Friday, June 26, 2009
When she (the Witch) had come to a little ark set in the wall not far from the fireplace, she opened it, and took out first a handful of green powder. This she threw on the fire. It did not blaze much, but a very sweet and drowsy smell came from it. And all through the conversation which followed, that smell grew stronger, and filled the room, and made it harder to think. Secondly, she took out a musical instrument rather like a mandolin. She began to play it with her fingers - a steady, monotonous thrumming that you didn't notice after a few minutes. But the less you noticed it, the more it got into your brain and your blood. This also made it harder to think. After she had thrummed for a time (and the sweet smell was now strong) she began speaking in a sweet, quiet voice.
"How?" said the Queen, with a kind, soft, musical laugh. "Is there a country up among the stones and mortar of the roof?"
"No," said Puddleglum, struggling a little to get his breath. "It's in the Overworld."
"And what, or where, pray is this.. how do you call it... Overworld?"
"Oh, don't be silly," said Scrubb, who was fighting hard against the enchantment of the sweet smell and the thrumming. "As if you didn't know! It's up above, up where you can see the sky and the sun and the stars. Why, you've been there yourself. We met you there."
"I cry you mercy, little brother," laughed the Witch. "I have no memory of that meeting. But we often meet our friends in strange places when we dream. And unless all dreamed alike, you must not ask them to remember it."
"Madam," said the Prince sternly, "I have already told your Grace that I am the King's son of Narnia."
"And shalt be, dear friend," said the Witch in a soothing voice, as if humouring a child, "shalt be king of many imagined lands in thy fancies
"We have been there, too," snapped Jill. She was very angry because she could feel the enchantment getting hold of her every moment. But of course the very fact that she could feel it, showed that it had not yet fully worked
"And thou art Queen of Narnia too, I doubt not, pretty one," said the Witch in the same coaxing, half-mocking tone.
"I am nothing of the sort," said Jill, stamping her foot. "We come from another world."
"Why, this is a prettier game than the other," said the Witch. "Tell us, little maid, where is this other world? What ships and chariots go between it and ours?"
Of course a lot of things darted into Jill's head at once: Experiment House, Adela Pennyfaher, her own home, radio-sets, cinemas, cars, aeroplanes, ration-books, queues. But they seemed dim and far away. (Thrum - thrum - thrum - went the strings of the Witch's instrument.) Jill couldn't remember the names of the things in our world. And this time it didn't come into her head that she was being enchanted, for now the magic was in its full strength.
She found herself saying (and at the moment it was a relief to say): "No. I suppose that other world must be all a dream."
"Yes. It is all a dream," said the Witch, always thrumming.
"Yes, all a dream," said Jill.
"There never was such a world," said the Witch.
"No," said Jill and Scrubb, "never was such a world."
"There never was any world but mine," said the Witch.
"There never was any world but yours," said they.
Puddleglum was still fighting hard.
"I don't know rightly what you mean by a world," he said, talking like a man who hasn't enough air. "But you can play that fiddle till your fingers drop off, and still you won't make me forget Narnia; and the whole of the Overworld too. We'll never see it again, I shouldn't wonder. You may have blotted it out and turned it dark like this, for all I know. Nothing more likely. But I know I was there once. I've seen the sky full of stars. I've seen the sun coming up out of the sea of a morning and sinking behind the mountains at night. And I've seen him up in the midday sky when I couldn't look at him for brightness."
Puddleglum's words had a very rousing effect. The other three all breathed again and looked at one another like people newly awaked.
"Why, there it is!" cried the Prince. "Of course! The blessing of Aslan upon this honest marsh-wiggle. We have all been dreaming, these last few minutes. How could we have forgotten it? Of course we've all seen the sun."
"By Jove, so we have!" said Scrubb. "Good of you, Puddleglum! You're the only one of us with any sense, I do believe."
Then came the Witch's voice, cooing softly like the voice of a wood-pigeon from the high elms in an old garden at the three o'clock in the middle of a sleepy summer afternoon; and it said:
"What is this sun that you all speak of? Do you mean anything by the word?"
"Yes, we jolly well do," said Scrubb.
"Can you tell me what is's like?" asked the Witch (thrum, thrum, thrum, went the strings).
"Please it your Grace," said the Prince, very coldly and politely. "You see that lamp. It is round and yellow and gives light to the whole room; and hangeth moverover from the roof. Now that thing which we call the sun is like the lamp, only far greater and brighter. It giveth light to the whole Overworld and hangeth in the sky."
"Hangeth from what, my lord?" asked the Witch; and then while they were all still thinking how to answer her, she added, with another of her soft, silver laughs: "You see? When you try to think out clearly what this sun must be, you cannot tell me. You can only tell me it is like the lamp. Your sun is a dream, and there is nothing in that dream that was not copied from the lamp. The lamp is the real thing; the sun is but a tale, a children's story
"Yes, I see now," said Jill in a heavy hopeless tone. "It must be so." And while she said this, it seemed to her to be very good sense
Slowly and gravely the Witch repeated, "There is no sun." And they all said nothing. She repeated, in a softer and deeper voice. "There is no sun."
After a pause, and after a struggle in their minds, all four of them said together, "You are right. There is no sun." It was such a relief to give in and say it.
"There was never a sun," said the Witch.
"No. There never was a sun," said the Prince, and the Marsh-wiggle, and the children.
For the last few minutes Jill had been feeling that there was something she must remember at all costs. And now she did. But it felt dreadfully hard to say it. She felt as if huge weights were laid on her lips. At last, with an effort that seemed to take all the good out of her, she said:
"Aslan?" said the Witch, quickening ever so slightly the pace of her thrumming. "What a pretty name! What does it mean?"
"He is the great Lion who called us out of our own world," said Scrubb, "and sent us into this to find Prince Rilian."
"What is a lion?" asked the Witch.
"Oh hang it all!" said Scrubb. "Don't you know? How can we describe it to her? Have you ever seen a cat?"
"Surely," said the Queen. "I love cats."
"Well, a lion is a little bit - only a little bit, mind you - like a huge cat - with a mane. At least, it's not like a horse's mane, you know, it's more like a judge's wig. And it's yellow. And terrifically strong."
The Witch shook her head."I see," she said. "that we should do no better with your lion, as you call it, than we did with your sun. You have seen lamps, and so you imagined a bigger and better lamp and called it the sun. You've seen cats, and now you want a bigger and better cat, and it's to be called a lion. Well, 'tis a pretty make-believe, though, to say truth, it would suit you all better if you were younger. And look how you can put nothing into your make-believe without copying it from the real world of mine, which is the only world. But even you children are too old for such play. As for you, my lord Prince, that art a man full grown, fie upon you! Are you not ashamed of such toys? Come, all of you. Put away those childish tricks. I have work for you all in the real world. There is no Narnia, no Overworld, no sky, no sun, no Aslan. And now, to bed all. And let us begin a wiser life tomorrow. But first, to bed; to sleep; deep sleep, soft pillows, sleep without foolish dreams."
The Prince and the two children were standing with their heads hung down, their cheeks flushed, their eyes half closed; the strength all gone from them; the enchantment almost complete. But Puddleglum, desperately gathering all his strength, walked over to the fire. Then he did a very brave thing. With his barefoot he stamped on the fire, grinding a large part of it into ashes on the flat hearth. And three things happened at once.
First, the sweet heavy smell grew very much less. This instantly made everyone's brain far clearer. The Prince and the children held up their heads again and opened their eyes.
Secondly, the witch, in a loud, terrible voice, utterly different from all the sweet tones she had been using up till now, called out, "What are you doing? Dare to touch my fire again, mud-filth, and I'll turn the blood to fire inside your veins."
Thirdly, the pain itself made Puddleglum's head for a momoent perfectly clear and he knew exactly what he really thought.
One word, Ma'am," he said, coming back from the fire; limping because of the pain. "One word. All you've been saying is quite right, I shouldn't wonder. I'm a chap who always like to know the worst and then put the best face I can to it. So I won't deny any of what you said. But there's one thing more to be said, even so. Suppose we have only dreamed, or made up, all those things - trees and grass and sun and moon and stars and Aslan himself. Suppose we have. Then all I can say is that, in that case, the made-up things seem a good deal more important than the real ones. Suppose this black pit of a kingdom of yours is the only world.
-The Silver Chair by C.S Lewis.
[[na me huang na me mang]] at this time: 10:40 AM :)
Saturday, June 20, 2009
yesterday, val and i ate dinner at jurong east's astons and we decided to walk to west mall to digest our food:
val: what if we get lost ahh
noelle: aiyah we won't get lost!
anyway for me, all i have to do is wait for sunset, then i'll be home!
eh.. no no, if i get lost, all i have to do is just wait for it to be NEARING sunset! so, when sunset is close, i'll be at sunset close!!!!
val: hahaha me leh..? i have to be in chua chu kang.. then wait for night time then the moon comes out!
noelle: huh.. you must be in chua chu kang and the moon must be crescent-shaped somemore.. i think mine better cos i can be anywhere in the world and won't get lost
val: (shows sad face)
hahaha i can't remember exactly how the conversation went, but i think it's funny! hehe.
*i stay at sunset close, val stays at chua chu kang crescent.
ok! end of story. :P
[[na me huang na me mang]] at this time: 2:34 PM :)
yay!! :P ok next time i shall update on:
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
after ten years of living - comfortably, if i may add - with a spoilt door, my mom decided to get our (leon and i) room door fixed.
- combinded leader's retreat
- ailin's birthday surprises
- a wonderful saturday
- cell's baking session
[[na me huang na me mang]] at this time: 10:02 PM :)
Tuesday, June 02, 2009
caught it on disney last night. :P
its been so long since i watched it.. the whole entire show's so nice!
i want to part of disney-pixar's team.. to create the stories and all that is involved!
their imagination and how they put stories together is AMAZING..
stories that come from a different viewpoint.
from bugs, toys, cars, monsters.. and the list goes on and on!
i can daydream and replay the whole show in my head all day..
(and that being said, i need to stop daydreaming on the bus. so far i've missed my stop ONCE every week for 3weeks already)
fantasy.
[[na me huang na me mang]] at this time: 9:13 PM :)