TCN05 - The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Part 03 of 09

Guest (Male): Last time on *The Voyage of the Dawn Treader*. Land in sight!
Guest (Female): Where?
Guest (Male): There. Do you see? The Lone Islands, Felimath. And that must be Doorn.
Guest (Male): Hello, what’s this?
Guest (Female): It’s only a group of men.
Guest (Male): Rather rough looking if you ask me.
Guest (Female): And armed.
Guest (Male): Will you stand and drink with us?
Guest (Male): I thank you all the same, but we’ll continue on.
Guest (Male): Ah, but you won't. Take them, boys! What’s the meaning of this?
Guest (Male): Oh, I’d have thought it was clear. You’re our captives now.
Guest (Male): How much do you want for that boy?
Guest (Male): 300 crescents, my lord. To anyone else, I’ll give you 150.
Guest (Male): You remind me of my master, King Caspian of Narnia.
Guest (Male): My lord, I am your master.
Guest (Male): The governor is in the king’s chair. Remove him!
Guest (Male): What? Unhand me! Let me go!
Guest (Male): Your chair, sir.
Guest (Male): This trade must stop.
Guest (Male): I can take no responsibility for any such measure.
Guest (Male): Very well, then. We relieve you of your office. Before noon tomorrow, you and yours must be out of the castle, which is now the Duke’s residence. I declare every slave in this market free!
Guest (Male): I must go, my Lord Duke.
Guest (Male): Then this is farewell, King Caspian.
Guest (Male): Until we meet again.
Guest (Male): I can only hope that we will.
Focus on the Family: The most beloved children’s series.
Guest (Female): And what wonderful adventures we shall have.
Guest (Male): I do wish we knew the story that’s behind all this.
Focus on the Family: Brought to glorious life.
Guest (Female): It’s the army! It’s Rabadash and he’s coming this way!
Guest (Male): Quick, we must get to Anvard before them.
Guest (Male): Tomorrow, I will begin the conquest of the world.
Focus on the Family: And coming to an imagination near you.
Guest (Male): There’s not much point in finding a magic ring that lets you into other worlds if you’re afraid to look at them when you’ve got there.
Focus on the Family: C.S. Lewis’s classic Narnia series, available for you to cherish in your own home. Produced by Focus on the Family’s Radio Theatre, stories like *The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe*, *The Horse and His Boy*, *The Magician’s Nephew*, *Prince Caspian*, and *The Voyage of the Dawn Treader* now can be yours. Call our toll-free number at 1-800-A-FAMILY or visit our website at radiotheatre.org. Focus on the Family Radio Theatre: set sail for adventure. ChatGPT and AI can offer you ideas and attempt to give you answers, but it can’t listen with compassion, pray with you, or offer biblical wisdom. Real connection is what brings true hope. Focus on the Family offers a free, confidential consultation with a Christian counselor to guide you and help you find hope with whatever you’re facing. Go to focusonthefamily.com/gethelp or call 1-800-A-FAMILY. That’s 1-800, the letter A, the word family.
Guest (Male): All hands on deck! Batten down the hatches! Be sure the galley fire is out! Lucy, get down below! You men, reef the sail!
Guest (Male): 3rd of September. The first day for ages when I’ve been able to write. We’ve been driven before a hurricane for thirteen days and nights. I know that because I kept careful count, though the others all say it was only twelve. Pleasant to be embarked on a dangerous voyage with people who can’t even count right. I’ve had a ghastly time. Caspian and Edmund are simply brutal to me. The night we lost our mast—there’s only a stump left now—though I was not well at all, they forced me to come on deck to work like a slave. Lucy shoved her oar in by saying that Reepicheep was longing to go, only he was too small. I wonder she doesn’t see that everything that little beast does is all for the sake of showing off. Today the beastly boat is level at last, and the sun’s out, and we’ve all been jawing about what to do. We have food enough to last for sixteen days. The real trouble is water. Two casks seem to have got a leak knocked in them and are empty. Narnian inefficiency again. On short rations, half a pint a day each, we’ve got enough for twelve days. 4th of September. Still calm. Very short rations for dinner and I got less than anyone, I’m sure. Pretty hot sun. Terribly thirsty all evening. 5th of September. Still calm and very hot. Feeling rotten all day. I’m sure I’ve got a temperature. Of course, they haven’t got the sense to keep a thermometer on board. 6th of September. A little wind today, but from the west. Made a few miles eastward with part of the sail set on the makeshift mast that Drinian calls the jury mast. Still terribly thirsty. 8th of September. Still sailing east. I stay in my bunk all day now and see no one except Lucy, until the two fiends come to bed. Lucy gives me a little of her water ration. She says girls don’t get as thirsty as boys. I’d often thought this, but it ought to be more generally known at sea. 9th of September. Land in sight. A very high mountain a long way off to the southeast. 10th of September. The mountain is bigger and clearer, but still a long way off. Gulls again today for the first time since I don’t know how long. 11th of September. Caught some fish and had them for dinner. Dropped anchor about 7:00 PM in three fathoms of water in a bay of this mountain island. That idiot Caspian wouldn’t let us go ashore because it was getting dark, and he was afraid of savages and wild beasts. Extra water ration tonight. Can hardly wait for tomorrow.
Guest (Male): Do you see any place to land?
Guest (Female): It’s all cliffs and crags. Not the most welcoming island I’ve ever seen.
Guest (Male): Over there, toward the head of the bay where those trees jut out. It’s level enough for us to pull in.
Guest (Male): Is that a stream near the shore?
Guest (Male): It is.
Guest (Male): Good. Then I suggest you drop us there, Drinian. Then go back to the ship and have the entire company come ashore. We may be able to fell some of the trees to build a new mast and repair the casks.
Guest (Male): There may be game on the island as well.
Guest (Male): We have a lot of work to do on the poor old *Dawn Treader*. Look at her. She can hardly be recognized as the same gallant ship we knew in Narnia.
Guest (Male): True. But there’ll be no work until the men have washed, drunk their fill from that stream, and rested. If the *Dawn Treader* looks bad, the men have suffered far worse.
Guest (Male): The whole ship’s company went ashore in two boatloads, and everyone drank and washed deliciously in a river and had a meal and a rest before Caspian sent four men back to keep the ship, and the day’s work began. Eustace lay under a tree with a heavy heart. Was there going to be no rest? It looked as if their first day on the long-for land was going to be quite as hard work as a day at sea. Then a delightful idea occurred to him.
Guest (Male): Nobody’s looking. I could simply slip away and stroll inland and find a cool, airy place up in the mountains somewhere and have a good long sleep. And then I’ll join the others when they’ve finished their work. It would do me more good than breaking an unhealthy sweat and suffering the abuse of the crew. All I have to do is be careful to keep the bay and the ship in sight. I wouldn’t like to be left behind in this country.
Guest (Male): He at once put his plan into action. He rose quietly from his place and walked among the trees, taking care to go slowly and in an aimless manner so that anyone who saw him would think he was merely stretching his legs. Soon he ventured on with a quicker and more determined stride. This soon brought him out of the wood. The ground sloped steeply up in front of him. The grass was dry and slippery but manageable if he used his hands as well as his feet. And though he panted and mopped his forehead a good deal, he plugged away steadily. Slowly, and with several rests, he reached the ridge. Here he had expected to have a view into the heart of the island, but the clouds had now come lower and nearer, and a sea of fog was rolling to meet him. He sat down and looked back. He was now so high, the bay looked small beneath him, and miles of sea were visible. Then the fog from the mountains closed in all around him, thick but not cold. And he lay down and turned this way and that to find the most comfortable position to enjoy himself. But he didn’t enjoy himself. He began, almost for the first time in his life, to feel lonely. At first this feeling grew very gradually, and then he began to worry about the time. There was not the slightest sound. Suddenly it occurred to him that he might have been lying there for hours. Oh, what if the others have gone? What if they let me wander away on purpose in order to leave me behind? That’s just what they’d do!
Guest (Male): He leapt up in a panic and began the descent. At first he tried to do it too quickly, slipped on the steep grass, and slid for several feet. Then he thought that this carried him too far to the left, so he climbed up again as near as he could guess to the place he’d started from and began the descent afresh, bearing to his right. He went very cautiously, though a voice inside him said, "Hurry, hurry, hurry," the whole time. For every moment, the terrible idea of being left behind grew stronger.
Guest (Male): At last. Now, where are those trees? Oh, there’s something dark ahead. Why, I do believe the fog is clearing.
Guest (Male): It was. The light increased every moment and made him blink. The fog lifted. He was in an utterly unknown valley, and the sea was nowhere in sight.
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Guest (Male): Oh no, what am I going to do? I’ll never be able to climb back up that cliff. It’s a wonder I didn’t break my neck climbing down. But there’s no other way out. I’ll have to try it, though I should have a drink first.
Guest (Male): About fifteen yards away from him was a pool of clear, smooth water. As soon as he turned, and before he’d taken a step forward, he heard a noise behind him.
Guest (Male): What? Who’s that? Is someone there?
Guest (Male): At the bottom of the cliff, a little on his left hand, was a low dark hole, the entrance to a cave, perhaps. And out of this, two thin wisps of smoke were coming. And the loose stones just beneath the dark hollow were moving, just as if something were crawling in the dark behind them. Something was crawling. Worse still, something was coming out.
Guest (Male): What are you?
Guest (Male): The thing that came out of the cave was something he had never even imagined. A long lead-colored snout, dull red eyes, no feathers or fur, a long lithe body that trailed on the ground, legs whose elbows went up higher than its back like a spider’s, cruel claws, bat’s wings that made a rasping noise on the stones, yards of tail, and the two lines of smoke were coming from its two nostrils. He never said the word "dragon" to himself, nor would it have made things any better if he had. Perhaps if Eustace had known something about dragons, he would have been a little surprised at this dragon’s behavior. It did not sit up and clap its wings, nor did it shoot out a stream of flame from its mouth. The smoke from its nostrils was like the smoke of a fire that will not last much longer. Nor did it seem to have noticed Eustace. It moved very slowly toward the pool, slowly and with many pauses. Even in his fear, Eustace felt that it was an old, sad creature. It reached the pool and slid its horrible scaly chin down over the gravel. But before it had drunk, there came from it a great croaking or clanging cry, and after a few twitches and convulsions, it rolled round on its side and lay perfectly still with one claw in the air. A little dark blood gushed from its wide-open mouth. The smoke from its nostrils turned black for a moment and then floated away. No more came.
Guest (Male): What?
Guest (Male): For a long time, Eustace didn’t dare to move. Perhaps this was the brute’s trick, the way it lured travelers to their doom. But one couldn’t wait forever. He took a step nearer, then two steps, and halted again. The dragon remained motionless. Eustace noticed too that the red fire had gone out of its eyes. At last, he came up to it. He was quite sure now that it was dead. With a shudder, he touched it. Nothing happened.
Guest (Male): You’re dead.
Guest (Male): Eustace stepped around it and went to the pool for his drink, for the heat was getting unbearable.
Guest (Male): Oh, it would rain. Nothing to do but hide in the old dragon’s cave. He won’t be needing it now.
Guest (Male): What is this? They’re not stones or—a gold ring! And gold coins! And bracelets! Cups! Gems! Crowns! I’ve found a treasure! A treasure!
Guest (Male): Unlike most boys, Eustace had never thought much about treasure. But he saw at once the use it would be in this new world.
Guest (Male): They don’t have any tax here, and you don’t have to give treasure to the government. I wonder how much I can carry. This gold bracelet, those things in it are probably diamonds. That’ll do nicely on my wrist. Oh, too big. Best if I push it right up above my elbow. There. I suppose it makes more sense to take the diamonds. They’re easier to carry than gold. I wonder when this infernal rain’s going to let up.
Guest (Male): After filling his pockets with diamonds, Eustace got into a less uncomfortable part of the pile where it was mostly coins and settled down to wait. But a bad fright, especially a bad fright following a mountain walk, when once it’s over, leaves you very tired. Eustace fell asleep.
Guest (Male): Eustace! Eustace! Eustace! Eustace! Eustace!
Guest (Male): He’s nowhere near, or he’d have heard that horn, Caspian.
Guest (Male): I agree. Confound the fellow. What on earth did he want to slink away like this for?
Guest (Female): We must do something. He may have got lost or fallen into a hole.
Guest (Male): Or been captured by savages.
Guest (Male): Or killed by wild beasts. And good riddance if he has, I say.
Guest (Male): Captain Drinian, you never spoke a word that became you less. The creature is no friend of mine, but he is of the Queen’s blood. And while he is one of our fellowship, it concerns our honor to find him, and to avenge him if he is dead.
Guest (Male): You’re right, Reepicheep. And I am sincerely sorry to all. I spoke only from annoyance that he’s wandered off. That’s the nuisance of it. It means a search party and endless trouble. Bother Eustace.
Guest (Male): If we’re going to send out a search party, then we’d better do it before it gets dark. Gather the men together.
Guest (Male): Yes, sire. Lucy, Reepicheep, muster the men!
Guest (Female): Aye, aye! Oh, Eustace, where have you gone?
Guest (Male): Meanwhile, Eustace slept and slept and slept. What woke him was a pain in his arm. The moon was shining in at the mouth of the cave, and the bed of treasures seemed to have grown much more comfortable; in fact, he could hardly feel it at all. He was puzzled by the pain in his arm at first, but presently it occurred to him that the bracelet which he’d shoved up above his elbow on his left arm had become strangely tight. His arm must have swollen while he was asleep. He moved his right arm in order to feel his left, but stopped before he’d moved it an inch and bit his lip in terror. For just in front of him and a little on his right where the moonlight fell clear on the floor of the cave, he saw a hideous shape moving. It was a dragon’s claw. It had moved as he moved his hand and became still when he stopped moving his hand. For several minutes he didn’t dare move a muscle. He thought that the dead dragon must have had a mate which was now lying beside him. He was convinced of it, for two thin columns of smoke went up before his eyes, black against the moonlight. This was so alarming that he held his breath. The two columns of smoke vanished. When he could hold his breath no longer, he let it out stealthily. Instantly, two jets of smoke appeared again. Presently he decided that he would edge very cautiously to his left and try to creep out of the cave. Perhaps the creature was asleep, and anyway it was his only chance. But of course before he edged to the left, he looked to the left. Oh, horror! There was a dragon’s claw on that side too. No one will blame Eustace if at this moment he shed tears. He was surprised at the size of them as they splashed onto the treasure in front of him. They also seemed strangely hot, so hot that the steam went up from them. But there was no good crying. He must try to crawl out from between the two dragons. He began extending his right arm. The dragon’s foreleg and claw on his right went through exactly the same motion. Then he thought he would try his left. The dragon limb on that side moved too. Two dragons, one on each side, mimicking whatever he did. His nerve broke and he simply made a bolt for it. There was such a clatter and rasping as he rushed out of the cave that he thought they were both following him. He dared not look back. He rushed to the pool. The twisted shape of the dead dragon lying in the moonlight would have been enough to frighten anyone, but now he hardly noticed it. His idea was to get into the water. But just as he reached the edge of the pool, two things happened. First of all, it came over him like a thunderclap that he’d been running on all fours. And why on earth had he been doing that? And secondly, as he bent toward the water, he thought for a second that yet another dragon was staring up at him out of the pool. But in an instant, he realized the truth. That dragon face in the pool was his own reflection. There was no doubt of it. It moved as he moved. It opened and shut its mouth as he opened and shut his. He had turned into a dragon while he was asleep. Sleeping on the dragon’s treasure with greedy dragonish thoughts in his heart, he had become a dragon himself. That explained everything. There hadn’t been two dragons beside him in the cave; the claws had been his own. The two columns of smoke had been coming from his own nostrils. The pain in what had been his left arm was the bracelet he had put there when he was a boy. Now it was far too small for the thick stumpy foreleg of a dragon. He tore at it with his dragon’s teeth but couldn’t get it off. Yet in spite of the pain, his first feeling was one of relief. And he thought to himself, there’s nothing to be afraid of anymore. I’m a terror now, and nothing in the world would dare attack me. Nothing. I’m invincible. I could get even with Caspian and Edmund now. But I don’t want to.
Guest (Male): Suddenly Eustace wanted nothing more than to be back among humans and talk and laugh and share things. He realized that he was a monster, cut off from the whole human race. An appallingly loneliness came over him. He began to see that the others had not really been fiends at all. He began to wonder if he himself had been such a nice person as he’d always supposed. He longed for their voices. He would have been grateful for a kind word even from Reepicheep. When he thought of this, the poor dragon that had been Eustace lifted up his voice.
Focus on the Family: Next time on *The Voyage of the Dawn Treader*.
Guest (Male): A dragon has just flown over the treetops and lighted on the beach. And I’m afraid it is between us and the ship.
Guest (Male): Dragon? You’re not Eustace by any chance?
Guest (Male): Follow me.
Guest (Female): What are those things coming up out of the water? Is it some sort of rock formation?
Guest (Male): No.
Guest (Female): Why not?
Guest (Male): Because it wasn’t there five minutes ago.
Focus on the Family: *The Voyage of the Dawn Treader* from *The Chronicles of Narnia* by C.S. Lewis is a production of Focus on the Family. I’m Doug Gresham. Thanks for listening.