Charlie and the Chocolate Factory: Chapters 11–16

The sheer blissful joy of being able to fill one’s mouth with rich solid food!

The sheer blissful joy of being able to fill one’s mouth with rich solid food!

“Think of all the free stuff he’ll be getting too!” another boy said enviously. “A lifetime supply!”

“Show him the ticket, Charlie!” shouted Grandpa Joe, who was still dancing around the floor like a dervish in his striped pajamas.

Mr. Bucket held the lovely Golden Ticket up close to his eyes. His hands were trembling slightly, and he seemed to be overcome by the whole business.

I, Willy Wonka, will conduct you around the factory myself, showing you everything that there is to see, and afterwards, when it is time to leave, you will be escorted home by a procession of large trucks.

I, Willy Wonka, will conduct you around the factory myself, showing you everything that there is to see, and afterwards, when it is time to leave, you will be escorted home by a procession of large trucks.

In this way, you will be able to keep yourself supplied with tasty morsels for the rest of your life.

I am preparing other surprises that are even more marvelous and more fantastic for you and for all my beloved Golden Ticket holders—mystic and marvelous surprises that will entrance, delight, intrigue, astonish, and perplex you beyond measure.

I am preparing other surprises that are even more marvelous and more fantastic for you and for all my beloved Golden Ticket holders—mystic and marvelous surprises that will entrance, delight, intrigue, astonish, and perplex you beyond measure.

I am preparing other surprises that are even more marvelous and more fantastic for you and for all my beloved Golden Ticket holders—mystic and marvelous surprises that will entrance, delight, intrigue, astonish, and perplex you beyond measure.

And you are allowed to bring with you either one or two members of your own family to look after you and to ensure that you don’t get into mischief.

“Now don’t overexcite yourself, Grandpa,” Mrs. Bucket said. “And don’t fluster poor Charlie. We must all try to keep very calm. Now the first thing to decide is this—who is going to go with Charlie to the factory?”

For several hours, there was complete pandemonium in the little house, and it must have been nearly midnight before Mr. Bucket was able to get rid of them so that Charlie could go to bed.

“Who’s the kid with a picture of The Lone Ranger stenciled on his windbreaker?”

“That’s Mike Teavee! He’s the television fiend!”

“That one! Over there on the left! The little girl in the silver mink coat!”

Covering his chin, there was a small neat pointed black beard—a goatee.

The whole face, in fact, was alight with fun and laughter.

“Through this big red door, please! That’s right! It’s nice and warm inside! I have to keep it warm inside the factory because of the workers! My workers are used to an extremely hot climate! They can’t stand the cold! They’d perish if they went outdoors in this weather! They’d freeze to death!”

And far away in the distance, from the heart of the great factory, came a muffled roar of energy as though some monstrous gigantic machine were spinning its wheels at breakneck speed.

So you can imagine that there was a good deal of pushing and shoving as they hustled and bustled down the passage, trying to keep up with the swift little figure in front of them.

“Come on!" cried Mr. Wonka. “Get a move on, please! We'll never get round today if you dawdle like this!”

The place was like a gigantic rabbit warren, with passages leading this way and that in every direction.

“This is the nerve center of the whole factory, the heart of the whole business! And so beautiful! I insist upon my rooms being beautiful! I can’t abide ugliness in factories! In we go, then! But do be careful, my dear children! Don’t lose your heads! Don’t get overexcited! Keep very calm!”

What is more, there was a tremendous waterfall halfway along the river—a steep cliff over which the water curled and rolled in a solid sheet, and then went crashing down into a boiling churning whirlpool of froth and spray.

What is more, there was a tremendous waterfall halfway along the river—a steep cliff over which the water curled and rolled in a solid sheet, and then went crashing down into a boiling churning whirlpool of froth and spray.

Graceful trees and bushes were growing along the riverbanks—weeping willows and alders and tall clumps of rhododendrons with their pink and red and mauve blossoms.

The children and their parents were too flabbergasted to speak.

They were staggered.

They were dumbfounded.

They were bewildered and dazzled.

“...The grass you are standing on, my dear little ones, is made of a new kind of soft, minty sugar that I’ve just invented! I call it swudge! Try a blade! Please do! It’s delectable!”

“Then you’ll know all about it,” said Mr. Wonka. “And oh, what a terrible country it is! Nothing but thick jungles infested by the most dangerous beasts in the entire world—hornswogglers and snozzwangers and those terrible wicked whangdoodles...."

You can have cacao beans for every meal! You can gorge yourselves silly on them! I’ll even pay your wages in cacao beans if you wish!