Chapter 7 Chapter Seven What Happened at the Front Door

"Slave, how long will it take for my carriage to arrive?" the witch said like a thunder.Uncle Andrew stood aside tremblingly.As soon as the witch appeared, all the ridiculous thoughts he had had about giving birth when he looked in the mirror disappeared without a trace.Aunt Catty got up at once and walked into the middle of the room. "Who is this young woman? Andrew, may I ask?" asked Aunt Letty coldly. "Honorable foreigner—non—very important person," he stammered. "nonsense!" Aunt Letty turned to the witch, "Get out of my house immediately, you shameless slut, or I'll call the police." She thought the witch must have run away from a circus, and she couldn't bear to see naked arm.

"Who is this woman?" said Jadis. "Kneel down, slave, or I will destroy you." "Please don't gossiping in this house, ma'am," said Aunt Letty. For a moment it seemed to Uncle Andrew that the Queen seemed to lift herself up and grow even taller.With fire in her eyes, she stretched out her arms, made the same movement as when Chasi smashed the palace gate into ashes, and said the extermination curse from her mouth.However, nothing happened.Aunt Wattie thought that those terrible words were probably also in English, and she said: " I think well.The woman must be drunk.drunk!Can't even speak clearly. "

It was a frightening moment for the Witch when it dawned on her that her magic to turn people into ashes was so real in her world and useless in ours.But she was not flustered, frustrated or disappointed.She lunged forward, grabbed Aunt Letty's neck and knees, lifted her high over her head, and flung her across the room like a light doll.Before Aunt Letty landed, the maid (who thought the morning was so wonderful and exciting) poked her head in and said, "Sir, your carriage is here, please." "Lead the way, slave," said the witch to Uncle Andrew.He murmured "a deplorable act of violence—

must protest" or something like that, but Jadis glanced at him and he stopped. She hurried him out of the living room and out of the house. Digory came downstairs just in time to see the front door shut behind them. "Damn it," he said, "she's been messing around in London. She's with Uncle Andrew, and I don't know what's going to happen." "Oh, Master Digory," said the maid (she was having a good day), "I think Miss Ketterley has hurt herself." And together they rushed into the cabin to see what had happened. I thought Aunt Letty would be smashed to pieces if she had fallen on the bare floor, or even the rug, but she was lucky enough to land on the cushions.Aunt Letty was a strong old woman; most aunts were then.She took some refreshing medicine, sat quietly for a few minutes, and then said that there were only a few bruises and it was not serious.Soon she was taking care of things.

"Sarah," she said to the maid (the woman had never had a day like this), "Go to the police at once and tell them a dangerous mental patient has escaped. I will attend to Mrs Kirk's lunch myself." Mrs Kirk was, of course, Digory's mother. When Mother finished her lunch, Digory and Aunt Letty finished too.Then, he began to think hard. The problem is how to get the witch back to her own place, or how to get her out of our place as quickly as possible.In any case, she must not be allowed to run amok in this house.Mom can't see her.If possible, she is not allowed to be domineering in the city of Lunjiao.Digory was not in the drawing room when she "destroyed" Aunt Letty, but he had seen her smash Charn's palace gates before, so he only knew that she had terrible magic powers, not that since she came to our world , any weakening of her magic power.He also knew that she wanted to conquer our world.He could imagine that at the present moment she might well be destroying Buckingham Palace or the Houses of Parliament; and a considerable number of policemen would almost certainly have been reduced to heaps of ashes.He didn't know what to do with himself. "

"Those rings seem like magnets, though," thought Digory. "If I touch her, and touch my yellow ring, she and I will both go back to the wood between the worlds. I don't know where she is." Will she be weak again? Was the place against her, or was she frightened when dragged from her world? But I had to take the risk. But where would I find the beast? I don't think Aunt Letty will let me go anywhere I say; and I've only got twopence in my pocket. If I'm looking all over London, I'll need a lot of money for motorcars and trams. Besides I don't know where to find it at all. I don't know if Uncle Andrew is still with her."

At last it seemed that the only thing he could do was to wait and hope for the return of Uncle Andrew and the Witch.If they came back, he must rush out and catch the witch, and take the yellow ring before she could step into the house.That meant he had to watch the front door like a cat guarding a mouse hole, never leaving his post.So he went into the dining-room, and put his face, as they say, against the window: it was a oriel window, from which he could see the steps leading to the front door, and had a good view of the street, No one can escape your sight as they walk up to the front door. "What is Polly doing?" thought Digory. +

The first hour and a half dragged on, during which time he had been thinking about the question.But don't worry, I'll tell you.Polly was late for dinner and her shoes and socks were wet.When asked where she went and what she did.She said she was out with Digory Kirk.After further questioning, she said that she had strangled her feet in a pool, which was in a forest.When asked where the forest was, she said she didn't know.Asked again if it was in a park, she honestly said she thought maybe it was in a park.Polly's mother came to the conclusion from this: without permission, Polly ran quietly to some place in London that she didn't know, entered a strange park, fell into a puddle to play with water.In the end, Polly was told that she had been so naughty that she would not be allowed to play with "that Kirk boy" if it happened again.She was then allowed to eat some scraps of food, and was rushed to bed, where she would not be able to get out of bed for a full two hours.Such things often happened at that time.

So Polly was not lying in bed while Digory looked out of the dining-room window.How slowly time passed, both were thinking, and I personally think I'd rather be in Polly's place.She just waited for those two hours to be over, and Digory, every few minutes, whenever he heard a carriage, or a baker's delivery van, or a butcher's boy round the corner, thought, "Here she comes." , and then it was empty.Except for this frightening fallacy, the rest of the time is only heard the ticking of the clock, which is as long and difficult as countless hours.High overhead, out of reach, a large fly buzzed against the old windowpane.This house tends to be very quiet and boring in the afternoon, and there is always a faint smell of mutton.

During the long waiting and monitoring, a small incident happened.The reason why I want to mention it is because there is something related to it in the future.A woman came to see Digory's mother with wine.As the dining-room door was open, Digory overheard Aunt Letty's conversation with the lady in the hall, quite naturally. "What lovely grapes!" said Aunt Letty's voice. "I think they will do her good. Oh, poor dear little Mabel! I'm afraid she needs fruit from the young land now for her cure." Illness. Nothing in this world works very well." Then they both dropped their voices and said a lot that Digory couldn't hear.

If he had heard the term "young land" a few days ago, he might have thought that Aunt Letty was just talking casually, without any special meaning.Grown-ups tended to talk like that, and it didn't interest him.Now, he almost thinks so.However, it suddenly occurred to him that there were indeed other worlds (unknown to Aunt Letty), and he himself had been in one of them.Maybe, then, there really is a "young land" where anything is possible.In other worlds, maybe there is a certain kind of fruit that can really cure my mother!Oh--- You know what it's like when you're hoping for something you've always dreamed of?Because you've been disappointed so much in the past, and because that hope was too good to be true, you're almost against hope.That's how Digory felt at the time.But it is useless to try to kill this hope.Possibility one—really, really, there was that possibility.So many outlandish things have happened, and he has a magic ring.There is a world under every pool.He can search all the worlds.Then one--mother's illness will be cured.everything is fine.He forgot all about watching out for the witch.He was already reaching for the pocket where the yellow ring was placed, when he suddenly heard the sound of galloping hoofs. "Dark! What's that?" thought Digory. "A fire engine? I don't know which one's on fire. My God, here it comes, ah, it's her." I don't have to tell you who the "she" he's talking about is. First, a two-wheeled carriage.The coachman's seat was empty, a wheel was suspended in the air, and the whole carriage darted around the corner with incredible balance.On the roof—— Not sitting, but standing—— The king of queens, Jadis, the god of death of Chasi.She grinned her teeth, her eyes flashed like fire, and her long hair trailed behind her head like the tail of a comet.She whipped the driving horses mercilessly.The horse's nose was flushed red, and its flanks were covered with foam.It rushed frantically to the front door, brushed past the lamp post, and then stood up on its hind legs.The carriage smashed against the lamppost.The witch jumped gracefully and landed on the horse's back just right.Sitting with her legs apart, she leaned over and whispered something to the horse.Those words obviously only make it manic rather than quiet.Immediately the horse raised its front legs again, neighing sharply, and the hoofs, teeth, eyes, and flying mane shook.Only a good rider can possibly sit on its back. Before Digory could breathe a sigh of relief, many things began to happen again.A second carriage came galloping right after the first, and a fat man in a frock coat and a policeman jumped out of it.Then, the third carriage came quickly with two policemen.With booing and applause, about twenty people (mostly boy servants) followed on bicycles, ringing bells all the way.Finally there was a group of walkers, all of whom were running hot, but obviously very happy.All the windows facing the street were swiftly thrown open.At the front door of every house there is a maid or valet watching. At this time, an old gentleman struggled to climb out from the wreckage of the carriage, and several people ran over to help him, but one pulled his leg and the other pulled his arm, and the direction of force was inconsistent. Maybe, if no one helped him, he would have come out .Digory reckoned that the old gentleman must be Uncle Andrew, but his face was hidden by his fallen top hat and you couldn't see it. 0 Digory rushed into the crowd. "That's the woman! That's her!" the fat man pointed at Jadis and shouted, "Police, it's up to you! She stole things from my shop worth hundreds or thousands of pounds. Look at her neck my pearl necklace, it's mine. And she beat my eye blue." "That's because she's got her back," one said to the group. "I like to see a blue eye like that. She must have done a good job. Ah ha! How strong she is!" "You'd put a nice raw steak on blue eyes, sir, that'd be nice," said a butcher's boy. "Hey," said the most in-charge policeman, "what's going on here?" "I tell you, she... "When I got fat, someone yelled at the beginning." Don't let the old guy in the carriage run away, he instigated her to do it. " The old gentleman.Of course it was Uncle Andrew, who had stood up and was rubbing the swollen place on his body. "Well, tell me," the policeman Turning to him, "What happened?" "Huh-huh-hush-" said Uncle Endermi from his hat. "Don't pretend," said the policeman seriously. "You'll see it's not ridiculous. Take off your hat, you hear?" Easier said than done.Uncle Andrew resisted in vain for a while, but the other two policemen grabbed the brim of the hat and yanked it off. "Thank you, thank you," said Uncle Andrew softly, "Thank you, my God, but I'm freaked out. Can someone give me a little brandy... . . . " "Now, listen to me," said the policeman, pulling out a large notebook and a small pencil. "Is the young woman in your charge?" "Be careful," several people shouted at the same time, and the policeman jumped back just in time.The horse nearly kicked him to death.Then the Witch turned her horse's head to face the crowd, and the horse's hind legs were already on the pavement.She was brandishing a gleaming long knife and was hacking hard at the noose to separate the horse from the wreck of the wagon. All this time Digory had been looking for an opportunity to get close to her, to touch her.It was not easy, for there were too many people on the side near him, and to get around to the other side one had to pass between the horseshoe and the fence that surrounded the house.It's a tricky business if you know horses, especially if you've seen the horse.Digory knew horses well, but he gritted his teeth and was ready to rush at any opportunity. A red-faced man in a bowler hat shouldered his way and pushed his way to the front of the crowd. "Hey, policeman," he said, "it was my horse she rode, and it was my carriage that she broke." "One thing at a time, one thing at a time please," said the policeman. "But it's too late," said the coachman. "I know this horse better than you do. It's not an ordinary horse. Its father was a cavalry officer's war horse. Yes, if the young woman stirs it again, it will kill someone." Yes. Well, let me do it." The policeman was looking for an excuse to stay away from the horse.The coachman took a step forward, pointed at Jadis, and said friendly; "Miss, I'm holding the horse's head, and you come down. You're a lady, and you don't want trouble, do you? You want to go home, have a nice cup of tea, and lie down quietly, and this cup you'll Much more comfortable." At the same time, reaching for the horse's head, he said, "Calm down, Strawberry, old friend. Calm down." The witch spoke for the first time. "Dog!" Her cold clear voice drowned out all other voices, "Dog, let go of our royal steed. I am Queen Jadis."