新年第一锤 《魔法师的外甥》第18期:钟与锤(5)

《魔法师的外甥》第18期:钟与锤(5)  

"Don't be so silly
" said Polly. "As if anyone would! What does it matter what would have happened?"
"I expect anyone who's e as far as this is bound to go on wondering till it sends him dotty. That's the Magic of it
you see. I can feel it beginning to work on me already."
"Well I don't
" said Polly crossly. "And I don't believe you do either. You're just putting it on."
"That's all you know
" said Digory. "It's because you're a girl. Girls never want to know anything but gossip and rot about people getting engaged."
"You looked exactly like your Uncle when you said that
" said Polly.
"Why can't you keep to the point?" said Digory. "What we're talking about is -"
"How exactly like a man!" said Polly in a very grownup 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 o 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 ice 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.