But when the dripping Mouse had reached the deck he turned out not to be at all interested in the Sea People.
“Sweet！” he cheeped. “Sweet， sweet！”
“What are you talking about？” asked Drinian crossly. “And you needn‘t shake yourself all over me， either.”
“I tell you the water’s sweet，” said the Mouse. “Sweet， fresh. It isn‘t salt.”
For a moment no one quite took in the importance of this. But then Reepicheep once more repeated the old prophecy：
“Where the waves grow sweet， Doubt not， Reepicheep， There is the utter East.”
Then at last everyone understood.
“Let me have a bucket， Rynelf，” said Drinian.
It was handed him and he lowered it and up it came again. The water shone in it like glass.
“Perhaps your Majesty would like to taste it first，” said Drinian to Caspian.
The King took the bucket in both hands， raised it to his lips， sipped， then drank deeply and raised his head. His face was changed. Not only his eyes but everything about him seemed to be brighter.
“Yes，” he said， “it is sweet. That’s real water， that. I‘m not sure that it isn’t going to kill me. But it is the death I would have chosen-if I‘d known about it till now.”
“What do you mean？” asked Edmund.
“It-it’s like light more than anything else，” said Caspian.
“That is what it is，” said Reepicheep. “Drinkable light. We must be very near the end of the world now.”
There was a moment‘s silence and then Lucy knelt down on the deck and drank from the bucket.
“It’s the loveliest thing I have ever tasted，” she said with a kind of gasp. “But oh-it‘s strong. We shan’t need to eat anything now.”
And one by one everybody on board drank. And for a long time they were all silent. They felt almost too well and strong to bear it； and presently they began to notice another result. As I have said before， there had been too much light ever since they left the island of Ramandu-the sun too large （though not too hot）， the sea too bright， the air too shining. Now， the light grew no less-if anything， it increased-but they could bear it. They could look straight up at the sun without blinking. They could see more light than they had ever seen before. And the deck and the sail and their own faces and bodies became brighter and brighter and every rope shone. And next morning， when the sun rose， now five or six times its old size， they stared hard into it and could see the very feathers of the birds that came flying from it.
Hardly a word was spoken on board all that day， till about dinner- time （no one wanted any dinner， the water was enough for them） Drinian said：
“I can‘t understand this. There is not a breath of wind. The sail hangs dead. The sea is as flat as a pond. And yet we drive on as fast as if there were a gale behind us.”
“I’ve been thinking that， too，” said Caspian. “We must be caught in some strong current.”
“H‘m，” said Edmund. “That’s not so nice if the World really has an edge and we‘re getting near it.”
“You mean，” said Caspian， “that we might be just-well， poured over it？”
“Yes， yes，” cried Reepicheep， clapping his paws together. “That’s how I‘ve always imagined it-the World like a great round table and the waters of all the oceans endlessly pouring over the edge. The ship will tip up-stand on her head-for one moment we shall see over the edge-and then， down， down， the rush， the speed-”
“And what do you think will be waiting for us at the bottom， eh？”
said Drinian.
“Aslan’s country perhaps，” said the Mouse， his eyes shining. “Or perhaps there isn‘t any bottom. Perhaps it goes down for ever and ever.
But whatever it is， won’t it be worth anything just to have looked for one moment beyond the edge of the world？”
“But look here，” said Eustace， “this is all rot. The world‘s round-I mean， round like a ball， not like a table.”
“Our world is，” said Edmund. “But is this？”
“Do you mean to say，” asked Caspian， “that you three come from a round world （round like a ball） and you’ve never told me！ It‘s really too bad of you. Because we have fairy-tales in which there are round worlds and I always loved them. I never believed there were any real ones. But I’ve always wished there were and I‘ve always longed to live in one. Oh， I’d give anything-I wonder why you can get into our world and we never get into yours？ If only I had the chance！ It must be exciting to live on a thing like a ball. Have you ever been to the parts where people walk about upside-down？”
Edmund shook his head. “And it isn‘t like that，” he added. “There’snothing particularly exciting about a round world when you‘re there.”
中文阅读
离开拉曼都岛之后，很快他们就开始感到，自己已经航行到了世界之外。所有的一切都大为不同了。举个例子来说，他们发现自己需要的睡眠减少了。人们都不想上床睡觉，不想多吃东西，就连讲话也是轻声细语的。另一件事是光线。这里到处明光照耀。每天早晨太阳升起时，看起来如果不是平常的三倍，也有两倍那么大。清晨（这给露西一种非常奇特的感觉），白色的大鸟用人的声音，用一种没有人懂得的语言，歌唱着，成群结队地从头顶上飞过去，消失在船的后方，飞往阿斯兰的桌子享用早餐。过了一会儿，它们又飞回来，消失在东方。
“海水多么清澈透明啊！”第二天午后不久，露西倚着左舷的栏杆，自言自语道。
的确是这样。她首先注意到的是一个很小的黑色物体，大概有鞋子那么大，正在与大船以同样的速度前进。有一会儿，她以为那是个什么东西漂浮在水面上。这时飘过来一块干硬的面包，是厨师刚从厨房里扔出去的。眼看那块面包就要与那个黑东西相撞了，结果却什么事情都没有发生。面包从那个东西上边飘了过去。露西这才知道，那个黑东西不是在水面上。接下去那个黑东西忽然变得很大，停了一会儿，又缩回原来的大小。
露西觉得，自己在哪里见到过这种场景——只是她想不起具体地方了。她一只手托着腮帮，紧皱着眉头，伸出舌头，努力地回忆着。终于她想起来了。当然！在一个阳光灿烂的日子，你从疾驰的火车上往外观看，就是这个样子。你看到车厢的黑色影子以同样的速度沿着田野行驶。随后火车驶过一个路堑，刹那间那个影子靠近你，变大了，沿着路堑斜坡上的青草向前滑动。接着火车驶出路堑——眨眼之间——黑影子又一次恢复了原状，继续沿着田野快跑。
“那是我们的影子！’黎明‘号的影子，”露西说，“我们的影子在海底行进。经过海底的小山时，它就会变大。如果是那样，海水一定比我想象的更加清澈！好家伙，我肯定是看到了海底，很深很深的海底。”