"Ask him and see," Reepicheep tells her, setting the newly-combed lock over her shoulder and setting to work on another. "Either way, in we went. Even with lanterns lit, we could barely see past our whiskers, once we rowed forward into that darkness. And it seemed we traveled for an age, and time seemed to have lost all meaning. Finally, we heard something: a cry of anguish, horror, fear – it hardly sounded human.

"I leapt forward and called out: 'If you are a foe we do not fear you and if you are a friend you enemies shall be taught the fear of us!'

"And the voice cried 'Mercy,' and begged us to take them aboard. His Majesty called for the ship to halt, and a man swam to us. Thin, haggard; he looked like a wild thing, beset by what, we did not know. And he told us to fly, for this was the island where dreams came true."