CHAPTER FOURTEEN THE BOTTOM OF THE WORLD（第2/4页）

“What about showing us the road at once ？”said Puddleglum.

“In a good hour,”cried the Prince. The whole party set out. The Prince remounted his charger，Puddleglum climbed up behind Jill，and Golg led the way. As he went，he kept shouting out the good news that the Witch was dead and that the four Overlanders were not dangerous. And those who heard him shouted it on to others，so that in a few minutes the whole of Underland was ringing with shouts and cheers，and gnomes by hundreds and thousands，leaping，turning cart-wheels，standing on their heads，playing leap-frog，and letting off huge crackers，came pressing round Coalblack and Snowflake. And the Prince had to tell the story of his own enchantment and deliverance at least ten times.

In this way they came to the edge of the chasm. It was about a thousand feet long and perhaps two hundred wide. They dismounted from their horses and came to the edge，and looked down into it. A strong heat smote up into their faces，mixed with a smell which was quite unlike any they had ever smelled. It was rich，sharp，exciting，and made you sneeze. The depth of the chasm was so bright that at first it dazzled their eyes and they could see nothing. When they got used to it they thought they could make out a river of fire，and，on the banks of that river，what seemed to be fields and groves of an unbearable，hot brilliance—though they were dim compared with the river. There were blues，reds，greens，and whites all jumbled together：a very good stained-glass window with the tropical sun staring straight through it at midday might have something the same effect. Down the rugged sides of the chasm，looking black like flies against all that fiery light，hundreds of Earthmen were climbing.

“Your honours,”said Golg（and when they turned to look at him they could see nothing but blackness for a few minutes， their eyes were so dazzled）. “Your honours，why don’t you come down to Bism ？ You’d be happier there than in that cold， unprotected，naked country out on top. Or at least come down for a short visit.”

Jill took it for granted that none of the others would listen to such an idea for a moment. To her horror she heard the Prince saying： “Truly，friend Golg，I have half a mind to come down with you. For this is a marvellous adventure，and it may be no mortal man has ever looked into Bism before or will ever have the chance again. And I know not how，as the years pass，I shall bear to remember that it was once in my power to have probed the uttermost pit of Earth and that I forbore. But could a man live there ？ You do not swim in the fire-river itself ？”

“Oh no，your Honour. Not we. It’s only salamanders live in the fire itself.”

“What kind of beast is your salamander ？”asked the Prince.

“It is hard to tell their kind，your Honour,”said Golg. “For they are too white-hot to look at. But they are most like small dragons. They speak to us out of the fire. They are wonderfully clever with their tongues：very witty and eloquent.”

Jill glanced hastily at Eustace. She had felt sure that he would like the idea of sliding down that chasm even less than she did. Her heart sank as she saw that his face was quite changed. He looked much more like the Prince than like the old Scrubb at Experiment House. For all his adventures，and the days when he had sailed with King Caspian，were coming back to him.

“Your Highness,”he said. “If my old friend Reepicheep the Mouse were here，he would say we could not now refuse the adventures of Bism without a great impeachment to our honour.”

“Down there,”said Golg，“I could show you real gold，real silver，real diamonds.”

“Bosh ！ ”said Jill rudely. “As if we didn’t know that we’re below the deepest mines even here.”

“Yes,”said Golg. “I have heard of those little scratches in the crust that you Topdwellers call mines. But that’s where you get dead gold，dead silver，dead gems. Down in Bism we have them alive and growing. There I’ll pick you bunches of rubies that you can eat and squeeze you a cup full of diamond juice. You won’t care much about fingering the cold，dead treasures of your shallow mines after you have tasted the live ones of Bism.”

“My father went to the world’s end,”said Rilian thoughtfully. “It would be a marvellous thing if his son went to the bottom of the world.”

“If your Highness wants to see your father while he’s still alive，which I think he’d prefer,”said Puddleglum，“it’s about time we were getting on to that road to the diggings.”