CHAPTERFOURTEEOMOFTHEWORLD
“MYnameisGolg，”saidthegnome。“AndI'lltellyourHonoursallIknow。Aboutanhoingaboutourwork—herwork，Ishouldsay—sada，sameaswe'vedoherdayforyearsahentherecameagreatdbang。
Assoonastheyheardit，everyoohimself，Ihaven'thadasongoradaoffasquibftime;why'sthat?Ahinkstohimself，Why，Imusthavebeeheohimself，I'mblessedifIknowwhyI&#thisload，andI'mnotgoingtocarryita'sthat。Ahrowoursadbuools。Theurhegreatredglowoveryonder。Andeveryoohimself，What'sthat?andeveryoneanswershimselfandsays，There'sasplitopenandanicewarmglowingupthroughitfromtheReallyDeepLand，athousandfathomunderus。”
&，”exclaimedEustace，“arethereotherlandsstilllowerdown?”
“Ohyes，yourHonour，”saidGolg。“Lovelyplaces;whatwecalltheLandofBism。Thistry，theWitch'stry，iswhatwecalltheShallowLands。It'sagooddealtoohesurfacetosuitus。Ugh!Youmightalmostaswellbelivihesurfaceitself。Yousee，we'reallpnomesfromBismwhomtheWitchhascalledupherebymagictoworkforher。Butwe&#ottenallaboutittillthatcrashdthespellbroke。Wedidn'tknoherewebelonged。We'tdoanything，orthinkautintoourheads。Anditwasglumandgloomythihereallthoseyears。I'venearly。fottenhowtomakeajokeordanceajig。Butthemomentthebaheedandtheseabeganrising，itallcamebadofcourseweallsetoffasquickaswecouldtogetdownthedhometoourownpladyouseethemovertherealllettingoffrodstandingontheirheadsforjoy。AndI'llbeveryobligedtoyourHonoursifyou'llsoomegoandjoinin。”
“Ithinkthisissimplysplendid，”saidJill。“I'msogladwefreedthegnomesaswellasourselveswheofftheWitch'shead!AndI'msogladtheyaren'treallyhloomyahePrincereallyhatheseemedlike。”
“That'sallverywell，Pole，”saidPuddleglumcautiously。“Butthosegnomesdidn'tlooktomelikechapswhowerejustrunningaway。Itlookedmorelikemilitaryformations，ifyouaskme。Doyoulookmeintheface，Mr。Golg，andtellmeyouweren&#forbattle?”
“Ofcoursewewere，yourHonour，”saidGolg。“Yousee，wedidn'tkchwasdead。Wethoughtshe'dbewatthecastle。Weweretryingtoslipawaywithoutbeihehreecameoutwithswordsandhorses，ofcourseeveryoohimself，Hereites:notknowingthathisHonourwasn'toch'sside。Aermiofightlikeanythihahehopeofgoingba。”
“I'llbesworn'tisagnome，”saidthePrigoofit，friendPuddleglum。AsfoodGolg，Ihavebeeedlikeyouandyourfellows，anewlyrememberedmyself。Andionmore。Doyoukhosenewdiggings，bywhieaanarmyagainstOverland?”
“Ee-ee-ee!”squeakedGolg。“Yes，Iknowthatterribleroad。Ihereitbegins。Butitisnomannerofuseymetogowithyouonit。I'lldierather。”
“Why?”askedEustaxiously。“What'ssodreadfulaboutit?”
“Tooheoutside，”saidGolg，shuddering。“ThatwasthewtheWitchdidtous。Weweregoiintotheopen—osideoftheworld。Theysaythere'snoroofatallthere;reatemptihesky。Andthediggingshavegohatafewstrokesofthepickwyououttoit。Iwouldn&#ohem。”
“Hurrah!Nowy!”criedEustadJillsaid，“Butit'snothorridatallupthere。Welikeit。Welivethere。”
“IknowyouOverlahere，”saidGolg。“ButIthoughtitwasbecauseyou'tfindyourwaydowninside。You'treallylikeit—gaboutlikefliesoheworld!”
“Whataboutshowionce?”saidPuddleglum。
“Inagoodhour，”criedthePrihewholepartysetout。ThePriedhischarger，PuddleglumclimbedupbehindJill，aheway。AsheweingoutthegoodheWitchwasdeadandthatthefourOverladangerous。AndthosewhoheardhimshouteditohatiesthewholeofUnderlandwasringingwithshoutsanddgnomesbyhuhousaurningcart-wheels，standingontheirheads，playingleap-frog，aingoffhugecrackers，camepressingroundCoalblaoriellthestoryofhisowmentaleasttentimes。
Inthiswaytheycametotheedgeofthechasm。Itwasaboutathousalowohuheydismouheirhorsesaheedge，andlookeddownintoit。Astroeupintotheirfaces，mixedwithasmellwhichwasquiteuheyhadeversmelled。Itwasrich，sharp，exdmadeyoushofthechasmwasshtthatatfirstitdazzledtheireyesandtheycouldseenothiheygotusedtoittheythoughttheyakeoutariveroffire，and，onthebanksofthatriver，whatseemedtobefieldsandgrovesofanubrilliaheyweredimparedwiththeriver。Therewereblues，reds，greens，andwhitesalljumbledtogether:averygoodstained-glassiththetropistaringstraightthroughitatmiddaymighthavesomethingthesameeffetheruggedsidesofthechasm，lookingblacklikefliesagainstallthatfierylight，hundredsofEarthmenwereg。
“Yourhonours，”saidGolg（aurolookathimtheycouldseenothingbutblaiheireyesweresodazzled）。“Yourhonours，whydon'tyouedowntoBism?You'dbehappiertherethaninthatproteakedtryoutontop。Oratleastedownforashortvisit。”
Jilltraheotherswouldlistentosuideaforamoment。ToherhorrorsheheardthePring:
“Truly，friendGolg，Ihavehalfamihyou。ForthisisamarvellousadvemaybenomortalmanhaseverlookedintoBismbeforeorwilleverhavethe。AndIknownothow，astheyearspass，IshallbeartorememberthatitwasonmyporobedtheuttermostpitofEarthandthatIforbore。Butahere?Youdonotswimiself?”
“Ohno，yourHonour。'sonlysalamahefireitself。”
“Whatkiisyoursalamander?”askedthePrince。
“Itishardtotelltheirkind，yourHonour，”saidGolg。“Fortheyaretoowhite-hottolookat。Buttheyaremostlikesmalldragoousoutofthefire。Theyarewonderfullycleverwiththeirtoya。”
JillglailyatEustace。Shehadfeltsurethathewouldliketheideaofslidingdownthatlessthanshedid。Herheartsahisfacewasquiteged。HelookedmuchmorelikethePrihaheoldScrubbatExperimentHouse。ForallhisadvehedayswhenhehadsailedwithKing，wereingba。
“Yhness，”hesaid。“IfmyoldfrieheMousewerehere，hewouldsayweotheadventuresofBismwithoutagreatimpeattoourhonour。”
“Downthere，”saidGolg，“Icouldshold，realsilver，realdiamonds。”
“Bosh!”saidJillrudely。“Asifwedidn'tknowthatwe'rebelowthedeepestminesevenhere。”
“Yes，”saidGolg。“IhaveheardofthoselittlescratthecrustthatyouTopdwellerses。Butthat&#etdeadgold，deadsilver，deadgems。Downihemaliveandgrowing。ThereI'llpichesofrubiesthatyoudsqueezeyouaond-juice。Youwon'tcaremuchabthecold，deadtreasuresofyourshallowmieryouhavetastedtheliveonesofBism。”
“Myfatherwenttotheworld'send，”saidRilianthoughtfully。“Itwouldbeamarvellousthingifhissohebottomoftheworld。”
“Ifyhstoseeyourfatherwhilehe'sstillalive，whikhe'dprefer，”saidPuddleglum，“it'sabouttimeweweregettingontothatroadtothediggings。”
“AndIwon'tgodownthathole，whateveranyonesays，”addedJill。
“Why，ifyourHonoursarereallysettogobacktoOverworld，”saidGolg，“thereisoheroadthat'sratherlowerthanthis。Andperhaps，ifthatflood'sstillrising—”
“Oh，do，do，doeon!”beggedJill。