Chapter 14 Chapter Fourteen: The Beginning at the End of the World

The door slowly opened again, and a man stepped out, as tall and straight as the girl, but not so slender.There is no light, but it seems that the whole body is glowing.But when the man got closer, Lucy saw that he looked like an old man.His silver beard hung down to his bare feet in front of him, and his silver hair hung down to his heels behind. His silver robe looked like it was spun from silver wool.His expression was very kind and solemn, and the group couldn't help standing up silently again. But the old man did not speak to the group, but stood on the other side of the table, facing his daughter.Both of them held their arms forward, facing east.They sang in that position.I wish I could write this song down, but no one there remembers it.Lucy said afterwards that the song was very high-pitched, almost shrill, but very nice. "It's a cool song, a clear song."As they sang, the gray clouds in the eastern sky parted, and the white clouds grew bigger and bigger, and at last they were all white, and the sea shone with silver.It took a long time (the father and daughter were still singing) before the east began to glow red, and at last, when the clouds cleared and the sun jumped out of the sea, its long beams fell straight on the table, on the gold and silver dishes and stone knives.

Once or twice the Narnians had wondered if the sun rising over the sea in this part of the country seemed to be as big as it was back home.This time they were sure.Exactly.The sun shone far brighter on the dew and on the table than any morning they had ever seen.As Edmund said afterwards: "Although there were many things that sounded more exciting along the way on that journey, that moment was indeed the most exciting." Because now they know that they have indeed arrived in the world. The beginning of the end. Then something seemed to fly towards them in the center of the rising sun: but of course your eyes cannot see clearly without blinking.But soon the air was full of voices—the voice of the song that Ying He and his daughter sang, but the tone was weird, and the language no one understood.It was not long before it became apparent whose singing these voices belonged to.It was birds, big and white, flying in thousands, and settling on everything: on the grass, on the flagstones, on the table, on your shoulders, on your head, on your hands, it really looked like a bird It snowed heavily.It was like snow, because these birds not only turned everything white, but also blurred the shapes of everything, making it difficult to see clearly.But Lucy, looking through the wings that covered her, saw one of the birds fly up to the old man with something in its beak that would have looked like a small fruit if it hadn't been for a burning coal, Eighty percent of them are burning coals, because they are so bright that you can't look directly at them.The bird put the thing in the old man's mouth.

Then the birds stopped singing and looked very busy at the dinner table.But when they flew up from the dining table again, everything that could be eaten and drunk on the table was wiped out.Thousands of these birds ate and flew away. They also took everything they could not eat or drink, such as bones, skins, shells, etc., and flew back to the Chaoyang side.But now, because they were not singing, the thousands of pairs of wings seemed to make the whole air tremble.But the tabletop has been pecked clean, and the three old Lords of Narnia are still asleep. 4 At this moment, the old man finally turned around to welcome the group of people.

"My lord," said Caspian, "will you please tell us how to break the enchantment which puts these three Lords of Narnia to sleep." "I will gladly tell you the trick, my boy," said the old man. "To break the spell, you must sail to the end of the world, or as near there as you can, and leave at least one of your companions there."* "What about the one left?" asked Reepicheep. "He must continue deep into the Far East and never return to this world." This is exactly my sincere wish. said Reepicheep. "Sir, are we near the end of the world now?" asked Caspian. "Have you any idea of ​​land and sea farther east?"

"I saw it long ago," said the old man, "but from high above. I can't tell you what the sailors need to know." "You mean you're flying?" blurted Eustace. "Young man, I am far away in the sky," the old man replied, "I am Ramandu. But I see you are staring at you, and you have never heard of this name. It is no wonder, because as early as any of you were born and sensible Long ago, I ceased to be a star, and all constellations changed." "My God," whispered Edmund, "he's a retired star." "You're not a star anymore?" Lucy asked.

"Little girl, I am a retired star," Ramandu replied, "I was unimaginably old when I fell last time. I was sent to this island. Now I am not as old as I was then. Every morning a bird brings me a fruit from the valley of the sun, and every fruit I eat makes me a little younger. When I am young as a newborn, I ascend to heaven again (for we are in the land of the East Angle), you can travel in space again.” "In our world," said Eustace, "a star is a great flaming mass of gas." "Boy, even in your world, that's not what a star is, but what it's made of. In our world, you've met a star, because you've probably met Kolyagin. "

"Is he a retired star too?" said Lucy. "It's not quite the same, after all," Ramandu said. "It's not quite retirement when he's relegated to run the fools. Call it punishment. If all went well, he could have shined in the winter south." Thousands of years." 5 "What has he done, sir?" asked Caspian. "Boy," said Ramandu, "as Adam's son, you are not worthy to know what the stars are doing wrong. But never mind, we are wasting time talking about such things. Have you made up your mind now? Do you want to go on Go east, leave one person behind and never come back, and then you come back to break the spell? Or go west?"

"Your Majesty," said Reepicheep, "that must be all right? Rescuing these three lords from magic is clearly part of our quest." "I thought so too, Reepicheep," answered Caspian, "and if it hadn't been so, I would be sad if the Voyage of the Dawn Treader could take us near the end of the world, and we didn't go. But I Think for the sailors. They were contracted to find the seven lords, not to the ends of the earth. If we drive east from here, we will go to the end of the world, the Far East. No one knows how far. They are brave brethren, but I can see signs that some are weary of sailing, and longing for our ship's head to fall back toward Narnia. I think I would never You can't take them any farther. And there's that poor Lord Roop. He's a man of despair."

"Boy," said Ramandu, "it's no use driving to the end of the world with the unwilling or the deceived, even if you wish. It's never going to break the magic. They You must know where you are going and why you are going. But who is that disillusioned person you speak of?" Caspian told Ramandu about Lord Rope's experience. "I can give him what he needs most," Ramandu said. "On this island, there is no limit to sleeping, and you can't hear a single footstep in your dream. Just let him sit on these three seats." Next to you, drink until you forget everything, and wait until you come back."

"Well, let's do it, Caspian," said Lucy, "it's just what he likes, I daresay." At this moment, many footsteps and voices interrupted their conversation. It turned out that Drinian and other personnel on board had come.They paused in amazement at the sight of Ramandu and his daughter; and when they saw that the two were evidently not mortal, they took off their hats.The eyes of some sailors were full of regret when they saw the empty plates and jugs on the table. "My lord," said the king to Drinian, "send two men back to the ship with a message to Lord Roop, telling him that his old shipmates are sleeping here—sleep without dreams— He can come to sleep too."

Having done this, Caspian bade the rest to sit down, and the whole situation was explained to them.After he finished speaking, everyone was silent for a long time, some whispered, and the archer stood up and said: "Your Majesty, what some of us have been wondering is how on earth we will get home once we turn around, whether it's here or somewhere. Except for the occasional calm, the wind is west and northwest all the way. The wind. If the wind doesn't change, I wonder if we have any hope of seeing Narnia again. We're paddling all the way back, and we're not sure we'll be able to keep our supplies going." "It's a landman's argument," Drinian said. "The wind in this sea area is always westerly throughout the end of summer, and it doesn't change until after the New Year. If we want to go west in the future, we will encounter a lot of favorable winds. According to all estimates, it is too much for us to bear." "That's true, Captain," said an old Galmar sailor, "there's always bad weather on the east side in January and February. With all due respect, Master Captain, if I were to command the ship , I will spend the winter here, and start to go home in March." "If you spend the winter here, what will you eat?" asked Eustace. "This table will be filled with the king's feast every day when the sun goes down," Ramandu said. "That's right!" said some of the sailors. "Your Majesties, gentlemen, and ladies," said Lainif, "I just want to say one thing. None of our brethren was compelled to come to sea this time. We all volunteered. Here are a few One is staring at that table, thinking of the King's Feast, talking loudly of adventures the day we set out from Cair Paravel, and swearing they'll never go home without finding the end of the world .And there are people standing on the docks who would give up everything to come with us. People would rather have a cabin steward's berth than a knight's belt on The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. I don't know if you understand what I'm saying But what I'm trying to say is that I think brethren like us who set out on a voyage come home and say we're at the beginning of the end of the world and don't have the guts to go any farther than that, we'll look like those idiots Stupid." A few sailors applauded the remark, and a few said it was a good one. "It doesn't look very good," Edmund whispered to Caspian, "and what shall we do if half the fellows back down?" "Wait a minute," whispered Caspian, "I've got another card to play." "Aren't you going to say something, Rip?" whispered Lucy. "No, why did your Majesty ask me to say it," said Reepicheep, in a voice that most people could hear, "I have my own plans. If I can, I will go east with the Dawn Treader." Go. The boat won't take me, so I'll paddle east on my raft. When the raft sinks, I'll swim east on four paws. If I can't swim, I can't swim Aspen Orland, or if some gigantic waterfall washes away at the edge of the world, then even if I sink into the water, I will point my nose at the sunrise, and then let Perpesic be the talking mouse leader of Narnia .” "Well said, well said," said one of the sailors, "I'd say the same thing, except about the little raft, because I couldn't sit." He added in a low voice, "I'm not going to Let a mouse compare." At this juncture Caspian stood up suddenly. "My friends," he said, "I don't think you quite understand what we mean. You talk as if we came to you with hats in our hands, and begged you Like fellow shipmates. Not at all. We and our brothers and sisters, and their kin, and the good knights, Sir Reepicheep and Lord Drinian, have missions to the edge of the world. We would gladly seek out among those of you who volunteered those whom we thought worthy of such a noble venture. We did not say that anyone could ask to take part. So we now assign Captain Drinian and First Mate Reines to deliberate Tell me, which of you is the staunchest in battle, the most skilful sailor, the purest of blood, the most loyal to us, the most innocent of birth and style; give us these opening lists." He paused, then said in a quicker voice, "My lord, Aslan!" he exclaimed, "do you think the privilege of seeing the final big picture with your own eyes is free? Of course, everyone who follows us All will pass on the title of the Dawn Treader to posterity, and once we return and set foot on Cair Paravel, he will have enough gold or land to keep him rich for life. Now, you all scatter across the island. In half an hour I will have the list in my hands from Lord Drinian."; Everyone was obediently silent when they heard this, and the sailors bowed and walked away, one facing east and one facing west, but most of them were talking in twos and threes. "Now comes Lord Roop," said Caspian. Unexpectedly, as soon as he turned to the head of the table, he saw that Rupp was already sitting there.It turned out that when everyone was discussing, he had been silent, came here silently, and sat beside Lord Algoz.Ramandu's daughter stood beside him as if she had just helped him to sit down; Ramandu stood behind him with her hands resting on his white hair.Even in daylight, the hands of the old man who had been a star shone with a hazy silver light.A smile appeared on Luo Pu's haggard face.He held out one hand to Lucy and the other to Caspian.For a moment, he seemed to be planning to say something.Then he laughed even more, as if he experienced a wonderful thrill, and with a long, contented sigh from his lips, he threw his head forward and fell asleep. "Poor Roop," said Lucy, "I'm so glad. He must have had a lot of terrible things." "Let's not think about it," said Eustace. At this moment, Caspian's words had just the effect he expected, perhaps with the help of some magic on the island.Many people were eager to get out of this voyage just now, but now they feel quite different about being eliminated.Of course, every time a sailor announced that he was determined to ask permission to go to sea, the sailors who hadn't said it felt that their numbers were dwindling, and their feelings became more and more uncomfortable.So before half an hour a few people were actively courting Drinian and Reines (at least that's how they were called at my school) in order to get a good review.Before long there were only three people left who tried to persuade others to stay with them.After a while there was only one person left.In the end, he grew afraid of leaving him alone, and changed his mind. At the end of half an hour they all filed back to Aslan's table, and standing at one end, Drinian and Reines went to sit with Caspian and make their report; Those who changed their minds at the last minute didn't take it.His name was Pitton Kling, and when everyone set out to find the end of the world, he stayed on Star Island, wishing to go with them.He was not the kind of person who liked to chat with the Ramandu and his daughter, and they didn't like to talk to him, and it rained a lot, and although there was delicious food on the table every night, he didn't like it much.He said that sitting there alone, with the four lords sleeping across the table, rain or shine, made him shudder.He felt himself alone when the others returned, and on the return voyage he deserted the Lone Isles to live in the country of Calormene, where he related his adventures at the ends of the world until he himself Believe it or not.So, in a sense, he lived happily ever after.But he couldn't bear the sight of mice. They all ate and drank together that night at the great table between the pillars, where the feast had been magically replaced with fresh.The Voyage of the Dawn Treader set sail again the next morning, just as the big bird flew in and out. "Ma'am," said Caspian, "I wish to speak to you again when I have broken the spell." Ramandu's daughter looked at him and smiled.