CHAPTER THIRTEEN
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THE THREE SLEEPERS THE wind never failed but it grew gentler every day till at length the waves were little more than ripples, and the ship glided on hour after hour almost as if they were sailing on a lake. And every night they saw that there rose in the east new stellations whio one had ever seen in Narnia and perhaps, as Lucy thought with a mixture of joy and fear, no living eye had seen at all. Those ars were big and bright and the nights were warm. Most of them slept on ded talked far into the night or hung over the ships side watg the luminous dance of the foam thrown up by their bows.On an evening of startliy, when the su behind them was so crimson and purple and widely spread that the very sky itself seemed to have grown larger, they came in sight of land on their starboard bow. It came slowly nearer and the light behind them made it look as if the capes and headlands of this new try were all on fire. But presently they were sailing along its coast and its western cape now rose up astern of them, black against the red sky and sharp as if it was cut out of cardboard, and then they could see better what this try was like. It had no mountains but many gentle hills with slopes like pillows. An attractive smell came from it - what Lucy called "a dim, purple kind of smell", which Edmund said (and Rhihought) was rot, but Caspian said, "I know what you mean.”
They sailed on a good ast point after point, hoping to find a nice deep harbour, but had to tent themselves in the end with a wide and shallow bay. Though it had seemed calm out at sea there was of course surf breaking on the sand and they could n the Dawn Treader as far in as they would have liked. They dropped anchood way from the bead had a wet and tumbling landing in the boat. The Lord Rhoop remained on board the Dawn Treader. He wished to see no more islands. All the time that they remained in this try the sound of the long breakers was in their ears.
Two men were left to guard the boat and Caspiahe others inland, but not far because it was too late for expl and the light would soon go. But there was o go far to find an advehe level valley which lay at the head of the bay showed no road or track or n of habitation. Underfoot was tine springy turf dotted here and there with a low bushy growth which Edmund and Lucy took for heather. Eustace, who was really rather good at botany; said it wasnt, and he robably right; but it was something of very much the same kind.
When they had go<var></var>han a bowshot from the shore, Drinian said, "Look! Whats that?" and everyoopped.
"Are they great trees?" said Caspian.
"Towers, l think," said Eustace.
"It might be giants," said Edmund in a lower voice.
"The way to find out is to ght iv among them," said Reepicheep, drawing his sword and pattering off ahead of everyone else.
"I think its a ruin," said Lucy when they had got a good deal nearer, and her guess was the best so far. What they noas a wide oblong space flagged with smooth stones and surrounded by grey pillars but unroofed. And from end to end of it ran a long table laid with a rich crimson cloth that came down nearly to the pavement. At either side of it were many chairs of stone richly carved and with silken cushions upon the seats. But oable itself there was set out such a ba as had never been seen, not even wheer the High Ki his court at Cair Paravel. There were turkeys and geese and peacocks, there were boars heads and sides of venison, there were pies shaped lik<var></var>e ships under full sail or like dragons and elephants, there were ice puddings and bright lobsters and gleaming salmon, there were nuts and grapes, pineapples and peaches, pomegranates and melons and tomatoes. There were flagons of gold and silver and curiouslywrought glass; and the smell of the fruit and the wine blew towards them like a promise of all happiness.
"I say!" said Lucy.
They came nearer and nearer, all very quietly.
"But where are the guests?" asked Eustace.
"rovide that, Sir," said Rhince.
"Look!" said Edmund sharply. They were actually within the pillars now and standing on the pavement. Everyone looked where Edmund had poihe chairs were not all empty. At the head of the table and iwo places beside it there was something- or possibly three somethings.
"What are those?" asked Lu a whisper. "It looks like three beavers sitting oable.”
"Or a huge birds ," said Edmund.
"It looks more like a haystae," said Caspian.
Reepicheep ran forward, jumped on a chair and then to the table, and ran along it, threading his way as nimbly as a dancer between jewelled cups and pyramids of fruit and -ivory salt-cellars. He ran right up to the mysterious grey mass at the end: peered, touched, and then called out: "These will not fight, I think.”
Everyone now came close and saw that what sat in those three chairs was three men, though hard tnize as men till you looked closely. Their hair, which was grey, had
growheir eyes till it almost cealed their, faces, and their beards had growhe table, climbing pound awining plates and goblets as brambles; entwine a fence, until, all mixed in one great mat of hair, they flowed over the edge and down to the floor. And from their heads the hair hung over the backs of their chairs so that they were wholly hidden. In fact the three men were; nearly all hair.
"Dead?" said Caspian.
"I think not, Sire," said Reepicheep, lifting one of their hands out of its tangle of hair in his two paws. "This one is warm and his pulse beats.”
"This ooo, and this," said Drinian.
"Why, theyre only asleep," said Eustace.
"Its been a long sleep, though," said Edmund, "to let their hair grow like this.”
"It must be an ented sleep," said Lucy. "I felt the moment we landed on this island that it was full of magic. Oh! do you think erhaps e here to break it?”
"We try," said Caspian, and began shaking the of the three sleepers. For a moment everyohought he was going to be successful, for the mahed hard and muttered, "Ill go eastward no more. Out oars for Narnia." But he sank back almost at oo a yet deeper sleep than before: that is, his heavy head sagged a few inches lower tow<bdi></bdi>ards the table and all efforts to rouse him again were useless. With the sed it was much the same. "Werent born to live like animals. Get to the east while youve a ce - lands behind the sun," and sank down. And the third only said, "Mustard, please," and slept hard.
"Out oars for Narnia, eh?" said Drinian.
"Yes," said Caspian, "you are right, Drinian. I think our quest is at an end. Lets look at their rings. Yes, these are their devices. This is the Lord Revilian. This is the Lord Argoz: and this, the Lord Mavramorn.”
"But we t wake them," said Lucy. "What are we to do?”
"Begging your Majesties pardons all," said Rhince, "but why not fall to while youre discussing it? We dont see a dinner like this every day.”
"Not for your life!" said Caspian.
"Thats right, thats right," said several of the sailors.
"Too much magic about here. The sooner were ba board the better.”
"Depend upon it," said Reepicheep, "it was from eating this food that these three lords came by a seven years sleep.”
"I wouldnt touch it to save my life," said Drinian.
"The lights going unon quick," said Rynelf.
"Back to ship, back to ship," muttered the men.
"I really think," said Edmund, "theyre right. We decide what to do with the three sleepers tomorrow. We darehe food and theres no point in staying here for the night. The whole place smells of magic - and danger.”
"I am entirely of King Edmunds opinion," said Reepicheep, "as far as s the ships pany in general. But I myself will sit at this table till sunrise.”
"Why oh?" said Eustace.
"Because," said the Mouse, "this is a very great adventure, and no danger seems to me so great as that of knowing when I get back to Narnia that I left a mystery behihrough fear.”
"Ill stay with you, Reep," said Edmund.
"And I too," said Caspian.
"And me," said Lucy. And theace volunteered also. This was very brave of him because never having read of such things or even heard of them till he joihe Dawn Treader made it worse for him than for the others.
"I beseeajesty -" began Drinian.
"No, my Lord," said Caspian. "Your place is with the ship, and you have had a days work while we five have idled." There was a lot ument about this but in the end Caspian had his way. As the crew marched off to the shore ihering dusk none of the five watchers, except perhaps Reepicheep, could avoid a cold feeling in the stomach.
They took some time choosing their seats at the perilous table. Probably everyone had the same reason but no one said it out loud. For it was really a rather nasty choice. One could hardly bear to sit all night o those three terrible hairy objects which, if not dead, were certainly not alive in the ordinary sense. Oher hand, to sit at the far end, so that you would see them less and less as the night grew darker, and wouldnt know if they were moving, and perhaps wouldhem at all by about two ocloo, it was not to be thought of. So they sauntered round and round the table saying, "What about here?”
and "Or perhaps a bit further on," or, "Why not on this side?" till at last they settled down somewhere about the middle but o the sleepers than to the other end. It was about
ten by now and almost dark. Those strange new stellations burned in the east. Lucy would have liked it better if they had been the Leopard and the Ship and other old friends of the Narnian sky.
They ed themselves in their sea cloaks and sat still and waited. At first there was some attempt at talk but it didnt e to much. And they sat and sat. And all the time they heard the waves breaking on the beach.
After hours that seemed like ages there came a moment when they all khey had been dozing a moment before but were all suddenly wide awake. The stars were all in quite different positions from those they had last noticed. The sky was very black except for the fai possible greyness in the east. They were cold, though thirsty, and stiff.
And none of them spoke because now at last something was happening.
Before them, beyond the pillars, there was the slope of a low hill. And now a door opened in the hillside, and light appeared in the doorway, and a figure came out, and the door shut behind it. The figure carried a light, and this light was really all that they could see distinctly. It came slowly nearer and ill at last it stht at the table opposite to them. Now they could see that it was a tall girl, dressed in a single long garment of clear blue which left her arms bare. She was bareheaded and her yellow hair hung down her back. And when they looked at her they thought they had never before known what beauty meant.
The light which she had been carrying was a tall dle in a silver dlestick which she now set upoable. If there had been any wind off the sea earlier in the night it must have died down by now, for the flame of the dle burned as straight and still as if it were in a room with the windows shut and the curtains drawn. Gold and silver oable shone in its light.
Luow noticed something lyihwise oable which had escaped her attention before. It was a knife of stone, sharp as steel, a cruel-looking, a looking thing.
No one had yet spoken a word. Then - Reepicheep first, and Caspia - they all rose to their feet, because they felt that she was a great lady.
"Travellers who have e from far to Aslans table," said the girl. "Why do you and drink?”
"Madam," said Caspian, "we feared the food because we thought it had cast our friends into an ented sleep.
"They have asted it," she said.
"Please," said Lucy, "what happeo them?”
"Seven years ago," said the girl, "they came here in a ></a>ship whose sails were rags and timbers ready to fall apart. There were a few others with them, sailors, and when they came to this table one said, `Here is the good place. Let us set sail and reef sail and row no longer but sit down and end our days in peace! And the sed said, `No, let us re-embark and sail for Narnia and the west; it may be that Miraz is dead. But the third, who was a very masterful man, leaped up and said, `No, by heaven. We are men and Telmarines, not brutes. What should we do but seek adveer adventure? We have not long to live in a. Let us spend what is left in seeking the unpeopled world behind the sunrise. And as they quarrelled he caught up the Knife of Stone which lies there oable and would have fought with his rades. But it is a thing nht for him to touch. And as his fingers closed upon the hilt, deep sleep fell upon all the three.
And till the entment is u>.</a>hey will never wake.”
"What is this Knife of Stone?" asked Eustace.
"Do none of you know it?" said the girl.
"I - I think," said Lucy, "Ive seen something like it before. It was a knife like it that the White Witch used when she killed Aslan at the Stoable long ago.”
"It was the same.," said the girl, "and it was brought here to be kept in honour while the world lasts.”
Edmund, who had been looking more and more unfortable for the last few minutes, now spoke.
"Look here," he said, "I hope Im not a coward - about eating this food, I mean - and Im sure I doo be rude. But we have had a lot of queer adventures on this voyage of ours and things arent always what they seem. When I look in your face I t help believing all you say: but then thats just what might happen with a witch too. How are we to know youre a friend?”
"You t know," said the girl. "You only believe or not.”
After a moments pause Reepicheeps small voice was heard.
"Sire," he said to Caspian, "of your courtesy fill my cup with wine from that flagon: it is too big for me to lift. I will drink to the lady.”
Caspian obeyed and the Mouse, standing oable, held up a golden cup between its tiny paws and said, "Lady, I pledge you." Then it fell to on cold peacock, and in a short while everyone else followed its example. All were very hungry and the meal, if not quite what you wanted for a very early breakfast, was excellent as a very late supper.
"Why is it called Aslans table?" asked Lucy presently.
"It is set here by his bidding," said the girl, "for those who e so far. Some call this island the Worlds End, for though you sail further, this is the beginning of the end.”
"But how does the food keep?" asked the practical Eustace. ?
"It is eaten, and renewed every day," said the girl. "This you will see.”
"And what are we to do about the Sleepers?" asked Caspian. "In the world from which my friends e" (here, he Eustad the Pevensies) "they have a story of a prince or a king ing to a castle where all the people lay in an ented sleep. In that story he could not dissolve the entment until he had kissed the Princess.”
"But here," said the girl, "it is different. Here he ot kiss the Priill he has dissolved the entment.”
"Then," said Caspian, "in the name of Aslan, show me how to set about that work at once.”
"My father will teach you that," said the girl.
"Your father!" said everyone. "Who is he? And where?”
"Look," said the girl, turning round and pointing at the door in the hillside. They could see it more easily now, for while they had been talking the stars had grown fainter and great gaps of white light were appearing in the greyness of the eastern sky.
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