“And what sort of creature do you call yourself ？” he said.
Jill took her courage in both hands. “Please，” she said， shouting up at the giant. “The Lady of the Green Kirtle salutes the King of the Gentle Giants， and has sent us two Southern children and this Marsh- wiggle （his name‘s Puddleglum） to your Autumn Feast. -If it’s quite convenient， of course，” she added.
“O-ho！” said the Porter. “That‘s quite a different story. Come in， little people， come in. You’d best come into the lodge while I‘m sending word to his Majesty.” He looked at the children with curiosity. “Blue faces，” he said. “I didn’t know they were that colour. Don‘t care about it myself. But I dare say you look quite nice to one another. Beetles fancy other beetles， they do say.”
“Our faces are only blue with cold，” said Jill. “We’re not this colourreally.”
“Then come in and get warm. Come in， little shrimps，” said the Porter. They followed him into the lodge. And though it was rather terrible to hear such a big door clang shut behind them， they forgot about it as soon as they saw the thing they had been longing for ever since supper time last night-afire. And such a fire！ It looked as if four or five whole trees were blazing on it， and it was so hot they couldn‘t go within yards of it. But they all flopped down on the brick floor， as near as they could bear the heat， and heaved great sighs of relief.
“Now， youngster，” said the Porter to another giant who had been sitting in the back of the room， staring at the visitors till it looked as if his eyes would start out of his head， “run across with this message to the House.” And he repeated what Jill had said to him. The younger Giant， after a final stare， and a great guffaw， left the room.
“Now， Froggy，” said the Porter to Puddleglum， “you look as if you wanted some cheering up.” He produced a black bottle very like Puddleglum’s own， but about twenty times larger. “Let me see， let me see，” said the Porter. “I can‘t give you a cup or you’ll drown yourself. Let me see. This salt-cellar will be just the thing. You needn‘t mention it over at the House. The silver will keep on getting over here， and it’s not my fault.”
The salt-cellar was not very like one of ours， being narrower and more upright， and made quite a good cup for Puddleglum， when the giant set it down on the floor beside him.
The children expected Puddleglum to refuse it， distrusting the Gentle Giants as he did. But he muttered， “It‘s rather late to be thinking of precautions now that we’re inside and the door shut behind us.” Then he sniffed at the liquor. “Smells all right，” he said. “But that‘s nothing to go by. Better make sure，” and took a sip. “Tastes all right， too，” he said. “But it might do that at the first sip. How does it go on？” He took a larger sip. “Ah！” he said. “But is it the same all the way down？” and took another. “There’ll be something nasty at the bottom， I shouldn‘t wonder，” he said， and finished the drink. He licked his lips and remarked to the children， “This’ll be a test， you see. If I curl up， or burst， or turn into a lizard， or something， then you‘ll know not to take anything they offer you.”
But the giant， who was too far up to hear the things Puddleglum had been saying under his breath， roared with laughter and said， “Why， Froggy， you’re a man. See him put it away！”
“Not a man . . . Marsh-wiggle，” replied Puddleglum in a somewhat indistinct voice. “Not frog either： Marsh-wiggle.”
At that moment the door opened behind them and the younger giant came in saying， “They‘re to go to the throne-room at once.”
The children stood up but Puddleglum remained sitting andsaid， “Marsh-wiggle. Marsh-wiggle. Very respectable Marsh-wiggle. Respectowiggle.”
“Show them the way， young ’un，” said the giant Porter. “You‘d better carry Froggy. He’s had a drop more than‘s good for him.”
“Nothing wrong with me，” said Puddleglum. “Not a frog. Nothing frog with me. I’m a respectabiggle.”
But the young giant caught him up by the waist and signed to the children to follow. In this undignified way they crossed the courtyard. Puddleglum， held in the giant‘s fist， and vaguely kicking the air， did certainly look very like a frog. But they had little time to notice this， for they soon entered the great doorway of the main castle-both their hearts beating faster than usual-and， after pattering along several corridors at a trot to keep up with the giant’s paces， found themselves blinking in the light of an enormous room， where lamps glowed and a fire roared on the hearth and both were reflected from the gilding of roof and cornice. More giants than they could count stood on their left and right， all in magnificent robes； and on two thrones at the far end sat two huge shapes that appeared to be the King and Queen.
About twenty feet from the thrones， they stopped. Scrubb and Jill made an awkward attempt at a bow （girls are not taught how to curtsey at Experiment House） and the young Giant carefully put Puddleglum down on the floor， where he collapsed into a sort of sitting position. With his long limbs he looked， to tell the truth， uncommonly like a large spider.
中文阅读
无法否认，那一天实在糟糕透顶。天空暗无天日，阴云密布，像是要下一场大雪。脚下是一片严酷的霜冻。一阵风从上面吹过，似乎要将你的皮给揭去一层。他们进入平原，发现古道的这一段比先前看到的更加残破。他们只好跳过大块的破石板，在圆石子和瓦砾之间迂回穿插行走，对于酸痛的脚来说，实在勉为其难。因为天气实在太冷，不论有多么累，他们都无法停下脚步。
大约十点钟，微小的雪花飘飘撒撒地落了下来，落在吉尔的手臂上。十分钟后，大雪如同搓绵扯絮般地往下飘落。不过二十分钟，地面上就像是铺了一层银毯。又过了半个小时，一场迅猛的暴风雪劈头盖脸地朝他们扑了过来，吹得他们几乎什么都看不见了。看样子暴风雪是要肆虐上整整一天。
为了理解随后所发生的事情，你必须记住，当时他们的能见度有多低。就在他们接近这座将自己和亮灯的窗户分隔开来的低矮小山时，他们无法看到它的全貌。他们只能看到前边几步远的地方，即便如此，你也必须眯着眼睛。不用说，他们没有交谈。
到达小山脚下时，他们在两侧瞥见了可能是岩石之类的东西--如果你仔细加以观察，会发现那是些方形的岩石，可是却没有人去仔细查看。他们更关注的是横亘在道路正前方的一个石台子。石台有将近四英尺高。两腿细长的沼泽人毫不费力地跳了上去，随后他又帮助其他人爬了上来。因为平台上的积雪已经很厚，这下子孩子们身上湿了个一塌糊涂，而沼泽人却没有受到什么影响。紧接着，他们开始了艰难的攀爬--吉尔还摔了一下--沿着极其粗糙的地面向上行进了一百码之后，他们来到了第二个石台子。这些平台一共有四个，它们之间的间距很不均匀。