chater furteen the btt f the wrld (第4/7頁)

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“Oh，do，do，do come on ！ ”begged Jill.

“I fear it must be so,”said the Prince with a deep sigh. “But I have left half of my heart in the land of Bism.”

“Please ！”begged Jill.

“Where is the road ？ ”asked Puddleglum.

“There are lamps all the way,”said Golg. “Your Honour can see the beginning of the road on the far side of the chasm.”

“How long will the lamps burn for ？ ”asked Puddleglum.

At that moment a hissing，scorching voice like the voice of Fire itself（they wondered afterwards if it could have been a salamander’s）came whistling up out of the very depths of Bism.

“Quick ！ Quick ！ Quick ！ To the cliffs，to the cliffs，to the cliffs ！”it said. “The rift closes. It closes. It closes. Quick ！ Quick ！”And at the same time，with ear-shattering cracks and creaks，the rocks moved. Already，while they looked，the chasm was narrower. From every side belated gnomes were rushing into it. They would not wait to climb down the rocks. They flung themselves headlong and，either because so strong a blast of hot air was beating up from the bottom，or for some other reason， they could be seen floating downwards like leaves. Thicker and thicker they floated，till their blackness almost blotted out the fiery river and the groves of live gems. “Good-bye to your Honours. I’m off,”shouted Golg，and dived. Only a few were left to follow him. The chasm was now no broader than a stream. Now it was narrow as the slit in a pillar box. Now it was only an intensely bright thread. Then，with a shock like a thousand goods trains crashing into a thousand pairs of buffers，the lips of rock closed. The hot，maddening smell vanished. The travellers were alone in an Underworld which now looked far blacker than before. Pale， dim，and dreary，the lamps marked the direction of the road.

“Now,”said Puddleglum，“it’s ten to one we’ve already stayed too long，but we may as well make a try. Those lamps will give out in five minutes，I shouldn’t wonder.”