“Come in， friends，” he said， glancing quickly up. “The fit is not yet upon me. Make no noise， for I told that prying chamberlain that you were in bed. Now . . . I can feel it coming. Quick！ Listen while I am master of myself. When the fit is upon me， it well may be that I shall beg and implore you， with entreaties and threatenings， to loosen my bonds. They say I do. I shall call upon you by all that is most dear and most dreadful. But do not listen to me. Harden your hearts and stop your ears. For while I am bound you are safe. But if once I were up and out of this chair， then first would come my fury， and after that” .he shuddered. “the change into a loathsome serpent.”
“There‘s no fear of our loosing you，” said Puddleglum. “We’ve no wish to meet wild men； or serpents either.”
“I should think not，” said Scrubb and Jill together.
“All the same，” added Puddleglum in a whisper. “Don‘t t’s be too sure. Let‘s be on our guard. We’ve muffed verything else， you know. He‘ll be cunning， I shouldn’t onder， once he gets started. Can we trust one another？ Do e all promise that whatever he says we don‘t touch those ords？ Whatever he says， mind you？”
“Rather！” said Scrubb.
