Perelandra

Ransom lights a candle and Lewis looks around to see a large, white, coffin-shaped casketopen on the floor. Ransom tells the narrator about the “barrage” put on by the Tellurian eldila to try to stop him from getting to the cottage. He explains that all the fear and paranoia Lewis experienced on the way was put into his head by the eldila, by order of their Dark Lord, the Eldila of Tellus. The coffin, he says, is for the next journey. Rather than returning to Malacandra/Mars, Ransom tells Lewis he’s being sent to Perelandra/Venus, due to an eminent attack by the Oyarsa of Tellus. Lewis calls into question the whole thing, but Ransom explains that this is due to the unseen attack that gave Earth the name “Thulcandra,” the silent planet. He then explains that the reason he has been chosen to go is because he learned the language Hressa-Hlab, the old common speech of the Field of Arbor. After discussing what Venus might be like, Ransom tells Lewis that his job will be to pack him into the coffin and unpack him when he returns. When asked when that will be, Ransom tells him it could be any time at all, including after Lewis’ death, which would require him to find a successor. Lewis and Ransom both agree to tell a man named Humphrey about the plan. Next, Lewis meets the Oyarsa of Malacandra, a “featureless flame” who has been there the whole time and makes Lewis swear to his duties. In the early morning, the two men carry the coffin out into the garden and Ransom gets inside naked with a blindfold over his eyes. Lewis fastens the lid and then leaves the cottage a few hours later. Over a year later, the Oyarsa calls on Lewis, and he and Humphrey return to the cottage to find the coffin already there. Ransom is inside, covered in red flowers. He greets them, and they notice a cut on his foot. As Ransom comes back to himself, Lewis and Humphrey prepare a meal. Once he dresses and joins them, Ransom begins to tell his story.