The Horse and His Boy facts for kids
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First edition dustjacket
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| Author | C. S. Lewis |
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| Illustrator | Pauline Baynes |
| Cover artist | Pauline Baynes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Series | The Chronicles of Narnia |
| Genre | Children's fantasy novel, Christian literature |
| Publisher | Geoffrey Bles |
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Publication date
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6 September 1954 |
| Media type | Print (hardcover) |
| Pages | 199 pp (first edition) 48,029 words (US) |
| ISBN | 978-0-00-671678-5 (Collins, 1998; full colour) |
| OCLC | 2801054 |
| LC Class | PZ7.L58474 Ho |
| Preceded by | The Silver Chair |
| Followed by | The Magician's Nephew |
The Horse and His Boy is a novel for children by C. S. Lewis, published by Geoffrey Bles in 1954. Of the seven novels that comprise The Chronicles of Narnia (1950–1956), The Horse and His Boy was the fifth to be published. The novel is set in the period covered by the last chapter of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe during the reign of the four Pevensie children as Kings and Queens of Narnia. Though three of the Pevensies appear as minor characters in The Horse and His Boy, the main characters are two children and two talking horses who escape from Calormen and travel north into Narnia. On their journey, they learn of the Prince of Calormen's plan to attack Archenland, and warn the King of Archenland of the impending strike.
Like the other novels in The Chronicles of Narnia, The Horse and His Boy was illustrated by Pauline Baynes; her work has been retained in many later editions.
Plot summary
A boy named Shasta has lived all of the life that he remembers with an adult Calormene fisherman, Arsheesh. Although kept useful to Arsheesh with a string of menial tasks, young Shasta one evening learns that this life will soon come to an end. Eavesdropping on his guardian and a wealthy guest, a powerful Calormene feudal nobleman, Shasta happens to overhear that he will soon be sold into slavery. The boy is relieved to discover that Arsheesh is not his real father, since there had been little love between them. While Shasta awaits his new master in the stable, Bree—the nobleman's stallion—astounds Shasta by speaking to him. Bree is a Talking Horse from Narnia who was captured by the Calormenes as a foal and has pretended to be a regular horse ever since in order to survive. He tells Shasta that the nobleman will treat him cruelly, and Shasta resolves to escape. The horse suggests that they ride north together to the land of Narnia. On their journey, Shasta and Bree meet another pair of runaways: Aravis, a young Calormene aristocrat, and Hwin, a Talking Horse. Aravis is running away to avoid being forced to marry Ahoshta, the ugly Grand Vizier of Calormen, while Hwin's story is much like Bree's.
The four runaways travel through Tashbaan, the great capital of Calormen. There, they encounter Narnian visitors who mistake Shasta for Corin, the prince of Archenland (a peaceful kingdom just south of Narnia), who went exploring earlier that day. Obliged to accompany them, Shasta overhears the Narnians' plans to escape from Calormen to prevent a forced marriage between Queen Susan and Rabadash, son of the Tisroc (or king) of Calormen. Shasta escapes when the real Prince Corin returns.
Meanwhile, Aravis has been spotted by her friend Lasaraleen. She asks Lasaraleen to help her escape from Tashbaan. Lasaraleen cannot understand why Aravis would want to abandon the lavish life of a Calormene noblewoman or refuse marriage with Ahoshta, but she helps Aravis escape through the garden of the Tisroc's palace. On the way, they hide when the Tisroc, Rabadash, and Ahoshta approach. Aravis overhears the Tisroc and Rabadash discussing the Narnians' escape. Rabadash wants to invade Narnia to seize Queen Susan. The Tisroc gives Rabadash permission to conquer Archenland before making a quick raid into Narnia to kidnap Queen Susan while High King Peter is away battling giants in the north.
Aravis rejoins Shasta and the horses outside Tashbaan and tells them of the plot. The four set out across the desert taking a hidden valley route in the hope of outrunning Rabadash's cavalry. Shasta arrives in Archenland in time to warn Archenland and Narnia of the approaching Calormenes. When Rabadash and his horsemen arrive at the castle of King Lune in Archenland, they find the defenders alerted. A siege ensues. There is no clear outcome until reinforcements from Narnia, led by Edmund and Lucy, arrive. The Calormenes are defeated, and Rabadash is captured.
Rabadash rebuffs King Lune's offer of a conditional release. Aslan the Lion, the King of Beasts, son of the Emperor-Over-the-Sea, the King above all High Kings in Narnia, arrives in Archenland. After Rabadash insults Aslan, he is transformed into a donkey. Aslan informs him that his true form will be restored if he stands before the altar of Tash at the Autumn Feast; thereafter, however, the prince will become a donkey permanently if he ever ventures more than ten miles from the Temple of Tash. For this reason, Rabadash pursues peaceful policies when he becomes Tisroc, as he dares not cross the ten-mile boundary by going to war.
The victorious King Lune recognizes Shasta as his son Cor, the long-lost identical twin of Prince Corin and—as the elder of the two—the heir to the throne of Archenland, much to Corin's delight as he didn't want the throne and all the responsibilities of being king. Cor had been kidnapped as a baby in an attempt to counter a prophecy that he would one day save Archenland from its greatest peril. Shasta's timely warning of the Calormene attack has fulfilled the prophecy. Aravis and Shasta live in Archenland thereafter and eventually marry. Their son, Ram, becomes the most famous king of Archenland. Corin grows up to be a strong warrior known as "Prince Corin Thunderfist". The book ends by saying that Bree and Hwin would regularly visit Cor and Aravis and that they were never apart for longer than a month at a time.
Main characters
- Shasta, a boy who was kidnapped as a baby and enslaved in the land of Calormen. Shasta escapes from his abusive master Anradin with the Talking Horse Bree. At the end of the novel, Shasta discovers that he is actually Prince Cor, the long-lost elder twin of Prince Corin of Archenland. During the course of the novel, Shasta saves Archenland from a great disaster; in so doing, he fulfills a prophecy that his kidnapper had attempted to thwart.
- Bree, a Talking Horse who was captured by the Calormenes as a foal. Bree warns Shasta that his master Anradin (who proposes to buy Shasta) will not treat him well, and he and Shasta resolve to run away together.
- Aravis, a girl from a noble Calormene family who runs away with Hwin to avoid being forced into marriage.
- Hwin, a mare who is a friend of Aravis. Hwin was born as a free talking beast in the Land of Narnia, but was captured as a foal by the Calormenes and has spent much of her life concealing her true identity.
Adaptations
Focus on the Family produced an audio dramatisation of The Horse and His Boy in 2000.
Walden Media made movie adaptations of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Prince Caspian and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Walden Media obtained an option to make The Chronicles of Narnia: The Horse and His Boy in the future.
The BBC dramatised The Chronicles of Narnia, including The Horse and His Boy, in 1998. The dramatisation is entitled "The Complete Chronicles of Narnia: The Classic BBC Radio 4 Full-Cast Dramatisations".
