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双语阅读（2021年2月22日）

CHAPTER SIX THE ADVENTURES OF EUSTACE

At that very moment the others were washing hands and faces in the river and generally getting ready for dinner and a rest. The three best archers had gone up into the hills north of the bay and returned laden with a pair of wild goats which were now roasting over a fire. Caspian had ordered a cask of wine ashore, strong wine of Archenland which had to be mixed with water before you drank it, so there would be plenty for all. The work had gone well so far and it was a merry meal. Only after the second helping of goat did Edmund say, “Where’s that blighter Eustace?”

Meanwhile Eustace stared round the unknown valley. It was so narrow and deep, and the precipices which surrounded it so sheer, that it was like a huge pit or trench. The floor was grassy though strewn with rocks, and here and there Eustace saw black burnt patches like those you see on the sides of a railway embankment in a dry summer. About fifteen yards away from him was a pool of clear, smooth water. There was, at first, nothing else at all in the valley; not an animal, not a bird, not an insect. The sun beat down and grim peaks and horns of mountains peered over the valley’s edge.

Eustace realized of course that in the fog he had come down the wrong side of the ridge, so he turned at once to see about getting back. But as soon as he had looked he shuddered. Apparently he had by amazing luck found the only possible way down—a long green spit of land, horribly steep and narrow, with precipices on either side. There was no other possible way of getting back. But could he do it, now that he saw what it was really like? His head swam at the very thought of it.

He turned round again, thinking that at any rate he’d better have a good drink from the pool first. But as soon as he had turned and before he had taken a step forward into the valley he heard a noise behind him. It was only a small noise but it sounded loud in that immense silence. It froze him dead-still where he stood for a second. Then he slewed round his neck and looked.

At the bottom of the cliff a little on his left hand was a low, dark hole—the entrance to a cave perhaps. And out of this two thin wisps of smoke were coming. And the loose stones just beneath the dark hollow were moving（that was the noise he had heard）just as if something were crawling in the dark behind them.

Something was crawling. Worse still, something was coming out. Edmund or Lucy or you would have recognized it at once, but Eustace had read none of the right books. The thing that came out of the cave was something he had never even imagined—a long lead-colored snout, dull red eyes, no feathers or fur, a long lithe body that trailed on the ground, legs whose elbows went up higher than its back like a spider’s, cruel claws, bat’s wings that made a rasping noise on the stones, yards of tail. And the lines of smoke were coming from its two nostrils. He never said the word Dragon to himself. Nor would it have made things any better if he had.

But perhaps if he had known something about dragons he would have been a little surprised at this dragon’s behavior. It did not sit up and clap its wings, nor did it shoot out a stream of flame from its mouth. The smoke from its nostrils was like the smoke of a fire that will not last much longer. Nor did it seem to have noticed Eustace. It moved very slowly toward the pool—slowly and with many pauses. Even in his fear Eustace felt that it was an old, sad creature. He wondered if he dared make a dash for the ascent. But it might look round if he made any noise. It might come more to life. Perhaps it was only shamming. Anyway, what was the use of trying to escape by climbing from a creature that could fly?

It reached the pool and slid its horrible scaly chin down over the gravel to drink, but before it had drunk there came from it a great croaking or clanging cry and after a few twitches and convulsions it rolled round on its side and lay perfectly still with one claw in the air. A little dark blood gushed from its wide-opened mouth. The smoke from its nostrils turned black for a moment and then floated away. No more came.

For a long time Eustace did not dare to move. Perhaps this was the brute’s trick, the way it lured travelers to their doom. But one couldn’t wait forever. He took a step nearer, then two steps, and halted again. The dragon remained motionless; he noticed too that the red fire had gone out of its eyes. At last he came up to it. He was quite sure now that it was dead. With a shudder he touched it; nothing happened.

The relief was so great that Eustace almost laughed out loud. He began to feel as if he had fought and killed the dragon instead of merely seeing it die. He stepped over it and went to the pool for his drink, for the heat was getting unbearable. He was not surprised when he heard a peal of thunder. Almost immediately afterward the sun disappeared and before he had finished his drink big drops of rain were falling.

The climate of this island was a very unpleasant one. In less than a minute Eustace was wet to the skin and half blinded with such rain as one never sees in Europe. There was no use trying to climb out of the valley as long as this lasted. He bolted for the only shelter in sight-the dragon’s cave. There he lay down and tried to get his breath.

Most of us know what we should expect to find in a dragon’s lair, but, as I said before, Eustace had read only the wrong books. They had a lot to say about exports and imports and governments and drains, but they were weak on dragons. That is why he was so puzzled at the surface on which he was lying. Parts of it were too prickly to be stones and too hard to be thorns, and there seemed to be a great many round, flat things, and it all clinked when he moved. There was light enough at the cave’s mouth to examine it by. And of course Eustace found it to be what any of us could have told him in advance—treasure. There were crowns（those were the prickly things）, coins, rings, bracelets, ingots, cups, plates and gems.

Eustace（unlike most boys）had never thought much of treasure but he saw at once the use it would be in this new world which he had so foolishly stumbled into through the picture in Lucy’s bedroom at home. “They don’t have any tax here,” he said, “and you don’t have to give treasure to the government. With some of this stuff I could have quite a decent time here—perhaps in Calormen. It sounds the least phony of these countries. I wonder how much I can carry? That bracelet now—those things in it are probably diamonds—I’ll slip that on my own wrist. Too big, but not if I push it right up here above my elbow. Then fill my pockets with diamonds—that’s easier than gold. I wonder when this infernal rain’s going to let up?” He got into a less uncomfortable part of the pile, where it was mostly coins, and settled down to wait. But a bad fright, when once it is over, and especially a bad fright following a mountain walk, leaves you very tired. Eustace fell asleep.

By the time he was sound asleep and snoring the others had finished dinner and became seriously alarmed about him. They shouted, “Eustace！Eustace！Coo-ee！” till they were hoarse and Caspian blew his horn.

“He’s nowhere near or he’d have heard that,” said Lucy with a white face.

“Confound the fellow,” said Edmund. “What on earth did he want to slink away like this for?”

“But we must do something,” said Lucy. “He may have got lost, or fallen into a hole, or been captured by savages.”

“Or killed by wild beasts,” said Drinian.

“And a good riddance if he has, I say,” muttered Rhince.

“Master Rhince,” said Reepicheep, “you never spoke a word that became you less. The creature is no friend of mine but he is of the Queen’s blood, and while he is one of our fellowship it concerns our honor to find him and to avenge him if he is dead.”

“Of course we’ve got to find him（if we can）,” said Caspian wearily. “That’s the nuisance of it. It means a search party and endless trouble. Bother Eustace.”

Meanwhile Eustace slept and slept—and slept. What woke him was a pain in his arm. The moon was shining in at the mouth of the cave, and the bed of treasures seemed to have grown much more comfortable; in fact he could hardly feel it at all. He was puzzled by the pain in his arm at first, but presently it occurred to him that the bracelet which he had shoved up above his elbow had become strangely tight. His arm must have swollen while he was asleep（it was his left arm）.

He moved his right arm in order to feel his left, but stopped before he had moved it an inch and bit his lip in terror. For just in front of him, and a little on his right, where the moonlight fell clear on the floor of the cave, he saw a hideous shape moving. He knew that shape：it was a dragon’s claw. It had moved as he moved his hand and became still when he stopped moving his hand.

“Oh, what a fool I’ve been,” thought Eustace. “Of course, the brute had a mate and it’s lying beside me.”

For several minutes he did not dare to move a muscle. He saw two thin columns of smoke going up before his eyes, black against the moonlight; just as there had been smoke coming from the other dragon’s nose before it died. This was so alarming that he held his breath. The two columns of smoke vanished. When he could hold his breath no longer he let it out stealthily; instantly two jets of smoke appeared again. But even yet he had no idea of the truth.

Presently he decided that he would edge very cautiously to his left and try to creep out of the cave. Perhaps the creature was asleep—and anyway it was his only chance. But of course before he edged to the left he looked to the left. Oh horror！There was a dragon’s claw on that side too.

No one will blame Eustace if at this moment he shed tears. He was surprised at the size of his own tears as he saw them splashing on to the treasure in front of him. They also seemed strangely hot; steam went up from them.

But there was no good crying. He must try to crawl out from between the two dragons. He began extending his right arm. The dragon’s foreleg and claw on his right went through exactly the same motion. Then he thought he would try his left. The dragon limb on that side moved too.

Two dragons, one on each side, mimicking whatever he did！His nerve broke and he simply made a bolt for it.

There was such a clatter and rasping, and clinking of gold, and grinding of stones, as he rushed out of the cave that he thought they were both following him. He daren’t look back. He rushed to the pool. The twisted shape of the dead dragon lying in the moonlight would have been enough to frighten anyone but now he hardly noticed it. His idea was to get into the water.

But just as he reached the edge of the pool two things happened. First of all, it came over him like a thunder-clap that he had been running on all fours—and why on earth had he been doing that? And secondly, as he bent toward the water, he thought for a second that yet another dragon was staring up at him out of the pool. But in an instant he realized the truth. The dragon face in the pool was his own reflection. There was no doubt of it. It moved as he moved; it opened and shut its mouth as he opened and shut his.

He had turned into a dragon while he was asleep. Sleeping on a dragon’s hoard with greedy, dragonish thoughts in his heart, he had become a dragon himself.

That explained everything. There had been no two dragons beside him in the cave. The claws to right and left had been his own right and left claws. The two columns of smoke had been coming from his own nostrils. As for the pain in his left arm（or what had been his left arm）he could now see what had happened by squinting with his left eye. The bracelet which had fitted very nicely on the upper arm of a boy was far too small for the thick, stumpy foreleg of a dragon. It had sunk deeply into his scaly flesh and there was a throbbing bulge on each side of it. He tore at the place with his dragon’s teeth but could not get it off.

In spite of the pain, his first feeling was one of relief. There was nothing to be afraid of any more. He was a terror himself and nothing in the world but a knight（and not all of those）would dare to attack him. He could get even with Caspian and Edmund now—

But the moment he thought this he realized that he didn’t want to. He wanted to be friends. He wanted to get back among humans and talk and laugh and share things. He realized that he was a monster cut off from the whole human race. An appalling loneliness came over him. He began to see that the others had not really been fiends at all. He began to wonder if he himself had been such a nice person as he had always supposed. He longed for their voices. He would have been grateful for a kind word even from Reepicheep.

When he thought of this the poor dragon that had been Eustace lifted up its voice and wept. A powerful dragon crying its eyes out under the moon in a deserted valley is a sight and a sound hardly to be imagined.

At last he decided he would try to find his way back to the shore. He realized now that Caspian would never have sailed away and left him. And he felt sure that somehow or other he would be able to make people understand who he was.

He took a long drink and then（I know this sounds shocking, but it isn’t if you think it over）he ate nearly all the dead dragon. He was halfway through it before he realized what he was doing; for, you see, though his mind was the mind of Eustace, his tastes and his digestion were dragonish. And there is nothing a dragon likes so well as fresh dragon. That is why you so seldom find more than one dragon in the same country.

Then he turned to climb out of the valley. He began the climb with a jump and as soon as he jumped he found that he was flying. He had quite forgotten about his wings and it was a great surprise to him—the first pleasant surprise he had had for a long time. He rose high into the air and saw innumerable mountain-tops spread out beneath him in the moonlight. He could see the bay like a silver slab and the Dawn Treader lying at anchor and camp fires twinkling in the woods beside the beach. From a great height he launched himself down toward them in a single glide.

Lucy was sleeping very soundly for she had sat up till the return of the search party in hope of good news about Eustace. It had been led by Caspian and had come back late and weary. Their news was disquieting. They had found no trace of Eustace but had seen a dead dragon in a valley. They tried to make the best of it and everyone assured everyone else that there were not likely to be more dragons about, and that one which was dead at about three o’clock that afternoon（which was when they had seen it）would hardly have been killing people a very few hours before.

“Unless it ate the little brat and died of him; he’d poison anything,” said Rhince. But he said this under his breath and no one heard it.

But later in the night Lucy was wakened, very softly, and found the whole company gathered close together and talking in whispers.

“What is it?” said Lucy.

“We must all show great constancy,” Caspian was saying. “A dragon has just flown over the tree-tops and lighted on the beach. Yes, I am afraid it is between us and the ship. And arrows are no use against dragons. And they’re not at all afraid of fire.”

“With your Majesty’s leave—” began Reepicheep.

“No, Reepicheep,” said the King very firmly, “you are not to attempt a single combat with it. And unless you promise to obey me in this matter I’ll have you tied up. We must just keep close watch and, as soon as it is light, go down to the beach and give it battle. I will lead. King Edmund will be on my right and the Lord Drinian on my left. There are no other arrangements to be made. It will be light in a couple of hours. In an hour’s time let a meal be served out and what is left of the wine. And let everything be done silently.”

“Perhaps it will go away,” said Lucy.

“It’ll be worse if it does,” said Edmund, “because then we shan’t know where it is. If there’s a wasp in the room I like to be able to see it.”

The rest of the night was dreadful, and when the meal came, though they knew they ought to eat, many found that they had very poor appetites. And endless hours seemed to pass before the darkness thinned and birds began chirping here and there and the world got colder and wetter than it had been all night and Caspian said, “Now for it, friends.”

They got up, all with swords drawn, and formed themselves into a solid mass with Lucy in the middle and Reepicheep on her shoulder. It was nicer than the waiting about and everyone felt fonder of everyone else than at ordinary times. A moment later they were marching. It grew lighter as they came to the edge of the wood. And there on the sand, like a giant lizard, or a flexible crocodile, or a serpent with legs, huge and horrible and humpy, lay the dragon.

But when it saw them, instead of rising up and blowing fire and smoke, the dragon retreated—you could almost say it waddled—back into the shallows of the bay.

“What’s it wagging its head like that for?” said Edmund.

“And now it’s nodding,” said Caspian.

“And there’s something coming from its eyes,” said Drinian.

“Oh, can’t you see,” said Lucy. “It’s crying. Those are tears.”

“I shouldn’t trust to that, Ma’am,” said Drinian. “That’s what crocodiles do, to put you off your guard.”

“It wagged its head when you said that,” remarked Edmund. “Just as if it meant No. Look, there it goes again.”

“Do you think it understands what we’re saying?” asked Lucy.

The dragon nodded its head violently.

Reepicheep slipped off Lucy’s shoulder and stepped to the front.

“Dragon,” came his shrill voice, “can you understand speech?”

The dragon nodded.

“Can you speak?”

It shook its head.

“Then,” said Reepicheep, “it is idle to ask you your business. But if you will swear friendship with us raise your left foreleg above your head.”

It did so, but clumsily because that leg was sore and swollen with the golden bracelet.

“Oh look,” said Lucy, “there’s something wrong with its leg. The poor thing—that’s probably what it was crying about. Perhaps it came to us to be cured like in Androcles and the lion.”

“Be careful, Lucy,” said Caspian. “It’s a very clever dragon but it may be a liar.”

Lucy had, however, already run forward, followed by Reepicheep, as fast as his short legs could carry him, and then of course the boys and Drinian came too.

“Show me your poor paw,” said Lucy. “I might be able to cure it.”

The dragon that had been Eustace held out its sore leg gladly enough, remembering how Lucy’s cordial had cured him of seasickness before he became a dragon. But he was disappointed. The magic fluid reduced the swelling and eased the pain a little but it could not dissolve the gold.

Everyone had now crowded round to watch the treatment, and Caspian suddenly exclaimed, “Look！” He was staring at the bracelet.

第六章 尤斯塔斯历险记

此时此刻，其他人正在河里洗手洗脸，准备吃吃晚饭、休息休息了。三名最优秀的弓箭手之前去了海湾北边的山里，已扛着一对野山羊满载而归，此时的猎物正在火上炙烤着。凯斯宾命人带一桶葡萄酒上岸，那是亚钦兰王国产的烈葡萄酒，喝之前必须得掺水，因而一桶酒足够所有人享用了。一天的工作完成得颇为顺利，晚餐时亦其乐融融。直到第二份羊肉端上来时，爱德蒙才说道：“尤斯塔斯那个讨厌的家伙去哪儿了？”

此时尤斯塔斯正呆呆地四下望着这个陌生的山谷。山谷极其狭窄幽深，四周的崖壁极其陡峭，让这里看起来就像一个巨大的深坑或是沟渠。地上长满青草，却也布满了小碎石，尤斯塔斯能看见地上到处是一块块烧焦的黑色印迹，就好像干燥夏日里在铁路路堤两边能见到的焦黑斑块一样。离他大约十五码处，有一汪清澈平滑的池塘。起初山谷里空无一物——一只动物也没有，一只飞鸟也没看见，就连一只虫子都看不见。阳光直射下来，山峰与山角肃穆冷峻，俯瞰着山谷。

尤斯塔斯意识到自己肯定是在大雾中不小心走到了山脊的另一侧，于是他立即转身打算回去。可是他不看倒也罢，一看简直吓得浑身发抖。看来他是走了奇运，才找到了唯一一条能够下山的路——一条长长的绿色小径，出奇地陡峭狭窄，两边都是悬崖峭壁。除了这条小径，根本不可能有其他回去的路了。可是现在看清了这条路的险峻之后，他还能爬得上去吗？光是想想，他便已经头晕目眩了。

他又转过身去，想着不管怎么样，最好还是先从池塘里喝一口水再说。可正当他转过身去，准备往山谷里走时，他听见身后传来一声响动。那声音十分微弱，可是在这一片完全的静谧之中便显得很响。他吓得一动不动，化石般呆立了一会儿。随后他慢慢扭过脖子，看向身后。

他左手边稍过去一点的悬崖脚下有一个低矮的幽暗小洞——可能是某个洞穴的入口。从洞口飘出了两缕轻烟。昏暗的山洞下方有一些松散的石子，这会儿正在移动着（他刚才听见的响动正是从这里传来的），就好像石头后面的阴影之中有东西正在爬动似的。

有东西正在爬动。更可怕的是，那东西正在向外爬。爱德蒙和露西，或者正在看书的你或许一眼就能认出那是什么，可尤斯塔斯从没看过这方面的书籍。从洞穴里爬出来的生物他甚至无论如何都想象不出来——长长的铅灰色鼻子，呆愣愣的红眼睛，全身没有羽毛也没有毛皮，柔软的长身体在地上拖着，四肢的关节部位竖起来，比后背还高，就像是蜘蛛的毒肢一般；它还长着蝙蝠似的翅膀，刮着石壁发出“刺啦刺啦”的声音；一根尾巴有几码长。那两缕烟正是从它的鼻孔里喷出来的。尤斯塔斯从没想过“龙”这个词儿，不过就算他想到过，也不会对眼下的情形有什么帮助。

不过，如果他事先真的对龙有所了解，此时见到这条龙的动作，或许又会感到有些惊讶。因为这条龙既没有坐直了身子拍打着翅膀，嘴里也没有喷出火焰来，而从它鼻孔里冒出的烟，就像是将熄之火冒出的烟一样淡。它似乎并没有注意到尤斯塔斯，兀自缓缓地朝池塘爬去——爬得很慢，中间还停了好几次。即便尤斯塔斯十分恐惧，但也能感觉到这条龙的老迈与悲伤。他思索着自己是否有胆量赶紧冲上山去，不过他担心要是自己发出了声音，龙就会转过身来，或许它会变得更有精神和力气。又或者它只是在假装，预备伺机而动。不管怎么说，这家伙会飞，往高处逃跑又有什么用呢？

这条龙爬到了池塘边上，伸出了它那可怖的、长满了鳞片的下巴，越过碎砾石去喝水，可是不等它喝上一口，便只听得它“呱呱”叫着发出一声很响的哀鸣，抽搐着痉挛了几下之后，便翻身侧倒下去，一只爪子竖在半空中，躺着一动也不动了。它大张着的嘴里流出一些暗色的血来，鼻孔里冒出来的烟有那么一会儿变成了黑色，随后便飘散开去而没了踪影。之后便再也没有其他动静了。

尤斯塔斯久久不敢动。这也许是野兽的骗人伎俩，用以引诱丛林旅客落入万劫不复的圈套。但他总不能一直这么干等下去。他往前走近了一步，接着又走了两步，然后又停住了。那条龙还是一动不动，他还注意到龙眼睛里的红色火焰也消失不见了。最后他终于鼓足勇气走到了龙身边，此时他很确定龙已经死了。他战战兢兢地伸出手去摸了摸它，什么事都没有发生。

尤斯塔斯大大地松了口气，几乎要大笑出声来。他开始扬扬自得起来，就好像是他自己在搏斗中把龙杀死了，而非仅仅在一旁看着它死去。炎热实在难以抵挡，于是他跨过龙的尸体，到池塘边去喝水。当他听到一阵雷声隆隆传来时，他也并不感到惊讶。雷声过后，太阳几乎立刻匿了踪影，他还没喝完水，豆大的雨点已经砸了下来。

这座岛屿上的气候很不宜人。不一会儿，尤斯塔斯已经全身湿透了，眼睛也被雨淋得几乎睁不开了，他在欧洲从没见过这么大的雨。下着这么大的雨，想要爬出山谷也是白费力气。他冲向了视野之内唯一的避雨处——龙的洞穴。他冲进洞内，躺在地上平复呼吸。

我们大多数人都知道在龙的巢穴里一般会有什么，可是，正如我之前所说的，尤斯塔斯看的书都不对路，他看的都是些关于进出口、政府、排水管道之类的书，很少有提到龙的，这就是为什么他感到很困惑，不知道自己躺在了什么上面——有的地方比石头硌人，比荆棘又要硬，而且似乎还有很多圆圆的、平平的东西，他一动便叮当作响。洞口处的光线很充足，可以让他看清洞穴内的景象。不必说，尤斯塔斯看到的都是我们本可以事先告诉他的——里头尽是宝藏，有王冠（这就是刚才他感觉硌人的东西），钱币、戒指、手镯、金锭、银杯、金盘、宝石，不一而足。

尤斯塔斯（和大多数男孩不同）一向不怎么热衷于金银财宝，他从家里露西房间内的一幅画一不小心来到了这个新的世界，而他意识到在这里宝藏可大有用处。“这里的财宝可不用纳税，”他自言自语道，“而且也不用把宝物上缴给政府。这些宝贝我只要拿上一点，便足够在这里舒舒服服地过日子了——也许可以到卡乐门去，这个国家听起来比其他几个要靠谱一些，不像是假的。就是不知道我能带走多少呢？就说那些手镯吧——上面镶着的很有可能是钻石——我可以戴在自己的手腕上试试。唔，太大了，不过我可以把它捋到手肘，这样就不会太松了。然后衣服口袋里可以装满钻石——这比装金子要容易些。真不晓得这要命的大雨要下到什么时候才能停啊？”他挪到了一堆不那么硌人的钱币上，等着雨停。不过，受了严重惊吓，尤其是走了山路又受了严重惊吓过后，人是会感到异常疲惫的。于是尤斯塔斯睡着了。

尤斯塔斯在洞里打着鼾、睡得正香时，其他人已吃完了晚饭，但还不见他的踪影，便开始真的担心起他的安危来。他们呼喊着他的名字，“尤斯塔斯！尤斯塔斯！咕咿！”直到他们喊得嗓子也哑了，凯斯宾便吹响了他的号角。

“他肯定不在附近，不然早就听见了。”露西脸色苍白地说。

“这家伙真是讨厌，”爱德蒙说道，“他到底为什么要这样偷偷地溜走啊？”

“但我们必须做点什么，”露西说道，“他可能迷路了，或者掉进了洞里，又或者被野人捉去了。”

“也有可能被野兽吃掉了。”德里宁补充道。

“若果真是那样倒好了，甩掉了个大包袱。”莱恩斯咕哝道。

“莱恩斯大人，”雷佩契普说道，“您从未说过一句有损您身份的话。那人虽不是我的朋友，却也是女王陛下的亲人，只要他还是我们的同伴，那么我们就应该找到他，他若是遭遇了不测，我们就应该替他报仇，这事关我们的荣誉。”

“我们当然要找到他（如果可以的话），”凯斯宾疲倦地说，“麻烦就麻烦在这里。这就意味着我们要开始搜寻，有无穷无尽的烦事。尤斯塔斯真是个惹事精。”

与此同时，山洞里的尤斯塔斯一直酣睡着，睡得昏天黑地。最后还是手臂上传来的刺痛让他醒了过来。此时月光从洞口照了进来，身下的宝藏床似乎也变得越来越舒服了——实际上他几乎一点儿也不觉得硌人了。起初他还纳闷手臂怎么会疼，不过现在他能感觉被自己推到手肘处的手镯不知怎么变得异常紧，他心想一定是因为睡着的时候手臂肿起来了的缘故（他感到疼的是他的左臂）。

他动了动右臂，想去碰碰自己的左臂，可还未移动一点便赶紧停下了，他惊恐万分地咬住了嘴唇。因为就在他眼前靠右一些的地方，清澈如水的月光洒在洞穴地上，他看见一个可怕的东西在动。他认出了那是什么：那是一只龙爪！他的手动一动，那爪子便跟着动一动，他停下了，那爪子也不动了。

“噢，我真是个大傻瓜！”尤斯塔斯懊恼地想，“还用说吗，那家伙自然有配偶，这会儿它正躺在我边上呢。”

有那么几分钟他一动都不敢动。他看见两缕细细的轻烟在眼前升起，在月光的映衬下呈黑色，就和之前那条龙还没死的时候鼻孔里冒出的烟一模一样。他吓坏了，赶紧屏住呼吸。然后那烟消失了。后来他实在憋不住气了，悄悄地吐出一口气，可那两股烟也立刻又出现了。不过即便是这样，他还是不知道这究竟是怎么一回事。

眼下他决定万分小心地慢慢往左边挪移，争取偷偷爬出洞去。也许这家伙已经睡着了呢——不管怎么说，这是他唯一的机会了。不过他往左边挪动之前，自然免不了先往左看一看，可这一看又把他吓得不轻，那儿也有一只龙爪呢！

这时候尤斯塔斯若是哭了，也没人会责怪他。不过当眼泪溅在眼前的珠宝上时，他诧异地看见自己的泪珠竟如此之大，而且似乎异常烫——都冒出蒸汽了。

但现在哭也无济于事，他必须得尽力从这两条龙中间爬出去。于是他开始伸出右臂，而他右边那条龙的前肢和爪子也伸了出去，和他的动作一模一样。接着他又决定试试左臂，可他左边那条龙的前肢也跟着动了。

他身边的两条龙都在学他的动作！这下他完全崩溃了，索性豁出去，迅速冲向了洞口。

他冲出洞口时听见一阵哗啦的刺耳声、金子的叮当碰撞声、石子的嘎吱摩擦声，吓得他以为两条龙都在后头追他。他不敢往后看，一口气冲到了池塘边。月色下那条死去的龙躺在那儿，身子扭曲着，任谁看了都会吓得魂飞魄散，可此时，他却压根儿没怎么注意到它。他脑子里只有一个念头，那就是赶紧冲进水里去。

但就在他快要跑到池塘边时，发生了两件事情。首先，他发现自己竟然在地上手脚并用地爬着奔跑，这一发现有如晴天霹雳——他究竟为什么会这样呢？其次，当他弯下身倾向水面时，眼前所见让他有那么一瞬间还以为又有一条龙在池塘外盯着他看。不过他马上就反应过来了，池塘里那张龙的脸其实就是他自己的倒影，毋庸置疑了。他动，它也动；他张开嘴又合上，它也张开嘴又合上。

他睡着的时候变成了一条龙。他睡在龙的宝藏上，心里存着贪婪的、龙一般的想法，于是自己也就变成了一条龙了。

这样一切就解释得通了。洞里压根儿就没有两条龙躺在他身边。向左和向右抬起的爪子也都是他自己的。那两缕轻烟是从他自己的鼻孔里冒出来的。至于他左臂（或者应该说他曾经的左臂）上的疼痛，他现在斜着左眼一看就知道是怎么一回事了。手镯套在原来男孩的上臂正好，可对于一条龙的粗短的前肢而言就太小太紧了，于是手镯便深深嵌进了他鳞片覆盖着的肉里。手镯的两侧各鼓起一块一跳一跳的凸起物，他试着用他现在的龙牙去扯咬，但还是没办法弄掉。

尽管手臂上仍有疼痛，但他的第一反应是如释重负。他不必再感到害怕了，因为现在他自己就是恐惧的来源，这世界上除了骑士（而且还不是所有的骑士都可以），再没有旁人敢攻击他了。他现在甚至可以轻而易举地打败凯斯宾和爱德蒙——

可是这个念头刚一闪过，他便意识到自己并不想这么做。他想和他们成为朋友，他想回到人类中去，和他们谈天说笑，有什么都可以一起分享。他意识到自己成了一个可怕的怪物，同人类隔绝了开来。一阵可怕的孤独感袭上心头，他开始明白其他人其实根本就不是恶魔，也开始怀疑自己是否真的像自己一直以为的那么好。他渴望能听到他们的声音，此时哪怕是雷佩契普能和他说句话，他都会感激涕零。

想到这里，这条曾经是尤斯塔斯的龙不禁放声哭泣起来。月色下，在一个渺无人烟的山谷里，一条强壮威猛的龙哭得稀里哗啦，撕心裂肺，这幅情形任谁都想象不到。

最后，他决定自己想办法回到海岸边去。他现在明白，凯斯宾是绝对不会丢下他开船离去的，而且他相信自己总会有办法让他们明白自己就是尤斯塔斯。

他又在池塘里猛喝了一大口水，随后（我知道这听上去有点让人震惊，但如果你仔细想想，也会觉得合情合理）他把那条死去的龙几乎全吃了。他吃了一半才意识到自己在做什么，因为，你要知道，尽管他的头脑神志还是尤斯塔斯的，但他的口味和消化功能已经与一条龙无异了。而龙最喜欢吃的便是新鲜的龙肉了。这就是为什么你很少会在一个地方同时看到两条龙。

接着他转过身去，准备爬出山谷。他先跳了一下，可这么一跳，他就发现自己已经飞了起来。他全然忘记自己还有翅膀了，突然感觉十分惊喜——这是这么长时间以来他第一次感到惊喜。他飞到了高空中，在月色中看到下方盘踞着不计其数的山峰。他能看见海湾如同一轮银盘，“黎明踏浪”号抛了锚停泊着，海滩边的森林里闪烁着篝火。于是他从高空滑翔着俯冲了下去。

露西睡得很沉。她很晚才睡，一直等到搜救队回来，期盼着他们能找回尤斯塔斯。搜救队由凯斯宾带领着，找到很晚才回来，一个个都累坏了。然而他们带回来的消息却令人不安。他们没有找到尤斯塔斯的下落，但是在山谷里发现了一条死去的龙。他们试着往好的方面想，互相安慰彼此说，这附近不太可能会再有其他的龙了，而那条大约下午三点时死去的龙（他们是在那时候发现它的）几乎不太有可能在死去几小时前再杀死人。

“除非这条龙是吃了那个小混蛋以后才死的；他可是能毒死任何东西的。”莱恩斯低声说道，声音极小，所以并没有人听见。

不过到了深夜，露西被一阵很轻的声音吵醒了，她发现其他人都紧紧围坐在一起，悄声谈论着什么。

“发生什么事了？”露西困惑地问道。

“这是一场持久战，我们不能有一丝一毫的松懈。”凯斯宾说，“刚才有一条龙从树顶飞过，落在了海滩上。没错，恐怕它现在正在我们和船之间的位置。箭对龙来说也没有什么用，而且它们一点也不怕火。”

“若是陛下您首肯——”雷佩契普开口道。

“不行，雷佩契普，”凯斯宾国王非常坚定地打断了他，“你不能单枪匹马去和它决斗，你一定要保证不能违背这条命令，否则我就只能把你绑起来了。我们只能密切关注它的一举一动，不可轻举妄动。等天一亮，我们就冲到海滩上去，同它搏斗。到时候我来打头阵，爱德蒙国王在我的右边，德里宁勋爵在我的左边。除此之外便没有其他部署了。再过几个小时天就要亮了。一小时之后我们就开饭，把剩下的葡萄酒也拿上来。一切都务必悄悄进行。”

“也许它自己会离开呢。”露西说道。

“它要是飞走就更糟糕了，”爱德蒙说道，“因为那样的话，我们就不知道它在哪里了。打个比方，要是房间里有一只黄蜂的话，我总是希望能看得到它。”

这天夜里接下来的时间很难熬，人人都是在恐惧不安中度过的，到了吃饭的时间，尽管他们知道应该吃点东西，但很多人都没什么胃口。仿佛过了无数个小时，黑暗才渐渐褪去，林中到处传来鸟儿的啁啾鸣唱声，周遭变得比夜里更寒冷潮湿了。凯斯宾开口道：“朋友们，我们准备行动吧。”

他们都站了起来，拔出剑，排成一个牢固紧密的列队，露西站在中间，雷佩契普则站在她的肩头。行动比漫长煎熬的等待好多了，大家也比以往更能感受到彼此间的深情厚谊。片刻后他们便出发了。当他们走到树林边缘时，天色更亮了。在沙滩上正躺着一条龙，体型庞大，形状可怖，周身隆起一个个鼓包，好似一只巨大的蜥蜴，又像是一条灵活的鳄鱼，或是一条长了脚的大蟒蛇。

不过当这条龙看见他们时，它非但没有起身冲他们喷火冒烟，而是向后退了几步——你甚至可以说它是跌跌撞撞地后退的——一直退到了海湾的浅滩里。

“它为什么摇头呢？”爱德蒙说道。

“现在它又点头了。”凯斯宾说道。

“它眼睛里好像有什么东西流出来了。”德里宁说道。

“噢，你们难道看不出来吗？”露西叫道，“它在哭呢。那些是它的眼泪。”

“我不会相信它的眼泪的，女王陛下。”德里宁说，“那就像是鳄鱼的眼泪，是故意迷惑你，让你放松警惕的。”

“你看，你说这话的时候它摇头了。”爱德蒙说，“就好像它在说‘不’似的。看，它又来了。”

“你们觉得它是不是听得懂我们在说什么啊？”露西问道。

听到这话，那条龙如捣蒜般狠狠地点起头来。

雷佩契普从露西的肩膀上滑下去，走到了最前面。

“龙，”它用尖细的嗓音说，“你能听懂我们的话语吗？”

那条龙点点头。

“你会说话吗？”

它又摇了摇头。

“既然是这样的话，”雷佩契普说，“也没有必要再问你其他事情了。不过如果你发誓同我们和平友好地相处，就把你的左前腿举过头顶。”

它照做了，不过动作有些笨拙，因为它的左前腿被金手镯紧紧箍住了，又酸又胀。

“噢，快看啊，”露西说，“它的前腿好像有些不对劲儿。可怜的家伙——也许它就是因为这个才哭的。也许它是来找我们疗伤的，就像之前在安德罗克利斯，还有那头受伤的狮子那样。

“要小心，露西，”凯斯宾警告道，“这条龙很聪明，不过它也有可能在撒谎。”

然而露西已经跑上前去了，雷佩契普紧随其后，撒开它的小短腿拼命跑着，之后两个男孩同德里宁自然也跟了上去。

“小可怜，给我看看你的爪子，”露西说道，“或许我能有办法治好它。”

这条尤斯塔斯变成的龙十分欢欣地伸出了它疼痛的前腿，它还记得在自己还没有变成龙的时候，露西的魔酒曾治好了自己的晕船。不过这回让他失望了。那神奇的魔酒替他消了肿，稍稍缓解了疼痛，但却未能熔化金镯子。

大家都围了上来，看着露西替龙治疗，突然凯斯宾惊呼道：“看！”他正盯着那个手镯。