“Look！” cried Rynelf ’s voice hoarsely from the bows. There was a tiny speck of light ahead， and while they watched a broad beam of light fell from it upon the ship. It did not alter the surrounding darkness， but the whole ship was lit up as if by searchlight. Caspian blinked， stared round， saw the faces of his companions all with wild， fixed expressions. Everyone was staring in the same direction： behind everyone lay his black， sharply-edged shadow.
Lucy looked along the beam and presently saw something in it.
At first it looked like a cross， then it looked like an aeroplane， then it looked like a kite， and at last with a whirring of wings it was right overhead and was an albatross. It circled three times round the mast and then perched for an instant on the crest of the gilded dragon at the prow. It called out in a strong sweet voice what seemed to be words though no one understood them. After that it spread its wings， rose， and began to fly slowly ahead， bearing a little to starboard. Drinian steered after it not doubting that it offered good guidance. But no one except Lucy knew that as it circled the mast it had whispered to her， “Courage， dear heart，” and the voice， she felt sure， was Aslan‘s， and with the voice a delicious smell breathed in her face.
In a few moments the darkness turned into a greyness ahead， and then， almost before they dared to begin hoping， they had shot out into the sunlight and were in the warm， blue world again. And all at
once everybody realized that there was nothing to be afraid of and never had been. They blinked their eyes and looked about them. The brightness of the ship herself astonished them： they had half expected to find that the darkness would cling to the white and the green and the gold in the form of some grime or scum. And then first one， and then another， began laughing.
“I reckon we’ve made pretty good fools of ourselves，” said Rynelf.
Lucy lost no time in coming down to the deck， where she found the others all gathered round the newcomer. For a long time he was too happy to speak， and could only gaze at the sea and the sun and feel the bulwarks and the ropes， as if to make sure he was really awake， while tears rolled down his cheeks.
“Thank you，” he said at last. “You have saved me from . . . but I won‘t talk of that. And now let me know who you are. I am a Telmarine of Narnia， and when I was worth anything men called me the Lord Rhoop.”
“And I，” said Caspian， “am Caspian， King of Narnia， and I sail to find you and your companions who were my father’s friends.”
Lord Rhoop fell on his knees and kissed the King‘s hand. “Sire，” he said， “you are the man in all the world I most wished to see. Grant me a boon.”
“What is it？” asked Caspian.
“Never to bring me back there，” he said. He pointed astern. They all looked. But they saw only bright blue sea and bright blue sky. The Dark Island and the darkness had vanished for ever.
“Why！” cried Lord Rhoop. “You have destroyed it！” “I don’t think it was us，” said Lucy.
“Sire，” said Drinian， “this wind is fair for the south-east. Shall I have our poor fellows up and set sail？ And after that， every man who can be spared， to his hammock.”
“Yes，” said Caspian， “and let there be grog all round. Heigh-ho， I feel I could sleep the clock round myself.”
So all afternoon with great joy they sailed south-east with a fair wind. But nobody noticed when the albatross had disappeared.
中文阅读
这次历险之后，他们在一阵清风的吹送下，向东南方向行驶了十二天。天空碧蓝如洗，空气温润，看不到鸟和鱼。只有一次，在船的右舷，他们远远看到鲸鱼在喷水。这段时间，露西和雷匹奇普经常在一起下棋。到了第十三天，在战斗桅楼上，埃德蒙看到左舷船头那边，好像有座黑色的大山矗立在海中。
他们改变了航向，朝这片陆地驶去，基本上是靠划桨，因为往东北方向并不顺风。天黑时，他们离那里依然很远，于是他们划了整整一夜的船。第二天早晨，天气晴朗，风平浪静。那黑乎乎的东西耸立在前边，越来越近，也越来越高大，但还是模模糊糊的。有些人认为距离还很远，其他人则认为，他们已经驶入了那团迷雾之中。
上午九时许，突然之间，那个东西出现在了眼前。他们看出来，那并不是一片陆地，按照普通的常识，那甚至不是迷雾，而是一片黑暗。这很难用文字来描述，如果你能想象自己从一个铁路隧道口望进去——这个隧道很长或者非常曲折，以至于看不见另一头的亮光。你就会对此有所了解。前面几英尺，你还可以看到光天化日之下的铁轨、枕木和铺路石，接着逐渐变得昏暗起来，突然，一切都消失在无边无际的黑暗之中，这之间并没有一个经纬分明的界线。这里正是如此。在船头前方几英尺处，他们还可以看到，明晃晃的蓝绿色海水在起伏着。再往前，就只能看到灰蒙蒙的暗淡海水，仿佛夜色初降时的样子。再往前看，则是漆黑一团，似乎是在一个没有月光与星光的夜幕笼罩之下。
卡斯宾向水手长大叫，让船停下。除了划船的，其余的人都跑了过来，从船头向外张望，却什么都看不见。他们身后是大海与阳光，前面则是一片黑暗。
“我们要进到里面去吗？”卡斯宾终于问道。“依我说，不要这样做。”德利尼安说。“船长说得对。”几名水手表示赞同。“我也基本上同意。”埃德蒙说。
露西和尤斯塔斯没有讲话，对于大家所要采取的明智行为，他们从内心里感到十分高兴。但突如其来，雷匹奇普的清晰嗓音打破了寂静。
“为什么不呢？”它说，“谁来给我解释一下不去的理由？”没有人急于向它解释，于是它继续往下讲：“如果我是在对一些农夫或者奴隶讲话，”它说，“我也许会猜想，这个建议是胆小鬼提出来的。我希望，将来在纳尼亚不会有这样的传说，一些高贵的皇室随从，正值年富力强的青春年华，却由于害怕黑暗而掉头逃窜。”
“但是，穿越那片黑暗有什么用处呢？”德利尼安问道。“用处？”雷匹奇普答道，“船长，你说用处？如果你说的用处，是指填满我们的肚子和钱包的话，我承认这毫无用处。就我所知，我们扬帆远航并不是要寻找有用之物，而是寻求名声与历险。这里就有一个无与伦比的伟大的历险机会，我们若在这里退缩，对我们的声誉将产生极大的伤害。”
几名水手低声咕哝着“该死的声誉”之类的话语，卡斯宾说：
“哦，讨厌，雷匹奇普。我几乎希望，我们应该把你留在家里了。好吧！既然你那么说，我想我们只好继续前进，除非露西不愿意这么做。”
