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The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

by C.S. Lewis

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader is a children's fantasy novel by C.S. Lewis, first published in 1952 as the third book written in The Chronicles of Narnia. Edmund and Lucy Pevensie, along with their disagreeable cousin… more

First published 1952 · 223 pages · English

29 quotes ★ 4.09 (516,409) Classics

Quotes from the Book

It isn't Narnia, you know," sobbed Lucy. "It's you. We shan't meet you there. And how can we live, never meeting you?" "But you shall meet me, dear one," said Aslan. "Are -are you there too, Sir?" said Edmund. "I am," said Aslan. "But there I have another name. You must learn to know me by that name. This was the very reason why you were brought to Narnia, that by knowing me here for a little, you may know me better there.
There was a boy called Eustace Clarence Scrubb, and he almost deserved it.
Adventures are never fun while you're having them.
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 our world," said Eustace, "a star is a huge ball of flaming gas." Even in your world, my son, that is not what a star is, but only what it is made of.
One of the most cowardly things ordinary people do is to shut their eyes to facts.
And she never could remember; and ever since that day what Lucy means by a good story is a story which reminds her of the forgotten story in the Magician's Book.
Sleeping on a dragon's hoard with greedy, dragonish thoughts in his heart, he had become a dragon himself.
Most of us, I suppose, have a secret country but for most of us it is only an imaginary country. Edmund and Lucy were luckier than other people in that respect.
Most of us know what we should expect to find in a dragon's lair, but, as I said before, Eustace had read only the wrong books. They had a lot to say about exports and imports and governments and drains, but they were weak on dragons.
But I will not tell you how long or short the way will be; only that it lies across a river. But do not fear that, for I am the great Bridge Builder.
Ah, you've come over the water. Powerful wet stuff, ain't it?
The very first tear he made was so deep that I thought it had gone right into my heart.
My own plans are made. While I can, I sail east in the Dawn Treader. When she fails me, I paddle east in my coracle. When she sinks, I shall swim east with my four paws. And when I can swim no longer, if I have not reached Aslan’s country, or shot over the edge of the world into some vast cataract, I shall sink with my nose to the sunrise.
Do you mean to say," asked Caspian, "that you three come from a round world (round like a ball) and you've never told me! It's really too bad for you. Because we have fairy-tales in which there are round worlds and I have always loved them … Have you ever been to the parts where people walk about upside-down?" Edmund shook his head. "And it isn't like that," he added. "There's nothing particularly exciting about a round world when you're there.
A powerful dragon crying its eyes out under the moon in a deserted valley is a sight and a sound hardly to be imagined.
Am I to understand,' said Reepicheep to Lucy after a long stare at Eustace, 'That this singularly discourteous person is under your Majesty's protection? Because, if not--
In your world, I have another name. You should know me by it.
Shall I ever be able to read that story again; the one I couldn't remember? Will you tell it to me, Aslan? Oh do,do,do." "Indeed,yes, I will tell it to you for years and years. But now, come. We must meet the master of this house.
It would be nice and fairly nearly true, to say that 'from that time forth, Eustace was a different boy.' To be strictly accurate, he began to be a different boy. He had relapses. There were still many days when he could be very tiresome. But most of those I shall not notice. The cure had begun.
Do not look sad. We shall meet soon again." "Please, Aslan", said Lucy,"what do you call soon?" "I call all times soon" said Aslan; and instantly he was vanished away.
Gone! And you and I quite crestfallen. It’s always like that, you can’t keep him; it’s not as if he were a tame lion.
And there we all were, as invisible as you could wish to see.
Why should your Majesty expect it? My own plans are made. While I can, I sail east in the Dawn Treader. When she fails me, I paddle east in my coracle. When she sinks, I shall swim east with my four paws. And when I can swim no longer, if I have not reached Aslan’s country, or shot over the edge of the world in some vast cataract, I shall sink with my nose to the sunrise and Peepiceek will be head of the talking mice in Narnia.
For his mind was full of forlorn hopes, death-or-glory charges, and last stands.
But what manner of use would it be ploughing through that darkness?' asked Drinian. Use?' replied Reepicheep. 'Use, Captain?' If you mean by filling our bellies or our purses, I confess it will be no use at all. So far as I know we did not set sail to look for things useful but to seek honour and adventures. And here is as great an adventure as I have ever heard of, and here, if we turn back, no little impeachment of all our honours.
But who is Aslan? Do you know him?" "Well-he knows me," said Edmund. "He is the great Lion, the son of the Emperor-beyond-the-Sea, who saved me and saved Narnia.
Though no one would want to be sold as a slave, it is perhaps even more galling to be a sort of utility slave whom no one will buy.
Fools!" said the man, stamping his foot with rage. "That is the sort of talk that brought me here, and I'd better have been drowned or never born. Do you hear what I say? This is where dreams — dreams, do you understand — come to life, come real. Not daydreams: dreams.

Did you know?

  • The book was first published on 15 September 1952 by Geoffrey Bles in London.
  • It was the third of the seven Chronicles of Narnia to be written and published.
  • The first edition and subsequent classic editions were illustrated by Pauline Baynes.
  • In editions renumbered by internal chronology, it is placed as the fifth Narnia book.
  • The story introduces Eustace Scrubb, who later returns in The Silver Chair and The Last Battle.

About C.S. Lewis

C.S. Lewis (1898-1963) was a British writer and scholar who taught English literature at Oxford and Cambridge. He is best known for The Chronicles of Narnia and for Christian apologetic works such as Mere Christianity and The Screwtape Letters.

More about the author →

About the book

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader is a children's fantasy novel by C.S. Lewis, first published in 1952 as the third book written in The Chronicles of Narnia. Edmund and Lucy Pevensie, along with their disagreeable cousin Eustace Scrubb, are pulled into Narnia through a painting of a ship and find themselves aboard the Dawn Treader with King Caspian. Caspian is on a quest across uncharted eastern seas to find seven lost lords of Narnia, and the voyage carries the travelers from island to island toward the very edge of the world.

Unlike the earlier Narnia books, the story is structured as an episodic sea journey rather than a single unified battle, with each island posing a distinct moral or spiritual test. Themes of greed, temptation, self-centeredness, and transformation run throughout, most memorably when the grasping Eustace is turned into a dragon and can only be restored through the painful intervention of Aslan. Longing for something beyond the known world is embodied by the valiant mouse Reepicheep, who sails on alone toward Aslan's Country at the story's close.

As with the wider Narnia sequence, Lewis weaves Christian allegory into an adventure aimed at younger readers, and the book has remained a beloved and widely read entry in the series. Illustrated in its first edition by Pauline Baynes, it has been adapted for television and film and continues to be a staple of children's fantasy literature.

Key characters

  • Lucy PevensieYoungest Pevensie child, kind and faithful, drawn back into Narnia
  • Edmund PevensieOlder Pevensie brother who joins the voyage
  • Eustace ScrubbThe children's selfish cousin who is transformed by his experiences
  • King Caspian XYoung king of Narnia leading the quest for the lost lords
  • ReepicheepValiant talking mouse who longs to reach Aslan's Country
  • AslanThe great lion, guiding presence over Narnia
  • Lord DrinianCaptain of the Dawn Treader

Book details

First published
1952
Length
223 pages
Reading time
3 hours
Goodreads rating
4.09 (516k ratings)
First line
“There was a boy called Eustace Clarence Scrubb, and he almost deserved it.”

Series & reading order

  1. 1 The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
  2. 2 Prince Caspian
  3. 3 The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
  4. 4 The Silver Chair
  5. 5 The Horse and His Boy
  6. 6 The Magician's Nephew
  7. 7 The Last Battle

Movie & TV adaptations

  • IMDb
    The Chronicles of Narnia (BBC) 1989

    BBC television dramatization of the story

  • IMDb
    The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader 2010

    Feature film adaptation

If you liked this, read…

  1. 1
    Prince CaspianThe preceding Narnia book featuring the same King Caspian
  2. 2
    The Silver ChairThe next Narnia book, continuing Eustace's story
  3. 3
    A Wizard of EarthseaAnother classic children's fantasy built around a sea voyage and moral growth

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