“My son，” said Ramandu， “it is not for you， a son of Adam， to know what faults a star can commit. But come， we waste time in such talk. Are you yet resolved？ Will you sail further east and come again， leaving one to return no more， and so break the enchantment？ Or will you sail westward？”
“Surely， Sire，” said Reepicheep， “there is no question about that？ It is very plainly part of our quest to rescue these three lords from enchantment.”
“I think the same， Reepicheep，” replied Caspian. “And even if it were not so， it would break my heart not to go as near the World’s End as the Dawn Treader will take us. But I am thinking of the crew. They signed on to seek the seven lords， not to reach the rim of the Earth. If we sail east from here we sail to find the edge， the utter east. And no one knows how far it is. They‘re brave fellows， but I set signs that some of them are weary of the voyage and long to have our prow pointing to Narnia I don’t think I should take them further without their knowledge an consent. And then there‘s the poor Lord Rhoop. He’s a broken man.”
“My son，” said the star， “it would be no use， even though you wished it， to sail for the World‘s End with men unwilling or men deceived. That is not how great unenchantments are achieved. They must know where they go and why. But who is this broken man you speak of ？”
Caspian told Ramandu the story of Rhoop.
“I can give him what he needs most，” said Ramandu. “I this island there is sleep without stint or measure， and sleep in which no faintest footfall of a dream was ever heard. Let him sit beside these other three and drink oblivion till your return.”
“Oh， do let’s do that， Caspian，” said Lucy. “I‘m sure its just what he would love.”
At that moment they were interrupted by the sound of many feet and voices： Drinian and the rest of the ship’s company were approaching. They halted in surprise when they saw Ramandu and his daughter； and then， because these were obviously great people， every man uncovered his head. Some sailors eyed the empty dishes and flagons on the table with regret.
“My lord，” said the King to Drinian， “pray send two men back to the Dawn Treader with a message to the Lord Rhoop. Tell him that the last of his old shipmates are here asleep-a sleep without dreams- and that he can share it.”
When this had been done， Caspian told the rest to sit down and laid the whole situation before them. When he had finished there was a long silence and some whispering until presently the Master Bowman got to his feet， and said：
“What some of us have been wanting to ask for a long time， your Majesty， is how we‘re ever to get home when we do turn， whether we turn here or somewhere else. It’s been west and north-west winds all the way， barring an occasional calm. And if that doesn‘t change， I’d like to know what hopes we have of seeing Narnia again. There‘s not much chance of supplies lasting while we row all that way.
“That’s landsman‘s talk，” said Drinian. “There’s always a prevailing west wind in these seas all through the late summer， and it always changes after the New Year. We‘ll have plenty of wind for sailing westward； more than we shall like， from all accounts.”
“That’s true， Master，” said an old sailor who was a Galmian by birth. “You get some ugly weather rolling up from the east in January and February. And by your leave， Sire， if I was in command of this ship I‘d say to winter here and begin the voyage home in March.”
“What’d you eat while you were wintering here？” asked Eustace. “This table，” said Ramandu， “will be filled with a king‘s feast everyday at sunset.”
“Now you’re talking！” said several sailors.
“Your Majesties and gentlemen and ladies all，” said Rynelf， “there‘s just one thing I want to say. There’s not one of us chaps as was pressedon this journey. We‘re volunteers. And there’s some here that are looking very hard at that table and thinking about king‘s feasts who were talking very loud about adventures on the day we sailed from Cair Paravel， and swearing they wouldn’t come home till we‘d found the end of the world. And there were some standing on the quay who would have given all they had to come with us. It was thought a finer thing then to have a cabin-boy’s berth on the Dawn Treader than
to wear a knight‘s belt. I don’t know if you get the hang of what I‘msaying. But what I mean is that I think chaps who set out like us will look as silly as-as those Dufflepuds-if we come home and say we got to the beginning of the world’s End and hadn‘t the heart to go further.”
Some of the sailors cheered at this but some said that that was all very well.
“This isn’t going to be much fun，” whispered Edmund to Caspian. “What are we to do if half those fellows hang back？”
“Wait，” Caspian whispered back. “I‘ve still a card to play.” “Aren’t you going to say anything， Reep？” whispered Lucy.
“No. Why should your Majesty expect it？” answered Reepicheep in a voice that most people heard. “My owns plans are made. While I can， I sail east in the Dawn Treader. When she fails me， I paddle east in my coracle. When she sinks， I shall swim east with my four paws. And when I can swim no longer， if I have not reached Aslan‘s country， or shot over the edge of the world in some vast cataract， I shall sink with my nose to the sunrise and Peepiceek will be head of the talking mice in Narnia.”
“Hear， hear，” said a sailor， “I’ll say the same， barring the bit about the coracle， which wouldn‘t bear me.” He added in a lower voice， “I’m not going to be outdone by a mouse.”
At this point Caspian jumped to his feet. “Friends，” he said， “I think you have not quite understood our purpose. You talk as if we had come to you with our hat in our hand， begging for shipmates. It isn‘t like that at all. We and our royal brother and sister and their kinsman and Sir Reepicheep， the good knight， and the Lord Drinian have an errand to the world’s edge. It is our pleasure to choose from among