CHAPTER SIXTEEN THE VERY END OF THE WORLD（第2/3页）
“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 on 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 on 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 Treader 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 even 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．