CHAPTER THIRTEEN THE THREE SLEEPERS

THE wind never failed but it grew gentler every day till at length the waves were little more than ripples，and the ship glided on hour after hour almost as if they were sailing on a lake．And every night they saw that there rose in the east new constellations which no one had ever seen in Narnia and perhaps，as Lucy thought with a mixture of joy and fear，no living eye had seen at all．Those new stars were big and bright and the nights were warm．Most of them slept on deck and talked far into the night or hung over the ship’s side watching the luminous dance of the foam thrown up by their bows．

On an evening of startling beauty，when the sunset behind them was so crimson and purple and widely spread that the very sky itself seemed to have grown larger，they came in sight of land on their starboard bow．It came slowly nearer and the light behind them made it look as if the capes and headlands of this new country were all on fire．But presently they were sailing along its coast and its western cape now rose up astern of them，black against the red sky and sharp as if it was cut out of cardboard，and then they could see better what this country was like．It had no mountains but many gentle hills with slopes like pillows．An attractive smell came from it-what Lucy called“a dim，purple kind of smell”，which Edmund said(and Rhince thought)was rot，but Caspian said，“I know what you mean．”

They sailed on a good way，past point after point，hoping to find a nice deep harbour，but had to content themselves in the end with a wide and shallow bay．Though it had seemed calm out at sea there was of course surf breaking on the sand and they could not bring the Dawn Treader as far in as they would have liked． They dropped anchor a good way from the beach and had a wet and tumbling landing in the boat．The Lord Rhoop remained on board the Dawn Treader．He wished to see no more islands．All the time that they remained in this country the sound of the long breakers was in their ears．

Two men were left to guard the boat and Caspian led the others inland，but not far because it was too late for exploring and the light would soon go．But there was no need to go far to find an adventure．The level valley which lay at the head of the bay showed no road or track or other sign of habitation．Underfoot was tine springy turf dotted here and there with a low bushy growth which Edmund and Lucy took for heather．Eustace，who was really rather good at botany；said it wasn’t，and he was probably right；but it was something of very much the same kind．

When they had gone less than a bowshot from the shore， Drinian said，“Look ！ What’s that ？”and everyone stopped．

“Are they great trees ？”said Caspian．

“Towers，l think，”said Eustace．

“It might be giants，”said Edmund in a lower voice．

“The way to find out is to go right iv among them，”said Reepicheep，drawing his sword and pattering off ahead of everyone else.

“I think it’s a ruin，”said Lucy when they had got a good deal nearer，and her guess was the best so far．What they now saw was a wide oblong space flagged with smooth stones and surrounded by grey pillars but unroofed．And from end to end of it ran a long table laid with a rich crimson cloth that came down nearly to the pavement．At either side of it were many chairs of stone richly carved and with silken cushions upon the seats．But on the table itself there was set out such a banquet as had never been seen， not even when Peter the High King kept his court at Cair Paravel． There were turkeys and geese and peacocks，there were boars’ heads and sides of venison，there were pies shaped like ships under full sail or like dragons and elephants，there were ice puddings and bright lobsters and gleaming salmon，there were nuts and grapes， pineapples and peaches，pomegranates and melons and tomatoes． There were flagons of gold and silver and curiouslywrought glass； and the smell of the fruit and the wine blew towards them like a promise of all happiness．

“I say ！”said Lucy．

They came nearer and nearer，all very quietly．

“But where are the guests ？”asked Eustace．

“We can provide that，Sir，”said Rhince．

“Look ！”said Edmund sharply．They were actually within the pillars now and standing on the pavement．Everyone looked where Edmund had pointed．The chairs were not all empty．At the head of the table and in the two places beside it there was something-or possibly three somethings．

“What are those ？”asked Lucy in a whisper．“It looks like three beavers sitting on the table．”

“Or a huge bird’s nest，”said Edmund．

“It looks more like a haystack to me，”said Caspian．

Reepicheep ran forward，jumped on a chair and thence on to the table，and ran along it，threading his way as nimbly as a dancer between jewelled cups and pyramids of fruit and-ivory salt-cellars．He ran right up to the mysterious grey mass at the end： peered，touched，and then called out：