CHAPTER FOUR WHAT CASPIAN DID THERE（第4/5页）

He held up his hand to check the cheering of the slaves and went on，“Where are my friends ？”

“That dear little gel and the nice young gentleman ？”said Pug with an ingratiating smile．“Why，they were snapped up at once—”

“We’re here，we’re here，Caspian，”cried Lucy and Edmund together and，“At your service，Sire，”piped Reepicheep from another corner．They had all been sold but the men who had bought them were staying to bid for other slaves and so they had not yet been taken away．The crowd parted to let the three of them out and there was great hand—clasping and greeting between them and Caspian．Two merchants of Calormen at once approached. The Calormen have dark faces and long beards．They wear flowing robes and orange-coloured turbans，and they are a wise， wealthy，courteous，cruel and ancient people．They bowed most politely to Caspian and paid him long compliments，all about the fountains of prosperity irrigating the gardens of prudence and virtue—and things like that—but of course what they wanted was the money they had paid．

“That is only fair，sirs，”said Caspian．“Every man who has bought a slave today must have his money back．Pug，bring out your takings to the last minim．”(A minim is the fortieth part of a crescent．)

“Does your good Majesty mean to beggar me ？”whined Pug．

“You have lived on broken hearts all your life，”said Caspian， “and if you are beggared，it is better to be a beggar than a slave． But where is my other friend ？”

“Oh him ？”said Pug．“Oh take him and welcome．Glad to have him off my hands．I’ve never seen such a drug in the market in all my born days．Priced him at five crescents in the end and even so nobody’d have him．Threw him in free with other lots and still no one would have him．Wouldn’t touch him．Wouldn’t look at him．Packs，bring out Sulky．”

Thus Eustace was produced，and sulky he certainly looked； for though no one would want to be sold as a slave，it is perhaps even more galling to be a sort of utility slave whom no one will buy．He walked up to Caspian and said，“I see．As usual．Been enjoying yourself somewhere while the rest of us were prisoners．I suppose you haven’t even found out about the British Consul．Of course not．”

That night they had a great feast in the castle of Narrowhaven and then，“Tomorrow for the beginning of our real adventures ！”said Reepicheep when he had made his bows to everyone and went to bed．But it could not really be tomorrow or anything like it．For now they were preparing to leave all known lands and seas behind them and the fullest preparations had to be made．The Dawn Treader was emptied and drawn on land by eight horses over rollers and every bit of her was gone over by the most skilled shipwrights．Then she was launched again and victualled and watered as full as she could hold—that is to say for twenty-eight days．Even this，as Edmund noticed with disappointment，only gave them a fortnight’s eastward sailing before they had to abandon their quest．

While all this was being done Caspian missed no chance of questioning all the oldest sea captains whom he could find in Narrowhaven to learn if they had any knowledge or even any rumours of land further to the east．He poured out many a flagon of the castle ale to weather-beaten men with short grey beards and clear blue eyes，and many a tall yarn he heard in return．But those who seemed the most truthful could tell of no lands beyond the Lone Islands，and many thought that if you sailed too far east you would come into the surges of a sea without lands that swirled perpetually round the rim of the world—“And that，I reckon，is where your Majesty’s friends went to the bottom．”The rest had only wild stories of islands inhabited by headless men，floating islands， waterspouts，and a fire that burned along the water．Only one，to Reepicheep’s delight，said，“And beyond that，Aslan’s country． But that’s beyond the end of the world and you can’t get there．”But when they questioned—him he could only say that he’d heard it from his father．