The Chronicles of Narnia: The Horse and His Boy - Audiobook - Pt 1/4
Complete unabridged, read by Alex Jennings
00:00:00 - Chapter 1
00:22:27 - Chapter 2
00:44:17 - Chapter 3
Complete unabridged, read by Alex Jennings
00:00:00 - Chapter 1
00:22:27 - Chapter 2
00:44:17 - Chapter 3
Category
😹
FunTranscript
00:00:00Harper Audio presents A Horse and His Boy by C.S. Lewis, performed by Alex Jennings.
00:00:19Chapter One. How Shasta set out on his travels.
00:00:24This is the story of an adventure that happened in Narnia and Kalormen and the lands between,
00:00:31in the golden age when Peter was high king in Narnia and his brother and his two sisters were
00:00:37king and queens under him. In those days, far south in Kalormen, on a little creek of the sea,
00:00:44there lived a poor fisherman called Arshish and with him there lived a boy who called him father.
00:00:50The boy's name was Shasta. On most days Arshish went out in his boat to fish in the morning,
00:00:57and in the afternoon he harnessed his donkey to a cart and loaded the cart with fish,
00:01:02and went a mile or so southward to the village to sell it. If it had sold well he would come
00:01:08home in a moderately good temper and say nothing to Shasta, but if it had sold badly he would find
00:01:14fault with him and perhaps beat him. There was always something to find fault with,
00:01:19for Shasta had plenty of work to do, mending and washing the nets, cooking the supper,
00:01:24and cleaning the cottage in which they both lived. Shasta was not at all interested in anything that
00:01:30lay south of his home, because he had once or twice been to the village with Arshish,
00:01:35and he knew that there was nothing very interesting there. In the village he only
00:01:40met other men who were just like his father, men with long dirty robes and wooden shoes turned up
00:01:46at the toe, and turbans on their heads and beards, talking to one another very slowly about things
00:01:52that sounded dull. But he was very interested in everything that lay to the north, because
00:01:58no one ever went that way, and he was never allowed to go there himself. When he was sitting
00:02:03out of doors mending the nets, and all alone, he would often look eagerly to the north.
00:02:09One could see nothing but a grassy slope running up to a level ridge, and beyond that the sky,
00:02:15with perhaps a few birds in it. Sometimes, if Arshish was there, Shasta would say,
00:02:21Oh, my father, what is there beyond that hill? And then, if the fisherman was in a bad temper,
00:02:28he would box Shasta's ears and tell him to attend to his work. Or if he was in a peaceable mood,
00:02:33he would say, Oh, my son, do not allow your mind to be distracted by idle questions.
00:02:40For one of the poets has said, Application to business is the root of prosperity,
00:02:46but those who ask questions that do not concern them are steering the ship of
00:02:49folly toward the rock of indigence. Shasta thought that beyond the hill
00:02:55there must be some delightful secret which his father wished to hide from him.
00:02:59In reality, however, the fisherman talked like this because he did not know what lay to the
00:03:05north. Neither did he care. He had a very practical mind.
00:03:10One day there came from the south a stranger who was unlike any man that Shasta had seen before.
00:03:17He rode upon a strong dappled horse with flowing mane and tail, and his stirrups and bridle were
00:03:22inlaid with silver. The spike of a helmet projected from the middle of his silken turban,
00:03:28and he wore a shirt of chain mail. By his side hung a curving scimitar, a round shield studded
00:03:35with bosses of brass hung at his back, and his right hand grasped a lance. His face was dark,
00:03:42but this did not surprise Shasta, because all the people of Colorman are like that.
00:03:47What did surprise him was the man's beard, which was dyed crimson, and curled and gleaming with
00:03:53scented oil. But Ashish knew by the gold on the stranger's bare arm that he was a Takhan,
00:04:00or great lord, and he bowed, kneeling before him, till his beard touched the earth, and made signs
00:04:06to Shasta to kneel also. The stranger demanded hospitality for the night, which, of course,
00:04:12the fisherman dared not refuse. All the best they had was set before the Takhan for supper,
00:04:18and he didn't think much of it, and Shasta, as always happened when the fisherman had company,
00:04:24was given a hunk of bread and turned out of the cottage.
00:04:28On these occasions he usually slept with the donkey in his little thatched stable.
00:04:32But it was much too early to go to sleep yet, and Shasta, who had never learned that it is wrong to
00:04:37listen behind doors, sat down with his ear to a crack in the wooden wall of the cottage, to hear
00:04:43what the grown-ups were talking about. And this is what he heard.
00:04:47And now, O my host, said the Takhan, I have a mind to buy that boy of yours.
00:04:55O my master, replied the fisherman, and Shasta knew by the wheedling tone the greedy look that
00:05:01was probably coming into his face as he said it, what price could induce your servant, poor though
00:05:07he is, to sell into slavery his only child and his own flesh? Has not one of the poets said,
00:05:15Natural affection is stronger than soup, and offspring more precious than carpuncles?
00:05:22It is even so, replied the guest, dryly. But another poet has likewise said,
00:05:29He who attempts to deceive the judicious is already bearing his own back for the scourge.
00:05:35Do not load your aged mouth with falsehoods. This boy is manifestly no son of yours,
00:05:42for your cheek is as dark as mine, but the boy is fair and white like the accursed but
00:05:48beautiful barbarians who inhabit the remote north. How well it was said, answered the fisherman,
00:05:56that swords can be kept off with shields, but the eye of wisdom pierces through every defence.
00:06:03Know then, O my formidable guest, that because of my extreme poverty I have never married,
00:06:10and have no child. But in that same year in which the Tisrock, may he live for ever,
00:06:16began his august and beneficent reign, on a night when the moon was at her full,
00:06:21it pleased the gods to deprive me of my sleep. Therefore I arose from my bed in this hovel,
00:06:27and went forth to the beach to refresh myself, with looking upon the water and the moon,
00:06:31and breathing the cool air. And presently I heard a noise as of oars coming to me across the water,
00:06:38then, as it were, a weak cry. And shortly after, the tide brought to the land a little boat,
00:06:46in which there was nothing but a man lean with extreme hunger and thirst, who seemed to have
00:06:50died but a few moments before, for he was still warm, and an empty water-skin, and a child,
00:06:58still living. Doubtless, said I, these unfortunates have escaped from the wreck of a great ship,
00:07:05but by the admirable designs of the gods, the elder has starved himself to keep the child alive,
00:07:11and has perished in sight of land. Accordingly, remembering how the gods never fail to reward
00:07:17those who befriend the destitute, and being moved by compassion—for your servant is a man of tender
00:07:24heart—'Leave out all these idle words in your own praise,' interrupted the Tocan.
00:07:32It is enough to know that you took the child, and have had ten times the worth of his daily bread
00:07:38out of him in labour, as any one can see. And now tell me at once what price you put on him,
00:07:44for I am wearied with your loquacity.'
00:07:47"'You yourself have wisely said,' answered Archish,
00:07:52that the boy's labour has been to me of inestimable value. This must be taken into account
00:07:58in fixing the price, for if I sell the boy I must undoubtedly either buy or hire another to do his
00:08:05work.' "'I'll give you fifteen
00:08:08crescents for him,' said the Tocan. "'Fifteen!' cried Archish, in a voice that was something
00:08:15between a whine and a scream. "'Fifteen! For the prop of my old age and the delight of my eyes?
00:08:23Do not mock my grey beard, Tocan, though you be. My price is seventy.'
00:08:30At this point Shasta got up and tiptoed away. He had heard all he wanted, for he had often
00:08:36listened where men were bargaining in the village, and knew how it was done. He was quite certain
00:08:41that Archish would sell him in the end for something much more than fifteen crescents,
00:08:45and much less than seventy, but that he and the Tocan would take hours in getting to an agreement.
00:08:53You must not imagine that Shasta felt at all as you and I would feel, if we had just overheard
00:08:58our parents talking about selling us for slaves. For one thing, his life was already a little
00:09:04better than slavery. For all he knew, the lordly stranger on the great horse might be kinder to
00:09:09him than Archish. For another, the story about his own discovery in the boat had filled him with
00:09:15excitement and with a sense of relief. He had often been uneasy, because, try as he might,
00:09:22he had never been able to love the fisherman, and he knew that a boy ought to love his father.
00:09:28And now, apparently, he was no relation to Archish at all. That took a great weight
00:09:35off his mind. Why, I might be anyone, he thought. I might be the son of a Tocan myself,
00:09:43or the son of the Tisrock, may he live for ever, or of a god.
00:09:49He was standing out in the grassy place before the cottage while he thought these things.
00:09:54Twilight was coming on apace, and a star or two was already out, but the remains of the sunset
00:09:59could still be seen in the west. Not far away, the stranger's horse, loosely tied to an iron
00:10:06ring in the wall of the donkey's stable, was grazing. Shasta strolled over to it, and patted
00:10:12its neck. It went on tearing up the grass, and took no notice of him. Then another thought came
00:10:19into Shasta's mind. I wonder what sort of a man the Tocan is, he said out loud. It would be
00:10:26splendid if he was kind. Some of the slaves in a great lord's house have next to nothing to do.
00:10:33They wear lovely clothes and eat meat every day. Perhaps he'd take me to the wars, and I'd save
00:10:39his life in a battle, and then he'd set me free and adopt me as his son, and give me a palace
00:10:44and a chariot and a suit of armour. But then he might be a horrid, cruel man. He might send me to
00:10:51work on the fields in chains. I wish I knew. How can I know? I bet this horse knows. If only he
00:11:01could tell me. The horse had lifted its head. Shasta stroked its smooth as satin nose, and said,
00:11:10I wish you could talk, old fellow. And then, for a second, he thought he was dreaming.
00:11:17For quite distinctly, though in a low voice, the horse said, But I can.
00:11:25Shasta stared into its great eyes, and his own grew almost as big, with astonishment.
00:11:32How ever did you learn to talk? Hush! Not so loud, replied the horse. Where I come from,
00:11:41nearly all the animals talk. Where ever is that? asked Shasta.
00:11:48Narnia, answered the horse. The happy land of Narnia. Narnia of the heathery mountains and
00:11:56the timey downs. Narnia of the many rivers, the plashing glens, the mossy caverns and the deep
00:12:03forests, ringing with the hammers of the dwarfs. Oh, the sweet air of Narnia! An hour's life there
00:12:11is better than a thousand years in Kalormen. It ended with a whinny that sounded very like a sigh.
00:12:20How did you get here? said Shasta. Kidnapped, said the horse, or stolen, or captured,
00:12:28whichever you like to call it. I was only a foal at the time. My mother warned me not to
00:12:35range the southern slopes into Arkenland and beyond. But I wouldn't heed her. And by the
00:12:42lion's mane I have paid for my folly. All these years I have been a slave to humans,
00:12:49hiding my true nature, and pretending to be dumb and witless, like their horses.
00:12:54Why didn't you tell them who you were? Not such a fool, that's why. If they'd once found out I
00:13:02could talk, they would have made a show of me at fairs and guarded me more carefully than ever.
00:13:08My last chance of escape would have been gone. And why? began Shasta, but the horse interrupted
00:13:15him. Now look, it said, we mustn't waste time on idle questions. You want to know about my master,
00:13:22the Takan and Radin. Well, he's bad. Not too bad to me, for a warhorse costs too much to be treated
00:13:30very badly. But you'd be better lying dead tonight than go to be a human slave in his house tomorrow.
00:13:37Then I'd better run away, said Shasta, turning very pale.
00:13:42Yes, you had, said the horse. But why not run away with me?
00:13:47Are you going to run away too? said Shasta. Yes, if you'll come with me,
00:13:54answered the horse. This is the chance for both of us. You see, if I run away without a rider,
00:14:00everyone who sees me will say, stray horse, and be after me as quick as he can. With a rider,
00:14:06I've a chance to get through. That's where you can help me. On the other hand, you can't get
00:14:13very far on those two silly legs of yours. What absurd legs humans have, without being overtaken.
00:14:21But on me, you can out-distance any other horse in this country. That's where I can help you.
00:14:28By the way, I suppose you know how to ride? Oh yes, of course, said Shasta. At least,
00:14:35I've ridden the donkey. Ridden what? retorted the horse, with extreme contempt.
00:14:42At least, that is what he meant. Actually, it came out in a sort of neigh,
00:14:47ridden the wah-ha-ha. Talking horses always become more horsey in accent when they are angry.
00:14:54In other words, it continued, you can't ride. That's a drawback. I'll have to teach you,
00:15:01as we go along. If you can't ride, can you fall? I suppose anyone can fall, said Shasta.
00:15:09I mean, can you fall and get up again without crying, and mount again and fall again,
00:15:13and yet not be afraid of falling? I—I'll try, said Shasta.
00:15:19Poor little beast, said the horse, in a gentler tone. I forget you're only a foal.
00:15:26We'll make a fine rider of you in time. And now, we mustn't start until those two in the hut are
00:15:32asleep. Meantime, we can make our plans. My Tarkhan is on his way north to the great city.
00:15:39To Tashban itself, and the court of the Tisrock. I say, put in Shasta, in rather a shocked voice,
00:15:46oughtn't you to say, may he live for ever? Why, asked the horse, I'm a free Narnian,
00:15:53and why should I talk slaves and fools talk? I don't want him to live for ever, and I know that
00:15:59he's not going to live for ever, whether I want him to or not. And I can see you're from the free
00:16:04north, too. No more of this southern jargon between you and me. And now, back to our plans.
00:16:12As I said, my human was on his way north to Tashban. Does that mean we'd better go to the
00:16:18south? I think not, said the horse. You see, he thinks I'm dumb and witless, like his other horses.
00:16:26Now, if I really were, the moment I got loose, I'd go back home to my stable and paddock,
00:16:31back to his palace, which is two days' journey south. That's where he'll look for me. He'd never
00:16:37dream of my going on north on my own. And anyway, he will probably think that someone in the last
00:16:43village who saw him ride through has followed us here and stolen me. Oh, hurrah! said Shasta.
00:16:49Then we'll go north. I've been longing to go to the north all my life. Of course you have,
00:16:55said the horse. That's because of the blood that's in you. I'm sure you're true northern stock.
00:17:02But not too loud. I should think they'd be asleep soon now.
00:17:07Better creep back and see, suggested Shasta. That's a good idea, said the horse. But take
00:17:14care you're not caught. It was a good deal darker now, and very silent, except for the sound of the
00:17:20waves on the beach, which Shasta hardly noticed because he had been hearing it day and night as
00:17:25long as he could remember. The cottage, as he approached it, showed no light. When he listened
00:17:31at the front, there was no noise. When he went round to the only window, he could hear, after a
00:17:36second or two, the familiar noise of the old fisherman's squeaky snore. It was funny to think
00:17:42that if all went well, he would never hear it again. Holding his breath, and feeling a little
00:17:48bit sorry, but much less sorry than he was glad, Shasta glided away over the grass, and went to the
00:17:55donkey's stable, groped along to a place he knew where the key was hidden, opened the door, and
00:18:00found the horse's saddle and bridle, which had been locked up there for the night. He bent forward
00:18:05and kissed the donkey's nose. I'm sorry we can't take you, he said.
00:18:12There you are at last, said the horse when he got back to it. I was beginning to wonder what had
00:18:17become of you. I was getting your things out of the stable, replied Shasta, and now can you tell
00:18:25me how to put them on? For the next few minutes Shasta was at work, very cautiously to avoid
00:18:31jingling, while the horse said things like, get that girth a bit tighter, or you'll find a buckle
00:18:37lower down, or you'll need to shorten those stirrups a good bit. When all was finished, it said,
00:18:44Now, we've got to have reins for the look of the thing, but you won't be using them.
00:18:49Tie them to the saddle-bowl, very slack, so that I can do what I like with my head.
00:18:53And remember, you are not to touch them. What are they for, then? asked Shasta.
00:19:00Ordinarily they are for directing me, replied the horse, but as I intend to do all the directing
00:19:06on this journey, you'll please keep your hands to yourself. And there's another thing. I'm not
00:19:12going to have you grabbing my mane. But I say, pleaded Shasta, if I'm not to hold on by the
00:19:18reins or by your mane, what am I to hold on by? You hold on with your knees, said the horse.
00:19:25That's the secret of good riding. Grip my body between your knees as hard as you like.
00:19:30Sit straight up, straight as a poker. Keep your elbows in. And by the way, what did you do with
00:19:36the spurs? I put them on my heels, of course, said Shasta. I do know that much. Then you can
00:19:42take them off and put them in the saddle-bag. We may be able to sell them when we get to Tashban.
00:19:47Ready? And now I think you can get up. Oh, you're a dreadful height, gasped Shasta after his first
00:19:56and unsuccessful attempt. I'm a horse, that's all, was the reply. Anyone would think I was a haystack
00:20:03from the way you're trying to climb up me. There, that's better. Now sit up and remember
00:20:09what I told you about your knees. Funny to think of me, who has led cavalry charges and won races
00:20:14having a potato-sack like you in the saddle. However, off we go, it chuckled, not unkindly.
00:20:23And it certainly began their night journey with great caution. First of all, he went just south
00:20:28of the Fisherman's Cottage to the little river which there ran into the sea, and took care to
00:20:33leave in the mud some very plain hoof-marks pointing south. But as soon as they were in the
00:20:38middle of the ford, it turned upstream and waited till they were about a hundred yards farther in
00:20:42land than the cottage. Then it selected a nice gravelly bit of bank, which would take no
00:20:47footprints, and came out on the northern side. Then, still at a walking pace, it went northward
00:20:54till the cottage, the one tree, the donkey's stable, and the creek—everything, in fact,
00:20:59that Shasta had ever known—had sunk out of sight in the grey summer-night darkness.
00:21:04They had been going uphill, and now were at the top of the ridge—that ridge which had always
00:21:09been the boundary of Shasta's known world. He could not see what was ahead, except that it
00:21:14was all open and grassy. It looked endless, wild and lonely and free.
00:21:20"'I say,' observed the horse,
00:21:23"'what a place for a gallop, eh?'
00:21:26"'Oh, don't let's,' said Shasta.
00:21:29"'Not yet. I—I don't know how to—please, horse, I don't know your name.'
00:21:36"'Bree-hee-hinny-brinny-hoo-hee-ha,' said the horse.
00:21:41"'I'll never be able to say that,' said Shasta.
00:21:45"'Can I call you Bree?'
00:21:47"'Well, if that's the best you can do.'
00:21:50"'I suppose you must,' said the horse.
00:21:53"'And what shall I call you?'
00:21:55"'I'm called Shasta.'
00:21:57"'H'm,' said Bree.
00:21:59"'Well now, there's a name that's really hard to pronounce.
00:22:02"'But now, about this gallop. It's a good deal easier than trotting, if you only knew,
00:22:07because you don't have to rise and fall.
00:22:10Grip with your knees and keep your eyes straight ahead between my ears.
00:22:14Don't look at the ground. If you think you're going to fall,
00:22:17just grip harder and sit up straighter.
00:22:19Ready? Now, for Narnia and the North!'
00:22:28Chapter 2 A Wayside Adventure
00:22:33It was nearly noon on the following day when Shasta was wakened by something warm and soft
00:22:38moving over his face. He opened his eyes and found himself staring into the long face of a horse,
00:22:44its nose and lips were almost touching his.
00:22:47He remembered the exciting events of the previous night, and sat up.
00:22:52But as he did so, he groaned.
00:22:55"'Ow, Bree!' he gasped.
00:22:57"'I'm so sore. All over. I can hardly move.'
00:23:02"'Good morning, small one,' said Bree.
00:23:05"'I was afraid you might feel a bit stiff.
00:23:08"'It can't be the falls. You didn't have more than a dozen or so.
00:23:11"'And it was all lovely, soft, springy turf that must have been almost a pleasure to fall on.
00:23:17"'And the only one that might have been nasty was broken by that gorse-bush.
00:23:20"'No, it's the riding itself that comes hard at first.
00:23:24"'What about breakfast? I've had mine.'
00:23:27"'Oh, bother breakfast! bother everything!' said Shasta.
00:23:32"'I tell you, I can't move!'
00:23:34But the horse nuzzled at him with its nose, and pawed him gently with a hoof,
00:23:38till he had to get up.
00:23:40And then he looked about him, and saw where they were.
00:23:43Behind them lay a little copse.
00:23:45Before them the turf, dotted with white flowers, sloped down to the brow of a cliff.
00:23:51Far below them, so that the sound of the breaking waves was very faint, lay the sea.
00:23:56Shasta had never seen it from such a height, and never seen so much of it before,
00:24:01nor dreamed how many colours it had.
00:24:04On either hand, the coast stretched away, headland after headland,
00:24:08and at the points you could see the white foam running up the rocks,
00:24:11but making no noise, because it was so far off.
00:24:14There were gulls flying overhead, and the heat shivered on the ground.
00:24:19It was a blazing day.
00:24:21But what Shasta chiefly noticed was the air.
00:24:25He couldn't think what was missing, until at last he realised that there was no smell of fish in it.
00:24:31For, of course, neither in the cottage nor among the nets
00:24:34had he ever been away from that smell in his life.
00:24:37And this new air was so delicious, and his old life seemed so far away,
00:24:42that he forgot for a moment about his bruises and his aching muscles, and said,
00:24:47I say, Brie, didn't you say something about breakfast?
00:24:51Yes, I did, answered Brie.
00:24:54I think you'll find something in the saddlebags.
00:24:57They're over there on that tree where you hung them up last night,
00:25:00or early this morning, rather.
00:25:02They investigated the saddlebags, and the results were cheering.
00:25:06A meat pasty, only slightly stale, a lump of dried figs, and another lump of green cheese,
00:25:12a little flask of wine, and some money.
00:25:15About forty crescents in all, which was more than Shasta had ever seen.
00:25:20While Shasta sat down, painfully and cautiously,
00:25:23with his back against a tree, and started on the pasty,
00:25:26Brie had a few more mouthfuls of grass to keep him company.
00:25:30Won't it be stealing to use the money? asked Shasta.
00:25:36Oh, said the horse, looking up with its mouth full of grass,
00:25:40I never thought of that.
00:25:42A free horse and a talking horse mustn't steal, of course.
00:25:47But I think it's all right.
00:25:49We're prisoners and captives in enemy country.
00:25:52That money is booty, spoil.
00:25:55Besides, how are we to get any food for you without it?
00:25:59I suppose, like all humans, you won't eat natural food, like grass and oats.
00:26:04I can't.
00:26:05Ever tried?
00:26:07Yes, I have.
00:26:08I can't get it down at all.
00:26:11You couldn't either, if you were me.
00:26:13You're dumb little creatures, you humans, remarked Brie.
00:26:18When Shasta had finished his breakfast, which was by far the nicest he had ever eaten,
00:26:22Brie said, I think I'll have a nice roll before we put on that saddle again.
00:26:28And he proceeded to do so.
00:26:30That's good, that's very good, he said,
00:26:34rubbing his back on the turf and waving all four legs in the air.
00:26:38You ought to have one too, Shasta, he snorted.
00:26:41It's most refreshing.
00:26:43But Shasta burst out laughing and said,
00:26:45You do look funny when you're on your back.
00:26:48I look nothing of the sort, said Brie.
00:26:51But then suddenly he rolled round on his side,
00:26:54raised his head, and looked hard at Shasta, blowing a little.
00:26:58Does it really look funny? he asked in an anxious voice.
00:27:03Yes, it does, replied Shasta.
00:27:06But what does it matter?
00:27:08You don't think, do you, said Brie, that it might be a thing talking horses never do?
00:27:14A silly, clownish trick I've learned from the dumb ones.
00:27:18It will be dreadful to find, when I get back to Narnia,
00:27:21that I've picked up a lot of low, bad habits.
00:27:24What do you think, Shasta?
00:27:26Honestly, now, don't spare my feelings.
00:27:29Do you think the real free horses, the talking kind, roll?
00:27:35How should I know?
00:27:36Anyway, I don't think I shall bother about it if I were you.
00:27:40We've got to get there first.
00:27:42Do you know the way?
00:27:44I know my way to Tashban.
00:27:46After that comes the desert.
00:27:48Oh, we'll manage the desert somehow, never fear.
00:27:52I will be in sight of the northern mountains, then.
00:27:54Think of it!
00:27:56Narnia and the north.
00:27:58Nothing will stop us then.
00:28:00But I'd be glad to be past Tashban.
00:28:03You and I are safer away from cities.
00:28:06Can't we avoid it?
00:28:08Not without going a long way inland,
00:28:10and that would take us into cultivated land and main roads,
00:28:14and I wouldn't know the way.
00:28:16No, we'll just have to creep along the coast.
00:28:19Up here on the downs we'll meet nothing but sheep,
00:28:21and rabbits, and gulls, and a few shepherds.
00:28:24And by the way, what about starting?
00:28:27Shasta's legs ached terribly as he saddled Brie and climbed into the saddle.
00:28:32But the horse was kindly to him, and went at a soft pace all afternoon.
00:28:36When evening twilight came,
00:28:38they dropped by steep tracks into a little valley, and found a village.
00:28:42Before they got into it, Shasta dismounted,
00:28:45and entered it on foot to buy a loaf and some onions and radishes.
00:28:49The horse trotted round by the fields in the dusk, and met Shasta at the far side.
00:28:54This became their regular plan every second night.
00:28:59These were great days for Shasta, and every day better than the last,
00:29:03as his muscles hardened and he fell less often.
00:29:06Even at the end of his training,
00:29:08Brie still said he sat like a bag of flour in the saddle.
00:29:11And even if it was safe, young'un, I'd be ashamed to be seen with you on the main road.
00:29:16But in spite of his rude words, Brie was a patient teacher.
00:29:20No one can teach riding so well as a horse.
00:29:24Shasta learned to trot, to canter, to jump, and to keep his seat,
00:29:28even when Brie pulled up suddenly or swung unexpectedly to the left or the right,
00:29:32which, as Brie told him, was a thing you might have to do at any moment in a battle.
00:29:37And then, of course, Shasta begged to be told of the battles and wars
00:29:40in which Brie had carried the tacan.
00:29:42And Brie would tell of forced marches, and the fording of swift rivers,
00:29:46of charges, and of fierce fights between cavalry and cavalry,
00:29:49when the war-horses fought as well as the men,
00:29:52being all fierce stallions, trained to bite and kick,
00:29:55and to rear at the right moment, so that the horses' weight, as well as the riders',
00:29:59would come down on an enemy's crest in the stroke of a sword or battle-axe.
00:30:04But Brie did not want to talk about the wars as often as Shasta wanted to hear about them.
00:30:09"'Don't speak of them, youngster,' he would say.
00:30:12"'They were only the Tisrock's wars, and I fought in them as a slave and a dumb beast.
00:30:18"'Give me the Narnian wars, where I shall fight as a free horse among my own people.
00:30:23"'Those will be wars worth talking about.
00:30:26"'Narnia and the North!
00:30:29"'Brah!
00:30:30"'Bruh!'
00:30:32Shasta soon learned, when he heard Brie talking like that, to prepare for a gallop.
00:30:37After they had travelled on for weeks and weeks, past more bays and headlands and rivers and
00:30:42villages than Shasta could remember, there came a moonlit night when they started their journey
00:30:47at evening, having slept during the day.
00:30:50They had left the Downs behind them, and were crossing a wide plain with a forest about
00:30:55half a mile away on their left.
00:30:57The sea, hidden low by sand-hills, was about the same distance on their right.
00:31:02They had jogged along for about an hour, sometimes trotting and sometimes walking,
00:31:07when Brie suddenly stopped.
00:31:10"'What's up?' said Shasta.
00:31:12"'Shh!' said Brie, craning his neck round and twitching his ears.
00:31:17"'Did you hear something?'
00:31:20"'Listen!'
00:31:22"'It sounds like another horse, between us and the wood,' said Shasta, after he had listened
00:31:28for about a minute.
00:31:29"'It is another horse,' said Brie.
00:31:32"'And that's what I don't like.'
00:31:35"'Isn't it probably just a farmer, riding home late?' said Shasta, with a yawn.
00:31:41"'Don't tell me!' said Brie.
00:31:43"'That's not a farmer's riding, nor a farmer's horse, either.
00:31:48"'Can't you tell by the sound?
00:31:50"'That's quality, that horse's.
00:31:53"'And it's being ridden by a real horseman.
00:31:56"'I tell you what it is, Shasta.
00:31:59"'There's a Takhan under the edge of that wood.
00:32:02"'Not on his warhorse, it's too light for that.
00:32:05"'On a fine blood mare, I should say.
00:32:09"'Well, it's stopped now, whatever it is,' said Shasta.
00:32:13"'You're right,' said Brie.
00:32:16"'And why should he stop just when we do?
00:32:19"'Shasta, my boy, I do believe there's someone shadowing us at last.'
00:32:24"'What shall we do?' said Shasta, in a lower whisper than before.
00:32:29"'Do you think he can see us, as well as hear us?'
00:32:33"'Not in this light, so long as we stay quite still,' answered Brie.
00:32:38"'But look, there's a cloud coming up.
00:32:41"'I'll wait till that gets over the moon,
00:32:44"'then we'll get off to our right as quietly as we can, down to the shore.
00:32:48"'We can hide among the sandhills if the worst comes to the worst.'
00:32:52They waited till the cloud covered the moon, and then,
00:32:56first at a walking pace and afterward at a gentle trot,
00:32:59made for the shore.
00:33:00The cloud was bigger and thicker than it had looked at first,
00:33:04and soon the night grew very dark.
00:33:06Just as Shasta was saying to himself,
00:33:09"'We must be nearly at those sandhills by now,'
00:33:12his heart leapt into his mouth, because an appalling noise had
00:33:15suddenly risen up out of the darkness ahead,
00:33:18a long snarling roar, melancholy and utterly savage.
00:33:22Instantly Brie swerved round, and began galloping inland again,
00:33:26as fast as he could gallop.
00:33:28"'What is it?' gasped Shasta.
00:33:30"'Lions!' said Brie, without checking his pace or turning his head.
00:33:35After that there was nothing but sheer galloping for some time.
00:33:39At last they splashed across a wide, shallow stream,
00:33:42and Brie came to a stop on the far side.
00:33:45Shasta noticed that he was trembling and sweating all over.
00:33:49"'That water may have thrown the brute off our scent,'
00:33:52panted Brie, when he had partly got his breath again.
00:33:55"'We can walk for a bit now.'
00:33:58As they walked, Brie said,
00:34:00"'Shasta, I am ashamed of myself.
00:34:03"'I am just as frightened as a common, dumb, callow mean horse.
00:34:07"'I am, really.
00:34:09"'I don't feel like a talking horse at all.
00:34:13"'I don't mind swords and lances and arrows,
00:34:15"'but I can't bear those creatures.
00:34:20"'I think I'll trot for a bit.'
00:34:22"'About a minute later, however, he broke into a gallop again,
00:34:26"'and no wonder, for the roar broke out again,
00:34:29"'this time on their left, from the direction of the forest.
00:34:33"'Two of them!' moaned Brie.
00:34:36When they had galloped for several minutes without any further noise from the lions,
00:34:39Shasta said,
00:34:41"'I say, that other horse is galloping beside us now,
00:34:44"'only a stone's throw away.
00:34:46"'Hold up better,' panted Brie,
00:34:49"'tuck on on it.
00:34:50"'We'll have a sword.
00:34:52"'Protect us all.'
00:34:54"'But, Brie,' said Shasta,
00:34:56"'we might just as well be killed by lions as caught,
00:34:59"'or I might.
00:35:00"'They'll hang me for horse-stealing.'
00:35:03He was feeling less frightened of lions than Brie,
00:35:06because he had never met a lion.
00:35:07Brie had.
00:35:09Brie only snorted in answer, but he did shear away to his right.
00:35:14Oddly enough, the other horse seemed also to be shearing away to the left,
00:35:18so that in a few seconds the space between them had widened a good deal.
00:35:22But as soon as it did so, there came two more lion's roars,
00:35:26immediately after one another, one on the right and the other on the left,
00:35:29and the horses began drawing nearer together.
00:35:32So, apparently, did the lions.
00:35:35The roaring of the brutes on each side was horribly close,
00:35:38and they seemed to be keeping up with the galloping horses quite easily.
00:35:42Then the cloud rolled away.
00:35:44The moonlight, astonishingly bright,
00:35:46showed up everything almost as if it were broad day.
00:35:50The two horses and two riders were galloping neck to neck and knee to knee,
00:35:53just as if they were in a race.
00:35:55Indeed, Brie said, afterward, that a finer race had never been seen in Calormen.
00:36:01Shasta now gave himself up for lost, and began to wonder whether lions killed you quickly,
00:36:06or played with you as a cat plays with a mouse, and how much it would hurt.
00:36:10At the same time, one sometimes does this at the most frightful moments,
00:36:15he noticed everything.
00:36:17He saw that the other rider was a very small, slender person,
00:36:20mail-clad, the moon shone on the mail, and riding magnificently.
00:36:25He had no beard.
00:36:28Something flat and shining was spread out before them.
00:36:31Before Shasta had time even to guess what it was, there was a great splash,
00:36:35and he found his mouth half full of salt water.
00:36:38The shining thing had been a long inlet of the sea.
00:36:42Both horses were swimming, and the water was up to Shasta's knees.
00:36:46There was an angry roaring behind them, and, looking back, Shasta saw a great,
00:36:50shaggy, and terrible shape crouched on the water's edge, but only one.
00:36:56We must have shaken off the other lion, he thought.
00:36:59The lion apparently did not think its prey worth a wetting.
00:37:03At any rate, it made no attempt to take to the water in pursuit.
00:37:07The two horses, side by side, were now well out into the middle of the creek.
00:37:11The opposite shore could be clearly seen.
00:37:14The Takhan had not yet spoken a word.
00:37:17But he will, thought Shasta, as soon as we have landed.
00:37:21What am I to say?
00:37:23I must begin thinking out a story.
00:37:26Then, suddenly, two voices spoke at his side.
00:37:30Oh, I'm so tired, said the one.
00:37:34Hold your tongue, Hwin.
00:37:36Don't be a fool, said the other.
00:37:39I'm dreaming, thought Shasta.
00:37:42I could have sworn that other horse spoke.
00:37:46Soon the horses were no longer swimming, but walking, and soon, with the great sound of
00:37:50water running off their sides and tails, and with a great crunching of pebbles under eight
00:37:54hoofs, they came out on the farther beach of the inlet.
00:37:58The Takhan, to Shasta's surprise, showed no wish to ask questions.
00:38:03He did not even look at Shasta, but seemed anxious to urge his horse straight on.
00:38:08Brie, however, at once shouldered himself in the other horse's way.
00:38:14He snorted.
00:38:16Steady there.
00:38:17I heard you, I did.
00:38:19There's no good pretending, ma'am.
00:38:21I heard you.
00:38:23You're a talking horse, a Narnian horse, just like me.
00:38:28What's it got to do with you, if she is?
00:38:30said the strange rider, fiercely, laying hand on sword-hilt.
00:38:34But the voice in which the words were spoken had already told Shasta something.
00:38:39Why, it's only a girl!
00:38:41he exclaimed.
00:38:43And what business is it of yours if I am only a girl?
00:38:46snapped the stranger.
00:38:47You're probably only a boy, a rude, common little boy, a slave, probably, who's stolen
00:38:53his master's horse.
00:38:55That's all you know, said Shasta.
00:38:57He's not a thief, little Tarkina, said Brie.
00:39:01At least, if there's been any stealing, you might just as well say I stole him.
00:39:06And as for its not being my business, you wouldn't expect me to pass a lady of my own
00:39:10race in this strange country without speaking to her.
00:39:14It's only natural I should.
00:39:16I think it's very natural too, said the mare.
00:39:20I wish you'd hold your tongue, Hwin, said the girl.
00:39:22Look at the trouble you've got us into.
00:39:25I don't know about trouble, said Shasta.
00:39:27You can clear off as soon as you like.
00:39:29We shan't keep you.
00:39:30No, you shan't, said the girl.
00:39:33What quarrelsome creatures these humans are, said Brie to the mare.
00:39:37They're as bad as mules.
00:39:39Let's try to talk a little sense.
00:39:41I take it, ma'am, your story is the same as mine—captured in early youth, years of slavery
00:39:47among the Calormenes.
00:39:49Too true, sir, said the mare, with a melancholy whinny.
00:39:54And now, perhaps—escape?
00:39:57Tell him to mind his own business, Hwin, said the girl.
00:40:01No, I won't, Aravis, said the mare, putting her ears back.
00:40:05This is my escape, just as much as yours.
00:40:08And I'm sure a noble war-horse like this is not going to betray us.
00:40:12We are trying to escape—to get to Narnia.
00:40:16And so, of course, are we, said Brie.
00:40:19Of course, you guessed that at once.
00:40:21A little boy in rags, riding, or trying to ride a war-horse at dead of night,
00:40:27couldn't mean anything but an escape of some sort.
00:40:29And if I may say so, a high-born Tarkina, riding alone at night, dressed up in her brother's
00:40:35armour, and very anxious for everyone to mind their own business and ask her no questions—well,
00:40:40if that's not fishy, call me a cob!
00:40:44All right, then, said Aravis.
00:40:46You've guessed it.
00:40:48Hwin and I are running away.
00:40:51We are trying to get to Narnia.
00:40:53And now what about it?
00:40:55Why, in that case, what is to prevent us all going together?
00:40:59said Brie.
00:41:00I trust, Madam Hwin, you will accept such assistance and protection as I may be able
00:41:05to give you on the journey.
00:41:07Why do you keep talking to my horse instead of to me?
00:41:09asked the girl.
00:41:11Excuse me, Tarkina, said Brie, with just the slightest backward tilt of his ears,
00:41:17but that's Calormine talk.
00:41:20We are free Narnians, Hwin and I, and I suppose, if you're running away to Narnia,
00:41:24you want to be one too.
00:41:26In that case, Hwin isn't your horse any longer.
00:41:30One might just as well say you're her human.
00:41:34The girl opened her mouth to speak, and then stopped.
00:41:38Obviously she had not quite seen it in that light before.
00:41:42Still, she said, after a moment's pause, I don't know that there's so much point
00:41:46in all going together.
00:41:48Aren't we more likely to be noticed?
00:41:50Less, said Brie, and the mare said, Oh, do let's.
00:41:55I should feel much more comfortable.
00:41:56We're not even certain of the way.
00:41:59I'm sure a great charger like this knows far more than we do.
00:42:02Oh, come on, Brie, said Shasta, and let them go their own way.
00:42:05Can't you see they don't want us?
00:42:07We do, said Hwin.
00:42:10Look here, said the girl, I don't mind going with you, Mr. Warhorse, but what about this
00:42:14boy?
00:42:15How do I know he's not a spy?
00:42:17Why don't you say at once that you think I'm not good enough for you, said Shasta.
00:42:21Be quiet, Shasta, said Brie.
00:42:24The Tarkina's question is quite reasonable.
00:42:26I'll vouch for the boy, Tarkina.
00:42:29He's been true to me and a good friend, and he's certainly either a Narnian or an
00:42:33Arkenlander.
00:42:35All right, then, let's go together.
00:42:38But she didn't say anything to Shasta, and it was obvious that she wanted Brie, not him.
00:42:43Splendid, said Brie.
00:42:45And now that we've got the water between us and those dreadful animals, what about
00:42:50you two humans taking off our saddles, and our all having a rest, and hearing one another's
00:42:54stories?
00:42:56Both the children unsaddled their horses, and the horses had a little grass, and Aravis
00:43:01produced rather nice things to eat from her saddlebag.
00:43:04But Shasta sulked and said no thanks, and that he wasn't hungry, and he tried to put
00:43:09on what he thought very grand and stiff manners.
00:43:12But as a fisherman's hut is not usually a good place for learning grand manners, the
00:43:16result was dreadful.
00:43:18And he half knew that it wasn't a success, and then became sulkier and more awkward than
00:43:22ever.
00:43:23Meanwhile the two horses were getting on splendidly.
00:43:27They remembered the very same places in Narnia—the grasslands up above Beaver's Dam—and
00:43:32found that they were some sort of second cousins once removed.
00:43:36This made things more and more uncomfortable for the humans, until at last Bree said,
00:43:41And now, Tarkina, tell us your story.
00:43:45And don't hurry it.
00:43:47I'm feeling comfortable now.
00:43:49Aravis immediately began, sitting quite still, and using a rather different tone and style
00:43:55from her usual one.
00:43:57For in Kalomin, storytelling—whether the stories are true or made up—is a thing you're
00:44:02taught, just as English boys and girls are taught essay writing.
00:44:06The difference is that people want to hear the stories, whereas I never heard of anyone
00:44:11who wanted to read the essays.
00:44:18CHAPTER III
00:44:20AT THE GATES OF TASHBAN
00:44:23My name, said the girl at once, is Aravis Tarkina, and I am the only daughter of Khidrash
00:44:30Takhan, the son of Rishti Takhan, the son of Khidrash Takhan, the son of Ilsombre Tizrok,
00:44:37the son of Adib Tizrok, who has descended in a right line from the god Tash.
00:44:42My father is the lord of the province of Kalavar, and is one who has the right of standing on
00:44:47his feet in his shoes before the face of Tizrok himself, may he live for ever.
00:44:52My mother, on whom be the peace of the gods, is dead, and my father has married another
00:44:57wife.
00:44:59One of my brothers has fallen in battle against the rebels in the far west, and the other
00:45:04is a child.
00:45:05Now it came to pass that my father's wife, my stepmother, hated me, and the sun appeared
00:45:11dark in her eyes as long as I lived in my father's house, and so she persuaded my father
00:45:16to promise me a marriage to Ahoshta Takhan.
00:45:20Now this Ahoshta is of base birth, though in these latter years he has won the favour
00:45:26of the Tizrok, may he live for ever, by flattery and evil counsels, and is now made a Takhan,
00:45:32and the lord of many cities, and is likely to be chosen as the Grand Vizier when the
00:45:37present Grand Vizier dies.
00:45:40Moreover, he is at least sixty years old, and has a hump on his back, and his face resembles
00:45:46that of an ape.
00:45:48Nevertheless, my father, because of the wealth and power of this Ahoshta, and being persuaded
00:45:53by his wife, sent messengers offering me in marriage, and the offer was favourably
00:45:59accepted, and Ahoshta sent word that he would marry me this very year, at the time of high
00:46:04summer.
00:46:06When this news was brought to me, the sun appeared dark in my eyes, and I laid myself
00:46:11on my bed and wept for a day.
00:46:14But on the second day I rose up and washed my face, and caused my mare, Hwin, to be saddled,
00:46:19and took with me a sharp dagger which my brother had carried in the western wars, and rode
00:46:24out alone.
00:46:26And when my father's house was out of sight, and I was come to a green open place in a
00:46:30certain wood where there were no dwellings of men, I dismounted from Hwin, my mare, and
00:46:36took out the dagger.
00:46:38Then I parted my clothes where I thought the readiest way lay to my heart, and I prayed
00:46:43to all the gods that as soon as I was dead I might find myself with my brother.
00:46:50After that I shut my eyes and my teeth, and prepared to drive the dagger into my heart.
00:46:57But before I had done so, this mare spoke with the voice of one of the daughters of
00:47:02men, and said,
00:47:04O my mistress, do not by any means destroy yourself, for if you live you may yet have
00:47:10good fortune, but all the dead are dead alike.
00:47:14I didn't say it half so well as that, muttered the mare.
00:47:19Hush, ma'am, hush, said Brie, who was thoroughly enjoying the story.
00:47:23She's telling it in the grand Calormine manner, and no storyteller in a Tisrock's
00:47:28court could do it better.
00:47:30Pray go on, Tarkina.
00:47:34When I heard the language of men uttered by my mare, continued Aravis, I said to myself,
00:47:40The fear of death has disordered my reason, and subjected me to delusions.
00:47:46And I became full of shame, for none of my lineage ought to fear death more than the
00:47:50biting of a gnat.
00:47:52Therefore I addressed myself a second time to the stabbing.
00:47:56But Whyn came near to me, and put her head in between me and the dagger, in discourse
00:48:01to me most excellent reasons, and rebuked me as a mother rebukes her daughter.
00:48:06And now my wonder was so great, that I forgot about killing myself, and about Ahoshta, and
00:48:12said, Oh, my mare, how have you learned to speak like one of the daughters of men?
00:48:18And Whyn told me what is known to all this company, that in Narnia there are beasts that
00:48:23talk, and how she herself was stolen from thence when she was a little foal.
00:48:28She told me also of the woods and waters of Narnia, and the castles and the great ships,
00:48:33till I said, In the name of Tash, and Azaroth, and Zardina, lady of the night, I have a great
00:48:40wish to be in that country of Narnia.
00:48:43Oh, my mistress, answered the mare, if you were in Narnia, you would be happy, for in
00:48:49that land no maiden is forced to marry against her will.
00:48:53And when we had talked together for a great time, hope returned to me, and I rejoiced
00:48:59that I had not killed myself.
00:49:01Moreover, it was agreed between Whyn and me that we should steal ourselves away together,
00:49:06and we planned it in this fashion.
00:49:09We returned to my father's house, and I put on my brightest clothes, and sang and danced
00:49:14before my father, and pretended to be delighted with the marriage which he had prepared for
00:49:19me.
00:49:20Also I said to him, Oh, my father, and oh the delight of my eyes, give me your license
00:49:26and permission to go with one of my maidens alone for three days into the woods, to do
00:49:31secret sacrifices to Zardina, lady of the night and of maidens, as is proper and customary
00:49:38for damsels when they must bid farewell to the service of Zardina, and prepare themselves
00:49:43for marriage.
00:49:44And he answered, Oh, my daughter, and oh the delight of my eyes, so shall it be.
00:49:50But when I came out from the presence of my father, I went immediately to the oldest of
00:49:56his slaves, his secretary, who had dandled me on his knees when I was a baby, and loved
00:50:01me more than the air and the light.
00:50:04And I swore him to be secret, and begged him to write a certain letter for me, and he wept
00:50:10and implored me to change my resolution, but in the end he said, To hear is to obey, and
00:50:17did all my will.
00:50:20And I sealed the letter, and hid it in my bosom.
00:50:24But what was in the letter?
00:50:25asked Shasta.
00:50:27Be quiet, youngster, said Brie, you're spoiling the story.
00:50:31She'll tell us all about the letter in the right place.
00:50:34Go on, Tarkina.
00:50:37Then I called the maid who was to go with me to the woods, and perform the rites of
00:50:41Zardina, and told her to wake me very early in the morning, and I became merry with her
00:50:46and gave her wine to drink.
00:50:48But I had mixed such things in her cup that I knew she must sleep for a night and a day.
00:50:53As soon as the household of my father had committed themselves to sleep, I arose and
00:50:58put on an armour of my brother's, which I always kept in my chamber in his memory.
00:51:03I put into my girdle all the money I had, and certain choice jewels, and provided myself
00:51:08also with food, and saddled the mare with my own hands, and rode away in the second
00:51:13watch of the night.
00:51:14I directed my course not to the woods where my father supposed that I would go, but north
00:51:20and east, to Tashban.
00:51:23Now for three days and more I knew that my father would not seek me, being deceived by
00:51:27the words I had said to him.
00:51:29And on the fourth day we arrived at the city of Azimbalda.
00:51:33Now Azimbalda stands at the meeting of many roads, and from it the posts of the Tisrok
00:51:38may he live for ever, ride on swift horses to every part of the empire.
00:51:43And it is one of the rights and privileges of the greater Takans to send messages by
00:51:47them.
00:51:49I therefore went to the chief of the messengers in the house of imperial posts in Azimbalda,
00:51:54and said,
00:51:55O dispatcher of messages, here is a letter from my uncle Ahoshta Takan to Kidrash Takan,
00:52:01lord of Kalavar.
00:52:02Take now these five crescents, and cause it to be sent to him.
00:52:06And the chief of the messengers said, To hear is to obey.
00:52:11This letter was fain to be written by Ahoshta, and this was the signification of the writing.
00:52:17Ahoshta Takan to Kidrash Takan, Salutation and Peace.
00:52:23In the name of Tash the Irresistible, the Inexorable, be it known to you that as I made
00:52:29my journey toward your house to perform the contract of marriage between me and your daughter
00:52:33Aravis Tahina, it pleased fortune and the gods that I fell in with her in the forest
00:52:38when she had ended the rites and sacrifices of Zardina according to the custom of maidens.
00:52:44And when I learned who she was, being delighted with her beauty and discretion, I became inflamed
00:52:50with love, and it appeared to me that the sun would be dark to me if I did not marry
00:52:54her at once.
00:52:56Accordingly, I prepared the necessary sacrifices, and married your daughter the same hour that
00:53:00I met her, and have returned with her to my own house.
00:53:05And we both pray and charge you to come hither as speedily as you may, that we may be delighted
00:53:10with your face and speech, and also that you may bring with you the dowry of my wife, which,
00:53:15by reason of my great charges and expenses, I require without delay.
00:53:20And because thou and I are brothers, I assure myself that you will not be angered by the
00:53:25haste of my marriage which is wholly occasioned by the great love I bear your daughter, and
00:53:30I commit you to the care of all the gods."
00:53:33As soon as I had done this, I rode on in all haste from Azimbalde, fearing no pursuit,
00:53:39and expecting that my father, having received such a letter, would send messages to Ahashta
00:53:44to go to him himself, and that before the matter was discovered, I should be beyond
00:53:49Tashban.
00:53:51And that is the pith of my story until this very night, when I was chased by lions, and
00:53:56met you at the swimming of the salt water.
00:54:00"'And what happened to the girl, the one you drugged?' asked Shasta.
00:54:05"'Doubtless she was beaten for sleeping late,' said Aravis coolly.
00:54:09"'But she was a tool and spy of my stepmothers.
00:54:12I am very glad they should beat her.'
00:54:15"'I say that was hardly fair,' said Shasta.
00:54:18"'I did not do any of these things for the sake of pleasing you,' said Aravis.
00:54:23"'And there's another thing I don't understand about that story,' said Shasta.
00:54:27"'You're not grown up.
00:54:28I don't believe you're any older than I am.
00:54:31I don't believe you're as old.
00:54:33How could you be getting married at your age?'
00:54:36Aravis said nothing.
00:54:38But Brie at once said,
00:54:40"'Shasta, don't display your ignorance.
00:54:42They're always married at that age in the great Takhan families.'
00:54:47Shasta turned very red, though it was hardly light enough for the others to see this,
00:54:52and felt snubbed.
00:54:53"'Aravis asked Brie for his story.
00:54:57Brie told it.
00:54:58And Shasta thought that he put in a great deal more than he needed
00:55:01about the fools and the bad riding.
00:55:04Brie obviously thought it very funny.
00:55:06But Aravis did not laugh.
00:55:09When Brie had finished, they all went to sleep.
00:55:14The next day all four of them, two horses and two humans,
00:55:18continued their journey together.
00:55:21Shasta thought it had been much pleasanter when he and Brie were on their own.
00:55:25For now it was Brie and Aravis who did nearly all the talking.
00:55:29Brie had lived a long time in Kalormen, and had always been among Takhan's and Takhan's horses.
00:55:34And so, of course, he knew a great many of the same people and places that Aravis knew.
00:55:39She would always be saying things like,
00:55:41"'But if you were at the fight of Zulindri, you would have seen my cousin, Alimash.'
00:55:45And Brie would answer,
00:55:46"'Oh, yes, Alimash.
00:55:48He was only captain of the chariots, you know.
00:55:51I don't quite hold with chariots, or the kind of horses who draw chariots.
00:55:56That's not real cavalry.
00:55:58But he is a worthy nobleman.
00:56:00He filled my nose-bag with sugar after the taking of Tibet.'
00:56:03Or else Brie would say,
00:56:05"'I was down at the lake of Mezreel that summer.'
00:56:08And Aravis would say,
00:56:09"'Oh, Mezreel!
00:56:10I had a friend there, Lazaralin Tarkina.
00:56:13What a delightful place it is!
00:56:16Those gardens, and the Valley of the Thousand Perfumes!'
00:56:20Brie was not in the least trying to leave Shasta out of things,
00:56:23though Shasta sometimes nearly thought he was.
00:56:26People who know a lot of the same things can hardly help talking about them,
00:56:30and if you are there, you can hardly help feeling that you are out of it.
00:56:34Hwin, the mare, was rather shy before a great war-horse like Brie, and said very little.
00:56:39And Aravis never spoke to Shasta at all, if she could help it.
00:56:43Soon, however, they had more important things to think of.
00:56:46They were getting near Tashban.
00:56:48There were more and larger villages, and more people on the roads.
00:56:53They now did nearly all their travelling by night,
00:56:55and hid as best they could during the day.
00:56:58And at every halt they argued and argued about what they were to do when they reached Tashban.
00:57:03Everyone had been putting off this difficulty,
00:57:05but now it could be put off no longer.
00:57:08During these discussions, Aravis became a little, a very little, less unfriendly to Shasta.
00:57:14One usually gets on better with people when one is making plans
00:57:17than when one is talking about nothing in particular.
00:57:20Brie said the first thing now to do was to fix a place where they would all promise to meet
00:57:25on the far side of Tashban, even if, by any ill-luck, they got separated in passing the city.
00:57:32He said the best place would be the tombs of the ancient kings
00:57:35on the very edge of the desert.
00:57:36Things like great stone beehives, he said.
00:57:39You can't possibly miss them.
00:57:40And the best of it is that none of the Kalormenes will go near them,
00:57:43because they think the place is haunted by ghouls, and are afraid of it.
00:57:48Aravis asked if it wasn't really haunted by ghouls.
00:57:52But Brie said he was a free Narnian horse and didn't believe in these Kalormene tales.
00:57:58And then Shasta said he wasn't a Kalormene either,
00:58:00and didn't care a straw about these old stories of ghouls.
00:58:03This wasn't quite true, but it rather impressed Aravis,
00:58:07though at the moment it annoyed her, too.
00:58:09And of course she said she didn't mind any number of ghouls either.
00:58:13So it was settled that the tomb should be their assembly-place on the other side of Tashban,
00:58:18and everyone felt that they were getting on very well, till Hwin humbly pointed out
00:58:22that the real problem was not where they should go when they had got through Tashban,
00:58:26but how they were to get through it.
00:58:28We'll settle that to-morrow, ma'am, said Brie.
00:58:32Time for a little sleep now.
00:58:34But it wasn't easy to settle.
00:58:37Aravis's first suggestion was that they should swim across the river below the city during the night,
00:58:41and not go into Tashban at all.
00:58:44But Brie had two reasons against this.
00:58:47One was that the river-mouth was very wide,
00:58:49and it would be far too long a swim for Hwin to do, especially with a rider on her back.
00:58:53He thought it would be a good idea to go to Tashban,
00:58:56especially with a rider on her back.
00:58:58He thought it would be too long for himself, too, but he said much less about that.
00:59:03The other was that it would be full of shipping,
00:59:05and of course anyone on the deck of a ship who saw two horses swimming past
00:59:10would be almost certain to be inquisitive.
00:59:13Shasta thought they should go up the river above Tashban, and cross it where it was narrower.
00:59:18But Brie explained that there were gardens and pleasure-houses on both banks of the river for
00:59:22miles, and that there would be Tarkans and Tarkinas living in them,
00:59:26and riding about the roads and having water-parties on the river.
00:59:29In fact, it would be the most likely place in the world for meeting someone
00:59:32who would recognise Aravis, or even himself.
00:59:36We'll have to have a disguise, said Shasta.
00:59:40Hwin said it looked to her as if the safest thing was to go right through the city itself,
00:59:44from gate to gate, because one was less likely to be noticed in the crowd.
00:59:49But she approved of the idea of disguise as well.
00:59:52She said,
00:59:53Both the humans will have to dress in rags and look like peasants or slaves,
00:59:58and all Aravis's armour and our saddles and things must be made into bundles and put on our backs,
01:00:04and the children must pretend to drive us, and people will think we're only pack-horses.
01:00:09My dear Hwin, said Aravis, rather scornfully,
01:00:12as if anyone could mistake Brie for anything but a war-horse, however you disguised him.
01:00:17I should think not, indeed, said Brie, snorting and letting his ears go ever so little back.
01:00:24I know it's not a very good plan, said Hwin, but I think it's our only chance,
01:00:30and we haven't been groomed for ages, and we're not looking quite ourselves,
01:00:35at least I'm sure I'm not.
01:00:37I do think if we get well plastered with mud and go along with our heads down,
01:00:41as if we're tired and lazy, and don't lift our hoofs hardly at all,
01:00:46we might not be noticed, and our tails ought to be cut shorter, not neatly, you know, but all ragged.
01:00:53My dear madam, said Brie, have you pictured to yourself how very disagreeable it will be
01:00:58to arrive in Narnia in that condition?
01:01:01Well, said Hwin humbly, she was a very sensible mare, the main thing is to get there.
01:01:10Though nobody much liked it, it was Hwin's plan which had to be adopted in the end.
01:01:15It was a troublesome one, and involved a certain amount of what Shasta called
01:01:19stealing, and Brie called raiding.
01:01:22One farm lost a few sacks that evening, and another lost a coil of rope the next.
01:01:27But some tattered old boys' clothes for Aravis to wear had to be fairly bought and paid for
01:01:32in a village.
01:01:33Shasta returned with them in triumph just as evening was closing in.
01:01:37The others were waiting for him among the trees at the foot of a low range of wooded hills which
01:01:42lay right across their path.
01:01:44Everyone was feeling excited because this was the last hill.
01:01:48When they reached the ridge at the top, they would be looking down on Tashban.
01:01:53I do wish we were safely past it, muttered Shasta to Hwin.
01:01:58Oh, I do, I do, said Hwin fervently.
01:02:04That night they wound their way through the woods up to the ridge by a woodcutter's track,
01:02:09and when they came out of the woods at the top, they could see thousands of lights in
01:02:13the valley below them.
01:02:15Shasta had had no notion of what a great city would be like, and it frightened him.
01:02:20They had their supper, and the children got some sleep.
01:02:24But the horses woke them very early in the morning.
01:02:27The stars were still out, and the grass was terribly cold and wet, but daybreak was just
01:02:32beginning, far to their right across the sea.
01:02:36Aravis went a few steps away into the wood, and came back looking odd in her new ragged
01:02:40clothes, and carrying her real ones in a bundle.
01:02:44These, and her armour, and shield, and scimitar, and the two saddles, and the rest of the horse's
01:02:49fine furnishings, were put into the sacks.
01:02:52Brie and Hwin had already got themselves as dirty and bedraggled as they could, and it
01:02:56remained to shorten their tails.
01:02:58As the only tool for doing this was Aravis's scimitar, one of the packs had to be undone
01:03:02again in order to get it out.
01:03:04It was a longish job, and rather hurt the horses.
01:03:08"'My word!' said Brie.
01:03:10"'If I wasn't a talking-horse, what a lovely kick in the face I could give you!
01:03:14I thought you were going to cut it, not pull it out.
01:03:17That's what it feels like!'
01:03:19But in spite of semi-darkness and cold fingers, all was done in the end.
01:03:25The big packs bound on the horses, the rope-halters, which they were now wearing instead of bridles
01:03:30and reins, in the children's hands, and the journey began.
01:03:35"'Remember,' said Brie, "'keep together, if we possibly can.
01:03:40If not, meet at the tombs of the ancient kings.
01:03:43And whoever gets there first, must wait for the others.'
01:03:48"'And remember,' said Chester, "'don't you two horses forget yourselves and start
01:03:52talking, whatever happens!''