CHAPTERTHREETHEORLDS
UNdrewandhisstudyvaly。Then，foramomehingbecamemuddled。ThehingDigorykhattherewasashtfromabove，anddarknessbelow。Hedidn'tseemtobestandingonanything，，。Nothioughim。“IbelieveI'minwater，”saidDigory。“Oruhisfrightenedhimforased，butalmostatoncehecouldfeelthathewasrushingupwards。Thenhisheadsuddeotheairand，hefoundhimselfsgashore，outontosmroundattheedgeofapool。
&ohisfeethehewasherdrippingnforbreathasanyoerbeier。Hisclotheswereperfectlydry。Hewasstandingbytheedgeofasmallpool—efromsidetosideinaworewclosetogetherandweresoleafythathecouldgethesky。Allthelightwasgreenlightthatcamethroughtheleaves:buttheremusthavebeerongsuhisgreendaylightwasbrightandwarm。Itwasthequietestwoodyouagiherewerenobirds，s，noanimals，andnowind。Youostfeelthetreesgrowing。Thepoolhehadjustgotoutofwasnottheonlypool。Thereweredozensofothers—apooleveryfewyardsasfarashiseyescouldreaostfeelthetreesdrierupwiththeirroots。Thiswoodwasverymuchalive。WheodescribeitafterwardDigoryalwayssaid，“Itlace:asrichasplumcake。”
&rahingwasthat，almostbeforehehadlookedabouthim，Digoryhadhalffottenhowhehadethere。Atanyrate，hewaslynotthinkingaboutPolly，orUndrew，orevenhisMother。Hewasfrighteed，orcurious。Ifanyonehadaskedhim“Wheredidyou?”hewouldprobablyhavesaid，“I'vealwaysbeewaswhatitfeltlike—asifonehadalwaysbeeninthatplaeverbeehoughnothinghadeverhappened。Ashesaidlongafterward，“It'sofplacewherethireesg，that'sall。”
AfterDigoryhadlookedatthewtimeheherewasagirllyithefootofatreeafewyardsaway。Hereyeswerebutnotquite，asifshewerejustbetweensleepingandwaking。Sohelookedatherftimeandsaidnothing。Andatlastsheopenedhereyesahimftimeandshealsosaidnothing。Thenshespoke，ieofvoice。
“IthinkI'veseenyoubefore，”shesaid。
“Iratherthinksotoo，”saidDigory。“Haveyoubeenherelong?”
“Oh，always，”saidthegirl。“Atleast—Idon'tkime。”
“SohaveI，”saidDigory。
“Noyouhaven't，saidshe。“I'vejustseeofthatpool。”
“Yes，IsupposeIdid，”saidDigoryuzzledair，“I&#otten。”
Thenforquitealohersaidanymore。
“Lookhere，”saidthegirlpresently，“Iwonderdidweeverreallymeetbefore?Ihadasortofidea—asortofpimyhead—ofaboyandagirl，likeus—liviedifferent—anddoingallsortsofthiwasonlyadream。”
“I'vehadthatsamedream，Ithink，”saidDigory。“Aboutaboyandagirl，lividoor—ahingabamongrafters。Irememberthegirlhadadirtyface。”
&yougettingitmixed?Iwastheboywhohadthedirtyface。”
“Iembertheboy'sface，”saidDigory:andthenadded，“Hullo!What'sthat?”
“Why!it'saguinea-pig，”saidthegirl。Anditwas—afatguinea-pig，nosingaboutinthegrass。Butroundthemiddleoftheguihereraiedontoitbythetape，wasabrightyell。
“Look!lory，“Thering!Andlook!You'vegotoneer。AndsohaveI。”
Thegirlno，reallyi。Theystaredveryhardatoryingtoremember。Aexactlythesamemomeedout“Mr。Ketterley”aedout“Uheykheywereaorememberthewholestory。Afterafewmialkiitstraight。DigoryexplailyUndrewhadbeen。
“?”saidPolly。“Taketheguineapigandgohome?”
“There'snohurry，”saidDigorywithahugeyawn。
“Ithinkthereis，”saidPolly。“Thisplaceistooquiet。It'sso—sodreamy。You'realmostasleep。Ifweoweshalljustliedownanddrowseforeverandever。”
“It'sverynicehere，”saidDigory。
&is，”saidPolly。
“Butwe'vegottogetback。”Shestoodupaogocautiouslytuinea-pig。Butthenshegedhermind。
&aswellleavetheguinea-pig，”shesaid。“It'sperfectlyhappyhere，andyourunclewillonlydosomethinghorridtoitifwetakeithome。”
&hewould，”answeredDigory。“Lookatthewayhe'streatedus。Bytheegethome?”
“Gobatothepool，Iexpect。”
Theydstoodtogetherattheedgelookingdowhwater。Itwasfulloftherefleofthegreen，leafybralookverydeep。
“Wehaven'tanybathingthings，”saidPolly。
“Weshan'them，silly，”saidDigory。“We&#inwithour。Don'tyourememberitdidn'twetusonthe?”
“?”
“Abit。you?”
&much。”
“Idon'tthinkweshalloswim，”saidDigory“Wewanttogodown，don'twe?”