by C.S. Lewis, 1953
Eustace Scruggs and Jill Pole are at school, Experiment House, and are being chased by bullies. They go uphill to a gate that is usually locked but is open and find themselves on Aslan’s Mountain. Jill pushes Eustace off a huge high cliff, then meets Aslan as he blows Eustace safely away (to Narnia)Aslan gives Jill 4 signs:
- Eustace must greet an old and dear friend at once.
- Go north out of Narnia to the ruined city of the giants.
- Find a writing on a stone and do it.
- The lost prince will be the 1st person to ask you to do something in the name of Aslan.
They don’t greet Caspian, who is very old and setting sail from Narnia to try one last time to find his son, Prince Rilian. Instead, the owls take them to Puddleglum’s wigwam. He’s a marsh-wiggle. He goes with them on their journey north. They meet a beautiful lady and a knight. The lady tells them to go to Harfang, where the giants will take care of them. They find Harfang and are taken care of but only because they will be eaten at the Autumn Feast. They escape the castle to the Underworld marked by a stone that read, “Under me.” The Underworld is dark and filled with silent, scared creatures. A warden takes them on a journey through Underland to a city and a castle where a man calls them up to his room. The Witch (Beautiful Woman) is away so the knight invites them up. His room is beautiful, full of golden light. He gets tied to a silver chair every night because he supposedly goes mad and turns into a serpent. Eustace, Jill, and Puddleglum listen to him and he asks them to free him by the Great Lion, by Aslan himself. They aren’t sure if they should but Puddleglum convinces them so they cut his ropes. He grabs his sword and smotes the silver chair. The Beautiful Woman comes back, locks them in, throws powder on the fire, and strums an instrument and feeds them lies. They almost fall for it but Puddleglum gathers his strength and stomps on the fire, lessening the enchantment. The Beautiful Woman turns into a serpent and tries to kill Caspian but they all end up hacking off her head. This breaks the enchantment on Underland and all the creatures get to return through a chasm that opens up to their land even deeper, called Bism. Rilian and the others escape on horseback to the tunnel the witch had dug to attack Narnia. They are saved by Dwarves and creatures in Narnia. Rilian returns to Cair Paravel in time to see his father, King Caspian, before he dies. Eustace and Jill are returned to England and with Aslan and Caspian, now young and in heaven with Aslan, they scare their tormentors and the Head is thought insane so they move her to be an inspector of other heads and finally into Parliament. Eustace and Jill are much better off at Experiment House after that. The end. GREAT BOOK!