第908章 The Voyage of the Dawn Treader(33)

What had really happened was this. Reepicheep， who ever felt that the ship was getting on fast enough， lovedto sit on the bulwarks far forwards just beside the dragon’s head， gazing out at the eastern horizon and singing softly in his little chirruping voice the song the Dryad had made for him. He never held on to anything， however the ship pitched， and kept his balance with perfect ease； perhaps his long tail， hanging down to the deck inside the bulwarks， made this easier. Everyone on board was familiar with this habit， and the sailors liked it because when one was on look.out duty it gave one somebody to talk to. Why exactly Eustace had slipped and reeled and stumbled all the way forward to the forecastle （he had not yet got his sea. legs） I never heard. Perhaps he hoped he would see land， or perhaps he wanted to hang about the galley and scrounge something. Anyway， as soon as he saw that long tail hanging down.and perhaps it was rather tempting.he thought it would be delightful to catch hold of it， swing Reepicheep round by it once or twice upside.down， then run away and laugh. At first the plan seemed to work beautifully. The Mouse was not much heavier than a very large cat. Eustace had him off the rail in a trice and very silly he looked （thought Eustace） with his little limbs all splayed out and his mouth open. But unfortunately Reepicheep， who had fought for his life many a time， never lost his head even for a moment. Nor his skill. It is not very easy to draw one‘s sword when one is swinging round in the air by one’s tail， but he did. And the next thing Eustace knew was two agonizing jabs in his hand which made him let go of the tail； and the next thing after that was that the Mouse had picked itself up again as if it were a ball bouncing off the deck， and there it was facing him， and a horrid long， bright， sharp thing like a skewer was waving to and fro within an inch of his stomach. （This doesn‘t count as below the belt for mice in Narnia because they can hardly be expected to reach higher.）“Stop it，” spluttered Eustace， “go away. Put that thing away. It’s not safe. Stop it， I say. I‘ll tell Caspian. I’ll have you muzzled and tied up.”