最後的決戰(中英雙語典藏版)（簡體書）

這套《納尼亞傳奇》是英國著名作家劉易斯于1951年至1956年間創作的系列魔幻故事，分為《魔法師的外甥》、《獅王、女巫和魔衣柜》、《馬兒與少年》、《卡斯賓王子》、《“黎明”號的遠航》、《銀椅子》、《最后的決戰》七冊，該套圖書一經面世便廣受贊揚，在英美世界幾乎是家喻戶曉的兒童讀物，也被一些批評家、出版商和教育界人士公認為20世紀最佳兒童圖書之一。在半個世紀里，這部書的銷售達到8500萬冊，至今已被翻譯成30多種語言文字。
故事的開始講述了英國男孩迪戈里和鄰家女孩波利偶然進入了一個充滿奇幻的世界——納尼亞，在那里他們經歷了一連串的冒險，并見證了納尼亞王國奇妙的誕生。之后，他們將一顆從異世界帶來的種子（蘋果）埋在花園里，長成了一顆大樹。這棵大樹后來被颶風刮倒，又被造成了衣櫥，然后又引領了四個小主人公進入神奇的納尼亞王國的不同時期。故事以正義與邪惡的斗爭為線索展開，書中小主人公通過英勇的冒險，與暴君女巫斗智斗勇來拯救納尼亞的臣民。作者筆下的人物個性鮮明，惹人喜愛。故事情節曲折動人，想象奇特、引人入勝。7冊書互有關連，但亦可獨立閱讀。
此套英漢雙語典藏版，譯者耗時兩年精心翻譯而成，同時配以全英文外教朗讀文件，使讀者在享受精彩故事的同時，也能提升英文閱讀水平。

C·S·劉易斯（Clive Staples Lewis，1898-1963），出生于北愛爾蘭首府貝爾法斯特的一個新教家庭，但長年居住于英格蘭，是威爾士裔英國知名作家及護教士。他以兒童文學經典《納尼亞傳奇》系列聞名于世，此外他還寫作了其他神學著作、中世紀文學研究等諸多作品。<br> 劉易斯小時候因討厭學校，只接受家庭教師授課。1916 年他獲獎學金進入牛津大學就讀，期間曾應征入伍參與第一次世界大戰。1925 年起，他在牛津大學莫德林學院擔任研究員，任教期間，他參加名為“吉光片羽（The Inklings）”讀書會，并結識牛津大學英國文學教授Ｎ 柯格希爾，以及著名的《魔戒》作者J R R 托爾金，這場相遇改變了他整個人生。<br> 1954 年，他當選為劍橋大學中世紀與文藝復興期英國文學講座教授，所寫文學批評論文已成傳世之作。他是一位甚受學生愛戴的老師。而他寫作的神學和具神學深度的文學作品早已膾炙人口。其重要作品有：《納尼亞傳奇系列》、《太空三部曲》、《痛苦的奧秘》、《返璞歸真》、《四種愛》等。<br>

《魔法師的外甥》
Chapter 1　The Wrong Door 進錯門
Chapter 2　Digory And His Uncle 迪戈里和他的舅舅
Chapter 3　The Wood Between The Worlds 世界之間的樹林
Chapter 4　The Bell And The Hammer 鈴與錘
Chapter 5　The Deplorable Word 悲慘之語
Chapter 6　The Beginning Of Uncle Andrew’s Troubles 安德魯舅舅遇到麻煩了
Chapter 7　What Happened At The Front Door 發生在前門的事件
Chapter 8　The Fight At The Lamp-post 路燈柱旁的戰斗
Chapter 9　The Founding Of Narnia 納尼亞的締造
Chapter 10　The First Joke And Other Matters 第一個笑話及其他
Chapter 11　Digory And His Uncle Are Both In Trouble 迪戈里和他舅舅都遇到了麻煩
Chapter 12　StraWberry’s Adventure 草莓的歷險
Chapter 13　An Unexpected Meeting 不期而遇
Chapter 14　The Planting Of The Tree 種下守護之樹 《魔法師的外甥》
Chapter 1　The Wrong Door 進錯門
Chapter 2　Digory And His Uncle 迪戈里和他的舅舅
Chapter 3　The Wood Between The Worlds 世界之間的樹林
Chapter 4　The Bell And The Hammer 鈴與錘
Chapter 5　The Deplorable Word 悲慘之語
Chapter 6　The Beginning Of Uncle Andrew’s Troubles 安德魯舅舅遇到麻煩了
Chapter 7　What Happened At The Front Door 發生在前門的事件
Chapter 8　The Fight At The Lamp-post 路燈柱旁的戰斗
Chapter 9　The Founding Of Narnia 納尼亞的締造
Chapter 10　The First Joke And Other Matters 第一個笑話及其他
Chapter 11　Digory And His Uncle Are Both In Trouble 迪戈里和他舅舅都遇到了麻煩
Chapter 12　StraWberry’s Adventure 草莓的歷險
Chapter 13　An Unexpected Meeting 不期而遇
Chapter 14　The Planting Of The Tree 種下守護之樹
Chapter 15　The End Of This Story And The Beginning Of All The Others 這個故事的結局，其他故事的開始
《獅王、女巫和魔衣柜》
Chapter 1　Lucy Looks Into A Wardrobe 露西進入魔衣柜
Chapter 2　What Lucy Found There 露西首探納尼亞
Chapter 3　Edmund And The Wardrobe 埃德蒙與魔衣柜
Chapter 4　Turkish Delight 土耳其軟糖
Chapter 5　Back On This Side Of The Door 回到柜門這一邊
Chapter 6　Into The Forest 進入森林
Chapter 7　A Day With The Beavers 在河貍家度過的時光
Chapter 8　What Happened After Dinner 飯后發生的事情
Chapter 9　In The Witch’s House 女巫的宮殿
Chapter 10　The Spell Begins To Break 魔法開始失靈
Chapter 11　Aslan Is Nearer 阿斯蘭快要到了
Chapter 12　Peter’s First Battle 彼得的首次戰斗
Chapter 13　Deep Magic From The Dawn Of Time 創始之初的深奧魔法
Chapter 14　The Triumph Of The Witch 女巫的勝利
Chapter 15　Deeper Magic From Before The Dawn Of Time 來自亙古的更深奧的魔法
Chapter 16　What Happened About The Statues 塑像的來歷
Chapter 17　The Hunting Of The White Stag 捕獵白鹿
《馬兒與少年》
Chapter 1　How Shasta Set Out On His Travels 夏斯塔準備出行
Chapter 2　A Wayside Adventure 路邊歷險
Chapter 3　At The Gates Of Tashbaan 在塔西班城門口
Chapter 4　Shasta Falls In With The Narnians 夏斯塔邂逅納尼亞人
Chapter 5　Prince Corin 科林王子
Chapter 6　Shasta Among The Tombs 夏斯塔在墓地
Chapter 7　Aravis In Tashbaan 阿拉維斯在塔西班
Chapter 8　In The House Of The Tisroc 在提斯洛克的密室
Chapter 9　Across The Desert 穿越沙漠
Chapter 10　The Hermit Of The Southern March 南馬爾什的隱士
Chapter 11　The Unwelcome Fellow Traveller 不請自來的同路人
Chapter 12　Shasta In Narnia 夏斯塔在納尼亞
Chapter 13　The Fight At Anvard 在安發德的戰斗
Chapter 14　How Bree Became A Wiser Horse 布里如何成為一匹更睿智的馬
Chapter 15　Rabadash The Ridiculous 可笑的拉巴達西
《卡斯賓王子》
Chapter 1　The Island 島國
Chapter 2　The Ancient Treasure House 古代藏寶室
Chapter 3　The Dwarf 矮人
Chapter 4　The Dwarf Tells Of Prince Caspian 矮人講述卡斯賓王子的故事
Chapter 5　Caspian’s Adventure In The Mountains 卡斯賓山中歷險
Chapter 6　The People That Lived In Hiding 藏身于荒野之間的人們
Chapter 7　Old Narnia In Danger 古老納尼亞陷入險境
Chapter 8　How They Left The Island 他們如何離開島嶼
Chapter 9　What Lucy Saw 露西的所見所聞
Chapter 10　The Return Of The Lion 獅王歸來
Chapter 11　The Lion Roars 獅王咆哮
Chapter 12　Sorcery And Sudden Vengeance 巫術與即刻的刑罰
Chapter 13　The High King In Command 大帝運籌帷幄
Chapter 14　How All Were Very Busy 決戰沙場
Chapter 15　Aslan Makes A Door In The Air 阿斯蘭在空中開了一扇門
《“黎明”號的遠航》
Chapter 1　The Picture In The Bedroom 臥室里的圖畫
Chapter 2　On Board The Dawn Treader 在“黎明”號船上
Chapter 3　The Lone Islands 孤獨群島
Chapter 4　What Caspian Did There 卡斯賓大顯身手
Chapter 5　The Storm And What Came Of It 暴風雨及其后果
Chapter 6　The Adventures Of Eustace 尤斯塔斯的歷險
Chapter 7　How The Adventure Ended 歷險如何告一段落
Chapter 8　Two Narrow Escapes 兩次絕處逢生
Chapter 9　The Island Of The Voices 會發聲的島嶼
Chapter 10　The Magician’s Book 魔法師的書
Chapter 11　The Dufflepuds Made Happy 獨腳矮人盡開懷
Chapter 12　The Dark Island 黑暗之島
Chapter 13　The Three Sleepers 三個好睡手
Chapter 14　The Beginning Of The End Of The World 世界盡頭的開始
Chapter 15　The Wonders Of The Last Sea 最后一海的奇景
Chapter 16　The Very End Of The World 世界的盡頭
《銀椅子》
Chapter 1　Behind The Gym 在體育館的后邊
Chapter 2　Jill Is Given A Task 吉爾得到一個任務
Chapter 3　The Sailing Of The King 國王出海遠行
Chapter 4　A Parliament Of Owls 貓頭鷹議會
Chapter 5　Puddleglum 浦都格倫
Chapter 6　The Wild Waste Lands Of The North 北方的荒原
Chapter 7　The Hill Of The Strange Trenches 有著奇怪壕溝的小山
Chapter 8　The House Of Harfang 哈方的內廷
Chapter 9　How They Discovered Something Worth Knowing 揭穿秘密
Chapter 10　Travels Without The Sun 暗無天日的旅行
Chapter 11　In The Dark Castle 在黑暗城堡中
Chapter 12　The Queen Of Underland 地下世界的女王
Chapter 13　Underland Without The Queen 沒有女王的地下世界
Chapter 14　The Bottom Of The World 世界的底層
Chapter 15　The Disappearance Of Jill 吉爾失蹤了
Chapter 16　The Healing Of Harms 醫治創傷
《最后的決戰》
Chapter 1　By Caldron Pool 在卡爾德龍池塘邊
Chapter 2　The Rashness Of The King 國王的輕率
Chapter 3　The Ape In Its Glory 不可一世的猿猴
Chapter 4　What Happened That Night 那天夜里發生的事情
Chapter 5　How Help Came To The King 救助國王
Chapter 6　A Good Night’s Work 連夜奔襲
Chapter 7　Mainly About Dwarfs 至于矮人……
Chapter 8　What News The Eagle Brought 鷹帶來的消息
Chapter 9　The Great Meeting On Stable Hill 馬棚山上的大會
Chapter 10　Who Will Go Into The Stable? 誰敢進馬棚
Chapter 11　The Pace Quickens 波瀾再起
Chapter 12　Through The Stable Door 進入馬棚的門
Chapter 13　How The Dwarfs Refused To Be Taken In 矮人們固執己見
Chapter 14　Night Falls On Narnia 夜幕籠罩納尼亞
Chapter 15　Further Up And Further In 進深與攀登
Chapter 16　Farewell To Shadowlands 告別虛幻世界

顯示全部信息

【譯者序】<br> 經過兩年多不懈的努力，“納尼亞”系列經典的譯文終于殺青了！這時，我既感到完成任務的輕松與喜悅，又隱隱感到一絲不舍。以前，也曾經讀過“納尼亞”系列，但那時是一目十行，不求甚解。翻譯則不同，不僅要對作者的思想和時代背景有較深入的了解，而且要盡量將其語言風格表達出來。這大概就是翻譯所謂的“神似”與“形似”吧。<br> C·S·劉易斯可以稱得上是一代宗師，被譽為“最偉大的牛津人”。他博學多才，著述頗豐。有人說，“納尼亞”系列是“兒童的圣經”。要想讀懂這套傳奇故事，我們就必須對作者的信仰歷程有所了解。<br> 劉易斯的父母都是虔誠的新教徒。劉易斯出生后不久，就在愛爾蘭的教會受洗。由于青少年時期的叛逆，他曾一度遠離了自己的信仰。后來，在《魔戒》的作者、好友托爾金和其他朋友的影響下， 32歲時他又回到了上帝的懷抱。回歸信仰之后，劉易斯創作出了許多不朽的傳世之作。<br> 在“納尼亞”的奇幻世界中，那位無所不在的獅子阿斯蘭正是耶穌的化身。獅子是百獸之王，而圣經啟示錄則稱耶穌為“猶大支派中的獅子”、“萬王之王”。劉易斯藉著一系列的故事，輕松地闡釋了上帝創造宇宙、魔鬼誘使人類犯罪、耶穌為罪人贖罪舍命、然后從死里復活等基督教教義。<br> 劉易斯曾廣泛涉獵歐洲的神話，因此“納尼亞”系列經典中也出現了小矮人、半人馬、潘恩、樹精和狼人等形象。大師的想象力異常豐富，不受時空的限制，可謂天馬行空，馳騖八極。套用劉勰的話來說，就是“思接千載，視通萬里”。加上他的詞匯量豐富，時常用詩一般的語言來描繪高山、峽谷、密林、瀑布和清泉等自然景觀。因此，盡管譯者自詡中英文功底都比較深厚，但不時也會感到“詞窮”。有時，為了一句話、一個詞，我會多方求教于英、美的朋友，真正體會到了譯事之難。<br> 在第一本《魔法師的外甥》中，作者展開想象的翅膀，帶領我們“上天”，親眼目睹了納尼亞被創造的過程：隨著獅子跌宕起伏的歌聲，從土壤中接連冒出了樹木、花草、動物和飛鳥。獅子賜給一部分動物和飛鳥說話的能力，使他們成為自己的“選民”。<br> 除了“上天”，劉易斯還帶著我們“入地”。在《銀椅子》中，我們跟隨作者來到了黑暗的地下王國，經歷了一場驚心動魄的屬靈爭戰。<br> “七”在《圣經》中是一個完全的數字，因為上帝在七天中創造了宇宙萬物。故此，“納尼亞”系列經典一共有七冊書。這個系列中人物眾多，場景變幻莫測。在《“黎明”號的遠航》中，卡斯賓王等在海上的歷險和奇遇扣人心弦；在《馬兒與少年》中，我們又體驗到了異國情調和大漠風光。而《最后的決戰》栩栩如生地描繪了善與惡兩個陣營，惡神塔西和白女巫、綠女巫一樣，都象征著魔鬼撒旦，它們都逃脫不了失敗與滅亡的命運。<br> 何光滬老師在《從歲首到年終》的序言中說過，同劉易斯交上一年的朋友，會使你變得更好。兩年多來，與劉大師朝夕相處，雖然不敢說自己變得更好了，但在這個過程中的確獲益匪淺，雖苦也甜。<br> 向和平<br> 2013年12月<br> 文摘<br> The Wrong Door<br> 進錯門<br> This is a story about something that happened long ago when your grandfather was a child. It is a very important story because it shows how all the comings and goings between our own world and the land of Narnia first began.<br> In those days Mr. Sherlock Holmes was still living in Baker Street and the Bastables were looking for treasure in the Lewisham Road. In those days, if you were a boy you had to wear a stiff Eton collar every day, and schools were usually nastier than now. But meals were nicer; and as for sweets, I won’t tell you how cheap and good they were, because it would only make your mouth water in vain. And in those days there lived in London a girl called Polly Plummer.<br> She lived in one of a long row of houses which were all joined together. One morning she was out in the back garden when a boy scrambled up from the garden next door and put his face over the wall. Polly was very surprised because up till now there had never been any children in that house, but only Mr. Ketterley and Miss Ketterley, a brother and sister, old bachelor and old maid, living together. So she looked up, full of curiosity. The face of the strange boy was very grubby. It could hardly have been grubbier if he had first rubbed his hands in the earth, and then had a good cry, and then dried his face with his hands. As a matter of fact, this was very nearly what he had been doing.<br> “Hullo,” said Polly.<br> “Hullo,” said the boy. “What’s your name?”<br> “Polly,” said Polly. “What’s yours?”<br> “Digory,” said the boy.<br> “I say, what a funny name!” said Polly.<br> “It isn’t half so funny as Polly,” said Digory.<br> “Yes it is,” said Polly.<br> “No, it isn’t,” said Digory.<br> “At any rate I do wash my face,” said Polly. “Which is what you need to do; especially after—” and then she stopped. She had been going to say “After you’ve been blubbing,” but she thought that wouldn’t be polite.<br> “All right, I have then,” said Digory in a much louder voice, like a boy who was so miserable that he didn’t care who knew he had been crying. “And so would you,” he went on, “if you’d lived all your life in the country and had a pony, and a river at the bottom of the garden, and then been brought to live in a beastly Hole like this.”<br> “London isnt a Hole,” said Polly indignantly. But the boy was too wound up to take any notice of her, and he went on—<br> “And if your father was away in India—and you had to come and live with an Aunt and an Uncle whos mad (who would like that?)—and if the reason was that they were looking after your Mother—and if your Mother was ill and was going to—going to—die.” Then his face went the wrong sort of shape as it does if you’re trying to keep back your tears.<br> “I didnt know. Im sorry,” said Polly humbly. And then, because she hardly knew what to say, and also to turn Digory’s mind to cheerful subjects, she asked:<br> “Is Mr Ketterley really mad?”<br> “Well, either he’s mad,” said Digory, “or there’s some other mystery. He has a study on the top floor and Aunt Letty says I must never go up there. Well, that looks fishy to begin with. And then there’s another thing. Whenever he tries to say anything to me at meal times—he never even tries to talk to her—she always shuts him up. She says,<br> ‘Don’t worry the boy, Andrew’ or ‘I’m sure Digory doesn’t want to hear about that’ or else ‘Now, Digory, wouldn’t you like to go out and play in the garden?’”<br> “What sort of things does he try to say?”<br> “I don’t know. He never gets far enough. But there’s more than that. One night—it was last night in fact—as I was going past the foot of the attic stairs on my way to bed (and I don’t much care for going past them either) I’m sure I heard a yell.”<br> “Perhaps he keeps a mad wife shut up there.”<br> “Yes, I’ve thought of that.”<br> “Or perhaps he’s a coiner.”<br> “Or he might have been a pirate, like the man at the beginning of Treasure Island, and be always hiding from his old shipmates.”<br> “How exciting!” said Polly, “I never knew your house was so interesting.”<br> “You may think it interesting,” said Digory. “But you wouldn’t like it if you had to sleep there. How would you like to lie awake listening for Uncle Andrew’s step to come creeping along the passage to your room? And he has such awful eyes.”<br> That was how Polly and Digory got to know one another: and as it was just the beginning of the summer holidays and neither of them was going to the sea that year, they met nearly every day.<br> Their adventures began chiefly because it was one of the wettest and coldest summers there had been for years. That drove them to do indoor things: you might say, indoor exploration. It is wonderful how much exploring you can do with a stump of candle in a big house, or in a row of houses. Polly had discovered long ago that if you opened a certain little door in the box-room attic of her house you would find the cistern and a dark place behind it which you could get into by a little careful climbing. The dark place was like a long tunnel with brick wall on one side and sloping roof on the other. In the roof there were little chunks of light between the slates. There was no floor in this tunnel: you had to step from rafter to rafter, and between them there was only plaster. If you stepped on this you would find yourself falling through the ceiling of the room below. Polly had used the bit of the tunnel just beside the cistern as a smugglers’ cave. She had brought up bits of old packing cases and the seats of broken kitchen chairs, and things of that sort, and spread them across from rafter to rafter so as to make a bit of floor. Here she kept a cash-box containing various treasures, and a story she was writing and usually a few apples. She had often drunk a quiet bottle of ginger-beer in there: the old bottles made it look more like a smugglers’ cave.<br> 這個故事講述的事情發生在很久以前，那時候你的祖父還是個孩子。這個故事非常重要，因為它講述了我們的世界和納尼亞大陸之間的來往是如何開始的。那時候，夏洛克?福爾摩斯先生還住在貝克街，巴斯特布爾一族還在劉易舍姆路尋找寶藏a。那時候，如果你是個男孩子，必須每天戴著漿過的伊頓寬硬衣領；那時候的學校通常也比現在的學校更令人討厭。不過那時候的飯菜卻比較可口。至于糖果嘛，我不必告訴你，那時候有多么物美價廉，因為這只會讓你白白地流口水。在那些日子里，有一個名叫波利?普盧默的小女孩住在倫敦。<br> 她家的房子與一大排房屋彼此相連。一天早上，她走出房屋，來到后花園，突然看見一個小男孩爬上隔壁花園的墻頭，把腦袋探了過來。波利非常吃驚，因為隔壁那幢房子里從來都沒有小孩子，只住著凱特利先生和凱特利小姐兩個人，他們是一對兄妹，一個是老單身漢，一個是老處女。波利充滿好奇地抬頭觀看，只見那個陌生男孩的臉臟兮兮的。即便他先玩了一通泥巴，接著又嚎啕大哭，然后再用手去抹眼淚，他的臉也不可能更臟了。事實上，他剛才差不多就是這么做的。<br> “你好！”波利說。<br> “你好！”那個男孩問，“你叫什么名字？”<br> “波利。”波利說，“你呢？”<br> “迪戈里。”男孩答道。<br> “哎呀，這個名字可真好笑！”波利說。<br> “還沒有波利這個名字一半好笑。”迪戈里說。<br> “你這個名字是很可笑。”波利說。<br> “不，一點兒也不可笑。”迪戈里說。<br> “ 起碼我洗過臉了。” 波利說， “ 那可是你要做的， 尤其是在剛剛——”她一下子打住了話頭。她本來想說“剛剛嚎啕大哭之后”，但她感到那樣說不太禮貌。<br> “好吧，我確實哭過。”迪戈里提高了嗓門說道，就像是一個特別傷心的男孩子，根本不在乎別人知道他曾經哭過。“你一定也會哭的，”他繼續說著，“如果你一直住在鄉村，有一匹小馬，在花園的盡頭還有一條河，而你卻被帶到這種討厭的洞窟一樣的地方居住。”<br> “倫敦才不是洞窟呢。”波利憤怒地說。可那個男孩實在是太激動了，根本沒有理會她，接著說道——<br> “如果你爸爸遠在印度——你只好過來跟姨媽和一個瘋瘋癲癲的舅舅住在一起（有誰會喜歡這個？）——就因為他們可以照顧你的媽媽——而你的媽媽病了，而且病得要——要——死。”說到這里，他的臉變得有點痙攣，就像是拼命在忍住淚水的那種樣子。<br> “我不知道這些事情。對不起。”波利愧疚地說。然后，由于不知道該說些什么，同時也想把迪戈里的注意力轉移到愉快的話題上，她問道：<br> “凱特利先生真的瘋了么？”<br> “嗯，他要不是瘋了，”迪戈里說，“就是還有些別的秘密。他在頂樓有一個書房，萊蒂姨媽告誡我，絕對不要上那兒去。好吧，這看起來已經很可疑了。但還有另外一件事。每次吃飯時，當他想要對我說些什么——他歷來都不怎么跟她說話——她總是讓他閉嘴。她說：‘不要打擾這個孩子，安德魯。’或者是，‘我相信，迪戈里并不想聽那件事。’再不就是，‘迪戈里，你想不想出去，到花園里去玩？’”<br> “他想要說的是什么事兒呢？”<br> “我不知道。他從來都不多說。但還不止這些。一天晚上——其實就是昨天晚上——我要回臥室去，打頂樓樓梯底下經過（我可不太樂意從那兒經過），我相信自己聽到了一聲尖叫。”<br> “沒準兒他把發瘋的妻子關在上面了。”<br> “是啊，我也這么想過。”<br> “說不定他是個造假幣的人。”<br> “也許他曾經當過海盜，就像《金銀島》開頭所寫的那個海盜，總是在躲避他以前的同伙。”<br> “真夠刺激的！”波利說，“我還不知道你們的房子這么有趣。”<br> “你可能覺得那很有趣，”迪戈里說，“如果你必須睡在那里，就不會喜歡那個房子了。當躺在床上，聽見安德魯舅舅躡手躡腳地走過你房間外面的走廊，你會有什么感覺？再說他的眼睛非常嚇人。”<br> 這就是波利和迪戈里初次相識的經過。那時暑假才剛剛開始，那一年他們又都不去海邊度假，于是他們倆幾乎天天見面。<br> 他們之所以開始探險，主要是由于那個暑假趕上了多年來最多雨陰冷的一個夏天。這迫使他們待在室內活動，你也可以稱之為室內探險。拿上一截蠟燭頭，就能在一座大房子，或者一大排房子中，進行那么多的探險活動，可真是美妙無比。波利早就發現，如果打開她家頂樓儲藏室的一道小門，就能發現蓄水池，還有蓄水池后面那塊漆黑的地方。只要小心地攀爬，就能夠鉆進去。那漆黑的地方就像一條狹長的通道，一邊是磚砌的墻壁，另一邊是傾斜的屋頂。斑斑點點的光線從屋頂的石板瓦之間照射進來。這條通道沒有地板，你必須從一根椽子跨到另一根椽子上，椽子之間抹著灰泥。如果你踩到灰泥上，就會穿過花板，掉落到下面的房間里邊。波利將蓄水池旁的那部分通道當做“走私者的洞穴”。她把舊包裝箱和破餐椅的椅子面之類的東西帶過來，鋪在椽子之間，打造成一段地板。在這里她還保存著一只錢箱，里面放著各樣寶物，有她正在寫的一個故事，往往還會有幾個蘋果。她時常在那里悄悄地喝上一瓶姜汁啤酒，那些舊酒瓶使之看上去更像是走私者的洞穴了。