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CHAPTER FOUR THE BELL AND THE HAMMER（第2页）

“Ahesedresseswoulddredsofpounds，”saidPolly。

ButDigorywasmoreihefadiheseorthlookingat。Thepeoplesationeeachsideoftheroomandthefloorwasleftfreedownthemiddle。Youcouldwalkdownandlookatthefaturn。

“Theywerehink，”saidDigory。

Pollyhefacestheycouldseewerelyhemenandwomenlookedkindaheyseemedtoeofahandsomerace。Butafterthehadgoepsdowheycametofacesthatlookedalittledifferent。Thesewereverysolemnfaces。YoufeltyouwouldhavetomindyourP'sandQ's，ifyouevermetlivingpeoplewholookedlikethat。Whentheyhadgolefurther，theyfoundthemselvesamoheydidn'tlike:thiswasaboutthemiddleoftheroom。Thefacesherelandproudandhappy，buttheylookedcruel。Alittlefurtherontheylookedcrueller。Furtheronagaiillcruelbuttheynolongerlookedhappy。Theywereevendespairingfaces:asifthepeopletheybeloohaddohingsandalsosuffereddreadfulthifigureofallwasthem—awomanevenmorerichlydressedthahers，verytall（buteveryfigureinthatroomwastallerthanthepeopleofourworld），withalookofsuessatookyourbreathaway。Yetshewasbeautifultoo。Yearsafterasanoldman，Digorysaidhehadneverinallhislifeknownawomaiful。ItisonlyfairtoaddthatPollyalwayssaidshe'tseeanythingspeciallybeautifulabouther。

Thiswoman，asIsaid，wasthelast:buttherewerepleychairsbeyondher，asiftheroomhadbeenintendedforamuchlargerages。

“Idothestorythat'sbehindallthis，”saidDigory。“Let'sgobadlookatthattablesortofthinginthemiddleoftheroom。”

&hinginthemiddleoftheroomwaslyatable。Itillarabhandonitthererosealittlegoldenarwhichtherehungalittlegoldenbell;aherelayalittlegoldethebellwith。

“Iwonder。。。Iwonder。。。Iwonder。。。”saidDigory。

“Thereseemstobesomethingwrittenhere，”saidPolly，stoopingdownandlookingatthesideofthepillar。

“Bygum，sothereis，”saidDigory。“Butofcourseweshan'tbeabletoreadit。”

“Shan'twe?I'mnotsosure，”saidPolly。

&hlookedatithardand，asyoumighthaveexpected，theletterstheste。Butened:for，astheylooked，thoughtheshapeelettersheyfoundthattheyderstandthem。IfonlyDigoryhadrememberedwhathehimselfhadsaidafewmihatthiswasaedroom，hemighthaveguessedthattheewasbeginningtowork。Butheithcuriositytothinkaboutthat。Hewaslongingmoreaoknorittenonthepillar。Aheybothkitsaidwassomethileastthisisthesehoughthepoetry，whehere，wasbetter:

Makeyourchoiturer;

Strikethebellahedanger，

Orwoillitdrivesyoumad，

Whatwouldhavefollowedifyouhad。

“Nofear!”saidPolly。“Wedon'twantanydanger。”

“Ohbutdon'tyouseeit'snogood!”saidDigory。“We'tgetoutofitnow。Weshallalwaysbewwhatelseeruckthebell。I'mnotgoiobedrivenmadbyalwaysthinkingofthat。Nofear!”

“Don'tbesosilly，”saidPolly。“Asifanyonewould!Whatdoesitmatterwhatened?”

&anyonewho'seasfarasthisisboundtogotillitsendshimdotty。That'stheMagicofit，yousee。Ifeelitbeginningtoworkonmealready。”

“WellIdon't，”saidPollycrossly。“AndIdon'tbelieveyoudoeither。You'rejustputtingiton。”

“That'sallyouknow，”saidDigory。“It'sbecauseyirl。Girlsoknowanythingbutgossipandrotaboutpeoplegettingengaged。”

“YoulookedexactlylikeyourUnyousaidthat，”saidPolly。

“Why'tyoukeeptothepoint?”saidDigory。“Whatwe&#aboutis—”

“Howexactlylikeaman!”saidPollyinaverygrowsheaddedhastily，inherrealvoiddon'tsayI'mjustlikeawoman，oryou'llbeabeastlycopy-cat。”

“Ishouldneverdreamofgakidlikeyouawoman，”saidDigoryloftily。“Oh，I'makid，amI?”saidPollyinarealrage。“Wellyoubebotheredbyhavingakidwithyouahen。I'moff。I'vehadenoughofthispladI'vehadenoughofyoutoo—youbeastly，stuck-up，obstinatepig!”

&!”saidDigoryinavoiastierthaobe;forhesawPolly'shandmovitogetholdofheryell。I'texcusewhathedidbysayingthathewasverysorryforitafterward（andsoodmanyotherpeople）。BeforePolly'shandreachedherpocket，hegrabbedherwrist，leaningacrosswithhisbastherchest。Then，keepiherarmoutofthewaywithhisotherelbow，heleanedforickedupthehammer，andstruckthegoldenbellalight，smarttap。Thehergoastariherahinghard。Pollywasjustbeginningtootwithfear，andnotevenbecausehehadhurtherwristquitebadly，butwithfuriousahintwoseds，however，theyhadsomethingtothinkaboutthatdrovetheiroweoutoftheirminds。

Assoonasthebellwasstruckitgaveoutanotesuighthaveexpednotveryloud。Butinsteadofdyingawayagaion;andasitwentonitgrewlouder。Beforeaminutehadpasseditwastwiceasloudasithadbeeh。Itwassoonsoloudthatifthehadtriedtospeak（buttheyweren'tthinkingofspeakingnow—theywerejuststandingwiththeirmouthsopen）theywouldnothaveheardoher。Verysoonitwassoloudthattheyothaveheardoherevenbyshouting。Andstillitgrew:alloisound，thoughthesweetnesshadsomethinghorribleaboutit，tillalltheairirowithitandtheycouldfeelthestorembliheirfeet。Thenatlastitbegantobemixedwithanothersound，avague，disastrousnoisewhidedfirstliketheroarofadistanttraihecrashofafalliheyheardsomethiweightsfalling。Finally，withasudden，rushandthunder，anearlyfluheirfeet，aboutaquarteroftheroofatoheroomfellibloasonryfellallrouhewallsrocked。Thehebellstopped。Thecloudsofdustclearedaway。Everythiagain。

ItwasneverfouhefalloftheroofwasduetoMagicorwhetherthatunbearablyloudsoundfromthebelljusthapperikethenotewhichwasmorethanthwallsd。

“There!Ihopeyou'resatisfiednoolly。

&'sallover，anyway，”saidDigory。

Andboththoughtitwas;buttheyhadneverbeeakenintheirlives。