Chapter 2 Chapter II Digory and His Uncle

Even in a dream.Digory had never seen anything so sudden and terrifying, and he screamed.Uncle Andrew quickly covered his mouth with his hand. "Don't bark!" he whispered in Digory's ear. "You know, if your mother hears, she might be frightened." As Digory remarked afterward, he was repelled by this meanness of seduction.Of course, he didn't call again. "Well," said Uncle Andrew, "maybe you couldn't help it. It's a surprise to see a person disappear for the first time. The disappearance of that guinea-pig surprised even me last night."

"Did you yell just then?" said Digory. "Oh, you heard me. I hope you're not following me, "No," said Digory indignantly, "but what happened to Polly?" "Congratulate me, dear boy," said Andrew, rubbing his hands, "my experiment was a success. The little girl is gone—from the world." "What did you do to her?" "Send her to—ah—another place." "What do you mean?" asked Digory. Uncle Andrew sat down and said, "Well, I'll tell you all. Have you ever heard of old Mrs. Laffey?" "Isn't she an aunt or some other relation?" said Digory.

"Not quite," said Uncle Andrew. "She's my godmother. That's her over there on the wall." Looking over, Digory saw a faded head: an old lady in a bonnet.He remembered that he had also seen a picture of her in an old drawer at home in the country.He had asked his mother who she was, but she seemed reluctant to talk about it.Digory thought, though old photographs alone do not tell beauty from ugliness: the face was certainly not at all pretty. "She's--she's all right, Uncle Andrew?" he asks. "Oh," said Uncle Andrew, pursing his lips into a smile. "It depends on what you take wrong. People are so mean-spirited. She was really eccentric in her later years, and she was very careless. So, they locked her up."

"You mean, in a madhouse?" "Oh no, no, no," said Uncle Andrew in surprise. "It's not that kind of place at all, it's just incarcerated." "My God!" said Digory, "what has she done?" "Oh, poor woman," said Uncle Andrew, "she's been too careless, and she's done a lot of extraordinary things. I don't need to go into details. She's been very kind to me." "But what have these things to do with Polly? I wish you—" "Don't worry, my boy, it's not time yet," said Uncle Andrew. "Mrs Leffy was let out just before she died. She only wanted a very small number of people to see her when she was dying, and I Is one of them. You know, she doesn't like ignorant normal people. I don't either. Also, she shares my interests. Just a few days before she died, she asked me to go to her house and find an old A secret drawer on the desk, I took out a small box inside and gave it to her. As soon as I picked up the box, my fingers felt tingling, and I knew that I was holding a big secret. She handed the box to me , and asked me to swear that as soon as she died, I would burn the box intact with some ceremony. In the end, I didn’t listen to her.”

"Why, you're a poor fellow," said Digory. "Oops?" Uncle Andrew had a puzzled look on his face. "Oh, I see, you mean that little boys should keep their promises. It is true, I believe, that is the rightest and noblest thing to do, and I am glad you have learned to do it. But you must know that these rules, Well, neither may be for great scholars, great thinkers, and saints. Not for, Digory. A man of mystical wisdom like myself is no more bound by common rules than we are by common man's pleasures. Son, We are destined to be noble and solitary." He sighed as he spoke, looking so serious, so noble, so mysterious.So much so that for a second Digory actually thought he was talking about something nice.But he remembered the ugly look he had seen on Polly's face before he disappeared, and he understood at once what his big words really meant. "He means," he said to himself, "that he can get whatever he wants by any means." "Of course," said Uncle Andrew, "I haven't dared to open the box for a long time, and I know it may contain very Dangerous stuff because my godmother is so different. In fact, she is one of the last mortals in this country with fairy blood

(According to her there were two other contemporaries, a duchess and a sorceress.) Actually, Digory, you are talking to perhaps the last person who ever had a fairy godmother.Ah, there are some things that you will remember when you are old. " "I'll bet she's a fairie," thought Digory, and then exclaimed, "And Polly?" "You're always nagging," said Uncle Andrew, "as if it mattered. My first task, of course, was to study the wood of the box. It was an old box. I knew then, It's not Greek, Egyptian, Babylonian, Hittite or Chinese, it's older than those peoples. Ah - what a day I finally figured out the truth. The box is Art Lantis ② from the lost island nation of Atlantis. This shows that it is hundreds of years older than the Stone Age artifacts unearthed in Europe; and it is not as rough and primitive as those artifacts. Because Atlantis It was a great city very early, with palaces, temples, and scholars." -

He paused, as if waiting for Digory to speak.But Digory hated his Uncle Andrew more and more with every passing minute, so he was silent. "Meanwhile," continued Uncle Andrew, "I have learned a good deal about magic by other means (it would not be proper to explain that to a child). This way, I have a reasonable estimate of what the box contains." .Through various experiments, I narrowed it down. I had to meet some extremely eccentric people, and did some terrible experiments, and my hair turned white. One cannot be magic without paying a price In the end, my body completely broke down, but I made progress, and finally, I really understood."

Although it is impossible for anyone to eavesdrop.Still leaning over, he said almost in a whisper: ① A powerful ancient country established in Asia Minor and Syria around the seventeenth century BC, and was later conquered by the Assyrians. ②The legendary island.It is said to be located west of Gibraltar in the Atlantic Ocean, and then sank to the bottom of the sea. "The Atlantis box armor contains things from another world. At that time, our boundary was only chaotic." "What?" asked Digory, now involuntarily interested. "It's just dirt," said Uncle Andrew, "fine, pure, dry dirt. Nothing to look at, and you might say it's not worth a lifetime of hard work to get it. Yet when I look at these men ( I try to be careful not to touch it), I think, every grain of dirt comes from another world - I don't mean another planet, you know, but a part of our planet, which you can reach if you go far enough ——But it is indeed another world—another kind of nature—another universe—you can’t reach it even if you keep walking in the space of this universe—a world that can only be reached by Zheng Magic —Ah!" At this point, Uncle Andrew cracked his knuckles like firewood.

"I understand," he continued, "that if you find the right way, the dirt will take you to its world. But the right way is hard to find. I've failed all my previous experiments. I used guinea pigs for my experiments. , some died, some exploded like small bombs..." "It was cruel," said Digory, for he had had a guinea-pig before. "Why do you keep interrupting!" said Uncle Andrew. "These animals are used for experiments. I bought them myself. Let me see—where did I go? Ah yes, finally, I succeeded in making the ring." : The yellow ring. But now, a new difficulty has come. I'm sure the yellow ring can send any animal that comes into contact with it to another world. But if I can't get them to come back and report to me what's going on there, there's another What's the use?"

"What will they do?" said Digory, "if they don't come back they'll be in trouble!" "You're always looking at things from the wrong angle," said Uncle Andrew impatiently. "Don't you understand that this is a great experiment? I send any animal into another world to learn that there is a Where." "Why don't you go by yourself?" Never had Digory seen a man so surprised and so angry at this simple question as his uncle. "Me? I woo?" he said loudly, "this child must be crazy! At my age, if my body is suddenly thrown into another world, can it withstand the shock and danger of Deshi? Never heard anything so absurd in all my life! Do you know what you're talking about? Think what it means to be another world—you could come across anything—anything."

"I reckon you sent Polly there," said Digory.He blushed with anger.He continued, "If you were my uncle, I would say that you look like a coward sending a girl where you wouldn't dare go yourself." "Shut up, sir!" Uncle Andersey put his hand away on the table.Said, "How can a dirty little boy talk to me like that. You won't understand. I'm a great scholar, magician and connoisseur, and I'm doing this experiment, and of course I need a test subject. My God, Next you'll tell me that guinea pigs should give their consent before experimenting with them. Great wisdom is impossible without sacrifice. But asking me to do it myself is ridiculous. It's like asking a general to fight like an ordinary soldier. If I was killed, what about the event of my life?" "Now, stop your trembling lectures," said Digory. "Are you going to have Polly back?" "I was going to tell you when you interrupted me rudely just now," said Uncle Andrew, "and I finally found a way to get back. The green ring will bring you back." "But Polly doesn't have a green ring." "No." Uncle An Dexiang smiled cruelly. "Then she can't come back," cried Digory. "It's no different than murder." "She can come back," said Uncle Andrew, "if anyone will go to her and put on a yellow ring, and two green rings, one for himself and one for her." Now Digory realized that he had been duped, and he opened his mouth wide and silently greeted Uncle Andrew.His face turned pale. "I hope," cried Uncle Andrew, as vigorously as if he were a generous and decent uncle who had given someone a handsome reward or a good advice, "I hope, Digory, that you are not showing weakness. Thinking I feel very sorry that no one in our family has enough sense of responsibility and chivalry to rescue the lady in suffering." "Shut up!" said Digory. "If you had any sense of duty and chivalry, you would go yourself, but I know you won't. Well, I understand, I must, but you are a Wolf-hearted guy. I think, this is all planned by you, and she disappeared in a daze, and then, I have to follow Ruo. " "Of course." Uncle Andrew said with a wicked smile. "Okay, I'll go. But there is one thing I must say first. I didn't believe in magic in the past, and I didn't know it was true until today. So, I think, those old fairy tales are more or less true Yes. You're one of those evil, cruel magicians that stories tell about. I've never read a story where someone like that gets away with it. I bet you can, too. That's retribution." After all that Digory had said, this was the most to the point.Uncle Andrew was taken aback.Despite his inhumanity, the look of terror on his face is almost pitiful.However, this look quickly disappeared, followed by loud laughter.He said, "Well, it's only natural for a boy like you who's been brought up with women to think so. Old ladies tell stories, don't they? I don't think you need worry about me, Digory. Wouldn't it be better to be concerned about your little friend? She's been gone for a while, and if there's any danger there—you'd be sorry for being a second late." "You are very thoughtful," said Digory angrily, "but I am tired of hearing it. What shall I do?" "You really ought to learn how to control your temper, my boy," said Uncle Andrew softly, "or you'll grow up like your Aunt Letty. Well, listen to me now. ' He stood up, cut off a pair of gloves, and walked to the tray of rings. "They only work when they touch your skin," he said. "Like this, you'll be fine with gloves on. If you keep one in your pocket, it'll be safe. But you must Be careful not to put your hand in your pocket and touch it by accident. Once you touch a yellow ring, you disappear from this world. When you get to that world, I think-of course this has not been tested, but I Think—once you touch a green ring, you leave that world—I think— Will come back here again.Look, I'll put these two green ones in your right pocket.Make a note of which pocket the green ring is in. G stands for green and R stands for right.You know, G and R It happens to be the first two Ning mothers of the word green.One for you and one for the little girl.Now, get yourself a yellow ring.If I were you, I'd put it on my finger so it wouldn't fall off easily. " Digory was about to get it when he stopped suddenly. "Why," said he, "what's mother going to do? What if she asks me where I've been?" "Leave early and come back early." Uncle Andrew said proudly. "But you're not sure if I can ask." Uncle Andrew shrugged, went to open the door, and said: "Well, please, go down and eat. If you like, let the little girl be eaten by wild beasts in that world, or drown, or starve, or stay there forever. It's both to me. Same. Perhaps, before tea, you'd better go and see Mrs. Plummer, and tell her you'll never see her daughter again; just because you're afraid to put on a ring." "By God," said Digory, "I wish I had enough strength to smash your head in!" Then he buttoned his coat, took a deep breath, and picked up the ring.He thought, as he often thought afterward, that he had never done anything else with such dignity.