What they noticed first was the light. It wasn’t like sunlight， and it wasn‘t like electric light， or lamps， or candles， or any other light they had ever seen. It was a dull， rather red light， not at all cheerful. It was steady and did not flicker. They were standing on a flat paved surface and buildings rose all around them. There was no roof overhead； they were in a sort of courtyard. The sky was extraordinarily dark.a blue that was almost black. When you had seen that sky you wondered that there should be any light at all.
“It’s very funny weather here，” said Digory. “I wonder if we‘ve arrived just in time for a thunderstorm； or an eclipse.”
“I don’t like it，” said Polly.
Both of them， without quite knowing why， were talking in whispers. And though there was no reason why they should still go on holding hands after their jump， they didn‘t let go. The walls rose very high all round that courtyard. They had many great windows in them， windows without glass， through which you saw nothing but black darkness. Lower down there were great pillared arches， yawning blackly likethe mouths of railway tunnels. It was rather cold.