“Ahesedresseswoulddredsofpounds，”saidPolly。
ButDigorywasmoreihefadiheseorthlookingat。Thepeoplesationeeachsideoftheroomandthefloorwasleftfreedownthemiddle。Youcouldwalkdownandlookatthefaturn。
“Theywerehink，”saidDigory。
Pollyhefacestheycouldseewerelyhemenandwomenlookedkindaheyseemedtoeofahandsomerace。Butafterthehadgoepsdowheycametofacesthatlookedalittledifferent。Thesewereverysolemnfaces。YoufeltyouwouldhavetomindyourP'sandQ's，ifyouevermetlivingpeoplewholookedlikethat。Whentheyhadgolefurther，theyfoundthemselvesamoheydidn'tlike:thiswasaboutthemiddleoftheroom。Thefacesherelandproudandhappy，buttheylookedcruel。Alittlefurtherontheylookedcrueller。Furtheronagaiillcruelbuttheynolongerlookedhappy。Theywereevendespairingfaces:asifthepeopletheybeloohaddohingsandalsosuffereddreadfulthifigureofallwasthem—awomanevenmorerichlydressedthahers，verytall（buteveryfigureinthatroomwastallerthanthepeopleofourworld），withalookofsuessatookyourbreathaway。Yetshewasbeautifultoo。Yearsafterasanoldman，Digorysaidhehadneverinallhislifeknownawomaiful。ItisonlyfairtoaddthatPollyalwayssaidshe'tseeanythingspeciallybeautifulabouther。
Thiswoman，asIsaid，wasthelast:buttherewerepleychairsbeyondher，asiftheroomhadbeenintendedforamuchlargerages。
“Idothestorythat'sbehindallthis，”saidDigory。“Let'sgobadlookatthattablesortofthinginthemiddleoftheroom。”
&hinginthemiddleoftheroomwaslyatable。Itillarabhandonitthererosealittlegoldenarwhichtherehungalittlegoldenbell;aherelayalittlegoldethebellwith。
“Iwonder。。。Iwonder。。。Iwonder。。。”saidDigory。
“Thereseemstobesomethingwrittenhere，”saidPolly，stoopingdownandlookingatthesideofthepillar。
“Bygum，sothereis，”saidDigory。“Butofcourseweshan'tbeabletoreadit。”
“Shan'twe?I'mnotsosure，”saidPolly。
&hlookedatithardand，asyoumighthaveexpected，theletterstheste。Butened:for，astheylooked，thoughtheshapeelettersheyfoundthattheyderstandthem。IfonlyDigoryhadrememberedwhathehimselfhadsaidafewmihatthiswasaedroom，hemighthaveguessedthattheewasbeginningtowork。Butheithcuriositytothinkaboutthat。Hewaslongingmoreaoknorittenonthepillar。Aheybothkitsaidwassomethileastthisisthesehoughthepoetry，whehere，wasbetter:
Makeyourchoiturer;
Strikethebellahedanger，
Orwoillitdrivesyoumad，
Whatwouldhavefollowedifyouhad。
“Nofear!”saidPolly。“Wedon'twantanydanger。”
“Ohbutdon'tyouseeit'snogood!”saidDigory。“We'tgetoutofitnow。Weshallalwaysbewwhatelseeruckthebell。I'mnotgoiobedrivenmadbyalwaysthinkingofthat。Nofear!”
“Don'tbesosilly，”saidPolly。“Asifanyonewould!Whatdoesitmatterwhatened?”
&anyonewho'seasfarasthisisboundtogotillitsendshimdotty。That'stheMagicofit，yousee。Ifeelitbeginningtoworkonmealready。”
“WellIdon't，”saidPollycrossly。“AndIdon'tbelieveyoudoeither。You'rejustputtingiton。”
“That'sallyouknow，”saidDigory。“It'sbecauseyirl。Girlsoknowanythingbutgossipandrotaboutpeoplegettingengaged。”
“YoulookedexactlylikeyourUnyousaidthat，”saidPolly。
“Why'tyoukeeptothepoint?”saidDigory。“Whatwe&#aboutis—”
“Howexactlylikeaman!”saidPollyinaverygrowsheaddedhastily，inherrealvoiddon'tsayI'mjustlikeawoman，oryou'llbeabeastlycopy-cat。”
“Ishouldneverdreamofgakidlikeyouawoman，”saidDigoryloftily。“Oh，I'makid，amI?”saidPollyinarealrage。“Wellyoubebotheredbyhavingakidwithyouahen。I'moff。I'vehadenoughofthispladI'vehadenoughofyoutoo—youbeastly，stuck-up，obstinatepig!”
&!”saidDigoryinavoiastierthaobe;forhesawPolly'shandmovitogetholdofheryell。I'texcusewhathedidbysayingthathewasverysorryforitafterward（andsoodmanyotherpeople）。BeforePolly'shandreachedherpocket，hegrabbedherwrist，leaningacrosswithhisbastherchest。Then，keepiherarmoutofthewaywithhisotherelbow，heleanedforickedupthehammer，andstruckthegoldenbellalight，smarttap。Thehergoastariherahinghard。Pollywasjustbeginningtootwithfear，andnotevenbecausehehadhurtherwristquitebadly，butwithfuriousahintwoseds，however，theyhadsomethingtothinkaboutthatdrovetheiroweoutoftheirminds。
Assoonasthebellwasstruckitgaveoutanotesuighthaveexpednotveryloud。Butinsteadofdyingawayagaion;andasitwentonitgrewlouder。Beforeaminutehadpasseditwastwiceasloudasithadbeeh。Itwassoonsoloudthatifthehadtriedtospeak（buttheyweren'tthinkingofspeakingnow—theywerejuststandingwiththeirmouthsopen）theywouldnothaveheardoher。Verysoonitwassoloudthattheyothaveheardoherevenbyshouting。Andstillitgrew:alloisound，thoughthesweetnesshadsomethinghorribleaboutit，tillalltheairirowithitandtheycouldfeelthestorembliheirfeet。Thenatlastitbegantobemixedwithanothersound，avague，disastrousnoisewhidedfirstliketheroarofadistanttraihecrashofafalliheyheardsomethiweightsfalling。Finally，withasudden，rushandthunder，anearlyfluheirfeet，aboutaquarteroftheroofatoheroomfellibloasonryfellallrouhewallsrocked。Thehebellstopped。Thecloudsofdustclearedaway。Everythiagain。
ItwasneverfouhefalloftheroofwasduetoMagicorwhetherthatunbearablyloudsoundfromthebelljusthapperikethenotewhichwasmorethanthwallsd。
“There!Ihopeyou'resatisfiednoolly。
&'sallover，anyway，”saidDigory。
Andboththoughtitwas;buttheyhadneverbeeakenintheirlives。