“How exactly like a man！” said Polly in a very grown.up voice； but she added hastily， in her real voice， “And don‘t say I’m just like a woman， or you‘ll be a beastly copy.cat.”
“I should never dream of calling a kid like you a woman，” said
Digory loftily.
“Oh， I’m a kid， am I？” said Polly， who was now in a real rage. “Well， you needn‘t be bothered by having a kid with you any longer then. I’m off. I‘ve had enough of this place. And I’ve had enough of you too. you beastly， stuck.up， obstinate pig！”
“None of that！” said Digory in a voice even nastier than he meant it to be； for he saw Polly‘s hand moving to her pocket to get hold of her yellow ring. I can’t excuse what he did next except by saying that he was very sorry for it afterwards （and so were a good many other people）. Before Polly‘s hand reached her pocket， he grabbed her wrist， leaning across with his back against her chest. Then， keeping her other arm out of the way with his other elbow， he leaned forward， picked up the hammer， and struck the golden bell a light， smart tap. Then he let her go and they fell apart staring at each other and breathing hard. Polly was just beginning to cry， not with fear， and not even because he had hurt her wrist quite badly， but with furious anger. Within two seconds， however， they had something to think about that drove their own quarrels quite out of their minds.
As soon as the bell was struck it gave out a note， a sweet note such as you might have expected， and not very loud. But instead of dying away again， it went on； and as it went on it grew louder. Before a minute had passed it was twice as loud as it had been to begin with. It was soon so loud that if the children had tried to speak （but they weren’t thinking of speaking now.they were just standing with their mouths open） they would not have heard one another. Very soon it was so loud that they could not have heard one another even by shouting. And still it grew： all on one note， a continuous sweet sound， though the sweetness had something horrible about it， till all the air in that great room was throbbing with it and they could feel the stone floor trembling under their feet. Then at last it began to be mixed with another sound， a vague， disastrous noise which sounded first like the roar of a distant train， and then like the crash of a falling tree. They heard something like great weights falling. Finally， with a sudden rush and thunder， and a shake that nearly flung them off their feet， about a quarter of the roof at one end of the room fell in， great blocks of masonry fell all round them， and the walls rocked. The noise of the bell stopped. The clouds of dust cleared away. Everything became quiet again.
It was never found out whether the fall of the roof was due to Magic or whether that unbearably loud sound from the bell just happened to strike the note which was more than those crumbling walls could stand.
“There！ I hope you‘re satisfied now，” panted Polly. “Well， it’s all over， anyway，” said Digory.
And both thought it was； but they had never been more mistaken in their lives.
中文阅读
毫无疑问，魔法这一次生效了。他们一个劲儿地向下坠落，首先穿过黑暗，接着穿过一片模糊而旋转着的影像，那些影像有可能是任何东西。周围渐次变得明亮起来。随后他们突然感到自己站在了坚实的东西之上。过了一会儿，一切物体的轮廓变得明晰起来，他们这才能够朝四下里打量。
“多么奇怪的地方！”迪戈里感叹道。“我不喜欢这里。”波利说着，还打了个冷战。他们最先注意到那里的亮光。那既不像阳光，也不像电灯光、油灯光和蜡烛光，或者他们所见到过的别的什么光。那是一种暗淡的红光，一点儿也不令人感到愉悦。这个光毫无变化，也不闪烁摇动。他们站在平坦的铺砌好的地面上，周围高大的建筑物林立。他们落在了一个庭院里，头顶上无遮无盖。天空异乎寻常地阴暗..一种近似于墨色的蓝。看到那样的天空，你会感到奇怪，那个地方怎么还会有光。
“这里的天气很搞怪。”迪戈里说，“我在想，是不是我们恰好赶上了一场雷暴，再不然就是日蚀。”
“我不喜欢这种天气。”波利说。不知道是什么原因，他们两个都压低了声音讲话。跳进池塘之后，他们已经没有必要继续牵手，可是他们仍然没有把手松开。这个庭院四面都有高墙围绕。墙上有许多没有玻璃的大窗户，窗户里黑洞洞的，什么也看不见。稍微低矮之处是用柱子支撑着的宏伟拱门，像铁路隧道口一样张着漆黑的大嘴巴，令人感到冷嗖嗖的。
这些建筑物似乎都是用红色石头建造的，也许这只是那种奇怪的光给人的错觉。显然这里非常寒冷。院子里许多铺地的平坦石板都已开裂，因此没有哪两块石头是严丝合缝的。石板的棱角也早已磨平。有一个拱形门洞已经被瓦砾掩埋了一半。两个孩子不停地转动身子，查看着院子的四面八方。他们这样做的原因是担心有人..或者有什么东西..在他们转过身子的时候，会从那些窗户里向他们窥视。
“你认为有人住在这里吗？”迪戈里终于开口说道，声音仍然近乎耳语。
“不。”波利回答，“这里是一片废墟。我们到达之后，还没有听到一点声音。”
“我们站着别动，仔细地听一下。”迪戈里提议道。他们静静地站立，侧耳聆听，但他们所能听到的，只是自己砰砰的心跳声。起码这里跟世界之间的树林差不多同样宁静。但这种宁静还是有所不同。树林里的宁静是丰饶而温暖的（你几乎可以听到树木在生长），充满了生机。而这里却是一种死气沉沉、寒冷而空虚的寂静。你想象不出来，这里会有什么东西在生长。
“我们回家去吧。”波利说。“可是我们还什么都没有看到呢。”迪戈里说，“既然来了，我们就随便到处看看。”“我相信，这里没有什么有趣的东西。”
“如果你来到了另一个世界，却不敢去观察它们，那么拥有一个魔法戒指，也就没有什么意义了。”
“谁说不敢啦？”波利说着，松开了迪戈里的手。“我只是觉得，你似乎不太热衷于探索这个地方。”“不管去哪儿，只要你敢，我就敢。”“我们要是想离开，随时都可以做到。”迪戈里说，“我们把绿戒指取下来，放在右边的口袋里。我们所要做的只不过是记住，黄戒指在左边的口袋里。你可以把手贴近那个口袋，但切记不要伸进去，否则一碰到黄色戒指，你就会消失。”
