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CHAPTER FIFTEEN THE WONDERS OF THE LAST SEA（第1页）

CHAPTERFIFTEENTHEWOHELASTSEA

VERYsooheyhadleftRamandu'strytheybegaheyhadalreadysailedbeyondtheworld。Allwasdifferent。Foroheyallfoundthattheywereneedinglesssleep。Owanttogotobed。muoreventotalkexlowvoiwasthelight。Therewastoomuchofit。Thesucameupeaglookedtwiot;threetimes，itsusualsize。Andeverym（whichgaveLucythestrafeelingofall）thehugewhitebirds，singingtheirsongwithhumanvoialanguagereamedoverheadaerotheirbreakfastatAslan'sTable。Alittlelatertheygbaishedi。

“Howbeautifullyclearthewateris!”saidLucytoherself，assheleaheportsideearlyiernoonofthesedday。

Anditwas。Thefirstthingthatshenoticedwasalittleblackobject，aboutthesizeofashalongatthesamespeedastheship。Foramomeitwassomethingfloatingonthesurface。Butthentherecamefloatingpastabitofstalebreadwhichthecookhadjustthrownoutofthegalley。Aofbreadlookedasifitweregoingtocollidewiththeblag，butitdidn't。Itpassedaboveit，andLuowsawthattheblagotbeonthesurfatheblagsuddenlygotverymuchbiggeraonormalsizeamomentlater。

NowLuewshehadseehingjustlikethathappensomewhereelse—ifonlysheberwhere。Sheheldherhandtoherheadandscrewedupherfadputueioremember。Atlastshedid。Ofcourse!Itwaslikewhatyousawfromatrainhtsunnyday。Yousawtheblackshadowofyourowningalohesamepaceasthetrain。Theoag;ahesameshadowflickedcloseuptoyouandg:longthegrassoftheg-bank。Thehed—Pioretheblackshadowhadgooitsnormalsizeandwasrunningalongthefields。

“It'sourshadow!—theshadowoftheDawnTreader，”saidLucy。“Ourshadaloomofthesea。Thattimewhenitgotbiggeritwentoverahill。ButinthatcasethewatermustbeclearerthanIthought!Goodgraustheseeiomofthesea;fathomsandfathomsdown。”

Assoonasshehadsaidthissherealizedthatthegreatsilveryexpansewhichshehadbeehoutnotietimewasreallythesandonthesea-bedandthatailsortshterpatcheswerenotlightsandshadowsonthesurfacebutrealthiom。Atpresent，foriheywerepassingoveramassofsreenwithabroad，windingstripofpalegrayinthemiddleofitButnowthatshekwasoomshesawitmuchbetter。Shecouldseethatbitsofthedarkstuffweremuchhigherthasandwerewavily。“Justliketreesinawind，”saidLuddobelievethat'swhattheyare。It'sasubmari。”

Theypassedoahepalestreakwasjoiherpalestreak。“IfIwasdowhoughtLucy，“thatstreakwouldbejustlikearhthelacewhereitjoiherWouldbeacrossroads。Oh，IdowishIwas。Hallo!theforestisingtoanend。Ahestreakreallywasaroad!Istillseeitgoingonacrosstheopensand。It'sadifferentdit'smarkedoutwithsomethingattheedges—dottedliheyarestones。Andnowit'sgettingwider。”

Butitwasiwasgettingnearer。Sherealizedthisbecauseofthewayinwhichtheshadowoftheshipcamerushinguptowardher。Andtheroadshefeltsureitwasaroadogoinzigzags。Obviouslyitwasgupasteephill。Andwhensheheldherheadsidewaysandlookedback，whatshesawwasverylikewhatyouseewhenyoulookdownawindingroadfromthetopofahill。Sheseetheshaftsofsunlightfallingthroughthedeepwaterontothewoodedvalley—aremedistahiingawayintoadimgreesomeplaces—thesuhought—wereultramarineblue。

Sheot，however，spendmuchtimelookingback;whatwasingiheforwarddirewastooexg。Theroadhadapparentlyopofthehillandranstraightforward。Littlespecksweremovingtoandfroonit。Andhingmostwonderful，fortunatelyinfullsunlight—orasfullasitbewhenitfallsthroughfathomsofwater—flashedintosight。Itwasknobblyandjaggedandofapearly，orperhapsanivory，color。Shewasshtaboveitthatatfirstshecouldhardlymakeoutwhatitwas。Buteverythingbewheiceditsshadow。ThesunlightwasfallingacrossLucy'sshoulders，sotheshadowofthethinglaystretchedoutonthesa。Andbyitsshapeshesawclearlythatitwasashadowoftoinnaaretsanddomes。

“Why!—it'sacityecastle，”saidLucytoherself“ButIwohey'vebuiltitontopofahighmountain?”

LongafterasbaglandaheseadvehEdmuofareasonandIamprettysureitisthetrueohedeeperyougo，thedarkeras，anditisdowhedarkandcold，thatdahihesquidaandtheKraken。Thevalleysarethewild，unfriehesea-peoplefeelabouttheirvalleysaswedoaboutmountaitheirmountainsaswefeelaboutvalleys。Itisos（or，aswewouldsay，“intheshallows”）thatthereiseace。Theretersasoftheseagodowhsosaures，butreturheheightsforrestaesyandcil，thesports，thedahesongs。

Theyhadpassedthedthesea-bedwasstillrising。Itwasonlyafewhuheshipnow。Theroadhaddisappeared。Theyweresailingaboveanopenpark-liketry，dottedwithlittlegrhtlycetation。Andthen—Luearlysquealedaloudwithext-shehadseenPeople。

&weewentyofthem，andallmountedonsea-horses—tlesea-horseswhiayhaveseehgerthaheymustbenobleandlordlypeople，Lucythought，forshecouldcatchthegleamofgoldoheirforeheadsandstreamersofemerald—e-coloredstuffflutteredfromtheirshouldersi。Then:

“Oh，botherthesefish!”saidLucy，forawholeshoalofsmallfatfish，swimmiothesurfaebetweeheSeaPeople。Butthoughthisspoiledherviewitledtothemthingofall。

Suddelefishofakindshehadneverseenbeforecamedartingupfrombeloed，grabbed，andsankrapidlywithofishinitsmouth。AndalltheSeaPeontheirhupateheyseemedtobetalkingandlaughihehuntingfishhadgotbawithitsprey，ahesamekindcameupfromtheSeaPeople。AndLucywasalmostthatonebigSeaManwhosatonhissea-horseinthemiddleofthepartyhadsentitorreleasedit;asifhehadbeenholdngitbacktilltheninhishandoronhiswrist。

“Why，Idodeclare，”saidLucy，“it'sahuntingparty。Ormorelikeahawkingparty。Yes，that'sit。TheyrideoutwiththeselittlefiertheirwristsjustasweusedtorideoutwithfalourereKingsaCairParavellongago。Aheyflythem—orIsupposeIshouldsayswimthem—attheothers。”

&oppedsuddehesewasg。TheSeaPeoplehadheDawheshoaloffishhardscatterediiohemselveswereinguptofindoutthemeaningofthisbig，blagwhiebetweehesun。Andnowtheyweresoclosetothesurfacethatiftheyhadbeeninair，ier，Lucycouldhavespokehereweremeh。Allworeekindandmanyhadsofpearls。Theyworehes。Theirbodieswerethecolorofoldivory，theirhairdarkpurple。TheKier（nooneistakehimfbuttheKing）lookedproudlyaoLucy'sfadshookaspearinhishand。Hisknightsdidthesame。Thefacesoftheladieswerefilledwithasto。Lucyfeltsuretheyhadneverseenashiporahumanbefore—andhowshouldthey，iheworld'sendwherenoshipevercame?

“Whatareyat，Lu?”saidavoiceclosebesideher。

Lucyhadbeensoabsorbedinwhatshewasseeingthatshestartedatthesound，aurhatherarmhadgone“dead”fromleaningsolongontherailiion。DrinianandEdmundwerebesideher。

“Look，”shesaid。

&hlooked，butalmostatonsaidinalowvoiroundatonajesties—that&#ht，withourbackstothesea。Anddon'tlookasifweweretalkingaboutanythingimportant。”

“Why，what'sthematter?”saidLucyassheobeyed。

“It'llneverdoforthesailorstoseeallthat，”saidDrinian。“We'llhavemenfallihaseawiheuryitself，andjumpingoverboard。I'veheardofthatkindofthinghappenira'salwaysunluckytoseethesepeople。”

“Butweusedtoknowthem，”saidLutheolddaysatCairParavelwhenmybrotherPeterwasHighKiothesurfagatour。”

“Ithinkthatmusthavebeekind，Lu，”saidEdmund。“Theycouldliveintheairaswellasuherthinkthese't。Bythelookofthemthey'dhavesurfadstartedattaguslongagoiftheycould。Theyseemveryfierce。”

“Atanyrate，”saidDrinian，butatthatmomenttwosoundswereheard。One。Theotherwasavoithefightingtopshouting，“Manoverboard!”Theneveryonewasbusy。Someofthesailorshurriedalofttotakeihershurriedbelowtogettotheoars;andRhince，whowasondutyonthepoop，begantoputthehelmhardoversoastoeroundandbaanwhohadgoneoverboard。Butbynoweveryowasn'tstri。Iticheep。

“Dratthatmouse!”saidDrinian。“It'smoretroublethaoftheship'spanyputtogether。Ifthereisaobegotinto，initwillget!Itoughttobeputinirons—keel-hauled—marooswhiskerscutoff。eseethelittleblighter?”

Allthisdidn'tmeanthatDrinianreallydislikedReepithetraryhelikedhimverymudwastherefhtehim，andbeihimiasyourmotherismugrierwithyoutintotheroadinfrontofaastrangerwouldbe。Noone，ofcourse，wasafraidofReepicheep&#，forhewasaswimmer;butthethreeasgoihewaterwereafraidofthoselong，cruelspearsinthehandsoftheSeaPeople。

IestheDawnTreaderhaderoundandeveryonecouldseetheblatheasReepicheep。Hewasgwiththegreatestextbutashismouthkeptoihwaternobodyderstandwhathe>

“He'llblurtthewholethingoutifwedon'tshuthimup，”iahisherushedtothesideandloehimself，shoutingtothesailors，“Allright，allright。Backtoyourplaces。IhopeIheaveamouseupwithouthelp。”AndasReepicheepbeganguptheropenotverynimblybecausehiswetfurmadehimheavy—Drinianleanedoveraohim，“Don'ttell。Notaword。”