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CHAPTER TWELVE THE DARK ISLAND（第2页）

“AndI'dfindTomaliveagain，”saidanother。

“Fools!”saidtheman，stampinghisfe。“Thatisthesortoftalkthatbroughtmehere，andI'dbetterhavebeendrownedorneverborn。DoyouhearwhatIsay?Thisiswheredreams—dreams，doyouuaolife，ereal。Notdaydreams:dreams。”

Therewasabouthalfaminute'ssilehen，withagreator，theeretumblingdowchasquickastheydflingiheoarstorowastheyhadneverrowedbefore;andDrinianwasswingingrouiller，aswainwasgivistrokethathadeverbeesea。Forithadtakehathalfmiorememberdreamstheyhadhad—dreamsthatmakeyoingtosleepagain—andtorealizewhatitwouldmeantolandonatrywheredreamsetrue。

OnlyReepicheepremainedunmoved。

“YourMajesty，yourMajesty，”hesaid，“areyougoihismutiny，thispoltroohisisapanic，thisisarout。”

“Row，row，”belloullforallourlives。Isherheadright，Drinian?Yousaywhatyoulike，Reepicheep。Therearesomethingsnomanface。”

“Itis，then，mygoodfortuobeaman，”repliedReepicheepwithaverystiffbow。

Luupalofthadhearditall。Inaninstantthatoneofherowndreamswhichshehadtriedhardesttetcamebacktoherasvividlyasifshehadonlyjustwokenfromit。Sothatasbehiheisland，inthedarkness!ForasedshewaogodowntothededbewithEdmundand。Butwhatwastheuse?Ifdreamsbeganingtrue，Edmundandthemselvesmightturnihinghorriblejustasshereachedthem。Shegrippedtherailofthefightingtopaeadyherself。Theywererowingbacktothelightashardastheycould:itwouldbeallrightinafewseds。Butoh，ifonlyitcouldbeallrightnow!

Thmadeagooddealofdidnotquitecealthetotalsilencewhidedtheship。

Everyowouldbebetternottolisten，nottostrainhisearsforanysoundfromthedarknoonecouldhelplistening。Andsooneveryohings。Eaeheardsomethi。

“Doyouhearanoiselike。。。likeahugepairandshuttihere?”EustaceaskedRynelf。

“Hush!”saidRynelf。“Ihearthemgupthesidesoftheship。”

“It'sjustgoihemast，”said。

“Ugh!”saidasailor。“Therearethegongsbeginniheywould。”

，tryingnottolookatanything（espeottokeeplookingbehindhim），wentafttoDrinian。

“Drinian，”hesaidinaverylowvoice。“Howloakerowingin?—Imeanroepickedupthestranger。”

&es，perhaps，”whisperedDrinian。“Why?”

“Becausewe'vebeehatalreadytryi。”

Drinian'shandshookoillerandalineofcoldsweatrandowhesameideawastoeveryoneonboard。“Weshall，'out，”moaherowers。“He'ssteeringuswrong。We&#roundandroundincircles。Weshallhestranger，whohadbeenlyinginahuddledheapoupandburstoutintoahorriblesglaugh。

&!”heyelled。“That'sit。Ofcourse。Weshall。WhatafoolIwastohavethoughttheywouldletmegoaseasilyasthat。No，no，weshall。”

Lutherheadohefightingtopandwhispered，“Aslan，Aslan，ifeveryoulovedusatall，sendushelpnow。”Thedarknessdidnotgrowashebegale—avery，verylittle—better。“Afterall，nothinghasreallyhappeousyet，”shethought。

“Look!”elf'svoicehoarselyfromthebows。Thereeckoflightahead，aoflightfellfromitupodidhesurroundihewholeshipasifbysearchlight。bliaredround，sawthefapanionsallwithwild，fixedexpressions。Everyoaringiion:behindeveryonelayhisblack，sharply-edgedshadow。

Lucylookedalongthebeamalysawsomethinginit。Atfirstitlookedlikeacross，thenitlookedlikeanaeroplalookedlikeakite，andatlastwithawhirringofwingsitwasrightoverheadandwasanalbatross。Itcircledthreetimesrouandthenperchedforaninstaofthegildeddragocalledoutinastrovoicewhatseemedthoodthem。Afterthatitspreaditswings，rose，aoflyslowlyahead，bearingalittletostarboard。DrieritnotdoubtingthatituidaLuewthatasitcircledthemastithadwhisperedte，dearheart，”andthevoice，shefeltsure，wasAslan's，andwiththevoiceadeliellbreathedinherface。

Isthedarkoagrayhen，almostbeforetheydaredtobeginhoping，theyhadshotoutiahewarm，bluewain。Andallatonceeverybodyrealizedthattherewasnothingtobeafraidofandneverhadbeen。Theybliheireyesahem。Thebrightheshipherselfastoheyhadhalfexpectedtofindthatthedarknesswouldgtothewhiteahegoldintheformofsomegrimeorsdthenfirstohenananlaughing。

“Ireadeprettygoodfoolsofourselves，”saidRynelf。

Lueiningdowntothedeck，whereshefouhersallgatheredroundthenewer。Ftimeheeak，andlygazeattheseaandthesuhebulwarksandtheropes，asiftomakesurehewasreallyawake，whiletearsrolleddownhischeeks。

“Thankyou，”hesaidatlast。“Youhavesavedmefrom。。。butIwon'ttalkofthat。Ameknowwhoyouare。IamaTelmarineofNarnia，andorthanythingmeheLordRhoop。”

“AndI，”said，“am，KingofNarnia，andIsailtofindyouandyourpanioher'sfriends。”

LordRhoopfellonhiskneesaheKing'shand。“Sire，”hesaid，“youarethemaninalltheworldImostwishedtosee。Grantmeaboon。”

“Whatisit?”asked。

&mebackthere，”hesaid。Hepoiheyalllooked。Buttheysawhtblueseaandbrightbluesky。TheDarkIslandandthedarknesshadvanishedforever。

“Why!”criedLordRhoop。“Youhavedestroyedit!”

“Idon'tthinkitwasus，”saidLucy。

“Sire，”saidDrinian，“thiswindisfairforthesoutheast。ShallIhaveourpoorfellowsupasail?A，everymanared，tohishammock。”

“Yes，”said，“aherebegrogallround。Heigh-ho，IfeelIcouldsleeptheyself。”

Soallafternooheysailedsouth-eastwithafairwind。Butnobodyhealbatrosshaddisappeared。