the very end of the world

reepicheep was the only person on board besides drinian and the two pevensies who had noticed the sea people. he had dived in at once when he saw the sea king shaking his spear, for he regarded this as a sort of threat or challenge and wanted to have the matter out there and then. the excitement of discovering that the water was now fresh had distracted his attention, and before he remembered the sea people again lucy and drinian had taken him aside and warned him not to mention what he had seen.

as things turned out they need hardly have bothered, for by this time the dawn treader was gliding over a part of the sea which seemed to be uninhabited. no one except lucy saw anything more of the people, and even she had only one short glimpse. all morning on the following day they sailed in fairly shallow water and the bottom was weedy. just before midday lucy saw a large shoal of fishes grazing on the weed. they were all eating steadily and all moving in the same direction. "just like a flock of sheep," thought lucy. suddenly she saw a little sea girl of about her own age in the middle of them - a quiet, lonely-looking girl with a sort of crook in her hand. lucy felt sure that this girl must be a shepherdess - or perhaps a fish-herdess and that the shoal was really a flock at pasture. both the fishes and the girl were quite close to the surface. and just as the girl, gliding in the shallow water, and lucy, leaning over the bulwark, came opposite to one another, the girl looked up and stared straight into lucy's face. neither could speak to the other and in a moment the sea girl dropped astern. but lucy will never forget her face. it did not look frightened or angry like those of the other sea people. lucy had liked that girl and she felt certain the girl had liked her. in that one moment they had somehow become friends. there does not seem to be much chance of their meeting again in that world or any other. but if ever they do they will rush together with their hands held out.

after that for many days, without wind in her shrouds or foam at her bows, across a waveless sea, the dawn treader glided smoothly east. every day and every hour the light became more brilliant and still they could bear it. no one ate or slept and no one wanted to, but they drew buckets of dazzling water from the sea, stronger than wine and somehow wetter, more liquid, than ordinary water, and pledged one another silently in deep draughts of it. and one or two of the sailors who had been oldish men when the voyage began now grew younger every day. everyone on board was filled with joy and excitement, but not an excitement that made one talk. the further they sailed the less they spoke, and then almost in a whisper. the stillness of that last sea laid hold on them.

"my lord," said caspian to drinian one day, "what do you see ahead?"

"sire," said drinian, "i see whiteness. all along the horizon from north to south, as far as my eyes can reach."

"that is what i see too," said caspian, "and i cannot imagine what it is."

"if we were in higher latitudes, your majesty," said drinian, "i would say it was ice. but it can't be that; not here. all the same, we'd better get men to the oars and hold the ship back against the current. whatever the stuff is, we don't want to crash into it at this speed!"

they did as drinian said, and so continued to go slower and slower. the whiteness did not get any less mysterious as they- approached it. if it was land it must be a very strange land, for it seemed just as smooth as the water and on the same level with it. when they got very close to it drinian put the helm hard over and turned the dawn treader south so that she was broadside on to the current and rowed a little way southward along the edge of the whiteness. in so doing they accidentally made the important discovery that the current was only about forty feet wide and the rest of the sea as still as a pond. this was good news for the crew, who had already begun to think that the return journey to ramandu's land, rowing against stream all the way, would be pretty poor sport. (it also explained why the shepherd girl had dropped so quickly astern. she was not in the current. if she had been she would have been moving east at the same speed as the ship.)

and still no one could make out what the white stuff was. then the boat was lowered and it put off to investigate. those who remained on the dawn treader could see that the boat pushed right in amidst the whiteness. then they could hear the voices of the party in the boat clear across the still water) talking in a shrill and surprised way. then there was a pause while rynelf in the bows of the boat took a sounding; and when, after that, the boat came rowing back there seemed to be plenty of the white stuff inside her. everyone crowded to the side to hear the news.

"lilies, your majesty!" shouted rynelf, standing up in the bows.

"what did you say?" asked caspian.

"blooming lilies, your majesty," said rynelf. "same as in a pool or in a garden at home."

"look!" said lucy, who was in the stern of the boat. she held up her wet arms full of white petals and broad flat leaves.

"what's the depth, rynelf?" asked drinian.

"that's the funny thing, captain," said rynelf. "it's still deep. three and a half fathoms clear."

"they can't be real lilies - not what we call lilies," said eustace.

probably they were not, but they were very like them. and when, after some consultation, the dawn treader turned back into the current and began to glide eastward through the lily lake or the silver sea (they tried both these names but it was the silver sea that stuck and is now on caspian's map) the strangest part of their travels began. very soon the open sea which they were leaving was only a thin rim of blue on the western horizon. whiteness, shot with faintest colour of gold, spread round them on every side, except just astern where their passage had thrust the lilies apart and left an open lane of water that shone like dark green glass. to look at, this last sea was very like the arctic; and if their eyes had not by now grown as strong as eagles' the sun on all that whiteness - especially at early morning when the sun was hugest would have been unbearable. and every evening the same whiteness made the daylight last longer. there seemed no end to the lilies. day after day from all those miles and leagues of flowers there rose a smell which lucy found it very hard to describe; sweet - yes, but not at all sleepy or overpowering, a fresh, wild, lonely smell that seemed to get into your brain and make you feel that you could go up mountains at a run or wrestle with an elephant. she and caspian said to one another, "i feel that i can't stand much more of this, yet i don't want it to stop."

they took soundings very often but it was only several days later that the water became shallower. after that it went on getting shallower. there came a day when they had to row out of the current and feel their way forward at a snail's pace, rowing. and soon it was clear that the dawn treader could sail no further east. indeed it was only by very clever handling that they saved her from grounding.

"lower the boat," cried caspian, "and then call the men aft. i must speak to them."

"what's he going to do?" whispered eustace to edmund. "there's a queer look in his eyes."

"i think we probably all look the same," said edmund.

they joined caspian on the poop and soon all the men were crowded together at the foot of the ladder to hear the king's speech. "friends," said caspian, "we have now fulfilled the quest on which you embarked. the seven lords are all accounted for and as sir reepicheep has sworn never to return, when you reach ramandu's land you will doubtless find the lords revilian and argoz and mavramorn awake. to you, my lord drinian, i entrust this ship, bidding you sail to narnia with all the speed you may, and above all not to land on the island of deathwater. and instruct my regent, the dwarf trumpkin, to give to all these, my shipmates, the rewards i promised them. they have been earned well. and if i come not again it is my will that the regent, and master cornelius, and trufflehunter the badger, and the lord drinian choose a king of narnia with the consent-"

"but, sire," interrupted drinian, "are you abdicating?"

"i am going with reepicheep to see the world's end," said caspian.

a low murmur of dismay ran through the sailors.

"we will take the boat," said caspian. "you will have no need of it in these gentle seas and you must build a new one in ramandu's island. and now-"

"caspian," said edmund suddenly and sternly, "you can't do this."

"most certainly," said reepicheep, "his majesty cannot."

"no indeed," said drinian.

"can't?" said caspian sharply, looking for a moment not unlike his uncle miraz.

"begging your majesty's pardon," said rynelf from the deck below, "but if one of us did the same it would be called deserting."

"you presume too much on your long service, rynelf," said caspian.

"no, sire! he's perfectly right," said drinian.

"by the mane of aslan," said caspian, "i had thought you were all my subjects here, not my schoolmasters."

"i'm not," said edmund, "and i say you can not do this."

"can't again," said caspian. "what do you mean?"

"if it please your majesty, we mean shall not," said reepicheep with a very low bow. "you are the king of narnia. you break faith with all your subjects, and especially with trumpkin, if you do not return. you shall not please yourself with adventures as if you were a private person. and if your majesty will not hear reason it will be the truest loyalty of every man on board to follow me in disarming and binding you till you come to your senses."

"quite right," said edmund. "like they did with ulysses when he wanted to go near the sirens."

caspian's hand had gone to his sword hilt, when lucy said, "and you've almost promised ramandu's daughter to go back."

caspian paused. "well, yes. there is that," he said. he stood irresolute for a moment and then shouted out to the ship in general.

"well, have your way. the quest is ended. we all return. get the boat up again."

"sire," said reepicheep, "we do not all return. i, as i explained before -"

"silence!" thundered caspian. "i've been lessoned but i'll not be baited. will no one silence that mouse?"

"your majesty promised," said reepicheep, "to be good lord to the talking beasts of narnia."

"talking beasts, yes," said caspian. "i said nothing about beasts that never stop talking." and he flung down the ladder in a temper and went into the cabin, slamming the door.

but when the others rejoined him a little later they found him changed; he was white and there were tears in his eyes.

"it's no good," he said. "i might as well have behaved decently for all the good i did with my temper and swagger. aslan has spoken to me. no - i don't mean he was actually here. he wouldn't fit into the cabin, for one thing. but that gold lion's head on the wall came to life and spoke to me. it was terrible his eyes. not that he was at all rough with me - only a bit stern at first. but it was terrible all the same. and he said - he said - oh, i can't bear it. the worst thing he could have said. you're to go on - reep and edmund, and lucy, and eustace; and i'm to go back. alone. and at once. and what is the good of anything?"

"caspian, dear," said lucy. "you knew we'd have to go back to our own world sooner or later."

"yes," said caspian with a sob, "but this is sooner."

"you'll feel better when you get back to ramandu's island," said lucy.

he cheered up a little later on, but it was a grievous parting oo both sides and i will not dwell on it. about two o'clock in the afternoon, well victualled and watered (though they thought they would need neither food nor drink) and with reepicheep's coracle on board, the boat pulled away from the dawn treader to row through the endless carpet of lilies. the dawn trader flew all her flags and hung out her shields to honour their departure. tall and big and homelike she looked from their low position with the lilies all round them. and before she was out of sight they saw her turn and begin rowing slowly westward. yet though lucy shed a few tears, she could not feel it as much as you might have expected. the light, the silence, the tingling smell of the silver sea, even (in some odd way) the loneliness itself, were too exciting.

there was no need to row, for the current drifted them steadily to the east. none of them slept or ate. all that night and all next day they glided eastward, and when the third day dawned - with a brightness you or i could not bear even if we had dark glasses on - they saw a wonder ahead. it was as if a wall stood up between them and the sky, a greenish-grey, trembling, shimmering wall. then up came the sun, and at its first rising they saw it through the wall and it turned into wonderful rainbow colours. then they knew that the wall was really a long, tall wave - a wave endlessly fixed in one place as you may often see at the edge of a waterfall. it seemed to be about thirty feet high, and the current was gliding them swiftly towards it. you might have supposed they would have thought of their danger. they didn't. i don't think anyone could have in their position. for now they saw something not only behind the wave but behind the sun. they could not have seen even the sun if their eyes had not been strengthened by the water of the last sea. but now they could look at the rising sun and see it clearly and see things beyond it. what they saw - eastward, beyond the sun - was a range of mountains. it was so high that either they never saw the top of it or they forgot it. none of them remembers seeing any sky in that direction. and the mountains must really have been outside the world. for any mountains even a quarter of a twentieth of that height ought to have had ice and snow on them. but these were warm and green and full, of forests and waterfalls however high you looked. and suddenly there came a breeze from the east, tossing the top of the wave into foamy shapes and ruffling the smooth water all round them. it lasted only a second or so but what it brought them in that second none of those three children will ever forget. it brought both a smell and a sound, a musical sound edmund and eustace would never talk about it afterwards. lucy could only say, "it would break your heart." "why," said i, "was it so sad: " "sad!! no," said lucy.

no one in that boat doubted chat they were seeing beyond the end of the world into aslan's country.

at that moment, with a crunch, the boat ran aground. the water was too shallow now for it. "this," said reepicheep, "is where i go on alone."

they did not even try to stop dim, for everything now felt as if it had been fated or had happened before. they helped him to lower his little coracle. then he took off his sword ("i shall need it no more," he said) and flung it far away across the idled sea. where it fell it stood upright with the hilt above the surface. then he bade them goodbye trying to be sad for their sakes but he was quivering with happiness. lucy, for the first and last time, did what she had always wanted to do, taking him in her arms and caressing him. then hastily he got into his coracle and took his paddle, and the current caught it and away he went, very black against the lilies. but no lilies grew on the wave; it was a smooth green slope. the coracle went more and more quickly, and beautifully it rushed up the wave's side. for one split second they saw its shape and reepicheep's on the very top. then it vanished, and since that moment no one can truly claim to have seen reepicheep the mouse. but my belief is that he came safe to aslan's country and is alive there to this day.

as the sun rose the sight of those mountains outside the world faded away. the wave remained but there was only blue sky behind it.

the children got out of the boat and waded - not towards the wave but southward with the wall of water on their left. they could not have told you why they did this; it was their fate. and though they had felt - and been very grown-up on the dawn treader, they now felt just the opposite and held hands as they waded through the lilies. they never felt tired. the water was warm and all the time it got shallower. at last they were on dry sand, and then on grass - a huge plain of very fine short grass, almost level with the silver sea and spreading in every direction without so much as a molehill.

and of course, as it always does in a perfectly flat place without trees, it looked as if the sky came down to meet the grass in front of them. but as they went on they got the strangest impression that here at last the sky did really come down and join the earth - a blue wall, very bright, but real and solid: more like glass than anything else. and soon they were quite sure of it. it was very near now.

but between them and the foot of the sky there was something so white on the green grass that even with their eagles' eyes they could hardly look at it. they came on and saw that it was a lamb.

"come and have breakfast," said the lamb in its sweet milky voice.

then they noticed for the first time that there was a fire lit on the grass and fish roasting on it. they sat down and ate the fish, hungry now for the first time for many days. and it was the most delicious food they had ever tasted.

"please, lamb," said lucy, "is this the way to aslan's country?"

"not for you," said the lamb. "for you the door into aslan's country is from your own world."

"what!" said edmund. "is there a way into aslan's country from our world too?"

"there is a way into my country from all the worlds," said the lamb; but as he spoke his snowy white flushed into tawny gold and his size changed and he was aslan himself, towering above them and scattering light from his mane.

"oh, aslan," said lucy. "will you tell us how to get into your country from our world?"

"i shall be telling you all the time," said aslan. "but i will not tell you how long or short the way will be; only that it lies across a river. but do not fear that, for i am the great bridge builder. and now come; i will open the door in the sky and send you to your own land."

"please, aslan," said lucy. "before we go, will you tell us when we can come back to narnia again? please. and oh, do, do, do make it soon." '

"dearest," said aslan very gently, "you and your brother will never come balk to narnia."

"oh, aslan!!" said edmund and lucy both together in despairing voices.

"you are too old, children," said aslan, "and you must begin to come close to your own world now."

"it isn't narnia, you know," sobbed lucy. "it's you. we shan't meet you there. and how can we live, never meeting you?"

"but you shall meet me, dear one," said aslan.

"are are you there too, sir?" said edmund.

"i am," said aslan. "but there i have another name. you must learn to know me by that name. this was the very reason why you were brought to narnia, that by knowing me here for a little, you may know me better there."

"and is eustace never to come back here either?" said lucy.

"child," said aslan, "do you really need to know that? come, i am opening the door in the sky." then all in one moment there was a rending of the blue wall (like a curtain being torn) and a terrible white light from beyond the sky, and the feel of aslan's mane and a lion's kiss on their foreheads and then - the bark bedroom in aunt alberta's home in cambridge.

only two more things need to be told. one is that caspian and his men all came safely back to ramandu's island. and the three lords woke from their sleep. caspian married ramandu's daughter and they all reached narnia in the end, and she became a great queen and the mother and grandmother of great kings. the other is that back in our own world everyone soon started saying how eustace had improved, and how "you'd never know him for the same boy": everyone except aunt alberta, who said he had become very commonplace and tiresome and it must have been the influence of those pevensie children.

16、真正的世界尽头

除了德里宁和佩文西家兄妹之外，船上只有雷佩契普一个看到过海人。它一看见海王挥舞长矛，就马上潜入水中，因为它把这当作是威胁或挑衅，所以当场就想一决雌雄。发现海水香甜那股兴奋劲儿分散了它的注意力，趁它还没再想起海人，露茜和德里宁就把它拉到一边，警告它别再提起看见的事。

结果他们倒不怎么要伤脑筋了，因为这时黎明踏浪号正在一片看来没有人的海域里悄悄行驶。除了露茜之外，谁也没再看见海人，即使她也只是匆匆一瞥。第二天整个早晨，他们这条船都在很浅的水里行驶，海底长满水草。晌午前露茜看见一大群鱼在水草上游过。这群鱼都在不断吃食，全都朝一个方向游动。“就跟羊群似的，”露茜心里想。冷不防在鱼群中看见一个小海女，年纪跟她差不多。这是一个举止文静，神情孤独的姑娘，手里拿着一根钩子似的东西。露茜相信这姑娘一定是个牧羊女——也许该说是牧鱼女——那群鱼真像在草原上吃草似的。鱼群和那姑娘都贴近水面。那姑娘在浅水里滑行的时候，露茜正好趴在舷墙上，两个人打了个照面，那姑娘抬眼看着，恰好盯着露茜的脸。谁也不能跟对方说话，因为一会儿工夫那姑娘就落在船尾后了。可是露茜永远忘不了她的脸。这张脸看上去并不像其他海人脸色那么害怕和愤怒。露茜喜欢那姑娘，她感到那姑娘肯定也喜欢她。在那短短一瞬间，不知怎的，她们竟成了朋友。看来在这个世界里或任何其他世界里，她们是没多大机会再见面的了。不过万一见了面，她们准会一齐迫不及待地伸出手去。

之后，有好多天支桅索上没有风，船头处没有泡沫，黎明踏浪号平平稳稳地朝东行驶，驶过一片平静无波的海面。每天每时光线都变得更加耀眼，但他们竟受得了。没人吃，没人睡，也没人想吃想睡，大家就把水桶往海里汲些耀眼的水，这水比酒更醇，总之比一般水更湿润，更清澈，他们就互相默默干杯，一饮而尽。有一两个水手在开始远航时已经老态龙钟，现在是一天比一天年轻。船上人人都喜气洋洋，兴奋万状，但并没兴奋得想要说话。他们越往远处航行，话说得越少，后来几乎像在说悄悄话了。最后那一片大海的宁静深深抓住了他们。

“爵爷，”有一天凯斯宾对德里宁说，“你看前面是什么?”

“陛下，”德里宁说，“我看见一片白茫茫。就我肉眼所能看到的，从北到南的地平线上全是白茫茫的。”

“这个我也看到了，”凯斯宾说，“我想像不出是什么东西。”

“陛下，如果我们在纬度较高的地方，”德里宁说，“倒可以说这是冰。可是这不可能是冰，这里没冰。话虽这么说，我们最好还是派人划桨，别让船随着水流漂行。不管那是什么玩意儿，我们万万不能以这种速度一头撞进去。”;

大家按德里宁的吩咐去做，船才越来越慢，越来越慢。等他们靠近了，那片白茫茫的神秘色彩还是没有减退。要说这是一片陆地吧，一定是非常奇特的土地，因为它看上去同水一样滑，而且同水面一样高。当他们离这很近的时候，德里宁使劲转舵，把船身转向南面，这样舷侧就对着水流，再沿着那片白茫茫的边缘往南划一段路。正在这么忙的时候，他们偶然有个重大发现，原来这股水流只有四十英尺宽，而其他海面还是跟池塘一样宁静。这对船员无疑是个喜讯，他们已经开始担心重返拉曼杜的岛上那段路程，一路上逆流划桨的话，可要吃苦头了。(这点也说明那个牧鱼姑娘为什么那么快就落在船尾后了。因为她不在那股水流里。如果她当时在水流里，早就跟船的漂流速度一样快地向东漂流了。)3

不过，还是没人弄得明白那白茫茫的东西是什么。于是就放下小船，划去侦察。留在大船上的人都看得到小船笔直划进那片白茫茫的东西当中。后来他们都听得到从一汪止水那边传来小船上那些人大惊小怪的说话声。赖尼夫在小船船头测量水深时，大家稍停片刻；事成之后，小船划回来时，船里似乎有不少那种白的东西。人人都挤到舷侧听消息。)

“陛下，是百合花!”赖尼夫站在小船船头大声喊道。

“你说什么?”凯斯宾问。

“陛下，盛开的百合花，”赖尼夫说，“跟国内花园里的一模一样。”

“瞧!”露茜在小船船尾上说。她举起湿漉漉的双臂，捧满雪白的花瓣和宽阔扁平的叶子。

“水深多少，赖尼夫?”德里宁问。

“船长，真是怪事，”赖尼夫说，“水还是很深。整整三英寻半。”

“这不可能是真正的百合花——不是我们所说的百合花。”尤斯塔斯说。

这恐怕不是百合花，但非常相像。经过一番商量，黎明踏浪号又掉转船头开进水流中，开始往东行驶，穿越百合湖，或称银海(这两个名称他们都试过，不过银海沿用至今，现在凯斯宾的地图上就用这名称)，这时他们这次远航最希奇的部分开始了。他们离开的那片开阔的海面一下子就只是西边地平线上一条细细的蓝边。他们周围四面八方都是白茫茫一片，隐隐闪着黄金色，只有船身排开百合花，在船尾处留出一条水面通道，像深绿色的玻璃那样闪闪发光。最后这一片大海看上去很像北冰洋，如果他们的眼睛现在没变得像鹰眼那样厉害，那白茫茫一大片上面的阳光准使他们受不了，尤其是清晨太阳最大的时候。每天傍晚那白茫茫一大片使白天更长了。百合花似乎无边无际。连绵千里的白花天天都散发出一股香味，露茜觉得这味儿很难形容；香虽香——但不是香得使人昏昏欲睡，无法忍受，而是一股清新、强劲、幽雅的味儿，似乎钻进你的脑子，使你觉得自己能跑上高山，或同大象搏斗。她同凯斯宾互相说：“我觉得我再也受不了这股味儿了，可我又不愿闻不到这股味儿。”

他们经常不断测量水深，但过了好几天以后海水才变浅，此后就越来越浅。有一天他们不得不靠划桨划出水流，像蜗牛爬似的一步步划啊划的，摸索着前进。不久就明白黎明踏浪号已没法再往东开了。真是亏得指挥非常巧妙才免得搁浅。+

“放下小船，”凯斯宾叫道，“吩咐大家到船尾来。我必须对大家说一说。”

“他打算干什么呀?”尤斯塔斯对爱德蒙悄声说，“他眼神好怪呢。”

“我想，我们的脸色大概都差不多。”爱德蒙说。

他们到船尾楼去找凯斯宾，一下子全体人员都一起挤在梯脚处聆听国王讲话。"

“朋友们，”凯斯宾说，“我们现在已经完成了你们从事的探险事业。七位爵爷都有了下落，既然雷佩契普爵士发誓绝不回去，等你们大家回到拉曼杜的岛上准会发现雷维廉、阿尔戈兹和马夫拉蒙三位爵爷都醒了。德里宁爵爷，我把这条船托付给你，命令你竭尽全速开回纳尼亚去，最重要的是别在死水岛那儿上岸。再通知我的摄政王小矮人杜鲁普金，把我答应赐给所有这些同船伙伴的奖赏，统统照发不误。他们都理该受奖。如果我不再回来，我的遗嘱就是要摄政王和科内留斯，以及海狸特鲁佛汉特和德里宁爵爷一致选举一位纳尼亚国王……”

“可是陛下，”德里宁打断他道，“你是不是退位了?”

“我要跟雷佩契普去看看世界尽头。”凯斯宾说。

水手们惊愕得低声嘀咕起来。

“我们将坐小船，”凯斯宾说，“在这一带风平浪静的海面上，你们用不着小船了，你们到了拉曼杜的岛上就必须再做一条小船。可现在……”

“凯斯宾，”爱德蒙突然严厉地说，“你万万不能这样做。”

“千真万确，”雷佩契普说，“陛下不能这样。”

“确实不能。”德里宁说。

“不能?”凯斯宾厉声说，一时间看上去倒跟他叔父弥若兹没什么两样。

“请陛下恕罪，”赖尼夫在下面甲板上说，“可是如果我们当中有人这样做，那就要称做临阵脱逃。”

“赖尼夫，你虽为我效劳多年，也未免太放肆了。”凯斯宾说。

“不，陛下!他说得完全对。”德里宁说。

“阿斯兰在上，”凯斯宾说，“我原以为你们都是我的臣民，不是我的老师。”

“我不是你的臣民，”爱德蒙说，“我就说你不能这样做。”

“又是不能，”凯斯宾说，“你这是什么意思?”

“陛下容禀，我们意思是说不该，”雷佩契普深深鞠了一躬，“您是纳尼亚国王。如果您不回去的话，就是对您的全体臣民失了信，特别是对杜鲁普金。您不该对这些探险活动沾沾自喜，仿佛您是平民百姓似的。如果陛下不听信说理，那船上每个人只有随我解除您的武装，把您绑起来，直到您恢复理智，这才是对您真正的效忠。”

“说得很对，”爱德蒙说，“就像当初尤利西斯要去接近水妖时，人家对待他那样。”

凯斯宾的手早已去摸剑把，这时露茜说：“而且你几乎答应过拉曼杜的女儿说要回去的。”

凯斯宾顿了一下。“哦，是的。是有这么回事。”他说。他一时站在那儿拿不定主意，随即对全船人员大声叫着：

“得了，依了你们吧。探险行动结束了。我们统统回去。把小船再吊上来。”

“陛下，”雷佩契普说，“我们并不是统统都回去。我，我以前说明过……”

“静一静!’’凯斯宾怒喝道，“我受过教训了，可我不愿受作弄。难道没人让那老鼠安静下来吗?”

“陛下保证过，”雷佩契普说，“要当纳尼亚会说话的兽类的好君主。”

“会说话的兽类，对，”凯斯宾说，“可我没说过不停说话的兽类。”说着他怒气冲冲地下了梯子，走进舱里，使劲碰上了门。

但是稍过一会儿，大家进舱找他，发现他竟变了：他脸色煞白，眼睛里噙着泪水。

“没用了，”他说，“尽管我做事爱使性子，摆架子，可是我原该举止得体的。阿斯兰对我说过了。不——我不是说他真的在这里。首先，舱里太小，容不下他。不过墙上那只金狮头活过来对我说话了。他的眼睛——真可怕，不是说他对我粗暴——只是开头有点严厉。不过反正真可怕就是了。他说——他说——啊呀，我真受不了。这是他说出来的最最可怕的事了。你们——雷普、爱德蒙、露茜，还有尤斯塔斯——倒都要继续往前走了；而我却要回去，孤零零的，立刻回去。一切还有什么用呢?”

“亲爱的凯斯宾，”露茜说，“你知道我们早晚总得回到自己的世界里去。”

“是啊，”凯斯宾抽抽噎噎说，“可未免早了些。”

“你回到拉曼杜的岛上去后就会感到好受些的。”露茜说。

稍过一会儿他才高兴起来，不过分手对双方都是痛苦的，我也不细说了。下午两点左右，他们备足了粮食和饮用水(虽然他们原以为自己既不需要吃，也不需要喝)，再把雷佩契普的小筏子放在小船上，小船就离开黎明踏浪号，一直划过那片无边无际的百合花。黎明踏浪号飘起所有旗帜，挂出盾形纹章，为他们隆重送行。他们在下边，周围都是百合花，往上看这条大船又高大又亲切。他们目送大船掉头，开始慢慢向西划去，走得不见影儿了。露茜虽然掉了几滴眼泪，可是她并不像你所想的那么难受。那种亮光，那份宁静，银海那种扣人心弦的味儿，说来也怪，甚至连那份孤独都太令人激动了。

用不着再划桨，因为那股水流不断把他们的小船漂向东面。他们没一个人睡觉，也不吃饭。整整那一夜，第二天整整一天，他们的小船都朝东漂流，到了第三天拂晓——天色那么明亮，你我就算戴上墨镜也受不了——他们看见前面有一大奇观。仿佛是一堵墙挡立在他们和天空之间，一堵青灰色、颤巍巍、亮闪闪的墙。随后出太阳了，初升起时他们是透过这堵墙看见的，太阳幻出奇异的彩虹。他们这才知道那实际上是一道又长又高的波浪——一道永远固定在一处的波浪，恰如瀑布边上经常可以看到的水帘似的。看来有三十英尺高，那股水流正飞速把他们的小船漂向那道波浪。你可能以为他们会想到处境危险吧。他们才不呢。我想，任何人在他们这种处境中都不会想到危险。因为他们现在不仅看到波浪后面的景象，而且看到太阳后面的景象。如果他们的眼力没经受过最后一片大海那水的锻炼，他们连太阳也不能看。可是他们现在竟能看着太阳升起，看得清清楚楚，还看见太阳外面的景象。他们朝东边看，只见太阳后面有一列山脉。山很高很高，他们不是望不到山顶就是忘了。谁也不记得看到那个方向有天空。那山脉一定确实就在这世界的外面。因为任何山峰，即使只及那山的几十分之一那么高，山上也应当有冰雪。但这些山尽管看上去高，却是暖洋洋、绿油油，到处是森林和瀑布。突然间，东方吹来一阵微风，把浪峰吹成泡沫状，把他们周围平滑的水面吹皱。这只有一眨眼工夫，可是这三个孩子对那一眨眼工夫却终身不忘。这阵风带来了一股香味和一种声音，是一阵音乐的声音。事后爱德蒙和尤斯塔斯都对此事绝口不谈。露茜只说得出，“真叫你心都碎了。”“啊呀，”我说，“真那么难过吗?”“难过?不。”露茜说。

那小船里的人都深信自己正看到世界尽头的外边阿斯兰的国土了。

这时，咔嚓一响，小船搁浅了。这会儿水太浅了，连小船都浮不起。“这就是我单独上路的地方了。”雷佩契普说。

他们连拦都不想拦它，因为现在似乎一切都是命中注定的，或者以前发生过的。他们帮它把小筏子放下水。于是他卸下剑，一下子把剑远远扔到百合花盛开的海面那边。“我再也用不着这剑了。”它说。那剑落下水，就笔直插在那儿，只有剑把露在水面上。于是它跟他们告别，竭力装作为他们难过的样子；可是暗地里却高兴得直哆嗦。露茜头一回，也是最后一回，做了她一直想要做的事，把它搂在怀里，爱抚了一通。于是它匆匆上了小筏子，划起桨，卷进水流就顺流漂走了，在百合花的衬托下显得黑黑的。不过波浪上没长百合花，那是一片滑溜溜、绿茵茵的坡面，小筏子越走越快，冲过波浪那一侧时可真壮观。就在那一刹那间他们看到小筏子的轮廓和站在上面的雷佩契普的轮廓。后来就不见踪影了，从此以后谁也不能真正自称看见过老鼠雷佩契普。不过我相信它平安到达了阿斯兰的国土，到今天还健在呢。

太阳一出来，世界外边那些高山就渐渐消失。那道波浪还在，可是波浪后面只见蓝天了。三个孩子走下小船，蹬着水——不是朝波浪走去，而是朝南走，那道水墙在他们左面。他们没法告诉你为什么这样做；这是他们的命运。虽然他们在黎明踏浪号时感到自己长得很大了，而且也是长大了，可是眼下他们的感觉却恰恰相反，他们蹬过那片百合花时大家手拉着手。他们丝毫不感到疲倦。海水暖洋洋，而且一直越来越浅。终于走到干燥的沙地上，接着又走到草地上——好大一片草原，长着细细短短的草，几乎同银海一样高，向四面八方铺展开去，连个鼹鼠窠都没有。

当然，不长树木的平地总是如此，看上去天空和草地就在他们眼前相接。但等他们走上前去，却有个最离奇的印象，就是这里的天终于真正同地相接了——一堵蓝墙，非常明亮，但结结实实，特别像玻璃。他们很快就确定了。现在非常近了。

不过在他们和天边之间，青草上有样东西自得连他们那种鹰眼都难以正视。他们上前一看，原来是只小羊。

“来吃早餐吧。”小羊说，声音亲切而柔和。

这时他们才头一回看到草地上有个火堆，上面烤着鱼。他们坐下来吃着鱼，多天来还是头一回感到肚子饿呢。这是他们所尝到过的最美味的一顿饭菜了。

“小羊，请问这条路是到阿斯兰国土去的吧?”露茜问。

“这条路不是你们走的，”小羊说，“你们到阿斯兰国土去的门在你们自己的世界里。”

“什么!”爱德蒙说，“我们的世界里也有一条路通到阿斯兰的国土吗?”

“所有的世界都有一条路通到我的国土。”小羊说，话音刚落，一身雪白的毛就变成亮闪闪的金褐色，个子也变大了，原来它就是阿斯兰，高高居上，鬣毛散发出金光。

“啊阿呀，阿斯兰，”露茜说，“请告诉我们怎么才能从我们的世界走进你的国土呢?”!

“我将不断告诉你，”阿斯兰说，“可是我不会告诉你这条路有多长多短；只是这条路要过一条河。但不用害怕，因为我是个了不起的造桥专家。好，来吧，我要打开天门，送你们回自己的地方去。”

“阿斯兰，”露茜说，“我们临走前，请你告诉我们，我们几时再能回到纳尼亚来?请你千万，千万，千万让这一天早点来，好吗?”

“亲爱的，”阿斯兰非常温和地说，“你和你哥哥今后不会再回到纳尼亚来了。”

“啊呀，阿斯兰!”爱德蒙和露茜两人都大失所望地齐声说。

“孩子们，你们年龄太大了，”阿斯兰说，“你们现在必须开始接近自己的世界了。”

“你知道，不是纳尼亚，”露茜啜泣说，“是你。我们不会在那儿见到你了。今后永远也见不到你，叫我们怎么活啊?”

“亲爱的孩子，可你们会见到我的。”阿斯兰说。"

“难道——你也在那儿，阁下?”爱德蒙说。

“我在，”阿斯兰说，“不过在那儿我用的是别的名字。你们必须学会知道我的名字。正是这个缘故，所以才把你们带到纳尼亚来，你们在这儿认识我一段时间，在那儿就可以对我更了解。”

“那么尤斯塔斯也永远不能回到这里来了?”露茜说。

“孩子啊，”阿斯兰说，“你当真需要知道那点吗?来，我在天上开一扇门。”说着蓝墙上顿时出现一个裂口(像窗帘撕开了)，一道可怕的白光从天外照进来，他们觉得挨到阿斯兰的鬣毛，脑门上印着狮王的亲吻，于是——又回到剑桥艾贝塔舅妈家的里屋了。

另外只剩两件事还需要交代一下。一件是凯斯宾和他手下全都安全回到拉曼杜的岛上。三位爵爷都从沉睡中醒来。凯斯宾娶了拉曼杜的女儿为妻，最后他们都到达纳尼亚，她成了一个了不起的王后，和几个了不起的国王的母亲和祖母。另一件事是在我们自己的世界里，不久人人都开始说尤斯塔斯如何长进：“你决不会知道他就是从前那个孩子。”只有艾贝塔舅妈却说他变得非常平凡，而且讨厌，一定是受了佩文西家那几个孩子的影响