《黎明踏浪號》第7章:脫險

"LOOK at what?" said Edmund.
"Look at the device on the gold," said Caspian.
"A little hammer with a diamond above it like a star," said Drinian. "Why, I've seen that before."
"Seen it!" said Caspian. "Why, of course you have. It is the sign of a great Narnian house. This is the Lord Octesian's arm-ring."
"Villain," said Reepicheep to the dragon, "have you devoured a Narnian lord?" But the dragon shook his head violently.
"Or perhaps," said Lucy, "this is the Lord Octesian, turned into a dragon - under an enchantment, you know."
"It needn't be either," said Edmund. "All dragons collect gold. But I think it's a safe guess that Octesian got no further than this island."
"Are you the Lord Octesian?" said Lucy to the dragon, and then, when it sadly shook its head, "Are you someone enchanted - someone human, I mean?"
It nodded violently.
And then someone said - people disputed afterwards whether Lucy or Edmund said it first - "You're not - not Eustace by any chance?"
And Eustace nodded his terrible dragon head and thumped his tail in the sea and everyone skipped back (some of the sailors with ejaculations I will not put down in writing) to avoid the enormous and boiling tears which flowed from his eyes.
Lucy tried hard to console him and even screwed up her courage to kiss the scaly face, and nearly everyone said "Hard luck" and several assured Eustace that they would all stand by him and many said there was sure to be some way of disenchanting him and they'd have him as right as rain in a day or two. And of course they were all very anxious to hear his story, but he couldn't speak. More than once in the days that followed he attempted to write it for them on the sand. But, this never succeeded. In the first place Eustace (never having read the right books) had no idea how to tell a story straight. And for another thing, the muscles and nerves of the dragon-claws that he had to use had never learned to write and were not built for writing anyway. As a result he never got nearly to the end before the tide came in and washed away all the writing except the bits he had already trodden on or accidentaly swished out with his tail. And all that anyone had seen would be something like this - the dots are for the bits he had smudged out I WNET TO SL EE . . . RGOS AGRONS I MEAN DRANGONS CAVE CAUSE IT-WAS DEAD AND AWING SO HAR . . . WOKE UP AND COU . . . GET OFFF MI ARM OH BOTHER . . .
It was, however, clear to everyone that Eustace's character had been rather improved by becoming a dragon. He was anxious to help. He flew over the whole island and found it was all mountainous and inhabited only by wild goats and droves of wild swine. Of these he brought back many carcasses as provisions for the ship. He was a very humane killer too, for he could dispatch a beast with one blow of his tail so that it didn't know (and presumably still doesn't know) it had been killed. He ate a few himself, of course, but always alone, for now that he was a dragon he liked his food raw but he could never bear to let others see him at his messy meals. And one day, flying slowly and wearily but in great triumph, he bore back to camp a great tall pine tree which he had torn up by the roots in a distant valley and which could be made into a capital mast. And in the evening if it turned chilly, as it sometimes did after the heavy rains, he was a comfort to everyone, for the whole party would come and sit with their backs against his hot sides and get well warmed and dried; and one puff of his fiery breath would light the most obstinate fire. Sometimes he would take a select party for a fly on his back, so that they could see wheeling below them the green slopes, the rocky heights, the narrow pit-like valleys and far out over the sea to the eastward a spot of darker blue on the blue horizon which might be land.
The pleasure (quite new to him) of being liked and, still more, of liking other people, was what kept Eustace from despair. For it was very dreary being a dragon. He shuddered whenever he caught sight of his own reflection as he flew over a mountain lake. He hated the huge batlike wings, the saw-edged ridge on his back, and the cruel, curved claws. He was almost afraid to be alone with himself and yet he was ashamed to be with the others. On the evenings when he was not being used as a hot-water bottle he would slink away from the camp and lie curled up like a snake between the wood and the water. On such occasions, greatly to his surprise, Reepicheep was his most constant comforter. The noble Mouse would creep away from the merry circle at the camp fire and sit down by the dragon's head, well to the windward to be out of the way of his smoky breath. There he would explain that what had happened to Eustace was a striking illustration of the turn of Fortune's wheel, and that if he had Eustace at his own house in Narnia (it was really a hole not a house and the dragon's head, let alone his body, would not have fitted in) he could show him more than a hundred examples of emperors, kings, dukes, knights, poets, lovers, astronomers, philosophers, and magicians, who had fallen from prosperity into the most distressing circumstances, and of whom many had recovered and lived happily ever afterwards. It did not, perhaps, seem so very comforting at the time, but it was kindly meant and Eustace never forgot it.
But of course what hung over everyone like a cloud was the problem of what to do with their dragon when they were ready to sail. They tried not to talk of it when he was there, but he couldn't help overhearing things like, "Would he fit all along one side of the deck? And we'd have to shift all the stores to the other side down below so as to balance," or, "Would towing him be any good?" or "Would he be able to keep up by flying?" and (most often of all), "But how are we to feed him?" And poor Eustace realized more and more that since the first day he came on board he had been an unmitigated nuisance and that he was now a greater nuisance still. And this ate into his mind, just as that bracelet ate into his foreleg. He knew that it only made it worse to tear at it with his great teeth, but he couldn't help tearing now and then, especially on hot nights.
About six days after they had landed on Dragon Island, Edmund happened to wake up very early one morning. It was just getting grey so that you could see the tree-trunks if they were between you and the bay but not in the other direction. As he woke he thought he heard something moving, so he raised himself on one elbow and looked about him: and presently he thought he saw a dark figure moving on the seaward side of the wood. The idea that at once occurred to his mind was, "Are we so sure there are no natives on this island after all?" Then he thought it was Caspian - it was about the right size - but he knew that Caspian had been sleeping next to him and could see that he hadn't moved. Edmund made sure that his sword was in its place and then rose to investigate.
He came down softly to the edge of the wood and the dark figure was still there. He saw now that it was too small for Caspian and too big for Lucy. It did not run away. Edmund drew his sword and was about to challenge the stranger when the stranger said in a low voice, "Is that you, Edmund?"
"Yes. Who are you?" said he.
"Don't you know me?" said the other. "It's me Eustace."
"By jove," said Edmund, "so it is. My dear chap -"
"Hush," said Eustace and lurched as if he were going to fall.
"Hello!" said Edmund, steadying him. "What's up? Are you ill?"
Eustace was silent for so long that Edmund thought he was fainting; but at last he said, "It's been ghastly. You don't know . . . but it's all right now. Could we go and talk somewhere? I don't want to meet the others just yet."
"Yes, rather, anywhere you like," said Edmund. "We can go and sit on the rocks over there. I say, I am glad to see you - er - looking yourself again. You must have had a pretty beastly time."
They went to the rocks and sat down looking out across the bay while the sky got paler and paler and the stars disappeared except for one very bright one low down and near the horizon.
"I won't tell you how I became a - a dragon till I can tell the others and get it all over," said Eustace. "By the way, I didn't even know it was a dragon till I heard you all using the word when I turned up here the other morning. I want to tell you how I stopped being one."
"Fire ahead," said Edmund.
"Well, last night I was more miserable than ever. And that beastly arm-ring was hurting like anything-"
"Is that all right now?"
Eustace laughed - a different laugh from any Edmund had heard him give before - and slipped the bracelet easily off his arm. "There it is," he said, "and anyone who likes can have it as far as I'm concerned. Well, as I say, I was lying awake and wondering what on earth would become of me. And then - but, mind you, it may have been all a dream. I don't know."
"Go on," said Edmund, with considerable patience.
"Well, anyway, I looked up and saw the very last thing I expected: a huge lion coming slowly towards me. And one queer thing was that there was no moon last night, but there was moonlight where the lion was. So it came nearer and nearer. I was terribly afraid of it. You may think that, being a dragon, I could have knocked any lion out easily enough. But it wasn't that kind of fear. I wasn't afraid of it eating me, I was just afraid of it - if you can understand. Well, it came close up to me and looked straight into my eyes. And I shut my eyes tight. But that wasn't any good because it told me to follow it."
"You mean it spoke?"
"I don't know. Now that you mention it, I don't think it did. But it told me all the same. And I knew I'd have to do what it told me, so I got up and followed it. And it led me a long way into the mountains. And there was always this moonlight over and round the lion wherever we went. So at last we came to the top of a mountain I'd never seen before and on the top of this mountain there was a garden - trees and fruit and everything. In the middle of it there was a well.
"I knew it was a well because you could see the water bubbling up from the bottom of it: but it was a lot bigger than most wells - like a very big, round bath with marble steps going down into it. The water was as clear as anything and I thought if I could get in there and bathe it would ease the pain in my leg. But the lion told me I must undress first. Mind you, I don't know if he said any words out loud or not.
"I was just going to say that I couldn't undress because I hadn't any clothes on when I suddenly thought that dragons are snaky sort of things and snakes can cast their skins. Oh, of course, thought I, that's what the lion means. So I started scratching myself and my scales began coming off all over the place. And then I scratched a little deeper and, instead of just scales coming off here and there, my whole skin started peeling off beautifully, like it does after an illness, or as if I was a banana. In a minute or two I just stepped out of it. I could see it lying there beside me, looking rather nasty. It was a most lovely feeling. So I started to go down into the well for my bathe.
"But just as I was going to put my feet into the water I looked down and saw that they were all hard and rough and wrinkled and scaly just as they had been before. Oh, that's all right, said I, it only means I had another smaller suit on underneath the first one, and I'll have to get out of it too. So 1 scratched and tore again and this underskin peeled off beautifully and out I stepped and left it lying beside the other one and went down to the well for my bathe.
"Well, exactly the same thing happened again. And I thought to myself, oh dear, how ever many skins have I got to take off? For I was longing to bathe my leg. So I scratched away for the third time and got off a third skin, just like the two others, and stepped out of it. But as soon as I looked at myself in the water I knew it had been no good.
"Then the lion said - but I don't know if it spoke - "You will have to let me undress you." I was afraid of his claws, I can tell you, but I was pretty nearly desperate now. So I just lay flat down on my back to let him do it.
"The very first tear he made was so deep that I thought it had gone right into my heart. And when he began pulling the skin off, it hurt worse than anything I've ever felt. The only thing that made me able to bear it was just the pleasure of feeling the stuff peel off. You know - if you've ever picked the scab off a sore place. It hurts like billy-oh but it is such fun to see it coming away."
"I know exactly what you mean," said Edmund.
"Well, he peeled the beastly stuff right off - just as I thought I'd done it myself the other three times, only they hadn't hurt - and there it was lying on the grass: only ever so much thicker, and darker, and more knobbly-looking than the others had been. And there was I as smooth and soft as a peeled switch and smaller than I had been. Then he caught hold of me - I didn't like that much for I was very tender underneath now that I'd no skin on - and threw me into the water. It smarted like anything but only for a moment. After that it became perfectly delicious and as soon as I started swimming and splashing I found that all the pain had gone from my arm. And then I saw why. I'd turned into a boy again. You'd think me simply phoney if I told you how I felt about my own arms. I know they've no muscle and are pretty mouldy compared with Caspian's, but I was so glad to see them.
"After a bit the lion took me out and dressed me -"
"Dressed you. With his paws?"
"Well, I don't exactly remember that bit. But he did somehow or other: in new clothes - the same I've got on now, as a matter of fact. And then suddenly I was back here. Which is what makes me think it must have been a dream."
"No. It wasn't a dream," said Edmund.
"Why not?"
"Well, there are the clothes, for one thing. And you have been - well, un-dragoned, for another."
"What do you think it was, then?" asked Eustace.
"I think you've seen Aslan," said Edmund.
"Aslan!" said Eustace. "I've heard that name mentioned several times since we joined the Dawn Treader. And I felt - I don't know what - I hated it. But I was hating everything then. And by the way, I'd like to apologize. I'm afraid I've been pretty beastly."
"That's all right," said Edmund. "Between ourselves, you haven't been as bad as I was on my first trip to Narnia. You were only an ass, but I was a traitor."
"Well, don't tell me about it, then," said Eustace. "But who is Aslan? Do you know him?"
"Well - he knows me," said Edmund. "He is the great Lion, the son of the Emperor-beyond-the-Sea, who saved me and saved Narnia. We've all seen him. Lucy sees him most often. And it may be Aslan's country we are sailing to."
Neither said anything for a while. The last bright star had vanished and though they could not see the sunrise because of the mountains on their right, they knew it was going on because the sky above them and the bay before them turned the colour of roses. Then some bird of the parrot kind screamed in the wood behind them, they heard movements among the trees, and finally a blast on Caspian's horn. The camp was astir.
Great was the rejoicing when Edmund and the restored Eustace walked into the breakfast circle round the camp fire. And now of course everyone heard the earlier part of his story. People wondered whether the other dragon had killed the Lord Octesian several years ago or whether Octesian himself had been the old dragon. The jewels with which Eustace had crammed his pockets in the cave had disappeared along with the clothes he had then been wearing: but no one, least of all Eustace himself, felt any desire to go back to that valley for more treasure.
In a few days now the Dawn Treader, remasted, re-painted, and well stored, was ready to sail. Before they embarked Caspian caused to be cut on a smooth cliff facing the bay the words:
Two narrow escapes
DRAGON ISLAND DISCOVERED BY CASPIAN X, KING OF NARNIA, ETC. IN THE FOURTH YEAR OF HIS REIGN. HERE, AS WE SUPPOSE, THE LORD OCTESIAN HAD HIS DEATH
It would be nice, and fairly true, to say that "from that time forth Eustace was a different boy". To be strictly accurate, he began to be a different boy. He had relapses. There were still many days when he could be very tiresome. But most of those I shall not notice. The cure had begun.
The Lord Octesian's arm ring had a curious fate. Eustace did not want it and offered it to Caspian and Caspian offered it to Lucy. She did not care about having it. "Very well, then, catch as catch can," said Caspian and flung it up in the air. This was when they were all standing looking at the inscription. Up went the ring, flashing in the sunlight, and caught, and hung, as neatly as a well-thrown quoit, on a little projection on the rock. No one could climb up to get it from below and no one could climb down to get it from above. And there, for all I know, it is hanging still and may hang till that world ends.

"瞧什麼？"愛德蒙說。
"瞧金鐲上的紋章。"凱斯賓說。"
"一把小錘子，上面有顆星狀的鑽石，"德里寧說，"哎呀，這個我見過的。"
"見過！"凱斯賓說，"哎呀，你當然見過。這是納尼亞一個貴族府的標誌。這是奧克特西安爵爺的手鐲。"
"壞蛋，"雷佩契普對龍說，"你把一個納尼亞的爵爺吃掉了？"那條龍卻拼命搖頭。
"你們要知道，或許，"露茜說，"這是奧克特西安爵爺中了魔法變成的龍吧。"
"這也未必見得，"愛德蒙說，"凡是龍都愛收藏金子。
不過我想，奧克特西安準保不出這個小島。"
"你是奧克特西安爵爺嗎？"露茜對龍說，看到它傷心地搖頭，又說，"那你是中了魔法的人——我意思是說是個人吧？"
它聽了拼命點頭。
於是有人說——事後大家爭着議論是露茜先說，還是愛德蒙先說——"你不——不會是尤斯塔斯吧？"
尤斯塔斯聽了把那顆怕人的龍頭直點，還把龍尾在海里直拍，大家都紛紛後退，避開他眼睛裏流出來的滾滾熱淚。有幾個水手還罵罵咧咧，這些話我就不寫進書裏了。
露茜想盡辦法安慰他，甚至鼓起勇氣去吻他生滿鱗甲的臉，幾乎人人都說"倒毒"，還有幾個人叫尤斯塔斯放心並說，他們都支持他，不少人說準有法子給他解除魔法，一兩天內他們就可以完全正常地跟他在一起了。他們當然都急於聽聽他的經歷，可是他不會說話。接下來幾天，他多次打算在沙地上把事情寫出來，可是一次也沒寫成。首先，尤斯塔斯從來沒看過一本對路的書，根本不知道怎麼直接講故事。再則，他不得不借助的龍爪的肌肉和神經從來就沒學過寫字，反正生來也不是寫字的料。結果，他根本來不及寫完，潮沙就來了，把他寫好的字統統沖刷掉，只留下一些他已經踩住的，或尾巴偶爾掃出來的片言隻語。所以大家看得到的就像下文——虛點部分是他弄模糊而無法辨認的——
我去垂……尤我是說龍洞因它死了金很緊……醒來不……去掉手上啊討厭…"
可是大家都明白，尤斯塔斯變成龍以後性格倒有相當長進了。他巴不得出點力。他飛遍全島，發現島上全是高山，只有野山羊和成羣野豬。他就帶回好多死羊死豬給船上補充給養。他也是一個非常講人道的獵手，因爲他只消尾巴一甩就可以把野物弄死，野物不知不覺(大概還不知道)就送了命。他自己當然也吃掉一點，但總是獨自吃，因爲他既然是條龍了，就喜歡吃生的，可他絕對受不了人家看見他吃着血糊糊的東西。有一天，他雖然飛得又慢又吃力，但是得意揚揚，原來他把一棵高大的松樹帶回了營地，這是他在遠處一個山谷裏連根拔起來的，可以用來做一根主桅。到了晚上，如果天氣變冷，大雨過後時常這樣，他就成了大家的火爐，因爲全體人員都跑來，背靠着他熱呼呼的兩側，短得身子暖暖的，烘得身子乾乾的，他一噴出火似的氣來，就能把最難着的柴火點燃。有時他還挑上幾個人，騎在他背上飛行，讓他們能看見在身子底下旋轉而過的綠山坡，岩石。躊響的高地，狹窄如坑的山谷，朝東的海面遠處，天際有一個深藍色的斑點，可能那就是陸地了。
尤斯塔斯覺得受人喜歡，更可貴的是覺得喜歡人家，這分樂趣對他是破天荒的，有了這分樂趣才讓他不感到絕望。因爲變成龍是非常乏味的。每逢他飛過一個山湖，看見自己的倒影，總不免打個寒喋。他痛恨那對巨大的蝙蝠翼，鋸齒形的背脊，兇相的彎爪。他幾乎害怕獨自待着，但他又不好意思同別人在一起。晚上碰到沒人把他當成熱水袋時，他就偷偷從營地溜走，像條蛇似的蜷起身子，躺在林子和大海中間。碰到這種情況，大大出於他意料的，倒是雷佩契普經常來安慰他。高尚的老鼠會從圍着篝火的歡樂人堆裏偷偷跑掉，靠着龍頭邊坐下，看準風向，避開他冒煙的鼻息。於是它就解釋說，尤斯塔斯的遭遇是造化弄人的一個明顯事例，假如尤斯塔斯在納尼亞它自己家做客(其實是個洞，不是屋子，龍頭也容不下，別提身子了)，它倒可以舉出百來個例子說明，什麼皇帝啊，國王啊，公爵啊，騎士啊，詩人啊，情人啊，天文學家啊，哲學家啊，還有魔法師啊，他們原先都富貴榮華，一下子跌到極其悲慘的境地，後來他們不少人都恢復過來，從此日子過得美美的。也許當時這話聽來還不大令人寬慰，不過也是一片好意，尤斯塔斯對此終身難忘。
不過，像朵烏雲般籠罩在大家頭上的倒是那個難題他們準備啓航之際，拿這條龍怎麼辦。他在場的時候，大家都儘量避而不談，可是他還是不免偷聽到一些話，諸如"把他安頓在整個甲板的一邊合適嗎？那我們就得把全部貯藏搬到下面另一側才能讓船身平衡"。還有，"拖着他走好不好？"還有，"他能一直飛下去嗎？”還有，最常聽到的是"可是我們拿什麼給他吃啊？"可憐的尤斯塔斯心裏越來越清楚，自從他踏上甲板的頭一天以來，就成了一個十足的討厭包袱，如今他變成更大的包袱了。這想法深深腐蝕他的心，正如那手錫深深腐蝕他的前腿一樣。他知道靠大牙咬手錮反而更糟，可是他忍不住還是時時去咬，尤其是在炎熱的夜晚。
他們在龍島上岸後，大約過了六天，有天愛德蒙恰巧大清早就醒了。天色剛灰濛濛，所以看得見身邊和海灘之間的樹幹，不過別的方向看不見。他醒來時覺得聽到什麼動靜，所以撐起一個肘拐兒，朝四下看看:不一會兒就覺得看見一個黑影在林子靠海那頭走動。他腦子裏頓時生出一個念頭，
"我們還那麼肯定這島上根本沒有土人？"繼而一想，這人是凱斯賓吧——個子差不多——可他知道凱斯賓一直睡在他身邊，看得出他沒動彈過。愛德蒙弄明白他的劍還在原處，就跳起身去查看了。
他輕手輕腳來到林子邊，那黑影還在。這時他看出黑影說是凱斯賓嫌小，說是露茜又嫌大。那黑影沒逃走。愛德蒙拔出劍來，打算向那黑影挑戰，這時那黑影低聲說。
"是你嗎，愛德蒙？"
"對。你是誰?”他說。
"你不認識我？"對方說，"是我啊——尤斯塔斯。""天哪，"愛德蒙說，"原來如此。老夥伴——"
"噓——"尤斯塔斯說着身子東倒西歪，彷彿要摔下來。
“天哪！"愛德蒙扶穩他說，"怎麼回事？你病了？"
尤斯塔斯沉默了老半天，愛德蒙還以爲他昏過去了，最後才說"這事真可怕。你不知道……不過現在太平無事了。我們能找個地方去談談吧。眼下我還不想見別人。"
"那好啊，你愛上哪兒都行，"愛德蒙說，"我們可以上那邊，坐在岩石上。哎呀，看見你——呃——又是老樣子，心裏真高興。你一定吃了不少苦吧？"
他們走到岩石那兒，坐下來，眺望着海灣對面，這時天色越來越亮，除了一顆很亮的星，一顆低得接近地平線的星以外，其他的星星都看不見了。
"等我能對別人說了，這事全過去了，我纔對你說我是怎麼變成——一條龍的，"尤斯塔斯說，"順便說一句，我那天早上在這兒出現，聽到你們說起龍這個詞兒，我才知道自己是龍。我要對你說說自己怎麼不再是龍了。"
"說吧。"愛德蒙說。
"好吧，昨晚我比往常更難受。那個混賬手錨勒得我痛死了……”
"現在沒事了？"
尤斯塔斯笑了——愛德蒙以前可沒聽到他這麼笑過——輕而易舉就把手鐲從臂上退下來。"瞧，"他說，"就我來說誰喜歡誰就拿去吧。唉，我說啊，當時我正醒着躺在那兒，不知自己結果到底會怎麼樣。這時——不過，聽着，這也許完全是個夢。我不知道。"
"說下去。"愛德蒙相當耐心地說。
"唉，反正，我擡眼一看，只見一頭大獅子慢慢向我走來，這是我最料想不到的事。怪就怪在昨晚沒有月亮，可是獅子走到哪兒，哪兒就有月亮。它越走越近，我害怕極了。你也許會這麼想，既然我是條龍，要打倒獅子還不容易嗎？可是這不是那種害怕。我不是怕它吃我，我只是怕它——如果你能理解的話。唉，它向我逼近了，還一直盯着我眼睛看。我緊緊閉上眼睛，可是一點也沒用，因爲它叫我跟着它。"
"你意思是說它說話了？"
"我不知道。既然你提起了，我看它未必說過。不過反正它吩咐過我就是了。我知道我不得不照它盼咐我的去做，所以我就起身跟它走了。它帶我走了好長一段路，進了山口不管我們走到哪兒，月光始終籠罩着獅子周圍。我們就這樣終於來到一座我從未見過的山頂，在這座山頂上，有個花園——裏面有樹有果啊什麼的。花園當中有口井。
"我知道這是口井，因爲可以看見井水汩淚從井底冒出來。不過這口井比大部分井要大得多——像一個圓圓的大浴池，有大理石梯級通進池裏。井水清澈極了，我心想，假如我能下水洗洗澡，腿痛就會減輕。可是獅子吩附我必須先剝衣服。聽着，我不知道他是不是大聲說了這些話。
"我正想說我不能剝衣服，因爲我身上沒穿什麼衣服，這時我忽然想起，龍是像蛇一類的東西，蛇能蛻去身上的皮。我想，啊呀，獅子當然就是這個意思。所以我就動手在身上亂抓，鱗甲就開始紛紛掉滿一地。我再抓得深一點，一抓身上鱗甲倒不是處處脫落，而是整張皮都完整地剝掉了，就像大病一場以後一樣，彷彿自己是隻香蕉。轉眼間我就脫殼而出，我看得見這身皮就落在我身邊，看上去相當噁心。這感覺愉快極了。因此我就下井去洗澡。
"誰知正當我要把腳伸進水裏，往下一看，又看見自己全身像剛纔那樣又粗又硬又皺，長滿了鱗甲。哎呀，對了，我說，這無非說明我在第一層外衣下面還有一身小些的內衣，我也得脫去才行。所以我重新又抓又扯，裏面這身皮也完整地剝下來了，我脫殼而出，讓這身皮落在剛纔那身皮旁邊，就走到井邊去洗澡了。
"沒想到又是一模一樣的事發生了。我暗自尋思，哎呀，我到底得蛻下多少層皮啊？因爲我一心只想洗洗腿，所以我又抓了第三回，蛻下第三層皮，跟前兩回一樣，我就脫殼而出。誰知我朝水裏一看自己的倒影，就知道又不妙了。
"於是獅子說——可我不知道他是否真開口說了——一定得讓我替你剝衣服。我可以實話告訴你，我怕他的爪子，可這回我實在是走投無路了。所以我就此仰天平躺，讓他來幹。
“也頭一下撕拉就很深，我都以爲深入心窩了。他開始把皮扯下來時，我痛得不得了。惟一使我能夠忍受下來的就是感到蛻下殼來那股高興勁兒。你剝過創口的癡就知道那種滋味。雖然痛得厲害，可是看到它脫落，心裏真有說不出的高興。"
"我完全明白你的意思。"愛德蒙說。
"好了，他把那層該死的皮當場扯掉了——正如我原以爲前三回自己已經親手扯掉過一樣，只是前幾回不痛——這層皮就落在草地上，只是要厚得多，黑得多，而且看上去比前幾層皮更多疙瘩。這一來我就像一根剝掉皮的細樹枝一樣光渭柔軟，個子比過去也小了些。於是他抓住我——我不大喜歡他這樣做，因爲我身上沒有皮了，肉還很嫩——他把我扔到水裏。真痛死了，幸虧只有一會兒工夫。過後就舒服極了，等我開始游泳拍水，手臂已經一點也不痛了。於是我才明白這是怎麼回事。我又變回一個孩子了。我告訴你，我摸摸自己手臂的那分心情，你準會當我騙人。我知道手臂上沒有肌肉，比起凱斯賓的手臂差勁多了，可是看見自己的手臂，心裏別提有多高興了。
"過了一會兒，獅子把我拉出來，替我穿上衣服。"替你穿衣服，用他的爪子？"
"這個嘛，我倒記不大清了。不過他好歹給我換上了新衣服——事實上，就是我現在穿着的。然後一下子我就到這兒了。因此我才認爲一定是做了場夢。"
"不，這不是夢。"愛德蒙說。"爲什麼不是？"
"說起來，一則，身上有衣服，而且，二則，你已經——不是龍了。"
"那你看這是怎麼回事？"尤斯塔斯問。
"我看你見到阿斯蘭了。"愛德蒙說。
"阿斯蘭！"尤斯塔斯說，"自從我們乘上黎明踏浪號以來，我已經聽到好幾回提起那名字了。可我感到——我不知道爲什麼——我恨這名字。不過我當時對什麼都痛恨。順便說一下，我願意道歉。恐怕過去我非常惹人討厭吧？”
"那沒什麼，"愛德蒙說，"我們私下說說，你還沒我頭一回到納尼亞來時那麼壞呢。你只不過是個笨蛋，而我是個叛徒。"
"嘿，那就別跟我提這事了，"尤斯塔斯說，"可阿斯蘭是誰啊？你認識他嗎？”
"說起來——他認識我，"愛德蒙說，"他是獅王，海外皇帝的兒子，他救過我，救過納尼亞王國。我們都見過他，露茜看見他次數最多。也許我們正要開去的地方就是阿斯蘭的國土呢。”
一時間兩人都沒說什麼。最後一顆明亮的星也消失了，雖然他們看不見日出，因爲他們右面有大山擋住，可是他們知道太陽正在升起，因爲他們上面的天空和麪前的海灣都已變成玫瑰紅顏色了。這時他們後面的林子裏傳來鸚鵡之類的鳥鳴聲，他們聽到樹叢間有動靜，最後，響起一陣凱斯賓的號角。營地裏開始活動了。
當愛德蒙和變回人樣的尤斯塔斯走進圍着營火在吃早餐的人堆中，大家都興高采烈。這會兒當然人人都聽到他敘述的前半部分經歷了。大家很想知道另外一條龍是不是在幾年前殺害了奧克特西安爵爺，或者奧克特西安是不是就是那條老龍。尤斯塔斯在洞裏硬往口袋裏塞的珠寶隨着他當時穿的那身衣服一起丟失了，不過大家絲毫沒有回到山谷多找些財寶的慾望，至少尤斯塔斯本人就沒這慾望。
不到兩三天工夫，黎明踏浪號就重新安上槍桿，重新油漆一新，貯備充足，準備啓航了。臨上船前，凱斯賓叫人在一座面對海灣的斷崖上刻出這些字句:
龍島
納尼亞國王凱斯賓十世於執政第四年率衆發現。
據推測，奧克特西安爵爺在此去世
現在說"從那時起尤斯塔斯變了"可恰到好處，而且幾乎非常接近真實。嚴格地說，他開始變好了。他也有過反覆。仍然有不少日子他還是非常叫人討厭的。不過那些事情我大多不會提起。他開始有治了。
奧克特西安爵爺的手錨倒有一段希奇的結局。尤斯塔斯不願要它，交給凱斯賓，凱斯賓給了露茜。她對此並不稀罕。"那好極了，隨它去吧。"凱斯賓說着就把它拋到空中。這時大家都站着觀看崖上字跡。只見那手錨凌空飛起，在陽光中閃閃發亮，像個正中目標的鐵環一樣，套中了岩石的一個小精角，就此掛在上面了。沒人能從下面爬上去摘掉它，也沒人能從上面爬下去摘掉它。據我所知，至今它還掛在那兒，可能要掛到世界末日呢。