大学生小说网

chater ten travel withut the un（第1页）

“WHO’sthere？”shoutedthethreetravellers.

“IamtheWardenoftheMarchesofUnderland，andwithmestandahundredEarthmeninarms，”camethereply.“TellmequicklywhoyouareandwhatisyourerrandintheDeepRealm？”

“Wefelldownbyaccident，”saidPuddleglum，truthfullyenough.

“Manyfalldown，andfewreturntothesunlitlands，”saidthevoice.“MakereadynowtocomewithmetotheQueenoftheDeepReal”

“Whatdoesshewantwithus？”askedScrubbcautiously.

“Idonotknow，”saidthevoice.“Herwillisnottobequestionedbutobeyed.”

Whilehesaidthesewordstherewasanoiselikeasoftexplosionandimmediatelyacoldlight，greywithalittleblueinit，floodedthecavern.Allhopethatthespeakerhadbeenidlyboastingwhenhespokeofhishundredarmedfollowersdiedatonce.Jillfoundherselfblinkingandstaringatadensecrowd.Theywereofallsizes，fromlittlegnomesbarelyafoothightostatelyfigurestallerthanmen.Allcarriedthree-prongedspearsintheirhands，andallweredreadfullypale，andallstoodasstillasstatues.Apartfromthat，theywereverydifferent；somehadtailsandothersnot，someworegreatbeardsandothershadveryround，smoothfaces，bigaspumpkins.Therewerelong，pointednoses，andlong，softnoseslikesmalltrunks，andgreatblobbynoses.Severalhadsinglehornsinthemiddleoftheirforeheads.Butinonerespecttheywereallalike：everyfaceinthewholehundredwasassadasafacecouldbe.Theyweresosadthat，afterthefirstglance，JillalmostforgottobeafraidoftheShefeltshewouldliketocheerthemup.

“Well！”saidPuddleglum，rubbinghishands.“ThisisjustwhatIneeded.Ifthesechapsdon’tteachmetotakeaseriousviewoflife，Idon’tknowwhatwill.Lookatthatfellowwiththewalrusmoustache—orthatonewiththe—”

“Getup，”saidtheleaderoftheEarthmen.

Therewasnothingelsetobedone.Thethreetravellersscrambledtotheirfeetandjoinedhands.Onewantedthetouchofafriend’shandatamomentlikethat.AndtheEarthmencameallroundthem，paddingonlarge，softfeet，onwhichsomehadtentoes，sometwelve，andothersnone.

“March，”saidtheWarden：andmarchtheydid.

Thecoldlightcamefromalargeballonthetopofalongpole，andthetallestofthegnomescarriedthisattheheadoftheprocession.Byitscheerlessraystheycouldseethattheywereinanaturalcavern；thewallsandroofwereknobbed，twisted，andgashedintoathousandfantasticshapes，andthestonyfloorslopeddownwardastheyproceeded.ItwasworseforJillthanfortheothers，becauseshehateddark，undergroundplaces.Andwhen，astheywenton，thecavegotlowerandnarrower，andwhen，atlast，thelight-bearerstoodaside，andthegnomes，onebyone，stoopeddown（allexcepttheverysmallestones）andsteppedintoalittledarkcrackanddisappeared，shefeltshecouldbearitnolonger.

“Ican’tgointhere，Ican’t！Ican’t！Iwon’t，”shepanted.TheEarthmensaidnothingbuttheyallloweredtheirspearsandpointedthemather.

“Steady，Pole，”saidPuddleglu“Thosebigfellowswouldn’tbecrawlinginthereifitdidn’tgetwiderlateron.Andthere’sonethingaboutthisundergroundwork，weshan’tgetanyrain.”

“Oh，youdon’tunderstand.Ican’t，”wailedJill.

“Thinkhow1feltonthatcliff，Pole，”saidScrubb.“Yougofirst，Puddleglum，andI’llcomeafterher.”

“That’sright，”saidtheMarsh-wiggle，gettingdownonhishandsandknees.“Youkeepagripofmyheels，Pole，andScrubbwillholdontoyours.Thenwe’llallbecomfortable.”

“Comfortable！”saidJill.Butshegotdownandtheycrawledinontheirelbows.Itwasanastyplace.Youhadtogoflatonyourfaceforwhatseemedlikehalfanhour，thoughitmayreallyhavebeenonlyfiveminutes.Itwashot.Jillfeltshewasbeingsmothered.Butatlastadimlightshowedahead，thetunnelgrewwiderandhigher，andtheycameout，hot，dirty，andshaken，intoacavesolargethatitscarcelyseemedlikeacaveatall.

Itwasfullofadim，drowsyradiance，sothatheretheyhadnoneedoftheEarthmen’sstrangelantern.Thefloorwassoftwithsomekindofmossandoutofthisgrewmanystrangeshapes，branchedandtallliketrees，butflabbylikemushrooms.Theystoodtoofaraparttomakeaforest；itwasmorelikeapark.Thelight（agreenishgrey）seemedtocomebothfromthemandfromthemoss，anditwasnotstrongenoughtoreachtheroofofthecave，whichmusthavebeenalongwayoverhead.Acrossthemild，soft，sleepyplacetheywerenowmadetomarch.Itwasverysad，butwithaquietsortofsadness，likesoftmusic.

Heretheypasseddozensofstrangeanimalslyingontheturf，eitherdeadorasleep，Jillcouldnottellwhich.Theseweremostlyofadragonishorbat-likesort；Puddleglumdidnotknowwhatanyofthemwere.

“Dotheygrowhere？”ScrubbaskedtheWarden.Heseemedverysurprisedatbeingspokento，butreplied，“No.Theyareallbeaststhathavefoundtheirwaydownbychasmsandcaves，outofOverlandintotheDeepRealManycomedown，andfewreturntothesunlitlands.Itissaidthattheywillallwakeattheendoftheworld.”

Hismouthshutlikeaboxwhenhehadsaidthis，andinthegreatsilenceofthatcavethechildrenfeltthattheywouldnotdaretospeakagain.Thebarefeetofthegnomes，paddingonthedeepmoss，madenosound.Therewasnowind，therewerenobirds，therewasnosoundofwater.Therewasnosoundofbreathingfromthestrangebeasts.

Whentheyhadwalkedforseveralmiles，theycametoawallofrock，andinitalowarchwayleadingintoanothercavern.Itwasnot，however，sobadasthelastentranceandJillcouldgothroughitwithoutbendingherhead.Itbroughtthemintoasmallercave，longandnarrow，abouttheshapeandsizeofacathedral.Andhere，fillingalmostthewholelengthofit，layanenormousmanfastasleep.Hewasfarbiggerthananyofthegiants，andhisfacewasnotlikeagiant’s，butnobleandbeautiful.Hisbreastroseandfellgentlyunderthesnowybeardwhichcoveredhimtothewaist.Apure，silverlight（noonesawwhereitcamefrom）resteduponhi

“Who’sthat？”askedPuddlegluAnditwassolongsinceanyonehadspoken，thatJillwonderedhowhehadthenerve.

“ThatisoldFatherTime，whooncewasaKinginOverland，”saidtheWarden.“AndnowhehassunkdownintotheDeepRealmandliesdreamingofallthethingsthataredoneintheupperworld.Manysinkdown，andfewreturntothesunlitlands.Theysayhewillwakeattheendoftheworld.”

Andoutofthatcavetheypassedintoanother，andthenintoanotherandanother，andsoontillJilllostcount，butalwaystheyweregoingdownhillandeachcavewaslowerthanthelast，tilltheverythoughtoftheweightanddepthoftheearthaboveyouwassuffocating.AtlasttheycametoaplacewheretheWardencommandedhischeerlesslanterntobelitagain.Thentheypassedintoacavesowideanddarkthattheycouldseenothingofitexceptthatrightinfrontofthemastripofthepalesandrandownintostillwater.Andthere，besidealittlejetty，layashipwithoutmastorsailbutwithmanyoars.Theyweremadetogoonboardherandnearer；buttherewasnotasongorashoutorabellortherattleofawheelanywhere.TheCitywasasquiet，andnearlyasdark，astheinsideofanant-hill.

Atlasttheirshipwasbroughtalongsideaquayandmadefast.ThethreetravellersweretakenashoreandmarchedupintotheCity.CrowdsofEarthmen，notwoalike，rubbedshoulderswiththeminthecrowdedstreets，andthesadlightfellonmanysadandgrotesquefaces.Butnooneshowedanyinterestinthestrangers.Everygnomeseemedtobeasbusyasitwassad，thoughJillneverfoundwhattheyweresobusyabout.Buttheendlessmoving，shoving，hurrying，andthesoftpad-pad-padwenton.

Atlasttheycametowhatappearedtobeagreatcastle，thoughfewofthewindowsinitwerelighted.Heretheyweretakeninandmadetocrossacourtyard，andtoclimbmanystaircases.Thisbroughtthemintheendtoagreatmurkilylithall.Butinonecornerofit—ohjoy！—therewasanarchwayfilledwithaquitedifferentsortoflight；thehonest，yellowish，warmlightofsuchalampashumansuse.Whatshowedbythislightinsidethearchwaywasthefootofastaircasewhichwoundupwardbetweenwallsofstone.Thelightseemedtocomefromthetop.TwoEarthmenstoodoneoneachsideofthearchlikesentries，orfootmen.

TheWardenwentuptothesetwo，andsaid，asifitwereapassword：

“ManysinkdowntotheUnderworld.”

“Andfewreturntothesunlitlands，”theyanswered，asifitwerethecountersign.Thenallthreeputtheirheadstogetherandtalked.Atlastoneofthetwognomes-in-waitingsaid，“ItellyoutheQueen’sgraceisgonefromhenceonhergreataffair.Wehadbestkeepthesetopdwellersinstraitprisontillherhomecoming.Fewreturntothesunlitlands.”

AtthatmomenttheconversationwasinterruptedbywhatseemedtoJillthemostdelightfulnoiseintheworld.Itcamefromabove，fromthetopofthestaircase；anditwasaclear，ringing，perfectlyhumanvoice，thevoiceofayoungman.

“Whatcoilareyoukeepingdownthere，Mullugutherum？”itshouted.“Overworlders，ha！Bringthemuptome，andthatpresently.”

“PleaseityourHighnesstoremember，”beganMullugutherum，butthevoicecuthimshort.

“ItpleasesmyHighnessprincipallytobeobeyed，oldmutterer.Bringthemup，”itcalled.

Mullugutherumshookhishead，motionedtothetravellerstofollowandbegangoingupthestaircase.Ateverystepthelightincreased.Therewererichtapestrieshangingonthewalls.Thelamplightshonegoldenthroughthincurtainsatthestaircase-head.TheEarthmenpartedthecurtainsandstoodaside.Thethreepassedin.Theywereinabeautifulroom，richlytapestried，withabrightfireonacleanhearth，andredwineandcutglasssparklingonthetable.AyoungmanwithfairhairrosetogreettheHewashandsomeandlookedbothboldandkind，thoughtherewassomethingabouthisfacethatdidn’tseemquiteright.HewasdressedinblackandaltogetherlookedalittlebitlikeHamlet.

请勿开启浏览器阅读模式，否则将导致章节内容缺失及无法阅读下一章。

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