CHAPTER ONE THE PICTURE IN THE BEDROOM（第2/4頁）

“You’re not wanted here，”said Edmund curtly．

“I’m trying to think of a limerick，”said Eustace．“Something like this：

“Some kids who played games about Narnia Got gradually balmier and balmier—”

“Well Narnia and balmier don’t rhyme，to begin with，”said Lucy.

“It’s an assonance，”said Eustace．

“Don’t ask him what an assy-thingummy is，”said Edmund．“He’s only longing to be asked．Say nothing and perhaps he’ll go away．”

Most boys，on meeting a reception like this，would either have cleared out or flared up．Eustace did neither．He just hung about grinning，and presently began talking again．

“Do you like that picture ？”he asked．

“For heaven’s sake don’t let him get started about Art and all that，”said Edmund hurriedly，but Lucy，who was very truthful， had already said，“Yes，I do．I like it very much．”

“It’s a rotten picture，”said Eustace．

“You won’t see it if you step outside，”said Edmund．

“Why do you like it ？”said Eustace to Lucy．

“Well，for one thing，”said Lucy，“I like it because the ship looks as if it was really moving．And the water looks as if it was really wet．And the waves look as if they were really going up and down．”

Of course Eustace knew lots of answers to this，but he didn’t say anything．The reason was that at that very moment he looked at the waves and saw that they did look very much indeed as if they were going up and down．He had only once been in a ship(and then only as far as the Isle of Wight)and had been horribly seasick．The look of the waves in the picture made him feel sick again．He turned rather green and tried another look．And then all three children were staring with open mouths．

What they were seeing may be hard to believe when you read it in print，but it was almost as hard to believe when you saw it happening．The things in the picture were moving．It didn’t look at all like a cinema either；the colours were too real and clean and　out-of-doors for that．Down went the prow of the ship into the wave and up went a great shock of spray．And then up went the wave behind her，and her stern and her deck became visible for the first time，and then disappeared as the next wave came to meet her and her bows went up again．At the same moment an exercise book which had been lying beside Edmund on the bed flapped，rose and sailed through the air to the wall behind him，and Lucy felt all her hair whipping round her face as it does on a windy day. And this was a windy day；but the wind was blowing out of the picture towards them．And suddenly with the wind came the noises—the swishing of waves and the slap of water against the ship’s sides and the creaking and the over—all high steady roar of air and water. But it was the smell，the wild，briny smell，which really convinced Lucy that she was not dreaming．

“Stop it，”came Eustace’s voice，squeaky with fright and bad temper．“It’s some silly trick you two are playing．Stop it．I’ll tell Alberta—Ow ！”

The other two were much more accustomed to adventures， but，just exactly as Eustace Clarence said“Ow，”they both said“Ow”too．The reason was that a great cold，salt splash had broken right out of the frame and they were breathless from the smack of it，besides being wet through．

“I’ll smash the rotten thing，”cried Eustace；and then several things happened at the same time．Eustace rushed towards the picture．Edmund，who knew something about magic，sprang after him，warning him to look out and not to be a fool．Lucy grabbed at him from the other side and was dragged forward．And by this time either they had grown much smaller or the picture had grown bigger．Eustace jumped to try to pull it off the wall and found himself standing on the frame；in front of him was not glass but real sea，and wind and waves rushing up to the frame as they might to a rock．He lost his head and clutched at the other two who had jumped up beside him．There was a second of struggling and shouting，and just as they thought they had got their balance a great blue roller surged up round them，swept them off their feet，and drew them down into the sea．Eustace’s despairing cry suddenly ended as the water got into his mouth．

Lucy thanked her stars that she had worked hard at her swimming last summer term．It is true that she would have got on much better if she had used a slower stroke，and also that the water felt a great deal colder than it had looked while it was only a picture. Still，she kept her head and kicked her shoes off，as everyone ought to do who falls into deep water in their clothes．She even kept her mouth shut and her eyes open．They were still quite near the ship；she saw its green side towering high above them，and people looking at her from the deck．Then，as one might have expected， Eustace clutched at her in a panic and down they both went．