CHAPTER FOURTEEN THE BEGINNING OF THE END OF THE WORLD

Slowly the door opened again and out there came a figure as tall and straight as the girl’s but not so slender．It carried no light but light seemed to come from it．As it came nearer，Lucy saw that it was like an old man．His silver beard came down to his bare feet in front and his saver hair hung down to his heels behind and his robe appeared to be made from the fleece of silver sheep．He looked so mild and grave that once more all the travellers rose to their feet and stood in silence．

But the old man came on without speaking to the travellers and stood on the other side of the table opposite to his daughter．Then both of them held up their arms before them and turned to face the east．In that position the began to sing．I wish I could write down the song，but one who was present could remember it．Lucy said afterwards that it was high，almost shrill，but very beautiful，cold kind of song，an early morning kind of song．And they sang， the grey clouds lifted from the eastern sky a the white patches grew bigger and bigger till it was white，and the sea began to shine like silver．And long afterwards(but those two sang all the time)the east began to turn red and at last，unclouded，the sun came up out the sea and its long level ray shot down the length of the table on the gold and silver sand on the Stone Knife．

Once or twice before，the Narnians had wondered whether the sun at its rising did not look bigger in these seas than it had looked at home．This time they we certain．There was no mistaking it．And the brightness its ray on the dew and on the table was far beyond an．morning brightness they had ever seen．And as Edmu said afterwards，“Though lots of things happened on that trip which sound more exciting，that moment was really the most exciting．”For now they knew that they had truly come to the beginning of the End of the World．

Then something seemed to be flying at them out of the very centre of the rising sun：but of course one couldn’t look steadily in that direction to make sure．But presently the air became full of voices-voices which took up same song that the Lady and her Father were singing，but in far wilder tones and in a language which no one knew And soon after that the owners of these voices could be seen．They were birds，large and white，and they came hundreds and thousands and alighted on everything；the grass， and the pavement，on the table，on your shoulders，your hands， and your head，till it looked as heavy snow had fallen．For， like snow，they not only make everything white but blurred and blunted all shapes．But Lucy，looking out from between the wings of the birds that covered her，saw one bird fly to the Old Man with something in its beak that looked like a little fruit，unless it was a little live coal，which it might have been，for it was too bright to look at．And the bird laid it in the Old Man’s mouth．

Then the birds stopped their singing and appeared to be very busy about the table．When they rose from it again everything on the table that could be eaten or drunk had disappeared．These birds rose from their meal in their thousands and hundreds and carried away all the things that could not be eaten or drunk，such as bones，rinds，and shells，and took their flight back to the rising sun．But now，because they were not singing，the whir of their wings seemed to set the whole air a-tremble．And there was the table pecked clean and empty，and the three old Lords of Narnia still fast asleep．

Now at last the Old Man turned to the travellers and bade them welcome．

“Sir，”said Caspian，“will you tell us how to undo the enchantment which holds these three Narnian Lords asleep．”

“I will gladly tell you that，my son，”said the Old Man．“To break this enchantment you must sail to the World’s End，or as near as you can come to it，and you must come back having left at least one of your company behind．”

“And what must happen to that one ？”asked Reepicheep．

“He must go on into the utter east and never return into the world．”

“That is my heart’s desire，”said Reepicheep．

“And are we near the World’s End now，Sir ？”asked Caspian. “Have you any knowledge of the seas and lands further east than this ？”

“I saw them long ago，”said the Old Man，“but it was from a great height．I cannot tell you such things as sailor need to know．”

“Do you mean you were flying in the air ？”Eustace blurted out．

“I was a long way above the air，my son，”replied the Old Man． “I am Ramandu．But I see that you stare at on another and have not heard this name．And no wonder，for the days when I was a star had ceased long before any of you knew this world，and all the constellations have changed．”

“Golly，”said Edmund under his breath．“He’s a retired star．”

“Aren’t you a star any longer ？”asked Lucy．

“I am a star at rest，my daughter，”answered Ramandu

“When I set for the last time，decrepit and old beyond all that you can reckon，I was carried to this island．I am not so old now as I was then．Every morning a bird brings me a fire-berry from the valleys in the Sun，and each fire-berry takes away a little of my age．And when I have become as young as the child that was born yesterday，then I shall take my rising again(for we are at earth’s eastern rim)and once more tread the great dance．”

“In our world，”said Eustace，“a star is a huge ball of flaming gas．”

“Even in your world，my son，that is not what a star is but only what it is made of．And in this world you ave already met a star，for I think you have been with Coriakin．”

“Is he a retired star，too ？”said Lucy．

“Well，not quite the same，”said Ramandu．“It was not quite as a rest than he was set to govern the Duffers．You might call it a punishment．He might have shone for thousands of years more in the southern winter sky if all had gone well．”

“What did he do，Sir ？”asked Caspian．

“My son，”said Ramandu，“it is not for you，a son of Adam， to know what faults a star can commit．But come，we waste time in such talk．Are you yet resolved ？Will you sail further east and come again，leaving one to return no more，and so break the enchantment ？ Or will you sail westward ？”

“Surely，Sire，”said Reepicheep，“there is no question about that ？ It is very plainly part of our quest to rescue these three lords from enchantment．”

“I think the same，Reepicheep，”replied Caspian．“And even if it were not so，it would break my heart not to go as near the World’s End as the Dawn Treader will take us．But I am thinking of the crew．They signed on to seek the seven lords，not to reach the rim of the Earth．If we sail east from here we sail to find the edge，the utter east．And not one knows how far it is．They’re brave fellows，but I set signs that some of them are weary of the voyage and long to have our prow pointing to Narnia again．I don’t think should take them further without their knowledge an consent． And then there’s the poor Lord Rhoop．He’s broken man．”