Of all the things Digory had said this was the first that really went home. Uncle Andrew started and there came over his face a look of such horror that， beast though he was， you could almost feel sorry for him. But a second later he smoothed it all away and said with a rather forced laugh，“ Well， well， I suppose that is a natural thing for a child to think.brought up among women， as you have been. Old wives‘ tales， eh？ I don’t think you need worry about my danger， Digory. Wouldn‘t it be better to worry about the danger of your little friend？ She’s been gone some time. If there are any dangers Over There.well， it would be a pity to arrive a moment too late.”
“A lot you care，” said Digory fiercely. “But I‘m sick of this jaw. What have I got to do？”
“You really must learn to control that temper of yours， my boy，” said Uncle Andrew coolly. “Otherwise you’ll grow up like your Aunt Letty. Now. Attend to me.”
He got up， put on a pair of gloves， and walked over to the tray that contained the rings.
“They only work，” he said， “if they‘re actually touching your skin. Wearing gloves， I can pick them up.like this.and nothing happens. If you carried one in your pocket nothing would happen： but of course you’d have to be careful not to put your hand in your pocket and touch it by accident. The moment you touch a yellow ring， you vanish out of this world. When you are in the Other Place I expect.of course this hasn‘t been tested yet， but I expect.that the moment you touch a green ring you vanish out of that world and.I expect.reappear in this. Now. I take these two greens and drop them into your right.hand pocket. Remember very carefully which pocket the greens are in. G for green and R for right. G.R. you see： which are the first two letters of green. One for you and one for the little girl. And now you pick up a yellow one for yourself. I should put it on.on your finger.if I were you. There’ll be less chance of dropping it.”
Digory had almost picked up the yellow ring when he suddenly checked himself.
“Look here，” he said. “What about Mother？ Supposing she asks where I am？”
“The sooner you go， the sooner you‘ll be back，” said Uncle Andrew cheerfully.
“But you don’t really know whether I can get back.”
Uncle Andrew shrugged his shoulders， walked across to the door， unlocked it， threw it open， and said：
“Oh， very well then. Just as you please. Go down and have your dinner. Leave the little girl to be eaten by wild animals or drowned or starved in Otherworld or lost there for good， if that‘s what you prefer. It’s all one to me. Perhaps before tea time you‘d better drop in on Mrs Plummer and explain that she’ll never see her daughter again； because you were afraid to put on a ring.”
“By gum，” said Digory， “don‘t I just wish I was big enough to punch your head！”
Then he buttoned up his coat， took a deep breath， and picked up the ring. And he thought then， as he always thought afterwards too， that he could not decently have done anything else.
中文阅读
事情发生得太突然，迪戈里从前所经历过的，甚至连他的噩梦都无法与之相比，他吓得尖叫起来。安德鲁舅舅立即用手捂住他的嘴巴。“不准叫！”他在迪戈里的耳边发出嘘声，“如果你大呼小叫，会让你妈妈听到的。你知道这会给她造成多大的惊吓。”
正像迪戈里后来所说的，用那样的方法来使一个小孩子就范，这种可怕的卑鄙行径几乎令他感到恶心。当然，他没有再次发出尖叫。
“这才对头。”安德鲁舅舅说，“也许你是情不自禁才大叫的。当你第一次看到有人消失时，确实会感到震惊。嗨，那天晚上，当豚鼠消失时，就连我也吓了一大跳。”
“是那个让你惊叫的吗？”迪戈里问道。“哦，那次你听到了，是吗？我希望，你没有在暗中监视我吧？”“不，我没有，”迪戈里愤怒地说，“但波利是怎么回事儿？”“祝贺我吧，亲爱的孩子。”安德鲁舅舅一边搓着手，一边说，“我的试验成功了。那个小女孩离开了..消失了..完全离开了这个世界。”“你对她做了些什么？”“把她送到了..嗯..到了另一个地方。”“你到底是什么意思？”迪戈里问道。
安德鲁舅舅坐了下来，说：“好吧，我把一切都告诉你。你听说过勒费老夫人吗？”
“她是我的姨婆之类的亲戚吧？”迪戈里反问道。“不完全准确。”安德鲁舅舅回答，“她是我的教母。那个就是她，在那儿，挂在那边墙上。”迪戈里顺着那个方向望去，看到一张褪色的照片，照片上是一个戴着无边呢帽的老妇人的头像。此刻他想起来了，在乡下家里的一个旧抽屉中，自己曾经见过一张同样面孔的照片。他还问过妈妈那是谁，但妈妈似乎不愿过多地谈论这个话题。这张脸一点儿也不好看，迪戈里心想，当然，从早年的那些老照片上，人们也的确很难分辨出美丑。
“是不是..难道不是..她有什么毛病，安德鲁舅舅？”他问道。“好吧，”安德鲁舅舅咯咯地笑着说，“那要看你把什么称为毛病。人们是如此的心胸狭隘。在晚年她确实变得非常古怪，做了些愚蠢的事儿。那就是他们把她关起来的原因。”
“你是说，把她关在了一座疯人院里？”“噢不，不，不。”安德鲁舅舅用惊讶的声音说道，“不是那种地方。
只是关在了监狱里。”“啊呀！”迪戈里问道，“她犯了什么罪？”
“啊，可怜的女人。”安德鲁舅舅说，“她真的很愚蠢。她做了大量另类的事情。我们不必一一详细述说了。她一直都待我不薄。”
“可是听我说，这些跟波利有什么关系？我希望你能..”“别着急，孩子。”安德鲁舅舅说，“在勒费老夫人临终前，他们把她放了出来。在她弥留之际，她只允许少数几个人前去看望，而我就是其中之一。你要明白，她不喜欢那些平庸无知的人。我自己也是这样。她和我志趣相投。就在她去世的前几天，她让我来到她家，打开旧书桌上的一个秘密抽屉，把藏在里边的一个小盒子拿给她。就在我拿起小盒子的一瞬间，透过十指的触觉，我意识到，自己手中握着的是一个重大的秘密。她把盒子交给我，让我保证，她一旦咽气，我就要藉着某些仪式，把没有打开过的小盒子烧掉。那个承诺我并没有履行。”
“那么，你还真够卑鄙的。”迪戈里说。“卑鄙？”安德鲁舅舅带着困惑的表情说道，“噢，我明白了。你的意思是说，小男孩就应该履行他们的诺言。不错，这是最正确和最恰当的，我相信。我很高兴他们教导你要这样做。但是你必须明白，那样的规矩，对于小男孩..还有仆人..还有女人..甚至平民百姓，无论怎么好，却可能并不适用于见解深刻的学者、伟大的思想家以及圣人。不，迪戈里。像我这样的人，掌握着隐秘智慧的人，是不受常规约束的，正如我们也舍弃了普通人的寻常乐趣。孩子，我们的命运，是崇高而孤独的。”