Eustace Clarence Scrubb did not like adventures.

Adventures meant drowning in something you had no capacity to control. It meant reality shifting under your feet and seasickness as a reward for your attempts to stay upright.

Out of all the impressive vocabulary Eustace had at his disposal, the first words he managed to splutter were “I don’t like it!”

This statement failed to reverse the situation, so Eustace did what he always did: instead of opening himself to learning about the unfamiliar, he tried to explain it.

The problem was, the perspective from which he tried to explain Narnia was limited to the size of his own head. Which was rather large as heads go, but still undeniably cramped compared to the ocean in front of him. Not to mention a good portion of its contents were just plain mistaken.

Explaining didn’t make the situation (or Eustace) more bearable, but it provided an excellent opportunity to judge everyone and everything else. Caspian, for being a heartless tyrant. Reepicheep, for being cheeky. The Dawn Treader, for impressing everyone despite its backwards technology. Chivalry, for not being woke. The world in general for restricting his access to Plumptree’s Vitaminized Nerve Food.

His judicious efforts to convince everyone of their failings were not received well, so he decided that he could sulk more productively by himself on an unexplored mountaintop.

And then the Unknown crowded in on him with the gathering fog.

The fear of it drove him back the way he had come. But at the foot of the mountain, instead of finding safety, he came upon a winged terror he’d never imagined, let alone attempted to explain.

For a few moments, Eustace experienced something very close to humility.

But then his terror was interrupted by something familiar. Something that offered him power and security.

So he pushed a gold bracelet above his elbow, filled his pockets with diamonds, and fell asleep.

When he woke up, he saw his reflection and came face-to-face with the Unknown. And this time, he couldn’t escape.

Thank you for reading! This is the second part of a series exploring the value of curiosity through the eyes of Eustace Scrubb from The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis.