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CHAPTER SEVEN HOW THE ADVENTURE ENDED（第2页）

“Youmeanitspoke?”

“Idon'tknow。Nowthatyoumentionit，Idon'tthinkitdid。Butittoldmeallthesame。AndIknewI'dhavetodowhatittoldme，soIgotupa。Anditledmealongwayiains。Andtherewasalwaysthismoonlightoverandroundthelio。SoatlastwecametothetopofamountainI'dneverseehetopofthismountaintherewasagarden—treesandfruitahing。Inthemiddleofitthere

“Ikwasawellbecauseyoucouldseethewaterbubblingupfromthebottomofit:butitwasalotbiggerthanmostwells—likeaverybig，roundbathsgoingdownintoit。ThewaterwasasclearasanythingandIthoughtifIcouldgetiheitaiheliou。Mindyou，Idon'tknowifhesaidanywordsoutloudornot。

“IwasjustgoingtosaythatI'tundressbecauseIhadn'tanywhehoughtthatdragonsaresnakysortofthingsandsnakescasttheirskins。Oh，htI，that'swhatthelionmeans。SoIstartedsgmyselfandmyscalesbeganingoffalloverthepladthenIscratchedalittledeeperand，insteadofjustsihere，mywholeskinstartedpeeliifully，likeitdoesafteranillness，orasifIwasabanana。IwoIjuststeppedoutofit。Icouldseeitlyingtherebesideme，lookiy。Itwasamostlovelyfeeling。Sodownintothewellformybathe。

“ButjustasIwasgoingtoputmyfeetierIlookeddownandsawthattheywereallhardandroughandwrinkledandscalyjustastheyhadbeehat'sallright，saidI，itonlymeansIhadanothersmallersuitohefirstone，andI'llhavetogetoutofittoo。So1scratdtainandthisunderskinpeeledoffbeautifullyandoutIsteppedalyiheroothewellformybathe。

&lythesamethinghappenedagain。AndIthoughttomyself，ohdear，howevermanyskiotakeoff?ForIwaslongingtobathemyleg。SoIscratchedawayforthethirdtimeandgotoffathirdskin，justlikethetwoothers，aofit。ButassoonasIlookedatmyselfierIkhadbeennogood。

&helionsaid—butIdon'tknowifitspoke—‘Youwillhavetoletmeundressyou。'Iwasafraidofhisclaws，Itellyou，butIrettyenow。SoIjustlayflatdownonmybadoit。

“TheveryfirsttearhemadethatIthoughtithadghti。Andwhenhebeganpullingtheskinoff，ithurtworsethananythingI'veeverfelt。Theonlythingthatmademeabletobearitwasjustthepleasureoffeeliuffpeeloff。Youknow—ifyou'veeverpickedthescaboffasoreplace。Ithurtslikebilly-ohbutitissutoseeitinga>

“Iklywhatyoumean，”saidEdmund。

“Well，hepeeledthebeastlystuffrightoff—justasIthoughtI'ddoherthreetimes，onlytheyhadn'thurt—awaslyingonthegrass:onlyeversomuchthiddarker，andmoreknobbly-lookingthahershadbeen。AndtherewasIassmoothandsoftasapeeledswitdsmallerthaheholdofme—Ididn'tlikethatmuchforIwasverytehnowthatI'dnoskinoothewater。ItsmartedlikeanythingbutonlyforamomebecameperfectlydelidassoonasIstartedslashingIfoundthatallthepainhadgonefrommyarm。AndthenIsawwhy。I'dturoaboyagain。You'dthinkmesimplyphooldyouhowIfeltaboutmyownarms。Iknowthey'venomusdareprettymouldyparedian's，butIwassogladtoseethem。

&helioanddressedme—”

“Dressedyou。Withhispaws?”

“Well，Idolyrememberthatbit。Buthedidsomehoworother:ihes—thesameI'vegotonnow，asamatteroffadthensuddenlyIwasbackhere。Whichiswhatmakesmethinkitmusthavebeenadream。”

“No。Itwasn'tadream，”saidEdmund。

“Whynot?”

&herearetheclothes，forohing。Andyouhavebeen—well，un-dragoned，foranother。”

“Whatdoyouthinkitwas，theace。

“Ithinkyou'veseenAslan，”saidEdmund。

“Aslan!”saidEustace。“I'veheardthatioimessiheDawnTreader。A—Idon'tknowwhat—Ihatedit。ButIwashatihen。Andbytheway，I'dliketoapologize。I'mafraidI'vebeely。”

“That'sallright，”saidEdmuweenourselves，youhaven'tbeenasbadasIwasonmyfirsttriptoNarnia。Youwereonlyanass，butI>

“Well，don'ttellmeaboutit，then，”saidEustace。“ButwhoisAslan?Doyouknowhim?”

“Well—heknowsme，”saidEdmuhegreatLioheEmperor-beyond-the-Sea，whosavedmeandsavedNarnia。We'veallseenhim。Lucyseeshimmostoften。AnditmaybeAslan'strywearesailingto。”

&hersaidanythingforawhile。Thelastbrightstarhadvahoughtheyotseethesunrisebeountai，theykwasgoiheskyabovethemandthebaybeforethemturhecolorofroses。Thensomebirdoftheparrotkihewoodbehiheyheardmovementsamorees，andfinallyablaston'shorn。Thecamp>

&herejoiEdmuoredEustacewalkedintothebreakfastcirdthecampfire。Andnowofcourseeveryoheearlierpartofhisstory。PeoplewoheonhadkilledtheLordOseveralyearsagoorwhetherOhimselfhadbeentheohwhichEustacehadcrammedhispothecavehaddisappearedalongwiththeclotheshehadthenbeenwearing:butofallEustacehimself，feltaogobacktothatvalleyformoretreasure。

Inafeed，re-painted，aored，wasreadytosail。Beforetheyembarkedcausedtobeoothclifffagthebaythewords:

DRAGONISLAND

discoveredby

X，KINGOFc。

Ihyear

n。

Here，aswesuppose，

&ESIAN

hadhisdeath

Itwouldbenidfairlytrue，tosaythat“fromthattimeforthEustacewasadifferentboy“。Tobestrictlyaccurate，hebegantobeadifferentboy。Hehadrelapses。Therewerestillmanydayswhenhecouldbeverytiresome。ButmostofthoseIshallhecurehadbegun。

&esian&#hadacuriousfate。EustaotwantitaodofferedittoLucy。Shedidhavingit。“Verywell，then，catchas，”saiddflungitupihiswaswheandinglookiiohering，flashi，anddhulyasawell-thrownquoit，oionontheroebuptogetitfrombelowandnoonebdowfromabove。Andthere，forallIknow，itishangingstillandmayhangtillthatworldends。