The Horse And His Boy

We give a quick, story-rich overview of C.S. Lewis’s The Horse and His Boy and track how a desperate escape from Calormen toward freedom. We join Shasta, Bree, Aravis, and Hwin on this journey to Narnia.  
Over the next few episodes, we will go even deeper into character analysis and the finer details of the story.

I made a YouTube video about the country of Calormen that you can watch here.

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Transcript

Intro

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It's the Golden Age of Narnia. Peter Pevensey is High King, and his brother and two sisters are king and queens under him. In the Narnia year 1014, less than a year before the Pevensey siblings returned to our world, in the country far south of Narnia, there was a cast of characters whose lives were about to change forever. This is the story of a boy named Jasta, a girl named Erebus, and two horses named Breed and Win. A group that met by fate and traveled together from the tyranny and slavery of Calaman to the north and freedom that Narnia has to offer. Can they survive this dangerous journey north? Hello everyone, and welcome back to Faithful Fables, the podcast dedicated to exploring the Christian themes in fantasy stories. Today, we are looking at The Horse and His Boy by C.S. Lewis.

Shasta and Bree Agree to Run Away

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Welcome back to another episode. I'm sorry this one took an extra week to cut out, but sometimes you know things happen and things take a little extra time. But we're here, we're back, we're starting a new series. I really enjoyed The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, and even preparing for this episode, it was like I had to remember how I was doing the episodes before because the way I wrote the Voyage of the Dawn Treader episodes works differently than these ones. And so we're back and I'm ready to get into this. This was actually one of my favorite books in the Chronicles of Narnia so far. But like I said before, this story takes place in Narnia year 1014. It takes place in the country of Calorman, which is far south of Narnia. And there's a lot to discuss about the country of Calerman, but I've decided that that is for a separate video that is on my YouTube. And so if you go and check out the Faithful Fables YouTube, you can definitely see it there. And the link for that is in the episode description. But what I will say is that we see right aways that the people of Calerman have a very different way of speaking than they do in Narnia. Now, and I don't know this for sure, but I wonder if this was maybe C.S. Lewis' way of showing that there's different language, rather than instead of like actually creating and writing a brand new language for them. I think that could be a good way to do it, just slight different ways of saying things, different uh you know, even grammar and stuff like that, like that could be enough to suggest, like, hey, there's maybe a different language being spoken here. Obviously, we don't know that for sure, that's just speculation. But we meet a boy named Shasta and a man named Arshish, and Arshish is a man that Shasta calls father. That's an important detail, but we're gonna get that into that another episode. Arshish goes out on his boat to fish in the morning, and in the afternoon he loads up his cart and takes the fish to the village to sh to sell. Shasta does a lot of hard work for Arshish, and it was definitely not a father-son type of relationship. Shasta was not allowed to go north, and nobody went north. Shasta always wanted to. He just he felt this desire inside of him, calling him almost. So one night a stranger comes to visit with Arshish. This man was a Tarkon, which is basically what they call the men in Calorman. And they might have been in a higher class because there is a class system, but yeah, so a Tarkon comes to visit Arshish. Where Shasta overhears the stranger and Arshish talking, and the stranger actually wants to buy Shasta. And throughout this conversation, Shasta actually learns that he has no relation to Arshish. Now, Shasta was standing outside by the Tarkon's horse, and he was wishing that this horse could talk, and to his surprise, it could. The horse says that it is from Narnia, where nearly all the animals talk. The horse is named Bri, and he tells Shasta that he is a slave, and together they decide to run away to Narnia and

Early Travels

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to freedom. Shasta had never been on a horse before, so Bri was gentle and going at a soft pace for Shasta, whose legs were already aching. Weeks and weeks go by, and one evening they are crossing a plain with a forest half a mile away, and Bree stops because he heard something. It sounded like another horse between them and the forest, and it turned out it was. It stopped when they did, so they decided to wait until there was a cloud over the moon and they would make a break for the shore. On their way to the shore, they hear a long, utterly savage roar. It's a lion. They wait a little bit, and then they hear the roar again, but this time it's coming from the forest.

Meeting Aravis

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About a minute later, however, he broke into a gallop again, and no wonder, for the roar broke out again. This time, on their left from the direction of the forest. Two of them moaned Brie. When they galloped for several minutes without any further noise from lions, Shasta said, I say, that other horse is galloping beside us now, only a stone's throw away. All the b better, panted Brie. Tarkon on it. We'll have a sword. Protect us all. But Brie, said Shasta, we might just as well be killed by lions or caught. Or I might. They'll hang me for horse stealing. He was feeling less frightened of lions than Brie because he had never met a lion. Brie had. Brie only snorted in answer, but he did not shear away to his right. Oddly enough, the other horse seemed also to be shearing 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, there came two more lions' roars. Immediately after one another, one on the right and the other on the left. And 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 Calorman. Shasta now gave himself up for loss and began wondering whether lions killed you quickly or played with you as a cat plays with a mouse, and how much it would hurt. At the same time, one sometimes does this at the most frightful moments. He noticed everything. He saw that the other rider was a very small, slender person, male clad, the moon shone on the male, and riding magnificently. He had no beard. Something flat and shiny was spread out before them. Before Shasta had time, even to guess what it was, there was a great splash and he found his mouth half full of salt water. The shining thing had been a long inlet of the sea. Both horses were swimming, and the water was up to Shasta's knees. There was an angry roaring behind them, and looking back, Shasta now saw a great, shaggy, and terrible shape crouched on the water's edge, but only one. We must have shaken off the other lion, he thought. The lion apparently did not think its prey worth a wetting. At any rate, it made no attempt to take to the water in pursuit. The two horses, side by side, were now well out into the middle of the creek, and the opposite shore could clearly be seen. The Tar Khan had not yet spoken a word. But he will, thought Shasta. As soon as we have landed. What am I supposed to say? I must begin thinking out a story. Then suddenly two voices spoke at his side. Oh, I am so tired, said the one. Hold your tongue, Wynne, and don't be a fool, said the other. I'm dreaming, thought Shasta. I could have sworn that other horse spoke. So they were followed by another horse and a rider, and eventually they heard lions that seemingly pushed the two sets of riders together, and they were running now away from the lions but to beside each other together. And Shasta heard the other horse talk, and he learns that the other rider was a girl, Erevis, and the other horse's name is Huen. And they are also trying to get to Narnia, so Brie suggests that they all go together. Arevis was fine to go with Brie, but she was hesitant to go with Shasta and wonders if he's a spy. Brie vouches for Shasta, saying that he's been a good friend. Now at this point, Eravus shares her story, and there will be more detail about that in a later episode. But Erevis was in an arranged marriage with a sixty-year-old man, or sixty or so year old man, and is trying to escape that situation. She ended up mixing things in her maiden's wine, which made her fall asleep for a night and a day, giving her a chance to escape. They all continue to travel together, and while they travel, Erevis would not speak to Shasta if she could help it. They are getting close to the city of Tashban and decide to travel at night and hide during the day. And if they were to get separated, the plan was that they meet at the far side of Tashban in the tombs of the ancient kings, which was located at the edge of the desert.

In Tashbaan

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So they travel and they get to the city of Tashban, and while there, Erevis hopes that no one recognizes her. One of the soldiers they pass throws a carrot at Shasta and teases him. Shasta makes a comment in response, which gets him hit in the face. Shasta loses hold of Brie in the crowd, and is now alone. Well, alone as far as like not with the others, and he gets carried off by some visiting Narnian royalty who we do recognize. Because remember, this book takes place during Lion the Witch in the Wardrobe, so he gets carried off by King Edmund and Queen Susan, who make sorry, who mistake him for a missing boy named Korin, who is the Prince of Arkinland. And Susan was the most beautiful lady Shasta had ever seen. Shasta also meets a creature the likes of which he had never seen before, and that creature was Tumnas. There were also two dwarfs and a very large raven. Now they lay Shasta on a sofa and give him the royal treatment. Again, they think he's Prince Corin. Edmund was asking Susan if she would marry Prince Rabadash, which is the Prince of Calorman. Susan says no, and this is because Rabadash was how Edmund described him a most proud, bloody, luxurious, cruel, and self-pleasing tyrant. They fear that Rabadash will make Susan his wife by force. The Narnians make a plan to escape back to Narnia unnoticed. Shasta is overhearing all of this, and later, the real Korin returns and Shasta tells him the story. Korin tells Shasta how to escape, and they instantly became friends and wished each other well. Korin tells Shasta to go to Arkinland and tell his father, King Loon, that he's Korin's friend. Although Shasta and Korin grew up in very different cultures, they seem to get each other instantly. Shasta escapes and makes his way towards the tombs as planned.

Shasta at the Tombs

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Okay, I want to take a minute and just say it, guys, if it seems like I'm just rushing through this, uh, there is a reason. I wanted this episode to be kind of just an main general overview of the horse and his boy, and I have two episodes planned after where I'm going to then break it down into the more detail on the characters and and kind of character analysis sort of thing. So there will be a lot more detail coming in the future episodes. We're kind of returning to the original kind of format of the of the show, so main episode and then kind of character analysis, character breakdowns. Just wanted to say that if it seems that it's pretty rushed. But continuing on, Shasta made it to the tombs, and none of the others were there yet. He felt something on his leg, and it was just a cat, and the cat leads him through the tomb and out to the desert. He woke up to the sound of jackals, and knew that he should run back to the tombs, but he was afraid of ghouls, as there was a legend that their tombs had like were haunted by ghouls, and suddenly a huge animal came into view. It roared and shook the sand. Suddenly he felt something warm at his feet, and it was just the cat again. He lies down next to the cat and feels its warmth all over him. The cat provided Shasta what he needed, which reminds me of how God provides what we need as well. And I think you can see what's happening here. But just wait. The next day, he waits for the others and they don't come. Eventually, he sees two horses coming towards him. It's Wynne and Brie. But there's no sign of Erevis.

Where's Aravis?

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Meanwhile, in Tashban, Eres meets an old friend named Lazarin. Lazarin takes Erevis to her house because her husband is not home and no one will see them there. Lazarine promised to help Erevis escape. Ervis tells the horses to head to the tombs. As the girls are making their escape, Erovus overhears Prince Rabadash plotting to attack Arkinland and Narnia and force Queen Susan to marry him. Erevis and Lazarin are overhearing this as they're actually hiding from them. They had gone into a room and suddenly the Tizrock, Rabadash, and the Grand Vizier enter and they have to quickly hide, and so they're hiding while this conversation is taking place around them. Lazarlin begs Erevis to change her mind about leaving, but Erevis leaves. Evis also hated living in Calorman. She escapes and makes it to the tombs, where she sees Brie, Huyn, and Shasta. Erovus tells the others about Rabadash's plan and the four set off across the desert to warn about the invasion.

The Desert

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Then came the heat. He noticed it for the first time when he had to dismount and walk. As he slipped down to the sand, the heat from it struck up into his face as if from the opening of an oven door. Next time it was worse. But the third time, as his bare feet touched the sand, he screamed with pain and got one foot back in the stirrup and the other half over Brie's back before you could have said knife. Sorry, Brie, he gasped. I can't walk. It burns my feet. Of course, panted Brie. Should have thought of that myself. Stay on. Can't be helped. It's alright for you, said Shasta to Erevis, who was walking beside Huin. You've got shoes on. Eravus said nothing and looked prim. Let's hope she didn't mean to, but she did. On again, trot and walk and trot. Jingle jingle jingle, squeak, squeak, squeak. Smell of hot horse, smell of hot self. Blinding glare, headache. And nothing at all different. For mile after mile. Tash Ban would never look any further away. The mountains would never look any nearer. You felt this had been going on for always. Jingle jingle jingle, squeak, squeak, squeak. Smell of hot horse, smell of hot self. The trek across the desert was brutal. It was hot and it felt endless. Lewis wrote this section in a way where we can really experience the desert with the characters. We feel the length of the desert with them. They are miserable and in search of water, and they finally find a pool of water. They enjoy the pool as this was something they had really needed. The next morning, Ervis blames herself for falling asleep. Brie and Wynne are in desperate need of a break, which leads to Ervis and Brie arguing about if they should continue on or not. They face the temptation to sleep more when they had to get to Arkhanland before Rabadash so they could warn them of the coming invasion.

The Hermit

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The four of them finally reach Arkhanland, and they find themselves in a valley that had a river pouring from the mountains. They see the dust from Rabadash's army approaching in the distance, so the horses race off towards the north. They hear the same snarling growl as they did before. Shasta sees what's behind them, and it once again is a lion. He looks forward and sees a smooth, green ten foot wall that has a gate in the middle. The lion almost got wind, and Shasta tells Brie that they need to go back to help. Shasta jumps off of Brie and goes to help. The lion is on its hind legs and jabs at Erevis with its paw. It is tearing at her shoulders and Shasta, with no weapons, staring into its wide open mouth, yells at it Go home and the lion goes away. I mean, that might not be the the first approach that I would have, but he's already braver than I would be running back towards it. But to go home like it's a stray dog, I just I thought that was funny. A bearded stranger invites them in and helps Erevis. Shasta asked if the man was King Loon, and the man said no, he is the hermit of the Southern March. The hermit tells Shasta that there is no time for questions, and that he needs to obey. He says that if Shasta runs now without arrest, he can still make it in time to warn Loon. See the others Bree, Wynne, and obviously Erevis now injured, like they were resting, but there was no time for Shasta to do that even though he desperately wanted to. Then there's a quote in the book that I thought I would highlight. I thought it was kind of relatable for real life situations. It says he had not yet learned that if you do one good deed, your reward usually is to be set to do another and harder and better one. And I thought, man, that's so true. You know, you do one good thing and then usually that leads to doing more, which is good, and oftentimes they're harder, but there's better rewards as well. It was just encouraging and I thought very relatable. The hermit tells Shasta to run straight ahead and to always keep running. So Shasta runs off towards Arkinland and the hermit takes Erevis inside the house and takes care of the horses. Erevis ends up waking up, like this is maybe a day or two later, and she asks about Shasta. The next day, she was well enough to go out and talk to the horses. Bree is depressed. He just faces the wall and says nothing. And Erevis recognizes Shasta's effort. Efforts to save her. And she's starting to wonder if maybe she was a little bit too hard on him. But again, more in a later episode. So Shasta's running and he ends up running into King Loon and the army. And King Loon mistook mistakes Shasta for Corin. And the first time this happened, when it was Edmund and Susan, he didn't correct them, but this time Shasta corrects them. Luckily, he was just in time to warn them of Rabidash's plan, and the king saw truth in Shasta's face and believes him. And you may be wondering why everyone keeps mistaking him for Korrin. Obviously we learned before that when he and Corin met, they got along instantly and became really good friends really quickly. But we're gonna get into that a little bit later, but there is a reason. Shasta

Shasta and Aslan

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gets on a horse to ride with the Arkindland soldiers. He still doesn't know how to fully ride a horse, and this causes him to get separated from the rest. He hears Rabadash's army coming and he gets off the horse and hides. He overhears some instructions and wonders what he should do. He can't go back to the hermitage because he didn't remember the way, so Shasta chooses a path and continues forward. He doesn't know where he is. It's dark, and he stops because he's afraid. There was something behind him, and while he couldn't see anything, he can just hear breathing, and it is clear that it is a large creature. Now I'm gonna read a little bit from the book about what was happening here, and I I want you to imagine with the imagery and with the writing that's happening here. Just put yourself in this situation. It's a very beautiful section. Everything goes right for everyone except me. Those Narnian lords and ladies got safe away from Tashban. I was left behind. Ervis and Brie and Huen are all as snug as anything with that old hermit. Of course, I was the one who was sent on. King Loon and his people must have got safely into the castle and shut the gates long before Rabidash arrived, but I get left out. And being very tired and having nothing inside him, he felt so sorry for himself that tears rolled down his cheeks. What put a stop to all this was a sudden fright. Shasta discovered that somebody was walking beside him. It was pitch dark and he could see nothing, and the thing, or person, was going so quietly that he could hardly hear any footfalls. What he could hear was breathing. His invisible companion seemed to breathe on a very large scale, and Shasta got the impression that it was a very large creature. And he had come to notice his breathing so gradually that he had really no idea how long it had been there. It was a horrible shock. It darted into his mind that he had heard long ago that there were giants in those northern countries. He bit his lip in terror. And now that he really had something to cry about, he stopped crying. The thing, unless it was a person, went on beside him so very quietly that Shasta began to hope he had only imagined it. But just as he was becoming quite sure of it, there suddenly came a deep, rich sigh out of the darkness beside him that couldn't be imaginary. Anyway, he had felt the hot breath of that sigh on his chilly left hand. If the horse had been any good, or if he had known how to get any good out of the horse, he would have risked everything on a breakaway and a wild gallop. But he knew he couldn't make that horse gallop. So he went on at a walking pace, and the unseen companion walked and breathed beside him. At last he could bear it no longer. Who are you? he said, scarcely above a whisper. One who has waited long for you to speak, said the thing. Its voice was not loud, but very large and deep. Are you are you a giant? asked Shasta. You might call me a giant, said the large voice. But I am not like the creatures you call giants. I can't see you at all, said Shasta, after staring very hard. Then, for an even more terrible idea had come into his head. He said, almost in a scream, You're not not something dead, are you? Oh, please, please do go away. What harm have I ever done you? Oh, I am the unluckiest person in the whole world. Once more he felt the warm breath of the thing on his hand and face. There, it said, that is not the breath of a ghost. Tell me your sorrows. Shasta was a little reassured by the breath. So he told how he had never known his real father or mother, and had been brought up sternly by the fishermen, and he had told the story of his escape, and how they were chased by lions and forced to swim for their lives, and all of the dangers in Tashban, and about his night among the tombs, and how the beasts howled at him out of the desert. And he told about the heat and thirst of their desert journey, and how they were almost at their goal when another lion chased them and wounded Arevis, and also how very long it was since he had had anything to eat. 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 was at least two the first night and there was only one. But he was swift afoot. 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 Ervis. 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 Moon 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 the shore where a man sat, wakeful, at midnight, to speak you. Then it was you who wounded Arebus. It was I. But what for? Child, said the voice. I am telling you your story. Not hers. I tell no one any story but his own. Who are you? That's after. Myself, said the voice. Very deep and low, that the earth showed. And again, myself. Loud and clear and gay. And then a third time, myself. Whispered so soft that you could hardly hear it. And yet it seemed to come from all around you. As if the beat to Russia. Castro was no longer afraid that the voice belonged to something that would eat him. Nor that it was the voice of a ghost. But a new and different sort of trembling came over him. Yet he felt glad too. This section is from my favorite chapter in the whole book. Obviously, I only read a few pages of it, but this chapter left me just like out with a smile on my face. Like I was just like it was kind of one of those things where it's like you were kind of expecting that it was Aslan the whole way through. And then it's just like that big reveal sort of thing. But especially where he was mentioning that he was the, you know, the lion that helped him as a baby, that kind of just like blew my mind because that was something we didn't even know about. Um so that was really, really fun. And we'll get into that in another episode. But yeah, that was really cool just to read through that. But there's me a couple things that stuck out to me, and this is something that's just typical C.S. Lewis style of a character having a life-changing moment with Aslan. And I feel like that's how moments with Jesus are as well. Like they're life-changing. And one of my favorite parts is that Shasta hears a deep sigh, and he can feel the sigh on his hand. And he couldn't see Aslan, but he was just walking alongside this massive presence that was breathing beside him. And finally, he can't take it anymore, and he just asks who it is, and it's revealed to be Aslan, who had been guiding him and protecting Shasta and the others behind the scenes the entire time. One thing I want to point out is that it was very interesting that Shasta asks him who he is, but Aslan said myself three different times. Now this reminds me of, well, for one thing, God's I am statement in Exodus 314. But when Aslan says this, it was so deep and low that the earth shook. It was loud and clear and gay, and whispered so softly that you could hardly hear it, and yet it was all around. And I should probably mention too that those three different times, the the deep and low earth shaking time, loud, clear and gay, and the whisper, those were all three different times. In the I guess the three different ways that it came across, and it reminds me of a verse from first Kings chapter nineteen, verse eleven to thirteen. It says Then he said, Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord. And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the Lord. But the Lord was not in the wind, and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake, and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire, and after the fire a still small voice. I know this is not an exact comparison, but the earthquake and the still small voice are the two similarities that I can't ignore. And Shasta can see that Aslan is taller than the horse, and the light that is around it isn't from the sun, but from Aslan himself. And it's described that no one ever saw anything more terrible or beautiful. Now, if you remember from previous episodes about Aslan, I've mentioned before that ev like almost every time they see him, he's bigger. So like it's even described him sometimes as like the size of a small elephant and stuff like that. So this really him being taller than the horse, this does not surprise me at all. But it just shows the the beauty and the majesty and the power of Aslan. Because that would be a massive lion. I mean lions are massive to begin with, but that'd be my goodness. So anyways, Aslan kisses Shasta on the forehead, their eyes meet, and instantly the light and Aslan disappear, leaving Shasta alone with the horse on a hillside. Although I think from what we just learned we know that he wasn't truly alone. Another interesting thing that happens after this is that Aslan's footprint was left on the ground, and it was overflowing with water, allowing Shasta to drink and dunk his head in it.

Narnia and the North

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So it turns out that Shasta was now in Narnia, and he almost instantly meets talking beasts, and a dwarf takes him to his house, where the dwarf and his brothers they feed Shasta well. The Narnian army arrived to this location, I guess, were with King Edmund and Queen Lucy with them. So Lucy was here now instead of Susan. And Corin greets Shasta and is excited to see his friend. The Narnians and the Arkinlanders I think that's how you would say that march into battle. Edmund and Rabadash fight, and guys, we're gonna go through this pretty quick, but yeah, they're the two s the two armies, Narnia Arkinland, fighting against the Calorman army. So Edmund and Rabadash are fighting, and Rabadash's Hoburg gets caught on a hook on the wall. And King Loon says, so he's just hanging there. He's just hanging by this hook. And King Loon says not to kill him, but that they should whip him instead. And Rabadash, something about him was that he could not bear to be made ridiculous, because in Tashban everyone took him seriously, and in this moment, he was most definitely ridiculous, and it must have been just eating him up inside.

Back at the Hermitage

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Meanwhile, back at the Hermitage, the hermit has been watching all of this happen and commentating on the battle, letting Erevis, Wynne, and Brie know what's happening by looking in a magical pool. I don't know how this pool works, but apparently he has a magical pool where he can watch things happen live and on demand, apparently. And so um he had live streaming before we ever did. But we uh he assures that Shasta is not injured, and then Ervis and Brie agree that they have to apologize to Shasta. And as they are talking about it, an enormous lion leaps over the wall and approaches Brie. Now remember, Aslan likes to have individual moments with people, right? And so he already revealed himself to Shasta. The rest of the crew's gotta get their time now. And so that's what we get into here, where Aslan tells Erevis that he was the one that wounded her. And there are many things talked about in this section, but we'll break that down in later episodes, of course, for more detail, so stay tuned. Aslan also says that they will soon have another visitor to the Hermitage. Uh he's you know, and he also has moments with Wynne and Brie. They all have their moments again, we'll break that down. Yeah, he says that there's gonna be another visitor, and then he leaps over the wall and is gone. And then there's a trumpet sound on the other side of the gate. And Erevis goes to see who it is, and it's Shasta. And Erevis apologizes to him. I won't get into too much of the details right now, but Shasta explains the reason why he was always mistaken for Korin is because he is in fact the long-lost twin of Korin and the long-lost son of King Loon, the king of Arkinland. He is also the rightful next heir to the throne ahead of Korin, who doesn't actually want the throne. And we're gonna get into all of this later, but the biggest detail here is that he learns that his birth name is actually Kor and not Shasta. In Arkinland they do this weird thing with brothers' names where it's they sound similar to each other. So here we have Korin and Kor, and so he explains this to them, and it was really just like kind of Aslan foreshadowed it before and how he provided for for Kor as a baby, and now there's this big reuniting. And so we're gonna break that down in a special episode on Shasta, so stay tuned for that. The four of them now head out on their way from the hermitage out toward Arkenland.

The Ridiculous

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They reach the castle of Anvar, which is the castle in Arkenland, and Arevis is invited to live with them in the castle. Lucy comes out and she welcomes Arevis. Here there is a council who is trying to figure out what to do with Rabidash. Edmund, speaking from his own experience, knows that traitors can turn from their ways. Lucy suggests that they give him another trial, and that if he keeps up his ways, then they can punish him at that point. So they have another trial for him. They took Lucy's advice, and uh Rabbidash continues to be rude, and he refuses to hear their conditions. And he's just being a jerk at this point. I mean he's always been, but he continues to threaten them, and this results in Lucy calling him foolish. And I think you must be pretty foolish for Lucy, who always is so positive and always sees the best in people to call you that. And I mean this was her idea to give him yet another trial. And now she's realizing, yeah, no, he's he's just foolish. And here we have Aslan showing up, and he tells Rabidash that he can avoid doom if he forgets his pride and anger and accepts the mercies of the king and queens. Rabidash seems to almost manifest and starts calling Aslan a demon and threatens that Tash, which is the Calarmine god, will curse Aslan. Aslan quietly says that his doom is nearer. He's giving him chances to repent, but Rabadash is still just mouthing off at them. And then Aslan says that the hour has struck. Rabadash turns into a donkey as punishment, and his worst fear comes to life as everyone continues to laugh at him. Justice shall be mixed with mercy. You shall not always be an ass, Aslan tells him. He will be healed at the temple of Tash, but as long as he lives, if he goes more than ten miles from that temple, he will return to a donkey. That that was his punishment. And so here we have Aslan giving him multiple chances, but Rabadash continued to harden his own heart, and so Aslan just let him go to that hardened heart. I think there's a lot of lessons to be learned here. King Loon sent Rabadash back to Calaman with the best of cattle boats and the freshest carrots. So we even have King Loon being really gracious to him. They're still punishing him, but they're also in a way showing love. But Rabadash is still ungrateful. At a certain point, guys, people just harden their hearts enough that they like I don't know, it takes a miracle. Rabadash ended up becoming the most peaceable Tizrock, but not because he changed, but because he could not go more than ten miles from the temple to war. And he definitely did not want his army getting any credit for battles. So literally, because he can't go ten miles from the temple, he just didn't even wage war past that because one, he couldn't go past, and two, he didn't want anyone else but himself getting credit for any sort of battles or conquest. So during his time as t the Tizroch, he ended up becoming the most peaceable Tizrok, even though inside he was still wanting conquest, he was still power hungry and obsessed with control. But physically, because of this punishment Aslan gave him, he could not like he I guess yeah, he chose not to go through with those thoughts. And after that, I mean we see that Erevis and Kor end up getting married and serve as king and queen of Arkhanland. And they ha end up having a son named Ram the Great, and he was the most famous Arkhanland king. We also learn that Brian Wynne lived happily in Narnia, and they got married, except not to each other, and they often visited their friends in Arkhanland.

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SPEAKER_00 43:47

Thank you everyone for listening to this episode of Faithful Fables. This book was a really fun read, and I think that there's a lot of lessons to be learned about how I mean one of the things off the top of my head is like when we're we're often waiting for God, but how often is he waiting for us to even just approach him, to come to him? And not that he's not going to help us. I mean, clearly we saw Aslan was still helping them throughout that time. But then when they did come to him, then he's like, Yes, I've I'm here for you. I've also been here the whole time. And I think that's just a great lesson to be learned that you know we are so much waiting for God, but like we gotta be active participants in our waiting. You know, we still have responsibilities as well. And to work alongside him to, you know, renew our minds and to align our wills with his will and let him allow him to guide and direct us. And we're gonna break this down in more episodes. We're gonna get into character analysis and go into more detail about some of these things. I wanted this one to be more just a general overview of the book. And so, you guys, if this content resonates with you, make sure to leave a rating or a like depending on where you're listening to this. And to support the show, you can click the support the show link in the description. I appreciate everyone listening to the show, and I hope that I can continue to do this show for a long time, God willing. Join us next time as we look at Shasta and Brie. And until then, stay faithful.