CHAPTER FOURTEEN THE BEGINNING OF THE END OF THE WORLD（第3/3页）

“Poor Rhoop，”said Lucy．“I am glad．He must have had terrible times．”

“Don’t let’s even think of it，”said Eustace．

Meanwhile Caspian’s speech，helped perhaps by some magic of the island，was having just the effect he intended．A good many who had been anxious enough to get out of the voyage felt quite differently about being left out of it．And of course whenever any one sailor announced that he had made up his mind to ask for permission to sail，the ones who hadn’t said this felt that they were getting fewer and more uncomfortable．So that before the half-hour was nearly over several people were positively“sucking up”to Drinian and Rhince(at least that was what they called it at my school)to get a good report．And soon there were only three left who didn’t want to go，and those three were trying very hard to persuade others to stay with them．And very shortly after that there was only one left．And in they end he began to be afraid of being left behind all on his own and changed his mind．

At the end of the half-hour they all came trooping back to Aslan’s Table and stood at one end while Drinian and Rhince went and sat down with Caspian and made their report；and Caspian accepted all the man but that one who’d had changed his mind at the last moment．His name was Pittencream and he stayed on the Island of the Star all the time the others were away looking for the World’s End，and he very much wished he had gone with them．He wasn’t the sort of man who could enjoy talking to Ramandu and Ramandu’s daughter(nor they to him)，and it rained a good deal， and though there was a wonderful feast on the Table every night， he didn’t very much enjoy it．He said it gave him the creeps sitting there alone(and in the rain as likely as not)with those four Lords asleep at the end of the Table．And when the others returned he felt so out of things that he deserted on the voyage home at the Lone Islands，and went and lived in Calormen，where he told wonderful stories about his adventures at the End of the World，until at last he came to believe them himself．So you may say，in a sense，that he lived happily ever after．But he could never bear mice．

That night they all ate and drank together at the great table between the pillars where the feast was magically renewed：and next morning the Dawn Treader set sail once more just when the great birds had come and gone again．

“Lady，”said Caspian，“I hope to speak with you again when I have broken the enchantments．”And Ramandu’s daughter looked at him and smiled．