。”
出了那個山洞，他們又經過另一個山洞，接着再走進一個又一個，走啊走的，走得吉爾都數不清走過幾個山洞了，但他們一直是在下山，每個山洞都比前一個低，你一想起上面的土地有多重有多深就不由憋住氣。最後他們來到一個地方，看守命令再點上那隻慘淡的燈籠。於是他們走進了一個又寬又黑的山洞，裏面什麼都看不見，只見一股灰白的沙子正瀉入靜止的水面。在一個小小的碼頭旁邊，停着一條船，沒有梳杆也沒有帆，只有很多槳。他們被趕上船，帶到船頭，在划船手的長凳前面，有一塊空間，沿舷牆內側還裝着一排座位。
“有件事我想打聽一下，”普德格倫說，“以前有沒有從我們世界來的人——我意思是從上面來的——到這兒來過？”
“在灰白沙灘乘船的多，”看守回答說，”而……”
“是啊，我知道了，”普德格倫打斷他說，“而回到陽光下的大地上去的少。你不必再說了。你真是個死心眼兒，對嗎？”
兩個孩子緊緊縮在普德格倫兩旁。在地面上的時候他
們認爲它是個掃興的傢伙，在下面這兒它倒似乎成了他們惟一的安慰。接着那盞慘白的燈籠掛在船的中部，地下人坐下來划槳，船就動起來了。燈籠的光只能照亮一小段路，往前看，他們什麼也看不見，只有平滑的黑水消失在一片漆黑中。
“哦，我們究竟會遇上什麼事啊？”吉爾絕望地說。
“嗨，不要弄得垂頭喪氣，波爾，”沼澤怪說，”有一件事你一定得記住。我們已回到正確路線上來了。我們要到廢墟城下面去，而我們已經在城下面了。我們又按照指做了。”
不久，他們分到了一點食物——種又淡又鬆，幾乎吃不出什麼味道的餅。此後他們就慢慢睡着了。但等他們醒來時，一切還是一樣，小精靈依然在划槳，船依然在悄悄前進，前面依然是一團漆黑。他們醒了又睡，吃了又睡有多少次，大家都記不得了。最糟糕的就是你開始覺得自己似乎一直生活在這艘船上，生活在那片黑暗中，心裏鬧不清什麼太陽、藍天、風和鳥，到底是否只是一場夢。
他們幾乎已經不抱希望，也不再害怕什麼的時候，終於看見前面有燈光;像船上那盞燈籠一樣陰森森的光。隨後，突然有一盞燈靠近了，一看只見是另一條船經過他們面前。
此後他們又遇見了好幾條船。接着他們一直望穿了眼睛纔看出前頭有些燈光照着的看來像是碼頭，牆壁，塔或來往的人羣。但那邊仍然不大有聲音。
“天哪，”斯克羅布說，“一座城市！”他們一下子就明白他說得對。
但這是座奇怪的城市。燈光那麼少，距離又那麼遠，在我們的世界裏還比不上分散的農舍呢。但從燈光下你看得見的這一小塊地方很像是一個大海港。你看得出有一個地方有好多船正在裝卸貨物；另一個地方，有一包包貨物和一個個倉庫，第三個地方，有牆和柱子，使人想起大宮殿或廟宇；而且，無論哪兒有燈，總有沒完沒了的人羣——成千上萬的地下人，一個個挨挨擠擠，在狹窄的街道上，寬闊的廣場上，或者在巨大的石階上，輕輕走動，忙着自己的事兒。船越來越近，他們不停的動作形成一種輕輕的沙沙聲，但到處都聽不到歌聲、吆喝聲或是鐘聲，或是車輪聲。這個城市是靜悄悄的，而且幾乎像一座蟻山內部那麼漆黑。
最後他們這條船給拖到碼頭邊拴牢。他們三個被帶上岸，走進城去。成羣的地下人，面貌各不相同，在擁擠的街頭跟他們擦肩而過，暗淡的光照在許許多多悲哀、古怪的臉上。但沒人對陌生人表現出一點興趣。每個小精靈似乎都是又忙碌又悲哀，雖然吉爾根本看不出他們那麼忙忙碌碌在幹什麼。只是沒完沒了的走啊走、推推搡搡，匆匆忙忙，輕輕的腳步聲叭嗒叭嗒響個不停。
他們終於來到了一座似乎是大城堡的前面，可是裏面只有幾扇窗戶亮着燈。他們被押進去，穿過一個院子，爬上好多級樓梯，終於給帶進了一間燈光暗淡的大房間。不料就在這房間的一角——哦，開心啊——那兒有座拱門，竟洋溢着一片大不相同的燈光；那是人類用的燈那種；炎黃的真正暖光。這光照着拱門裏面的樓梯腳，樓梯是在石牆間盤旋而上的。燈光似乎從樓上照下來。拱門兩邊各站着一個地下人，像是衛兵或是僕人。
看守走到這兩個人身邊，說了一句口令似的話道“掉進地下世界的多。”
“回到陽光下大地上的少。”他們回答說，像是在應答暗號。於是三個人腦袋湊在一起說話。最後其中一個侍從小精靈說，“我告訴你，女王陛下有要事從這兒出去了。我們最好把這些上面的人關在暗牢裏等她回來。回到陽光下大地上的少。”
這時這段談話被一個聲音打斷了。吉爾覺得那是天下最可愛的聲音，聲音是從上面樓梯頂上來的；清脆、響亮，十足是人類的聲音，一個年輕男人的聲音。
“你們下面亂哄哄的吵什麼呀，穆魯古瑟倫？”那聲音大聲說道，“上面世界的人，哈！帶到我這兒來，馬上來。”
“請殿下記住。”穆魯古瑟倫開口說，但那聲音立刻打斷了他。
“要讓殿下我高興，主要就是要服從，老貧嘴。把他們帶上來。”
穆魯古瑟倫搖搖頭，對這三個做做手勢，讓他們跟着開始上樓。每上一級樓梯，燈光就更亮。牆上掛着富麗的掛毯。在樓梯頭有薄薄的簾子透出的金色燈光。地下人拉開簾子，站在一邊。他們三個就走了進去。那是一間十分漂亮的房間，掛滿了掛毯，乾淨的壁爐裏爐光明亮，桌上的刻花玻璃杯和紅酒閃閃發光。一個年輕的金髮男人起身向他們問好。他長得一表人材，看上去爲人勇敢又和氣，然而臉上似乎有一種不大對頭的神情。他全身都穿黑，看上去有點像哈姆萊特。
“歡迎，上面世界的人們，”他叫道，“可是等一下！請原諒！我見過你們這兩個漂亮的孩子，還有這位，你們古怪的老師。你們三個不是在艾丁斯荒原邊界的橋上遇見過我的嗎？我當時騎着馬跟在夫人旁邊。”
“哦……你就是那個一聲不吭的黑騎士？”吉爾失聲喊道。
“那位夫人就是地下王國的女王吧？”普德格倫很不客氣，沒好聲氣地問。斯克羅布也抱有同樣想法，脫口而出說:
“因爲要是這麼回事的話，我認爲她完全是有意把我們打發到一個想吃掉我們的巨人城堡去的。我倒想知道我們哪兒得罪她了？”
“怎麼？”那黑騎士皺皺眉說，”如果你不是那麼年輕的一個武士，小子，你我就必須爲這場爭吵決一死戰。我聽不得任何有損夫人榮譽的話。但這一點你們可以放心，不論她對你們說什麼，她的用意都是好的。你們不瞭解她。她是集所有美德於一體的花束：如忠誠、仁慈、堅定、溫柔、勇敢，等等。我是知道什麼說什麼。單說她對我的好處，我就沒法報答她，可以寫成一部令人讚歎的書。不過你們今後會知道而且喜歡她的。另一方面，你們到幽深王國來幹什麼？”
普德格倫還來不及阻止吉爾，她已經脫口而出說“對不起，我們是在想法尋找納尼亞的瑞廉王子。”說罷她才明白自己冒了一次多大的風險，這些人可能是敵人哪。誰知那騎士竟毫無興趣。
“瑞廉？納尼亞？”他漫不經心地說，“納尼亞？那是什麼地方？我從來沒聽說過這個名字。據我所知，那一定是在上面的世界幾千海里之外的地方了。但這真是異想天開，你們竟會相信而到這兒來找這個——人家叫他什麼來着？——比廉？特里廉？據我所知，在夫人的王國裏，確實沒有這麼個人。”他說完哈哈大笑，吉爾暗暗想道”真奇怪，他臉上是不是有什麼不對頭的？他有點兒傻吧？”
“我們奉命來找廢墟城石頭上的一個信息，”斯克羅布說，“而且我們看見了那些字:在我下面。”
那騎士笑得格外歡了。”你們又受騙了，”他說，”那些字對你們此行目的毫無意義。你們只要問問夫人，她可能給你們出更好的主意。因爲那些字是古時候一句長句的殘跡，她記得很清楚，原來寫的是這句詩:
儘管如今我在地下，沒有王位。然而，當我活着的時候，整個大地都在我下面。
從這些詩句看來，顯然是古代巨人中某個偉大的國王葬在那裏，纔會因此把這段自吹自擂的話刻在他墓地的石頭上，然而一些石頭已經斷裂，另外一些被拿走去蓋新房子，缺口填上些碎石，只留下這幾個字仍然看得出來。你們原來以爲這些字是寫給你們看的，豈不是天大的笑話？”
斯克羅布和吉爾一聽這話無異涼水澆背；因爲對他們來說，很可能這些話與他們的尋找完全無關，那麼他們僅僅是偶然被帶到這兒來的了。
“你們別在意，”普德格倫說，“這不是偶然的，我們的嚮導是阿斯蘭，巨人國王叫人刻這些字的時候他就在場，他已經知道一切會由此引起的事情:也包括這件事。”
“你們這個嚮導一定是個長命的人，朋友。”騎士說完又是一陣大笑。
吉爾開始覺得這笑聲有點讓人煩躁了。
“閣下，我似乎覺得，”普德格倫回答說，”要是這位夫人記得起最初他們刻在石頭上的詩句，她一定也是個長命的人。
“你很機靈，青蛙臉，”騎士說着拍拍普德格倫肩膀，又一陣哈哈大笑，”而且你說中了。她出身神族，長生不老。她對我這麼個不幸的可憐蟲表示的無比慷慨，我是感激不盡的。因爲你們必須知道，諸位，我是一個忍受最最奇特折磨的人，除了女王陛下，沒人會對我有耐心。我說了耐心，是嗎？但還遠遠不止於此。她已經答應給我上面世界的一個大王國，等我做了國王，就同她結婚。不過你們餓着肚子，站着聽這個故事可太長了。喂，來人哪，拿酒和上界居民的食物給我的客人吃。請坐，諸位。小姐，你坐這張椅子吧。回頭我就把全部經過說給你們聽。"
