Low down and near the horizon hung a great， red sun， far bigger than our sun. Digory felt at once that it was also older than ours： a sun near the end of its life， weary of looking down upon that world. To the left of the sun， and higher up， there was a single star， big and bright. Those were the only two things to be seen in the dark sky； they made a dismal group. And on the earth， in every direction， as far as the eye could reach， there spread a vast city in which there was no living thing to be seen. And all the temples， towers， palaces， pyramids and bridges cast long， disastrous.looking shadows in the light of that withered sun. Once a great river had flowed through the city， but the water had long since vanished， and there was now only a wide ditch of grey dust.
“Look well on that which no eyes will ever see again，” said the Queen. “Such was Charn， that great city， the city of the King of Kings， the wonder of the world， perhaps of all worlds. Does your uncle rule any city as great as this， boy？”
“No，” said Digory. He was going to explain that Uncle Andrew didn’t rule any cities， but the Queen went on：