by Paul F. Ford » May 9th, 2005, 2:08 pm
From the entry DREAMS in the forthcoming fifth edition of my Companion to Narnia (ALL CAPS indicate cross-references to other entries in the book):
It is in VDT, in the experience of the DARK ISLAND, that the subject of dreams becomes most vivid, and Lewis considered this so important that he made several substantial changes in the text between the British and old American editions of the book. After the DAWN TREADER emerges from the darkness, the British edition (now the English edition for the world) says: “And all at once everybody realized that there was nothing to be afraid of and never had been. They blinked their eyes and looked about them.” In the old American editions, Lewis deletes these two sentences entirely, thinking perhaps that he was making too little of the reality of which they were afraid. He replaces these sentences with one long, beautiful simile, one of the finest he ever wrote:
And just as there are moments when simply to lie in bed and see the daylight pouring through your window and to hear the cheerful voice of an early postman or milkman down below and to realize that it was only a dream: it wasn't real, is so heavenly that it was very nearly worth having the nightmare in order to have the joy of waking; so they all felt when they came out of the dark.
This is a major change: Lewis here is highlighting the JOY of waking after a night of FEAR.
The next change comes by way of an omission. Both editions print the expectation the crew has that the ship would be covered with grime and scum. The British edition goes on to say: “And then first one, and then another, began laughing. 'I reckon we've made pretty good fools of ourselves,' said Rynelf.” The old American editions delete both sentences, thereby removing another denigration of the seriousness of night fears.
When Caspian asks what boon Lord RHOOP wishes the KING to grant, the British edition prints:
'Never to bring me back there,' he said. He pointed astern. They all looked. But they saw only bright blue sea and bright blue sky. The Dark Island and the darkness had disappeared forever.
'Why!' cried Lord Rhoop. 'You have destroyed it!'
'I don't think it was us,' said Lucy.
Lewis reconstructs this entirely for the old American editions:
“Never to ask me, nor to let any other ask me, what I have seen during my years on the Dark Island.”
“And easy boon, my Lord,” answered Caspian, and added with a shudder, “Ask you: I should think not. I would give all my treasure not to hear it.”
This is perhaps the greatest difference between the editions. The British edition says that our Dark Islands in life can be destroyed; the old American editions are much more real in their assessments.
Finally the old American editions, having deleted the destruction of the Dark Island, add a parting note about the experience. Both editions print the sentence: “So all afternoon with great joy they sailed south-east with a fair wind.” To this the American editions add the independent clause: “and the hump of darkness grew smaller and smaller astern.”
