’’How ever did you learn to talk?’’ asked Shasta in amazement.
’’Where I come from, nearly all the animals talk, ’’ replied the Horse. ’’The happy land of Narnia.’’
His whinny sounded very like a sigh.
Name : The Horse and His Boy, The Chronicles of Narnia - Part 3.
Author : C.S. Lewis
One of my three favourite Narnia books, The Horse and His Boy (from now on I’ll be calling it THAHB) is probably the most unique book of all the seven. In this book, it is not a boy or a girl from earth who is the central character. In this book, Shasta (a slave boy) and Bree (a Talking Horse) and Aravis (a runaway girl) and Hwin (her mare) who are main focus.
Hang on; I guess most people probably wouldn’t understand a thing that I’m saying. Narnia is a world quite different from ours. Created by Aslan, the Lion, Narnia is a happy land where animals talk and trees walk.
The story is set in the Golden Age of Narnia... that is the time in which Peter was High King and Edmund, Susan and Lucy were king and queens (from The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe).
Unlike Narnia and her neighbour Archenland, the land of The Calormen isn’t as happy a place. Ruled by a Tisroc who believes in divine rights the country of Calormen had many laws which would seem to be quite absurd these days. Anyone who even mentioned Tisroc would have to say ’’May he live forever’’. Child marriage, slavery etc existed there even though the country was richer than Narnia. Although richer, the Calormen weren’t really happy. But they had gotten used to living that way and had no complaints. Except not all.
The story begins with Shasta finding out that the cruel fellow whom he considered his father had actually found him on a boat coming from the North (Narnia and Archenland lie in the North of Calormen). He also finds that the horse (Bree) of the Tarkaan (I guess it is the equivalent of a duke or a knight) was actually a Talking Horse from Narnia. Together they decide to run away from their woeful lives to the blissful land of Narnia. At the same time, a young Tarkheena is in distress. Her father planned to make her marry the old Vizier. While attempting to end her life, her mare talks to her and tells her of the beauty of Narnia from where she originally came. They also plan to go there. As you can imagine, it wasn’t long before both kids and beasts met each other and decide to journey together.
The story then takes an unusual twist when Shasta is mistaken for young Prince Corin of Archenland. The Prince Corin, Queen Susan (of Narnia) and her brother King Edmund were on a visit to Calormen. And now they wished to leave but the wicked Prince of the Calormen Rabadash demands to marry Susan. The story then twists and turns and Aslan makes an appearance many times.
The ending of the book was quite predictable but it didn’t rob the story of its charm. In any case, I won’t be writing about it here. The Chronicles of Narnia are very nice children’s stories which even an adult would enjoy reading.
THAHB was perhaps my second favourite when I read The Chronicles... for the first time. A major part of the book is set in the land of Calormen so the part played by talking animals (apart from the horses) is quite less. Like all the other stories, the characters created by Lewis quite realistic. Shasta, although undoubtedly the hero of the book, is not a perfect boy by any means. But he’s willing to learn. And Aravis, the other major character is shown to be a somewhat bossy and snobbish girl.
My personal favourite character along with Shasta was Prince Corin. And I’ll tell you why. This is what he tells Shasta as to why he was late (when Shasta was mistaken to be the prince) ... ’’A boy in the corner made a beastly joke about Queen Susan, ’’ said Prince Corin, ’’so I knocked him down. He ran howling into a house and his big brother came out. So I knocked the big brother down. Then they all followed me until we ran into three old men with spears who are called the Watch. So I fought the Watch and they knocked me down and locked me up somewhere. So I asked them is they’d like a stoup of wine and they said they didn’t mind if they did. Then I took them to a wine shop and got them some and they all sat down and drank till they fell asleep. I thought it was time for me to be off so I came out quietly and then I found the first boy - the one who started all the trouble - still hanging about. So I knocked him down again. After that I climbed up a pipe on to the roof of a house and lay quiet till it began to get light this morning. Ever since that I’ve been finding my way back. I say, is there anything to drink?’’