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CHAPTER FOURTEEN THE BEGINNING OF THE END OF THE WORLD（第2页）

“Myson，”saidthestar，“itwouldbehoughyouwishedit，tosailfortheWorld'sEndwithmenunwillingormeisnothowgreatusareachieved。Theymustkheygoandwhy。Butwhoisthisbrokenmanyouspeakof?”

aoryofRhoop。

“Igivehimwhathe，”saidRamandu。“Ithisislandthereissleepwithoutstintormeasure，andsleepinwhitestfootfallofadreamwaseverheard。Lethimsitbesidetheseotherthreeanddrinkobliviontillyoureturn。”

“Oh，dolet'sdothat，，”saidLusureitsjustwhathewouldlove。”

Atthatmomeerruptedbythesoundofmaandvoiiaoftheshippanyroag。TheyhaltediheysawRamanduandhisdaughter;andthehesewereobviouslygreatpeople，everymanuncoveredhishead。Somesailorseyedtheemptydishesandflagoablewithregret。

“Mylord，”saidtheKingtoDrinian，“prayseotheDawhamessagetotheLordRhoop。Tellhimthatthelastofhisoldshipmatesarehereasleep—asleepwithoutdreams—andthatheshareit。”

&hishadbeendone，toldtheresttositdownandlaidthewholesituatiohem。WhenhehadfiherewasalongsilenewhisperinguheMasterBowmangottohisfeet，andsaid:“Whatsomeofushavebeenwantingttime，yourMajesty，ishowwe'reevertogethomewheururnhereorsomewhereelse。It'sbeeandwindsalltheway，barringano。Andifthatdoesn'tge，I'dliketoknoeswehaveofseeingNarniaagain。There'snotmuceofsupplieslastingallthat>

“That'slandsman'stalk，”saidDrinian。“There'salrevailiwindihroughthelatesummer，anditalwaysgesaftertheNewYear。We'llhaveplentyofwindfwestward;morethanweshalllikefromallats。”

“That'strue，Master，”saidanoldsailorwhowasaGalmianbybirth。“YougetsomeuglyweatherrollingupfromtheeastinJanuaryandFebruary。Andbyyourleave，Sire，ifIwasinandofthisshipI'dsaytowinterhereahevoyagehomeinMarch。”

“What'dyoueatwhileyouwerewinteringhere?”askedEustace。

“Thistable，”saidRamandu，“willbefilledwithaking'sfeasteverydayatsu。”

“Nowy!”saidseveralsailors。

“YourMajestiesalemenandladiesall，”saidRyhere'sjustohingIwanttosay。There'snotoneofuschapsasressedonthisjourney。We'revoluhere'ssomeherechatarelookingveryhardatthattableandthinkingaboutking'sfeastswhveryloudaboutadvehedaywesailedfromCairParavel，aheywouldn'tetillwe'dfouheworld。Andthereweresomestandingonthequaywhowouldhavegiveoewithus。Itwasthoughtafihentohavea-boy'sberthoreaderthantht'sbelt。Idon'tknowifyougetthehangofwhatI'msaying。ButwhatImeanisthatIthinkchapswhosetoutlikeuswilllookassillyas—asthoseDufflepuds—ifweeahebeginningoftheworld'sendandhadn'tthehearttogofurther。”

&hesailorscheeredatthisbutsomesaidthatthatwasallverywell。

“Thisisn'tgoingtobemu，”whisperedEdmundto。“Whatarewetodoifhalfthosefello>

“ianwhisperedback。“I'vestillacardtoplay。”

&yougoingtosayanything，Reep?”whisperedLucy。

“No。WhyshouldyourMajestyexpectit?”answeredReepiavoicethatmostpeopleheard。“Myownsplansaremade。WhileI，Isaileastireader。Whenshefailsme，Ipaddleeastinmycorashesinks，Ishallswimeastwithmyfourpaws。AndwhenIolonger，ifIhavenotrea'stry，orsheoftheworldiaract，IshallsinkwithmyhesunriseandPeepiceekwillbeheadofthetalkingmiia。”

“Hear，hear，”saidasailor，“I'llsaythesame，barriaboutthecoracle，whi'tbearme。”Headdedinalowervoinotgoidonebyamouse。”

Atthispointjumpedtohisfeet。“Friends，”hesaid，“Ithinkyouhaveoodourpurpose。Youtalkasifwehadetoyouwithourhatinourhand，beggingforshipmates。Itisn'tlikethatatall。WeandourroyalbrotheraheirkinsmanandSirReepicheep，thegoodknight，andtheLordDrinianhaveaotheworld'sedge。Itisourpleasuretoongsuchofythoseorthyofsohighaerprise。Wehavenotsaidthatanyefortheasking。ThatiswhyweshallnowandtheLordDrinianandMasterRhiosidercarefullywhatmenamohehardestihemostskilledseameinblood，themostloyaltoourpersooflifeaogivetheirousinaschedule。”Hepausedaoninaquickervoi'smane!”heexclaimed。“Doyouthinkthattheprivilegeofseeihingsistobeb?Why，everymanthateswithusshallbequeaththetitleofDawoallhisdests，aCairParavelontheheheshallhaveeithergoldorlaomakehimrichallhislife。heisland，allofyou。Inhalfanhour'stimeIshallreceivetheLordDrinianbringsme。”

&herasheepishsileheheirbowsandmovedaway，ohisdiredo，butmostlyisorbualking。

“AndnowfortheLordRhoop，”said。

Butturningtotheheadofthetablehesawasalreadythere。Hehadarrived，silentandunnoticed，whilethediswasgoingon，aedbesidetheLoz。ThedaughterofRamandustoodbesidehimasifshehadjusthelpedhimintohischair;RamandustoodbehindhimandlaidbothhishandsonRhoop'sgrayhead。EvenindaylightafaithehaherewasasmileonRhoop'shaggardface。HeheldoutoneofhishandstoLudtheotherto。Foramomentitlookedasifheweregoingtosaysomething。Thenhissmilebrightenedasifhewerefeeling）somedelisation，alongsighofenthislips，hisheadfellforward，a。

“PoorRhoop，”saidLucy。“Iamglad。Hemusthavehadterribletimes。”

“Don'tlet'seventhinkofit，”saidEustace。

Meanian'sspeech，helpedperhapsbysomemagicoftheisland，washavingjusttheeffetended。Agoodmanywhohadbeenaogetoutofthevoyagefeltquitedifferentlyaboutbeiofit。Andofcoursewheneveranyonesailorahehadmadeuphismindtoaskforpermissiontosail，theoneswhohadn'tsaidthisfeltthattheyweregettingfewerandmoreunfortable。Sothatbeforethehalf-hourwasnearlyoverseveralpeoplewerepositively“sugup”toDrinianaleastthatwaswhattheycalleditatmyschool）togetagoodreport。Andsoohreeleftwhodidn'twanttogo，ahreeweretryiopersuadeotherstostaywiththem。Alyafterthattherewaso。Andintheyeobeafraidofbeibehindallonhisownandgedhismind。

Attheendofthehalf-hourtheyallcametroopingbacktoAslan'sTableandstoodatoneendwhileDrinianaandsatdoiaheirreport;andacceptedallthemanbutthatonewho'dhadgedhismimoment。HisendhestayedontheIslaarallthetimetheotherswereawaylookingfortheWorld'sEnd，andheverymuchwishedhehadgohem。Hewasn'tthesortofmanwhojoytalkingtoRamanduandRamandu'sdaughter（ohim），anditrainedagooddeal，andthoughtherewasawoheTableeverynight，hedidn'tverymujoyit。Hesaiditgavehimthecreepssittingtherealone（andintherai）withthosefourLordsasleepattheeable。AhersreturofthingsthathedesertedonthevoyagehomeattheLoneIslands，aandlivedineoldwooriesabouthisadveheEndoftheWorld，untilatlasthecametobelievethemhimself。Soyoumaysay，ihelivedhappilyeverafter。Butheeverbearmice。

Thateanddrahegreattablebetweenthepillarswherethefeastwasmagiewed:amtheDawsailowhebirdshadeandgoneagain。

“Lady，”said，“Ihopetospeakwithyouagainwhehees。”AndRamandu'sdaughterlookedathimandsmiled。