迪文小说

chater thirteen the three leeer（第2页）

“It’sbeenalongsleep，though，”saidEdmund，“tolettheirhairgrowlikethis．”

“Itmustbeanenchantedsleep，”saidLucy．“Ifeltthemomentwelandedonthisislandthatitwasfullofmagic．Oh！doyouthinkwehaveperhapscomeheretobreakit？”

“Wecantry，”saidCaspian，andbeganshakingthenearestofthethreesleepers．Foramomenteveryonethoughthewasgoingtobesuccessful，forthemanbreathedhardandmuttered，“I’llgoeastwardnomore．OutoarsforNarnia．”Buthesankbackalmostatonceintoayetdeepersleepthanbefore：thatis，hisheavyheadsaggedafewincheslowertowardsthetableandalleffortstorousehimagainwereuseless．Withtheseconditwasmuchthesame．“Weren’tborntolivelikeanimals．Gettotheeastwhileyou’veachance-landsbehindthesun，”andsankdown．Andthethirdonlysaid，“Mustard，please，”andslepthard．

“OutoarsforNarnia，eh？”saidDrinian．

“Yes，”saidCaspian，“youareright，Drinian．Ithinkourquestisatanend．Let’slookattheirrings．Yes，thesearetheirdevices．ThisistheLordRevilian．ThisistheLordArgoz：andthis，theLordMavramorn．”

“Butwecan’twakethem，”saidLucy．“Whatarewetodo？”

“BeggingyourMajesties’pardonsall，”saidRhince，“butwhynotfalltowhileyou’rediscussingit？Wedon’tseeadinnerlikethiseveryday．”

“Notforyourlife！”saidCaspian．

“That’sright，that’sright，”saidseveralofthesailors．

“Toomuchmagicabouthere．Thesoonerwe’rebackonboardthebetter．”

“Dependuponit，”saidReepicheep，“itwasfromeatingthisfoodthatthesethreelordscamebyasevenyears’sleep．”

“Iwouldn’ttouchittosavemylife，”saidDrinian．

“Thelight’sgoinguncommonquick，”saidRynelf．

“Backtoship，backtoship，”mutteredthemen．

“Ireallythink，”saidEdmund，“they’reright．Wecandecidewhattodowiththethreesleeperstomorrow．Wedaren’teatthefoodandthere’snopointinstayinghereforthenight．Thewholeplacesmellsofmagic-anddanger．”

“IamentirelyofKingEdmund’sopinion，”saidReepicheep，“asfarasconcernstheship’scompanyingeneral．ButImyselfwillsitatthistabletillsunrise．”

“Whyonearth？”saidEustace．

“Because，”saidtheMouse，“thisisaverygreatadventure，andnodangerseemstomesogreatasthatofknowingwhenIgetbacktoNarniathatIleftamysterybehindmethroughfear．”

“I’llstaywithyou，Reep，”saidEdmund．

“AndItoo，”saidCaspian．

“Andme，”saidLucy．AndthenEustacevolunteeredalso。ThiswasverybraveofhimbecauseneverhavingreadofsuchthingsorevenheardofthemtillhejoinedtheDawnTreadermadeitworseforhimthanfortheothers．

“IbeseechyourMajesty—”beganDrinian．

“No，myLord，”saidCaspian．“Yourplaceiswiththeship，andyouhavehadaday’sworkwhilewefivehaveidled．”TherewasalotofargumentaboutthisbutintheendCaspianhadhisway。Asthecrewmarchedofftotheshoreinthegatheringdusknoneofthefivewatchers，exceptperhapsReepicheep，couldavoidacoldfeelinginthestomach．

Theytooksometimechoosingtheirseatsattheperiloustable．Probablyeveryonehadthesamereasonbutnoonesaiditoutloud．Foritwasreallyarathernastychoice．Onecouldhardlybeartositallnightnexttothosethreeterriblehairyobjectswhich，ifnotdead，werecertainlynotaliveintheordinarysense．Ontheotherhand，tositatthefarend，sothatyouwouldseethemlessandlessasthenightgrewdarker，andwouldn’tknowiftheyweremoving，andperhapswouldn’tseethematallbyabouttwoo’clockno，itwasnottobethoughtof．Sotheysaunteredroundandroundthetablesaying，“Whatabouthere？”and“Orperhapsabitfurtheron，”or，“Whynotonthisside？”tillatlasttheysettleddownsomewhereaboutthemiddlebutnearertothesleepersthantotheotherend．Itwasabouttenbynowandalmostdark．Thosestrangenewconstellationsburnedintheeast．LucywouldhavelikeditbetteriftheyhadbeentheLeopardandtheShipandotheroldfriendsoftheNarniansky．