The Horse And His Boy

“‘It is even so,’ replied the guest dryly. ‘But another poet has likewise said, “He who at tempts to deceive the judicious is already baring his own back for the scourge.” Do not load your aged mouth with falsehoods. This boy is manifestly no son of yours, for your cheek as dark as mine but the boy is fair and white—like the ac cursed but beautiful barbarians who inhabit the remote North.’”

This conversation takes place between the Tarkaan and the fisherman as they negotiate how much the nobleman is going to pay for Shasta. Their verbal sparring reveals that each of them recognizes the exceptionally high worth of Shasta and that worth is tied to his obviously being of northern birth and not the natural son of the fisherman. Because it was a Calormen plot that originally resulted in Shasta being kidnapped from his parents in Archenland, the Tarkaan may even have some sense that Shasta is the eldest son of King Lune.

“You must not imagine that Shasta felt at all as you and I would feel if we had just overheard our parents talking about selling us for slaves. For one thing, his life was already little better than slavery; for all he knew, the lordly stranger on the great horse might be kinder to him than Arsheesh. For another, the story about his own discovery in the boat had filled him with excitement and with a sense of relief. He had often been uneasy because, try as he might, he had never been able to love the fisherman, and he knew that a boy ought to love his father. And now, apparently, he was no relation to Arsheesh at all. That took a great weight off his mind. ‘Why, I might be anyone!’ he thought. ‘I might be the son of a Tarkaan myself—or the son of the Tisroc (may he live forever)—or of a god!’”

This is an example of the sort of literary aside Lewis uses throughout the book in which he speaks directly to his readers, the tone and language of which suggest he is speaking to British mid-grade school children. This is a characteristic of all the Narnia books. It has the matter-of-fact tone of a storyteller pausing, often at a relatively significant moment in the narrative, to share a personal observation. By saying he regards this news as the beginning of an adventure rather than a horrible betrayal, Lewis reveals that the fisherman was unworthy of Shasta’s respect or love.

“‘How ever did you learn to talk?’ he asked.

‘Hush! Not so loud,’ replied the Horse. ‘Where I come from, nearly all the animals talk.’

‘Wherever is that?’ asked Shasta.

‘Narnia,’ answered the Horse. ‘The happy land of Narnia—Narnia of the heathery mountains and the thymy downs, Narnia of the many rivers, the plashing glens, the mossy caverns and the deep forests ringing with the hammers of the Dwarfs. Oh the sweet air of Narnia! An hour’s life there is better than a thousand years in Calormen.’ It ended with a whinny that sounded very like a sigh.”

This is the initial conversation between Shasta and the talking horse Bree. Again, this time using Bree’s eloquent description, Lewis sets an image of Narnia in the readers’ minds. Through the horse’s description and the accompanying sounds, Lewis also begins to reveal the horse’s personality to his readers as well.

“‘Oh hurrah!’ said Shasta. ‘Then we’ll go North. I’ve been longing to go to the North all my life.’

‘Of course you have,’ said the Horse. ‘That’s because of the blood that’s in you. I’m Sure you’re true Northern stock.’”

Lewis suggests that Shasta’s disenchantment with the fisherman and the tiny Calormen village where he lives is not simply the result of abuse and boredom but also because he has an innate desire for a different land. Everything Lewis’s main characters say about the northern lands implies that Narnia and Archenland are clearly superior in virtually every way.

“Bree only snorted in answer but he did sheer away to his right. Oddly enough the other horse seemed also to be sheering away to the left, so that in a few seconds the space between them had widened a good deal. But as soon as it did so there came two more lions’ roars, immediately after one another, one on the right and the other on the left, the horses began drawing nearer together. So, apparently, did the lions. The roaring of the brutes on each side was horribly close and they seemed to be keeping up with the galloping horses quite easily. Then the cloud rolled away. The moonlight, astonishingly bright, showed up everything almost as if it were broad day. The two horses and two riders were galloping neck to neck and knee to knee just as if they were in a race. Indeed Bree said (afterward) that a finer race had never been seen in Calormen.”

This is one of several intense action scenes throughout the book. Here, having evaded notice in their escape attempt for weeks, Bree and Shasta realize there is another riding pair shadowing them. The two horses and riders are forced together, galloping at top speed, by roaring lions pursuing them. At the last moment they splash into an ocean inlet together and emerge on the opposite side too exhausted to flee from one another. Eventually, it will be revealed that there was only one lion, Aslan, whose purpose was to force the pairs together, since each was escaping to the north and wanted to avoid detection.

“‘Why, it’s only a girl!’ he exclaimed.

‘And what business is it of yours if I am only a girl?’ snapped the stranger. ‘You’re probably only a boy: a rude, common little boy—a slave probably, who’s stolen his master’s horse.’

‘That’s all you know,’ said Shasta.

‘He’s not a thief, little Tarkheena,’ said Bree. ‘At least, if there’s been any stealing, you might just as well say I stole him. And as for its not being my business, you wouldn’t expect me to pass a lady of my own race in this strange country without speaking to her? It’s only natural I should.’”

As they walk together in the darkness after the race, the two escaping pairs make several surprising discoveries: that a servant boy is riding a great warhorse; that a royal daughter—a Tarkheena—is riding a well-bred horse, wearing her brother’s armor; and that each of the horses is a Narnian talking horse.

“‘And now my wonder was so great that I forgot about killing myself and about Ahoshta and said, ‘O my mare, how have you learned to speak Like one of the daughters of men?’ And Hwin told me what is known to all this company, that in Narnia there are beasts that talk, and how she herself was stolen from thence when she was a little foal. She told me also of the woods and waters of Narnia and the castles and the great ships, till I said, ‘In the name of Tash and Azaroth and Zardeenah, Lady of the Night, I have a great wish to be in that country of Narnia.’

‘My mistress,” answered the mare, ‘if you Narnia you would be happy, for in that land no maiden is forced to marry against her will.’”

Aravis, the runaway Tarkheena, describes the moment Hwin, her talking mare, spoke to her, preventing her from stabbing herself to avoid marrying Ahosta, the aged man who is the new Grand Vizier of Calormen. Hwin persuades Aravis to escape to Narnia, just as Bree persuaded Shasta. The key element, as Aravis reveals, is that there are no arranged marriages forced upon women in Narnia. Again, Lewis is portraying the superiority of Narnia over Calormen.

“‘And there’s another thing I don’t understand about that story,’ said Shasta. ‘You’re not grown up. I don’t believe you’re any older than I am. I don’t believe you’re as old. How could you be getting married at your age?’

Aravis said nothing, but Bree said at once, ‘Shasta, don’t display your ignorance. They’re always married at that age in the great Tarkaan families.’”

Several subtle things are at work in this passage. First, Shasta’s boyish curiosity is revealed. He wants to know all about Aravis and the ways of nobility. Lewis repeatedly describes his curiosity about the wider world. That Aravis does not respond to his question is a result of her belief that she is above him in worth. In her mind, Shasta is impertinent and does not know his place. Bree has undertaken to teach Shasta, his boy, more than just how to stay in the saddle. Also, Lewis is reinforcing the inappropriateness of the ancient royal custom of bartering children as wives.

“It was quite unlike any other party they had seen that day. The crier who went before it shouting ‘Way, way!’ was the only Calormene in it. And there was no litter; everyone was on foot. There were about half a dozen men and Shasta had never seen anyone like them before. For one thing, they were all as fair-skinned as himself, and most of them had fair hair. And they were not dressed like men of Calormen. Most of them had legs bare to the knee. Their tunics were of fine, bright, hardy colors—woodland green, or gay yellow, or fresh blue. Instead of turbans they wore steel or silver caps, some of them set with jewels, and one with little wings on each side. A few were bare-headed. The swords at their sides were long and straight, not curved like Calormene scimitars. And instead of being grave and mysterious like most Calormenes, they walked with a swing and let their arms and shoulders go free, and chatted and laughed. One was whistling. You could see that they were ready to be friends with anyone who was friendly and didn’t give a fig for anyone who wasn’t. Shasta thought he had never seen anything so lovely in his life.”

As the four travelers near the crest of Tashbaan, the Calormen capital, they are pressed to the side of the road by the passing group of Narnians described here. Shasta, standing nearest the Narnians, is mistaken for Prince Corin of Archenland, who has come to Tashbaan as a part of the entourage of the Narnian Queen Susan. As it is eventually discovered, Corin and Shasta are the twin sons of King Lune. Even before the Narnians take him into their company, he is awed at their distinct appearance, attitudes, and behaviors. Lewis portrays the Narnians as casual, inquisitive, playful, and accepting—characteristics he has already assigned to Shasta.

“‘Do you mean he would make me his wife by force?’ exclaimed Susan.

‘That’s my fear, Susan,’ said Edmund. ‘Wife, or slave which is worse.’”

Though Edmund is Susan’s younger brother, they are both King and Queen of Narnia and appear in several of the earlier Narnian books. Here they are discussing the intentions of Rabadash, the crown prince of Calormen, who has compelled Susan and her companions to visit Tashbaan in hopes she will accept his marriage proposal. Though initially impressed by him, having seen him in his own land, Susan has decided to refuse the proposal. Edmund shares his correct concerns that Rabadash will capture the entire Narnian contingent and hold them hostage until Susan marries him. The subtle word play of Edmund’s statement is telling. The reader already knows that Calormene women are considered chattel. Edmund indicates Susan might be considered Rabadash’s slave, an even lower social position.

“‘This is perfectly dreadful,’ thought Shasta. It never came into his head to tell these Narnians the whole truth and ask for their help. Having been brought up by a hard, closefisted man like Arsheesh, he had a fixed habit of never telling grown-ups anything if he could help it: he thought they would always spoil or stop whatever you were trying to do.”

Left alone in a stateroom after overhearing the Narnians’ plan to escape from Calormen by boat that night, Shasta is afraid that, when he runs away and the real Prince Corin returns, the Narnian will think he is a spy and kill him. Lewis points out that Shasta has no conception of the worthiness of the Narnians. Lewis again is drawing a distinction between the two cultures. Shasta, who is not by nature a liar or sneak, has learned, however, not to trust adults.

“‘And now, show me how you got in. There’s not a minute to lose. You’d better lie down on the sofa and pretend—but I forgot. It’ll be no good with all those bruises and black eye. You’ll just have to tell them the truth, once I’m safely away.’

‘What else did you think I’d be telling them?’ asked the Prince with a rather angry look.”

Here Shasta has met Corin in the stateroom. Having shared their stories, Corin has agreed to help Shasta escape and rejoin his party. Shasta realizes there is no point in Corin trying to carry off Shasta’s deception, saying he might as well be truthful. Corin is offended, since lying about his actions is totally foreign to him. This is the opposite aspect of the previous quote. Shasta must lie to survive, while Corin finds lying absurd and insulting. Lewis lets the reader know this is not because they have different natures but because of the distinctions between the cultures in which they were raised.

“‘Most undoubtedly,’ said the Tisroc. ‘These little barbarian countries that call themselves free (which is as much as to say, idle, disordered, and unprofitable) are hateful to the gods and to all persons of discernment.’”

This statement from the Calormen ruler, the Tisroc, comes in a conversation with his son Rabadash and his advisor the Grand Vizier as Aravis and her friend Lasaraleen hide behind a sofa. The three men are discussing their distaste for the northern lands of Archenland and Narnia, which—though ruled by kings—declare themselves to be ruled by laws and therefore free. The Tisroc, readers discover, has not invaded these lands because they are reputed to be guarded by supernatural forces. Lewis’s characterization of free lands here mirrors Axis powers in comparison with the Allies during World War II.

“‘Your sentiments,’ said the Tisroc, ‘are elevated and correct. I also love none of these things in comparison with the glory and strength of my throne. If the Prince succeeds, we have Archenland, and perhaps hereafter Narnia. If he fails—I have eighteen other sons and Rabadash, after the manner of the eldest sons of kings, was beginning to be dangerous. More than five Tisrocs in Tashbaan have died before their time because their eldest sons, enlightened princes, grew tired of waiting for their throne. He had better cool his blood abroad than boil it in inaction here.’”

This again is the Tisroc speaking to the Grand Vizier after he has dismissed Rabadash to follow through on his plan for a lightning invasion of Archenland followed by the kidnapping of Susan in Narnia. The Tisroc told his son that, should his plan fail, he would disavow any knowledge of it. He admits to the Vizier that he is willing for Rabadash to be killed, so he does not have to worry about him trying to overthrow the Tisroc. This attitude is completely distinct from the desire of King Lune to do anything to protect his sons, the princes of Archenland.

“‘Good-bye,’ said Aravis, ‘and thank you. I’m sorry if I’ve been a pig. But think what I’m flying from!’

‘Oh Aravis darling,’ said Lasaraleen. ‘Won’t you change your mind? Now that you’ve seen what a very great man Ahoshta is!’

‘Great man!’ said Aravis. ‘A hideous groveling slave who flatters when he’s kicked but treasures it all up and hopes to get his own back by egging on that horrible Tisroc to plot his son’s death. Faugh! I’d sooner marry my father’s scullion than a creature like that.’

‘Oh Aravis, Aravis! How can you say such dreadful things; and about the Tisroc (may he live forever) too. It must be right if he’s going to do it!’”

Aravis thanks her friend Lasaraleen for helping her escape from Tashbaan. The two were shaken by the conversation they overheard in the Tisroc’s castle and realized they would be killed if their presence were discovered. Lasaraleen cannot fathom why Aravis would not want to be married to the groveling Grand Vizier. In her expression of total aversion to the Tisroc and the Grand Vizier, Aravis is revealing her true innate nobility.

“‘It must have been a very strange lion; for instead of catching you out of the saddle and getting his teeth into you he has only drawn his claws across your back. Ten scratches: sore, but not deep or dangerous.’

‘I say!’ said Aravis, ‘I have had luck.’

‘Daughter,’ said the Hermit, ‘I have now lived a hundred and nine winters in this world and have never yet met any such thing as Luck. There is something about all this that I do not understand: but if ever we need to know it, you may be sure that we shall.’”

This conversation takes place between Aravis and the Hermit of the Southern March as he tends to the wounds she received from the lion who struck out at her just as she entered his hermitage. When he points out that relatively minor nature of her injuries, she attributes it to being lucky. The Hermit, revealing he is 109 years old, asserts there is no such thing as luck. This foreshadows Aravis’s discovery that her servant received 10 lashes because of Aravis’s deception. Lewis here purports a theological idea he will elaborate, that nothing happens in a person’s life by chance.

“‘My good Horse,’ said the Hermit, who had approached them unnoticed because his bare feet made so little noise on that sweet, dewy grass. ‘My good Horse, you’ve lost nothing but your self-conceit. No, no, cousin. Don’t put back your ears and shake your mane at me. If you are really so humbled as you sounded a minute ago, you must learn to listen to sense. You’re not quite the great Horse you had come to think, from living among poor dumb horses. Of course you were braver and cleverer than them. You could hardly help being that. It doesn’t follow that you’ll be anyone very special in Narnia.’”

Several factors worked together in the last chapters of the narrative to make Bree feel sorry for himself. He allowed his tail to be unevenly shorn to appear to be a pack animal, he ran ahead of Hwin instead of remaining with her when the lion attacked, and he was uncertain of how talking animals in Narnia would receive him since he had forgotten their ways. The Hermit confronts Bree about his attitude, telling him to lose his unhelpful pride.

“‘I do not call you unfortunate,” said the Large Voice.

’Don’t you think it was bad luck to meet so many lions?’ said Shasta.

‘There was only one lion,’ said the Voice.

’What on earth do you mean? I’ve just told you there were at least two the first night, and—’

‘There was only one: but he was swift of foot.’

‘How do you know?’

‘I was the lion.’ And as Shasta gaped with open mouth and said nothing, the Voice continued. ‘I was the lion who forced you to join with Aravis. I was the cat who comforted you among the houses of the dead. I was the lion who drove the jackals from you while you slept. I was the lion who gave the Horses the new strength of fear for the last mile so that you should reach King Lune in time. And I was the lion you do not remember who pushed the boat in which you lay, a child near death, so that it came to shore where a man sat, wakeful at midnight, to receive you.’”

This conversation takes place between Aslan and Shasta as they walk in a thick fog through a mountain pass into Narnia, just after Shasta complains aloud about being deserted and unlucky. Aslan tells Shasta he has long wanted to speak personally to him. In this recounting of the times Aslan was present in Shasta’s life, Lewis is positing the theological notion that God is present and active in all the events of a person’s life.

“‘Was it all a dream?’ wondered Shasta. But it couldn’t have a dream for there in the grass before him he saw the deep, large print of the Lion’s front right paw. It took one’s breath away to think of the weight that could make a footprint like that. But there was something more remarkable than the size about it. As he looked at it, water had already filled the bottom of it. Soon it was full to the brim, and then over. flowing, and a little stream was running downhill past him, over the grass. Shasta stooped and drank—a very long drink—and then dipped his face in and splashed his head. It was extremely cold, and clear as glass, and refreshed him very much. After that he stood up, shaking the water out of his ears and flinging the wet hair back from his forehead, and began to take stock of his surroundings.”

When the fog on the mountaintop dissipates, Shasta at last sees and kneels before the lion, who soon disappears. Shasta wonders if what he saw was real until he notices the great paw print that fills with refreshing water. When Lewis portrays Shasta as drinking and then washing his face and hair with the water from the paw print, he is symbolically having Shasta symbolically partake the Christian eucharist and then baptize himself.

“‘No doubt,’ continued Bree, ‘when they speak of him as a Lion they only mean he’s as strong as a lion or (to our enemies, of course) as fierce as a lion. Or something of that kind. Even a little girl like you, Aravis, must see that it would be quite absurd to suppose he is a real lion. Indeed it would be disrespectful. If he was a lion he’d have to be a Beast just like the rest of us. Why!’ (and here Bree began to laugh) ‘If he was a lion he’d have four paws, and a tail, and Whiskers! […] Aie, ooh, hoo-hoo! Help!’”

Aravis asks Bree about his constant references to his God, Aslan, as a lion. While Bree is busy explaining that this is merely a symbolic way of describing the qualities of Aslan, the lion comes into the Hermit’s compound and walks up beside Aslan, startling him. This passage is an expression on Lewis’s part to counter the notion expressed by some Christians that Christ as a person was figurative or was a kerygmatic device used by the early church to express their view of God but not to be considered literally true. Lewis’s own belief is that the biblical depictions of Jesus are literally true.

“Then he lifted his head and spoke in a louder voice.

‘Now, Bree,” he said, “you poor, proud, frightened Horse, draw near. Nearer still, my son. dare not to date. Touch me. Smell me. Here are my paws, here is my tail, these are my whiskers. I am a true Beast.’”

This command from Aslan to Bree, intended to demonstrate that he truly is a lion reinforces Lewis’s position that the resurrection was an actual event. This incident parallels the encounter recorded in the Gospel of John that the risen Jesus approached Thomas, the Doubter, and forced him to feel his wounds as a demonstration that he was real and living.

“‘Draw near, Aravis my daughter. See! My paws are velveted. You will not be torn this time.’

‘This time, sir?’ said Aravis.

‘It was I who wounded you,’ said Aslan. ‘I am the only lion you met in all your journeyings. Do you know why I tore you?’

‘No, sir.’

‘The scratches on your back, tear for tear, throb for throb, blood for blood, were equal to the stripes laid on the back of your stepmother’s slave because of the drugged sleep you cast upon her. You needed to know what it felt like.’”

Aslan explains to Aravis why he attacked her as she and Hwin raced toward to Hermit’s compound. This pronouncement from Aslan raises several issues since it sounds more like the Hindu notion of karma, in which every negative action is reimbursed, or the biblical Hebrew law of “an eye for an eye” than the Christian concepts of mercy and forgiveness.

“‘I hear no conditions from barbarians and sorcerers,’ said Rabadash. ‘Not one of you dare touch a hair of my head. Every insult you have heaped on me shall be paid with oceans of Narnian and Archenlandish blood. Terrible shall the vengeance of the Tisroc be: even now. But kill me, and the burnings and torturings in these northern lands shall become a tale to frighten the world a thousand years hence. Beware! Beware! Beware! The bolt of Tash falls from above!’

‘Does it ever get caught on a hook halfway?’ asked Corin.

‘Shame, Corin,’ said the King. ‘Never taunt a man save when he is stronger than you: then, as you please.’”

This tirade comes from the captured Rabadash, who refuses the generous offer of King Lune to return him unharmed to Tashbaan provided he promises never to attack again. Rabadash continues his screed until, after several warnings, Aslan appears and transforms him into a donkey. The passage is notable for what may be the most humorous line in all the Chronicles of Narnia, as Prince Corin baits the prince by reminding him of how he meant to leap from above and fall upon his enemies and instead got hung up halfway down on a hook.