The Silver Chair: Chapter 9 Summary & Analysis

Jill spends the rest of the morning walking around Harfang and letting the giants know how excited she is for the feast. She asks them as many questions she can think of regarding the feast, and they eagerly answer her. However, she notices that some of the giants feel bad for her, though she is not sure why. She also learns that there is a scullery door that often gets left open, which might allow her to escape. When speaking with the giants, Scrubb and Puddleglum try to express their excitement as well, though they are not nearly as good as Jill.

At lunch, Jill, Scrubb, and Puddleglum eat venison at a table next to a larger table of giants. Puddleglum overhears the giants say that the venison came from a talking stag. Puddleglum then tells the children to stop eating it—in Narnia, eating talking animals is a terrible thing to do, and it leaves Puddleglum deeply saddened. Jill and Scrubb are also bothered. Scrubb is especially upset, since he made friends with some talking animals last time he was in Narnia.

After lunch, Jill, Scrubb, and Puddleglum wait for the giants to begin clearing out, so they can make their escape. However, when they enter the scullery, one giant still remains. Before long, the adventurers realize she does not plan to leave, though she does mention being tired. Jill, Scrubb, and Puddleglum move toward the opposite end of the scullery and wait for the giant to fall asleep.

While they wait, Jill examines a giant cookbook on a table in the scullery. Almost immediately, she comes across an entry that reads, “MAN. This elegant little biped has long been valued as a delicacy. It forms a traditional part of the Autumn Feast.” Just below the recipe for humans is another one for Marsh-wiggles. After some time, the giant at the other end of the scullery finally falls asleep. When Jill, Scrubb, and Puddleglum hear snoring, they begin tip-toeing their way outside.

Slowly, the group makes their way out of the castle and down the steep path they climbed the night before. When they look up at the castle, they realize there are dozens of windows the giants could see them from. To make matters worse, Jill and Scrubb are wearing brightly-colored outfits that the giants gave them. Puddleglum warns them not to run until he gives the word. Otherwise, the giants will be on them right away.

The party covers a considerable distance but are still a ways off from the ruined city when they hear the sound of a hunting horn. When they look in the direction of the horn, they see the King of the giants’ hunting party. The King urges the giants to chase after the children and Puddleglum. At the sight of the King, Puddleglum urges the children to run.

Puddleglum, Jill, and Scrubb run away as fast as they can. Unfortunately, it is particularly difficult for Jill to run because she is wearing a dress, and she soon falls behind. Nevertheless, she runs as fast as she can toward the ruined city, though she has no idea what she plans to do if she reaches it.

Puddleglum reaches the bottom of the path first and finds a small opening that he dives into, Scrubb following closely behind him. Jill arrives a moment later and crawls into the opening as well. As soon as she is inside, everyone works together to pile rocks over the opening so that the giants and their dogs cannot reach them. Once the hole is sealed, all three of them join hands and feel their way around the darkness. The group quickly realizes that the cave they have found themselves in is rather large, and they worry they will get lost.

While walking through the cave, Puddleglum—who is in front of the children—slips and falls down a steep slope. Because everyone is holding hands, the children tumble down behind him. The slope is extremely long, and when they finally reach the bottom, Puddleglum suggests they must be a mile underground. Before they can decide what to do next, a voice calls out in the darkness and says, “What make you here, creatures of the Overworld.”