TCN05 - The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Part 05 of 09

Guest (Male): Last time, on the Voyage of the Dawn Treader...
Caspian: Lucy, you must show great constancy.
Lucy: Why?
Caspian: A dragon has just flown over the treetops and lighted on the beach.
Guest (Male): Dragon! Can you understand speech?
Caspian: I've never heard of a dragon that understands speech.
Lucy: Are you someone enchanted? Someone human?
Edmund: It was a human?
Lucy: Oh, you don't think...
Caspian: What are you two thinking?
Lucy: Dragon, you're not Eustace by any chance? Oh, don't cry, poor Eustace.
Aslan: Follow me.
Eustace: Follow you? To where?
Aslan: Follow me.
Lucy: Why are you so certain I didn't dream about the lion?
Eustace: There are your clothes, for one thing. And you've been undragoned, for another.
Lucy: What do you think it was, then?
Eustace: I think you saw Aslan. What are those things coming up out of the water?
Caspian: I don't know, I've been keeping my eye on them.
Lucy: Is it some sort of rock formation?
Caspian: No.
Lucy: Why not?
Caspian: Because it wasn't there five minutes ago. To your weapons! Let fly your arrows, quickly!
Guest (Male): The most beloved children's series...
Lucy: And what wonderful adventures we shall have!
Edmund: I do wish we knew the story that's behind all this.
Guest (Male): Brought to glorious life.
Eustace: It's the army! It's Rabadash and he's coming this way!
Caspian: Quick, we must get to Anvard before them.
Rabadash: Tomorrow, I will begin the conquest of the world.
Guest (Male): And coming to an imagination near you.
Edmund: 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.
Guest (Male): 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. Chat GPT 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.
Caspian: Land at last! How does it look, Drinian?
Drinian: I see a harbor where we can anchor, and it appears to have two streams coming into the bay. What's your pleasure, Sire?
Caspian: We'll anchor as you said and row ashore with all our water casks. They're nearly empty. Make ready the boat for a landing party!
Guest (Male): Aye, aye, sir! After anchoring the Dawn Treader, Drinian took some of the crew ashore to fill the water casks as planned. Caspian, Eustace, Lucy, Edmund, and Reepicheep decided to explore the small island. After a long climb through coarse grass and heather, they came to the source of the second of the two rivers. It was a deep mountain lake, surrounded by cliffs except for a narrow channel on the seaward side out of which the water flowed. They all sat down in the heather for a rest.
Eustace: Ow! They go for sharp stones on this island. Where is the wretched thing? Ah, now I've got it. Oh, hello. It isn't a stone at all. It's a sword hilt.
Edmund: A sword hilt? Up here?
Eustace: No, by Jove, it's a whole sword. Or what the rust's left of it. It must have lain here for ages.
Caspian: Narnian too, by the look of it.
Lucy: Oh, I'm sitting on something too, something hard. Oh, it's the remains of a mail shirt!
Caspian: Dig everyone! There's more to be found.
Guest (Female): I have found a helmet, Sire!
Guest (Male): Here's a dagger!
Eustace: A few coins.
Reepicheep: They are definitely Narnian, such as you might see any day in the marketplace of Beaversdam or Beruna.
Eustace: Do you think this might be all that's left of one of our seven lords?
Caspian: I wonder. But there's nothing on the dagger to show us who it was.
Lucy: I wonder how he died.
Reepicheep: And how we are to avenge him!
Eustace: Oh, look here. There's something very fishy about this. He can't have been killed in a fight.
Caspian: Why not?
Eustace: No bones. An enemy might take the armor and leave the body, but whoever heard of a chap who'd won a fight carrying away the body and leaving the armor?
Lucy: Well, perhaps he was killed by a wild animal.
Eustace: It would have to be a very clever animal that would take a man's mail shirt off.
Caspian: Or perhaps a dragon?
Eustace: No, a dragon couldn't do it. I ought to know.
Lucy: Well, let's get away from this place anyway. I don't particularly like the idea of sitting on anyone's bones, if they happen to be here somewhere.
Edmund: If you like. I don't think any of this stuff's worth taking anyway.
Lucy: I'd like to have a drink from that lake first. It's so hot, and the water's so clear.
Reepicheep: It is indeed. And I for one would be tempted to... Oh, look there, on the bottom!
Lucy: Oh! Is it the body of a man?
Edmund: Yes, in the sense that it's a statue of a man. A gold statue from the look of it.
Caspian: Well, that was worth coming to see. I wonder if we can get it out.
Reepicheep: We can dive for it, Sire.
Edmund: No good at all. At least if it's really gold, solid gold, it'll be far too heavy to bring up. And that pool's 12 or 15 feet deep if it's an inch. Half a moment, though. May I borrow your hunting spear, Caspian?
Caspian: Of course.
Edmund: Let's see what the depth is like. Hold on to my hand, Caspian. I'll lean out over the water a bit and put the spear in.
Lucy: Oh, look at the spear!
Caspian: It looks gold too.
Lucy: It must be the light. It makes everything that goes into the water look gold.
Edmund: Oh! Oh!
Caspian: My spear! Why did you drop it?
Edmund: I couldn't hold it. It seemed so heavy. And there it is on the bottom now.
Caspian: Well, Lucy's right. It looks just the same color as the statue.
Edmund: My boots! Get back! Get back from the water!
Caspian: What in the world is the panic, Edmund?
Edmund: Look at the toes of my boots!
Caspian: They look a bit yellow.
Edmund: They were in the water and now they're gold, solid gold! Look at them! They're as heavy as lead!
Caspian: By Aslan! You don't mean to say that...
Edmund: Yes, I do! That water turns things into gold. It turned the spear into gold and that's why it got so heavy. And it was just lapping up my feet and it turned the toe caps into gold! And that poor fellow on the bottom... well, he obviously had undressed on the shore and dived into the water. And, well, you see.
Lucy: Oh! And to think I nearly drank some of it. What a narrow escape we've had.
Reepicheep: Narrow indeed! Anyone's finger, anyone's foot, anyone's whisker or tail might have slipped into the water at any moment. All the same, I'd like to test it. I'll try some of that heather. There! Well, I'm amazed!
Edmund: You see, it's a perfect model of heather but made of pure gold.
Caspian: The king who owned this island would soon be the richest king of all the kings of the world. Yes! I claim this land forever as a Narnian possession, belonging to Caspian, King of Narnia, and all his heirs. I'll call it Goldwater Island.
Edmund: Hang on! Who do you think you're talking to? I'm no subject of yours. If anything, it's the other way round. I am one of the four ancient sovereigns of Narnia and you are under allegiance to the High King, my brother.
Caspian: Oh, I see! King Edmund, Your Highness, wants the gold for himself.
Edmund: Seeing as I discovered that the lake turns things into gold, then I think it's only fair...
Caspian: You discovered it? I beg to differ. It was my spear!
Lucy: Oh, stop it both of you! That's the worst of doing anything with boys. You're all such swaggering, bullying idiots! And I... Oh! Aslan!
Edmund: Aslan! Where?
Lucy: Across the lake!
Caspian: He's so... so huge!
Reepicheep: Shall we venture over to give him greeting?
Edmund: Oh yes, we... Oh. He's gone.
Lucy: Did you see which way he went?
Edmund: No. It was almost as if he were a dream.
Lucy: But we all saw him.
Caspian: What were we talking about? Before, I mean.
Edmund: Odd. I don't remember.
Caspian: I have a terrible feeling I've been making rather a fool of myself.
Edmund: So have I. But what was the reason?
Reepicheep: Sire, it is obviously a place with a curse on it. Let us get back on board at once! And if I might have the honor of naming this island, I should call it Deathwater.
Caspian: That strikes me as a very good name, Reep. Yes. Though now that I come to think of it, I don't know why. But I daresay that Drinian has finished filling the casks of water and is ready to be off. Let's go back to the ship.
Guest (Male): Deathwater Island and what happened there faded on the horizon as the winds, which had so long been from the northwest, began to blow from the west itself. Every morning when the sun rose out of the sea, the curved prow of the Dawn Treader stood up right across the middle of the sun. Some thought that the sun looked larger than it looked from Narnia, but others disagreed. And they sailed and sailed before a gentle yet steady breeze and saw neither fish nor gull nor ship nor shore. And stores began to get low again. And it crept into their hearts that perhaps they might have come to a sea which went on forever. But when the very last day on which they thought they could risk continuing their eastward voyage dawned, it showed right ahead between them and the sunrise a low land lying like a cloud. They made harbor in a wide bay the next morning and landed.
Caspian: Well, Sire, what do you think of this place? It's so quiet and empty. Do you suppose it's uninhabited?
Edmund: I would think so. Except for the grass.
Caspian: What about it?
Edmund: It's as level and as smooth and short as if a gardener cared for it.
Lucy: Yes, and look at the trees, the way they're spaced, as if they were planted that way, not wildly.
Reepicheep: Your Highness! There's a path here!
Caspian: Oh. Yes, there's no mistaking it. There must be someone here somewhere.
Edmund: It's not a path. It's an avenue.
Lucy: And there's a house up ahead!
Caspian: So it is. Well, I suppose we'd better go and introduce ourselves. Oh, I have something in my shoe. A stone, I think. You go on. I'll catch up.
Caspian: All right. Shout if you need us!
Lucy: I will!
Edmund: Do you suppose it's the home of one of our missing lords?
Caspian: I wouldn't be surprised. There would be a knot in the lace. I think we should head for that gate. Come on! Don't be stubborn. There. What's that noise? I say!
Guest (Male): What she heard was a thumping, and it was quickly coming nearer. She was already sitting with her back to a tree, and as the tree was not one she could climb, there was really nothing to do but sit dead still and press herself against the tree and hope she wouldn't be seen.
Chief Voice: All right, mates! Here's our chance!
Invisible People: Yes, yes!
Chief Voice: What I say is, get down to the shore between them and their boat! And let every mother's son look to his weapons! Catch them when they try to put to sea! Lively then, mates! Off we go!
Lucy: Oh no! Oh no! I have to find the others!
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Caspian: Invisible enemies? And cutting us off from the boat? Well, this is an ugly furrow to plow.
Edmund: You've no idea what sort of creatures they are, Lou?
Lucy: How can I when I couldn't see them?
Edmund: But did they sound like humans from their footsteps?
Lucy: Like I told you, I didn't hear any noises of feet. Only voices and this frightful thudding and thumping like a mallet pounding on the ground.
Reepicheep: I wonder, do they become visible when you drive a sword into them?
Caspian: It looks as if we shall find out. Now here's an idea. Captain Drinian, how would it be if we gave up the landing boat for lost, went down to another part of the bay, and signaled the Dawn Treader to stand in and take us aboard?
Drinian: The water isn't deep enough for her, Sire.
Eustace: We could swim!
Reepicheep: Your Majesties all, hear me! It is folly to think of avoiding an invisible enemy by any amount of creeping and skulking. If these creatures mean to bring us to battle, be sure they will. And whatever comes of it, I'd sooner meet them face to face than be caught by the tail!
Caspian: True. I really think Reepicheep is in the right this time.
Lucy: But surely if the crew on the Dawn Treader see us fighting on the shore, then they'll be able to do something.
Edmund: But they won't see us fighting if they can't see any enemy. They'll think we're just swinging our swords in the air for fun.
Caspian: Right. Well, let's get on with it. We must go and face them. Shake hands all round. Arrow on the string, Lucy. Swords out, everyone else. And now, to the boat.
Lucy: It looks deserted.
Edmund: I won't believe it until we're on the boat and away.
Caspian: Should we make a dash for it?
Chief Voice: No! Masters, no further now! We want to talk to you. There's 50 of us and more here with weapons in our fists!
Reepicheep: I do not see these 50 warriors!
Chief Voice: That's right! That's right! You don't see us! And why not? Because we're invisible!
Caspian: You invisible people, what do you want with us? And what have we done to earn your enmity?
Chief Voice: We want something that little girl can do for us!
Reepicheep: Little girl? The lady is a queen!
Chief Voice: We don't know about queens, but we want something she can do!
Lucy: What is it?
Reepicheep: And if it is anything against Her Majesty's honor or safety, you will wonder to see how many we can kill before we die!
Chief Voice: Wow! Suppose we all sit down while I explain?
Caspian: Sit if you will. We prefer to stand.
Chief Voice: As you wish. Well, it's like this. This island has been the property of a great magician time out of mind. And we all are, or perhaps in the manner of speaking I might say, we were his servants.
Caspian: Look here, I don't mind listening to your story, but could you tell it without so many interruptions? We'll be here all day otherwise.
Chief Voice: Interruptions? I don't know what you mean. Never mind. Well, to cut a long story short, this magician told us to do something we didn't like. He fell into a great rage, for he wasn't used to being crossed. He was terribly downright, you know.
Invisible People: Yes, yes.
Chief Voice: So! So! The magician went upstairs to where he kept all his magic things and he put a spell on us! An uglifying spell! If you saw us now, which in my opinion you might thank your stars you can't, you wouldn't believe what we looked like before we were uglified! So we waited until we thought the magician was asleep in the afternoon and we crept upstairs to look in his magic book to see if we could do anything about this uglification. But we were all of a sweat and a tremble and we couldn't find anything in the way of a spell for taking off the ugliness. And what with time getting on and being afraid that the magician might wake up any minute, we saw a spell for making people invisible. And we thought being invisible would be better than being ugly. So my sweet daughter, a girl just about your age, said the spell. For it's got to be a little girl or else the magician himself—don't ask me why—or it won't work. So my Clipsie says the spell, for she reads beautifully, my daughter. And there we all were, as invisible as you could wish to see. And I do assure you, it was a relief not to see one another's faces! But the long and short of it is, we're tired of being invisible! But here's the other thing: we never reckoned on this magician going invisible too. But we haven't ever seen him since, so we don't know if he's dead or gone away or whether he's just sitting upstairs being invisible. And perhaps coming down and being invisible there. Believe me, there's no manner of use listening because he always did go about in his barefoot, making no more noise than a great big cat. And I tell you straight, it's getting more than what our nerves can stand!
Lucy: But what has all this got to do with us? I don't understand.
Chief Voice: Why bless me if I haven't gone and left out the whole point. Well, clearly to put it in a nutshell, we've been waiting for ever so long for a nice little girl from foreign parts just like you, missy, that would go upstairs and go to the magic book and find the spell that takes off the invisibleness and say it! And we all swore that the first strangers as landed on this island having a nice little girl with them, I mean, we wouldn't let them go away alive unless they'd done the needful for us! And that's why, gentlemen, if your little girl doesn't come up to scratch, it will be our painful duty to cut all your throats! Merely in the way of business, you might say, and no offense I hope.
Reepicheep: I don't see your weapons. Are they invisible too?
Chief Voice: That would be a spear, that is! And it came from my hand. They get visible when they leave us.
Caspian: I can certainly see that plain enough. Any other questions, Reepicheep?
Reepicheep: Not at the moment, Sire.
Lucy: But why do you want me to do this? Why can't one of your own people?
Edmund: That's right. Your daughter got you into this. Why can't she go back upstairs, read the spell, and get you out?
Chief Voice: Oh no, we can't go upstairs again! No, no, dangerous!
Caspian: In other words, you're asking this lady to face some danger which you daren't ask your own sisters and daughters to face.
Invisible People: That's right.
Lucy: Would I have to go upstairs at night or would it be done in daylight?
Chief Voice: Oh, daylight! To be sure, no one's asking you to do that! No, no, no!
Lucy: Well, all right then. I'll do it.
Caspian: No, Lucy! You can't!
Lucy: Don't try to stop me. Can't you see it's no use? There's dozens of them. We can't fight them. And by doing what they want, there is a chance.
Edmund: But a magician!
Caspian: Oh look here, Lou, we really can't let you do a thing like this.
Lucy: But it's to save my own life as well as yours. I don't want to be cut into bits by invisible swords anymore than anyone else.
Reepicheep: Her Majesty is in the right. If we had any assurance of saving her by battle, our duty would be very plain. It appears to me that we have none. And the service they ask of her is in no way contrary to Her Majesty's honor, but a noble and heroical act. If the Queen's heart moves her to risk the magician, I will not speak against it.
Lucy: There, you see? Even Reepicheep agrees.
Edmund: We still don't like it.
Caspian: Neither do I.
Lucy: But let me do it and get it over with.
Guest (Male): The invisible people insisted on treating their guests to a meal on the bottom floor of the house where they lived. Only then did Lucy and the rest realize that the invisible people didn't walk but progressed in a series of jumps and bounds.
Edmund: I say, Edmund, do you think they're human at all? More like huge grasshoppers or giant frogs, I should say.
Caspian: Does seem like it.
Edmund: Don't put the idea of grasshoppers into Lucy's head. She's not too keen on insects, especially big ones.
Guest (Male): The meal would have been pleasanter if it hadn't been exceedingly messy. The jumping and bounding of the invisible people made carrying plates of soup and stew rather disastrous. After the meal, the Chief Voice instructed Lucy about what she had to do upstairs. She then bid goodbye to the others.
Lucy: Bye!
Guest (Male): Walked to the bottom of the stairs and began going up them without once looking back. At the top of the stairs, Lucy looked and saw a long, wide passage with a large window at the far end. Apparently the passage ran the whole length of the house. It was carved and paneled and carpeted, and very many doors opened off on each side.
Lucy: The last doorway on the left. That's what the Chief said. The last doorway on the left.
Guest (Male): To reach it, she had to walk past every room. And in any room there might be the magician—asleep or awake or invisible or even dead. But it wouldn't do to think about that. She set out on her journey. The carpet was so thick that her feet made no noise.
Lucy: There's nothing whatever to be afraid of. Nothing to be afraid of. Yet.
Guest (Male): Next time, on the Voyage of the Dawn Treader...
Lucy: An infallible spell to make beautiful her that uttereth it beyond the lot of mortals. I will say the spell. I don't care. I will!
Aslan: We shall meet soon again.
Lucy: Please, Aslan, what do you call soon?
Aslan: I call all times soon.
Guest (Male): 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.