Strange Experiences In Magdalene

by: Rachel Mouton

  (Magdalene College, Cambridge )

As I ran down that stone staircase, I began to huff and puff. Visiting with Professor Lewis had been helpful in that I felt like I had learned so much in just one visit. Since he had let me explore around Narnia for myself, I had in turn, done a lot of learning by myself. He had just pointed me in the right direction, so to speak. My experiences in Narnia were exciting and filled with discovery learning! I tried to keep those memories streaming through my head so as not to lose my grip on them. After all, my visit to Narnia had only been a dream.

 I hurried down the winding stairs. One step, two steps, three and more, but it never seemed to end. I couldn’t remember climbing this many stairs when I first arrived. No, no I hadn’t climbed this many, so why now did I have to descend this many? I wanted nothing more than to break out of this stone structure and escape into the beautiful college campus outside. It was there waiting for me.  I could sense it. Everything just felt so alive to me somehow that I could almost hear and feel the outside world breathing. It was like I was in its belly and it was expanding and contracting, inhaling and exhaling. (Well, at least the walls surrounding me felt like that anyhow.)  I was getting closer and closer to something. I thought sarcastically to myself, “I must be getting somewhere near the centre of the earth.”  [1]

I kept descending until finally I had reached the bottom of the stairs, but there was no door. I looked around and around the small room feeling more enclosed than ever until to my relief I finally found one. This door was no more than a foot in height! I sat down against one wall to rest for a moment and to try to figure out how I was to exit this place. I hunched over onto my knees and tried to open the door. To my surprise, it was locked! How was I ever going to get out? A senior such as my self ought to be able to figure this situation out! I sat and I thought and I sat some more until finally I had it. I rested my foot close to the door and began to kick it with all of my might. I kicked and pushed and kicked some more! On my last attempt, the door flew open with a loud crashing sound and daylight flooded into the open area. “Yes, yes,” thought I, “now I can crawl out of here!” And that is exactly what I did, but not without some difficulty!

After a long while of crawling and practically having to pry my self out of the incredibly tiny doorway, I finally had made it out of the building! I stood up in the lawn and dusted off my dress for surely it had been soiled a bit throughout this dilemma.  I looked around all about me and saw the most beautiful day! There were birds chirping in the massive trees overhead and bees buzzing around in the gardens surrounding the lawn. The sun was bright and the breeze carried the sweet perfumes from the garden directly to my nose! I realized where I was. I was standing in front of The New Building facing The Grove Deer Park.

[2]

I could see some deer frolicking around on the lawn in front of the building and I was curious about them. I began to approach them. It didn’t matter how quiet or graceful my approach was, as soon as I was spotted, they began to turn and run off into the woods.    

     [3] 

“Oh well,” I thought to myself, “I guess I will just have to turn around and head back into campus.”  I turned myself around and started back towards High Street. As I looked around me I could see the buildings placed around the campus such as the President’s lodgings and the St. Swithun’s Buildings. I continued to walk as I absorbed the beauty around me. How lucky was I to be attending Magdalene College! I realized I was quite thirsty so I headed down to the College Bar that rests on the River Cherwell. I could take the short-cut through the gardens between the New Building and the President’s Lodgings to get there faster.

“A large rose-tree stood near the entrance of the garden: the roses growing on it were white, but there were three gardeners at it, busily painting them red.” [4] I was confused by their actions and decided to ask them why they should be painting the perfectly white roses red.  “Excuse me sirs, but I can’t help but wonder why you should be painting these roses red?” I asked.

“Why haven’t you heard girl? William of Waynflete, Bishop of Winchester [5] has ordered us to paint these roses red. If we do not adhere to our orders, we will be punished and expelled from the campus!” they answered with a very serious tone in their voices.

I wondered why they should be taking orders from a man who lived in the year 1448, but they looked so busy and frantic that I decided to keep heading towards the bar.  I kept winding through the garden paths for what seemed like an eternity. I turned right at the break in the hedge and then I turned left at another. I was beginning to think that this garden was no ordinary garden but that of an extraordinary maze! I continued to walk until my feet ached and I knew for sure that I was in fact a little bit lost!

 “Oh how did I ever get lost in this maze?” I cried aloud to myself. (Or, so I thought I was alone.) “O Tiger-lily!” [6] said I, addressing one that was waving gracefully in the wind. “I wish you could talk!”

“We can talk,” said the Tiger-lily, “when there’s anybody worth talking to.”

“And can all the flowers talk?” I asked.

“As well as you can,” said the Tiger-lily. “And a great deal louder,” she added.

“Oh my,” I replied looking even more confused I suppose. “Can you tell me how to get out of this lovely garden?” I asked sincerely.

“Why would you ever want to leave this place? My roots are strongly rooted in this ground and I can’t imagine one trying to uproot them!” the Tiger-lily exclaimed in a boisterous and insulted voice. “Why, I never!” she added with shock.

“I mean no disrespect towards you and the other lovely flowers. I see that this is your home, but I need desperately to get back to mine you see. I am not a flower and I am not rooted here.” I answered.

“Most certainly, you are NOT!” proclaimed the Tiger-lily. “Why your kind only likes to trample upon my kind! Up to no good, I tell you, no good at all,” she said as she shook her head in disgust.

“Well, that just most certainly isn’t true about all of my kind!” I announced this and with the heel of my shoe, smashed the Tiger-lily into the ground and stomped off farther into the garden.  I was a senior after all, and I didn’t need that kind of harassment from a flower! I would just have to find my own way out of this garden one way or another! I started to break through the garden hedges instead of going around them. This way I could stay in a straight line and eventually exit the garden! The hedges hurt me as they scratched and scraped my arms and legs.

Finally, I broke through the last hedge in the garden wall and found myself close to the College Bar. I was so thirsty and my cuts and bruises needed some tending to. When I arrived I ordered a beer and some bandages and proceeded to walk outside to gaze over the vibrant River Cherwell. I felt that both the view and the beer could help take my mind off of my wounds.

  [7]

I walked down closer to the water so I could refresh myself by wading in it when I slipped suddenly and fell right into it! “Oh drat!” I thought as I spilled my beer. Just then I heard something splashing about and swam nearer to discover what it was. [8] I realized that it was only a mouse that had slipped in to the river like myself. It began to scream for help, which indeed shocked me because mice cannot speak, or so I thought! (Then again, I was under the impression that flowers could not speak either!)

“That will be a queer thing, to be sure! However, everything is queer to-day.” [9] I said this as I grabbed onto his tiny little collar and carried him to shore. “What is going on? How can you speak? I have never met a mouse before that could!” I said.

“Well, if you would ever try to perceive things differently then maybe you would have had more than one conversation with a mouse in your whole life!” he said haughtily and scurried off into the surrounding woods. I sighed and turned to walk along the river bank. I hoped to find a place to sit and dry myself off. I saw a large rock in the direct path of a beam of sunlight. “Perfect,” I thought as I sat myself down to sun bathe.

I had been laying there for some time when I felt something rather small land on my arm. I opened my eyes to find the strangest creature! It was a butterfly! Now you might say that a butterfly is no strange creature, and you would be right! However, this butterfly in particular, was very strange indeed! It looked like an actual stick of butter with wings made of small thin slices of bread for wings! [10] I guess it was really a bread and butterfly. I also noticed a peculiar looking dragon-fly fluttering about as well. This creature appeared to be an actual miniature version of a real dragon with tiny wings to help it fly around!

 “My this is becoming rather strange!” I thought to myself. I was still a little wet from the river and the sun seemed to be less bright than it had before. Where was I now? I knew I had washed up on the bank of the Cherwell somewhere close to the campus so I just kept following the riverbed until I came to the bridge at High Street. I climbed up the bank onto the street and was in direct view of Magdalene Tower. 

  [11]

I gazed up at this tremendously tall building and started to feel incredibly small. I realized what an immaculate structure this tower was and just what it meant to the surrounding campus.  My whole college experience up to this point had flashed before my eyes. I remembered the long walks through the beautiful campus and the classes held in the courtyards. I remembered my professors and my guidance counselors who instructed me and helped me get to this point. An appreciation for the college and my own education filled me with intense satisfaction as realized I had become one with this place. I was just as much a part of Magdalene College as it was a part of me! It was then that I realized that today was my graduation day! “Oh no, my dress!” I thought, as I looked upon the now dirty rags I was wearing. “I’m late! I’m late! Oh the duchess!” I cried. Just then I saw the most curious white rabbit scurry by me yelling the same thing! 

 “White rabbit, oh mister white rabbit!” I cried but he was off in a flash. He was heading towards the commencement hall so I decided to follow him. I ran and ran and ran some more. Finally, I approached the steps of the great hall and stopped to catch my breath before entering. I didn’t dare enter this ceremonial hall in the state that I was in.  I needed freshening up for certain. I looked around me and found that the white rabbit had (much to my convenience) dropped a peculiar looking gown and a pair of white gloves on the stairway that looked to be just the right size for a girl such as myself. I snatched them up off of the ground and proceeded to change very carefully and quickly into them behind a bush around the corner. The gown was a bit too long and the gloves were just a bit too snug, but I couldn’t complain for almost anything was better than what I had just been wearing!

I started to ascend the great stairway into the commencement hall. I joined my fellow students on the floor of the great auditorium waiting with expectations of hearing my name called.  I saw as others were called upon and shook hands with the president of the school and with the other faculty members on stage.  I watched in adoration as my friends and family members cheered for those who were called upon. I waited patiently for my name to be called upon so I too could enter the world outside of this university and rejoice in the completion of my college life! I waited and waited but still there was nothing. Finally, the announcer called my name! I stood and the crowd began to cheer for me. I was feeling overwhelmed and ecstatic at the same time.

 I began to walk towards the stage, my heart was racing and just then I saw the white rabbit run towards me crying, “Maryanne, Maryanne! What are you doing here? We are going to be late! Oh the Duchess! What will she think?” He grabbed my arm and tried to lead me towards the door instead of towards the stage. Everyone was looking at me and crying out, “Aren’t you going to graduate today? Isn’t this what you have been waiting for your whole life?”

“My name is NOT Maryanne!” I yelled! I kept trying to struggle in order to break free of or get loose from the white rabbit’s grip. The announcer kept looking at me with looks of confusion and annoyance. He was calling to me with a sound of exasperation and fatigue about his voice and tone. He kept calling to me, calling to  me, calling to me….

I sat up faster than lightning could strike. Looking around me I asked, “Where am I?” I could make out Professor Lewis’s face in front of me through my now somewhat blurry vision and around me were paramedics taking my pulse and blood pressure and such. I suddenly realized that I had never left Professor Lewis’s office in the first place! “Oh my, how embarrassing,” I thought aloud. Professor Lewis helped me to my feet and I apologized to everyone for the scare I had given to them.  Professor Lewis smiled at me and said, “I certainly hoped you have learned something today!”

“What is that, sir?” I asked.

“Well, for one thing when you come to one’s office you might not want to faint like you did just now,” he said smiling at me and asked if I needed anything. “I would suggest you go home for now and rest a bit before I look over your essay, dear,” he said and patted me on the back and out the door.

I turned around and said, “Professor Lewis, I just…” and decided not to continue. He was right I needed some rest for now, but I would be back the next time with a story he wouldn’t believe!

The End

Bibliography

Carroll, Lewis. The Annotated Alice: The Definitive Edition. New York, London: W.W. Norton & Company, 2000.

The Free Dictionary.com by Farlex,   http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Magdalen%20Hall,%20Oxford

Welcome to Magdelen College Oxford,  http://www.magd.ox.ac.uk/