CHAPTER SIX THE ADVENTURES OF EUSTACE（第5/5页）

“Perhaps it will go away，”said Lucy．

“It’ll be worse if it does，”said Edmund，“because then we shan’t know where it is．If there’s a wasp in the room I like to be able to see it．”

The rest of the night was dreadful，and when the meal came， though they knew they ought to eat，many found that they had very poor appetites．And endless hours seemed to pass before the darkness thinned and birds began chirping here and there and the world got colder and wetter than it had been all night and Caspian said，“Now for it，friends．”

They got up，all with swords drawn，and formed themselves into a solid mass with Lucy in the middle and Reepicheep on her shoulder．It was nicer than the waiting about and everyone felt fonder of everyone else than at ordinary times．A moment later they were marching．It grew lighter as they came to the edge of the wood．And there on the sand，like a giant lizard，or a flexible crocodile，or a serpent with legs，huge and horrible and humpy， lay the dragon．

But when it saw them，instead of rising up and blowing fire and smoke，the dragon retreated—you could almost say it waddled—back into the shallows of the bay．

“What’s it wagging its head like that for ？”said Edmund．

“And now it’s nodding，”said Caspian．

“And there’s something coming from its eyes，”said Drinian．

“Oh，can’t you see，”said Lucy．“It’s crying．Those are tears．”

“I shouldn’t trust to that，Ma’am，”said Drinian．“That’s what crocodiles do，to put you off your guard．”

“It wagged its head when you said that，”remarked Edmund．“Just as if it meant No．Look，there it goes again．”

“Do you think it understands what we’re saying ？”asked Lucy.

The dragon nodded its head violently．

Reepicheep slipped off Lucy’s shoulder and stepped to the front．

“Dragon，”came his shrill voice，“can you understand speech ？”

The dragon nodded．

“Can you speak ？”

It shook its head．

“Then，”said Reepicheep，“it is idle to ask you your business． But if you will swear friendship with us raise your left foreleg above your head．”

It did so，but clumsily because that leg was sore and swollen with the golden bracelet．

“Oh look，”said Lucy，“there’s something wrong with its leg. The poor thing—that’s probably what it was crying about．Perhaps it came to us to be cured like in Androcles and the lion．”

“Be careful，Lucy，”said Caspian．“It’s a very clever dragon but it may be a liar．”

Lucy had，however，already run forward，followed by Reepicheep，as fast as his short legs could carry him，and then of course the boys and Drinian came too．

“Show me your poor paw，”said Lucy，“I might be able to cure it．”

The dragon-that-had-been-Eustace held out its sore leg gladly enough，remembering how Lucy’s cordial had cured him of sea-sickness before he became a dragon．But he was disappointed． The magic fluid reduced the swelling and eased the pain a little but it could not dissolve the gold．

Everyone had now crowded round to watch the treatment， and Caspian suddenly exclaimed，“Look ！”He was staring at the bracelet．