《黎明踏浪號》第6章:尤斯塔斯的歷險
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 - along lead-coloured 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 behaviour. 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 towards 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. this was the brute's trick, the way it lured travellers to their doom. But one couldn't wait for ever. 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 afterwards 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 phoney 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 honour 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 fore-leg 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 towards 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 claw. 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 half-way 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 county.
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 towards 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 he 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 wa 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 sea-sickness 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.
這時候，尤斯塔斯瞪着眼睛朝這陌生的山谷四下張望。"
山谷又狹又深，周圍的懸崖十分陡峭，谷裏就像個大坑或壕溝。底部雖然遍地岩石卻長滿了草，尤斯塔斯看見到處有燒焦的黑斑癮，像乾旱的夏天鐵路路堤兩邊所見的焦痕一樣。離他十五碼以外，是個清澈平滑的水塘。開頭，山谷裏其他什麼東西都沒有;沒有走獸，沒有飛禽，沒有昆蟲。太陽直曬下來，猙獰的峯巒俯臨谷邊。
尤斯塔斯當然明白自己原來是在霧中爬到山脊另一邊去了。所以他馬上回頭看看回去的路。可是他一看便不禁渾身發抖。明擺着他是萬分僥倖才摸到這惟——條下來的路的——長長一條綠色的暗道，陡峭狹窄，兩岸懸崖聳峙。沒有別的路好回去了。他既然看到了實際情況，還能不能上去呢？他一想到這念頭，頭也暈了。
他再掉過頭去，心想無論如何最好還是先在水塘裏喝個痛快。誰知他剛掉過頭，還沒向山谷裏邁前一步，就聽見背後有聲音。聲音雖小，但是在那無比寂靜中聽上去也夠響的。他嚇得在原地僵立了一會兒，纔回過頭去看。
在崖底，他左手不遠的地方有個低矮的黑洞——也許是一個山洞的入口。洞口冒出兩縷細煙。就在黑洞下面那堆鬆散的石塊在動(他聽見的就是這聲音)，恰如有什麼東西在後面暗處爬着。
果然有什麼東西在爬。更糟糕的是，竟然爬出來了。要是愛德蒙和露茜，一看準認得出，你也認得出，可是尤斯塔斯沒看過一本對路的書。爬出來那東西他連想象都沒想象到過——鉛灰色的長鼻子，暗紅色的眼睛，身上沒羽毛，也沒皮毛，長長一條柔軟的身子，在地面上爬行，腿彎部分擡起來比背部還要高，像蜘蛛腿，兇殘的爪子，蝙蝠翼在石頭上發出刺耳的嘎嘎聲，尾巴老長老長。那兩道煙是從它兩個鼻孔裏冒出來的。他心裏從來沒想到龍這個詞兒，就是想到了，事情也好不了多少。
不過，他要是知道一些龍的知識，也許他對這條龍的舉動就不會那麼吃驚了。這條龍沒有坐起來拍拍翅膀，也沒從嘴裏噴出一道火焰。它鼻孔裏冒出來的煙就像火煙，沒多久就消失了。它似乎沒注意到尤斯塔斯，只顧很慢很慢地向水塘爬去，爬爬還歇了好多回。尤斯塔斯儘管心裏害怕，也覺得這是個衰老悽慘的怪物。他不知自己是不是敢衝過去爬上坡。不過如果他弄出聲音來，它就可能回過頭來，也可能會甦醒過來。也許它只不過裝裝樣子，不管怎樣，想爬上去，從會飛的怪物身邊逃走有什麼用呢？
它爬到水塘，把長滿可怕鱗甲的下巴滑到砂礫層上，但它還沒喝上水，就發出嘎嘎一大聲，像是飛鶴的尖戾，扭曲掙扎了幾下後，它就翻了個身，側身躺着，一動不動，一隻爪子還翹在半空。張大的嘴裏涌出一點烏黑的血。鼻孔裏的煙一時也變黑了，接着又飄走了。就此再也沒動靜了。
尤斯塔斯好長時間不敢動彈。也許這是那怪物的詭計，誘騙外來人送死的花招。可是你也不能老等下去。他走近一步，再走兩步又停下。那條龍還是一動也不動。他還注意到它眼睛裏的紅火也消失了。他終於走到它跟前。這回他絕對肯定它死了。他打了個寒喋，摸了它一下;什麼事也沒有。
這下可大大放心了，尤斯塔斯差點大聲笑出來。他不由開始感到自己不是眼看這條龍死去，而是打了一仗，親手把它殺死似的。他跨過龍身，走到水塘邊喝水，因爲這裏熱得受不了。他聽到隆隆一陣雷聲，倒也並不吃驚。雷聲響過，頓時就不見太陽，他還沒喝完，大滴大滴的雨點就下來了。
這島上的天氣真是非常討厭。轉眼工夫尤斯塔斯就渾身溼透，眼睛也看不清，這麼大的雨在歐洲可從沒見過。只要這場大雨不停，想爬出山谷也沒用。他衝進惟一看得見的龍洞去避雨。接着他就地躺下，拚命緩過氣來。
我們多半人都知道在龍洞裏會看到什麼，可是我上文已經說過，尤斯塔斯只看過些不相干的書，書上盡說些進口、出口啊、政府啊、耗費啊這一類詞兒，就缺談龍這方面的事。所以他對身子躺着的地面感到這麼莫名其妙。有的地面太刺人但不像石頭，而且太硬也不像荊棘，看來似乎有一大堆又圓又扁的東西，他一動這些東西就丁當響。洞口光線正好可以讓他看個仔細。不消說，尤斯塔斯看到的正是我們任何人事先都可以告訴他的——財寶。有好些王冠(就是那刺人的東西)，錢幣、戒指、手鐲、金錠、酒杯、餐盤和珍寶。
尤斯塔斯不像多半孩子那樣，他對財富從來沒看重過，可是他一看就明白，在他糊里糊塗一頭從家裏露茜臥房那幅畫上闖進去的新天地中，這筆財寶會派多大用處。"這裏什麼捐稅都不收，"他說，"你用不着把財寶交給政府。有了這些財寶，我在這兒——也許在卡樂門吧——可以過得逍遙自在了。這國名聽上去一點不像假的。不知我帶得了多少呢？馬上拿那手錮——上面鑲嵌的那些東西大概是鑽石——我要把手鐲戴在自己手腕上。太大了，但我要是把這一直撞到肘拐兒上面就不嫌大了。然後再在口袋裏裝滿鑽石——那比裝金子容易。就不知這場該死的雨幾時才停？"他坐到這堆財寶上一個比較舒服的地方安心等候，那地方大都是些錢幣。不過，受了一場大驚，特別是走了山路再受一場大驚，驚魂才定，人就感到很疲倦。尤斯塔斯竟睡着了。
在他進入夢鄉，呼呼大睡的時候，其他人已經吃完飯，對他的下落當真着起急來。他們大聲喊着，"尤斯塔斯！尤斯塔斯！喂，喂，喂！"喊得大家嗓子嘶啞，凱斯賓還吹起號角。
"他不在附近，不然早聽到了。"露茜急白了臉說。
"這傢伙真該死，"愛德蒙說，"他這樣偷偷摸摸地溜走，到底要幹什麼？"
"可是我們必須想些辦法，"露茜說，"他可能迷了路，或者掉進洞裏，或者被野人抓去。"
"或者碰上野獸送了命。"德里寧說。
"啊呀，假如真送了命倒好了。"賴因斯嘀咕說。
"賴因斯先生，"雷佩契普說，"你從沒說過一句有失身份的話。這傢伙雖然不是我朋友，可他是女王的親屬，只要他是我們一條船上的夥伴，那就要找到他，他死了就要爲他報仇，這事關我們的榮譽。"
"我們當然得去找他(如果找得到的話)，”凱斯賓有氣無力地說，"討厭就討厭在這點上。這要組織一支搜山隊，沒完沒了的麻煩。尤斯塔斯真討厭！”
這時候，尤斯塔斯正睡啊睡啊睡的，睡到手臂痛才醒來。月亮正照在洞口，滿地財寶似乎也變得更加舒服了。其實他簡直一點都沒感到舒服。開頭手臂痛得他莫名其妙，可是不久就想起，他剛纔擼到肘拐兒上面的手錮竟變得出奇的緊。他睡着那會兒手臂一定是腫起來了(是他的左臂)。
他挪動右臂，想去摸摸左臂，可是他還沒挪動一英寸就住手了，嚇得直咬嘴脣。因爲就在他前面不遠，稍稍偏右一點的地方，月光照在洞裏一清二楚，他看見一個可怕的形狀在移動。他知道那形狀:是龍瓜。他挪動他的手，它也在動，他一住手，它也一動不動了。-
"啊呀，我真是糊塗蛋，"尤斯塔斯心想，"那怪物當然有個夥伴，它就躺在我身邊呢。"
一時間他絲毫不敢動彈。他看見眼前冒起兩縷細煙，襯着月光，煙是黑的;正如剛纔那條龍臨死前鼻子裏噴出來的煙一樣。這真令人驚慌，他不由屏住氣。兩縷煙就此消失了。他屏不住多久，一口氣悄悄溜了出來;兩道黑煙頓時又出現在眼前。不過事到如今，他還是不明真相。不久他決定小心翼翼地斜着身子摸到左邊，想法偷偷溜出洞去。也許這怪物睡着了——不管怎樣，這是他惟一的出路。可是他還沒斜着身子摸到左邊去以前，他當然免不了先朝左邊看看。啊呀，真嚇人！那邊也有一隻龍爪子。
假如這時有誰看見尤斯塔斯掉眼淚，決不會怪他。他看見自己的淚水竟在面前的財寶上濺了一大片，不由吃了一驚。這淚水似乎也燙得出奇;上面還直冒熱氣。
但是哭也沒用。他必須想法從兩條龍中間爬出去才行。
他開始伸展右臂。他右邊那條龍的前肢和爪子的動作也完全一模一樣。於是他心想，試試左臂吧口那邊那條龍的前肢的動作竟也一模一樣。
一邊條，不管他做什麼，兩條龍都學着他做|他受不了啦，乾脆趕快逃走。
他衝出洞口時，只聽得丁丁當當，喀嚓喀嚓，金子鏗鏗鏘鏘，石頭嘎吱嘎口支，他還以爲兩條龍都跟着他呢。他看也不敢回頭看，衝到水塘邊。那條躺在月光下的死龍扭曲的形狀足以嚇死任何人，可是這會兒他簡直顧不上了。他一心只想走到水裏。
誰知正當他走到水塘邊，發生了兩件事。頭一件，對他來說無異一個晴天霹靂，原來他一直是四肢着地在跑——他到底爲什麼一直這樣幹呢？第二件，他趴向水面時還以爲水塘裏又有一條龍在擡眼盯着他。不過他一下子就明白真相了。水塘裏的龍臉原來是他自己的倒影。這是毫無疑問的。他動它也動，他張嘴它也張嘴，他閉嘴它也閉嘴。
他睡着的時候竟變成了一條龍。睡在龍的寶窖裏，心裏懷着貪婪的龍一樣的念頭，他自己竟變成一條龍了。
那一來什麼都清楚了。原來洞裏他身邊沒有兩條龍。左右兩隻爪子原來是他自己左右兩隻手。兩縷煙原來是他自己鼻孔裏冒出來的。至於他左臂(或者說他過去的左臂)的疼痛，現在他眯着左眼也看得出是怎麼回事了。原來正好戴在孩子上臂的手錨，勒在龍那條粗短的前肢上未免太小太小了。手鐲深深嵌在有鱗片的肉裏，勒得兩邊肉都鼓起來，
卡卡直跳。他用龍牙去咬那地方，可咬不掉。
儘管還痛，他頭一個感覺倒是放下心來，現在沒有什麼可害怕的了。如今他自己就是令人恐怖的怪物，天底下除了騎士以外(而且也不是所有的騎士都如此)，什麼都不敢攻擊他。如今他甚至可以跟凱斯賓和愛德蒙算賬了……-
可是他在想這件事的時候，心裏倒明白自己並不想算賬。他想要交朋友。他想要回到人類中間去，跟大家談天說笑，分享一切。他明白自己成了同整個人類隔絕的怪物。一股可怕的孤獨感涌上心頭。他開始明白其他人根本不是什麼惡魔。不由納悶自己究竟是不是他一貫自以爲的好人。他巴不得聽到他們的聲音。哪怕聽到雷佩契普一句好話他都會感激不盡。
這條前身是尤斯塔斯的可憐的龍，一想到這點竟放聲痛哭了。一條強大的龍，竟在月下一個荒涼的山谷裏哭得死去活來，這情景，這聲音簡直難以想象。
最後他決定要想方設法尋找回到海岸去的路。他現在才明白凱斯賓決不會把船開走，扔下他不管。他深信自己總有辦法讓人們明白他是什麼人。
他痛痛快快喝了一通，然後把那條死龍幾乎全吃下肚去。(我知道這聽上去嚇人，可是你仔細想想就不嚇人了。)他吃了一半才明白自己在幹什麼;因爲，不瞞你說，雖然他的頭腦還是尤斯塔斯的頭腦，可是他的口味和消化力卻是龍的。而龍所喜歡的食物莫過於新鮮龍肉了。這就是你在同一地方難以找到第二條龍的緣故。
於是他轉身爬出山谷。他開始爬時身子一跳，誰知剛一跳就不覺飛起來了。他完全忘了自己的翅膀了，這對他是一大驚喜發現——他有好長時間沒享受到驚喜了。他就此高飛上天，看見月光中身下鋪展着無數山頂。他看得見像一塊銀板似的海灣，黎明踏浪號停泊着，海灘邊林子裏篝火閃閃發光。他從高處一個滑翔，朝他們直衝下去。
露茜正睡得很沉，因爲她一直盼着搜山隊帶來好消息，等到他們回來纔去睡。搜山隊由凱斯賓親自率領，很晚纔回來，都累壞了。他們帶來的消息令人不安。他們找不到尤斯塔斯的蹤影，卻在一個山谷裏看見一條死龍。他們都盡了最大努力尋找，人人都向別人保證看來附近再也找不到別的龍了，那條龍是在那天下午三點鐘左右死的(就是他們看見它的時候)，看來不大會在短短几小時前剛吃過人。
"除非它是吃了那小鬼就此送了命的，他對什麼都有毒。"賴因斯說。不過這話是壓低嗓子說的，沒人聽見。
可是那天深夜露茜被人輕輕叫醒，看見全體人員都緊緊湊在一起，悄聲說着話。
"怎麼回事？"露茜說。
"我們大家必須堅定不移，"凱斯賓正說着，"剛纔一條龍飛過樹梢，降落在海灘上。是啊，恐怕就停在我們和大船之間。用箭對付龍是沒用的。龍根本不怕火。"
"陛下恩准的話一"雷佩契普開口說。
"不，雷佩契普，"國王非常堅決地說，"你決不能單獨跟它決戰。除非你答應這件事聽從我，否則我就把你綁起來。我們只須密切監視它，等天一亮，就到海灣去跟它開戰。我帶頭。愛德蒙國王在我右翼，德里寧爵爺在我左翼。沒有其他部署。再過一兩個小時天就要亮了。一小時內先開飯，剩下的酒也端來。還有，一切事情都得悄悄進行。"
"也許它會走開的。"露茜說。
"要是它走開那反而更糟，飛愛德蒙說，"因爲那一來我們就不知道它在哪兒。假如屋子裏有隻黃蜂，我倒願意看得見它。"
那天夜裏餘下的時間可難熬了，開飯時雖然大家都知道應當吃一點，可是很多人都發覺自己毫無胃口。時間過得似乎沒完沒了，好容易等到漆黑的天色漸漸亮起來，小鳥開始到處嘟嘟喳喳，四下反而比整個夜裏更冷更溼，凱斯賓說"朋友們，好動手了。"'
他們一擁而上，個個刀劍出鞠，緊緊擠成一團，露茜居中，雷佩契普在她肩頭。這總比干等着要好些，人人都覺得旁人比平時更可親。一會兒工夫他們就向前推進了。他們來到林子邊上，天色又亮了些。在那兒沙地上就躺着那條龍，像條大蜻踢，又像一條柔韌的鱔魚，又像一條四腳大蠕蛇，身體龐大，外形可怕，背部隆起。
誰知那條龍看見他們不但沒有擡起身，口噴火煙，反而
後退了——一幾乎可以說是搖搖擺擺地縮回淺灘上去了。
"它幹嗎那樣搖頭。"愛德蒙說。"這回它在點頭了。"凱斯賓說。
"它眼睛裏淌出什麼東西呢。"德里寧說。
"啊呀，你們看不出來啊，"露茜說，"它在哭。那是眼淚呢。
"我可決不輕信，女王陛下，"德里寧說，"鱔魚就是那樣的，想要消除你的戒心。"
"你說這話時它聽了在搖頭呢，"愛德蒙說，"意思好像在說不。瞧，它又搖頭了。"
"你想，它懂得我們在說什麼嗎？"露茜問。
那條龍拼命點頭。
雷佩契普溜下露茜肩頭，站到前面去。
"龍啊，"它尖聲說，"你聽得懂話嗎？
那條龍點點頭。
"你會說話嗎？"它搖搖頭。
"這麼說，"雷佩契普說，"問你事情也是白費口舌。不過假如你願意跟我們保證友好，就把左前腿高舉頭上。"
那條龍照做了，可是舉止笨拙，因爲那腿上勒着金錮，又痛又腫。
"啊呀，腿，"露茜說，"它腿出毛病了。可憐的東西——大概它是爲了這個才哭吧。也許它來向我們求醫，就像在安德羅格爾斯那回一樣，還有那頭獅子。"
"留神，露茜，"凱斯賓說，"這條龍非常聰明，不過也許它是在騙人。""
然而，露茜已經跑上前去了，雷佩契普趕快撒開兩條短腿緊緊跟上，幾個小夥子和德里寧當然也跟了上去。
"把可憐的爪子給我看看，"露茜說，"我興許能治好。"
那條前身是尤斯塔斯的龍喜不自勝地伸出了痛腿，心裏還記得他沒變成龍的時候，露茜好意治好他暈船的事。可是他失望了，魔藥只是略爲消腫止痛，卻不能化掉金鐲。
這時大家都圍着看她治傷，凱斯賓突然失聲叫道
"瞧！”他盯着那金鐲。
