“There！” he said. “Now my fool of a sister can’t get at you！”
It was dreadfully unlike anything a grown.up would be expected to do. Polly‘s heart came into her mouth， and she and Digory started backing towards the little door they had come in by. Uncle Andrew was too quick for them. He got behind them and shut that door too and stood in front of it. Then he rubbed his hands and made his knuckles crack. He had very long， beautifully white， fingers.
“I am delighted to see you，” he said. “Two children are just what I wanted.”
“Please， Mr Ketterley，” said Polly. “It’s nearly my dinner time and I‘ve got to go home. Will you let us out， please？”
“Not just yet，” said Uncle Andrew. “This is too good an opportunity to miss. I wanted two children. You see， I’m in the middle of a great experiment. I‘ve tried it on a guinea.pig and it seemed to work. But then a guinea.pig can’t tell you anything. And you can‘t explain to it how to come back.”
“Look here， Uncle Andrew，” said Digory， “it really is dinner time and they’ll be looking for us in a moment. You must let us out.”
“Must？” said Uncle Andrew.
Digory and Polly glanced at one another. They dared not say anything， but the glances meant “Isn‘t this dreadful？” and “We must humour him.”
“If you let us go for our dinner now，” said Polly， “we could come back after dinner.”
“Ah， but how do I know that you would？” said Uncle Andrew with a cunning smile. Then he seemed to change his mind.
“Well， well，” he said， “if you really must go， I suppose you must. I can’t expect two youngsters like you to find it much fun talking to an old buffer like me.” He sighed and went on. “You‘ve no idea how lonely I sometimes am. But no matter. Go to your dinner. But I must give you a present before you go. It’s not every day that I see a little girl in my dingy old study； especially， if I may say so， such a very attractive young lady as yourself.”
Polly began to think he might not really be mad after all. “Wouldn‘t you like a ring， my dear？” said Uncle Andrew to Polly.
“Do you mean one of those yellow or green ones？” said Polly. “How lovely！”
“Not a green one，” said Uncle Andrew. “I’m afraid I can‘t give the green ones away. But I’d be delighted to give you any of the yellow ones， with my love： come and try one on.”
Polly had now quite got over her fright and felt sure that the old
gentleman was not mad； and there was certainly something strangely attractive about those bright rings. She moved over to the tray.
“Why！ I declare，” she said. “That humming noise gets louder here. It‘s almost as if the rings were making it.”
“What a funny fancy， my dear，” said Uncle Andrew with a laugh. It sounded a very natural laugh， but Digory had seen an eager， almost a greedy， look on his face.
“Polly！ Don’t be a fool！” he shouted. “Don‘t touch them.”
It was too late. Exactly as he spoke， Polly’s hand went out to touch one of the rings. And immediately， without a flash or a noise or a warning of any sort， there was no Polly. Digory and his Uncle were alone in the room.
中文阅读
这个故事讲述的事情发生在很久以前，那时候你的祖父还是个孩子。这个故事非常重要，因为它讲述了我们的世界和纳尼亚大陆之间的来往是如何开始的。那时候，夏洛克·福尔摩斯先生还住在贝克街，巴斯特布尔一族还在刘易舍姆路寻找宝藏a。那时候，如果你是个男孩子，必须每天戴着浆过的伊顿宽硬衣领；那时候的学校通常也比现在的学校更令人讨厌。不过那时候的饭菜却比较可口。至于糖果嘛，我不必告诉你，那时候有多么物美价廉，因为这只会让你白白地流口水。在那些日子里，有一个名叫波利·普卢默的小女孩住在伦敦。
她家的房子与一大排房屋彼此相连。一天早上，她走出房屋，来到后花园，突然看见一个小男孩爬上隔壁花园的墙头，把脑袋探了过来。波利非常吃惊，因为隔壁那幢房子里从来都没有小孩子，只住着凯特利先生和凯特利小姐两个人，他们是一对兄妹，一个是老单身汉，一个是老处女。波利充满好奇地抬头观看，只见那个陌生男孩的脸脏兮兮的。即便他先玩了一通泥巴，接着又嚎啕大哭，然后再用手去抹眼泪，他的脸也不可能更脏了。事实上，他刚才差不多就是这么做的。
a此处指的是伊迪斯·内斯比特的《寻宝人的故事》中的人物和故事。..译者注“你好！”波利说。“你好！”那个男孩问，“你叫什么名字？”“波利。”波利说，“你呢？”“迪戈里。”男孩答道。“哎呀，这个名字可真好笑！”波利说。“还没有波利这个名字一半好笑。”迪戈里说。“你这个名字是很可笑。”波利说。“不，一点儿也不可笑。”迪戈里说。
“起码我洗过脸了。”波利说，“那可是你要做的，尤其是在刚刚..”她一下子打住了话头。她本来想说“刚刚嚎啕大哭之后”，但她感到那样说不太礼貌。
“好吧，我确实哭过。”迪戈里提高了嗓门说道，就像是一个特别伤心的男孩子，根本不在乎别人知道他曾经哭过。“你一定也会哭的，”他继续说着，“如果你一直住在乡村，有一匹小马，在花园的尽头还有一条河，而你却被带到这种讨厌的洞窟一样的地方居住。”
“伦敦才不是洞窟呢。”波利愤怒地说。可那个男孩实在是太激动了，根本没有理会她，接着说道..“如果你爸爸远在印度..你只好过来跟姨妈和一个疯疯癫癫的舅舅住在一起（有谁会喜欢这个？）..就因为他们可以照顾你的妈妈..而你的妈妈病了，而且病得要..要..死。”说到这里，他的脸变得有点痉挛，就像是拼命在忍住泪水的那种样子。
“我不知道这些事情。对不起。”波利愧疚地说。然后，由于不知道该说些什么，同时也想把迪戈里的注意力转移到愉快的话题上，她问道：
“凯特利先生真的疯了么？”“嗯，他要不是疯了，”迪戈里说，“就是还有些别的秘密。他在顶楼有一个书房，莱蒂姨妈告诫我，绝对不要上那儿去。好吧，这看起来已经很可疑了。但还有另外一件事。每次吃饭时，当他想要对我说些什么..他历来都不怎么跟她说话..她总是让他闭嘴。她说：‘不要打扰这个孩子，安德鲁。’或者是，‘我相信，迪戈里并不想听那件事。’再不就是，‘迪戈里，你想不想出去，到花园里去玩？’”
“他想要说的是什么事儿呢？”“我不知道。他从来都不多说。但还不止这些。一天晚上..其实就是昨天晚上..我要回卧室去，打顶楼楼梯底下经过（我可不太乐意从那儿经过），我相信自己听到了一声尖叫。”
“没准儿他把发疯的妻子关在上面了。”“是啊，我也这么想过。”“说不定他是个造假币的人。”
“也许他曾经当过海盗，就像《金银岛》开头所写的那个海盗，总是在躲避他以前的同伙。”