Chapter 5 Chapter 5 The Storm and Aftermath

They landed nearly three weeks before the Dawn Treader was dragged out of Narrowhaven harbor.Everyone said a very grand farewell speech, and a large crowd gathered around to see him off. Caspian made his farewell speech to the Lonely Islands, and there were cheers and tears as he parted from the Duke and his family, but when the ship sailed the mauve sails still fluttered lazily and the ship was towed. All fell silent as they went farther and farther from shore, and the sound of Caspian's horn from the stern tower over the sea grew weaker and weaker.Then the boat caught wind.The sails bulged out, the tug let go and rowed back.For the first time a real wave rose under the Dawn Treader's bows, and suddenly she was a living ship again.The off-watch sailors went down, and Drinian, on the first watch in the poop, turned the bow to the east, rounding the south side of Aphra Island.

The next few days were enjoyable.Lucy considers herself the luckiest girl in the world.She woke up every morning to see the reflection of the sun on the water on the ceiling, and looked around at the beautiful new things she got on the lonely islands-waterproof boots, half-boots, capes, leather jackets and shawls. .So she went up to the deck and looked at the sea from the forecastle. Every morning the blue sea was brilliant, and the air she breathed became warmer every day.Then breakfast is eaten, such a good appetite is only available to people who travel by sea. She spent a lot of time sitting on the little stool in the stern playing chess with Reepicheep.The chess pieces are too big for it to hold. If it wants to walk the chess pieces to the middle of the board, it will hold the chess pieces with two paws and stand on the tiptoes. It looks really funny.It is good at chess, and when it remembers that it is playing chess, it often wins.But Lucy won now and then, because the Mouse made ridiculous moves to send the horse before the queen, who was escorted by a rook.This happened because it forgot for a moment that it was playing chess, remembered the real battle, and did what a knight should do on the battlefield.For all it thinks is of despair, of death, or of glorious charge and defense.

But this happy time is not long.One evening, lounging from the stern of the boat, Lucy stared at the deep ditch (or wake) left by the boat as it passed, and saw a large cloud of puffy clouds in the west building up with astonishing speed.Then there was a gap in the clouds, and the yellow sunset shot out through the gap in the clouds.The waves behind the ship were strangely shaped, and the sea was a light brown and a yellowish yellow, like dirty sails.The air turned cold.The hull seemed to be restless, as if it sensed danger behind the ship.The sails were deflated and limp for a while, and swelled for a while.She was watching these, wondering at the ominous change in the wind, when Drinian called out "Crew ready." Everyone was busy for a while.The hatches were bolted shut, the fire in the galley was extinguished, and the sailors climbed high on the mast to furnish the sails.Before they were done, the storm hit them.It seemed to Lucy that the sea opened a great chasm just in front of their bows, and they plunged into it, deeper than she had expected.A gray mountain-like wave, taller than the barrel of a gun, came rushing toward it; it seemed certain to die, but the hull of the ship was thrown on top of the crest of the wave.At this moment the hull seemed to spin.A cascade of water fell on the deck; the forecastle and poop were like two isolated islands separated by a raging sea.High on the mast, the sailor lay on the yard, trying desperately to hold the sail.A snapped cable protruded from the slope, straight and stiff in the wind like a poker.

①In chess, the English name of horse is knight, which originally means knight; the English name of rook is castle, which originally means castle. Knights" are confused. "Go down, Your Majesty," roared Drinian.Lucy knew that people on land, men and women, were a big trouble to Shui Yu, so she obeyed.But this is not easy to do.The Dawn Treader was listing so badly to starboard that her deck sloped like a roof.She had to scramble around and get to the top of the ladder, and grab hold of the rail, while two sailors climbed up the ladder, and she stood aside, and got down as fast as she could.Fortunately, the second wave roared across the deck, and by the time it reached her shoulders, she was clung to at the foot of the ladder.Although she had been almost drenched from the surf and the rain, this wave was cooler.Then she ran for the hatch and went in, shutting out for a moment the horrific sight of the swell rushing into the darkness, but of course not the ghastly confusion of the creaking, humming The humming, crackling, clattering, snorting, rumbling chorus sounded more thrilling than it sounded on the poop.

The next day, the third day, it continued like this for several days in a row, so that you can hardly remember how many days it was.There are always three people at the helm of the boat, and only three people can maintain a certain course.And someone has to pump the water all the time.There was hardly any rest, nothing to cook, nothing to bake, a sailor was lost overboard, and no one could see the sun at all. After the storm, Eustace wrote these few entries in his diary: It was the first day since September 3rd that I was able to write.We sailed along the 12th gale for 13 days and nights.I know the days because I have a ledger, though they say there are only twelve days and nights.It's wonderful to be on a ship and sail with a group of people who can't even count the numbers!I had a hard time getting tossed about on huge waves for hours on end, often getting so drenched that I couldn't even eat a good hot meal.Not to mention there was no wireless telegraphy, not even rockets, so no chance of signaling to any ship for help.It all proved right what I kept telling them, it was madness to go to sea in such a wretch.It's bad enough if it's with a gentleman, but not with a ghost in human skin.Caspian and Edmund were very rough with me.The night our mast broke (and now there is only one plank left), they made me go up on deck, and work like a slave, even though I was incapable of health.Lucy was nosy too, saying that Reepicheep was dying to work, but he was too big.I wondered how she couldn't see that the little beast was doing everything to show himself.Even at her age she should have so much heart.Today the goddamn boat is finally leveled, the sun is out, and we've been figuring out what to do.We still have enough food for sixteen days, most of it to be quite unpalatable. (The poultry were washed overboard. Even if they didn't, the storm would keep them from laying eggs.) The real trouble was the fresh water.Both buckets appeared to have been cracked and drained. (Narnian efficiency again.) The rations were reduced to half a pint a day, and we only had enough water for twelve days.There are still plenty of liqueur and wine, but even they know that the more they drink, the thirstier they will become.

It would certainly be wisest, if possible, to turn west at once, and drive to the Lone Islands.However, it has been 18 days since we have been here, and there is a strong wind behind us, and the boat is driving like crazy.Even if we had an easterly wind, it would have taken longer to drive back—in fact, there was no wind at all.As for rowing back, it took even longer, and Caspian said sailors couldn't row on half a pint of water a day.This is definitely not true.I tried to explain that sweating really lowered body temperature, so if the sailor was working, he didn't need much water.He paid no attention to the remark, which always happened when he could think of no words to answer.Everyone else agreed to keep going, hoping to find land.I felt it my duty to point out that we did not know whether there was any land ahead, and I tried to make them understand the dangers of wishful thinking.Instead of proposing a better plan, they had the cheek to ask me what I had to offer.So I explained very calmly that I had been kidnapped and taken on this idiot's voyage without my consent, and that it was of little concern to me to get them out of trouble.

September 4th remained calm.The lunch ration was small, and I got less than anyone else.Caspian was so shrewd in dividing the dishes that I didn't see it!For some reason or other Lucy wanted to give me her share, but that meddling beggar Edmund would not let her share.The sun is so poisonous.I was thirsty all night. September 5th was still calm and hot.Feeling sick all day, definitely hot.Of course they don't know how to keep a thermometer on board. : A dreadful day on September 6th.When I wake up at night, I know that my body has a fever and I must drink water.Any doctor would say the same.God knows, I'm the last person to try to take any illegal toilet, but I never dreamed that the water ration rules applied to sick people.In fact, I could have woken up others and asked for some water, but it was selfish for me to wake them up.So I got up, took my glass, and tiptoed out of the black hole in which we slept, taking care not to disturb Caspian and Edmund, who had not slept well since the heat and lack of water.Whether people treat me well or badly, I always try to be considerate of others.I made my way into the great room, if you can call it a room, full of benches for oars and luggage.The water thing is at this end.All went well, but I got caught before I could fill my glass, and I wouldn't have been caught if it hadn't been for that little spy, Rip.I try to explain that I'm going up on deck to get some fresh air (the water issue doesn't matter), but it asks what I'm doing with a glass.It was so loud that it woke up the whole ship.The way they treated me was disgusting.I asked why Reepicheep had sneaked up to the bucket at midnight, as I thought anyone would.He said that, because of his size, he was of no use on deck, and he kept watch over the water every night, so that one more person could go to sleep.Look, there's their goddam unfairness again: they all believe in it, and there's no reason for it! /

I have no choice but to apologize, or the vicious little bastard will point his sword at me again.Then Caspian revealed his true tyrannical face, and shouted to everyone that in the future anyone who was found to be "stealing" water would be punished with "two dozen".Edmund explained it to me before I understood what it meant.It turned out that the words came from the kind of books that the Pevensies children read. After this bluff threat, Caspian changed his tone, and said, as if he were a benefactor, that there was nothing he could do for me, because everyone had the same fever as I did, and we all had to do what we could to get over it, and so on and so on.Posturing, self-righteous bastard.Stayed in bed all day today. 8

It was a little windy today, September 7th, but still westerly.A few miles to the east with a part of the sail resting on what Drinian called an emergency mast was to straighten the firstsprit, lashing (they called it a "bundle") to the planks of the real mast.Still feeling thirsty. On September 8, it still traveled eastward.Now I stay in the bunk all day, seeing no one but Lucy, until the two goblins come up to sleep.Lucy gave me some of her water ration.She said girls are not as thirsty as boys.I have often thought of this, but it should be known to sailing men generally. ( Land was seen on September 9th.There is a tall mountain in the distance to the southeast.

On September 10, the mountain became bigger and clearer, but there was still a long way to go.I don't know how long I haven't seen seagulls, and I saw them again for the first time today. September 11 Caught some fish for lunch.Anchor at seven o'clock in the evening in three fathoms of water in a bay of this mountain island.That idiot Caspian won't let us go ashore because it's dark and he's afraid of wild men and beasts.Extra water ration tonight. What awaited them on this island would concern Eustace's fate more than any other, but these matters could not be put into his own words, for he had a long period of time after September eleventh. I forgot to keep a diary during the period.

In the morning, the sky was low and gray, but hot, and the explorers found themselves in a fjord surrounded by craggy cliffs, much like the fjords on the coast of Norway.In front of them, there was some flat land on the head of the bay, densely covered with trees, which looked like cedars, and a torrent flowed out of the forest.The other side of the torrent was a steep hillside, with a ridge lined with crags at the top, and behind it were wild mountains, standing in the dark clouds, so the top of the mountain could not be seen.On the nearer cliffs on each side of the bay, there is a series of white waters. Everyone knows that this is a waterfall. At such a distance, there is no movement, and no sound can be heard.The whole place is indeed very quiet, and the water of the bay is as smooth as a mirror, reflecting the cliffs in every detail.Although the scenery is beautiful in the picture, it is quite depressing in real life.This is not a place where outsiders are welcome. The whole crew went ashore in two small boats, and everyone went to the river to drink water, have a good bath, eat a meal, and rest a little before Caspian sent four men back to tend the ship, and the day's work consisted of it has started.There is a lot of work to be done.The buckets had to be brought ashore, and the damaged ones repaired if they could be repaired, and all filled; a tree had to be felled—a pine was best if found—and made again and again into a new gun shaft; the sails had to be repaired; The team went hunting, and they hunted wild animals that were produced on the island. Clothes had to be washed and repaired; countless damaged places on the boat had to be repaired.For at first sight the Voyage of the Dawn Treader was hardly recognizable as the majestic ship that had left Narrow Harbor, and this time they were more obvious from a distance.The ship looked like a dead, polluted and discolored hulk that anyone would have mistaken for a pile of junk.The crew was not much better up and down—skeletal, pale, sleep-deprived, with bloodshot eyes and tattered clothes. Eustace was lying under a tree, and his heart sank when he heard all these plans being discussed.Don't you go back and rest?It seemed that on the first day they reached the long-awaited land, they planned to work as hard as they did at sea.At this time, he thought about it.No one was looking at him—they were all talking about the ship, as if they really liked the nuisance.Why didn't he just slip away?He might as well wander inland, find a cool spot up in the hills, get a good night's sleep, and wait till they're done for the day before going to them.He felt it would be of great benefit to him.But he would take good care, and stay where he could see the bay and the boat, so that he could determine his way back.He didn't want to be in a place like this. He immediately implemented his ingenious plan.Get up quietly and walk away among the trees, walking carefully and slowly, pretending to be aimless, so that anyone who sees him will think he is just walking.Unexpectedly, the voice behind him disappeared all of a sudden, and the forest became very quiet, warm and dark green.Soon he felt that he could walk faster and more decisively. He walked out of the woods in two steps.The ground in front of me began to become a steep slope.The weeds were dry and slippery, and if you use your hands and feet together, you can do it. Although he was out of breath and desperately wiping the sweat from his forehead, he continued to crawl desperately.By the way, though he himself did not quite realize it, it showed that his new life was already doing him some good; Eustace had been his father's darling in the old days, and he would have given up ten minutes' climb. After resting a few times, he slowly climbed up the ridge.He originally thought that he could see the center of the island from here, but unexpectedly, the clouds were getting lower and closer, and a sea of ​​fog rolled towards him.He sat down and looked back.Now he was so high up that the bay below looked very small and he could see miles of sea.Then the mists of the mountains approach him from all sides).Although it was thick, it was still not cold, so he simply lay down, rummaged here and there, in order to find the most comfortable position and enjoy it. But he didn't enjoy it, or didn't enjoy it for long.He began to feel alone, almost for the first time in his life.In the beginning, this feeling came step by step.Then he began to worry about time.Not a sound could be heard.It occurred to him suddenly that he might have been lying there for hours.Maybe others left early!Maybe they made him go away on purpose, just to leave him behind He jumped up in a panic and began to climb down the mountain. He was too hasty at first, and slipped on the steep grass slope, and slipped several steps.Then he felt that the slide was too far to the left—because he had seen a cliff on that side when he climbed up the mountain.So he climbed up again, as close as possible to where he guessed the original starting point, Start down the hill again, keep to the right.It seemed to be smoother afterward.He crawled very cautiously, for there was nothing to be seen for a yard ahead, and still all was dead.It's uncomfortable to have to play it safe when there's an inner voice that's constantly urging, "Hurry up, hurry up, hurry up."Because the dreaded thought of being abandoned was there all the time and it was getting stronger and stronger.If he had really known Caspian and the Pevensies he would of course know that they would never do any such thing.But he was convincing himself in his heart that they were all evil spirits in human skin. "At last!" said Eustace, slid down a slope of loose stones (a rubble heap, they called it), and fell unconsciously to level ground. "Well, where are the trees? It's kind of dark ahead. Ah, I believe the fog is lifting. Sure enough, the light got brighter and brighter, so bright that he blinked his eyes.The fog disappeared. He landed in a valley where he didn't know where he was, and he couldn't see the sea at all.