CHAPTER FIVE PUDDLEGLUM（第2/4页）

“Where has the thingummy got to，I wonder ？”said Jill.

“The Marsh-wiggle,”said Scrubb，as if he were rather proud of knowing the word. “I expect—hullo，that must be him.”And then they both saw him，sitting with his back to them，fishing， about fifty yards away. He had been hard to see at first because he was nearly the same colour as the marsh and because he sat so still.

“I suppose we’d better go and speak to him,”said Jill. Scrubb nodded. They both felt a little nervous.

As they drew nearer，the figure turned its head and showed them a long thin face with rather sunken cheeks，a tightly shut mouth，a sharp nose，and no beard. He was wearing a high， pointed hat like a steeple，with an enormously wide flat brim. The hair，if it could be called hair，which hung over his large ears was greeny-grey，and each lock was flat rather than round， so that they were like tiny reeds. His expression was solemn， his complexion muddy，and you could see at once that he took a serious view of life.

“Good morning，Guests,”he said. “Though when I say good I don’t mean it won’t probably turn to rain or it might he snow，or fog，or thunder. You didn’t get any sleep，I dare say.

“Yes we did，though,”said Jill. “We had a lovely night.”

“Ah,”said the Marsh-wiggle，shaking his head. “I see you’re making the best of a bad job. That’s right. You’ve been well brought up，you have. You’ve learned to put a good face on things.”

“Please，we don’t know your name,”said Scrubb.

“Puddleglum’s my name. But it doesn’t matter if you forget it. I can always tell you again.”

The children sat down on each side of him. They now saw that he had very long legs and arms，so that although his body was not much bigger than a dwarf’s，he would be taller than most men when he stood up. The fingers of his hands were webbed like a frog’s，and so were his bare feet which dangled in the muddy water. He was dressed in earthcoloured clothes that hung loose about him.

“I’m trying to catch a few eels to make an eel stew for our dinner,”said Puddleglum. “Though I shouldn’t wonder if I didn’t get any. And you won’t like them much if I do.”

“Why not ？”asked Scrubb.

“Why，it’s not in reason that you should like our sort of victuals，though I’ve no doubt you’ll put a bold face on it. All the same，while I am a catching of them，if you two could try to light the fire—no harm trying—！The wood’s behind the wigwam. It may be wet. You could light it inside the wigwam，and then we’d get all the smoke in our eyes. Or you could light it outside，and then the rain would come and put it out. Here’s my tinder-box. You wouldn’t know how to use it，I expect.”

But Scrubb had learned that sort of thing on his last adventure. The children ran back together to the wigwam，found the wood （which was perfectly dry）and succeeded in lighting a fire with rather less than the usual difficulty. Then Scrubb sat and took care of it while Jill went and had some sort of wash—not a very nice one—in the nearest channel. After that she saw to the fire and he had a wash. Both felt a good deal fresher，but very hungry.

Presently the Marsh-wiggle joined them. In spite of his expectation of catching no eels，he had a dozen or so，which he had already skinned and cleaned. He put a big pot on，mended the fire，and lit his pipe. Marsh-wiggles smoke a very strange，heavy sort of tobacco（some people say they mix it with mud）and the children noticed the smoke from Puddleglum’s pipe hardly rose in the air at all. It trickled out of the bowl and downwards and drifted along the ground like a mist. It was very black and set Scrubb coughing.

“Now,”said Puddleglum. “Those eels will take a mortal long time to cook，and either of you might faint with hunger before they’re done. I knew a little girl-but I’d better not tell you that story. It might lower your spirits，and that’s a thing I never do. So，to keep your minds off your hunger，we may as well talk about our plans.”