chater ten travel withut the un (第3/6頁)

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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 the 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 the 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 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.