The Magician’s Nephew: Chapter 13 Summary & Analysis

Polly wakes up Digory and Fledge the next morning—a toffee-tree has indeed grown where they planted the piece of candy; it has papery leaves and little toffee-fruits that look like dates. After the children have taken turns bathing in the nearby river, they have a breakfast of toffee-fruits, then clamber onto Fledge’s back for the remainder of the journey. In the morning light, the green valleys and tumbling glacier-streams below them look like “gigantic pieces of jewelry.” But before long, they all notice a delicious smell, which seems to be coming from the valley below. They see the lake Aslan had mentioned.

Fledge alights on a green slope, and the children tumble off. Atop the hill, there’s a high wall made of turf, inside of which is a garden. They find that the garden is enclosed by high, golden gates. When they see the gates, Fledge and Polly realize that Digory will need to enter the garden alone.

When Digory approaches the golden gates, he sees a silver inscription: “Come in by the gold gates or not at all, / Take of my fruit for others or forbear, / For those who steal or those who climb my wall / Shall find their heart’s desire and find despair.” Digory supposes it means that he can’t take any fruit for himself. He wonders why anyone would try to climb a wall if they could enter by a gate. When he simply touches the gates, they swing open.

The interior of the garden is solemnly quiet and filled with a lovely smell. Digory immediately recognizes the tree Aslan had spoken of—it’s loaded down with shining silver apples. He immediately plucks an apple and can’t help smelling it before he puts it in his pocket. Immediately, he’s overcome by hunger and thirst and longs to taste the fruit. He wonders if it would be wrong to do so—what if the inscription on the gate was merely advice?

While Digory is considering these things, he notices a large bird roosting in the branches above him. It’s saffron, scarlet, and purple, and it appears to be almost sleeping, but one eye is open just a slit. Digory later tells people that you can never be too careful in magical places, because you’re probably being watched. Yet perhaps “Do Not Steal” was sufficiently impressed upon him that he wouldn’t have eaten the apple anyway.

As Digory is heading out the gates, he’s shocked to see the Witch standing just a few yards away. She has just eaten an apple. Digory realizes she must have climbed over the wall. She looks proud, triumphant, and as white as salt. Digory thinks of the poem saying that despair comes of getting one’s heart’s desire. Digory runs for the gates, calling for Polly and Fledge, but the Witch catches up with him somehow by climbing over the wall.

The Witch says that Digory shouldn’t run—she has some knowledge for him that will bring him lifelong happiness. She explains that she heard them talking in the woods last night. She understands his errand. She tells him he’s foolish for taking the apple back to Aslan, untasted: it is “the apple of youth.” She herself has tasted it and can feel that she will never age or die. If Digory eats his apple, he can join her in becoming a ruler of this world.

Digory refuses that offer, but then the Witch points out that one bite of the apple would cure Digory’s mother. All he has to do is use his ring to return to his world—the Lion isn’t here to stop him. Within minutes, his mother might be enjoying a pain-free sleep, and within days, she will be recovered. Digory gasps, pained by the weight of the choice before him. The Witch argues that the Lion has made him heartless and willing to let his own mother die. Surely Digory didn’t understand what he was promising. And his mother never needs to know that Digory broke a promise. Nobody needs to know how he got the apple; even Polly can be left behind in this world.

The Witch makes a great mistake by saying this. She doesn’t know that Polly could get away by herself by using her own ring. But more to the point, the cruelty of the suggestion snaps Digory back to reality. He realizes that the Witch doesn’t really care about his mother after all, and must have some ulterior motive.

Digory and Polly scramble onto Fledge’s back and are airborne before the Witch’s mocking voice fades. During the flight back to Narnia, Digory is sad and silent. He keeps wondering if he’s done the right thing, but the memory of Aslan’s tears convinces him that he has. They reach Narnia at sunset. A crowd of creatures makes way for Digory as he approaches Aslan with apple in hand.