《銀椅》第5章:普德格倫

JILL. was asleep. Ever since the owls' parliament began she had been yawning terribly and now she had dropped off. She was not at all pleased at being waked again, and at finding herself lying on bare boards in a dusty belfry sort of place, completely dark, and almost completely full of owls. She was even less pleased when she heard that they had to set off for somewhere else - and not, apparently, for bed - on the Owl's back.
"Oh, come on, Pole, buck up," said Scrubb's voice. "After all, it is an adventure."
"I'm sick of adventures," said Jill crossly.
She did, however, consent to climb on to Glimfeather's back, and was thoroughly waked up (for a while) by the unexpected coldness of the air when he flew out with her into the night. The moon had disappeared and there were no stars. Far behind her she could see a single lighted window well above the ground; doubtless, in one of the towers of Cair Paravel. It made her long to be back in that delightful bedroom, snug in bed, watching the firelight on the walls. She put her hands under her cloak and wrapped it tightly round her. It was uncanny to hear two voices in the dark air a little distance away; Scrubb and his owl were talking to one another. "He doesn't sound tired," thought Jill. She did not realize that he had been on great adventures in that world before and that the Narnian air was bringing back to him a strength he had won when he sailed the Eastern Seas with King Caspian.
Jill had to pinch herself to keep awake, for she knew that if she dozed on Glimfeather's back she would probably fall off. When at last the two owls ended their flight, she climbed stiffly off Glimfeather and found herself on flat ground. A chilly wind was blowing and they appeared to be in a place without trees. "Tu-whoo, tu-whoo!" Glimfeather was calling. "Wake up, Puddleglum. Wake up. It is on the Lion's business."
For a long time there was no reply. Then, a long way off, a dim light appeared and began to come nearer. With it came a voice.
"Owls ahoy!" it said. "What is it? Is the King dead? Has an enemy landed in Narnia? Is it a flood? Or dragons?"
When the light reached them, it turned out to be that of a large lantern. She could see very little of the person who held it. He seemed to be all legs and arms. The owls were talking to him, explaining everything, but she was too tired to listen. She tried to wake herself up a bit when she realized that they were saying goodbye to her. But she could never afterwards remember much except that, sooner or later, she and Scrubb were stooping to enter a low doorway and then (oh, thank heavens) were lying down on something soft and warm, and a voice was saying:
"There you are. Best we can do. You'll lie cold and hard. Damp too, I shouldn't wonder. Won't sleep a wink, most likely; even if there isn't a thunderstorm or a flood or the wigwam doesn't fall down on top of us all, as I've known them do. Must make the best of it -" But she was fast asleep before the voice had ended.
When the children woke late next morning they found that they were lying, very dry and warm, on beds of straw in a dark place. A triangular opening let in the daylight.
"Where on earth are we?" asked Jill.
"In the wigwam of a Marsh-wiggle," said Eustace.
"A what?"
"A Marsh-wiggle. Don't ask me what it is. I couldn't see it last night. I'm getting up. Let's go and look for it."
"How beastly one feels after sleeping in one's clothes," said Jill, sitting up.
"I was just thinking how nice it was not to have to dress," said Eustace.
"Or wash either, I suppose," said Jill scornfully. But Scrubb had already got up, yawned, shaken himself, and crawled out of the wigwam. Jill did the same.
What they found outside was quite unlike the bit of Narnia they had seen on the day before. They were on a great flat plain which was cut into countless little islands by countless channels of water. The islands were covered with coarse grass and bordered with reeds and rushes. Sometimes there were beds of rushes about an acre in extent. Clouds of birds were constantly alighting in them and rising from them again-duck, snipe, bitterns, herons. Many wigwams like that in which they had passed the night could be seen dotted about, but all at a good distance from one another; for Marsh-wiggles are people who like privacy. Except for the fringe of the forest several miles to the south and west of them, there was not a tree in sight. Eastward the flat marsh stretched to low sand-hills on the horizon, and you could tell by the salt tang in the wind which blew from that direction that the sea lay over there. To the North there were low pale-coloured hills, in places bastioned with rock. The rest was all flat marsh. It would have been a depressing place on a w et evening. Seen under a morning sun, with a fresh wind blowing, and the air filled with the crying of birds, there was something fine and fresh and clean about its loneliness. The children felt their spirits rise.
"Where has the thingummy got to, I wonder?" said Jill.
"The Marsh-wiggle," said Scrubb, as if he were rather proud of knowing the word. "I expect-hullo, that must be him." And then they both saw him, sitting with his back to them, fishing, about fifty yards away. He had been hard to see at first because he was nearly the same colour as the marsh and because he sat so still.
"I suppose we'd better go and speak to him," said Jill. Scrubb nodded. They both felt a little nervous.
As they drew nearer, the figure turned its head and showed them a long thin face with rather sunken cheeks, a tightly shut mouth, a sharp nose, and no beard. He was wearing a high, pointed hat like a steeple, with an enormously wide flat brim. The hair, if it could be called hair, which hung over his large ears was greeny-grey, and each lock was flat rather than round, so that they were like tiny reeds. His expression was solemn, his complexion muddy, and you could see at once that he took a serious view of life.
"Good morning, Guests," he said. "Though when I say good I don't mean it won't probably turn to rain or it might he snow, or fog, or thunder. You didn't get any sleep, I dare say.
"Yes we did, though," said Jill. "We had a lovely night."
"Ah," said the Marsh-wiggle, shaking his head. "I see you're making the best of a bad job. That's right. You've been well brought up, you have. You've learned to put a good face on things."
"Please, we don't know your name," said Scrubb.
"Puddleglum's my name. But it doesn't matter if you forget it. I can always tell you again."
The children sat down on each side of him. They now saw that he had very long legs and arms, so that although his body was not much bigger than a dwarf's, he would be taller than most men when he stood up. The fingers of his hands were webbed like a frog's, and so were his bare feet which dangled in the muddy water. He was dressed in earthcoloured clothes that hung loose about him.
"I'm trying to catch a few eels to make an eel stew for our dinner," said Puddleglum. "Though I shouldn't wonder if I didn't get any. And you won't like them much if I do."
"Why not?" asked Scrubb.
"Why, it's not in reason that you should like our sort of victuals, though I've no doubt you'll put a bold face on it. All the same, while I am a catching of them, if you two could try to light the fire - no harm trying -! The wood's behind the wigwam. It may be wet. You could light it inside the wigwam, and then we'd get all the smoke in our eyes. Or you could light it outside, and then the rain would come and put it out. Here's my tinder-box. You won't know how to use it, I expect."
But Scrubb had learned that sort of thing on his last adventure. The children ran back together to the wigwam, found the wood (which was perfectly dry) and succeeded in lighting a fire with rather less than the usual difficulty. Then Scrubb sat and took care of it while Jill went and had some sort of wash - not a very nice one - in the nearest channel. After that she saw to the fire and he had a wash. Both felt a good deal fresher, but very hungry.
Presently the Marsh-wiggle joined them. In spite of his expectation of catching no eels, he had a dozen or so, which he had already skinned and cleaned. He put a big pot on, mended the fire, and lit his pipe. Marsh-wiggles smoke a very strange, heavy sort of tobacco (some people say they mix it with mud) and the children noticed the smoke from Puddleglum's pipe hardly rose in the air at all. It trickled out of the bowl and downwards and drifted along the ground like a mist. It was very black and set Scrubb coughing.
"Now," said Puddleglum. "Those eels will take a mortal long time to cook, and either of you might faint with hunger before they're done. I knew a little girl - but I'd better not tell you that story. It might lower your spirits, and that's a thing I never do. So, to keep your minds off your hunger, we may as well talk about our plans."
"Yes, do let's," said Jill. "Can you help us to find Prince Rilian?"
The Marsh-wiggle sucked in his cheeks till they were hollower than you would have thought possible. "Well, I don't know that you'd call it help," he said. "I don't know that anyone can exactly help. It stands to reason we're not likely to get very far on a journey to the North, not at this time of the year, with the winter coming on soon and all. And an early winter too, by the look of things. But you mustn't let that make you down-hearted. Very likely, what with enemies, and mountains, and rivers to cross, and losing our way, and next to nothing to eat, and sore feet, we'll hardly notice the weather. And if we don't get far enough to do any good, we may get far enough not to get back in a hurry."
Both children noticed that he said "we", not "you", and both exclaimed at the same moment. "Are you coming with us?"
"Oh yes, I'm coming of course. Might as well, you see. I don't suppose we shall ever see the King back in Narnia, now that he's once set off for foreign parts; and he had a nasty cough when he left. Then there's Trumpkin. He's failing fast. And you'll find there'll have been a bad harvest after this terrible dry summer. And I shouldn't wonder if some enemy attacked us. Mark my words."
"And how shall we start?" said Scrubb.
"Well," said the Marsh-wiggle very slowly, "all the others who ever went looking for Prince Rilian started from that same fountain where the Lord Drinian saw the lady. They went north, mostly. And as none of them ever came back, we can't exactly say how they got on."
"We've got to start by finding a ruined city of giants," said Jill. "Aslan said so."
"Got to start by finding it, have we?" answered Puddleglum. "Not allowed to start by looking for it, I suppose?"
"That's what I meant, of course," said Jill. "And then, when we've found it-"
"Yes, when!" said Puddleglum very drily.
"Doesn't anyone know where it is?" asked Scrubb.
"I don't know about Anyone," said Puddleglum. "And I won't say I haven't heard of that Ruined City. You wouldn't start from the fountain, though. You'd have to go across Ettinsmoor. That's where the Ruined City is, if it's anywhere. But I've been as far in that direction as most people and I never got to any ruins, so I won't deceive you."
"Where's Ettinsmoor?" said Scrubb.
"Look over there northward," said Puddleglum, pointing with his pipe. "See those hills and bits of cliff? That's the beginning of Ettinsmoor. But there's a river between it and us; the river Shribble. No bridges, of course."
"I suppose we can ford it, though," said Scrubb.
"Well, it has been forded," admitted the Marsh-wiggle.
"Perhaps we shall meet people on Ettinsmoor who can tell us the way," said Jill.
"You're right about meeting people," said Puddleglum.
"What sort of people live there?" she asked.
"It's not for me to say they aren't all right in their own way," answered Puddleglum. "If you like their way."
"Yes, but what are they?" pressed Jill. "There are so many queer creatures in this country. I mean, are they animals, or birds, or dwarfs, or what?"
The Marsh-wiggle gave a long whistle. "Phew!" he said. "Don't you know? I thought the owls had told you. They're giants."
Jill winced. She had never liked giants even in books, and she had once met one in a nightmare. Then she saw Scrubb's face, which had turned rather green, and thought to herself, "I bet he's in a worse funk than I am." That made her feel braver.
"The King told me long ago," said Scrubb - "that time when I was with him at sea-that he'd jolly well beaten those giants in war and made them pay him tribute."
"That's true enough," said Puddleglum. "They're at peace with us all right. As long as we stay on our own side of the Shribble, they won't do us any harm. Over on their side, on the Moor - Still, there's always a chance. If we don't get near any of them, and if none of them forget themselves, and if we're not seen, it's just possible we might get a long way."
"Look here!" said Scrubb, suddenly losing his temper, as people so easily do when they have been frightened. "I don't believe the whole thing can be half as bad as you're making out; any more than the beds in the wigwam were hard or the wood was wet. I don't think Aslan would ever have sent us if there was so little chance as all that."
He quite expected the Marsh-wiggle to give him an angry reply, but he only said, "That's the spirit, Scrubb. That's the way to talk. Put a good face on it. But we all need to be very careful about our tempers, seeing all the hard times we shall have to go through together. Won't do to quarrel, you know. At any rate, don't begin it too soon. I know these expeditions usually end that way: knifing one another, I shouldn't wonder, before all's done. But the longer we can keep off it-"
"Well, if you feel it's so hopeless," interrupted Scrubb, "I think you'd better stay behind. Pole and I can go on alone, can't we, Pole?"
"Shut up and don't be an ass, Scrubb," said Jill hastily, terrified lest the Marsh-wiggle should take him at his word.
"Don't you lose heart, Pole," said Puddleglum. "I'm coming, sure and certain. I'm not going to lose an opportunity like this. It will do me good. They all say - I mean, the other wiggles all say-that I'm too flighty; don't take life seriously enough. If they've said it once, they've said it a thousand times. 'Puddleglum,' they've said, `you're altogether too full of bobance and bounce and high spirits. You've got to learn that life isn't all fricasseed frogs and eel pie. You want something to sober you down a bit. We're only saying it for your own good, Puddleglum.' That's what they say. Now a job like this - a journey up north just as winter's beginning, looking for a Prince that probably isn't there, by way of a ruined city that no one has ever seen - will be just the thing. If that doesn't steady a chap, I don't know what will." And he rubbed his big frog-like hands together as if he were talking of going to a party or a pantomime. "And now," he added, "let's see how those eels are getting on."
When the meal came it was delicious and the children had two large helpings each. At first the Marsh-wiggle wouldn't believe that they really liked it, and when they had eaten so much that he had to believe them, he fell back on saying that it would probably disagree with them horribly. "What's food for wiggles may be poison for humans, I shouldn't wonder," he said. After the meal they had tea, in tins (as you've seen men having it who are working on the road), and Puddleglum had a good many sips out of a square black bottle. He offered the children some of it, but they thought it very nasty.
The rest of the day was spent in preparations for an early start tomorrow morning. Puddleglum, being far the biggest, said he would carry three blankets, with a large bit of bacon rolled up inside them. Jill was to carry the remains of the eels, some biscuit, and the tinder-box. Scrubb was to carry both his own cloak and Jill's when they didn't want to wear them. Scrubb (who had learned some shooting when he sailed to the East under Caspian) had Puddleglum's secondbest bow, and Puddleglum had his best one; though he said that what with winds, and damp bowstrings, and bad light, and cold fingers, it was a hundred to one against either of them hitting anything. He and Scrubb both had swords Scrubb had brought the one which had been left out for him in his room at Cair Paravel, but Jill had to be content with her knife. There would have been a quarrel about this, but as soon as they started sparring the wiggle rubbed his hands and said, "Ah, there you are. I thought as much. That's what usually happens on adventures." This made them both shut up.
All three went to bed early in the wigwam. This time the children really had a rather bad night. That was because Puddleglum, after saying, "You'd better try for some sleep, you two; not that I suppose any of us will close an eye tonight," instantly went off into such a loud, continuous snore that, when Jill at last got to sleep, she dreamed all night about road-drills and waterfalls and being in express trains in tunnels.

吉爾睡着了。從貓頭鷹會議一開始，她就呵欠連天，這會兒她早已睡熟了。她再次被叫醒，心裏很不樂意，而且她還發現自己竟在一片漆黑、滿是灰塵的鐘塔一類的地方的光禿禿的木板上躺着，周圍幾乎擠滿了貓頭鷹。當她聽到他們還得騎着貓頭鷹出發到另外什麼地方去——而且，顯然不是去睡覺的——心裏就更不高興了。
“哦，來吧，波爾，打起精神來。”斯克羅布的聲音說，”這畢竟是一次冒險呀。”
“我就討厭冒險。”吉爾發脾氣道。
不過，她還是答應爬到格里姆費瑟的背上，當它帶着她飛進夜空，空氣中那股出乎意料的寒意竟使她完全清醒過來(只有一會兒)。月亮已經不見了，也沒有星星。在她後面遠處，她能看見地面上有一扇亮着燈的窗戶，毫無疑問，那窗戶就在凱爾帕拉維爾的一座塔樓裏。燈光使她渴望回到那間令人愉快的臥室，蜷在牀上，望着牆上映着的火光。她把手放在斗篷下，用斗篷緊緊裹住身子。聽着黑沉沉的夜空不遠處傳來兩個聲音真有點不可思議。斯克羅布和他那隻貓頭鷹正在說話呢。”聽上去他倒不累。”吉爾想口她不明白斯克羅布以前在這個世界裏參加過幾場轟轟烈烈的冒險活動，納尼亞的空氣已經使他恢復了當初跟隨凱斯賓國王去東部海域航海時獲得的力量。
吉爾只好掐自己身子來保持清醒，因爲她知道如果她在格里姆費瑟背上打瞌睡，恐怕就會掉下去。等到兩隻貓頭鷹終於結束了它們的飛行，她手腳僵硬地從格里姆費瑟身上爬下來，站到平地上。一股涼颼颼的風迎面吹來，看來他們是在一個沒有樹木的地方。”喔響，喔嘀I”格里姆費瑟在呼喚，”醒醒吧，普德格倫，醒醒。獅王有要事。”
叫了半天沒有迴音。後來，遠處出現了一圈暗淡的燈光，漸漸靠近。隨即傳來一個聲音。
“喂，是貓頭鷹嗎?”它說，”怎麼回事?是國王死了?敵人在納尼亞登陸了？還是發大水了?龍來了?”
燈光來到他們身邊，這才知道那原來是隻大燈籠。她看不清那個拿着燈籠的人。它似乎渾身全是胳臂和腿。兩隻貓頭鷹跟它說話，解釋一切，但她太累了，沒聽他們說什麼。當她明白它們在跟自己說再見，就儘量想讓自己清醒一點。但事後，除此以外，她再也想不起更多的事了，不久，她和斯克羅布就彎腰走進一個低矮的門口，接着(啊呀，謝天謝地)就躺到又柔軟又暖和的什麼東西上。一個聲音說：
“到了，我們盡了最大努力了。你們躺着會又冷又硬，又潮溼，這我不奇怪。很可能一點也睡不着;即使這兒沒有雷雨、洪水，這棚屋沒倒在我們大家身上，我以前就碰到過這種事。必須隨遇而安……”不過話還沒說完，她早已熟睡了。
第二天早上兩個孩子醒得很晚，他們發現自己在一個陰暗的角落裏兩隻又幹燥又暖和的草鋪上躺着。陽光從一塊三角形的口子照進來。
“我們到底在哪兒呀?”吉爾問。
“在一個沼澤怪的棚屋裏。”尤斯塔斯說。”一個什麼?”
“一個沼澤怪。別問我它是什麼。昨晚我看不見它。我要起來了。我們去看看它吧。”
“一個人穿着隨身衣服睡覺，醒來感到多彆扭呀。”吉爾說着坐了起來。
“我正在想起牀時不用忙着穿衣服有多妙呢。”尤斯塔斯說。
“我看還不用洗臉吧。”吉爾輕蔑地說。但斯克羅布已經起牀了，打着呵欠，抖擻精神，爬出了棚屋。吉爾也跟他一模一樣。
他們在外面看到這兒和他們昨天看見的那一小塊納尼亞大不相同。他們是在一大片平原上，無數水溝把平原分割爲無數小島。這些小島都覆蓋着粗糙的草，四周都是蘆葦和燈心草。有的地方是一片片有一英畝大的燈心草草圃。成羣的鳥兒不斷地在其中起降——有鴨子、鵲、蒼鶯。周圍還看得見許多棚屋星羅棋佈的，就像他們昨晚過夜住的一個樣兒，不過所有的棚屋之間都拉開相當距離;因爲沼澤怪都喜歡單獨居住，不受打擾。除了西面和南面幾英里以外的森林邊緣外，這地方看不見一棵樹。往東面看，平坦的沼澤地伸展到地平線附近低矮的沙丘，從那個方向刮來的風帶有一股強烈的鹹昧，你就知道那邊是海了。北面是灰白色的低矮的山丘，處處築有石頭堡壘。其他地方都是平坦的沼澤地。碰到潮溼的晚上，這地方可真悶得慌。如今在朝陽下看看，還有清新的風吹拂着，空中鳥鳴不絕。這兒雖然荒涼卻相當美食、清新、乾淨。孩子們覺得興致又高了。
“不知道那個叫什麼來着的東西上哪兒去了?”吉爾說。
“沼澤怪。”斯克羅布說，他知道這個叫法似乎相當得意，”我希望——嗨，那個一定就是它。”這時他們倆都看見它了，在約五十碼以外，背對他們坐着釣魚。起初他們看不清，因爲它渾身幾乎和沼澤一樣顏色，而且它坐着一動也不動。-
“我看我們最好去跟它談一談。”吉爾說。斯克羅布點點頭。他倆都覺得有點兒緊張。
他們走近時，那個身影扭過頭來，露出一張瘦長臉，面頰凹陷，尖鼻子，嘴脣緊閉，沒有鬍子。它戴着一頂又高又尖的帽子，就像一座尖塔，還有圈其寬無比的帽檐。披在大耳朵上的頭髮，要是算得上頭髮的話，是綠灰色的。而且每根頭髮都是扁的，而不是圓的，因此更像小蘆葦。它的表情很莊重，膚色跟泥巴一樣。你立刻就能看出它對生活的態度是很嚴肅的。
“早上好，客人們，”它說，”可是我說‘好'，意思並不是說也許不會下雨，或可能下雪啊，有霧啊，打雷啊。我敢說你們一直沒睡着吧。”
“可我們倒真睡着了。”吉爾說，”我們這一晚過得很好。”
“啊，”沼澤怪搖搖頭說，”我明白你們能隨遇而安。那是對的。你們有教養。學會了對事情要採取樂觀態度。”
“對不起，我們還不知道你的大名。”斯克羅布說。
“我叫普德格倫。不過要是你們忘記了也沒關係。我可以再告訴你們。”
兩個孩子一邊一個在它身邊坐下。他們這會兒纔看見它的胳臂和腿都很長很長，因此儘管它的身體並不比小矮人大，站起來卻比多數人高。它的手指有蹼，像青蛙的爪子，兩隻在泥漿水裏晃盪的腳也有蹼。它穿着土黃色的寬鬆衣服。
“我正想抓幾條鯉魚來做個燉鯉魚當午飯，”普德格倫說，”可要是我一條也抓不到，也不奇怪。再說你們也不大會像我這樣喜歡吃鯉魚。”
“爲什麼不喜歡?”斯克羅布問。
“爲什麼，雖然我毫不懷疑你們會裝得對此毫不在乎的樣子，可是要你們喜歡我們這種食品是不合情理的。反正沒關係，我在捉魚的時候，如果你們倆能想法把火生起來——不妨試試看——木柴就在棚屋後面。可能是溼的。你們可以在棚屋裏生火，那麼所有的煙都會薰到我們眼睛裏。你們也可以在外頭生火，那麼要是下雨，就會把火淋滅了。這是我的51火盒，我想你們不會知道怎麼用吧?”"
但斯克羅布在上回探險時已經學過這一類事了。兩個孩子一起奔回棚屋，找到了木柴(那完全是乾的)，沒費什麼事就生起一堆火。於是斯克羅布坐下照顧火堆，吉爾到最近的水溝去洗洗臉——洗得不怎麼痛快。洗好後她來照顧火堆，斯克羅布也去洗了一下。兩個人都覺得清醒多了，但肚子都很餓了。
不一會兒，沼澤怪來了。雖然它估計過一條鯉魚也捉不到，居然已經捉了十多條，而且已經把魚皮剝了，洗乾淨了。它在火上擱了一隻大鍋，添了柴火，點上了菸斗。沼澤怪抽的是一種十分奇怪、味兒濃的菸草(有人說它們在菸草裏攙了泥巴)。兩個孩子還注意到普德格倫菸斗裏的煙幾乎不大往上升，而是從菸斗裏一縷縷出來，往下飄，順着地面像一層薄霧似的飄啊飄的。而且這煙很黑，薰得斯克羅布直咳嗽。
“好了，”普德格倫說，”那些鯉魚要燒很長時間，沒燒好你們哪個就會餓昏的。我認識一個小姑娘——不過我還是別告訴你們那個故事的好。你們聽了會掃興的，那種事我絕對不幹。因此，爲了讓你們腦子別儘想肚子餓，我們還是先談談我們的計劃吧。”
“是啊，我們談談吧。”吉爾說，”你能幫助我們找到瑞廉王子嗎?”"
沼澤怪使勁。咂着菸斗，咂得兩頰都凹下去，凹成那副樣子你怎麼也想像不出來。”嗯，我不知道你們稱這爲幫助。”它說，”我不知道哪個正好能幫這個忙。原因是一年中在這個季節，冬天很快就要到了，我們往北走不大可能走得很遠。而且看趨勢，今年冬天來得早。不過你們不必爲此垂頭喪氣。由於會碰到敵人，又要爬山，又要過河，又是迷路，又是幾乎沒東西可吃，又是腳痛，我們多半不大會注意天氣。而且要是我們走不遠，成不了什麼事，我們也用不着急於回來，不妨再走得遠些。”
兩個孩子都注意到它說”我們”而不是”你們”，兩人都同時歡呼起來”你跟我們一起去嗎?”
“哦，是啊，我當然去啦。乾脆一起去，你們懂嗎?既然國王已經動身出國了，我看我們再也見不到國王回到納尼亞了，而且他走的時候咳嗽得很厲害。再說杜魯普金呢，他老得很快。你們會看見這個夏季大旱之後遇上歉收。要是有什麼敵人向我們進攻，我是不會奇怪的。記住我的話好了。”
“我們怎麼着手呢?”斯克羅布說。
“恩”沼澤怪慢吞吞地說，”所有那些去尋找瑞廉王子的人都是從德里寧勳爵看見那個女人的噴泉出發的。他們大多朝北走。因爲他們一個也沒回來過。我們也說不準他們到底有什麼進展。”
“我們開頭得找到一座巨人城的廢墟，”吉爾說，”阿斯蘭這麼說的。”
“我們開頭就得找到它吧?”普德格倫說，”我看，不允許只是找找看了?”
“當然啦，我就是這個意思，”吉爾說，”然後，等我們找到以後......
“是啊，幾時才找到呢I”普德格倫冷冰冰地說。”有誰認識這地方在哪兒嗎?”斯克羅布問。
“我不知道有誰認識，”普德格倫說，”可我決不會說我沒聽說過那個廢墟城。話說回來，你們不必從噴泉出發。你們得穿過艾丁斯荒原。要有的話，那個廢墟城就在那兒。但我也朝那個方向走過，跟大多數人走得一樣遠，可我從來也沒到過什麼廢墟，所以我決不會欺騙你們。”
“艾丁斯荒原在哪兒呢?”斯克羅布說
“從這兒往北邊那兒看，”普德格倫說着用菸斗一指，”看見那些小山和懸崖嗎?那兒就是艾丁斯荒原開始的地方。不過和我們這兒還隔着一條河，叫斯力布河。當然，沒有橋。”
“話雖這麼說，我看我們可以蹚水過去。”斯克羅布說。”得，已經有人蹚水去過了。”沼澤怪承認了。
“也許我們會在艾丁斯荒原遇見什麼人能給我們指路。”吉爾說。
“遇見人，你算說對了。”普德格倫說。”那兒住的是什麼樣的人呢?”她問。
“要是你們喜歡他們那一套的話，我也不能說他們按自己那一套過日子有什麼不好。”普德格倫回答說。
“是啊。但他們是什麼呢?”吉爾追問道，”這個地方有這麼多奇禽怪獸。我意思是他們是走獸還是飛禽，還是小矮人，還是什麼?”
沼澤怪吹了一聲長長的口哨。”噓！”它說，”你們不知道嗎?我還以爲貓頭鷹已經告訴你們了呢。他們是巨人呀。”
吉爾畏縮了，即使是書本里的巨人，她也從來沒喜歡過，而且她有一次做噩夢還看見過一個巨人呢。這時她看見斯克羅布的臉也已經發青了，她暗自想道”我敢說他比我還要害怕暱。”這一想她就覺得自己勇敢些了。
“國王很久以前告訴過我，”斯克羅布說，”那時我跟他一起在海上，他說他在戰爭中把巨人打得大敗而歸，而且逼得他們向他進貢。”
“那倒一點不假，”普德格倫說，”他們跟我們相安無事沒錯。只要我們待在斯力布河自己這邊，他們就不會傷害我們。不過，在他們那邊呢，在荒原上——總有個萬一。要是我們不接近任何巨人，要是他們沒人忘乎所以，而我們又沒被他們看見，那很可能走上一大段路。”
“聽着，”斯克羅布說，他突然發脾氣了，人們受了驚很容易發脾氣，”我就不相信這件事有你說的一半那麼嚇人，跟你說的棚屋裏的牀是硬的、柴是溼的一樣沒什麼可怕。要是這事真的那麼希望渺茫，我認爲阿斯蘭就不會派我們來。”
他原以爲沼澤怪也會怒氣衝衝地回答他，但它只是說:“這種精神很好，斯克羅布。應該這樣說話。擺出滿不在乎的樣子。不過我們對自己的脾氣都要十分小心，要看到我們得一起度過所有的困難時刻。吵架是不行的，你知道嗎?不管怎麼說，別一開頭就吵架。我知道這些探險隊通常都是那樣結束的:事情還沒辦成，就五相動刀子，我是不會奇怪的。不過我們避免這一點的時間要能長一點…”
“得了，要是你認爲這事那麼沒希望，”斯克羅布插嘴說，”我想你還是待在後面的好。我和波爾可以自己去，對不對，波爾?”
“閉嘴，別犯傻了，斯克羅布。”吉爾趕緊說，生怕沼澤怪把他的話當真了。
“你別覺得掃興，波爾，”普德格倫說，”我絕對肯定去的。我可不打算失掉這樣一個機會。這對我有好處。人家都說——我是說，其他的沼澤怪都說——我太輕浮，對生活不夠嚴肅。一旦他們說了一遍，就不止說上幾千遍。’普德格倫，’他們說，’你實在太愛誇誇其談，精力過剩。你得懂得生活並不全是油煎青蛙和鯉魚餡餅。你需要有點事讓你清醒一下，我們這麼說都是爲你好，普德格倫。'他們就是這樣說的。眼下就在冬天快開始的時候，上北方走一趟，去找一個大概不在那兒的王子，取道一個誰也沒見過的廢墟城——這樣一項差使正是我需要的。如果這種事還不能使一個傢伙穩定下來，那我就不知道還有什麼辦法了。”說着它搓搓那雙像青蛙爪子似的大手，彷彿它是在談起去參加舞會或看啞劇似的。”現在呢，”它加上一句說，”我們看看那些鯉魚煮得怎樣了。”
那道菜端上來時，味道真美極了，兩個孩子都吃了雙份兒。起初沼澤怪不相信他們真的喜歡吃，後來看他們吃了那麼多，它只好相信了。它退而說這些東西可能大大不合他們口味。”對沼澤怪來說是食物，對人類也許就是毒藥，我不會奇怪的。”它說。吃完午飯以後他們又喝茶，茶裝在鐵皮罐裏(就像你們看見那些在路上幹活的人喝的一樣)，普德格倫從一個方的黑瓶子裏喝了好多口。他請兩個孩子喝一點這種飲料，但他們覺得那東西非常難喝。
飯後半天時間就都用來準備第二天一早出發的事。普德格倫比起他們來算是最大的，說它將帶上三條毯子，裏面還包上一大塊燻肉。吉爾把吃剩的鱔魚帶上，還有一些餅乾和引火盒。斯克羅布就把他和吉爾不穿的斗篷帶上。斯克羅布上次跟凱斯賓往東方航行時曾學過一點射箭，所以又帶上普德格倫第二把好弓，普德格倫則帶着自己最好的那把，可它又說，有風，加上弓弦潮溼，光線不好，手指冰涼，他們倆射中目標的可能性只有百分之一。它和斯克羅布都帶上劍——斯克羅布把凱爾帕拉維爾宮在他房裏專門爲他準備的那把劍帶來了。可吉爾只能將就帶上那把刀算數。他們本來爲此還吵了一架，但剛開始吵，沼澤怪就搓着於說，”啊，又來了吧。我就想到了。去探險往往有這種情況。”這麼一說他們倆就都住口了。
他們三個都早早在棚屋裏上了牀。這一晚上兩個孩子倒真的沒睡好。那是因爲普德格倫說”你們倆最好想法睡一會兒，我不是說我們大家今晚都睡不着。”說完它立刻解聲如雷，接連不斷，到吉爾終於睡着後，整晚都夢見路面鑽孔機、瀑布，以及隧道里的特別快車。