CHAPTEREIGHTTHEHOUSE
“Goon,Pole,doyourstuff,”whisperedScrubb。
Jillfouhwassodrythatshe'tspeakaword。ShenoddedsavagelyatScrubb。
Thinkingtohimselfthathewiveher(lumeither),ScrubblickedhislipsaheKinggiant。
“Ifyouplease,Sire,theLadyoftheGreeesyoubyusandsaidyou'dliketohaveusforyourAutum。”
&KingandQueeeachother,oeachother,andsmiledinawaythatJilldidlylike。ShelikedtheKiheQueen。Hehadafine,curledbeardandastraighteagle-likenose,ahergood-lookingasgiantsgo。TheQueenwasdreadfullyfatandhadadoubledafat,powderedface—whi'taverythebestoftimes,andofuchworsewheoobig。Theouthistongueandlickedhislips。Adothat:
buthistonguewasseandred,asouitgaveJillquiteashock。
“Oh,whatgood!”saidtheQueen。(“Perhapsshe'stheerall,”thoughtJill。)
“Yesindeed,”saidtheKing。“Quiteext。Weweleyivemeyourhands。”
&hisgreatrighthand—verydwithanynumbersonthefialsowithterriblepointednails。Hewasmuchtoobigtoshakethehandswhichthe,iohim;butheshookthearms。
“Andwhat'sthat?”askedtheKing,pointingtoPuddleglum。
“Reshpeckobiggle,”saidPuddleglum。
“Oh!”screamedtheQueen,gatheriscloseaboutheraheh!It'salive。”
“He'squiteallright,yourMajesty,really,heis,”saidScrubbhastily。“You'lllikehimmuchbetterwheoknowhim。I'msureyouwill。”
Ihopeyouwon'tlosealliinJillfortherestofthebookifItellyouthatatthismomeocry。Therewasagooddealofexcuseforher。Herfeetandhandsandearsaillonlyjustbeginningtothaw;meltedsnoffherclothes;shehadhadhardlyanythiordrinkthatday;andherlegswereagsothatshefeltsheotgoonstandingmuger。Anyway,itdidmoodatthemomentthananythingelsewouldhavedoheQueensaid:
“Ah,thepoorchild!Mylord,wedtuestsstanding。Quieofyou!Takethemaway。Givethemfoodahs。fortthelittlegirl。Giveherlollipops,giveherdolls,giveherphysics,giveherallyoukof—possetsandfitsandcarawaysandlullabiesandtoys。Don'tcry,littlegirl,oryouwon'tbegwhees。”
JillwasjustasindignantasyouandIwouldhavebeeionoftoysanddolls;and,thoughlollipopsandightbeallverywellintheirway,sheverymuchhopedthatsomethingmoresolidwouldbeprovided。TheQueen'sfoolishspeech,however,producedextresults,flumandScrubbickedupbygigalemen-in-waiting,andJillbyagiganticmaidofhonour,aotheirrooms。
Jill'sroomwasaboutthesizeofadwouldhavebeenrathergrimifithadnfireohahithefloor。Afulthiohappentoher。ShewashaheQueen'soldNurse,
whiants'poileoldwomanalmostbehage,and,fromthehumanpointofview,agiantesssmallenoughtogoaboutanordinaryroomwithoutknogherheadontheg。Shewasverycapable,thoughJilldidwishshewouldn'tkeeponghertongueandsayingthingslike“Ohla,la!Ups-adaisy”and“There'saduowwe'llbeallright,mypoppet“。Shefilledagiantfoot-bathwithhotedJillintoit。Ifyouswim(asJillcould)agiantbathisalovelything。Andgiahoughabitroughandcoarse,arelovelytoo,becausetherearea。Infa'todryatall,youjustrollaboutontheminfrontofthefireandenjoyyourself。Awasover,,fresh,warmedclotheswereputonJill:verysplendiddalittletoobigforher,butclearlymadeforhumansnotgiantesses。“Isupposeifthatwomanileeshere,theymustbeusedtoguestsofoursize,”thoughtJill。
Shesoonsawthatshewasrightaboutthis,foratableandchairhtfrolacedforher,andtheknivesandforksandspoohepropersizetoo。Itwasdelightfultositdown,feelingwarmalast。Herfeetwerestillbareanditwaslovelytotreadocarpet。Shesankinitwelloverherawasjustthethingforsorefeet。Themeal—whiuster,thoughitwasime—wascock-a-leekiesoup,andhotroastturkey,andasteamedpudding,androastuts,andasmuchfruitasyoucouldeat。
Theonlyannoyingthingwasthattheinginandout,aimeshe,shebroughtagigantictoywithher—ahugedoll,biggerthanJillherself,awoodenhorseothesizeofa,adrumthatlookedlikeayouer,andawoollylamb。Theywerecrude,badlymadethings,paidJillhatedthesightofthem。ShekeptoheNurseshedidn'twaheNursesaid:
“Tut-tut-tut-tut。You'llwant'emallrightwhenyou'vehadabitofarest,Iknow!Te-he-he!Beddybye,noreciouspoppet!”
Thebedwasnotagiaonlyabigfour-poster,likewhatyoumightseeinanold-fashioel;andverysmallitlookedinthatenormousroom。Shewasverygladtotumbleintoit。
“Isitstillsnowing,Nurse?”sheaskedsleepily。
“Nnow,ducky!”saidthegiantess。“Rain'llwashawayallthenastysnow。Preciouspoppetwillbeabletogooutandplaytomorrow!”AuckedJillupandsaidgoodnight。
Iknownothingsodisagreeableasbeingkissedbyagiantess。Jillthoughtthesame,buties。
Theraieadilyalltheeveninga,dashingagainstthewindowsofthedJillbutsleptdeeply,pastsuppertimeandpastmidnight。Ahedeadesthourofthenightandnothimithehouseofthegiants。AtthathourtherecametoJilladream。Itseemedtoherthatsheawokeinthesameroomandsawthefire,sunklowandred,andihegreatwoodehehorsecameofitsownwill,rollingonitswheelsacrossthedstoodatherhead。Andnowitwasnolongerahorse,butalionasbigasthehorse。Awasnotatoylion,butareallion,TheRealLion,justasshehadseenhimoaiheworld'send。Andasmellofallsweet-smellingthingstherearefilledtheroom。ButtherewassometroubleinJill'smind,thoughsheotthinkwhatitwas,areameddowthepillow。TheLioorepeatthesigns,ahatshehadfottethat,agreathorrorcameoverher。AndAslantookherupinhisjaws(shecouldfeelhislipsah)aothewindowandmadeherlookout。Themoo;andwritteersacrosstheworldorthesky(shedidnotknoordsUhat,thedreamfadedaoke,verylatem,shedidshehaddreamedatall。
Sheanddressedandhadfiinfrontofthefirewhenthehedoorandsaid:“Here'sprettypoppet'slittlefrieoplaywithher。”
IncameSdtheMarsh-wiggle。
“Hullo!G,”saidJill。“Isn'tthisfun?I'vesleptaboutfifteenhours,Ibelieve。Idofeelbetter,don'tyou?”
“1do,”saidScrubb,“butPuddleglumsayshehasaheadache。Hullo!—youri。Ifwegotuponthat,wecouldseeout。”Aheyalldidso:aglanceJillsaid,“Oh,howperfectlydreadful!”
Thesunwasshiniforafewdrifts,thespletelywashedawaybytheraihem,spreadoutlikeamap,laytheflathill-topwhichtheyhadstruggledoveryesterdayafterhecastle,itistakenfbuttheruinsofagiganticcity。Ithadbeenflat,asJillnowsaw,becauseitwasstill,onthewhole,paved,thoughihepavementwasbroken。Thecriss-ksasleftofthewallsofhugebuildingswhichmightoncehavebeengiants'paladtemples。Oofwall,aboutfivehuhigh,wasstillstanding;itwasthatwhichshehadthoughtwasacliff。Thethingsthathadlookedlikefaneyswereenormouspillars,brokenoffatuheirfragmentslayattheirbaseslikefelledtreesofmonstrousstoheledgeswhichtheyhadclimbeddowhsideofthehill—andalso,nodoubttheeswhichtheyhadclimbedupohside—weretheremainingstepsofgiantstairs。Toall,inlarge,darkletteringacrosstheterofthepavement,ranthewordsUNDERME。