3　The Inside of the World

When I was a very little boy I was very inquisitive. At least, that's what my nurse called me.One day when I was walking with her along the city pavements, I asked：

“Jane, what's under the pavement?”

“Oh, just dirt，”she replied.

“And what is under the dirt?”

“Oh, more dirt，”she replied.

“Well, what's under that?”I asked. I wasn't satisfied.

“Oh, nothing—I don't know—why are you always so inquisitive?”she asked.

I knew there must be something underneath that, and I just wanted to know what it was—I was just inquisitive.

I had heard that the place had boys went when they died was down under the ground somewhere—a big cave, perhaps—and I wanted to know if that were so.

So I made up my mind I'd dig down through the World；down, down, down, till I came through on the other side, and then I'd know. I was a very little boy, you see.With a tin shovel I started a hole in the back yard behind the grapevines, where no one would know what I was doing.I wanted to keep it a secret until I had dug all the way through.Day