the picture in the bedroom
there was a boy called eustace clarence scrubb, and he almost deserved it. his parents called him eustace clarence and masters called him scrubb. i can't tell you how his friends spoke to him, for he had none. he didn't call his father and mother "father" and "mother", but harold and alberta. they were very up-to-date and advanced people. they were vegetarians, non-smokers and teetotallers and wore a special kind of underclothes. in their house there was very little furniture and very few clothes on beds and the windows were always open.
eustace clarence liked animals, especially beetles, if they were dead and pinned on a card. he liked books if they were books of information and had pictures of grain elevators or of fat foreign children doing exercises in model schools.
eustace clarence disliked his cousins the four pevensies, peter, susan, edmund and lucy. but he was quite glad when he heard that edmund and lucy were coming to stay. for deep down inside him he liked bossing and bullying; and, though he was a puny little person who couldn't have stood up even to lucy, let alone edmund, in a fight, he knew that there are dozens of ways to give people a bad time if you are in your own home and they are only visitors.
edmund and lucy did not at all want to come and stay with uncle harold and aunt alberta. but it really couldn't be helped. father had got a job lecturing in america for sixteen weeks that summer, and mother was to go with him because she hadn't had a real holiday for ten years. peter was working very hard for an exam and he was to spend the holidays being coached by old professor kirke in whose house these four children had had wonderful adventures long ago in the war years. if he had still been in that house he would have had them all to stay. but he had somehow become poor since the old days and was living in a small cottage with only one bedroom to spare. it would have cost too much money to take the other three all to america, and susan had gone.
grown-ups thought her the pretty one of the family and she was no good at school work (though otherwise very old for her age) and mother said she "would get far more out of a trip to america than the youngsters". edmund and lucy tried not to grudge susan her luck, but it was dreadful having to spend the summer holidays at their aunt's. "but it's far worse for me," said edmund, "because you'll at least have a room of your own and i shall have to share a bedroom with that record stinker, eustace."
the story begins on an afternoon when edmund and lucy were stealing a few precious minutes alone together. and of course they were talking about narnia, which was the name of their own private and secret country. most of us, i suppose, have a secret country but for most of us it is only an imaginary country. edmund and lucy were luckier than other people in that respect. their secret country was real. they had already visited it twice; not in a game or a dream but in reality. they had got there of course by magic, which is the only way of getting to narnia. and a promise, or very nearly a promise, had been made them in narnia itself that they would some day get back. you may imagine that they talked about it a good deal, when they got the chance.
they were in lucy's room, sitting on the edge of her bed and looking at a picture on the opposite wall. it was the only picture in the house that they liked. aunt alberta didn't like it at all (that was why it was put away in a little back room upstairs), but she couldn't get rid of it because it had been a wedding present from someone she did not want to offend.
it was a picture of a ship - a ship sailing straight towards you. her prow was gilded and shaped like the head of a dragon with wide-open mouth. she had only one mast and one large, square sail which was a rich purple. the sides of the ship - what you could see of them where the gilded wings of the dragon ended-were green. she had just run up to the top of one glorious blue wave, and the nearer slope of that wave came down towards you, with streaks and bubbles on it. she was obviously running fast before a gay wind, listing over a little on her port side. (by the way, if you are going to read this story at all, and if you don't know already, you had better get it into your head that the left of a ship when you are looking ahead, is port, and the right is starboard.) all the sunlight fell on her from that side, and the water on that side was full of greens and purples. on the other, it was darker blue from the shadow of the ship.
"the question is," said edmund, "whether it doesn't make things worse, looking at a narnian ship when you can't get there."
"even looking is better than nothing," said lucy. "and she is such a very narnian ship."
"still playing your old game?" said eustace clarence, who had been listening outside the door and now came grinning into the room. last year, when he had been staying with the pevensies, he had managed to hear them all talking of narnia and he loved teasing them about it. he thought of course that they were making it all up; and as he was far too stupid to make anything up himself, he did not approve of that.
"you're not wanted here," said edmund curtly.
"i'm trying to think of a limerick," said eustace. "something like this:
"some kids who played games about narnia got gradually balmier and balmier-"
"well narnia and balmier don't rhyme, to begin with," said lucy.
"it's an assonance," said eustace.
"don't ask him what an assy-thingummy is," said edmund. "he's only longing to be asked. say nothing and perhaps he'll go away."
most boys, on meeting a reception like this, would either have cleared out or flared up. eustace did neither. he just hung about grinning, and presently began talking again.
"do you like that picture?" he asked.
"for heaven's sake don't let him get started about art and all that," said edmund hurriedly, but lucy, who was very truthful, had already said, "yes, i do. i like it very much."
"it's a rotten picture," said eustace.
"you won't see it if you step outside," said edmund.
"why do you like it?" said eustace to lucy.
"well, for one thing," said lucy, "i like it because the ship looks as if it was really moving. and the water looks as if it was really wet. and the waves look as if they were really going up and down."
of course eustace knew lots of answers to this, but he didn't say anything. the reason was that at that very moment he looked at the waves and saw that they did look very much indeed as if they were going up and down. he had only once been in a ship (and then only as far as the isle of wight) and had been horribly seasick. the look of the waves in the picture made him feel sick again. he turned rather green and tried another look. and then all three children were staring with open mouths.
what they were seeing may be hard to believe when you read it in print, but it was almost as hard to believe when you saw it happening. the things in the picture were moving. it didn't look at all like a cinema either; the colours were too real and clean and out-of-doors for that. down went the prow of the ship into the wave and up went a great shock of spray. and then up went the wave behind her, and her stern and her deck became visible for the first time, and then disappeared as the next wave came to meet her and her bows went up again. at the same moment an exercise book which had been lying beside edmund on the bed flapped, rose and sailed through the air to the wall behind him, and lucy felt all her hair whipping round her face as it does on a windy day. and this was a windy day; but the wind was blowing out of the picture towards them. and suddenly with the wind came the noises-the swishing of waves and the slap of water against the ship's sides and the creaking and the overall high steady roar of air and water. but it was the smell, the wild, briny smell, which really convinced lucy that she was not dreaming.
"stop it," came eustace's voice, squeaky with fright and bad temper. "it's some silly trick you two are playing. stop it. i'll tell alberta - ow!"
the other two were much more accustomed to adventures, but, just exactly as eustace clarence said "ow," they both said "ow" too. the reason was that a great cold, salt splash had broken right out of the frame and they were breathless from the smack of it, besides being wet through.
"i'll smash the rotten thing," cried eustace; and then several things happened at the same time. eustace rushed towards the picture. edmund, who knew something about magic, sprang after him, warning him to look out and not to be a fool. lucy grabbed at him from the other side and was dragged forward. and by this time either they had grown much smaller or the picture had grown bigger. eustace jumped to try to pull it off the wall and found himself standing on the frame; in front of him was not glass but real sea, and wind and waves rushing up to the frame as they might to a rock. he lost his head and clutched at the other two who had jumped up beside him. there was a second of struggling and shouting, and just as they thought they had got their balance a great blue roller surged up round them, swept them off their feet, and drew them down into the sea. eustace's despairing cry suddenly ended as the water got into his mouth.
lucy thanked her stars that she had worked hard at her swimming last summer term. it is true that she would have got on much better if she had used a slower stroke, and also that the water felt a great deal colder than it had looked while it was only a picture. still, she kept her head and kicked her shoes off, as everyone ought to do who falls into deep water in their clothes. she even kept her mouth shut and her eyes open. they were still quite near the ship; she saw its green side towering high above them, and people looking at her from the deck. then, as one might have expected, eustace clutched at her in a panic and down they both went.
when they came up again she saw a white figure diving off the ship's side. edmund was close beside her now, treading water, and had caught the arms of the howling eustace. then someone else, whose face was vaguely familiar, slipped an arm under her from the other side. there was a lot of shouting going on from the ship, heads crowding together above the bulwarks, ropes being thrown. edmund and the stranger were fastening ropes round her. after that followed what seemed a very long delay during which her face got blue and her teeth began chattering. in reality the delay was not very long; they were waiting till the moment when she could be got on board the ship without being dashed against its side. even with all their best endeavours she had a bruised knee when she finally stood, dripping and shivering, on the deck. after her edmund was heaved up, and then the miserable eustace. last of all came the stranger - a golden-headed boy some years older than herself.
"ca - ca - caspian!" gasped lucy as soon as she had breath enough. for caspian it was; caspian, the boy king of narnia whom they had helped to set on the throne during their last visit. immediately edmund recognized him too. all three shook hands and clapped one another on the back with great delight.
"but who is your friend?" said caspian almost at once, turning to eustace with his cheerful smile. but eustace was crying much harder than any boy of his age has a right to cry when nothing worse than a wetting has happened to him, and would only yell out, "let me go. let me go back. i don't like it."
"let you go?" said caspian. "but where?"
eustace rushed to the ship's side, as if he expected to see the picture frame hanging above the sea, and perhaps a glimpse of lucy's bedroom. what he saw was blue waves flecked with foam, and paler blue sky, both spreading without a break to the horizon. perhaps we can hardly blame him if his heart sank. he was promptly sick.
"hey! rynelf," said caspian to one of the sailors. "bring spiced wine for their majesties. you'll need something to warm you after that dip." he called edmund and lucy their majesties because they and peter and susan had all been kings and queens of narnia long before his time. narnian time flows differently from ours. if you spent a hundred years in narnia, you would still come back to our world at the very same hour of the very same day on which you left. and then, if you went back to narnia after spending a week here, you might find that a thousand narnian years had passed, or only a day, or no time at all. you never know till you get there. consequently, when the pevensie children had returned to narnia last time for their second visit, it was (for the narnians) as if king arthur came back to britain, as some people say he will. and i say the sooner the better.
rynelf returned with the spiced wine steaming in a flagon and four silver cups. it was just what one wanted, and as lucy and edmund sipped it they could feel the warmth going right down to their toes. but eustace made faces and spluttered and spat it out and was sick again and began to cry again and asked if they hadn't any plumptree's vitaminized nerve food and could it be made with distilled water and anyway he insisted on being put ashore at the next station.
"this is a merry shipmate you've brought us, brother," whispered caspian to edmund with a chuckle; but before he could say anything more eustace burst out again.
"oh! ugh! what on earth's that! take it away, the horrid thing." .
he really had some excuse this time for feeling a little surprised. something very curious indeed had come out of the cabin in the poop and was slowly approaching them. you might call it - and indeed it was - a mouse. but then it was a mouse on its hind legs and stood about two feet high. a thin band of gold passed round its head under one ear and over the other and in this was stuck a long crimson feather. (as the mouse's fur was very dark, almost black, the effect was bold and striking.) its left paw rested on the hilt of a sword very nearly as long as its tail. its balance, as it paced gravely along the swaying deck, was perfect, and its manners courtly. lucy and edmund recognized it at once reepicheep, the most valiant of all the talking beasts of narnia, and the chief mouse. it had won undying glory in the second battle of beruna. lucy longed, as she had always done, to take reepicheep up in her arms and cuddle him. but this, as she well knew, was a pleasure she could never have: it would have offended him deeply. instead, she went down on one knee to talk to him.
reepicheep put forward his left leg, drew back his right, bowed, kissed her hand, straightened himself, twirled his whiskers, and said in his shrill, piping voice:
"my humble duty to your majesty. and to king edmund, too." (here he bowed again.) "nothing except your majesties' presence was lacking to this glorious venture."
"ugh, take it away," wailed eustace. "i hate mice. and i never could bear performing animals. they're silly and vulgar and-and sentimental."
"am i to understand," said reepicheep to lucy after a long stare at eustace, "that this singularly discourteous person is under your majesty's protection? because, if not-"
at this moment lucy and edmund both sneezed.
"what a fool i am to keep you all standing here in your wet things," said caspian. "come on below and get changed. i'll give you my cabin of course, lucy, but i'm afraid we have no women's clothes on board. you'll have to make do with some of mine. lead the way, reepicheep, like a good fellow."
"to the convenience of a lady," said reepicheep, "even a question of honour must give way - at least for the moment -" and here he looked very hard at eustace. but caspian hustled them on and in a few minutes lucy found herself passing through the door into the stern cabin. she fell in love with it at once - the three square windows that looked out on the blue, swirling water astern, the low cushioned benches round three sides of the table, the swinging silver lamp overhead (dwarfs' work, she knew at once by its exquisite delicacy) and the flat gold image of aslan the lion on the forward wall above the door. all this she took in in a flash, for caspian immediately opened a door on the starboard side, and said, "this'll be your room, lucy. i'll just get some dry things for myself-" he was rummaging in one of the lockers while he spoke - "and then leave you to change. if you'll fling your wet things outside the door i'll get them taken to the galley to be dried."
lucy found herself as much at home as if she had been in caspian's cabin for weeks, and the motion of the ship did not worry her, for in the old days when she had been a queen in narnia she had done a good deal of voyaging. the cabin was very tiny but bright with painted panels (all birds and beasts and crimson dragons and vines) and spotlessly clean. caspian's clothes were too big for her, but she could manage. his shoes, sandals and sea-boots were hopelessly big but she did not mind going barefoot on board ship. when she had finished dressing she looked out of her window at the water rushing past and took a long deep breath. she felt quite sure they were in for a lovely time.
1、卧室里的画
有个男孩名叫尤斯塔斯;克拉伦斯;斯克罗布，他几乎是名副其实1。他父母叫他尤斯塔斯;克拉伦斯，老师叫他斯克罗布。我不知道他朋友怎么跟他说话，因为他一个朋友也没有。他对自己父母不叫"父亲"和"母亲"，却管他们叫哈罗德和艾贝塔。他都是非常
尤斯塔斯喜欢动物，尤其喜欢甲虫，喜欢死掉而钉在厚纸板上的甲虫。他喜欢看书，喜欢看知识性的书，书里有插图，画着谷仓，或胖胖的外国孩子在模范学校里做体操。
尤斯塔斯;克拉伦斯不喜欢他的表兄弟姐妹，佩文西家四个孩子——彼得、苏珊、爱德蒙和露茜。可是他听说爱德蒙和露茜要来住一阵子倒也十分高兴。因为他内心深处就喜欢发号施令，恃强欺弱，虽然他身子弱小，打起架来连露茜也对付不了，更别提爱德蒙了，但他知道如果在自己家里，人家只是客人，那就有几十种法子让人家吃苦头。
1斯塔斯在英语中和"没用的"一词音相近，详见下文。
爱德蒙和露茜原来根本不想来哈罗德舅舅和艾贝塔舅妈家住。可是实在没办法。那年夏天，父亲要到美国去讲学，为期十六个星期，母亲要陪他去，因为她有十年没过上真正的假期了。彼得正在拼命用功准备考试，假期里他要让柯克老教授辅导。很久以前在大战年代里，这四个孩子曾经住在柯克家，有过一段奇遇1。如果柯克仍然住在那幢房子里，他准会让他们全住下。不过，不知怎的，他到了老年就穷了，如今住在一所小屋里，只匀得出一间卧室。要把那三个孩子都带到美国去可花费太大，所以就只带了苏珊去。大人们认为她是子女中长得漂亮的一个，她的功课又不好(尽管就年纪来说她也老大不小了)，母亲说她"到美国去可以比两个小的学到更多东西"。虽然爱德蒙和露茜尽力不去妒忌苏珊那份运气，可是要他们到舅妈家去过暑假倒真要命。"不过，我更倒霉，"爱德蒙说，"因为至少你自己还有一间屋子，我可得跟那个前所未有的讨厌鬼尤斯塔斯合住一间卧室了。"
本书故事开头说的是，有一天下午，爱德蒙和露茜偷偷单独在一起过上宝贵的片刻工夫。他们谈的当然是纳尼亚了，这是他们专有的秘密地方的名字。我看，我们多半人都有一个秘密的地方，不过，就我们来说，那只不过是个想象中的地方罢了。这一点上，爱德蒙和露茜可比别人幸运。他们的秘密地方是真的。他们已经去过两回了;不是在游戏中去的，也不是在睡梦中去的，而是在现实中去的。他们到那里去当然是靠魔法，因为这是到纳尼亚去的惟一办法。他们在纳尼亚时就有约在先，或者近乎约定，今后总有一天他们要回去。读者可以想象，他们一有机会自然就大谈特谈纳尼亚了。
1见《狮子、女巫和魔衣柜》。
他们在露茜屋里，坐在她床边，瞧着对面墙上一幅画。
这是屋里他们惟一喜欢的一幅画。艾贝塔舅妈根本不喜欢这幅画(所以才把这画放到楼上一间小后房里)，可是她又没法扔掉这幅画，因为这是她不想得罪的某人送给她的一份结婚礼物。
这幅画画的是一条船——一条几乎笔直向你迎面驶来的船。船头是镀金的，像个张大嘴巴的龙头。船上只有一根枪杆，张着一面很大的方帆，帆布是一片艳丽的紫色。从镀金的龙翼两端处看得出两边舷侧是绿色的。这船正冲到一阵绚丽的碧浪顶峰上，近处那面浪坡挟着串串海水和星星泡沫向你直泻而来。分明这条船正乘风破浪，快速行进，左舷略为倾斜。(顺便说一下，要是你打算把这个故事好好看到底，而你还弄不明白，那你最好先在脑子里有个概念，你朝前看时，船身左面叫左舷，右面叫右舷。)阳光全从那一面照在船身上，所以那一面的海水一片碧绿和紫色。另一面海水给船身阴影遮住了，所以是深蓝色。
"问题是，"爱德蒙说，"眼巴巴瞧着一条纳尼亚的船，可叉上不去，事情是否反而更糟糕。"
"哪怕瞧瞧也好啊，"露茜说，"这条船是地地道道的纳尼亚船呢。"
"还在玩你们的老把戏啊？"尤斯塔斯说，原来他一直在门外偷听，这会儿正咧嘴笑着进屋。去年，他在佩文西家住过一阵子，那时他竟然听到他们都在谈论纳尼亚的事，就爱拿这事取笑他们。他当然以为他们全都是编造出来的，因为他自己什么都编造不出来，所以他不以为然
"这里不欢迎你。"爱德蒙粗鲁地说。
"我正在动脑筋语一首打油诗，"尤斯塔斯说，"大致是这样
有些玩着纳尼亚游戏的孩子"
变得越来越愚蠢，越来越愚蠢……
"哼，首先，孩子和愚蠢两个词就并不押韵。"露茜说。
"这是首押元音的诗。"尤斯塔斯说。
"别去问他押元音狗屁是什么东西，"爱德蒙说，"他就巴不得人家问他呢。什么也别说，不定他就会走掉。"
多半孩子碰到这么一鼻子灰，不是一走了之就是一跳八丈高。尤斯塔斯偏偏不是这样。他就是嬉皮笑脸赖着不走，不一会儿叉开口说话了。
"你们喜欢那幅画吗？”他问。
"天哪，别让他扯上艺术啊什么的那一套。"爱德蒙急忙说。可是露茜为人非常真诚，她已经说话了"是啊，我喜欢。我非常喜欢这幅画。"
"这是幅烂画。"尤斯塔斯说。
"你到门外去就看不见这幅画了。"爱德蒙说。
"你为什么喜欢这幅画。"尤斯塔斯对露茜说。
"说起来，我喜欢这幅画，"露茜说，"一来嘛，因为这条船看上去真的像在开动，海水看上去真的像湿的。而且海浪看上去真的像在一起一伏。"
尤斯塔斯当然知道不少话来回答，可是他一言不发。原因是就在他望着海浪的这工夫，他看到海浪确确实实很像在一起一伏。他只乘过一次船(而且只乘到怀特岛1)，还晕了船，闹得可惨呢。一看到画上海浪的样子他又晕了。他脸色发青，想再看一眼。于是三个孩子都看得目瞪口呆。
你们看到白纸黑字印着的故事时，也许很难相信他们看到的情景，不过你们亲眼看到这事时，几乎也同样很难相信。画上的景物竟在活动呢。看上去也根本不像电影;色彩过于逼真，过于明净，简直在露天下，电影没这么着的。船头冲进浪里，激起一大片浪花，然后又冲上来，把海浪甩在船后，这时才头一回看见船尾和甲板，可第二个浪头迎面打过来时，船头又翘上来，船尾和甲板又看不见了。就在这时，原来一直放在床上爱德蒙身边的一本练习本啪喇喇翻动，飘了起来，在他身后凭空飞向墙边，露茜觉得满头发丝都飘拂到脸上，就跟刮风天时一样。而且这会儿就是刮风天，不过这风正从画上向他们刮来。忽然一下子这阵风还刮来了种种声响——海浪沙沙冲刷，海水哗哗拍打船舷，船身嘎嘎呻吟，还有空中和海水那压倒一切的、有规律的高声怒号。不过，真正让露茜相信她不是在做梦的倒是那股味儿，那股强烈的咸涩的海水味。
1怀特岛:英国南部岛屿，靠近英吉利海峡，与不列颠岛隔索伦特峡。
"住手，"传来尤斯塔斯的声音，声音尖锐刺耳，透着害怕和暴躁，"你们两个又在玩什么荒唐的把戏了。快住手口我要告诉艾贝塔去了——哎唷！"
那两兄妹对冒险的事可习惯得多，谁知，就在尤斯塔斯叫"哎唷"的时刻，他们也一齐叫"哎唷"了。因为一大片又凉又咸的海水已经从画面上破框而出，打得他们浑身透湿不算，而且连气也透不过来。.
"我要把这幅烂画砸了。"尤斯塔斯大声叫道;就在这会儿，好几件事都凑在一起了。尤斯塔斯冲到画前。爱德蒙对魔法的厉害早已领教过一二，赶紧跳起来追他，警告他留神，别干傻事。露茜从另一边抓住他，却被拽着向前冲。这时刻，不是他们的身子变得越来越小，就是画变得越来越大了。尤斯塔斯跳起身，想把画从墙上扯下来，不知不觉间竟站到画框上了;在他面前的不是镜面，而是真正的大海，海风和海浪向画框迎面冲来，势如冲拍岩石。他吓昏了头，抓住身边那两个跳起身来的人。他们又是挣扎，又是喊叫，闹了一会儿，正以为身体已经保持平衡，一个蓝蓝的巨浪在他们四下涌起，把他们拖到海里。海水灌进尤斯塔斯的嘴巴，他那绝望的喊叫顿时中止了。
露茜暗自谢天谢地，幸亏去年夏天她拚命学游泳。说真的，如果她用慢一些的划水动作，的确会游得好得多，而且海水比起只在画面上看到的确要凉得多。不过，她还是按照任何穿着衣服掉进深水里的人应该采取的做法，保持镇定，踢掉鞋子。她甚至还闭紧嘴巴，睁开眼睛。他们离开船身很近了，她看见绿色的舷侧高耸在他们上面，船上人从甲板上看着她。这时，不出所料，尤斯塔斯慌乱中竟把抓住她，两人就此一起沉下去了。
他们重新浮上水面时，她看见一个白色的人影从舷侧跳入水中。眼下爱德蒙紧靠着她，踩着水，揪住还在号叫的尤斯塔斯两条胳膊。接着，又有个人从另一边悄悄伸出胳膊托住她，这人的脸隐隐有些面熟。船上好多人七嘴八舌地叫喊着，舷墙上人头挤动，上面抛下了缆绳。爱德蒙和那陌生人把缆绳在她身上绕紧。绕好后似乎耽搁了好久好久，她都急得脸色发青，牙齿喀嗒喀嗒打架了。实际上可没耽搁多长时间他们是在等待缆绳稳当，把她吊上船去时身体不致跟舷侧磕碰。尽管他们费尽心机，但等她终于浑身湿淋淋，簇簇抖地站到甲板上，一只膝盖还是磕得青肿了。接着，爱德蒙也给吊上船来，然后，可怜的尤斯塔斯也上来了。最后上来的是那陌生人——一个比她大几岁的金发男孩。"
“凯——凯——凯斯宾！"露茜一缓过气来，马上气喘吁吁地叫道。原来是凯斯宾——他们上回到纳尼亚去时出过力扶上王位的纳尼亚小国王凯斯宾。爱德蒙也立刻认出他了。三个人都欢天喜地，握手拍肩。
"可你们这位朋友是什么人啊？"凯斯宾笑容满面地回头对着尤斯塔斯，同时问道。谁知尤斯塔斯哭得更厉害了，任何跟他同年的男孩碰上大不了是浑身湿透这种事，有权利哭一场，可也没哭得这么厉害的，他只是一味干号道:"让我走。让我回去。我不喜欢这种事。"
"让你走？"凯斯宾说，"可是上哪儿去呢？”
尤斯塔斯冲到舷侧，仿佛想看看挂在海面上的画框似的，或者看一眼露茜的卧室也好。可他看到的是泛着星星泡沫的碧浪，浅蓝色的天空，海天都一望无际。他吓得魂不附体，也许我们倒不大好怪他。他顿时感到不舒服了
“嗨！赖尼夫，"凯斯宾对一个水手说，"给两位陛下送上香料酒。你们在水里浸了一会以后，需要点东西暖暖身子。"他称爱德蒙和露茜为两位陆下，因为他们同彼得和苏珊早在他即位之前好久就当上纳尼亚的国王和女王了。纳尼亚的时间过得跟我们这里不一样。如果你在纳尼亚过上一百年，你回到我们这世界里还是你离开的那一天的同一时辰。如果你在我们这世界里过上一星期，或者只过上一天，或者只过上一会儿，再回到纳尼亚去，你兴许发现纳尼亚已经过了一千年呢。你不到那儿就不知道。因此，佩文西家两兄妹自从上回第二回到纳尼亚去过以后，这回回来(在纳尼亚人看来)就仿佛传说中所说，总有一天会重返英国的亚瑟王1终于重返了一样。我说越快越好。
赖尼夫端来一瓶冒着气的香料酒和四个银杯。这酒来得正好，露茜和爱德蒙呻上一口顿时感到一股暖流直贯脚趾。可是尤斯塔斯却苦着脸，吐啊啐啊，又呕了起来，又放声大哭，还问人家有没有丰树牌加维生素的营养食品，能不能用蒸馏水来调制，他还死乞白赖硬要人家到下一站就把他送上岸去。
"这位可是你们给我们带来的可爱的伙伴，王兄。"凯斯宾格格笑着对爱德蒙咬着耳朵说，可是他还来不及再说什么，尤斯塔斯又发作了。"
"啊呀！哇！那到底是什么啊！快把这讨厌的东西带走。"
原来这一回他感到有点吃惊倒是真有理由了。船尾楼的房舱里果然出来了一个非常古怪的东西，向他们慢慢走来。你不妨管这叫作老鼠——的确是只老鼠。可这只老鼠竟然两条后腿站着，约莫有两英尺高。一条细细的金箍箍着脑袋，戴在一只耳朵下面，另一只耳朵上面，箍里还插着一根长长的深红色羽毛。(因为老鼠皮毛的颜色很深，几乎是黑的，所以这样打扮的效果非常醒目。)老鼠的左爪搁在一把几乎跟尾巴一样长的宝剑的柄上。它在晃荡的甲板上庄严地慢慢走来，居然四平八稳，态度也很优雅。露茜和爱德蒙一下子就认出它来了——雷佩契普，纳尼亚王国会说话的兽类中最英勇善战的老鼠大军的头头。在柏卢纳的第二次战役中，它赢得了不朽的殊荣。露茜巴不得把雷佩契普搂在怀里，抱抱它。过去她一直都想这样做。可是她也很清楚，这种乐趣她可休想享受得到，因为这样做会深深得罪它的。所以她就单腿跪下跟它说话。
1亚瑟王是英国传说中公元六世纪前后的国王，圆桌骑士的首领，传说中认为他没有死，活在仙界，总有一天会回来拯救人民。
雷佩契普伸出左腿，缩回右腿，鞠了一躬，吻吻她的手，再挺直身子，捻着胡须，嗓子尖厉刺耳地说：
"臣谨向女王佳下致敬，并向爱德蒙国王陆下致敬。"(说到这儿它又鞠了一躬。)。。承蒙两位陛下光临，这次辉煌的远航可说十全十美了。"
"啊唷，把它带走，"尤斯塔斯哭叫道，"我恨老鼠。我一向受不了动物表演。又无聊，又粗俗——而且自作多情。"
"敢情这位特别无礼的人是受你陛下保护的吧？"雷佩契普对尤斯塔斯盯了好一会儿才说，"因为，要不是——
这时露茜和爱德蒙两人都打喷嚏了。
"我多胡涂，竟让你们浑身透湿的老站在这儿。"凯斯宾说，"快到下面去，换换衣服。露茜，我当然会把自己的房舱让给你，不过，恐怕船上没有女人穿的衣服。你只好将就一下穿我的了。雷佩契普，好好带路。"
"看在女王的分上，"雷佩契普说。
"即使是荣誉的问题也只好放弃了，至少暂时只好如此。"说到这儿它向尤斯塔斯狠狠盯了一眼。可是凯斯宾催他们走，转眼工夫，露茜就不知不觉穿过舱门，走进船尾舱了。她立刻就喜欢上这间房舱——三扇方窗，面临船尾外打旋的碧蓝海水，桌子三边摆着软垫矮凳，当头吊着盏摇摇晃晃的银灯(她看了精巧的做工就知道这是小矮人的手艺)，还有门上方墙壁上狮王阿斯兰的平面金像。房舱里的这一切她刚才一眼就全看清了，因为凯斯宾下子打开右舷一扇门，说道"这就是你的房间，露茜。我自己先拿几件干爽的衣物。"他说着就在一个贮藏箱里翻找着，"找好了就让你换衣服。如果你把湿衣物扔到门外，我就叫人拿到伙房里去烘干。"
露茜觉得悠闲自在，仿佛她在凯斯宾房舱里已经住了好几个星期似的，船身摇动她可一点不在乎，因为当初她在纳尼亚当女王那时，曾多次出海航行呢。这间房舱虽然很小，但很明亮，并有一幅幅镶版画(画的都是飞禽走兽，朱红色的龙和藤蔓)，而且纤尘不染。凯斯宾的衣服给她穿太大了，可她好歹能凑合着穿。他的鞋子、拖鞋和长统靴都太大，但光着脚在甲板上走她倒不在乎。她穿戴整齐后就眺望窗外冲刷而过的海水，并深深吸了口气。她深信他们赶上一个好时光了。
