two narrow escapes

everyone was cheerful as the dawn treader sailed from dragon island. they had fair winds as soon as they were out of the bay and came early next morning to the unknown land which some of them had seen when flying over the mountains while eustace was still a dragon. it was a low green island inhabited by nothing but rabbits and a few goats, but from the ruins of stone huts, and from blackened places where fires had been, they judged that it had been peopled not long before. there were also some bones and broken weapons.

"pirates' work," said caspian.

"or the dragon's," said edmund.

the only other thing they found there was a little skin boat, or coracle, on the sands. it was made of hide stretched over a wicker framework. it was a tiny boat, barely four feet long, and the paddle which still lay in it was in proportion. they thought that either it had been made for a child or else that the people of that country had been dwarfs. reepicheep decided to keep it, as it was just the right size for him; so it was taken on board. they called that land burnt island, and sailed away before noon.

for some five days they ran before a south-south-east wind, out of sight of all lands and seeing neither fish nor gull. then they had a day when it rained hard till the afternoon. eustace lost two games of chess to reepicheep and began to get like his old and disagreeable self again, and edmund said he wished they could have gone to america with susan. then lucy looked out of the stern windows and said:

"hello! i do believe it's stopping. and what's that?"

they all tumbled up to the poop at this and found that the rain had stopped and that drinian, who was on watch, was also staring hard at something astern. or rather, at several things. they looked a little like smooth rounded rocks, a whole line of them with intervals of about forty feet in between.

"but they can't be rocks," drinian was saying, "because they weren't there five minutes ago."

"and one's just disappeared," said lucy.

"yes, and there's another one coming up," said edmund.

"and nearer," said eustace.

"hang it!" said caspian. "the whole thing is moving this way."

"and moving a great deal quicker than we can sail, sire," said drinian. "it'll be up with us in a minute."

they all held their breath, for it is not at all nice to be pursued by an unknown something either on land or sea. but what it turned out to be was far worse than anyone had suspected. suddenly, only about the length of a cricket pitch from their port side, an appalling head reared itself out of the sea. it was all greens and vermilions with purple blotches - except where shell fish clung to it - and shaped rather like a horse's, though without ears. it had enormous eyes, eyes made for staring through the dark depths of the ocean, and a gaping mouth filled with double rows of sharp fish-like teeth. it came up on what they first took to be a huge neck, but as more and more of it emerged everyone knew that this was not its neck but its body and that at last they were seeing what so many people have foolishly wanted to see - the great sea serpent. the folds of its gigantic tail could be seen far away, rising at intervals from the surface. and now its head was towering up higher than the mast.

every man rushed to his weapon, but there was nothing to be done, the monster was out of reach. "shoot! shoot!" cried the master bowman, and several obeyed, but the arrows glanced off the sea serpent's hide as if it was ironplated. then, for a dreadful minute, everyone was still, staring up at its eyes and mouth and wondering where it would pounce.

but it didn't pounce. it shot its head forward across the ship on a level with the yard of the mast. now its head was just beside the fighting top. still it stretched and stretched till its head was over the starboard bulwark. then down it began to come - not on to the crowded deck but into the water, so that the whole ship was under an arch of serpent. and almost at once that arch began to get smaller: indeed on the starboard the sea serpent was now almost touching the dawn treader's side.

eustace (who had really been trying very hard to behave well, till the rain and the chess put him back) now did the first brave thing he had ever done. he was wearing a sword that caspian had lent him. as soon as the serpent's body was near enough on the starboard side he jumped on to the bulwark and began hacking at it with all his might. it is true that he accomplished nothing beyond breaking caspian's second-best sword into bits, but it was a fine thing for a beginner to have done.

others would have joined him if at that moment reepicheep had not called out, "don't fight! push!" it was so unusual for the mouse to advise anyone not to fight that, even in that terrible moment, every eye turned to him. and when he jumped up on to the bulwark, forward of the snake, and set his little furry back against its huge scaly, slimy back, and began pushing as hard as he could, quite a number of people saw what he meant and rushed to both sides of the ship to do the same. and when, a moment later, the sea serpent's head appeared again, this time on the port side, and this time with its back to them, then everyone understood.

the brute had made a loop of itself round the dawn treader and was beginning to draw the loop tight. when it got quite tight - snap! - there would be floating matchwood where the ship had been and it could pick them out of the water one by one. their only chance was to push the loop backward till it slid over the stern; or else (to put the same thing another way) to push the ship forward out of the loop.

reepicheep alone had, of course, no more chance of doing this than of lifting up a cathedral, but he had nearly killed himself with trying before others shoved him aside. very soon the whole ship's company except lucy and the mouse (which was fainting) was in two long lines along the two bulwarks, each man's chest to the back of the man in front, so that the weight of the whole line was in the last man, pushing for their lives. for a few sickening seconds (which seemed like hours) nothing appeared to happen. joints cracked, sweat dropped, breath came in grunts and gasps. then they felt that the ship was moving. they saw that the snake-loop was further from the mast than it had been. but they also saw that it was smaller. and now the real danger was at hand. could they get it over the poop, or was it already too tight? yes. it would just fit. it was resting on the poop rails. a dozen or more sprang up on the poop. this was far better. the sea serpent's body was so low now that they could make a line across the poop and push side by side. hope rose high till everyone remembered the high carved stern, the dragon tail, of the dawn treader. it would be quite impossible to get the brute over that.

"an axe," cried caspian hoarsely, "and still shove." lucy, who knew where everything was, heard him where she was standing on the main deck staring up at the poop. in a few seconds she had been below, got the axe, and was rushing up the ladder to the poop. but just as she reached the top there came a great crashing noise like a tree coming down and the ship rocked and darted forward. for at that very moment, whether because the sea serpent was being pushed so hard, or because it foolishly decided to draw the noose tight, the whole of the carved stern broke off and the ship was free.

the others were too exhausted to see what lucy saw. there, a few yards behind them, the loop of sea serpent's body got rapidly smaller and disappeared into a splash. lucy always said (but of course she was very excited at the moment, and it may have been only imagination) that she saw a look of idiotic satisfaction on the creature's face. what is certain is that it was a very stupid animal, for instead of pursuing the ship it turned its head round and began nosing all along its own body as if it expected to find the wreckage of the dawn treader there. but the dawn treader was already well away, running before a fresh breeze, and the men lay and sat panting and groaning all about the deck, till presently they were able to talk about it, and then to laugh about it. and when some rum had been served out they even raised a cheer; and everyone praised the valour of eustace (though it hadn't done any good) and of reepicheep.

after this they sailed for three days more and saw nothing but sea and sky. on the fourth day the wind changed to the north and the seas began to rise; by the afternoon it had nearly become a gale. but at the same time they sighted land on their port bow.

"by your leave, sire," said drinian, "we will try to get under the lee of that country by rowing and lie in harbour, maybe till this is over." caspian agreed, but a long row against the gale did not bring them to the land before evening. by the last light of that day they steered into a natural harbour and anchored, but no one went ashore that night. in the morning they found themselves in the green bay of a rugged, lonely-looking country which sloped up to a rocky summit. from the windy north beyond that summit clouds came streaming rapidly. they lowered the boat and loaded

her with any of the water casks which were now empty.

"which stream shall we water at, drinian?" said caspian as he took his seat in the stern-sheets of the boat. "there seem to be two coming down into the bay."

"it makes little odds, sire," said drinian. "but i think it's a shorter pull to that on the starboard-the eastern one."

"here comes the rain," said lucy.

"i should think it does!" said edmund, for it was already pelting hard. "i say, let's go to the other stream. there are trees there and we'll have some shelter."

"yes, let's," said eustace. "no point in getting wetter than we need."

but all the time drinian was steadily steering to the starboard, like tiresome people in cars who continue at forty miles an hour while you are explaining to them that they are on the wrong road.

"they're right, drinian," said caspian. "why don't you bring her head round and make for the western stream?"

"as your majesty pleases," said drinian a little shortly. he had had an anxious day with the weather yesterday, and he didn't like advice from landsmen. but he altered course; and it turned out afterwards that it was a good thing he did.

by the time they had finished watering, the rain was over and caspian, with eustace, the pevensies, and reepicheep, decided to walk up to the top of the hill and see what could be seen. it was a stiffish climb through coarse grass and heather and they saw neither man nor beast, except seagulls. when they reached the top they saw that it was a very small island, not more than twenty acres; and from this height the sea looked larger and more desolate than it did from the deck, or even the fighting top, of the dawn treader.

"crazy, you know," said eustace to lucy in a low voice, looking at the eastern horizon. "sailing on and on into that with no idea what we may get to." but he only said it out of habit, not really nastily as he would have done at one time.

it was too cold to stay long on the ridge for the wind still blew freshly from the north.

"don't let's go back the same way," said lucy as they turned; "let's go along a bit and come down by the other stream, the one drinian wanted to go to."

everyone agreed to this and after about fifteen minutes they were at the source of the second river. it was a more interesting place than they had expected; a deep little mountain lake, surrounded by cliffs except for a narrow channel on the seaward side out of which the water flowed. here at last they were out of the wind, and all sat down in the heather above the cliff for a rest.

all sat down, but one (it was edmund) jumped up again very quickly.

"they go in for sharp stones on this island," he said, groping about in the heather. "where is the wretched thing? . . . ah, now i've got it . . . hullo! it wasn't a stone at all, it's a sword-hilt. no, by jove, it's a whole sword; what the rust has left of it. it must have lain here for ages."

"narnian, too, by the look of it," said caspian, as they all crowded round.

"i'm sitting on something too," said lucy. "something hard." it turned out to be the remains of a mail-shirt. by this time everyone was on hands and knees, feeling in the thick heather in every direction. their search revealed, one by one, a helmet, a dagger, and a few coins; not calormen crescents but genuine narnian "lions" and "trees" such as you might see any day in the market-place of beaversdam or beruna.

"looks as if this might be all that's left of one of our seven lords," said edmund.

"just what i was thinking," said caspian. "i wonder which it was. there's nothing on the dagger to show. and i wonder how he died."

"and how we are to avenge him," added reepicheep.

edmund, the only one of the party who had read several detective stories, had meanwhile been thinking.

"look here," he said, "there's something very fishy about this. he can't have been killed in a fight."

"why not?" asked caspian.

"no bones," said edmund. "an enemy might take the armour and leave the body. but who ever heard of a chap who'd won a fight carrying away the body and leaving the armour?"

"perhaps he was killed by a wild animal," lucy suggested.

"it'd be a clever animal," said edmund, "that would take a man's mail shirt off."

"perhaps a dragon?" said caspian.

"nothing doing," said eustace. "a dragon couldn't do it. i ought to know."

"well, let's get away from the place, anyway," said lucy. she had not felt like sitting down again since edmund had raised the question of bones.

"if you like," said caspian, getting up. "i don't think any of this stuff is worth taking away."

they came down and round to the little opening where the stream came out of the lake, and stood looking at the deep water within the circle of cliffs. if it had been a hot day, no doubt some would have been tempted to bathe and everyone would have had a drink. indeed, even as it was, eustace was on the very point of stooping down and scooping up some water in his hands when reepicheep and lucy both at the same moment cried, "look," so he forgot about his drink and looked.

the bottom of the pool was made of large greyish-blue stones and the water was perfectly clear, and on the bottom lay a life-size figure of a man, made apparently of gold. it lay face downwards with its arms stretched out above its head. and it so happened that as they looked at it, the clouds parted and the sun shone out. the golden shape was lit up from end to end. lucy thought it was the most beautiful statue she had ever seen.

"well!" whistled caspian. "that was worth coming to see! i wonder, can we get it out?"

"we can dive for it, sire," said reepicheep.

"no good at all," said edmund. "at least, if it's really gold - solid gold - it'll be far too heavy to bring up. and that pool's twelve or fifteen feet deep if it's an inch. half a moment, though. it's a good thing i've brought a hunting spear with me. let's see what the depth is like. hold on to my hand, caspian, while i lean out over the water a bit." caspian took his hand and edmund, leaning forward, began to lower his spear into the water.

before it was half-way in lucy said, "i don't believe the statue is gold at all. it's only the light. your spear looks just the same colour."

"what's wrong?" asked several voices at once; for edmund had suddenly let go of the spear.

"i couldn't hold it," gasped edmund, "it seemed so heavy."

"and there it is on the bottom now," said caspian, "and lucy is right. it looks just the same colour as the statue."

but edmund, who appeared to be having some trouble with his boots - at least he was bending down and looking at them - straightened himself all at once and shouted out in the sharp voice which people hardly ever disobey:

"get back! back from the water. all of you. at once!!"

they all did and stared at him.

"look," said edmund, "look at the toes of my boots."

"they look a bit yellow," began eustace.

"they're gold, solid gold," interrupted edmund. "look at them. feel them. the leather's pulled away from it already. and they're as heavy as lead."

"by aslan!" said caspian. "you don't mean to say-?"

"yes, i do," said edmund. "that water turns things into gold. it turned the spear into gold, that's why it got so heavy. and it was just lapping against my feet (it's a good thing i wasn't barefoot) and it turned the toe-caps into gold. and that poor fellow on the bottom - well, you see."

"so it isn't a statue at all," said lucy in a low voice.

"no. the whole thing is plain now. he was here on a hot day. he undressed on top of the cliff - where we were sitting. the clothes have rotted away or been taken by birds to line nests with; the armour's still there. then he dived and -"

"don't," said lucy. "what a horrible thing."

"and what a narrow shave we've had," said edmund.

"narrow indeed," said reepicheep. "anyone's finger, anyone's foot, anyone's whisker, or anyone's tail, might have slipped into the water at any moment."

"all the same," said caspian, "we may as well test it." he stooped down and wrenched up a spray of heather. then, very cautiously, he knelt beside the pool and dipped it in. it was heather that he dipped; what he drew out was a perfect model of heather made of the purest gold, heavy and soft as lead.

"the king who owned this island," said caspian slowly, and his face flushed as he spoke, "would soon be the richest of all the kings of the world. i claim this land for ever as a narnian possession. it shall be called goldwater island. and i bind all of you to secrecy. no one must know of this. not even drinian - on pain of death, do you hear?"

"who are you talking to?" said edmund. "i'm no subject of yours. if anything it's the other way round. i am one of the four ancient sovereigns of narnia and you are under allegiance to the high king my brother."

"so it has come to that, king edmund, has it?" said caspian, laying his hand on his sword-hilt.

"oh, stop it, both of you," said lucy. "that's the worst of doing anything with boys. you're all such swaggering, bullying idiots - oooh! -" her voice died away into a gasp. and everyone else saw what she had seen.

across the grey hillside above them - grey, for the heather was not yet in bloom - without noise, and without looking at them, and shining as if he were in bright sunlight though the sun had in fact gone in, passed with slow pace the hugest lion that human eyes have ever seen. in describing the scene lucy said afterwards, "he was the size of an elephant," though at another time she only said, "the size of a cart-horse." but it was not the size that mattered. nobody dared to ask what it was. they knew it was aslan.

and nobody ever saw how or where he went. they looked at one another like people waking from sleep.

"what were we talking about?" said caspian. "have i been making rather an ass of myself?"

"sire," said reepicheep, "this is a place with a curse on it. let us get back on board at once. and if i might have the honour of naming this island, i should call it deathwater."

"that strikes me as a very good name, reep," said caspian, "though now that i come to think of it, i don't know why. but the weather seems to be settling and i dare say drinian would like to be off. what a lot we shall have to tell him."

but in fact they had not much to tell for the memory of the last hour had all become confused.

"their majesties all seemed a bit bewitched when they came aboard," said drinian to rhince some hours later when the dawn treader was once more under sail and deathwater island already below the horizon. "something happened to them in that place. the only thing i could get clear was that they think they've found the body of one of these lords we're looking for."

"you don't say so, captain," answered rhince. "well, that's three. only four more. at this rate we might be home soon after the new year. and a good thing too. my baccy's running a bit low. good night, sir."

8、两次死里逃生

黎明踏浪号开出龙岛，人人都欢天喜地。他们一出海湾就遇上顺风，第二天一早就到了那个无名地。尤斯塔斯还是条龙的时候，有些人骑在他身上飞过群山曾见过这地方。这是一块地势低的绿岛，上面只有一些兔子和几只山羊，不过根据石屋的残址和火烧过发黑的地方看来，他们断定这里不久前还住过人。岛上还有一些骨头和破烂武器。

"海盗干的好事。"凯斯宾说。

"要不就是龙干的。"爱德蒙说。

他们在岛上另外找到的惟一东西是沙滩上一只小皮艇，又叫皮筷子。那是用生皮绷在一个柳条框架上做成的，是条小小的船，只有四英尺长，船上的桨还搁在那儿，倒也大小相称。他们心想，要么这船是造给孩子的，要么那地方的人是小矮人。雷佩契普决定留着这条船，因为这船的大小同它正合适，所以就把小船带上大船去了。他们把这地方称做火烧岛，中午前就开走了。

他们顺着东南偏南的风向航行了五天光景，看不见一块陆地，也见不到鱼，见不到海鸥。后来，有一天下了一场大雨，到午后才停。尤斯塔斯输给雷佩契普两盘棋，不免又露出讨厌的老样子。爱德蒙说他真希望他们能跟苏珊一起到美国去。这时露茜往船尾窗外看说：(

“嗨！我相信雨真停了。那是什么呀?”

他们全都跌跌撞撞登上船尾楼去看，只见雨已停了，值班的德里宁也正拼命盯着船尾外的什么东西。说得确切些是好几样东西。那些东西看上去有点像光溜溜的圆石块，每块中间相隔大约四十英尺，形成整整一长列。

"可那些不会是岩石，"德里宁正说着，"因为五分钟前那儿还没有那些东西呢。"

"有一块刚才不见了。"露茜说。

"是啊，还有一块冒出来了。"爱德蒙说。"靠近了。"尤斯塔斯说。

"见鬼i"凯斯宾说，"整个东西都朝这儿移动了。"

"而且动得比我们的船开得快多了，陆下，"德里宁说，"转眼间就会追上我们的。"

他们都屏住气，因为在陆地上也好，海上也好，受到不明真相的东西追逐可一点也不妙。谁知那东西一露头竟比任何人猜疑中还要可怕得多。忽然间，离他们左舷只有一个投球的距离处，一个吓人的脑袋冒出海面。脑袋上除了贝壳类动物寄生的地方外，一片碧绿和朱红，还长着紫红色的疙瘩——形状很像马头，只是没有耳朵。脑袋上长着很大的眼睛，这样的眼睛生来是透视海洋深处的，还有一张咧开的大嘴，上下长满两排尖利的牙齿。这脑袋长在他们乍看以为是巨大的脖子上，它越露越长，大家才知道这不是脖子，而是身子，最后他们总算看见了有不少人荒唐地想要见识的——大海蛇。老远就能看见它巨大的尾巴上的皱槽，不时升出水面。此刻它正昂起脑袋，高耸在桅杆上面。

人人都奔去拿武器，可是毫无办法，这怪物高不可攀。

"射！射！”弓箭手的头头叫道。有几个人听命射了，可是箭在海蛇皮上一擦而过，仿佛射在铁甲上似的。这时，大家都一动不动，抬眼盯着海蛇的眼睛和大嘴，提心吊胆了一阵子，不知它会向哪儿扑来。

不料它竟没扑来。它把脑袋沿着桅杆的帆析探过船身。眼下它的脑袋就在槌顶观测台旁边了。可是它还不断伸长，一直把脑袋伸到右舷的舷墙上。接着又开始往下伸——不是伸向挤满人的甲板，而是伸向水里，这一来，整条船就在蛇身的弧圈下了口这个弧圈几乎一下子就缩小了些;右舷方面的海蛇身子这时几乎碰到了舷侧。,

尤斯塔斯倒一直拼命想学好，后来天下雨了，他同别人下棋，又退步了，这时他居然作出平生从未做过的第一件壮举。他随身带着凯斯宾借给他的一把剑，正当蛇身快接近右舷舷侧，他身上向舷墙猛扑过去，使出浑身力量开始对它猛刺一下。他固然除了使凯斯宾那第二把好剑折成碎片之外，毫无收获，可是对一个初出茅庐的人来说，倒是件好事。

要不是那时雷佩契普大声喊道，"别打！推！”别人早就跟他一起动手了。即使到了那个危急关头，老鼠居然劝大家别打，这倒非同寻常，所以大家眼光都转向它。当它猛地扑向舷墙，挡在海蛇前面，用它那毛茸茸的细小身子挡住海蛇那长满鳞甲、渭腻腻的巨大身子，尽量使劲往外推;好多人这才明白它的用意，纷纷冲到船舷两侧，照样往外推。过了一会儿，海蛇的脑袋又出现了，这回是在左舷，而且这回是背对着大家，于是大家都明白了。

这怪物竟把身子绕成个圈，套着黎明踏浪号，并开始把圈套收紧。要等这个圈套收得相当紧了，啪的一下子，原来的大船就会变成一堆漂浮的碎片，它就可以在水里把他们——收拾掉。他们的惟一生路是把这个圈套往船后推，推得它滑过船尾，不然就把圈套朝另一个方向推，让船身前进，脱出圈套。

雷佩契普势单力薄，当然休想办到，这无异蚍蜉撼大树，到别人把它推到一边时它已用尽力气，差点送了命。一会儿工夫全船人员，除了露茜和晕倒的老鼠之外，都沿着两边舷墙，排成两条长队，个个前胸贴后背，这样整列队伍的重量都落在队尾一个人身上，大家拼命推。推了几秒钟，难受得像推了好几个小时，看看还是毫无结果。大伙儿关节散了架，汗珠往下淌，哼哼嘿嘿，直喘大气。这时他们觉得船在动了。他们看见蛇圈离桅杆比先前更远了。不过他们也看到蛇圈收小了。这下子真正的危险就迫在眉睫了。他们能不能让船尾楼穿过这个圈套？这个圈套是不是已经太紧了？是啊，这个圈套正好绕着，贴着船尾楼的栏杆。十几个人跳上船尾楼去。这样就好得多了。这会儿海蛇的身体很低，他们可以在船尾楼对面排成一排，并肩一齐推。大家满怀希望，后来忽然又想起黎明踏浪号高耸的雕花船尾那个龙尾。要让龙尾摆脱那个圈套可万万办不到了。(

"拿把斧子，"凯斯宾声嘶力竭喊道，"照旧用力推。"

露茜对什么东西放在哪儿都一清二楚，她正站在主甲板上抬眼望着船尾楼，听到他这话，一下子就走下舱，拿了斧子，奔上梯子，赶到船尾楼。谁知正当她到了顶上，只听见喀嚓一声，就像树木倒下似的一声巨响，船身摇摇摆摆往前冲去。因为就在那千钧一发之际，不管是因为海蛇被人使劲猛推也好，海蛇愚蠢地决定抽紧圈套也好，整个雕花船尾都折断了，大船也就自由了。

大伙儿都筋夜力尽，顾不上去看露茜见到的情景。原来在船尾后几码外，海蛇身体的圈套一下子越收越小，扑通一下不见了。露茜老是说她看见那怪物脸上有种白痴的满足样子(可是她那时当然非常激动，这可能只是想象而已)。不过有一点是肯定的，这条海蛇非常蠢，因为它没有追这条船，而是掉过头去，开始在自己全身上下嗅探，仿佛以为能找到船的残骸似的。可是，黎明踏浪号已经安然脱身，”顶着轻风航行，大家全在甲板上躺着、坐着，喘气的喘气，呻吟的呻吟，过了一会儿才能开口谈论、取笑这事。但等端上了一些甜酒，他们居然还举杯祝贺，大家都夸尤斯塔斯勇敢(虽然无济于事)和雷佩契普勇敢。

这次脱险后，他们又航行了三天，只看见大海和天空。

第四天，转了北风，海面开始升高;到中午，几乎转为大风了。可就在这时，他们看见左舷船头那边有陆地。

"陛下，请恩准，"德里宁说，"让我们划桨，停靠在港口里，设法在那地方避避风，等风过了再说。"凯斯宾同意了，不过顶着大风划桨，划到傍晚才到那儿。靠着白天最后一点光线，他们开进一个天然港口，抛下了锚，不过当晚没人上岸。到了早上，他们只见身在一个绿色的海湾，那里崎岖不平，冷冷清清，斜坡遇上一个岩石幡响的山顶。山顶那边，乌云从大风逞威的北边迅猛地滚滚而来。他们放下小船，还把已经吃空的水桶统统装在船上。+

"我们到哪条河去打水啊，德里宁？ij凯斯宾一边在小船尾座板上坐下，一边说，"看上去有两条河流进海湾里呢。"

"这没什么关系，陆下，"德里宁说，"不过我看，划到右舷那边东面那条，路程短些。"

"下雨了。"露茜说。

"我想是下了！”爱德蒙说，因为这时已经下起倾盆大雨，"我说，我们还是到另一条河去吧。那儿有树，可以避雨。"

"是啊，去吧，"尤斯塔斯说，"白白淋湿可没意思。"

谁知德里宁一直稳稳地把小船朝右舷驶去，就像讨厌的家伙开车，你向他说明他开错路了，他还是以一小时四十英里的速度继续往前开。"

"他们说得对，德里宁，"凯斯宾说，"你干吗不掉转船头，划到西边那条河去？"

"随陛下的便。"德里宁有点不快地说。他昨天为天气担心了一天，他不喜欢陆上的人指点他。可他还是改变了航向;事后证明他倒做了件好事。

等他们装满了水，雨倒停了，凯斯宾决定带着尤斯塔斯、佩文西家兄妹和雷佩契普走上山顶去看看有什么发现。爬这条遍地粗硬野草和石南的山坡很费劲，路上既看不见人，也看不见野兽，只看见海鸟。他们爬到山顶才看到原来这是个很小的岛，还不到二十英亩;从这高处望去，海面比从甲板上，甚至黎明踏浪号的榄顶观测台上望出去更大，更荒凉。

"知道吗，发疯了，"尤斯塔斯瞧着东方地平线，低声对露茜说，"要到哪儿去，心里也没个谱，就那么开啊开啊，开到那种地方。"不过他只是出于习惯才说这话，并非像从前那样存心抬杠。

山上太冷，不能久待，因为北边依然有阵阵冷风刮来。

"我们回去别走老路，"回程时露茜说，"我们走一段，下去到另一条河那边，就是德里宁想要去的那条。"

大家都同意这么走，走了十五分钟，他们就到了另一条河的源头。这地方比他们预想中还要引人入胜:一个深深的山中小湖，周围都是悬崖峭壁，只有朝海那边有一条狭窄的水道，湖水就从那里流到海里去。他们在这里终于吹不到风，大家在悬崖上石南树丛里坐下休息。

大家都坐下，只有一个人又很快跳起身来，原来是爱德蒙。

"这岛上原来尽是尖石头，"他在石南丛里摸索着说，"那混账石头在哪儿。。。…啊，我找到了……嗨！这根本不是一块石头，是剑柄。不，天哪，是一把完整的剑;上面生了多厚一层锈。一定落在这儿有好多年了。"

"看样子，也是纳尼亚的剑。"大家都围上去看，凯斯宾说。

"我也坐在什么东西上了，"露茜说，"有点硬邦邦的。"一看原来是一副铠甲的残片'。这时大家都跪在地上用手在密密麻麻的石南丛里四处摸索。他们先后搜出了一个头盔、一把匕首、几枚钱币;不是卡乐门国的月牙，而是真正的纳尼亚国的"狮子"和"树"，你在海狸大坝和柏卢纳的市场上随时都可以见到这种货币。

"看样子这可能是我们那七位爵爷中的一位留下的全部物品了。"爱德蒙说。

"我也正在这么想，"凯斯宾说，"不知是哪一位。匕首上看不出什么。不知他是怎么死的。"

"也不知怎么替他报仇。"雷佩契普加上一句说。

爱德蒙是这伙人中惟一看过几本侦探小说的人，这时一直在动脑筋。

"瞧，"他说，"这件事非常蹊挠。他不会是在决斗中送命的。"

"为什么不会？"凯斯宾问。

"没有尸骨，"爱德蒙说，"要是敌人，就会拿走铠甲，扔下尸体。可是谁听说过打胜了的家伙会带走尸体，扔下铠甲的？”

"也许他是被野兽吃掉的。"露茜提出说。

“只有聪明的野兽才会把人的铠甲脱掉呢。"爱德蒙说。"也许是条龙吧？”凯斯宾说。

"不行，"尤斯塔斯说，"龙可办不到。我应当知道。”

"好吧，不管怎样，我们离开这地方吧。"露茜说。听到爱德蒙提起尸骨的问题，她可不想再坐了。

"随你便，"凯斯宾站起身说，"我认为这些东西一件也不值得带走。"

他们下了山，绕到从小湖流出来的那条河的小空地上站着，看着周围悬崖环立的那潭深水。假如天热，准保有人情不自禁去洗澡，大家也都会喝上一通。说真的，尽管天不热，恰恰在尤斯塔斯弯下腰来，想用双手百些水喝的那一刻，忽听得雷佩契普和露茜同时喊道，"瞧！”他听了顿时忘了喝水，望着水里。

潭底是青灰色的大石块砌成的，潭水非常清澈，潭底躺着一个同真人一般大小，分明是金子铸成的人像。脸朝下，两臂高举过头。正当他们看着它的时候，乌云散开，太阳出来。金像从头到脚都照得通亮。露茜觉得这真是她所见过的人像中最美的一尊。

"好啊！"凯斯宾吹声口哨说，"那倒值得来看看！不知道能不能把它打捞出来？"

"我们可以潜水去打捞，陪下。"雷佩契普说。

"根本没用，"爱德蒙说，"至少，要是真金，纯金的话那就太沉了，打捞不起。而且那水潭少说也足有十二到十五英尺那么深。话说回来，等一下。幸亏我身边带着一枝鱼叉。让我们来看看水有多深。凯斯宾，我身子探向水面的时候，抓住我的手。"凯斯宾就抓住他的手，爱德蒙探出身子，开始把鱼叉沉下水去。

还没沉到一半，露茜就说。。我根本不信这人像是金的。这只是光线的关系。你的鱼叉看上去也是这颜色。"

"怎么啦？"几个人异口同声问;因为爱德蒙忽然失于把鱼叉掉下去了。

"我拿不住了，"爱德蒙气喘吁吁说，"似乎很沉呢。"

"这会儿沉到底了，"凯斯宾说，"露茜说得对。这看上去就跟人像一样颜色。"

看来爱德蒙靴子上出了点问题，至少他正弯下腰去，可是他忽然一下子挺直身子，尖声叫嚷起来，大家听了简直不敢不从。

"往后退！从水边后退。你们大伙儿。马上！

他们都向后退去，目不转睛看着他。

"瞧，"爱德蒙说，"瞧我的靴尖。"

"看上去有点发黄。"尤斯塔斯开了个头。

"是金的，纯金的，"爱德蒙插嘴说，"瞧瞧。摸摸看。皮子已经从靴尖上脱开了。像铅一样沉。"

"阿斯兰在上，"凯斯宾说，"你的意思不见得是说…"

"是的，我是这意思，"爱德蒙说，"那潭水把一切都变成金子了。它把鱼叉变成金的，所以才那么沉。潭水刚溅到.

我脚上，幸亏我没光着脚，倒把靴尖变成了金子。潭底那个可怜的家伙——怎么，明白了吧。"

"原来那根本不是一座雕像。"露茜低声说。

"不。现在全部真相大白了。他在一个大热天来到这儿。他在我们刚坐着的悬崖顶上脱掉衣服。衣服不是烂掉了就是让鸟儿叼去铺在窝里了;铠甲还在那儿。于是他潜下水就——",

“别，”露茜说，"这事多吓人哪。""我们好险啊。"爱德蒙说。

"的确好险啊，"雷佩契普说，"无论哪个的手指，哪个的脚，哪个的胡须，哪个的尾巴，随时都可能滑进水里。"

"虽然如此，"凯斯宾说，"我们还是不妨试验一下。"他弯下腰，折了一枝石南花枝。于是他小心翼翼，跪在水边，把花枝浸在水里。他浸的是石南花，抽出来的却是纯金做的石南花模型，跟铅一般沉、一般软。

"拥有这个岛的国王，"凯斯宾慢条斯理说，说时满脸通红，"马上就会成为世界上最富有的国王。我声明这块土地今后就成为纳尼亚的属地，将命名为金水岛。而且我要求你们大家保密。这事千万别让外人知道。甚至连德里宁也不让知道——违者处死，你们听见没有?”

"你对谁说话啊？"爱德蒙说，"我可不是你的臣民。要说嘛，这话应该倒过来说。我是纳尼亚王国古代四位君主的一位。你应效忠于我哥哥至尊王才对。"

"果真如此吗，爱德蒙国王?”凯斯宾一手按在剑柄上说。

"啊呀，你们两个，赶快住口，"露茜说，"跟男孩子打交道就是这点最要不得。你们都是这么狂妄自大，恃强欺弱的白痴——啊呀l……"她说说没声了，屏住了气。大家都看到了她看见的情景。

在他们对面那灰蒙蒙的山坡高处——因为石南还没开花，所以看上去灰蒙蒙——那头人类肉眼所见最雄伟的狮子慢步走过，无声无息，也没朝他们看，虽然事实上太阳被云层遮住了，可是他浑身金光灿灿，就像沐浴在明亮的阳光下似的。事后露茜描述这幕情景时说"他个头就跟大象那么大，"然而另一回她只是说"个头跟拉车的马那样大。"不过，个头大小倒无所谓。没人敢于打听这是什么。大家都知道这就是阿斯兰。

然而没人看到他怎么走掉，走到哪儿去了。他们就像刚睡醒似的，大家面面相觑。

"我们在谈些什么啊？"凯斯宾说，"我刚才大出洋相了吗？"

"陛下，"雷佩契普说，"这地方是遭到诅咒的。我们还是马上回船上去吧。假如我有幸为这个岛命名，我就叫它做死水岛。"

"我觉得这名字起得很好，雷普，"凯斯宾说，"虽然我现在才想起来，可是不知道为什么。不过天气似乎稳定了，我想，德里宁大概愿意启航了。我们有多少话要跟他说啊。""

可是事实上他们没跟他说什么，因为刚才那一小时里的一些事都记不清、搞混了。

"这几位王上回到船上时，好像都有点儿中邪了。"几小时后，黎明踏浪号再次扬帆启航，死水岛已经落在地平线下，这时德里宁对赖因斯说，"他们在那地方碰到什么事了。我只弄得明白一件事，就是他们以为已经找到我们在寻找的那些爵爷中间一个人的尸体。"

"真的吗？船长，"赖因斯答，"这一来，找到三个了。只剩下四个。按这个速度，我们过了新年马上就可以回家了。这倒也是件好事。我的烟草快抽得差不多了。明天见，船长。"