CHAPTER FOURTEEN THE BEGINNING OF THE END OF THE WORLD（第2/4頁）

“When I set for the last time，decrepit and old beyond all that you can reckon，I was carried to this island．I am not so old now as I was then．Every morning a bird brings me a fire-berry from the valleys in the Sun，and each fire-berry takes away a little of my age．And when I have become as young as the child that was born yesterday，then I shall take my rising again(for we are at earth’s eastern rim)and once more tread the great dance．”

“In our world，”said Eustace，“a star is a huge ball of flaming gas．”

“Even in your world，my son，that is not what a star is but only what it is made of．And in this world you ave already met a star，for I think you have been with Coriakin．”

“Is he a retired star，too ？”said Lucy．

“Well，not quite the same，”said Ramandu．“It was not quite as a rest than he was set to govern the Duffers．You might call it a punishment．He might have shone for thousands of years more in the southern winter sky if all had gone well．”

“What did he do，Sir ？”asked Caspian．

“My son，”said Ramandu，“it is not for you，a son of Adam， to know what faults a star can commit．But come，we waste time in such talk．Are you yet resolved ？Will you sail further east and come again，leaving one to return no more，and so break the enchantment ？ Or will you sail westward ？”

“Surely，Sire，”said Reepicheep，“there is no question about that ？ It is very plainly part of our quest to rescue these three lords from enchantment．”

“I think the same，Reepicheep，”replied Caspian．“And even if it were not so，it would break my heart not to go as near the World’s End as the Dawn Treader will take us．But I am thinking of the crew．They signed on to seek the seven lords，not to reach the rim of the Earth．If we sail east from here we sail to find the edge，the utter east．And not one knows how far it is．They’re brave fellows，but I set signs that some of them are weary of the voyage and long to have our prow pointing to Narnia again．I don’t think should take them further without their knowledge an consent． And then there’s the poor Lord Rhoop．He’s broken man．”

“My son，”said the star，“it would be no use，even though you wished it，to sail for the World’s End with men unwilling or men deceived．That is not how great unenchantments are achieved．

They must know where they go and why．But who is this broken man you speak of ？”

Caspian told Ramandu the story of Rhoop．

“I can give him what he needs most，”said Ramandu．“I this island there is sleep without stint or measure，and sleep in which no faintest footfall of a dream was ever heard．Let him sit beside these other three and drink oblivion till you return．”

“Oh，do let’s do that，Caspian，”said Lucy．“I’m sure its just what he would love．”

At that moment they were interrupted by the sound of many feet and voices：Drinian and the rest of the ship company were approaching．They halted in surprise whey they saw Ramandu and his daughter；and then，because these were obviously great people，every man uncovered his head．Some sailors eyed the empty dishes and flagons on the table with regret．

“My lord，”said the King to Drinian，“pray send two men back to the Dawn Treader with a message to the Lord Rhoop．Tell him that the last of his old shipmates are here asleep-a sleep without dreams-and that he can share it．”

When this had been done，Caspian told the rest to sit down and laid the whole situation before them．When he had finished there was a long silence and some whispering until presently the Master Bowman got to his feet，and said：

“What some of us have been wanting to ask for a long time， your Majesty，is how we’re ever to get home when we do turn， whether we turn here or somewhere else．It’s been west and north-west winds all the way，barring an occasional calm．And if that doesn’t change，I’d like to know what hopes we have of seeing Narnia again．There’s not much chance of supplies lasting while we row all that way．

“That’s landsman’s talk，”said Drinian．“There’s always a prevailing west wind in these seas all through the late summer，and it always changes after the New Year．We’ll have plenty of wind for sailing westward；more than we shall like from all accounts．”

“That’s true，Master，”said an old sailor who was a Galmian by birth．“You get some ugly weather rolling up from the east in January and February．And by your leave，Sire，if I was in command of this ship I’d say to winter here and begin the voyage home in March．”

“What’d you eat while you were wintering here ？”asked Eustace.

“This table，”said Ramandu，“will be filled with a king’s feast every day at sunset．”

“Now you’re talking ！”said several sailors．

“Your Majesties and gentlemen and ladies all，”said Rynelf， “there’s just one thing I want to say．There’s not one of us chaps as was pressed on this journey．We’re volunteers．And there’s some here chat are looking very hard at that table and thinking about king’s feasts who were talking very loud about adventures on the day we sailed from Cair Paravel，and swearing they wouldn’t come home till we’d found the end of the world．And there were some standing on the quay who would have given all they had to come with us．It was thought a finer thing then to have a cabin-