CHAPTER SIXTEEN THE VERY END OF THE WORLD（第3/5页）
“But，Sire，”interrupted Drinian，“are you abdicating ？”
“I am going with Reepicheep to see the World’s End，”said Caspian.
A low murmur of dismay ran through the sailors．
“We will take the boat，”said Caspian．“You will have no need of it in these gentle seas and you must build a new one on Ramandu’s island．And now—”
“Caspian，”said Edmund suddenly and sternly，“you can’t do this．”
“Most certainly，”said Reepicheep，“his Majesty cannot．”
“No indeed，”said Drinian．
“Can’t ？”said Caspian sharply，looking for a moment not unlike his uncle Miraz．
“Begging your Majesty’s pardon，”said Rynelf from the deck below，“but if one of us did the same it would be called deserting．”
“You presume too much on your long service，Rynelf，”said Caspian.
“No，Sire ！He’s perfectly right，”said Drinian．
“By the Mane of Aslan，”said Caspian，“I had thought you were all my subjects here，not my schoolmasters．”
“I’m not，”said Edmund，“and I say you can not do this．”
“Can’t again，”said Caspian．“What do you mean ？”
“If it please your Majesty，we mean shall not，”said Reepicheep with a very low bow．“You are the King of Narnia．You break faith with all your subjects，and especially with Trumpkin，if you do not return．You shall not please yourself with adventures as if you were a private person．And if your Majesty will not hear reason it will be the truest loyalty of every man on board to follow me in disarming and binding you till you come to your senses．”
“Quite right，”said Edmund．“Like they did with Ulysses when he wanted to go near the Sirens．”
Caspian’s hand had gone to his sword hilt，when Lucy said，“And you’ve almost promised Ramandu’s daughter to go back．”
Caspian paused．“Well，yes．There is that，”he said．He stood irresolute for a moment and then shouted out to the ship in general．
“Well，have your way．The quest is ended．We all return． Get the boat up again．”
“Sire，”said Reepicheep，“we do not all return．I，as I explained before—”
“Silence ！”thundered Caspian．“I’ve been lessoned but I’ll not be baited．Will no one silence that Mouse ？”
“Your Majesty promised，”said Reepicheep，“to be good lord to the Talking Beasts of Narnia．”
“Talking beasts，yes，”said Caspian．“I said nothing about beasts that never stop talking．”And he flung down the ladder in a temper and went into the cabin，slamming the door．
But when the others rejoined him a little later they found him changed；he was white and there were tears in his eyes．
“It’s no good，”he said．“I might as well have behaved decently for all the good I did with my temper and swagger．Aslan has spoken to me．No—I don’t mean he was actually here．He wouldn’t fit into the cabin，for one thing．But that gold lion’s head on the wall came to life and spoke to me．It was terrible—his eyes．Not that he was at all rough with me—only a bit stern at first． But it was terrible all the same．And he said—he said—oh，I can’t bear it．The worst thing he could have said．You’re to go on— Reep and Edmund，and Lucy，and Eustace；and I’m to go back． Alone．And at once．And what is the good of anything ？”
“Caspian，dear，”said Lucy．“You knew we’d have to go back to our own world sooner or later．”
“Yes，”said Caspian with a sob，“but this is sooner．”
“You’ll feel better when you get back to Ramandu’s Island，”said Lucy．
He cheered up a little later on，but it was a grievous parting on both sides and I will not dwell on it．About two o’clock in the afternoon，well victualled and watered(though they thought they would need neither food nor drink)and with Reepicheep’s coracle on board，the boat pulled away from the Dawn Treader to row through the endless carpet of lilies．The Dawn Treader flew all her flags and hung out her shields to honour their departure．Tall and big and homelike she looked from their low position with the lilies all round them．And even before she was out of sight they saw her turn and begin rowing slowly westward．Yet though Lucy shed a few tears，she could not feel it as much as you might have expected ．The light，the silence，the tingling smell of the Silver Sea， even(in some odd way)the loneliness itself，were too exciting．