CHAPTER TWO ON BOARD THE DAWN TREADER（第4/4頁）

The trouble between Eustace and Reepicheep arrived even sooner than might have been expected．Before dinner next day， when the others were sitting round the table waiting(being at sea gives one a magnificent appetite)，Eustace came rushing in， wringing his hand and shouting out：

“That little brute has half killed me．I insist on it being kept under control．I could bring an action against you，Caspian．I could order you to have it destroyed．”

At the same moment Reepicheep appeared．His sword was drawn and his whiskers looked very fierce but he was as polite as ever．

“I ask your pardons all，”he said，“and especially her Majesty’s．If I had known that he would take refuge here I would have awaited a more reasonable time for his correction．”

“What on earth’s up ？”asked Edmund．

What had really happened was this．Reepicheep，who never felt that the ship was getting on fast enough，loved to sit on the bulwarks far forward just beside the dragon’s head，gazing out at the eastern horizon and singing softly in his little chirruping voice the song the Dryad had made for him．He never held on to anything，however the ship pitched，and kept his balance with perfect ease；perhaps his long tail，hanging down to the deck inside the bulwarks，made this easier．Everyone on board was familiar with this habit，and the sailors liked it because when one was on look-out duty it gave one somebody to talk to．Why exactly Eustace had slipped and reeled and stumbled all the way forward to the forecastle(he had not yet got his sea-legs)I never heard．Perhaps he hoped he would see land，or perhaps he wanted to hang about the galley and scrounge something．Anyway， as soon as he saw that long tail hanging down—and perhaps it was rather tempting—he thought it would be delightful to catch hold of it，swing Reepicheep round by it once or twice upside-down，then run away and laugh．At first the plan seemed to work beautifully．The Mouse was not much heavier than a very large cat．Eustace had him off the rail in a trice and very silly he looked(thought Eustace)with his little limbs all splayed out and his mouth open．But unfortunately Reepicheep，who had fought for his life many a time，never lost his head even for a moment． Nor his skill．It is not very easy to draw one’s sword when one is swinging round in the air by one’s tail，but he did．And the next thing Eustace knew was two agonizing jabs in his hand which made him let go of the tail；and the next thing after that was that the Mouse had picked itself up again as if it were a ball bouncing off the deck，and there it was facing him，and a horrid long， bright，sharp thing like a skewer was waving to and fro within an inch of his stomach．(This doesn’t count as below the belt for mice in Narnia because they can hardly be expected to reach higher．)

“Stop it，”spluttered Eustace，“go away．Put that thing away.It’s not safe．Stop it，I say．I’ll tell Caspian．I’ll have you muzzled and tied up．”

“Why do you not draw your own sword，poltroon ！”cheeped the Mouse．“Draw and fight or I’ll beat you black and blue with the flat．”

“I haven’t got one，”said Eustace．“I’m a pacifist．I don’t believe in fighting．”

“Do I understand，”said Reepicheep，withdrawing his sword for a moment and speaking very sternly，“that you do not intend to give me satisfaction ？”

“I don’t know what you mean，”said Eustace，nursing his hand. “If you don’t know how to take a joke I shan’t bother my head about you．”

“Then take that，”said Reepicheep，“and that—to teach you manners—and the respect due to a knight—and a Mouse—and a Mouse’s tail—”and at each word he gave Eustace a blow with the side of his rapier，which was thin，fine，dwarf—tempered steel and as supple and effective as a birch rod．Eustace(of course) was at a school where they didn’t have corporal punishment，so the sensation was quite new to him．That was why，in spite of having no sea—legs，it took him less than a minute to get off that　forecastle and cover the whole length of the deck and burst in at the cabin door—still hotly pursued by Reepicheep．Indeed it seemed to Eustace that the rapier as well as the pursuit was hot．It might have been red—hot by the feel．

There was not much difficulty in settling the matter once Eustace realized that everyone took the idea of a duel seriously and heard Caspian offering to lend him a sword，and Drinian and Edmund discussing whether he ought to be handicapped in some way to make up for his being so much bigger than Reepicheep．He apologized sulkily and went off with Lucy to have his hand bathed and bandaged and then went to his bunk．He was careful to lie on his side．