how the adventure ended

"look at what?" said edmund.

"look at the device on the gold," said caspian.

"a little hammer with a diamond above it like a star," said drinian. "why, i've seen that before."

"seen it!" said caspian. "why, of course you have. it is the sign of a great narnian house. this is the lord octesian's arm-ring."

"villain," said reepicheep to the dragon, "have you devoured a narnian lord?" but the dragon shook his head violently.

"or perhaps," said lucy, "this is the lord octesian, turned into a dragon - under an enchantment, you know."

"it needn't be either," said edmund. "all dragons collect gold. but i think it's a safe guess that octesian got no further than this island."

"are you the lord octesian?" said lucy to the dragon, and then, when it sadly shook its head, "are you someone enchanted - someone human, i mean?"

it nodded violently.

and then someone said - people disputed afterwards whether lucy or edmund said it first - "you're not - not eustace by any chance?"

and eustace nodded his terrible dragon head and thumped his tail in the sea and everyone skipped back (some of the sailors with ejaculations i will not put down in writing) to avoid the enormous and boiling tears which flowed from his eyes.

lucy tried hard to console him and even screwed up her courage to kiss the scaly face, and nearly everyone said "hard luck" and several assured eustace that they would all stand by him and many said there was sure to be some way of disenchanting him and they'd have him as right as rain in a day or two. and of course they were all very anxious to hear his story, but he couldn't speak. more than once in the days that followed he attempted to write it for them on the sand. but, this never succeeded. in the first place eustace (never having read the right books) had no idea how to tell a story straight. and for another thing, the muscles and nerves of the dragon-claws that he had to use had never learned to write and were not built for writing anyway. as a result he never got nearly to the end before the tide came in and washed away all the writing except the bits he had already trodden on or accidentaly swished out with his tail. and all that anyone had seen would be something like this - the dots are for the bits he had smudged

out i wnet to sl ee . . . rgos agrons i mean drangons

cave cause it-was dead and awing so har . . . woke up and cou . . . get offf mi arm oh bother . . .

it was, however, clear to everyone that eustace's character had been rather improved by becoming a dragon. he was anxious to help. he flew over the whole island and found it was all mountainous and inhabited only by wild goats and droves of wild swine. of these he brought back many carcasses as provisions for the ship. he was a very humane killer too, for he could dispatch a beast with one blow of his tail so that it didn't know (and presumably still doesn't know) it had been killed. he ate a few himself, of course, but always alone, for now that he was a dragon he liked his food raw but he could never bear to let others see him at his messy meals. and one day, flying slowly and wearily but in great triumph, he bore back to camp a great tall pine tree which he had torn up by the roots in a distant valley and which could be made into a capital mast. and in the evening if it turned chilly, as it sometimes did after the heavy rains, he was a comfort to everyone, for the whole party would come and sit with their backs against his hot sides and get well warmed and dried; and one puff of his fiery breath would light the most obstinate fire. sometimes he would take a select party for a fly on his back, so that they could see wheeling below them the green slopes, the rocky heights, the narrow pit-like valleys and far out over the sea to the eastward a spot of darker blue on the blue horizon which might be land.

the pleasure (quite new to him) of being liked and, still more, of liking other people, was what kept eustace from despair. for it was very dreary being a dragon. he shuddered whenever he caught sight of his own reflection as he flew over a mountain lake. he hated the huge batlike wings, the saw-edged ridge on his back, and the cruel, curved claws. he was almost afraid to be alone with himself and yet he was ashamed to be with the others. on the evenings when he was not being used as a hot-water bottle he would slink away from the camp and lie curled up like a snake between the wood and the water. on such occasions, greatly to his surprise, reepicheep was his most constant comforter. the noble mouse would creep away from the merry circle at the camp fire and sit down by the dragon's head, well to the windward to be out of the way of his smoky breath. there he would explain that what had happened to eustace was a striking illustration of the turn of fortune's wheel, and that if he had eustace at his own house in narnia (it was really a hole not a house and the dragon's head, let alone his body, would not have fitted in) he could show him more than a hundred examples of emperors, kings, dukes, knights, poets, lovers, astronomers, philosophers, and magicians, who had fallen from prosperity into the most distressing circumstances, and of whom many had recovered and lived happily ever afterwards. it did not, perhaps, seem so very comforting at the time, but it was kindly meant and eustace never forgot it.

but of course what hung over everyone like a cloud was the problem of what to do with their dragon when they were ready to sail. they tried not to talk of it when he was there, but he couldn't help overhearing things like, "would he fit all along one side of the deck? and we'd have to shift all the stores to the other side down below so as to balance," or, "would towing him be any good?" or "would he be able to keep up by flying?" and (most often of all), "but how are we to feed him?" and poor eustace realized more and more that since the first day he came on board he had been an unmitigated nuisance and that he was now a greater nuisance still. and this ate into his mind, just as that bracelet ate into his foreleg. he knew that it only made it worse to tear at it with his great teeth, but he couldn't help tearing now and then, especially on hot nights.

about six days after they had landed on dragon island, edmund happened to wake up very early one morning. it was just getting grey so that you could see the tree-trunks if they were between you and the bay but not in the other direction. as he woke he thought he heard something moving, so he raised himself on one elbow and looked about him: and presently he thought he saw a dark figure moving on the seaward side of the wood. the idea that at once occurred to his mind was, "are we so sure there are no natives on this island after all?" then he thought it was caspian - it was about the right size - but he knew that caspian had been sleeping next to him and could see that he hadn't moved. edmund made sure that his sword was in its place and then rose to investigate.

he came down softly to the edge of the wood and the dark figure was still there. he saw now that it was too small for caspian and too big for lucy. it did not run away. edmund drew his sword and was about to challenge the stranger when the stranger said in a low voice, "is that you, edmund?"

"yes. who are you?" said he.

"don't you know me?" said the other. "it's me eustace."

"by jove," said edmund, "so it is. my dear chap -"

"hush," said eustace and lurched as if he were going to fall.

"hello!" said edmund, steadying him. "what's up? are you ill?"

eustace was silent for so long that edmund thought he was fainting; but at last he said, "it's been ghastly. you don't know . . . but it's all right now. could we go and talk somewhere? i don't want to meet the others just yet."

"yes, rather, anywhere you like," said edmund. "we can go and sit on the rocks over there. i say, i am glad to see you - er - looking yourself again. you must have had a pretty beastly time."

they went to the rocks and sat down looking out across the bay while the sky got paler and paler and the stars disappeared except for one very bright one low down and near the horizon.

"i won't tell you how i became a - a dragon till i can tell the others and get it all over," said eustace. "by the way, i didn't even know it was a dragon till i heard you all using the word when i turned up here the other morning. i want to tell you how i stopped being one."

"fire ahead," said edmund.

"well, last night i was more miserable than ever. and that beastly arm-ring was hurting like anything-"

"is that all right now?"

eustace laughed - a different laugh from any edmund had heard him give before - and slipped the bracelet easily off his arm. "there it is," he said, "and anyone who likes can have it as far as i'm concerned. well, as i say, i was lying awake and wondering what on earth would become of me. and then - but, mind you, it may have been all a dream. i don't know."

"go on," said edmund, with considerable patience.

"well, anyway, i looked up and saw the very last thing i expected: a huge lion coming slowly towards me. and one queer thing was that there was no moon last night, but there was moonlight where the lion was. so it came nearer and nearer. i was terribly afraid of it. you may think that, being a dragon, i could have knocked any lion out easily enough. but it wasn't that kind of fear. i wasn't afraid of it eating me, i was just afraid of it - if you can understand. well, it came close up to me and looked straight into my eyes. and i shut my eyes tight. but that wasn't any good because it told me to follow it."

"you mean it spoke?"

"i don't know. now that you mention it, i don't think it did. but it told me all the same. and i knew i'd have to do what it told me, so i got up and followed it. and it led me a long way into the mountains. and there was always this moonlight over and round the lion wherever we went. so at last we came to the top of a mountain i'd never seen before and on the top of this mountain there was a garden - trees and fruit and everything. in the middle of it there was a well.

"i knew it was a well because you could see the water bubbling up from the bottom of it: but it was a lot bigger than most wells - like a very big, round bath with marble steps going down into it. the water was as clear as anything and i thought if i could get in there and bathe it would ease the pain in my leg. but the lion told me i must undress first. mind you, i don't know if he said any words out loud or not.

"i was just going to say that i couldn't undress because i hadn't any clothes on when i suddenly thought that dragons are snaky sort of things and snakes can cast their skins. oh, of course, thought i, that's what the lion means. so i started scratching myself and my scales began coming off all over the place. and then i scratched a little deeper and, instead of just scales coming off here and there, my whole skin started peeling off beautifully, like it does after an illness, or as if i was a banana. in a minute or two i just stepped out of it. i could see it lying there beside me, looking rather nasty. it was a most lovely feeling. so i started to go down into the well for my bathe.

"but just as i was going to put my feet into the water i looked down and saw that they were all hard and rough and wrinkled and scaly just as they had been before. oh, that's all right, said i, it only means i had another smaller suit on underneath the first one, and i'll have to get out of it too. so 1 scratched and tore again and this underskin peeled off beautifully and out i stepped and left it lying beside the other one and went down to the well for my bathe.

"well, exactly the same thing happened again. and i thought to myself, oh dear, how ever many skins have i got to take off? for i was longing to bathe my leg. so i scratched away for the third time and got off a third skin, just like the two others, and stepped out of it. but as soon as i looked at myself in the water i knew it had been no good.

"then the lion said - but i don't know if it spoke - "you will have to let me undress you." i was afraid of his claws, i can tell you, but i was pretty nearly desperate now. so i just lay flat down on my back to let him do it.

"the very first tear he made was so deep that i thought it had gone right into my heart. and when he began pulling the skin off, it hurt worse than anything i've ever felt. the only thing that made me able to bear it was just the pleasure of feeling the stuff peel off. you know - if you've ever picked the scab off a sore place. it hurts like billy-oh but it is such fun to see it coming away."

"i know exactly what you mean," said edmund.

"well, he peeled the beastly stuff right off - just as i thought i'd done it myself the other three times, only they hadn't hurt - and there it was lying on the grass: only ever so much thicker, and darker, and more knobbly-looking than the others had been. and there was i as smooth and soft as a peeled switch and smaller than i had been. then he caught hold of me - i didn't like that much for i was very tender underneath now that i'd no skin on - and threw me into the water. it smarted like anything but only for a moment. after that it became perfectly delicious and as soon as i started swimming and splashing i found that all the pain had gone from my arm. and then i saw why. i'd turned into a boy again. you'd think me simply phoney if i told you how i felt about my own arms. i know they've no muscle and are pretty mouldy compared with caspian's, but i was so glad to see them.

"after a bit the lion took me out and dressed me -"

"dressed you. with his paws?"

"well, i don't exactly remember that bit. but he did somehow or other: in new clothes - the same i've got on now, as a matter of fact. and then suddenly i was back here. which is what makes me think it must have been a dream."

"no. it wasn't a dream," said edmund.

"why not?"

"well, there are the clothes, for one thing. and you have been - well, un-dragoned, for another."

"what do you think it was, then?" asked eustace.

"i think you've seen aslan," said edmund.

"aslan!" said eustace. "i've heard that name mentioned several times since we joined the dawn treader. and i felt - i don't know what - i hated it. but i was hating everything then. and by the way, i'd like to apologize. i'm afraid i've been pretty beastly."

"that's all right," said edmund. "between ourselves, you haven't been as bad as i was on my first trip to narnia. you were only an ass, but i was a traitor."

"well, don't tell me about it, then," said eustace. "but who is aslan? do you know him?"

"well - he knows me," said edmund. "he is the great lion, the son of the emperor-beyond-the-sea, who saved me and saved narnia. we've all seen him. lucy sees him most often. and it may be aslan's country we are sailing to."

neither said anything for a while. the last bright star had vanished and though they could not see the sunrise because of the mountains on their right, they knew it was going on because the sky above them and the bay before them turned the colour of roses. then some bird of the parrot kind screamed in the wood behind them, they heard movements among the trees, and finally a blast on caspian's horn. the camp was astir.

great was the rejoicing when edmund and the restored eustace walked into the breakfast circle round the camp fire. and now of course everyone heard the earlier part of his story. people wondered whether the other dragon had killed the lord octesian several years ago or whether octesian himself had been the old dragon. the jewels with which eustace had crammed his pockets in the cave had disappeared along with the clothes he had then been wearing: but no one, least of all eustace himself, felt any desire to go back to that valley for more treasure.

in a few days now the dawn treader, remasted, re-painted, and well stored, was ready to sail. before they embarked caspian caused to be cut on a smooth cliff facing the bay the words:

two narrow escapes

dragon island discovered by caspian x, king of narnia, etc. in the fourth year of his reign. here, as we suppose, the lord octesian had his death

it would be nice, and fairly true, to say that "from that time forth eustace was a different boy". to be strictly accurate, he began to be a different boy. he had relapses. there were still many days when he could be very tiresome. but most of those i shall not notice. the cure had begun.

the lord octesian's arm ring had a curious fate. eustace did not want it and offered it to caspian and caspian offered it to lucy. she did not care about having it. "very well, then, catch as catch can," said caspian and flung it up in the air. this was when they were all standing looking at the inscription. up went the ring, flashing in the sunlight, and caught, and hung, as neatly as a well-thrown quoit, on a little projection on the rock. no one could climb up to get it from below and no one could climb down to get it from above. and there, for all i know, it is hanging still and may hang till that world ends.

7、脱险

"瞧什么？"爱德蒙说。

"瞧金镯上的纹章。"凯斯宾说。"

"一把小锤子，上面有颗星状的钻石，"德里宁说，"哎呀，这个我见过的。"

"见过！"凯斯宾说，"哎呀，你当然见过。这是纳尼亚一个贵族府的标志。这是奥克特西安爵爷的手镯。"

"坏蛋，"雷佩契普对龙说，"你把一个纳尼亚的爵爷吃掉了？"那条龙却拼命摇头。

"你们要知道，或许，"露茜说，"这是奥克特西安爵爷中了魔法变成的龙吧。"

"这也未必见得，"爱德蒙说，"凡是龙都爱收藏金子。

不过我想，奥克特西安准保不出这个小岛。"

"你是奥克特西安爵爷吗？"露茜对龙说，看到它伤心地摇头，又说，"那你是中了魔法的人——我意思是说是个人吧？"

它听了拼命点头。

于是有人说——事后大家争着议论是露茜先说，还是爱德蒙先说——"你不——不会是尤斯塔斯吧？"

尤斯塔斯听了把那颗怕人的龙头直点，还把龙尾在海里直拍，大家都纷纷后退，避开他眼睛里流出来的滚滚热泪。有几个水手还骂骂咧咧，这些话我就不写进书里了。

露茜想尽办法安慰他，甚至鼓起勇气去吻他生满鳞甲的脸，几乎人人都说"倒毒"，还有几个人叫尤斯塔斯放心并说，他们都支持他，不少人说准有法子给他解除魔法，一两天内他们就可以完全正常地跟他在一起了。他们当然都急于听听他的经历，可是他不会说话。接下来几天，他多次打算在沙地上把事情写出来，可是一次也没写成。首先，尤斯塔斯从来没看过一本对路的书，根本不知道怎么直接讲故事。再则，他不得不借助的龙爪的肌肉和神经从来就没学过写字，反正生来也不是写字的料。结果，他根本来不及写完，潮沙就来了，把他写好的字统统冲刷掉，只留下一些他已经踩住的，或尾巴偶尔扫出来的片言只语。所以大家看得到的就像下文——虚点部分是他弄模糊而无法辨认的——

我去垂……尤我是说龙洞因它死了金很紧……醒来不……去掉手上啊讨厌…"

可是大家都明白，尤斯塔斯变成龙以后性格倒有相当长进了。他巴不得出点力。他飞遍全岛，发现岛上全是高山，只有野山羊和成群野猪。他就带回好多死羊死猪给船上补充给养。他也是一个非常讲人道的猎手，因为他只消尾巴一甩就可以把野物弄死，野物不知不觉(大概还不知道)就送了命。他自己当然也吃掉一点，但总是独自吃，因为他既然是条龙了，就喜欢吃生的，可他绝对受不了人家看见他吃着血糊糊的东西。有一天，他虽然飞得又慢又吃力，但是得意扬扬，原来他把一棵高大的松树带回了营地，这是他在远处一个山谷里连根拔起来的，可以用来做一根主桅。到了晚上，如果天气变冷，大雨过后时常这样，他就成了大家的火炉，因为全体人员都跑来，背靠着他热呼呼的两侧，短得身子暖暖的，烘得身子干干的，他一喷出火似的气来，就能把最难着的柴火点燃。有时他还挑上几个人，骑在他背上飞行，让他们能看见在身子底下旋转而过的绿山坡，岩石。踌响的高地，狭窄如坑的山谷，朝东的海面远处，天际有一个深蓝色的斑点，可能那就是陆地了。

尤斯塔斯觉得受人喜欢，更可贵的是觉得喜欢人家，这分乐趣对他是破天荒的，有了这分乐趣才让他不感到绝望。因为变成龙是非常乏味的。每逢他飞过一个山湖，看见自己的倒影，总不免打个寒喋。他痛恨那对巨大的蝙蝠翼，锯齿形的背脊，凶相的弯爪。他几乎害怕独自待着，但他又不好意思同别人在一起。晚上碰到没人把他当成热水袋时，他就偷偷从营地溜走，像条蛇似的蜷起身子，躺在林子和大海中间。碰到这种情况，大大出于他意料的，倒是雷佩契普经常来安慰他。高尚的老鼠会从围着篝火的欢乐人堆里偷偷跑掉，靠着龙头边坐下，看准风向，避开他冒烟的鼻息。于是它就解释说，尤斯塔斯的遭遇是造化弄人的一个明显事例，假如尤斯塔斯在纳尼亚它自己家做客(其实是个洞，不是屋子，龙头也容不下，别提身子了)，它倒可以举出百来个例子说明，什么皇帝啊，国王啊，公爵啊，骑士啊，诗人啊，情人啊，天文学家啊，哲学家啊，还有魔法师啊，他们原先都富贵荣华，一下子跌到极其悲惨的境地，后来他们不少人都恢复过来，从此日子过得美美的。也许当时这话听来还不大令人宽慰，不过也是一片好意，尤斯塔斯对此终身难忘。

不过，像朵乌云般笼罩在大家头上的倒是那个难题他们准备启航之际，拿这条龙怎么办。他在场的时候，大家都尽量避而不谈，可是他还是不免偷听到一些话，诸如"把他安顿在整个甲板的一边合适吗？那我们就得把全部贮藏搬到下面另一侧才能让船身平衡"。还有，"拖着他走好不好？"还有，"他能一直飞下去吗？”还有，最常听到的是"可是我们拿什么给他吃啊？"可怜的尤斯塔斯心里越来越清楚，自从他踏上甲板的头一天以来，就成了一个十足的讨厌包袱，如今他变成更大的包袱了。这想法深深腐蚀他的心，正如那手锡深深腐蚀他的前腿一样。他知道靠大牙咬手锢反而更糟，可是他忍不住还是时时去咬，尤其是在炎热的夜晚。

他们在龙岛上岸后，大约过了六天，有天爱德蒙恰巧大清早就醒了。天色刚灰蒙蒙，所以看得见身边和海滩之间的树干，不过别的方向看不见。他醒来时觉得听到什么动静，所以撑起一个肘拐儿，朝四下看看:不一会儿就觉得看见一个黑影在林子靠海那头走动。他脑子里顿时生出一个念头，

"我们还那么肯定这岛上根本没有土人？"继而一想，这人是凯斯宾吧——个子差不多——可他知道凯斯宾一直睡在他身边，看得出他没动弹过。爱德蒙弄明白他的剑还在原处，就跳起身去查看了。

他轻手轻脚来到林子边，那黑影还在。这时他看出黑影说是凯斯宾嫌小，说是露茜又嫌大。那黑影没逃走。爱德蒙拔出剑来，打算向那黑影挑战，这时那黑影低声说。

"是你吗，爱德蒙？"

"对。你是谁?”他说。

"你不认识我？"对方说，"是我啊——尤斯塔斯。""天哪，"爱德蒙说，"原来如此。老伙伴——"

"嘘——"尤斯塔斯说着身子东倒西歪，仿佛要摔下来。

“天哪！"爱德蒙扶稳他说，"怎么回事？你病了？"

尤斯塔斯沉默了老半天，爱德蒙还以为他昏过去了，最后才说"这事真可怕。你不知道……不过现在太平无事了。我们能找个地方去谈谈吧。眼下我还不想见别人。"

"那好啊，你爱上哪儿都行，"爱德蒙说，"我们可以上那边，坐在岩石上。哎呀，看见你——呃——又是老样子，心里真高兴。你一定吃了不少苦吧？"

他们走到岩石那儿，坐下来，眺望着海湾对面，这时天色越来越亮，除了一颗很亮的星，一颗低得接近地平线的星以外，其他的星星都看不见了。

"等我能对别人说了，这事全过去了，我才对你说我是怎么变成——一条龙的，"尤斯塔斯说，"顺便说一句，我那天早上在这儿出现，听到你们说起龙这个词儿，我才知道自己是龙。我要对你说说自己怎么不再是龙了。"

"说吧。"爱德蒙说。

"好吧，昨晚我比往常更难受。那个混账手锚勒得我痛死了……”

"现在没事了？"

尤斯塔斯笑了——爱德蒙以前可没听到他这么笑过——轻而易举就把手镯从臂上退下来。"瞧，"他说，"就我来说谁喜欢谁就拿去吧。唉，我说啊，当时我正醒着躺在那儿，不知自己结果到底会怎么样。这时——不过，听着，这也许完全是个梦。我不知道。"

"说下去。"爱德蒙相当耐心地说。

"唉，反正，我抬眼一看，只见一头大狮子慢慢向我走来，这是我最料想不到的事。怪就怪在昨晚没有月亮，可是狮子走到哪儿，哪儿就有月亮。它越走越近，我害怕极了。你也许会这么想，既然我是条龙，要打倒狮子还不容易吗？可是这不是那种害怕。我不是怕它吃我，我只是怕它——如果你能理解的话。唉，它向我逼近了，还一直盯着我眼睛看。我紧紧闭上眼睛，可是一点也没用，因为它叫我跟着它。"

"你意思是说它说话了？"

"我不知道。既然你提起了，我看它未必说过。不过反正它吩咐过我就是了。我知道我不得不照它盼咐我的去做，所以我就起身跟它走了。它带我走了好长一段路，进了山口不管我们走到哪儿，月光始终笼罩着狮子周围。我们就这样终于来到一座我从未见过的山顶，在这座山顶上，有个花园——里面有树有果啊什么的。花园当中有口井。

"我知道这是口井，因为可以看见井水汩泪从井底冒出来。不过这口井比大部分井要大得多——像一个圆圆的大浴池，有大理石梯级通进池里。井水清澈极了，我心想，假如我能下水洗洗澡，腿痛就会减轻。可是狮子吩附我必须先剥衣服。听着，我不知道他是不是大声说了这些话。

"我正想说我不能剥衣服，因为我身上没穿什么衣服，这时我忽然想起，龙是像蛇一类的东西，蛇能蜕去身上的皮。我想，啊呀，狮子当然就是这个意思。所以我就动手在身上乱抓，鳞甲就开始纷纷掉满一地。我再抓得深一点，一抓身上鳞甲倒不是处处脱落，而是整张皮都完整地剥掉了，就像大病一场以后一样，仿佛自己是只香蕉。转眼间我就脱壳而出，我看得见这身皮就落在我身边，看上去相当恶心。这感觉愉快极了。因此我就下井去洗澡。

"谁知正当我要把脚伸进水里，往下一看，又看见自己全身像刚才那样又粗又硬又皱，长满了鳞甲。哎呀，对了，我说，这无非说明我在第一层外衣下面还有一身小些的内衣，我也得脱去才行。所以我重新又抓又扯，里面这身皮也完整地剥下来了，我脱壳而出，让这身皮落在刚才那身皮旁边，就走到井边去洗澡了。

"没想到又是一模一样的事发生了。我暗自寻思，哎呀，我到底得蜕下多少层皮啊？因为我一心只想洗洗腿，所以我又抓了第三回，蜕下第三层皮，跟前两回一样，我就脱壳而出。谁知我朝水里一看自己的倒影，就知道又不妙了。

"于是狮子说——可我不知道他是否真开口说了——一定得让我替你剥衣服。我可以实话告诉你，我怕他的爪子，可这回我实在是走投无路了。所以我就此仰天平躺，让他来干。

“也头一下撕拉就很深，我都以为深入心窝了。他开始把皮扯下来时，我痛得不得了。惟一使我能够忍受下来的就是感到蜕下壳来那股高兴劲儿。你剥过创口的痴就知道那种滋味。虽然痛得厉害，可是看到它脱落，心里真有说不出的高兴。"

"我完全明白你的意思。"爱德蒙说。

"好了，他把那层该死的皮当场扯掉了——正如我原以为前三回自己已经亲手扯掉过一样，只是前几回不痛——这层皮就落在草地上，只是要厚得多，黑得多，而且看上去比前几层皮更多疙瘩。这一来我就像一根剥掉皮的细树枝一样光渭柔软，个子比过去也小了些。于是他抓住我——我不大喜欢他这样做，因为我身上没有皮了，肉还很嫩——他把我扔到水里。真痛死了，幸亏只有一会儿工夫。过后就舒服极了，等我开始游泳拍水，手臂已经一点也不痛了。于是我才明白这是怎么回事。我又变回一个孩子了。我告诉你，我摸摸自己手臂的那分心情，你准会当我骗人。我知道手臂上没有肌肉，比起凯斯宾的手臂差劲多了，可是看见自己的手臂，心里别提有多高兴了。

"过了一会儿，狮子把我拉出来，替我穿上衣服。"替你穿衣服，用他的爪子？"

"这个嘛，我倒记不大清了。不过他好歹给我换上了新衣服——事实上，就是我现在穿着的。然后一下子我就到这儿了。因此我才认为一定是做了场梦。"

"不，这不是梦。"爱德蒙说。"为什么不是？"

"说起来，一则，身上有衣服，而且，二则，你已经——不是龙了。"

"那你看这是怎么回事？"尤斯塔斯问。

"我看你见到阿斯兰了。"爱德蒙说。

"阿斯兰！"尤斯塔斯说，"自从我们乘上黎明踏浪号以来，我已经听到好几回提起那名字了。可我感到——我不知道为什么——我恨这名字。不过我当时对什么都痛恨。顺便说一下，我愿意道歉。恐怕过去我非常惹人讨厌吧？”

"那没什么，"爱德蒙说，"我们私下说说，你还没我头一回到纳尼亚来时那么坏呢。你只不过是个笨蛋，而我是个叛徒。"

"嘿，那就别跟我提这事了，"尤斯塔斯说，"可阿斯兰是谁啊？你认识他吗？”

"说起来——他认识我，"爱德蒙说，"他是狮王，海外皇帝的儿子，他救过我，救过纳尼亚王国。我们都见过他，露茜看见他次数最多。也许我们正要开去的地方就是阿斯兰的国土呢。”

一时间两人都没说什么。最后一颗明亮的星也消失了，虽然他们看不见日出，因为他们右面有大山挡住，可是他们知道太阳正在升起，因为他们上面的天空和面前的海湾都已变成玫瑰红颜色了。这时他们后面的林子里传来鹦鹉之类的鸟鸣声，他们听到树丛间有动静，最后，响起一阵凯斯宾的号角。营地里开始活动了。

当爱德蒙和变回人样的尤斯塔斯走进围着营火在吃早餐的人堆中，大家都兴高采烈。这会儿当然人人都听到他叙述的前半部分经历了。大家很想知道另外一条龙是不是在几年前杀害了奥克特西安爵爷，或者奥克特西安是不是就是那条老龙。尤斯塔斯在洞里硬往口袋里塞的珠宝随着他当时穿的那身衣服一起丢失了，不过大家丝毫没有回到山谷多找些财宝的欲望，至少尤斯塔斯本人就没这欲望。

不到两三天工夫，黎明踏浪号就重新安上枪杆，重新油漆一新，贮备充足，准备启航了。临上船前，凯斯宾叫人在一座面对海湾的断崖上刻出这些字句:

龙岛

纳尼亚国王凯斯宾十世于执政第四年率众发现。

据推测，奥克特西安爵爷在此去世

现在说"从那时起尤斯塔斯变了"可恰到好处，而且几乎非常接近真实。严格地说，他开始变好了。他也有过反复。仍然有不少日子他还是非常叫人讨厌的。不过那些事情我大多不会提起。他开始有治了。

奥克特西安爵爷的手锚倒有一段希奇的结局。尤斯塔斯不愿要它，交给凯斯宾，凯斯宾给了露茜。她对此并不稀罕。"那好极了，随它去吧。"凯斯宾说着就把它抛到空中。这时大家都站着观看崖上字迹。只见那手锚凌空飞起，在阳光中闪闪发亮，像个正中目标的铁环一样，套中了岩石的一个小精角，就此挂在上面了。没人能从下面爬上去摘掉它，也没人能从上面爬下去摘掉它。据我所知，至今它还挂在那儿，可能要挂到世界末日呢。