CHAPTER THIRTEEN THE THREE SLEEPERS（第3/3页）

“Do none of you know it ？”said the girl．

“I—I think，”said Lucy，“I’ve seen something like it before．It was a knife like it that the White Witch used when she killed Aslan at the Stone Table long ago．”

“It was the same．，”said the girl，“and it was brought here to be kept in honour while the world lasts．”

Edmund，who had been looking more and more uncomfortable for the last few minutes，now spoke．

“Look here，”he said，“I hope I’m not a coward-about eating this food，I mean-and I’m sure I don’t mean to be rude．But we have had a lot of queer adventures on this voyage of ours and things aren’t always what they seem．When I look in your face I can’t help believing all you say：but then that’s just what might happen with a witch too．How are we to know you’re a friend ？”

“You can’t know，”said the girl．“You can only believe or not．”

After a moment’s pause Reepicheep’s small voice was heard．

“Sire，”he said to Caspian，“of your courtesy fill my cup with wine from that flagon：it is too big for me to lift．I will drink to the lady．”

Caspian obeyed and the Mouse，standing on the table，held up a golden cup between its tiny paws and said，“Lady，I pledge you．”Then it fell to on cold peacock，and in a short while everyone else followed its example．All were very hungry and the meal，if not quite what you wanted for a very early breakfast，was excellent as a very late supper．

“Why is it called Aslan’s table ？”asked Lucy presently．

“It is set here by his bidding，”said the girl，“for those who come so far．Some call this island the World’s End，for though you can sail further，this is the beginning of the end．”

“But how does the food keep ？”asked the practical Eustace．

“It is eaten，and renewed every day，”said the girl．“This you will see．”

“And what are we to do about the Sleepers ？”asked Caspian．“In the world from which my friends come”(here，he nodded at Eustace and the Pevensies)“they have a story of a prince or a king coming to a castle where all the people lay in an enchanted sleep．In that story he could not dissolve the enchantment until he had kissed the Princess．”

“But here，”said the girl，“it is different．Here he cannot kiss the Princess till he has dissolved the enchantment．”

“Then，”said Caspian，“in the name of Aslan，show me how to set about that work at once．”

“My father will teach you that，”said the girl．

“Your father ！”said everyone．“Who is he？ And where？”

“Look，”said the girl，turning round and pointing at the door in the hillside．They could see it more easily now，for while they had been talking the stars had grown fainter and great gaps of white light were appearing in the greyness of the eastern sky．