The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader - Audiobook - Pt 2/5
Complete unabridged, read by Derek Jacobi
00:00:00 - Chapter 4
00:20:07 - Chapter 5
00:41:54 - Chapter 6
Complete unabridged, read by Derek Jacobi
00:00:00 - Chapter 4
00:20:07 - Chapter 5
00:41:54 - Chapter 6
Category
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FunTranscript
00:00:00CHAPTER IV.
00:00:07WHAT CASPIAN DID THERE
00:00:11Next morning the Lord Byrne called his guests early, and after breakfast he asked Caspian
00:00:17to order every man he had into full armour, and above all, he added, let everything be
00:00:23as trim and scoured as if it were the morning of the first battle in a great war between
00:00:29noble kings with all the world looking on. This was done, and then in three boatloads
00:00:37Caspian and his people, and Byrne with a few of his, put out for Narrowhaven. The king's flag
00:00:43flew in the stern of his boat, and his trumpeter was with him. When they reached the jetty at
00:00:49Narrowhaven, Caspian found a considerable crowd assembled to meet them.
00:00:54This is what I sent word about last night, said Byrne. They are all friends of mine,
00:00:59and honest people. And as soon as Caspian stepped ashore, the crowd broke out into hoorays and
00:01:07shouts of Narnia! Narnia! Long live the king! At the same moment, and this was also due to
00:01:14Byrne's messengers, bells began ringing from many parts of the town. Then Caspian caused his banner
00:01:21to be advanced, and his trumpet to be blown, and every man drew his sword, and set his face
00:01:27into a joyful sternness. And they marched up the street, so that the street shook, and their armour
00:01:34shone, for it was a sunny morning, so that one could hardly look at it steadily. At first the
00:01:42only people who cheered were those who had been warned by Byrne's messenger, and knew what was
00:01:46happening, and wanted it to happen. But then all the children joined in, because they liked a
00:01:52procession, and had seen very few. And then all the schoolboys joined in, because they also liked
00:01:59processions, and felt that the more noise and disturbance there was, the less likely they would
00:02:05be to have any school that morning. And then all the old women put their heads out of doors and
00:02:11windows, and began chattering and cheering, because it was a king, and what is a governor
00:02:18compared with that? And all the young women joined in for the same reason, and also because Caspian
00:02:24and Drinian and the rest were so handsome. And then all the young men came to see what the young
00:02:30women were looking at, so that by the time Caspian reached the castle gates, nearly the whole town
00:02:36was shouting. And where Gumper sat in the castle, muddling and messing about with accounts and
00:02:42forms and rules and regulations, he heard the noise. At the castle gate, Caspian's trumpeter
00:02:50blew a blast, and cried,—'Open for the King of Narnia! Come to visit his trusty and well-beloved
00:02:57servant, the Governor of the Lone Islands!' In those days everything in the islands was done
00:03:04in a slovenly, slouching manner. Only the little postern opened, and out came a tousled fellow,
00:03:12with a dirty old hat on his head instead of a helmet, and a rusty old pike in his hand.
00:03:18He blinked at the flashing figures before him.
00:03:22"'Can't see sufficiency,' he mumbled, which was his way of saying,
00:03:29you can't see his sufficiency.
00:03:32"'No interviews without appointments at three-nine-ten p.m., second Saturday every month.'
00:03:43"'Uncover before Narnia, you dog!' thundered the Lord Byrne, and dealt him a wrap with his
00:03:49gauntleted hand, which sent his hat flying from his head.
00:03:54"'Dear, what's he all about?' began the doorkeeper, but no one took any notice of him.
00:04:01Two of Caspian's men stepped through the postern, and after some struggling with bars and bolts,
00:04:07for everything was rusty, flung both wings of the gate wide open. Then the King and his
00:04:12followers strode into the courtyard. Here a number of the Governor's guards were lounging about,
00:04:19and several more—they were mostly wiping their mouths—came tumbling out of various doorways.
00:04:27Though their armour was in a disgraceful condition, these were fellows who might
00:04:32have fought if they had been led, or had known what was happening. So this was the dangerous
00:04:38moment. Caspian gave them no time to think. "'Where is the captain?' he asked.
00:04:45"'I am, more or less, if you know what I mean,' said a languid and rather dandified
00:04:50young person, without any armour at all. "'It is our wish,' said Caspian,
00:04:56"'that our royal visitation to our realm of the Lone Islands should, if possible,
00:05:00be an occasion of joy, and not of terror to our loyal subjects. If it were not for that,
00:05:06I should have something to say about the state of your men's armour and weapons.
00:05:11"'As it is, you are pardoned. Command a cask of wine to be opened,
00:05:15that your men may drink our health. But at noon tomorrow I wish to see them here in this courtyard,
00:05:21looking like men-at-arms and not like vagabonds. See to it, on pain about extreme displeasure.'
00:05:28The captain gaped, but Byrne immediately cried,
00:05:33"'Three cheers for the King!' and the soldiers, who had understood about the cask of wine,
00:05:39even if they understood nothing else, joined in.
00:05:43Caspian then ordered most of his own men to remain in the courtyard.
00:05:47He, with Byrne and Drinian and four others, went into the hall.
00:05:52Behind a table at the far end, with various secretaries about him,
00:05:57sat his sufficiency, the Governor of the Lone Islands. Gumpus was a bilious-looking man,
00:06:04with hair that had once been red, and now was mostly grey. He glanced up as the strangers
00:06:11entered, and then looked down at his papers, saying automatically,
00:06:16"'Now interviews without appointments, except between nine and ten p.m. on certain Saturdays.'
00:06:21Caspian nodded to Byrne, and then stood aside. Byrne and Drinian took a step forward,
00:06:26and each seized one end of the table. They lifted it, and flung it on one side of the hall,
00:06:31where it rolled over, scattering a cascade of letters, dossiers, ink-pots, pens, sealing-wax,
00:06:37and documents. Then, not roughly, but as firmly as if their hands were pincers of steel,
00:06:44they plucked Gumpus out of his chair, and deposited him, facing it, about four feet away.
00:06:51Caspian at once sat down in the chair, and laid his naked sword across his knees.
00:06:57"'My lord,' said he, fixing his eyes on Gumpus,
00:07:02"'you have not given us quite the welcome we expected. I am the King of Narnia.'"
00:07:08"'Nothing about it in the correspondence,' said the Governor.
00:07:12"'Nothing in the minutes. We have not been notified of any such thing. All irregular.
00:07:16Happy to consider any applications. And we are come to inquire into your
00:07:20sufficiency's conduct of your office,' continued Caspian.
00:07:23"'There are two points especially on which I require an explanation. Firstly,
00:07:28I find no record that the tribute due from these islands to the Crown of Narnia
00:07:33has been received for about a hundred and fifty years.'"
00:07:37"'That will be a question to raise at the Council next month,' said Gumpus.
00:07:41"'If anyone moves that a commission of inquiry be set up to report on the financial history
00:07:45of the islands at the first meeting next year, why, then, I also find it very clearly written
00:07:51in our laws,' Caspian went on, "'that if the tribute is not delivered, the whole debt has
00:07:57to be paid by the Governor of the Lone Islands, out of his private purse.'"
00:08:02At this Gumpus began to pay real attention.
00:08:07"'Oh, that's quite out of the question,' he said.
00:08:11"'It's an economic impossibility. Um, Your Majesty must be joking.'"
00:08:17Inside he was wondering if there were any way of getting rid of these unwelcome visitors.
00:08:23Had he known that Caspian had only one ship and one ship's company with him, he would have spoken
00:08:29soft words for the moment, and hoped to have them all surrounded and killed during the night.
00:08:35But he had seen a ship of war sail down the straits yesterday, and seen it signalling,
00:08:41as he supposed, to its consuls. He had not then known it was the King's ship, for there was not
00:08:48wind enough to spread the flag out and make the Golden Lion visible, so he had waited for the
00:08:54developments. Now he imagined that Caspian had a whole fleet at Bernstead. It would never have
00:09:01occurred to Gumpus that anyone would walk into Narrow Haven to take the islands with fewer than
00:09:07fifty men. It was certainly not at all the kind of thing he could imagine doing himself.
00:09:13"'Secondly,' said Caspian,
00:09:16"'I want to know why you have permitted this abominable and unnatural traffic in slaves
00:09:20to grow up here, contrary to the ancient custom and usage of our dominions.'
00:09:26"'Necessary, unavoidable,' said his sufficiency.
00:09:29"'An essential part of the economic development of the islands, I assure you.
00:09:33Our present burst of prosperity depends on it.'
00:09:37"'What need have you of slaves?'
00:09:40"'For export, Your Majesty. Sell them to Calamon mostly. And we have other markets.
00:09:45We are a great centre of the trade.'
00:09:49"'In other words,' said Caspian,
00:09:51"'you don't need them. Tell me what purpose they serve, except to put money into the pockets of
00:09:56such as Pug.' "'Your Majesty's tender years,'
00:10:01said Gumpus, with what was meant to be a fatherly smile,
00:10:05"'hardly make it possible that you should understand the economic problem involved.
00:10:11I have statistics, I have graphs, I have—'
00:10:15"'Tender as my years may be,' said Caspian,
00:10:17"'I believe I understand the slave trade from within quite as well as your sufficiency.
00:10:22And I do not see that it brings into the islands meat, or bread, or beer, or wine, or timber,
00:10:27or cabbages, or books, or instruments of music, or horses, or armour,
00:10:31or anything else worth having. But whether it does or not, it must be stopped.'
00:10:38"'But that would be putting the clock back,' gasped the Governor.
00:10:44"'Have you no idea of progress, of development?'
00:10:48"'I have seen them both in an egg,' said Caspian.
00:10:52"'We call it going bad in Narnia. This trade must stop.'
00:10:58"'I can take no responsibility for any such measure,' said Gumpus.
00:11:04"'Very well, then,' answered Caspian.
00:11:06"'We relieve you of your office. My Lord Byrne, come here.'
00:11:10And before Gumpus quite realised what was happening,
00:11:13Byrne was kneeling, with his hands between the King's hands,
00:11:18and taking the oath to govern the Lone Islands in accordance with the old customs,
00:11:22rights, usages, and laws of Narnia. And Caspian said,
00:11:28"'I think we've had enough of Governors,' and made Byrne a Duke, the Duke of the Lone Islands.
00:11:36"'As for you, my Lord,' he said to Gumpus,
00:11:39"'I forgive you your debt for the tribute. But before noon to-morrow,
00:11:44you and yours must be out of the castle, which is now the Duke's residence.'
00:11:49"'Look here! This is all very well,' said one of Gumpus's secretaries.
00:11:53"'But suppose all you gentlemen stop play-acting, and we do a little business.
00:11:57The question before us, really, is—'
00:11:59"'The question is,' said the Duke,
00:12:02"'whether you and the rest of the rabble will leave without a flogging, or with one.
00:12:07You may choose which you prefer.'
00:12:09"'When all this had been pleasantly settled, Caspian ordered horses,
00:12:15of which there were a few in the castle, though very ill-groomed, and he, with Byrne, and Drinian,
00:12:21and a few others, rode out into the town, and made for the slave-market.
00:12:26It was a long low building near the harbour, and the scene which they found going on inside
00:12:32was very much like any other auction. That is to say, there was a great crowd,
00:12:37and Pug, on a platform, was roaring out in a raucous voice.
00:12:42"'Now, gentlemen! Lot 23. Fine Trebinthian agricultural labourer,
00:12:49suitable for the mines or the garries. Under twenty-five years of age, not a bad tooth in his
00:12:54head. Good brawny fellow. Take off his shirt, Taxe, and let the gentlemen see. There's muscle for
00:13:01you. Look at that chest on him. Ten crescents from the gentleman in the corner. You must be
00:13:07joking, sir. Fifteen. Eighteen. Eighteen is bid for Lot 23. Any of ours on eighteen?
00:13:15Twenty-one. Thank you, sir. Twenty-one is bid.'
00:13:21But Pug stopped and gaped when he saw the male-clad figures who had clanked up to the platform.
00:13:28"'On your knees, every man of you, to the King of Narnia,' said the Duke.
00:13:35Everyone heard the horses jingling and stamping outside, and many had heard some rumour of the
00:13:40landing and the events at the castle. Most obeyed. Those who did not were pulled down by their
00:13:47neighbours. Some cheered. "'Your life is forfeit, Pug, for laying hands on our royal person
00:13:55yesterday,' said Caspian. "'But your ignorance is pardoned. The slave trade was forbidden in
00:14:01our dominions quarter of an hour ago. I declare every slave in this market free.' He held up his
00:14:08hand to check the cheering of the slaves, and went on, "'Where are my friends?'
00:14:14"'That dear little girl and the nice young gentleman,' said Pug, with an ingratiating
00:14:19smile. "'Why, they were snapped up at once! We're here! We're here, Caspian!' cried Lucy and Edmund
00:14:28together. And "'At your service, sire,' piped Rebit Sheep from another corner. They had all been sold,
00:14:36but the men who had bought them were staying to bid for other slaves, and so they had not yet been
00:14:41taken away. The crowd partied to let the three of them out, and there was great hand-clasping and
00:14:47greeting between them and Caspian. Two merchants of Calaman had once approached. The Calaman have
00:14:55dark faces and long beards. They wear flowing robes and orange-coloured turbans, and they are a
00:15:02wise, wealthy, courteous, cruel, and ancient people. They bowed most politely to Caspian,
00:15:08and paid him long compliments, all about the fountains of prosperity, irrigating the gardens
00:15:15of prudence and virtue, and things like that. But of course what they wanted was the money they had
00:15:21paid. "'That is only fair, sirs,' said Caspian. "'Every man who was bought a slave to-day must
00:15:28have his money back. Pug, bring out your takings to the last minim. A minim is the fortieth part
00:15:36of a crescent.' "'Does your good majesty mean to beggar me?' whined Pug. "'You have lived on
00:15:45broken hearts all your life,' said Caspian. "'And if you are beggared, it is better to be a beggar
00:15:52than a slave. But where is my other friend?' "'Oh, him!' said Pug. "'Oh, take him, and welcome.
00:16:02Glad to have him off me hands. I've never seen such a drug in the market in all my
00:16:07born days. Priced him at five crescents in the end, and even so nobody would have him.
00:16:13Threw him in free, with the other lots, and still no one would have him.
00:16:17Wouldn't touch him, wouldn't look at him. Tax, bring out sulky.'
00:16:23Thus Eustace was produced, and sulky he certainly looked. For though no one would want to be sold
00:16:30as a slave, it is perhaps even more galling to be a sort of utility-slave whom no one will buy.
00:16:37He walked up to Caspian and said, "'I see. As usual. Been enjoying yourself somewhere while
00:16:44the rest of us were prisoners? I suppose you haven't even found out about the British Consul?'
00:16:49"'Of course not.' That night they had a great feast in the Castle of Narrow Haven,
00:16:55and then—'Tomorrow for the beginning of our real adventures,' said Reepycheep,
00:17:02when he had made his bows to everyone and went to bed. But it could not really be tomorrow,
00:17:08or anything like it, for now they were preparing to leave all known lands and seas behind them,
00:17:15and the fullest preparations had to be made. The dawn-treader was emptied and drawn on land by
00:17:21eight horses over rollers, and every bit of her was gone over by the most skilled shipwrights.
00:17:27Then she was launched again, and whittled and watered as full as she could hold,
00:17:32that is to say, for twenty-eight days. Even this, as Edmund noticed with disappointment,
00:17:38only gave them a fortnight's eastward sailing, before they had to abandon their quest.
00:17:44While all this was being done, Caspian missed no chance of questioning all the oldest sea-captains
00:17:50whom he could find in Narrow Haven, to learn if they had any knowledge, or even any rumours,
00:17:56of land further to the east. He poured out many a flagon of the Castle Ale to weather-beaten men
00:18:02with short grey beards and clear blue eyes, and many a tall yarn he heard in return.
00:18:09But those who seemed the most truthful could tell of no lands beyond the Lone Islands,
00:18:15and many thought that if you sailed too far east you would come into the surges of a sea
00:18:21without lands, that swirled perpetually round the rim of the world.
00:18:26And that, I reckon, is where your Majesty's friends went to the bottom.
00:18:32The rest had only wild stories of islands inhabited by headless men,
00:18:37floating islands, waterspouts, and a fire that burned along the water.
00:18:43Only one, to Reepicheep's delight, said,
00:18:46And beyond that, Aslan country! But that's beyond the end of the world, and you can't get there.
00:18:55But when they questioned him, he could only say that he'd heard it from his father.
00:19:01Byrne could only tell them that he had seen his six companions sail away eastward,
00:19:07and that nothing had ever been heard of them again.
00:19:10He said this when he and Caspian were standing on the highest point of Abra,
00:19:14looking down on the eastern ocean.
00:19:17I've often been up here of a morning, said the Duke, and seen the sun come up out of the sea,
00:19:23and sometimes it looked as if it were only a couple of miles away.
00:19:28And I've wondered about my friends, and wondered what there really is behind that horizon.
00:19:35Nothing, most likely. Yet I'm always half ashamed that I stayed behind.
00:19:41But I wish your Majesty wouldn't go. We may need your help here.
00:19:46This closing the slave market might make a new world.
00:19:51War with Caloman is what I foresee. My liege, think again.
00:19:57I have an oath, my Lord Duke, said Caspian. And anyway, what could I say to Reepicheep?
00:20:08CHAPTER V THE STORM
00:20:11AND WHAT CAME OF IT
00:20:15It was nearly three weeks after their landing that the Dawn Treader
00:20:19was towed out of Narrowhaven Harbour. Very solemn farewells had been spoken,
00:20:24and a great crowd had assembled to see her departure.
00:20:28There had been cheers, and tears, too, when Caspian made his last speech to the lone islanders,
00:20:34and parted from the Duke and his family. But as the ship, her purple sail, still flapping idly,
00:20:40drew further from the shore, and the sound of Caspian's trumpet from the poop came fainter
00:20:45across the water, everyone became silent. Then she came into the wind. The sail swelled out,
00:20:53the tug cast off and began rowing back, the first real wave ran up under the Dawn Treader's prow,
00:20:59and she was a live ship again. The men off duty went below,
00:21:05Drinian took the first watch on the poop, and she turned her head eastward round the south of Avra.
00:21:12The next few days were delightful. Lucy thought she was the most fortunate girl in the world,
00:21:18as she woke, each morning, to see the reflections of the sunlit water dancing on the ceiling of her
00:21:24cabin, and looked round on all the nice new things she had got in the lone islands, sea-boots,
00:21:31and buskins, and coats, and jerkins, and scarves. And then she would go on deck,
00:21:36and take a look from the foc'sle, at a sea which was a brighter blue each morning,
00:21:42and drink in an air that was a little warmer, day by day. After that came breakfast,
00:21:48and such an appetite as one only has at sea. She spent a good deal of time sitting on the
00:21:54little bench in the stern, playing chess with Reepicheep. It was amusing to see him lifting
00:22:00the pieces, which were far too big for him, with both paws, and standing on tiptoe,
00:22:06if he made a move near the centre of the board. He was a good player, and when he remembered what
00:22:12he was doing, he usually won. But every now and then Lucy won, because the mouse did something
00:22:20quite ridiculous, like sending a knight into the danger of a queen and castle combined.
00:22:27This happened because he had momentarily forgotten it was a game of chess, and was
00:22:32thinking of a real battle, and making the knight do what he would certainly have done in its place,
00:22:38for his mind was full of forlorn hopes, death or glory charges, and last stands.
00:22:47But this pleasant time did not last. There came an evening when Lucy, gazing idly astern at the
00:22:54long furrow or wake they were leaving behind them, saw a great rack of clouds building
00:22:59itself up in the west with amazing speed. Then a gap was torn in it, and a yellow sunset poured
00:23:06through the gap. All the waves behind them seemed to take on unusual shapes, and the sea
00:23:12was a drab or yellowish colour like dirty canvas. The air grew cold. The ship seemed to move
00:23:20uneasily as if she felt danger behind her. The sail would be flat and limp one minute,
00:23:26and wildly full the next. While she was noting these things and wondering at a sinister change
00:23:33which had come over the very noise of the wind, Drinian cried,
00:23:37All hands on deck! In a moment, everyone became frantically busy. The hatches were battened down,
00:23:44the galley fire was put out, men went aloft to reef the sail. Before they had finished,
00:23:50the storm struck them. It seemed to Lucy that a great valley in the sea opened just before their
00:23:57bows, and they rushed down into it, deeper down than she would have believed possible.
00:24:03A great grey hill of water, far higher than the mast, rushed to meet them. It looked like
00:24:10certain death, but they were tossed to the top of it. Then the ship seemed to spin round.
00:24:16A cataract of water poured over the deck, the poop and folks who were like two islands,
00:24:21with a fierce sea between them. Up aloft, the sailors were lying out along the yard,
00:24:27desperately trying to get control of the sail. A broken rope stood out sideways in the wind,
00:24:32as straight and stiff as if it were a poker. Get below, ma'am! bawled Drinian. And Lucy,
00:24:40knowing that landsmen and landswomen are a nuisance to the crew, began to obey.
00:24:45It was not easy. The dawn-treader was listing terribly to starboard, and the deck sloped like
00:24:51the roof of a house. She had to clamber round the top of the ladder, holding on to the rail,
00:24:57and then stand by while two men climbed up it, and then get down it as best she could.
00:25:03It was as well she was already holding on tight, for at the foot of the ladder another wave roared
00:25:08across the deck up to her shoulders. She was already almost went through with spray and rain,
00:25:15but this was colder. Then she made a dash for the cabin door, and got in, and shut out for a
00:25:21moment the appalling sight of the speed with which they were rushing into the dock. But not,
00:25:27of course, the horrible confusion of creakings, groanings, snappings, clatterings, roarings,
00:25:34and boomings, which only sounded more alarming below than they had done on the poop.
00:25:40And o'er the next day, and o'er the next, it went on. It went on till one could hardly even
00:25:46remember a time before it had begun. And there always had to be three men at the tiller,
00:25:52and it was as much as three could do to keep any kind of a course. And there always had to be men
00:25:57at the pump, and there was hardly any rest for anyone, and nothing could be cooked, and nothing
00:26:02could be dried, and one man was lost overboard, and they never saw the sun.
00:26:09When it was over, Eustace made the following entry in his diary.
00:26:15September 3. The first day for ages when I have been able to write. We had been driven
00:26:23before a hurricane for thirteen days and nights. I know that because I kept a careful count,
00:26:30though the others all say it was only twelve. Pleasant to be embarked on a dangerous voyage
00:26:36with people who can't even count, right? I've had a ghastly time. Up and down enormous waves,
00:26:43hour after hour, usually wet to the skin, and not even an attempt to give us proper meals.
00:26:50Needless to say, there's no wireless, or even a rocket, so no chance of signalling anyone for
00:26:55help. It all proves what I keep on telling them, the madness of setting out in a rotten little tub
00:27:02like this. It would be bad enough even if one was with decent people, instead of fiends in human
00:27:09form. Caspian and Edmund are simply brutal to me. The night we lost our mast, there's only a stump
00:27:17left now, though I was not at all well, they forced me to come on deck, and work like a slave.
00:27:25Goosey shoved in her oar by saying that Reefy Cheep was longing to go, only he was too small.
00:27:31I wonder she doesn't see that everything that little beast does is all for the sake of showing
00:27:36off. Even at her age she ought to have that amount of sense. Today the beastly boat is level, at last,
00:27:45and the sun's out, and we've all been jawing about what to do. We have food, enough, pretty beastly
00:27:51stuff, most of it, to last for sixteen days. The poultry were all washed overboard. Even if they
00:27:57hadn't been, the storm would have stopped them laying. The real trouble is water. Two casks
00:28:04seem to have got a leak knocked in them, and are empty. Gnarly inefficiency again.
00:28:10On short rations, half a pint a day each, we've got enough for twelve days. There's still lots
00:28:17of rum and wine, but even they realise that would only make them thirstier.
00:28:23If we could, of course, the sensible thing would be to turn west at once, and make for the Lone
00:28:27Islands. But it took us eighteen days to get where we are, running like mad, with a gale behind us.
00:28:34Even if we got an east wind, it might take us far longer to get back. And at present there's
00:28:40no sign of an east wind—in fact, there's no wind at all. As for rowing back, it would take
00:28:46far too long, and Caspian says the men couldn't row on half a pint of water a day. I'm pretty
00:28:52sure this is wrong. I tried to explain that perspiration really cools people down, so the
00:28:59men would need less water if they were working. He didn't take any notice of this, which is always
00:29:05his way when he can't think of an answer. The others all voted for going on, in the hope of
00:29:10finding land. I felt it my duty to point out that we didn't know there was any land ahead,
00:29:17and tried to get them to see the dangers of wishful thinking. Instead of producing a better
00:29:22plan, they had the cheek to ask me what I proposed. So I just explained, coolly and quietly,
00:29:30that I had been kidnapped and brought away on this idiotic voyage without my consent,
00:29:36and it was hardly my business to get them out of their scrape.
00:29:41September 4. Still be calmed. Very short rations for dinner,
00:29:47and I got less than any one. Caspian is very clever at helping, and thinks I don't see.
00:29:53Lucy, for some reason, tried to make up to me by offering me some of hers, but that
00:29:59interfering prig Edmund wouldn't let her. Pretty hot sun. Terribly thirsty all evening.
00:30:09September 5. Still be calmed, and very hot. Feeling rotten all day, and sure I've got a
00:30:18temperature. Of course they haven't a sense to keep a thermometer on board.
00:30:24September 6. A horrible day. Woke up in the night knowing I was feverish, and must have a drink of
00:30:32water. Any doctor would have said so. Heaven knows I'm the last person to try and get any unfair
00:30:39advantage, but I never dreamed that this water rationing would be meant to apply to a sick man.
00:30:47In fact, I would have woken the others up and asked for some, only I thought it would be selfish
00:30:53to wake them. So I got up, and took my cup, and tiptoed out of the black hole we sleep in,
00:31:01taking great care not to disturb Caspian and Edmund, but they've been sleeping badly since
00:31:06the heat and the short water began. I always try to consider others, whether they're nice to me or
00:31:12not. I got out all right into the big room, if you can call it a room, where the rowing benches and
00:31:19the luggage are. The thing of water is at this end. All was going beautifully, but before I'd
00:31:26drawn a cupful, who should catch me but that little spy Reap? I tried to explain that I was
00:31:33going on deck for a breath of air. The business about the water had nothing to do with him,
00:31:39and he asked me why I had a cup. He made such a noise that the whole ship was roused.
00:31:44They treated me scandalously. I asked, as I think anyone would have, why Reapycheap was
00:31:51sneaking about the water-cask in the middle of the night. He said that, as he was too small to
00:31:57be of any use on deck, he did sentry over the water every night so that one more man could go
00:32:03to sleep. Now comes their rotten unfairness. They all believed him. Can you beat it? I had to
00:32:12apologise, or the dangerous little brute would have been at me with his sword. And then Caspian
00:32:19showed up in his true colours as a brutal tyrant, and said out loud, for everyone to hear, that
00:32:25anyone found stealing water in future would get two dozen. I didn't know what this meant till
00:32:33Edmund explained it to me. It comes in the sort of books those pebbancy kids read.
00:32:39After this cowardly threat, Caspian changed his tune, and started being patronising,
00:32:44said he was sorry for me, and that everyone felt just as feverish as I did,
00:32:49and we must all make the best of it, etc., etc. Odious stuck-up prig.
00:32:55Stayed in bed all day today. September 7. A little wind today, but still from the west.
00:33:04Made a few miles eastward, with part of the sail. Set on what Drinian calls the jury-mast,
00:33:11that means the bowsprit set upright and tied, or they call it lashed, to the stump of the real
00:33:17mast. Still terribly thirsty. September 8. Still sailing east. I stay in my bunk all day now,
00:33:28and see no one, except Lucy, till the two fiends come to bed. Lucy gives me a little of her water
00:33:35ration. She says girls don't get as thirsty as boys. I had often thought this, but it ought to
00:33:41be more generally known at sea. September 9. Land in sight. A very high mountain a long way off to
00:33:50the south-east. September 10. The mountain is bigger and clearer, but still a long way off.
00:33:58Gulls again today for the first time since I don't know how long. September 11. Caught some
00:34:06fish and had them for dinner. Dropped anchor at about 7 p.m., in three fathoms of water,
00:34:12in a bay of this mountainous island. That idiot Caspian wouldn't let us go ashore,
00:34:17because it was getting dark, and he was afraid of savages and wild beasts. Extra water ration
00:34:25to-night. What awaited them on this island was going to concern Eustace more than anyone else.
00:34:33But it cannot be told in his words, because after September 11 he forgot about keeping his
00:34:39diary for a long time. When morning came, with a low grey sky, but very hot, the adventurers found
00:34:49they were in a bay, encircled by such cliffs and crags that it was like a Norwegian fjord.
00:34:57In front of them, at the head of the bay, there was some level land, heavily overgrown with trees,
00:35:02that appeared to be cedars, through which a rapid stream came out. Beyond that was a steep ascent,
00:35:10ending in a jagged ridge, and behind that a vague darkness of mountains, which ran into dull-coloured
00:35:17clouds, so that you could not see their tops. The nearer cliffs, at each side of the bay,
00:35:24were streaked here and there with lines of white, which everyone knew to be waterfalls,
00:35:29though at that distance they did not show any movement or make any noise. Indeed,
00:35:36the whole place was very silent, and the water of the bay as smooth as glass. It reflected every
00:35:43detail of the cliffs. The scene would have been pretty in a picture, but was rather oppressive
00:35:49in real life. It was not a country that welcomed visitors. The whole ship's company went ashore
00:35:57in two boatloads, and everyone drank and washed deliciously in the river, and had a meal and a
00:36:04rest, before Caspian sent four men back to keep the ship, and the day's work began. There was
00:36:11everything to be done. The casks must be brought ashore, and the faulty ones mended, if possible,
00:36:17and all refilled. A tree—a pine, if they could get it—must be felled and made into a new mast.
00:36:24Sails must be repaired, a hunting-party organised to shoot any gain the land might yield,
00:36:30clothes to be washed and mended, and countless small breakages on board to be set right.
00:36:36For the dawn-treader herself—and this was more obvious now that they saw her at a distance—could
00:36:42hardly be recognised as the same gallant ship which had left Narrowhaven. She looked a crippled,
00:36:49discoloured hulk, which anyone might have taken for a wreck, and her officers and crew were no
00:36:55better—lean, pale, red-eyed from lack of sleep, and dressed in rags.
00:37:03As Eustace lay under a tree and heard all these plans being discussed,
00:37:08his heart sank. Was there going to be no rest? It looked as if their first day on the longed-for
00:37:15land was going to be quite as hard work as a day at sea. Then a delightful idea occurred to him.
00:37:23Nobody was looking. They were all chattering about their ship as if they actually liked
00:37:28the beastly thing. Why shouldn't he simply slip away? He would take a stroll in land,
00:37:35find a cool, airy place up in the mountains, have a good long sleep, and not rejoin the
00:37:41others till the day's work was over. He felt it would do him good. But he would take great care
00:37:47to keep the bay and the ship in sight, so as to be sure of his way back. He wouldn't like to be
00:37:52left behind in this country. He at once put his plan into action. He rose quietly from his place
00:38:00and walked away among the trees, taking care to go slowly, and in an aimless manner, so that anyone
00:38:07who saw him would think he was merely stretching his legs. He was surprised to find how quickly the
00:38:13noise of conversation died away behind him, and how very silent and warm and dark green the wood
00:38:21became. Soon he felt he could venture on a quicker and more determined stride. This soon brought him
00:38:29out of the wood. The ground began sloping steeply up in front of him. The grass was dry and slippery,
00:38:35but manageable if he used his hands as well as his feet, and though he panted and mopped his
00:38:40forehead a good deal, he plugged away steadily. This showed, by the way, that his new life,
00:38:47little as he suspected it, had already done him some good. The old Eustace,
00:38:52Harold and Alberta's Eustace, would have given up the climb after about ten minutes.
00:38:58Slowly, and with several rests, he reached the ridge. Here he had expected to have a
00:39:03view into the heart of the island, but the clouds had now come lower and nearer,
00:39:09and a sea of fog was rolling to meet him. He sat down and looked back. He was now so high
00:39:17that the bay looked small beneath him, and miles of sea were visible. Then the fog from the
00:39:23mountains closed in all round him, thick but not cold, and he lay down, and turned this way and
00:39:30that, to find the most comfortable position to enjoy himself. But he didn't enjoy himself,
00:39:36or not for very long. He began, almost for the first time in his life, to feel lonely.
00:39:44At first this feeling grew very gradually, and then he began to worry about the time.
00:39:51There was not the slightest sound. Suddenly it occurred to him that he might have been
00:39:56lying there for hours. Perhaps the others had gone. Perhaps they had let him wander away on
00:40:02purpose, simply in order to leave him behind. He leapt up in a panic and began the descent.
00:40:09At first he tried to do it too quickly, slipped on the steep grass and slid for several feet.
00:40:15Then he thought this had carried him too far to the left, and as he came up he had seen precipices
00:40:20on that side. So he clambered up again, as near as he could guess to the place he had started from,
00:40:26and began the descent afresh, bearing to his right. After that things seemed to be going better.
00:40:33He went very cautiously, but he could not see more than a yard ahead,
00:40:38and there was still perfect silence all round him. It is very unpleasant to have to go
00:40:45cautiously when there is a voice inside you saying all the time,
00:40:49HURRY! HURRY! HURRY! For every moment the terrible idea of being left behind grew stronger.
00:40:59If he had understood Caspian and the Pevenses at all, he would have known, of course, that there
00:41:04was not the least chance of their doing any such thing. But he had persuaded himself that they were
00:41:09all fiends in human form. At last, said Eustace, as he came slithering down a slide of loose stones,
00:41:21scree, they call it, and found himself on the level. And now, where are those trees?
00:41:28There is something dark ahead. Why, I do believe the fog is clearing.
00:41:34It was. The light increased every moment, and made him blink. The fog lifted.
00:41:43He was in an utterly unknown valley, and the sea was nowhere in sight.
00:41:55CHAPTER VI THE ADVENTURES OF EUSTACE
00:41:59At that very moment the others were washing hands and faces in the river,
00:42:05and generally getting ready for dinner and a rest. The three best archers had gone up into
00:42:10the hills north of the bay, and returned, laden with a pair of wild goats, which were now roasting
00:42:17over a fire. Caspian had ordered a cask of wine ashore, strong wine of Arkenland, which had to
00:42:23be mixed with water before you drank it, so there would be plenty for all. The work had gone well
00:42:29so far, and it was a merry meal. Only after the second helping of goat did Edmund say,
00:42:36Where's that blighter Eustace?
00:42:40Meanwhile Eustace stared round the unknown valley. It was so narrow and deep, and the
00:42:48precipices which surrounded it so sheer, that it was like a huge pit or trench. The floor was
00:42:55grassy, though strewn with rocks, and here and there Eustace saw black burnt patches, like those
00:43:02you see on the sides of a railway embankment in a dry summer. About fifteen yards away from him
00:43:07was a pool of clear, smooth water. There was, at first, nothing else at all in the valley,
00:43:13not an animal, not a bird, not an insect. The sun beat down, and grim peaks and horns of mountains
00:43:22peered over the valley's edge. Eustace realised, of course, that in the fog he had come down the
00:43:29wrong side of the ridge, so he turned at once to see about getting back, but as soon as he had
00:43:35looked he shuddered. Apparently he had, by amazing luck, found the only possible way down. A long,
00:43:43green spit of land, horribly steep and narrow, with precipices on either side. There was no
00:43:50other possible way of getting back. But could he do it, now that he saw what it was really like?
00:43:57His head swam at the very thought of it. He turned round again, thinking that, at any rate,
00:44:03he had better have a good drink from the pool first. But as soon as he had turned, and before
00:44:08he had taken a step forward into the valley, he heard a noise behind him. It was only a small
00:44:16noise, but it sounded loud in that immense silence. It froze him dead still where he stood for a
00:44:23second. Then he slew round his neck and looked. At the bottom of the cliff, a little on his left
00:44:31hand, was a low, dark hole, the entrance to a cave, perhaps, and out of this two thin wisps of
00:44:40smoke were coming, and the loose stones just beneath the dark hollow were moving. That was
00:44:47the noise he had heard, just as if something were crawling in the dark behind them. Something
00:44:56was crawling. Worse still, something was coming out. Edmund or Lucy or you would have recognised
00:45:06it at once, but Eustace had read none of the right books. The thing that came out of the cave
00:45:12was something he had never even imagined. A long, lead-coloured snout, dull red eyes,
00:45:20no feathers or fur, a long, lithe body that trailed on the ground, legs whose elbows went
00:45:28up higher than its back like a spider's, cruel claws, bat's wings that made a rasping noise on
00:45:35the stone, yards of tail, and the lines of smoke were coming from its two nostrils.
00:45:43He never said the word dragon to himself, nor would it have made things any better if he had.
00:45:50But, perhaps, if he had known something about dragons, he would have been a little surprised
00:45:55at this dragon's behaviour. It did not sit up and clap its wings, nor did it shoot out a stream of
00:46:02flame from its mouth. The smoke from its nostrils was like the smoke of a fire that will not last
00:46:09much longer. Nor did it seem to have noticed Eustace. It moved very slowly towards the pool,
00:46:17slowly and with many pauses. Even in his fear, Eustace felt that it was an old, sad creature.
00:46:24He wondered if he dared to make a dash for the ascent. But it might look round if he made any
00:46:30noise. It might come more to life. Perhaps it was only shamming. Anyway, what was the use of trying
00:46:37to escape by climbing from a creature that could fly? It reached the pool and slid its horrible,
00:46:45scaly chin down over the gravel to drink. But before it had drunk, there came from it a great
00:46:51croaking or clanging cry, and after a few twitches and convulsions it rolled round on its side and
00:46:58lay perfectly still with one claw in the air. A little dark blood gushed from its wide-opened
00:47:04mouth. The smoke from its nostrils turned black for a moment, then floated away. No more came.
00:47:13For a long time Eustace did not dare to move. Perhaps this was the brute's trick, the way it
00:47:20lured travellers to their doom. But one couldn't wait for ever. He took a step nearer, then two
00:47:27steps, and halted again. The dragon remained motionless. He noticed, too, that the red fire
00:47:34had gone out of its eyes. At last he came up to it. He was quite sure now that it was dead.
00:47:41With a shudder he touched it. Nothing happened. The relief was so great that Eustace almost laughed
00:47:52out loud. He began to feel as if he had fought and killed the dragon instead of merely seeing it die.
00:47:59He stepped over it and went to the pool for his drink, for the heat was getting unbearable. He
00:48:05was not surprised when he heard a peal of thunder. Almost immediately afterwards the sun
00:48:10disappeared, and before he had finished his drink big drops of rain were falling.
00:48:17The climate of this island was a very unpleasant one. In less than a minute Eustace was wet to
00:48:23the skin and half-blinded with such rain as one never sees in Europe. There was no use trying
00:48:29to climb out of the valley as long as this lasted. He boated for the only shelter in sight.
00:48:34The dragon's cave. There he lay down and tried to get his breath.
00:48:40Most of us know what we should expect to find in a dragon's lair, but, as I said before,
00:48:46Eustace had read only the wrong books. They had a lot to say about exports and imports
00:48:52and governments and drains, but they were weak on dragons. That is why he was so puzzled at
00:48:59the surface on which he was lying. Parts of it were too prickly to be stones, and too hard to
00:49:05be thorns, and there seemed to be a great many round, flat things, and it all clinked when he
00:49:12moved. There was light enough at the cave's mouth to examine it by. And, of course, Eustace found it
00:49:19to be what any of us could have told him in advance. Treasure. There were crowns, those
00:49:25with the prickly things, coins, rings, bracelets, ingots, cups, plates, and gems. Eustace, unlike
00:49:35most boys, had never thought much of treasure, but he saw at once the use it would be in this
00:49:41new world which he had so foolishly stumbled into, through the picture in Lucy's bedroom at home.
00:49:49"'They don't have any tax here,' he said,
00:49:52"'and you don't have to give treasure to the Government. With some of this stuff I could
00:49:57have quite a decent time here, perhaps in Calamon. It sounds the least phony of all these countries.
00:50:03I wonder how much I can carry. That bracelet now, those things in it are probably diamonds.
00:50:10I'll slip that on my own wrist. Too big. But not if I push it right up here, above my elbow.
00:50:20Then fill my pockets with diamonds. That's easier than gold. I wonder when this infernal
00:50:26rain's going to let up.' He got into a less uncomfortable part of the pile, where it was
00:50:33mostly coins, and settled down to wait. But a bad fright, when once it is over, and especially a bad
00:50:40fright following a mountain walk, leaves you very tired. Eustace fell asleep.
00:50:47By the time he was sound asleep and snoring, the others had finished dinner, and became
00:50:53seriously alarmed about him. They shouted,
00:50:57"'Eustace! Eustace! Coo-ee!' till they were hoarse, and Caspian blew his horn.
00:51:06"'He's nowhere near, or he'd have heard that,' said Lucy, with a white face.
00:51:11"'Oh, confound the fellow!' said Edmund.
00:51:15"'What on earth did he want to slink away like this for?'
00:51:19"'But we must do something,' said Lucy.
00:51:22"'He may have got lost, or fallen into a hole, or been captured by savages—'
00:51:28"'Or killed by wild beasts,' said Drinian.
00:51:32"'Under good riddance, if he has, I say,' muttered Rince.
00:51:37"'Master Rince,' said Reepycheep,
00:51:39"'you never spoke a word that became you less. The creature is no friend of mine,
00:51:44but he is of the Queen's blood, and while he is one of our fellowship,
00:51:49it concerns our honour to find him, and to avenge him if he is dead.'
00:51:55"'Of course we've got to find him, if we can,' said Caspian, wearily.
00:52:00"'That's the nuisance of it. It means a search-party and endless trouble.
00:52:05Bother Eustace!'
00:52:08Meanwhile Eustace slept and slept and slept.
00:52:15What woke him was a pain in his arm.
00:52:18The moon was shining in at the mouth of the cave,
00:52:22and the bed of treasures seemed to have grown much more comfortable.
00:52:26In fact, he could hardly feel it at all.
00:52:29He was puzzled by the pain in his arm at first,
00:52:32but presently it occurred to him that the bracelet which he had
00:52:35shoved up above his elbow had become strangely tight.
00:52:39His arm must have swollen while he was asleep. It was his left arm.
00:52:44He moved his right arm in order to feel his left,
00:52:48but stopped before he had moved it an inch, and bit his lip in terror,
00:52:53for just in front of him, and a little on his right,
00:52:57where the moonlight fell clear on the floor of the cave,
00:53:00he saw a hideous shape moving.
00:53:03He knew that shape. It was a dragon's claw.
00:53:08It had moved as he moved his hand,
00:53:11and became still when he stopped moving his hand.
00:53:16"'Oh, what a fool I've been!' thought Eustace.
00:53:21"'Of course! The brute had a mate, and it's lying beside me!'
00:53:28For several minutes he did not dare to move a muscle.
00:53:32He saw two thin columns of smoke going up before his eyes,
00:53:37black against the moonlight, just as there had been smoke
00:53:41coming from the other dragon's nose before it died.
00:53:44This was so alarming that he held his breath.
00:53:49The two columns of smoke vanished.
00:53:51When he could hold his breath no longer, he let it out stealthily.
00:53:55Instantly two jets of smoke appeared again.
00:54:01But even yet he had no idea of the truth.
00:54:05Presently he decided that he would edge very cautiously to his left,
00:54:10and try to creep out of the cave.
00:54:13Perhaps the creature was asleep, and anyway it was his only chance.
00:54:18But, of course, before he edged to the left, he looked to the left.
00:54:23"'Oh, horror! There was a dragon's claw on that side too!'
00:54:31No one will blame Eustace if at this moment he shed tears.
00:54:35He was surprised at the size of his own tears as he saw them splashing
00:54:40on to the treasure in front of him.
00:54:42They also seemed strangely hot.
00:54:46Steam went up from them.
00:54:49But there was no good crying.
00:54:51He must try to crawl out from between the two dragons.
00:54:54He began extending his right arm.
00:54:57The dragon's foreleg and claw on his right went through exactly the same motion.
00:55:02Then he thought he would try his left.
00:55:05The dragon limb on that side moved too.
00:55:08Two dragons, one on each side, mimicking whatever he did.
00:55:13His nerve broke, and he simply made a bolt for it.
00:55:16There was such a clatter and rasping and crinking of gold and grinding of stones
00:55:22as he rushed out of the cave that he thought they were both following him.
00:55:26He daren't look back.
00:55:28He rushed to the pool.
00:55:29The twisted shape of the dead dragon lying in the moonlight would have been enough to
00:55:33frighten anyone, but now he hardly noticed it.
00:55:36His idea was to get into the water.
00:55:39But just as he reached the edge of the pool, two things happened.
00:55:45First of all, it came over him like a thunderclap that he had been running on all fours.
00:55:51And why on earth had he been doing that?
00:55:55And secondly, as he bent towards the water, he thought for a second that yet another dragon
00:55:59was staring up at him, out of the pool.
00:56:03But in an instant he realized the truth.
00:56:06The dragon-face in the pool was his own reflection.
00:56:12There was no doubt of it.
00:56:14It moved as he moved.
00:56:16It opened and shut its mouth as he opened and shut his.
00:56:21He had turned into a dragon while he was asleep.
00:56:25Sleeping on a dragon's hoard, with greedy dragonish thoughts in his heart,
00:56:31he had become a dragon himself.
00:56:35That explained everything.
00:56:37There had been no two dragons beside him in the cave.
00:56:40The claws to right and left had been his own right and left claw.
00:56:44The two columns of smoke had been coming from his own nostrils.
00:56:49As for the pain in his left arm, or what had been his left arm,
00:56:54he could now see what had happened by squinting with his left eye.
00:56:59The bracelet, which had fitted very nicely on the upper arm of a boy,
00:57:03was far too small for the thick, stumpy foreleg of a dragon.
00:57:07It had sunk deeply into his scaly flesh,
00:57:10and there was a throbbing bulge on each side of it.
00:57:14He tore at the place with his dragon's teeth, but could not get it off.
00:57:18In spite of the pain, his first feeling was one of relief.
00:57:22There was nothing to be afraid of any more.
00:57:25He was a terror himself, a nothing in the world but a knight,
00:57:30and not all of those would dare to attack him.
00:57:34He could get even with Caspian and Edmund now.
00:57:39But the moment he thought this, he realised that he didn't want to.
00:57:44He wanted to be friends.
00:57:46He wanted to get back among humans and talk and laugh and share things.
00:57:51He realised that he was a monster, cut off from the whole human race.
00:57:57An appalling loneliness came over him.
00:58:01He began to see that the others had not really been fiends at all.
00:58:05He began to wonder if he himself had been such a nice person as he had always supposed.
00:58:11He longed for their voices.
00:58:13He would have been grateful for a kind word even from Reepicheep.
00:58:19When he thought of this, the poor dragon that had been Eustace lifted up its voice and wept.
00:58:26A powerful dragon crying its eyes out under the moon in a deserted valley
00:58:31is a sight and a sound hardly to be imagined.
00:58:36At last he decided he would try to find his way back to the shore.
00:58:40He realised now that Caspian would never have sailed away and left him,
00:58:45and he felt sure that, somehow or other, he would be able to make people understand who he was.
00:58:52He took a long drink, and then—I know this sounds shocking, but it isn't,
00:58:58if you think it over—he ate nearly all the dead dragon.
00:59:04He was halfway through it before he realised what he was doing,
00:59:07for, you see, though his mind was the mind of Eustace, his tastes and his digestion were dragonish.
00:59:15And there is nothing a dragon likes so well as fresh dragon.
00:59:20That is why you so seldom find more than one dragon in the same county.
00:59:25Then he turned to climb out of the valley.
00:59:27He began the climb with a jump, and as soon as he jumped he found that he was flying.
00:59:32He had quite forgotten about his wings, and it was a great surprise to him,
00:59:37the first pleasant surprise he had had for a long time.
00:59:42He rose high into the air and saw innumerable mountain-tops spread out beneath him in the
00:59:47moonlight. He could see the bay like a silver slab, and the dawn-treader lying at anchor,
00:59:53and campfires twinkling in the woods beside the beach.
00:59:57From a great height he launched himself down towards them in a single glide.
01:00:03Lucy was sleeping very soundly, for she had sat up till the return of the search-party in the
01:00:08hope of good news about Eustace. It had been led by Caspian, and had come back late and weary.
01:00:15Their news was disquieting. They had found no trace of Eustace, but seen a dead dragon in a
01:00:22valley. They tried to make the best of it, and every one assured every one else that there were
01:00:26not likely to be more dragons about, and that one, which was dead at about three o'clock that
01:00:32afternoon, which was when they had seen it, would hardly have been killing people a very few hours
01:00:38before.
01:00:40"'Unless it ate the little brat and died of him, he'd poison anything,' said Rince.
01:00:47But he said this under his breath, and no one heard it.
01:00:50But later in the night Lucy was wakened very softly, and found the whole company gathered
01:00:57close together, and talking in whispers.
01:01:01"'What is it?' said Lucy.
01:01:03"'We must all show great constancy,' Caspian was saying.
01:01:08"'A dragon has just flown over the treetops and lightened on the beach.
01:01:13Yes, I'm afraid it is between us and the ship.
01:01:16And arrows are no use against dragons, and they're not at all afraid of fire.'
01:01:22"'With your Majesty's leave,' began Reepicheep.
01:01:25"'No, Reepicheep,' said the King very firmly,
01:01:29"'you are not to attempt a single combat with it.
01:01:32And unless you promise to obey me in this matter, I'll have you tied up.
01:01:35We must just keep close watch.
01:01:38And as soon as it is light, go down to the beach and give it battle.
01:01:41I will lead.
01:01:42King Edmund will be on my right, and the Lord Drinian on my left.
01:01:46There are no other arrangements to be made.
01:01:48It will be light in a couple of hours.
01:01:50In an hour's time, let a meal be served, and what is left of the wine.
01:01:54And let everything be done silently.'
01:01:58"'Perhaps it will go away,' said Lucy.
01:02:02"'It'll be worse if it does,' said Edmund.
01:02:04"'Because then we shan't know where it is.
01:02:07If there's a wasp in the room, I'd like to be able to see it.'
01:02:11The rest of the night was dreadful, and when the meal came, though they knew they ought to eat,
01:02:18many found that they had very poor appetites.
01:02:21And endless hours seemed to pass before the darkness thinned, and birds began chirping
01:02:27here and there, and the world got colder and wetter than it had been all night.
01:02:33And Caspian said,
01:02:35"'Now for it, friends!'
01:02:38They got up, all with swords drawn, and formed themselves into a solid mass,
01:02:43with Lucy in the middle and Reepycheep on her shoulder.
01:02:46It was nicer than waiting about, and everyone felt fonder of everyone else than at ordinary times.
01:02:53A moment later they were marching.
01:02:55It grew lighter as they came to the edge of the wood, and there, on the sand,
01:03:00like a giant lizard, or a flexible crocodile, or a serpent with legs,
01:03:05huge and horrible and humpy, lay the dragon.
01:03:10But when it saw them, instead of rising up and blowing fire and smoke, the dragon retreated.
01:03:16You could almost say it waddled back into the shallows of the bay.
01:03:22"'What's it wagging its head like that for?' said Edmund.
01:03:26"'Now it's nodding,' said Caspian.
01:03:29"'And there's something coming from its eyes,' said Drinian.
01:03:33"'Oh, can't you see?' said Lucy.
01:03:37"'It's crying. Those are tears.'
01:03:41"'I shouldn't trust to that, ma'am,' said Drinian.
01:03:44"'That's what crocodiles do, to put you off your guard.'
01:03:49"'It wagged its head when you said that,' remarked Edmund.
01:03:53"'Just as if it meant no. Look, there it goes again!'
01:03:56"'Do you think it understands what we're saying?' asked Lucy.
01:04:01The dragon nodded its head violently.
01:04:04Reepicheep slipped off Lucy's shoulder and stepped to the front.
01:04:09"'Dragon!' came his shrill voice.
01:04:12"'Can you understand speech?' the dragon nodded.
01:04:17"'Can you speak?' It shook its head.
01:04:21"'Then,' said Reepicheep, "'it is idle to ask you your business.
01:04:26"'But if you will swear friendship with us,
01:04:28raise your left foreleg above your head.'
01:04:32"'It did so, but clumsily,
01:04:35because that leg was sore and swollen with the golden bracelet.
01:04:39"'Oh, look,' said Lucy,
01:04:42"'there's something wrong with its leg.
01:04:44"'The poor thing! That's probably what it was crying about.
01:04:49"'Perhaps it came to us to be cured, like in Androcles on the Lion.
01:04:54"'Be careful, Lucy,' said Caspian.
01:04:57"'It's a very clever dragon, but it may be a liar.'
01:05:01Lucy had, however, already run forward,
01:05:04followed by Reepicheep as fast as his short legs could carry him.
01:05:07And then, of course, the boys, and Drinian, came too.
01:05:11"'Show me your poor paw,' said Lucy.
01:05:15"'I might be able to cure it.'
01:05:18The dragon that had been Eustace held out its sore leg gladly enough.
01:05:23Remembering how Lucy's cordial had cured him of seasickness before he became a dragon.
01:05:28But he was disappointed.
01:05:30The magic fluid reduced the swelling and eased the pain a little,
01:05:34but it could not dissolve the gold.
01:05:37Everyone had now crowded round to watch the treatment,
01:05:40and Caspian suddenly exclaimed,
01:05:43"'Look!'
01:05:45He was staring at the bracelet.
01:05:53"'It's a very clever dragon, but it may be a liar.'
01:05:55Lucy had, however, already run forward,
01:05:57followed by Reepicheep as fast as his short legs could carry him.
01:05:59And then, of course, the boys, and Drinian, came too.
01:06:01Remembering how Lucy's cordial had cured him of seasickness before he became a dragon.
01:06:03Remembering how Lucy's cordial had cured him of seasickness before he became a dragon.
01:06:05Remembering how Lucy's cordial had cured him of seasickness before he became a dragon.
01:06:07Remembering how Lucy's cordial had cured him of seasickness before he became a dragon."