《黎明踏浪號》第8章:兩次死裏逃生
EVERYONE was cheerful as the Dawn Treader sailed from Dragon Island. They had fair winds as soon as they were out of the bay and came early next Morning to the unknown land which some of them had seen when flying over the mountains while Eustace was still a dragon. It was a low green island inhabited by nothing but rabbits and a few goats, but from the ruins of stone huts, and from blackened places where fires had been, they judged that it had been peopled not long before. There were also some bones and broken weapons.
"Pirates' work," said Caspian.
"Or the dragon's," said Edmund.
The only other thing they found there was a little skin boat, or coracle, on the sands. It was made of hide stretched over a wicker framework. It was a tiny boat, barely four feet long, and the paddle which still lay in it was in proportion. They thought that either it had been made for a child or else that the people of that country had been Dwarfs. Reepicheep decided to keep it, as it was just the right size for him; so it was taken on board. They called that land Burnt Island, and sailed away before noon.
For some five days they ran before a south-south-east wind, out of sight of all lands and seeing neither fish nor gull. Then they had a day when it rained hard till the afternoon. Eustace lost two games of chess to Reepicheep and began to get like his old and disagreeable self again, and Edmund said he wished they could have gone to America with Susan. Then Lucy looked out of the stern windows and said:
"Hello! I do believe it's stopping. And what's that?"
They all tumbled up to the poop at this and found that the rain had stopped and that Drinian, who was on watch, was also staring hard at something astern. Or rather, at several things. They looked a little like smooth rounded rocks, a whole line of them with intervals of about forty feet in between.
"But they can't be rocks," Drinian was saying, "because they weren't there five minutes ago."
"And one's just disappeared," said Lucy.
"Yes, and there's another one coming up," said Edmund.
"And nearer," said Eustace.
"Hang it!" said Caspian. "The whole thing is moving this way."
"And moving a great deal quicker than we can sail, Sire," said Drinian. "It'll be up with us in a minute."
They all held their breath, for it is not at all nice to be pursued by an unknown something either on land or sea. But what it turned out to be was far worse than anyone had suspected. Suddenly, only about the length of a cricket pitch from their port side, an appalling head reared itself out of the sea. It was all greens and vermilions with purple blotches - except where shell fish clung to it - and shaped rather like a horse's, though without ears. It had enormous eyes, eyes made for staring through the dark depths of the ocean, and a gaping mouth filled with double rows of sharp fish-like teeth. It came up on what they first took to be a huge neck, but as more and more of it emerged everyone knew that this was not its neck but its body and that at last they were seeing what so many people have foolishly wanted to see - the great Sea Serpent. The folds of its gigantic tail could be seen far away, rising at intervals from the surface. And now its head was towering up higher than the mast.
Every man rushed to his weapon, but there was nothing to be done, the monster was out of reach. "Shoot! Shoot!" cried the Master Bowman, and several obeyed, but the arrows glanced off the Sea Serpent's hide as if it was ironplated. Then, for a dreadful minute, everyone was still, staring up at its eyes and mouth and wondering where it would pounce.
But it didn't pounce. It shot its head forward across the ship on a level with the yard of the mast. Now its head was just beside the fighting top. Still it stretched and stretched till its head was over the starboard bulwark. Then down it began to come - not on to the crowded deck but into the water, so that the whole ship was under an arch of serpent. And almost at once that arch began to get smaller: indeed on the starboard the Sea Serpent was now almost touching the Dawn Treader's side.
Eustace (who had really been trying very hard to behave well, till the rain and the chess put him back) now did the first brave thing he had ever done. He was wearing a sword that Caspian had lent him. As soon as the serpent's body was near enough on the starboard side he jumped on to the bulwark and began hacking at it with all his might. It is true that he accomplished nothing beyond breaking Caspian's second-best sword into bits, but it was a fine thing for a beginner to have done.
Others would have joined him if at that moment Reepicheep had not called out, "Don't fight! Push!" It was so unusual for the Mouse to advise anyone not to fight that, even in that terrible moment, every eye turned to him. And when he jumped up on to the bulwark, forward of the snake, and set his little furry back against its huge scaly, slimy back, and began pushing as hard as he could, quite a number of people saw what he meant and rushed to both sides of the ship to do the same. And when, a moment later, the Sea Serpent's head appeared again, this time on the port side, and this time with its back to them, then everyone understood.
The brute had made a loop of itself round the Dawn Treader and was beginning to draw the loop tight. When it got quite tight - snap! - there would be floating matchwood where the ship had been and it could pick them out of the water one by one. Their only chance was to push the loop backward till it slid over the stern; or else (to put the same thing another way) to push the ship forward out of the loop.
Reepicheep alone had, of course, no more chance of doing this than of lifting up a cathedral, but he had nearly killed himself with trying before others shoved him aside. Very soon the whole ship's company except Lucy and the Mouse (which was fainting) was in two long lines along the two bulwarks, each man's chest to the back of the man in front, so that the weight of the whole line was in the last man, pushing for their lives. For a few sickening seconds (which seemed like hours) nothing appeared to happen. Joints cracked, sweat dropped, breath came in grunts and gasps. Then they felt that the ship was moving. They saw that the snake-loop was further from the mast than it had been. But they also saw that it was smaller. And now the real danger was at hand. Could they get it over the poop, or was it already too tight? Yes. It would just fit. It was resting on the poop rails. A dozen or more sprang up on the poop. This was far better. The Sea Serpent's body was so low now that they could make a line across the poop and push side by side. Hope rose high till everyone remembered the high carved stern, the dragon tail, of the Dawn Treader. It would be quite impossible to get the brute over that.
"An axe," cried Caspian hoarsely, "and still shove." Lucy, who knew where everything was, heard him where she was standing on the main deck staring up at the poop. In a few seconds she had been below, got the axe, and was rushing up the ladder to the poop. But just as she reached the top there came a great crashing noise like a tree coming down and the ship rocked and darted forward. For at that very moment, whether because the Sea Serpent was being pushed so hard, or because it foolishly decided to draw the noose tight, the whole of the carved stern broke off and the ship was free.
The others were too exhausted to see what Lucy saw. There, a few yards behind them, the loop of Sea Serpent's body got rapidly smaller and disappeared into a splash. Lucy always said (but of course she was very excited at the moment, and it may have been only imagination) that she saw a look of idiotic satisfaction on the creature's face. What is certain is that it was a very stupid animal, for instead of pursuing the ship it turned its head round and began nosing all along its own body as if it expected to find the wreckage of the Dawn Treader there. But the Dawn Treader was already well away, running before a fresh breeze, and the men lay and sat panting and groaning all about the deck, till presently they were able to talk about it, and then to laugh about it. And when some rum had been served out they even raised a cheer; and everyone praised the valour of Eustace (though it hadn't done any good) and of Reepicheep.
After this they sailed for three days more and saw nothing but sea and sky. On the fourth day the wind changed to the north and the seas began to rise; by the afternoon it had nearly become a gale. But at the same time they sighted land on their port bow.
"By your leave, Sire," said Drinian, "we will try to get under the lee of that country by rowing and lie in harbour, maybe till this is over." Caspian agreed, but a long row against the gale did not bring them to the land before evening. By the last light of that day they steered into a natural harbour and anchored, but no one went ashore that night. In the morning they found themselves in the green bay of a rugged, lonely-looking country which sloped up to a rocky summit. From the windy north beyond that summit clouds came streaming rapidly. They lowered the boat and loaded
her with any of the water casks which were now empty.
"Which stream shall we water at, Drinian?" said Caspian as he took his seat in the stern-sheets of the boat. "There seem to be two coming down into the bay."
"It makes little odds, Sire," said Drinian. "But I think it's a shorter pull to that on the starboard-the eastern one."
"Here comes the rain," said Lucy.
"I should think it does!" said Edmund, for it was already pelting hard. "I say, let's go to the other stream. There are trees there and we'll have some shelter."
"Yes, let's," said Eustace. "No point in getting wetter than we need."
But all the time Drinian was steadily steering to the starboard, like tiresome people in cars who continue at forty miles an hour while you are explaining to them that they are on the wrong road.
"They're right, Drinian," said Caspian. "Why don't you bring her head round and make for the western stream?"
"As your Majesty pleases," said Drinian a little shortly. He had had an anxious day with the weather yesterday, and he didn't like advice from landsmen. But he altered course; and it turned out afterwards that it was a good thing he did.
By the time they had finished watering, the rain was over and Caspian, with Eustace, the Pevensies, and Reepicheep, decided to walk up to the top of the hill and see what could be seen. It was a stiffish climb through coarse grass and heather and they saw neither man nor beast, except seagulls. When they reached the top they saw that it was a very small island, not more than twenty acres; and from this height the sea looked larger and more desolate than it did from the deck, or even the fighting top, of the Dawn Treader.
"Crazy, you know," said Eustace to Lucy in a low voice, looking at the eastern horizon. "Sailing on and on into that with no idea what we may get to." But he only said it out of habit, not really nastily as he would have done at one time.
It was too cold to stay long on the ridge for the wind still blew freshly from the north.
"Don't let's go back the same way," said Lucy as they turned; "let's go along a bit and come down by the other stream, the one Drinian wanted to go to."
Everyone agreed to this and after about fifteen minutes they were at the source of the second river. It was a more interesting place than they had expected; a deep little mountain lake, surrounded by cliffs except for a narrow channel on the seaward side out of which the water flowed. Here at last they were out of the wind, and all sat down in the heather above the cliff for a rest.
All sat down, but one (it was Edmund) jumped up again very quickly.
"They go in for sharp stones on this island," he said, groping about in the heather. "Where is the wretched thing? . . . Ah, now I've got it . . . Hullo! It wasn't a stone at all, it's a sword-hilt. No, by jove, it's a whole sword; what the rust has left of it. It must have lain here for ages."
"Narnian, too, by the look of it," said Caspian, as they all crowded round.
"I'm sitting on something too," said Lucy. "Something hard." It turned out to be the remains of a mail-shirt. By this time everyone was on hands and knees, feeling in the thick heather in every direction. Their search revealed, one by one, a helmet, a dagger, and a few coins; not Calormen crescents but genuine Narnian "Lions" and "Trees" such as you might see any day in the market-place of Beaversdam or Beruna.
"Looks as if this might be all that's left of one of our seven lords," said Edmund.
"Just what I was thinking," said Caspian. "I wonder which it was. There's nothing on the dagger to show. And I wonder how he died."
"And how we are to avenge him," added Reepicheep.
Edmund, the only one of the party who had read several detective stories, had meanwhile been thinking.
"Look here," he said, "there's something very fishy about this. He can't have been killed in a fight."
"Why not?" asked Caspian.
"No bones," said Edmund. "An enemy might take the armour and leave the body. But who ever heard of a chap who'd won a fight carrying away the body and leaving the armour?"
"Perhaps he was killed by a wild animal," Lucy suggested.
"It'd be a clever animal," said Edmund, "that would take a man's mail shirt off."
"Perhaps a dragon?" said Caspian.
"Nothing doing," said Eustace. "A dragon couldn't do it. I ought to know."
"Well, let's get away from the place, anyway," said Lucy. She had not felt like sitting down again since Edmund had raised the question of bones.
"If you like," said Caspian, getting up. "I don't think any of this stuff is worth taking away."
They came down and round to the little opening where the stream came out of the lake, and stood looking at the deep water within the circle of cliffs. If it had been a hot day, no doubt some would have been tempted to bathe and everyone would have had a drink. Indeed, even as it was, Eustace was on the very point of stooping down and scooping up some water in his hands when Reepicheep and Lucy both at the same moment cried, "Look," so he forgot about his drink and looked.
The bottom of the pool was made of large greyish-blue stones and the water was perfectly clear, and on the bottom lay a life-size figure of a man, made apparently of gold. It lay face downwards with its arms stretched out above its head. And it so happened that as they looked at it, the clouds parted and the sun shone out. The golden shape was lit up from end to end. Lucy thought it was the most beautiful statue she had ever seen.
"Well!" whistled Caspian. "That was worth coming to see! I wonder, can we get it out?"
"We can dive for it, Sire," said Reepicheep.
"No good at all," said Edmund. "At least, if it's really gold - solid gold - it'll be far too heavy to bring up. And that pool's twelve or fifteen feet deep if it's an inch. Half a moment, though. It's a good thing I've brought a hunting spear with me. Let's see what the depth is like. Hold on to my hand, Caspian, while I lean out over the water a bit." Caspian took his hand and Edmund, leaning forward, began to lower his spear into the water.
Before it was half-way in Lucy said, "I don't believe the statue is gold at all. It's only the light. Your spear looks just the same colour."
"What's wrong?" asked several voices at once; for Edmund had suddenly let go of the spear.
"I couldn't hold it," gasped Edmund, "it seemed so heavy."
"And there it is on the bottom now," said Caspian, "and Lucy is right. It looks just the same colour as the statue."
But Edmund, who appeared to be having some trouble with his boots - at least he was bending down and looking at them - straightened himself all at once and shouted out in the sharp voice which people hardly ever disobey:
"Get back! Back from the water. All of you. At once!!"
They all did and stared at him.
"Look," said Edmund, "look at the toes of my boots."
"They look a bit yellow," began Eustace.
"They're gold, solid gold," interrupted Edmund. "Look at them. Feel them. The leather's pulled away from it already. And they're as heavy as lead."
"By Aslan!" said Caspian. "You don't mean to say-?"
"Yes, I do," said Edmund. "That water turns things into gold. It turned the spear into gold, that's why it got so heavy. And it was just lapping against my feet (it's a good thing I wasn't barefoot) and it turned the toe-caps into gold. And that poor fellow on the bottom - well, you see."
"So it isn't a statue at all," said Lucy in a low voice.
"No. The whole thing is plain now. He was here on a hot day. He undressed on top of the cliff - where we were sitting. The clothes have rotted away or been taken by birds to line nests with; the armour's still there. Then he dived and -"
"Don't," said Lucy. "What a horrible thing."
"And what a narrow shave we've had," said Edmund.
"Narrow indeed," said Reepicheep. "Anyone's finger, anyone's foot, anyone's whisker, or anyone's tail, might have slipped into the water at any moment."
"All the same," said Caspian, "we may as well test it." He stooped down and wrenched up a spray of heather. Then, very cautiously, he knelt beside the pool and dipped it in. It was heather that he dipped; what he drew out was a perfect model of heather made of the purest gold, heavy and soft as lead.
"The King who owned this island," said Caspian slowly, and his face flushed as he spoke, "would soon be the richest of all the Kings of the world. I claim this land for ever as a Narnian possession. It shall be called Goldwater Island. And I bind all of you to secrecy. No one must know of this. Not even Drinian - on pain of death, do you hear?"
"Who are you talking to?" said Edmund. "I'm no subject of yours. If anything it's the other way round. I am one of the four ancient sovereigns of Narnia and you are under allegiance to the High King my brother."
"So it has come to that, King Edmund, has it?" said Caspian, laying his hand on his sword-hilt.
"Oh, stop it, both of you," said Lucy. "That's the worst of doing anything with boys. You're all such swaggering, bullying idiots - oooh! -" Her voice died away into a gasp. And everyone else saw what she had seen.
Across the grey hillside above them - grey, for the heather was not yet in bloom - without noise, and without looking at them, and shining as if he were in bright sunlight though the sun had in fact gone in, passed with slow pace the hugest lion that human eyes have ever seen. In describing the scene Lucy said afterwards, "He was the size of an elephant," though at another time she only said, "The size of a cart-horse." But it was not the size that mattered. Nobody dared to ask what it was. They knew it was Aslan.
And nobody ever saw how or where he went. They looked at one another like people waking from sleep.
"What were we talking about?" said Caspian. "Have I been making rather an ass of myself?"
"Sire," said Reepicheep, "this is a place with a curse on it. Let us get back on board at once. And if I might have the honour of naming this island, I should call it Deathwater."
"That strikes me as a very good name, Reep," said Caspian, "though now that I come to think of it, I don't know why. But the weather seems to be settling and I dare say Drinian would like to be off. What a lot we shall have to tell him."
But in fact they had not much to tell for the memory of the last hour had all become confused.
"Their Majesties all seemed a bit bewitched when they came aboard," said Drinian to Rhince some hours later when the Dawn Treader was once more under sail and Deathwater Island already below the horizon. "Something happened to them in that place. The only thing I could get clear was that they think they've found the body of one of these lords we're looking for."
"You don't say so, Captain," answered Rhince. "Well, that's three. Only four more. At this rate we might be home soon after the New Year. And a good thing too. My baccy's running a bit low. Good night, Sir."
"海盜乾的好事。"凱斯賓說。
"要不就是龍乾的。"愛德蒙說。
他們在島上另外找到的惟一東西是沙灘上一隻小皮艇，又叫皮筷子。那是用生皮繃在一個柳條框架上做成的，是條小小的船，只有四英尺長，船上的槳還擱在那兒，倒也大小相稱。他們心想，要麼這船是造給孩子的，要麼那地方的人是小矮人。雷佩契普決定留着這條船，因爲這船的大小同它正合適，所以就把小船帶上大船去了。他們把這地方稱做火燒島，中午前就開走了。
他們順着東南偏南的風向航行了五天光景，看不見一塊陸地，也見不到魚，見不到海鷗。後來，有一天下了一場大雨，到午後才停。尤斯塔斯輸給雷佩契普兩盤棋，不免又露出討厭的老樣子。愛德蒙說他真希望他們能跟蘇珊一起到美國去。這時露茜往船尾窗外看說：(
“嗨！我相信雨真停了。那是什麼呀?”
他們全都跌跌撞撞登上船尾樓去看，只見雨已停了，值班的德里寧也正拼命盯着船尾外的什麼東西。說得確切些是好幾樣東西。那些東西看上去有點像光溜溜的圓石塊，每塊中間相隔大約四十英尺，形成整整一長列。
"可那些不會是岩石，"德里寧正說着，"因爲五分鐘前那兒還沒有那些東西呢。"
"有一塊剛纔不見了。"露茜說。
"是啊，還有一塊冒出來了。"愛德蒙說。"靠近了。"尤斯塔斯說。
"見鬼I"凱斯賓說，"整個東西都朝這兒移動了。"
"而且動得比我們的船開得快多了，陸下，"德里寧說，"轉眼間就會追上我們的。"
他們都屏住氣，因爲在陸地上也好，海上也好，受到不明真相的東西追逐可一點也不妙。誰知那東西一露頭竟比任何人猜疑中還要可怕得多。忽然間，離他們左舷只有一個投球的距離處，一個嚇人的腦袋冒出海面。腦袋上除了貝殼類動物寄生的地方外，一片碧綠和硃紅，還長着紫紅色的疙瘩——形狀很像馬頭，只是沒有耳朵。腦袋上長着很大的眼睛，這樣的眼睛生來是透視海洋深處的，還有一張咧開的大嘴，上下長滿兩排尖利的牙齒。這腦袋長在他們乍看以爲是巨大的脖子上，它越露越長，大家才知道這不是脖子，而是身子，最後他們總算看見了有不少人荒唐地想要見識的——大海蛇。老遠就能看見它巨大的尾巴上的皺槽，不時升出水面。此刻它正昂起腦袋，高聳在桅杆上面。
人人都奔去拿武器，可是毫無辦法，這怪物高不可攀。
"射！射！”弓箭手的頭頭叫道。有幾個人聽命射了，可是箭在海蛇皮上一擦而過，彷彿射在鐵甲上似的。這時，大家都一動不動，擡眼盯着海蛇的眼睛和大嘴，提心吊膽了一陣子，不知它會向哪兒撲來。
不料它竟沒撲來。它把腦袋沿着桅杆的帆析探過船身。眼下它的腦袋就在槌頂觀測臺旁邊了。可是它還不斷伸長，一直把腦袋伸到右舷的舷牆上。接着又開始往下伸——不是伸向擠滿人的甲板，而是伸向水裏，這一來，整條船就在蛇身的弧圈下了口這個弧圈幾乎一下子就縮小了些;右舷方面的海蛇身子這時幾乎碰到了舷側。,
尤斯塔斯倒一直拼命想學好，後來天下雨了，他同別人下棋，又退步了，這時他居然作出平生從未做過的第一件壯舉。他隨身帶着凱斯賓借給他的一把劍，正當蛇身快接近右舷舷側，他身上向舷牆猛撲過去，使出渾身力量開始對它猛刺一下。他固然除了使凱斯賓那第二把好劍折成碎片之外，毫無收穫，可是對一個初出茅廬的人來說，倒是件好事。
要不是那時雷佩契普大聲喊道，"別打！推！”別人早就跟他一起動手了。即使到了那個危急關頭，老鼠居然勸大家別打，這倒非同尋常，所以大家眼光都轉向它。當它猛地撲向舷牆，擋在海蛇前面，用它那毛茸茸的細小身子擋住海蛇那長滿鱗甲、渭膩膩的巨大身子，儘量使勁往外推;好多人這才明白它的用意，紛紛衝到船舷兩側，照樣往外推。過了一會兒，海蛇的腦袋又出現了，這回是在左舷，而且這回是背對着大家，於是大家都明白了。
這怪物竟把身子繞成個圈，套着黎明踏浪號，並開始把圈套收緊。要等這個圈套收得相當緊了，啪的一下子，原來的大船就會變成一堆漂浮的碎片，它就可以在水裏把他們——收拾掉。他們的惟一生路是把這個圈套往船後推，推得它滑過船尾，不然就把圈套朝另一個方向推，讓船身前進，脫出圈套。
雷佩契普勢單力薄，當然休想辦到，這無異蚍蜉撼大樹，到別人把它推到一邊時它已用盡力氣，差點送了命。一會兒工夫全船人員，除了露茜和暈倒的老鼠之外，都沿着兩邊舷牆，排成兩條長隊，個個前胸貼後背，這樣整列隊伍的重量都落在隊尾一個人身上，大家拼命推。推了幾秒鐘，難受得像推了好幾個小時，看看還是毫無結果。大夥兒關節散了架，汗珠往下淌，哼哼嘿嘿，直喘大氣。這時他們覺得船在動了。他們看見蛇圈離桅杆比先前更遠了。不過他們也看到蛇圈收小了。這下子真正的危險就迫在眉睫了。他們能不能讓船尾樓穿過這個圈套？這個圈套是不是已經太緊了？是啊，這個圈套正好繞着，貼着船尾樓的欄杆。十幾個人跳上船尾樓去。這樣就好得多了。這會兒海蛇的身體很低，他們可以在船尾樓對面排成一排，並肩一齊推。大家滿懷希望，後來忽然又想起黎明踏浪號高聳的雕花船尾那個龍尾。要讓龍尾擺脫那個圈套可萬萬辦不到了。(
"拿把斧子，"凱斯賓聲嘶力竭喊道，"照舊用力推。"
露茜對什麼東西放在哪兒都一清二楚，她正站在主甲板上擡眼望着船尾樓，聽到他這話，一下子就走下艙，拿了斧子，奔上梯子，趕到船尾樓。誰知正當她到了頂上，只聽見喀嚓一聲，就像樹木倒下似的一聲巨響，船身搖搖擺擺往前衝去。因爲就在那千鈞一髮之際，不管是因爲海蛇被人使勁猛推也好，海蛇愚蠢地決定抽緊圈套也好，整個雕花船尾都折斷了，大船也就自由了。
大夥兒都筋夜力盡，顧不上去看露茜見到的情景。原來在船尾後幾碼外，海蛇身體的圈套一下子越收越小，撲通一下不見了。露茜老是說她看見那怪物臉上有種白癡的滿足樣子(可是她那時當然非常激動，這可能只是想象而已)。不過有一點是肯定的，這條海蛇非常蠢，因爲它沒有追這條船，而是掉過頭去，開始在自己全身上下嗅探，彷彿以爲能找到船的殘骸似的。可是，黎明踏浪號已經安然脫身，”頂着輕風航行，大家全在甲板上躺着、坐着，喘氣的喘氣，呻吟的呻吟，過了一會兒才能開口談論、取笑這事。但等端上了一些甜酒，他們居然還舉杯祝賀，大家都誇尤斯塔斯勇敢(雖然無濟於事)和雷佩契普勇敢。
這次脫險後，他們又航行了三天，只看見大海和天空。
第四天，轉了北風，海面開始升高;到中午，幾乎轉爲大風了。可就在這時，他們看見左舷船頭那邊有陸地。
"陛下，請恩准，"德里寧說，"讓我們划槳，停靠在港口裏，設法在那地方避避風，等風過了再說。"凱斯賓同意了，不過頂着大風划槳，劃到傍晚纔到那兒。靠着白天最後一點光線，他們開進一個天然港口，拋下了錨，不過當晚沒人上岸。到了早上，他們只見身在一個綠色的海灣，那裏崎嶇不平，冷冷清清，斜坡遇上一個岩石幡響的山頂。山頂那邊，烏雲從大風逞威的北邊迅猛地滾滾而來。他們放下小船，還把已經吃空的水桶統統裝在船上。+
"我們到哪條河去打水啊，德里寧？IJ凱斯賓一邊在小船尾座板上坐下，一邊說，"看上去有兩條河流進海灣裏呢。"
"這沒什麼關係，陸下，"德里寧說，"不過我看，劃到右舷那邊東面那條，路程短些。"
"下雨了。"露茜說。
"我想是下了！”愛德蒙說，因爲這時已經下起傾盆大雨，"我說，我們還是到另一條河去吧。那兒有樹，可以避雨。"
"是啊，去吧，"尤斯塔斯說，"白白淋溼可沒意思。"
誰知德里寧一直穩穩地把小船朝右舷駛去，就像討厭的傢伙開車，你向他說明他開錯路了，他還是以一小時四十英里的速度繼續往前開。"
"他們說得對，德里寧，"凱斯賓說，"你幹嗎不掉轉船頭，劃到西邊那條河去？"
"隨陛下的便。"德里寧有點不快地說。他昨天爲天氣擔心了一天，他不喜歡陸上的人指點他。可他還是改變了航向;事後證明他倒做了件好事。
等他們裝滿了水，雨倒停了，凱斯賓決定帶着尤斯塔斯、佩文西家兄妹和雷佩契普走上山頂去看看有什麼發現。爬這條遍地粗硬野草和石南的山坡很費勁，路上既看不見人，也看不見野獸，只看見海鳥。他們爬到山頂纔看到原來這是個很小的島，還不到二十英畝;從這高處望去，海面比從甲板上，甚至黎明踏浪號的欖頂觀測臺上望出去更大，更荒涼。
"知道嗎，發瘋了，"尤斯塔斯瞧着東方地平線，低聲對露茜說，"要到哪兒去，心裏也沒個譜，就那麼開啊開啊，開到那種地方。"不過他只是出於習慣才說這話，並非像從前那樣存心擡槓。
山上太冷，不能久待，因爲北邊依然有陣陣冷風颳來。
"我們回去別走老路，"回程時露茜說，"我們走一段，下去到另一條河那邊，就是德里寧想要去的那條。"
大家都同意這麼走，走了十五分鐘，他們就到了另一條河的源頭。這地方比他們預想中還要引人入勝:一個深深的山中小湖，周圍都是懸崖峭壁，只有朝海那邊有一條狹窄的水道，湖水就從那裏流到海里去。他們在這裏終於吹不到風，大家在懸崖上石南樹叢裏坐下休息。
大家都坐下，只有一個人又很快跳起身來，原來是愛德蒙。
"這島上原來盡是尖石頭，"他在石南叢裏摸索着說，"那混賬石頭在哪兒。。。…啊，我找到了……嗨！這根本不是一塊石頭，是劍柄。不，天哪，是一把完整的劍;上面生了多厚一層鏽。一定落在這兒有好多年了。"
"看樣子，也是納尼亞的劍。"大家都圍上去看，凱斯賓說。
"我也坐在什麼東西上了，"露茜說，"有點硬邦邦的。"一看原來是一副鎧甲的殘片'。這時大家都跪在地上用手在密密麻麻的石南叢裏四處摸索。他們先後搜出了一個頭盔、一把匕首、幾枚錢幣;不是卡樂門國的月牙，而是真正的納尼亞國的"獅子"和"樹"，你在海狸大壩和柏盧納的市場上隨時都可以見到這種貨幣。
"看樣子這可能是我們那七位爵爺中的一位留下的全部物品了。"愛德蒙說。
"我也正在這麼想，"凱斯賓說，"不知是哪一位。匕首上看不出什麼。不知他是怎麼死的。"
"也不知怎麼替他報仇。"雷佩契普加上一句說。
愛德蒙是這夥人中惟一看過幾本偵探小說的人，這時一直在動腦筋。
"瞧，"他說，"這件事非常蹊撓。他不會是在決鬥中送命的。"
"爲什麼不會？"凱斯賓問。
"沒有屍骨，"愛德蒙說，"要是敵人，就會拿走鎧甲，扔下屍體。可是誰聽說過打勝了的傢伙會帶走屍體，扔下鎧甲的？”
"也許他是被野獸吃掉的。"露茜提出說。
“只有聰明的野獸纔會把人的鎧甲脫掉呢。"愛德蒙說。"也許是條龍吧？”凱斯賓說。
"不行，"尤斯塔斯說，"龍可辦不到。我應當知道。”
"好吧，不管怎樣，我們離開這地方吧。"露茜說。聽到愛德蒙提起屍骨的問題，她可不想再坐了。
"隨你便，"凱斯賓站起身說，"我認爲這些東西一件也不值得帶走。"
他們下了山，繞到從小湖流出來的那條河的小空地上站着，看着周圍懸崖環立的那潭深水。假如天熱，準保有人情不自禁去洗澡，大家也都會喝上一通。說真的，儘管天不熱，恰恰在尤斯塔斯彎下腰來，想用雙手百些水喝的那一刻，忽聽得雷佩契普和露茜同時喊道，"瞧！”他聽了頓時忘了喝水，望着水裏。
潭底是青灰色的大石塊砌成的，潭水非常清澈，潭底躺着一個同真人一般大小，分明是金子鑄成的人像。臉朝下，兩臂高舉過頭。正當他們看着它的時候，烏雲散開，太陽出來。金像從頭到腳都照得通亮。露茜覺得這真是她所見過的人像中最美的一尊。
"好啊！"凱斯賓吹聲口哨說，"那倒值得來看看！不知道能不能把它打撈出來？"
"我們可以潛水去打撈，陪下。"雷佩契普說。
"根本沒用，"愛德蒙說，"至少，要是真金，純金的話那就太沉了，打撈不起。而且那水潭少說也足有十二到十五英尺那麼深。話說回來，等一下。幸虧我身邊帶着一枝魚叉。讓我們來看看水有多深。凱斯賓，我身子探向水面的時候，抓住我的手。"凱斯賓就抓住他的手，愛德蒙探出身子，開始把魚叉沉下水去。
還沒沉到一半，露茜就說。。我根本不信這人像是金的。這只是光線的關係。你的魚叉看上去也是這顏色。"
"怎麼啦？"幾個人異口同聲問;因爲愛德蒙忽然失於把魚叉掉下去了。
"我拿不住了，"愛德蒙氣喘吁吁說，"似乎很沉呢。"
"這會兒沉到底了，"凱斯賓說，"露茜說得對。這看上去就跟人像一樣顏色。"
看來愛德蒙靴子上出了點問題，至少他正彎下腰去，可是他忽然一下子挺直身子，尖聲叫嚷起來，大家聽了簡直不敢不從。
"往後退！從水邊後退。你們大夥兒。馬上！
他們都向後退去，目不轉睛看着他。
"瞧，"愛德蒙說，"瞧我的靴尖。"
"看上去有點發黃。"尤斯塔斯開了個頭。
"是金的，純金的，"愛德蒙插嘴說，"瞧瞧。摸摸看。皮子已經從靴尖上脫開了。像鉛一樣沉。"
"阿斯蘭在上，"凱斯賓說，"你的意思不見得是說…"
"是的，我是這意思，"愛德蒙說，"那潭水把一切都變成金子了。它把魚叉變成金的，所以才那麼沉。潭水剛濺到.
我腳上，幸虧我沒光着腳，倒把靴尖變成了金子。潭底那個可憐的傢伙——怎麼，明白了吧。"
"原來那根本不是一座雕像。"露茜低聲說。
"不。現在全部真相大白了。他在一個大熱天來到這兒。他在我們剛坐着的懸崖頂上脫掉衣服。衣服不是爛掉了就是讓鳥兒叼去鋪在窩裏了;鎧甲還在那兒。於是他潛下水就——",
“別，”露茜說，"這事多嚇人哪。""我們好險啊。"愛德蒙說。
"的確好險啊，"雷佩契普說，"無論哪個的手指，哪個的腳，哪個的鬍鬚，哪個的尾巴，隨時都可能滑進水裏。"
"雖然如此，"凱斯賓說，"我們還是不妨試驗一下。"他彎下腰，折了一枝石南花枝。於是他小心翼翼，跪在水邊，把花枝浸在水裏。他浸的是石南花，抽出來的卻是純金做的石南花模型，跟鉛一般沉、一般軟。
"擁有這個島的國王，"凱斯賓慢條斯理說，說時滿臉通紅，"馬上就會成爲世界上最富有的國王。我聲明這塊土地今後就成爲納尼亞的屬地，將命名爲金水島。而且我要求你們大家保密。這事千萬別讓外人知道。甚至連德里寧也不讓知道——違者處死，你們聽見沒有?”
"你對誰說話啊？"愛德蒙說，"我可不是你的臣民。要說嘛，這話應該倒過來說。我是納尼亞王國古代四位君主的一位。你應效忠於我哥哥至尊王纔對。"
"果真如此嗎，愛德蒙國王?”凱斯賓一手按在劍柄上說。
"啊呀，你們兩個，趕快住口，"露茜說，"跟男孩子打交道就是這點最要不得。你們都是這麼狂妄自大，恃強欺弱的白癡——啊呀l……"她說說沒聲了，屏住了氣。大家都看到了她看見的情景。
在他們對面那灰濛濛的山坡高處——因爲石南還沒開花，所以看上去灰濛濛——那頭人類肉眼所見最雄偉的獅子慢步走過，無聲無息，也沒朝他們看，雖然事實上太陽被雲層遮住了，可是他渾身金光燦燦，就像沐浴在明亮的陽光下似的。事後露茜描述這幕情景時說"他個頭就跟大象那麼大，"然而另一回她只是說"個頭跟拉車的馬那樣大。"不過，個頭大小倒無所謂。沒人敢於打聽這是什麼。大家都知道這就是阿斯蘭。
然而沒人看到他怎麼走掉，走到哪兒去了。他們就像剛睡醒似的，大家面面相覷。
"我們在談些什麼啊？"凱斯賓說，"我剛纔大出洋相了嗎？"
"陛下，"雷佩契普說，"這地方是遭到詛咒的。我們還是馬上回船上去吧。假如我有幸爲這個島命名，我就叫它做死水島。"
"我覺得這名字起得很好，雷普，"凱斯賓說，"雖然我現在纔想起來，可是不知道爲什麼。不過天氣似乎穩定了，我想，德里寧大概願意啓航了。我們有多少話要跟他說啊。""
可是事實上他們沒跟他說什麼，因爲剛纔那一小時裏的一些事都記不清、搞混了。
"這幾位王上回到船上時，好像都有點兒中邪了。"幾小時後，黎明踏浪號再次揚帆啓航，死水島已經落在地平線下，這時德里寧對賴因斯說，"他們在那地方碰到什麼事了。我只弄得明白一件事，就是他們以爲已經找到我們在尋找的那些爵爺中間一個人的屍體。"
"真的嗎？船長，"賴因斯答，"這一來，找到三個了。只剩下四個。按這個速度，我們過了新年馬上就可以回家了。這倒也是件好事。我的菸草快抽得差不多了。明天見，船長。"
