The Horse and His Boy

Summary

The Horse and His Boy takes place during the golden age of Narnia, while the four Pevensie children reign at Cair Paravel, and it happens mostly in Calormen, the hot, crowded empire far to the south. Shasta, a boy of about eleven, lives in a fishing village with Arsheesh, a hard man who works him like a servant. One night a great lord, the Tarkaan Anradin, offers to buy Shasta as a slave, and Shasta learns that Arsheesh is not his father at all: he was found as a baby in a boat washed ashore. In the stable Anradin's warhorse speaks to him. He is Bree, a Talking Horse of Narnia stolen as a foal, and he proposes that they escape north together. On the road they are chased by lions and meet two more runaways, Aravis, a proud Tarkheena fleeing a forced marriage to the old Grand Vizier Ahoshta, and her mare Hwin, another Talking Horse. Aravis tells how she was about to kill herself before Hwin spoke to her, and how she escaped by drugging the maid who was set to watch her. The four agree to pass through the great city of Tashbaan separately and meet at the Tombs of the Ancient Kings in the desert. In Tashbaan Shasta is mistaken for Prince Corin of Archenland and carried off by the Narnian visitors, King Edmund, Queen Susan and the faun Tumnus, who are planning to slip away from Prince Rabadash, Susan's unwanted suitor. When the real Corin climbs in at the window, Shasta escapes over the roofs and spends a frightening night alone among the tombs, comforted by a strange cat and guarded from jackals by a lion. Aravis, hiding in the palace with the help of her silly friend Lasaraleen, overhears Rabadash, the Tisroc and Ahoshta plotting a surprise attack on Archenland and Narnia. The runaways cross the desert to warn King Lune. Near the end a lion chases them, wounds Aravis on the back, and drives Shasta to run on alone to King Lune while a Hermit of the Southern March tends Aravis. Lost in the fog on a mountain pass, Shasta walks beside an unseen Large Voice, who is Aslan and who tells him that he was every lion Shasta met. Rabadash's attack on Anvard fails, and Shasta is revealed as Cor, Corin's elder twin, kidnapped as a baby and destined to be king. Aslan turns Rabadash into a donkey to teach him humility. Bree learns to be a humbler horse, Aravis learns to be gentler, and years later she and Cor marry. Published by Geoffrey Bles on 6 September 1954, it was the fifth Chronicle to appear and is dedicated to David and Douglas Gresham.

Plot or Argument

• Chapters 1-2: Escape from the fisherman's hut

  Shasta overhears that Arsheesh found him in a boat and will sell him to Anradin; Bree speaks, and the two flee north. Lions drive them together with Aravis and Hwin.

• Chapter 3: Aravis's story

  Around the campfire Aravis tells, in the high Calormene storytelling style, how she fled the marriage to Ahoshta; the four plan their passage through Tashbaan.

• Chapters 4-5: Shasta among the Narnians

  Mistaken for Prince Corin, Shasta is taken to the house where Susan, Edmund and Tumnus plot their escape from Rabadash; the real Corin arrives and Shasta slips away over the rooftops.

• Chapter 6: The Tombs

  Shasta waits alone at the Tombs of the Ancient Kings, where a cat comforts him and a lion drives off the jackals.

• Chapters 7-8: Aravis in the palace

  With Lasaraleen's help Aravis hides in the Tisroc's palace and overhears the plan for Rabadash's raid on Anvard and Cair Paravel.

• Chapters 9-10: The desert and the Hermit

  The four ride across the desert; a lion chases them and claws Aravis, Shasta turns back to face it, and the Hermit of the Southern March sends Shasta on while he nurses Aravis and rebukes Bree's pride.

• Chapters 11-12: The Voice in the fog

  Shasta warns King Lune, loses the hunting party, and walks through the night beside Aslan, who explains his story; at dawn Shasta finds himself in Narnia among friendly dwarfs and meets the Narnian army.

• Chapter 13: The fight at Anvard

  The Narnians relieve Anvard; the Hermit watches the battle in his pool; Rabadash is left hanging by his mail shirt from a hook on the castle wall.

• Chapters 14-15: Bree grows wiser and Rabadash is humbled

  Aslan appears to Bree, Hwin and Aravis; Shasta is revealed as Prince Cor; Rabadash refuses mercy and is turned into a donkey; Cor and Aravis later marry.

Characters

• Shasta (Prince Cor), protagonist

  A fisherman's foundling who escapes slavery, warns Archenland, and learns he is its lost heir.

• Bree (Breehy-hinny-brinny-hoohy-hah), Talking Horse

  A proud Narnian warhorse who has lived as a Calormene charger and must learn humility.

• Aravis, Tarkheena

  A brave, haughty Calormene noblewoman fleeing a forced marriage.

• Hwin, Talking Horse

  Aravis's gentle, humble mare, the first to go straight to Aslan.

• Aslan, the Great Lion

  Appears as lions, a cat and a voice in the fog, guiding the travellers' story.

• Rabadash, Calormene prince

  The Tisroc's arrogant son who attacks Archenland to seize Queen Susan.

• The Tisroc, Calormene emperor

  Rabadash's cold, calculating father, who allows the raid but will disown it if it fails.

• Ahoshta Tarkaan, Grand Vizier

  The aged, fawning minister Aravis is ordered to marry.

• Lasaraleen, Aravis's friend

  A chattering Tarkheena who helps Aravis hide, though she cannot understand her flight.

• Prince Corin, prince of Archenland

  Shasta's boisterous twin, fond of boxing.

• King Lune, King of Archenland

  Cor and Corin's warm-hearted father.

• The Hermit of the Southern March, healer and seer

  An old man who tends Aravis's wounds and watches the battle in his pool.

• Queen Susan, King Edmund and Mr. Tumnus, Narnian visitors

  Narnian royals and their faun counsellor, who escape Tashbaan by ship.

Lessons

• A hidden hand in hard things

  In the fog Aslan tells Shasta that the lions that frightened him, the cat at the tombs, and the lion who pushed his boat ashore as a baby were all Aslan. Events that felt like bad luck were care. The book teaches that providence is often seen only looking back.

  • Which of Shasta's frightening moments turned out to be Aslan helping him?
  • Why does Shasta think he is the unluckiest boy in the world before he meets the Voice?
  • Can you think of a time something hard turned out for good?

• Pride and the cure for it

  Bree is proud of being a warhorse and fears looking silly in Narnia; Aravis is proud of her rank; Rabadash is proud past all reason. Bree is humbled when he flees the lion and the Hermit tells him he has lost only his self-conceit, Aravis by her wound and her apology, and Rabadash by becoming a donkey. Each gets the humbling he needs.

  • Why is Bree ashamed after the lion chase, and what does the Hermit tell him?
  • Why does Rabadash's pride end in a donkey's ears, while Bree's ends in friendship?
  • Which character becomes humble most willingly?

• Your own story

  When Shasta asks why Aslan wounded Aravis, Aslan says he tells each person only his own story. The same answer comes to Aravis later. Lewis shows that we are given what we need to know about our own lives, not a right to judge others'.

  • Why won't Aslan tell Shasta why Aravis was hurt?
  • What does Aravis learn about her scratches when she meets Aslan?

• Courage that turns back

  When the lion attacks Aravis, Shasta jumps off Bree and runs back with no sword to face it. The Hermit then sends him on to run again without rest. The book shows that courage often means doing the next hard thing when you are already tired.

  • What does Shasta do when the lion catches Aravis, and why is it braver than Bree's running?
  • How does the Hermit reward Shasta's bravery?

Context

The Horse and His Boy appeared in the middle of the Chronicles of Narnia (1950–1956) but is set during the reign of the Pevensies described at the end of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Its southern empire of Calormen, with its Tisroc, viziers, poets and slave markets, is drawn in the manner of The Arabian Nights, which Lewis knew well, and set against the free northern countries of Narnia and Archenland; the rallying call of the runaways is Narnia and the North. The story of a lost royal twin, a prophecy and a foundling raised by a fisherman follows very old patterns of romance and folk tale.

Composition

Lewis wrote the book early, as one of the four Narnia stories finished before The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe came out in 1950. Geoffrey Bles published it in London on 6 September 1954 with illustrations by Pauline Baynes; Macmillan published it in New York the same year. It is dedicated to David and Douglas Gresham, the sons of Joy Davidman, whom Lewis married in 1956.

Reception

The book has been read as one of the most self-contained of the Chronicles, a quest and escape story that can be enjoyed without the others. Since the 1990s some editions number the series in Narnian chronological order, which places it third, after The Magician's Nephew and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe; in publication order it is fifth. It has been dramatised for radio but, unlike several other Chronicles, not adapted as a feature film.

Comparisons

• the-lion-the-witch-and-the-wardrobe

  The kings and queens crowned at Cair Paravel at the end of the first book appear here as grown rulers, and Susan's suitor Rabadash is the cause of the war.

• the-last-battle

  Calormen and its god Tash return in the final Chronicle, where the Calormene Emeth is welcomed by Aslan; both books show Aslan at work among those who did not grow up knowing him.

• the-silver-chair

  Both are journeys guided by Aslan through danger, and both show companions, Jill and Eustace or Shasta and Aravis, growing from quarrelling to friendship.

• the-golden-ass

  Apuleius's Lucius is turned into a donkey and restored at a temple; Lewis, who knew the book, gives Rabadash a similar fate at the temple of Tash.

• the-odyssey

  A long journey home by a hero who does not at first know who he is or what awaits him; Shasta, like Odysseus's son Telemachus, comes into a royal identity through the voyage.

• twelve-years-a-slave

  Solomon Northup's memoir records a real man held in slavery who escapes and recovers his name; Shasta's flight from being sold gives younger readers the same hope in a fairy-tale shape.

Quotes

For Students

A reading companion for classical Christian high school students. See the student guide.

Reading Guide

Watch for

• Every lion in the story: the lions that drive the runaways together in Chapter 2, the lion at the Tombs in Chapter 6, and the lion that chases them to the Hermit's gate in Chapter 10. Listen for who Aslan says they were in Chapter 11.
• How Bree talks about Narnia and about himself at the beginning, and how he behaves when he finally sees Aslan in Chapter 14.
• The way Aravis tells her story in Chapter 3, in the grand style Calormene children are taught, and how she changes after the Hermit's gate.
• The faces of Shasta and Corin: why everyone in Tashbaan mixes them up, and what that means at the end.
• What Aslan offers Rabadash in Chapter 15 before he turns him into a donkey.

Key terms and names

Calormen

The great empire south of Narnia, ruled by the Tisroc, where Shasta grew up and where Bree and Hwin were kept as ordinary horses.

Tarkaan and Tarkheena

A Calormene lord and lady. Aravis is a Tarkheena, and Anradin, who tries to buy Shasta, is a Tarkaan.

Tashbaan

The capital city of Calormen, built on an island in a river, with the palace of the Tisroc at its top.

Tombs of the Ancient Kings

Old stone tombs at the edge of the desert where the runaways agree to meet and where Shasta spends a frightening night.

Archenland

The small mountain kingdom between Calormen and Narnia, ruled by King Lune from the castle of Anvard.

Hermit of the Southern March

A wise old man who lives in a green enclosure at the edge of Archenland and cares for Aravis and the horses.

Narnia and the North

Bree's rallying cry, the free country he longs to go home to.

Seminar Questions

1. Comprehension How does Shasta find out that Arsheesh is not really his father, and who helps him run away?
2. Comprehension Why is Aravis running away from home, and how does Hwin help her?
3. Comprehension What secret plan does Aravis hear in the Tisroc's palace?
4. Interpretation When the lion catches Aravis, Shasta runs back while Bree keeps running. Why does Bree feel so ashamed afterward?
5. Interpretation Shasta thinks he is the unluckiest boy in the world. After he walks with the Voice in the fog, how does he see his life differently?
6. Interpretation Hwin goes straight up to Aslan when she sees him, but Bree holds back. What does that tell you about each horse?
7. Big Question Aslan will not tell Shasta why Aravis was hurt. Why is it sometimes good not to know someone else's story?

Faith Connections

• Genesis 50:20 (Scripture)

  Joseph tells his brothers that what they meant for evil God meant for good. Shasta, carried away in a boat and raised far from home, learns in the fog that Aslan was guiding him all along, as Joseph's long road led him to save his family.

• John 21:20-22 (Scripture)

  When Peter asks the risen Jesus what will happen to John, Jesus answers, what is that to you? Follow me. Aslan gives Shasta and Aravis the same answer when each asks about another person's story.

• Exodus 3:14 (Scripture)

  When Moses asks God's name, God answers I AM WHO I AM. When Shasta asks the Voice who it is, Aslan answers with one word, himself, said three times in three different voices, an echo of that holy name and of the Trinity.

• Luke 14:11 (Scripture)

  Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted. Rabadash, who scorns every offer of mercy, ends hanging from a hook on the castle wall and then wearing a donkey's ears in the temple of Tash, while Bree, who accepts his shame, is welcomed by Aslan.

Logic and Rhetoric

Central argument: Shasta, Aravis and the horses believe they are escaping by their own cleverness and luck. But every lion that frightened or hurt them was Aslan, who drove them together, sped them on, and humbled each of them in the way each needed. Therefore the story argues that a loving providence guides lives that look ruled by chance, and that the right response is not to ask about others' stories but to trust and follow.

Rhetorical device: anagnorisis (recognition). In Chapter 11 Aslan's list of the lions Shasta met makes Shasta, and the reader, see every earlier episode in a new light; Chapter 14's revelation that Shasta is Prince Cor repeats the recognition at the level of the plot.

Debate: Resolved: that Aslan was right to wound Aravis.

Writing Prompts

Essay: Write about one character in the book who learns to be humble, Bree, Aravis or Rabadash. Tell what the character was like at the start, what happened, and what the character was like at the end.

Comparison with The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe: Edmund in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and Aravis in this book both do something that gets another person hurt. Compare how Aslan deals with each one and how each one changes.

Medical Lens

There is little clinical material. Aravis tells how, ordered to marry Ahoshta, she rode into the woods meaning to kill herself with a dagger, and was stopped when her mare Hwin spoke to her; the scene is handled briefly and the turn to escape is presented as hope. The lion's claws leave scratches across Aravis's back, which the Hermit washes and dresses, and Aslan later tells her they matched the stripes her drugged maid received for her escape; the wound is moral rather than medical in purpose. Shasta's long runs without food or sleep, the battle at Anvard and the Hermit's care for the exhausted horses complete the small amount of bodily detail.

• Chapter 3

  Aravis tells how she meant to kill herself rather than marry Ahoshta, until Hwin spoke.

  Suicide
• Chapter 10

  The Hermit tends the lion's scratches on Aravis's back and rests the horses.

  WAR Wounds Nursing Caregiving
• Chapter 13

  The battle at Anvard, seen in the Hermit's pool.

  WAR Wounds

Creative Prompts

• Classroom

  Draw a map from Arsheesh's village through Tashbaan, the Tombs and the desert to Anvard and Narnia, marking each place a lion or cat appears.

• Fiction

  Tell the night at the Tombs of the Ancient Kings from the cat's point of view.

• Dialogue

  Write the conversation between Hwin and Bree on the evening after the lion chase.

• Essay

  Compare the ways Bree, Aravis and Rabadash are humbled. Why does Aslan treat each one differently?

Further Reading

• The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, C. S. Lewis

• Of Other Worlds: Essays and Stories, C. S. Lewis

  Lewis's essays on writing stories for children.

• Planet Narnia, Michael Ward

  Argues that each Chronicle is shaped by one of the medieval planets, with Mercury governing The Horse and His Boy.

• The Narnian: The Life and Imagination of C. S. Lewis, Alan Jacobs