The Chronicles of Narnia : The Horse and His Boy

The Horse and His Boy

Plot summary

A boy by the name of Shasta is found as a baby and raised by Arsheesh, a Calormene fisherman. As the story begins, Shasta overhears Arsheesh agreeing to sell him to a powerful Calormene feudal nobleman, Anradin. He also learns about Arsheesh finding him, and is relieved to discover that he is not really Arsheesh's son, since there was little love between them. While Shasta awaits his new master in the stable, Bree, the nobleman's stallion, astounds Shasta by speaking to him. He is a talking horse from Narnia who was captured by the Calormenes as a foal. He tells Shasta that Anradin will treat him cruelly, and Shasta resolves to escape. The horse suggests that they escape a life of servitude by riding north together to Narnia. They meet another pair of escaping travellers, Aravis, a young Calormene aristocrat, and her talking horse, Hwin. Aravis is fleeing to avoid a forced marriage with Ahoshta, the Tisroc's grand vizier.
The four must travel through Tashbaan, the bustling capital of Calormen. There they encounter a procession of visiting Narnian royalty, who mistake Shasta for Corin, a prince of Archenland, who was separated from their group earlier that day. Unsure what to do, Shasta goes with the Narnians and overhears their plans to escape from Calormen to prevent a forced marriage of Queen Susan with the Tisroc's son, Rabadash. Shasta escapes when the real Prince Corin returns.
Meanwhile, Aravis has been spotted by her friend Lasaraleen. She asks Lasaraleen not to betray her, and to help her escape from Tashbaan. Lasaraleen cannot understand why Aravis would want to abandon the life of a Calormene princess or refuse marriage with Ahoshta, but she helps Aravis escape through the palace. On the way, they hide when the Tisroc, Rabadash, and Ahoshta approach. Unfortunately, they have hidden in the very room where the men are about to meet. Aravis overhears the Tisroc and Rabadash as they discuss the Narnians' escape. Rabadash is still determined to have Queen Susan and wants to invade Narnia to seize her. The Tisroc gives Rabadash permission to invade Archenland and Narnia while High King Peter is preoccupied battling giants to the north. The Archenlanders are at peace with Calormen and expecting no attack from them. So Rabadash and the Tisroc expect the invasion will be easy.
Outside Tashbaan, Aravis rejoins Shasta and the horses, and tells them of the plot. The four set out across the desert, and a lion (later revealed to be Aslan) frightens the travellers into fleeing swiftly enough to outrun Rabadash's army. Shasta arrives in Archenland in time to warn King Lune of the approaching Calormenes, and the army of Archenland prepares to defend their kingdom. Shasta is then separated from them and heads to Narnia, where he also warns the Narnians of the plot, and they send word to King Edmund and Queen Lucy. When Rabadash and his army arrive at King Lune's castle, they are surprised and disappointed to find their prey on guard and waiting for them. Although this has disrupted Rabadash's plan, which depended on speed and surprise, a battle ensues. There is no clear outcome until an army from Narnia, led by Edmund and Lucy, reinforces the defenders. Shasta and Corin, having become friends, sneak into the battle with varying success. The Northern alliance of Archenland and Narnia wins a complete victory over the Calormenes, and Rabadash is captured. Anradin is among those who fall in the battle.
Rabadash rebuffs King Lune's merciful offer of conditional release. Aslan appears and warns Rabadash to accept King Lune's mercy before his doom strikes. Rabadash rebuffs Aslan as well, so his doom strikes: he is turned into a donkey. His true form will be restored if he stands before the altar of Tash at the Autumn Feast. However, he will become a donkey again if he ever strays more than ten miles from the Temple of Tash, and there will be no return. For this reason Rabadash pursues peaceful policies when he becomes Tisroc as he dare not risk the ten mile limit by going to war. People call him "Rabadash the Peacemaker" but in reality they consider him "Rabadash the Ridiculous" as they never forget his donkey transformation. His name becomes a synonym for a stupid person over future generations in Calormen.
The victorious King Lune recognizes Shasta as Cor, the long-lost identical twin of Prince Corin and, as barely the elder of the two, the heir to the throne. He was kidnapped as a baby to prevent a prophecy that he would one day save Archenland from the greatest peril she would ever face. But the prophecy was fulfilled when Cor foiled Rabadash's invasion with his timely warnings. Aravis and Cor live in Archenland thereafter and eventually marry years later, and their son becomes the most famous king of Archenland.

Series continuity

The adventures are mentioned twice in The Silver Chair. Corin, Cor (or Shasta), Aravis, Bree and Hwin all appear in the great reunion in The Last Battle. Lucy and Edmund still retain their memories of their time on Earth, as evidenced by Lucy's retelling of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.

Themes and motifs

"Narnia and the North!"

Bree and Shasta use the phrase "Narnia and the North" as their "rallying cry" as they make their escape from their life in Calormen. They are both motivated by a deep longing to find their way to the place that is ultimately their true homeland. In the setting of The Horse and His Boy, the reader finds a departure from the landscapes, culture, and people of the Narnian realms which have become familiar in the other books. The placement of the action in the more alien realm of Calormen helps to convey a sense of "unbelonging" on the part of the characters and the reader, which reinforces the motif of longing for a true home. (Gresham 2000)
In other works, Lewis uses the German word Sehnsucht to encapsulate the idea of an "inconsolable longing" in the human heart for "we know not what." C. S. Lewis identifies the objects of Sehnsucht-longing as God and Heaven. (Bruner 2005, pp. 135–140)