“Youmeanitspoke?”
“Idon'tknow。Nowthatyoumentionit，Idon'tthinkitdid。Butittoldmeallthesame。AndIknewI'dhavetodowhatittoldme，soIgotupa。Anditledmealongwayiains。Andtherewasalwaysthismoonlightoverandroundthelio。SoatlastwecametothetopofamountainI'dneverseehetopofthismountaintherewasagarden—treesandfruitahing。Inthemiddleofitthere
“Ikwasawellbecauseyoucouldseethewaterbubblingupfromthebottomofit:butitwasalotbiggerthanmostwells—likeaverybig，roundbathsgoingdownintoit。ThewaterwasasclearasanythingandIthoughtifIcouldgetiheitaiheliou。Mindyou，Idon'tknowifhesaidanywordsoutloudornot。
“IwasjustgoingtosaythatI'tundressbecauseIhadn'tanywhehoughtthatdragonsaresnakysortofthingsandsnakescasttheirskins。Oh，htI，that'swhatthelionmeans。SoIstartedsgmyselfandmyscalesbeganingoffalloverthepladthenIscratchedalittledeeperand，insteadofjustsihere，mywholeskinstartedpeeliifully，likeitdoesafteranillness，orasifIwasabanana。IwoIjuststeppedoutofit。Icouldseeitlyingtherebesideme，lookiy。Itwasamostlovelyfeeling。Sodownintothewellformybathe。
“ButjustasIwasgoingtoputmyfeetierIlookeddownandsawthattheywereallhardandroughandwrinkledandscalyjustastheyhadbeehat'sallright，saidI，itonlymeansIhadanothersmallersuitohefirstone，andI'llhavetogetoutofittoo。So1scratdtainandthisunderskinpeeledoffbeautifullyandoutIsteppedalyiheroothewellformybathe。
&lythesamethinghappenedagain。AndIthoughttomyself，ohdear，howevermanyskiotakeoff?ForIwaslongingtobathemyleg。SoIscratchedawayforthethirdtimeandgotoffathirdskin，justlikethetwoothers，aofit。ButassoonasIlookedatmyselfierIkhadbeennogood。
&helionsaid—butIdon'tknowifitspoke—‘Youwillhavetoletmeundressyou。'Iwasafraidofhisclaws，Itellyou，butIrettyenow。SoIjustlayflatdownonmybadoit。
“TheveryfirsttearhemadethatIthoughtithadghti。Andwhenhebeganpullingtheskinoff，ithurtworsethananythingI'veeverfelt。Theonlythingthatmademeabletobearitwasjustthepleasureoffeeliuffpeeloff。Youknow—ifyou'veeverpickedthescaboffasoreplace。Ithurtslikebilly-ohbutitissutoseeitinga>
“Iklywhatyoumean，”saidEdmund。
“Well，hepeeledthebeastlystuffrightoff—justasIthoughtI'ddoherthreetimes，onlytheyhadn'thurt—awaslyingonthegrass:onlyeversomuchthiddarker，andmoreknobbly-lookingthahershadbeen。AndtherewasIassmoothandsoftasapeeledswitdsmallerthaheholdofme—Ididn'tlikethatmuchforIwasverytehnowthatI'dnoskinoothewater。ItsmartedlikeanythingbutonlyforamomebecameperfectlydelidassoonasIstartedslashingIfoundthatallthepainhadgonefrommyarm。AndthenIsawwhy。I'dturoaboyagain。You'dthinkmesimplyphooldyouhowIfeltaboutmyownarms。Iknowthey'venomusdareprettymouldyparedian's，butIwassogladtoseethem。
&helioanddressedme—”
“Dressedyou。Withhispaws?”
“Well，Idolyrememberthatbit。Buthedidsomehoworother:ihes—thesameI'vegotonnow，asamatteroffadthensuddenlyIwasbackhere。Whichiswhatmakesmethinkitmusthavebeenadream。”
“No。Itwasn'tadream，”saidEdmund。
“Whynot?”
&herearetheclothes，forohing。Andyouhavebeen—well，un-dragoned，foranother。”
“Whatdoyouthinkitwas，theace。
“Ithinkyou'veseenAslan，”saidEdmund。
“Aslan!”saidEustace。“I'veheardthatioimessiheDawnTreader。A—Idon'tknowwhat—Ihatedit。ButIwashatihen。Andbytheway，I'dliketoapologize。I'mafraidI'vebeely。”
“That'sallright，”saidEdmuweenourselves，youhaven'tbeenasbadasIwasonmyfirsttriptoNarnia。Youwereonlyanass，butI>
“Well，don'ttellmeaboutit，then，”saidEustace。“ButwhoisAslan?Doyouknowhim?”
“Well—heknowsme，”saidEdmuhegreatLioheEmperor-beyond-the-Sea，whosavedmeandsavedNarnia。We'veallseenhim。Lucyseeshimmostoften。AnditmaybeAslan'strywearesailingto。”
&hersaidanythingforawhile。Thelastbrightstarhadvahoughtheyotseethesunrisebeountai，theykwasgoiheskyabovethemandthebaybeforethemturhecolorofroses。Thensomebirdoftheparrotkihewoodbehiheyheardmovementsamorees，andfinallyablaston'shorn。Thecamp>
&herejoiEdmuoredEustacewalkedintothebreakfastcirdthecampfire。Andnowofcourseeveryoheearlierpartofhisstory。PeoplewoheonhadkilledtheLordOseveralyearsagoorwhetherOhimselfhadbeentheohwhichEustacehadcrammedhispothecavehaddisappearedalongwiththeclotheshehadthenbeenwearing:butofallEustacehimself，feltaogobacktothatvalleyformoretreasure。
Inafeed，re-painted，aored，wasreadytosail。Beforetheyembarkedcausedtobeoothclifffagthebaythewords:
DRAGONISLAND
discoveredby
X，KINGOFc。
Ihyear
n。
Here，aswesuppose，
&ESIAN
hadhisdeath
Itwouldbenidfairlytrue，tosaythat“fromthattimeforthEustacewasadifferentboy“。Tobestrictlyaccurate，hebegantobeadifferentboy。Hehadrelapses。Therewerestillmanydayswhenhecouldbeverytiresome。ButmostofthoseIshallhecurehadbegun。
&esian&#hadacuriousfate。EustaotwantitaodofferedittoLucy。Shedidhavingit。“Verywell，then，catchas，”saiddflungitupihiswaswheandinglookiiohering，flashi，anddhulyasawell-thrownquoit，oionontheroebuptogetitfrombelowandnoonebdowfromabove。Andthere，forallIknow，itishangingstillandmayhangtillthatworldends。