The Magician's Nephew

Digory screams as Polly vanishes and Uncle Andrew puts a hand over his mouth, telling Digory he’ll frighten his sick mother. Digory glares at Uncle Andrew but stays quiet when Uncle Andrew removes his hand. Uncle Andrew is ecstatic and tells Digory to congratulate him because his experiment worked; Polly disappeared from their world and is now in another. Digory asks what he means, and Uncle Andrew explains his experiment, which started with his godmother, Mrs. Leafay.

Mrs. Leafay was arrested and put in prison—for what, Uncle Andrew refuses to say—but was released before her death. Uncle Andrew was one of the few people she agreed to see in her final months, and she gave him a secret box on the condition that after her death, he would bury it, unopened, with certain ceremonies. Mrs. Leafay died, but Uncle Andrew did not keep his promise and instead studied the box and its contents. He learned that the box was made in the ancient city of Atlantis and contained dust from an entirely different world. Seeking to access other worlds, Uncle Andrew formed the dust into the green and yellow rings.

Digory asks why Uncle Andrew didn’t go to the other world himself, and Uncle Andrew is shocked by the proposition. In another world, a person could experience all sorts of terrible things; he says it is “preposterous” to assume a man of his age would undergo such stress. Digory calls him a coward and asks if and how Polly can return to their world.

Uncle Andrew says Polly can only return by touching one of the green rings, but Polly doesn’t have a green ring with her. Digory suddenly understands the trap Uncle Andrew set, realizing that he will have to travel to the other world himself with a green ring. Uncle Andrew puts gloves on, excited, and places two green rings in Digory’s pocket. Digory sighs and picks up the yellow ring.

As Digory touches the yellow ring, Uncle Andrew and the study vanish. Digory is in darkness and cannot sense anything around him, unsure if he’s even standing or sitting. He thinks he must be underwater and begins moving upward, emerging from a pool onto soft grass. Though he just climbed out of the water, he is not wet or out of breath. He is in a forest so dense he cannot see the sky, but the place is suffused with light that filters through the leaves. There are no birds or insects in the woods, and it’s so quiet Digory feels like he can hear the trees growing. There are multiple pools like the one he just came out of, each no more than 10 feet across. Digory cannot remember how he got here but isn’t concerned. He is no longer thinking about Polly or Uncle Andrew, or anything at all. He feels content and believes that he has lived in these woods forever.

Digory suddenly realizes a little girl is lying on the grass a few yards away. She and Digory look at each other for a long time before the girl says that Digory looks familiar. He asks how long she has been here, and she says she has always been here. Digory says the same, but the girl says she just watched him climb out of the pool. They stare at each other in silence until the girl resumes the conversation, saying that she dreamed that the two of them once lived in a very different world. Digory says that he had the same dream. Digory notices that he and the girl are wearing similar yellow rings, and all at once, they both remember Uncle Andrew sending them here. Though they are both tempted to stay in the wood because it is so peaceful and dreamy, Polly insists that they go home. They prepare to return to London via the pool they climbed out of, holding hands, counting to three, and jumping. When they open their eyes, they’re still in the wood, standing ankle-deep in the pool. They remember that Uncle Andrew gave Digory two green rings that will bring them home.

Digory realizes that the other pools must lead to other worlds and wants to explore them. Polly refuses to go anywhere until she knows for certain that they can return to their own world, so they decide to jump into their home pool with their green rings but then quickly change back to the yellow rings. Their plan works, and before Digory and Polly fully reenter Uncle Andrew’s study, they return to the “Wood between the Worlds.”

Digory is eager to jump into a new pool, but Polly reminds him to mark which pool leads to Earth so they don’t get lost. Digory cuts a long line into the dirt in front of the pool. Digory and Polly then walk to another pool, hold hands, and jump in. They’re confused when they only land ankle-deep in water, even though they’re wearing their yellow rings. They don’t yet know that Uncle Andrew has an incomplete understanding of the rings. The yellow rings are made from the wood of the trees in the wood and are always trying to return to this place of origin. The green rings are made from material that wants to leave the wood between worlds. Without understanding this, the children decide to switch rings and see what happens. They put on their green rings and jump into the new pool.