y, there were three to choose from,
with nothing to betoken which was the proper access, all being pretty
much alike, and all unfenced and yawning. And the common rumor was that
in times of any danger, when any force was known to be on muster in
their neighborhood, they changed their entrance every day, and diverted
the other two, by means of sliding-doors, to the chasm and dark abysses.

Now I could see those three rough arches, jagged, black, and terrible,
and I knew that only one of them could lead me to the valley; neither
gave the river now any further guidance, but dived underground with a
sullen roar, where it met the cross-bar of the mountain. Having no means
at all of judging which was the right way of the three, and knowing that
the other two would lead to almost certain death, in the ruggedness and
darkness--for how could a man, among precipices and bottomless depths of
water, without a ray of light, have any chance to save his life?--I do
declare that I was half inclined to go away, and have done with it.

However, I knew one thing for certain, to wit, that the longer I stayed
debating, the more would the enterprise pall upon me, and the less my
relish be. And it struck me that, in times of peace, the middle way was
the likeliest; and the others diverging right and left in their further
parts might be made to slide into it (not far from the entrance) at the
pleasure of the warders. Also I took it for good omen that I remembered
(as rarely happened) a very fine line in the Latin grammar, whose
emphasis and meaning is, "Middle road is fastest."

Therefore, without more hesitation, I plunged into the middle way,
holding a long ash-staff before me, shodden at the end with iron.
Presently I was in black darkness, groping along the wall, and feeling
a deal more fear than I wished to feel; especially when, upon looking
back, I could no longer see the light, which I had forsaken. Then I
stumbled over something hard, and sharp, and very cold; moreover, so
grievous to my legs that it needed my very best doctrine and humor to
forbear from swearing in the manner they use in London. But when I
arose, and felt it, and knew it to be a culverin, I was somewhat
reassured thereby, inasmuch as it was not likely that they would plant
this engine except in the real and true entrance.

Therefore I went on again, more painfully and wearily, and presently
found it to be good that I had received that knock, and borne it with
such