Narnia: The Horse and His Boy - Audiobook - Pt 3/4 - video Dailymotion

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The Chronicles of Narnia: The Horse and His Boy - Audiobook - Pt 3/4   Complete unabridged, read by Alex Jennings   00:00:00 - Chapter 8  00:17:55 - Chapter 9  00:36:39 - Chapter 10  00:55:41 - Chapter 11

Transcript

00:00:00Chapter 8 In the House of the Tisrock

00:00:08O my father, and o'er the delight of my eyes! began the young man, muttering the words very

00:00:15quickly and sulkily, and not at all as if the Tisrock were the delight of his eyes.

00:00:19May you live for ever, but you have utterly destroyed me. If you had given me the swiftest

00:00:26of the galleys at sunrise, when I first saw that the ship of the accursed barbarians was

00:00:30gone from her place, I would perhaps have overtaken them. But you persuaded me to send

00:00:35first and see if they had not merely moved round the point into better anchorage. And

00:00:40now the whole day has been wasted, and they are gone, gone out of my reach, the false

00:00:46jade, the—' And here he added a great many descriptions

00:00:50of Queen Susan, which would not look at all nice in print. For, of course, this young

00:00:55man was Prince Rabadash, and, of course, the false jade was Susan of Narnia.

00:01:01Compose yourself, O my son, said the Tisrock, for the departure of guests makes a wound

00:01:09that is easily healed in the heart of a judicious host.

00:01:13But I want her, cried the Prince. I must have her. I shall die if I do not get her, false

00:01:19proud, black-hearted daughter of a dog that she is. I cannot sleep, and my food has no

00:01:25savour, and my eyes are darkened because of her beauty. I must have the barbarian queen.

00:01:32How well it was said by a gifted poet, observed the Vizier, raising his face, in a somewhat

00:01:38dusty condition, from the carpet, that deep draughts from the fountain of reason are desirable

00:01:44in order to extinguish the fire of youthful love.

00:01:49This seemed to exasperate the Prince.

00:01:51"'Dog!' he shouted, directing a series of well-aimed kicks at the hind-quarters of

00:01:56the Vizier. Do not dare to quote the poets to me. I have had maxims and verses flung

00:02:02at me all day, and I can endure them no more."

00:02:06I am afraid Alavis did not feel at all sorry for the Vizier.

00:02:10The Tisrock was apparently sunk in thought, but when, after a long pause, he noticed what

00:02:15was happening, he said, tranquilly,

00:02:18"'My son, by all means desist from kicking the venerable and enlightened Vizier, for

00:02:24as a costly jewel retains its value even if hidden in a dunghill, so old age and discretion

00:02:31are to be respected even in the vile persons of our subjects. Desist, therefore, and tell

00:02:37us what you desire and propose.'"

00:02:40"'I desire and propose, O my father,' said Rabidash, "'that you immediately call out

00:02:47your invincible armies, and invade the thrice-accursed land of Narnia, and waste it with fire and

00:02:53sword, and add it to your illimitable empire, killing their High King and all of his blood

00:02:58except the Queen Susan. For I must have her as my wife, though she shall learn a sharp

00:03:03lesson first.'"

00:03:04"'Understand, O my son,' said the Tisrock, "'that no words you can speak will move me

00:03:11to open war against Narnia.'"

00:03:13"'If you were not my father, O ever-living Tisrock,' said the Prince, grinding his teeth,

00:03:20"'I should say that was the word of a coward.' "'And if you were not my son, O most inflammable

00:03:27Rabidash,' replied his father, "'your life would be short, and your death slow, when

00:03:33you had said it.' The cool, placid voice in which he spoke these words made Aravis's

00:03:39blood run cold."

00:03:40"'But why, O my father,' said the Prince, this time in a much more respectful voice,

00:03:47"'why should we think twice about punishing Narnia, any more than about hanging an idle

00:03:52slave, or sending a worn-out horse to be made into dog's-meat? It is not the fourth size

00:03:57of one of your least provinces. A thousand spears could conquer it in five weeks. It

00:04:03is an unseemly blot on the skirts of your empire.'"

00:04:06"'Most undoubtedly,' said the Tisrock, "'these little barbarian countries that call themselves

00:04:13free—which is as much as to say idle, disordered, and unprofitable—are hateful to the gods,

00:04:21and to all persons of discernment. Then why have we suffered such a land as Narnia, to

00:04:26remain thus long unsubdued?'

00:04:29"'No, O enlightened Prince,' said the Grand Vizier, "'that until the year in which your

00:04:35exalted father began his salutary and unending reign, the land of Narnia was covered with

00:04:41ice and snow, and was moreover ruled by a most powerful enchantress.'"

00:04:46"'This I know very well, O loquacious Vizier,' answered the Prince, "'but I know also that

00:04:54the enchantress is dead, and the ice and snow have vanished, so that Narnia is now

00:05:00wholesome, fruitful, and delicious.'"

00:05:02"'And this change, O most learned Prince, has doubtless been brought to pass by the

00:05:08powerful incantations of those wicked persons who now call themselves Kings and Queens of

00:05:14Narnia.'"

00:05:15"'I am rather of the opinion,' said Rabadash, "'that it has come about by the alteration

00:05:20of the stars and the operation of natural causes.'"

00:05:23"'All this,' said the Tisrock, "'is a question for the disputations of learned men.

00:05:31I will never believe that so great an alteration and the killing of the old enchantress were

00:05:35effected without the aid of strong magic.

00:05:39And such things are to be expected in that land, which is chiefly inhabited by demons

00:05:44in the shape of beasts that talk like men, and monsters that are half-man and half-beast.

00:05:51It is commonly reported that the High King of Narnia, whom may the gods utterly reject,

00:05:56is supported by a demon of hideous aspect and irresistible maleficence, who appears

00:06:02in the shape of a lion.

00:06:05Therefore the attacking of Narnia is a dark and doubtful enterprise, and I am determined

00:06:10not to put my hand out farther than I can draw it back.'"

00:06:13"'How blessed is Calormen,' said the Vizier, popping up his face again, "'on whose ruler

00:06:20the gods have been pleased to bestow prudence and circumspection!

00:06:24Yet as the irrefutable and sapient Tisrock has said, it is very grievous to be constrained

00:06:29to keep our hands off such a dainty dish as Narnia.'

00:06:34Gifted was that poet who said—'But at this point Ahoshta noticed an impatient movement

00:06:39of the Prince's toe, and became suddenly silent.'

00:06:42"'It is very grievous,' said the Tisrock, in his deep, quiet voice.

00:06:48"'Every morning the sun is darkened in my eyes, and every night my sleep is the less

00:06:53refreshing, because I remember that Narnia is still free.'"

00:06:58"'O my father,' said Rabidash, "'how if I show you a way by which you can stretch

00:07:04out your arm to take Narnia, and yet draw it back unharmed, if the attempt prove unfortunate?'

00:07:11"'If you can show me that, O Rabidash,' said the Tisrock, "'you will be the best

00:07:17of sons.'"

00:07:18"'Here, then, O father, this very night and in this hour I will take but two hundred

00:07:24horses and ride across the desert, and it shall seem to all men that you know nothing

00:07:29of my going.

00:07:30On the second morning I shall be at the gates of King Loon's castle of Anvard in Arkenland,

00:07:36there at peace with us, and unprepared, and I shall take Anvard before they have bestirred

00:07:40themselves.

00:07:42Then I will ride through the pass above Anvard and down through Narnia to Ker Paravell.

00:07:47The High King will not be there.

00:07:50When I left them he was already preparing a raid against the giants on his northern

00:07:54border.

00:07:55I shall find Ker Paravell, most likely with open gates, and ride in.

00:08:00I shall exercise prudence and courtesy, and spill as little Narnian blood as I can.

00:08:05And what, then, remains but to sit there till the splendour hire-line puts in with Queen

00:08:10Susan on board, catch my strayed bird as she sets foot ashore, swing her into the saddle,

00:08:16and then ride, ride, ride back to Anvard?'

00:08:19"'But is it not probable, O my son,' said the Tisrock, "'that at the taking of

00:08:26the woman, either King Edmund, or you, will lose his life?'

00:08:31"'They will be a small company,' said Rabadash, "'and I will order ten of my

00:08:36men to disarm and bind him, restraining my vehement desire for his blood, so that there

00:08:42should be no deadly cause of war between you and the High King.'

00:08:46"'And how, if the splendour hire-line is at Ker Paravell before you?'

00:08:52"'I do not look for that with these winds, O my father.'

00:08:56"'And lastly, O my resourceful son,' said the Tisrock, "'you have made clear

00:09:02how all this might give you the barbarian woman, but not how it helps me to the overthrowing

00:09:08of Narnia.'

00:09:09"'O my father, can it have escaped you that though I and my horseman will come and

00:09:14go through Narnia like an arrow from a bow, yet we shall have Anvard for ever, and when

00:09:20you hold Anvard, you sit in the very gate of Narnia, and your garrison in Anvard can

00:09:25be increased by little and little, till it is a great host.'

00:09:28"'It is spoken with understanding and foresight, but how do I draw back my arm if all this

00:09:36miscarries?'

00:09:37"'You shall say that I did it without your knowledge, and against your will, and

00:09:42without your blessing, being constrained by the violence of my love and impetuosity of

00:09:48youth.

00:09:49"'And how, if the High King then demands that we send back the barbarian woman, his

00:09:54sister?'

00:09:55"'O my father, be assured that he will not.

00:09:58For though the fancy of a woman has rejected this marriage, the High King Peter is a man

00:10:03of prudence and understanding, who will in no way wish to lose the high honour and advantage

00:10:08of being allied to our house, and seeing his nephew and grand-nephew on the throne of Calormen.'

00:10:15"'He will not see that if I live forever, as is no doubt your wish,' said the Tisrock,

00:10:23in an even drier voice than usual.

00:10:25"'And also, O my father, and O the delight of my eyes,' said the Prince, after a moment

00:10:33of awkward silence, "'we shall write letters, as if from the Queen, to say that she loves

00:10:38me and has no desire to return to Narnia, for it is well known that women are as changeable

00:10:44as weather-cocks.

00:10:46And even if they do not wholly believe the letters, they will not dare to come to Tashbarn

00:10:51in arms to fetch her.'

00:10:52"'O enlightened Vizier,' said the Tisrock, "'bestow your wisdom upon us concerning this

00:11:00strange proposal.'

00:11:01"'O eternal Tisrock,' answered Ahosta, "'the strength of paternal affection is not unknown

00:11:09to me, and I have often heard that sons are in the eyes of their fathers more precious

00:11:13than carbuncles.

00:11:14How, then, shall I dare freely to unfold to you my mind in a matter which may imperil

00:11:20the life of this exalted Prince?'

00:11:22"'Undoubtedly you will dare,' replied the Tisrock, "'because you will find that the

00:11:28dangers of not doing so are at least equally great.'

00:11:31"'To hear is to obey,' moaned the wretched man.

00:11:36"'Know, then, O most reasonable Tisrock, in the first place, that the danger of the

00:11:42Prince is not altogether so great as might appear.

00:11:45For the gods have withheld from the barbarians the light of discretion, as that their poetry

00:11:50is not, like ours, full of choice epithems and useful maxims, but is all of love and

00:11:56war.

00:11:58Therefore nothing will appear to them more noble and admirable than such a mad enterprise

00:12:02as this of—'

00:12:03"'Ow!'

00:12:04For the Prince, at the word mad, had kicked him.

00:12:08"'Desist, O my son,' said the Tisrock, "'and you, estimable Vizier, whether he desists

00:12:15or not, by no means allow the flow of your eloquence to be interrupted, for nothing is

00:12:20more suitable to persons of gravity and decorum than to endure minor inconveniences with constancy.'

00:12:27"'To hear is to obey,' said the Vizier, wriggling himself round a little, so as to

00:12:33get his hinderparts further away from Rabadash's toe.

00:12:37"'Nothing, I say, will seem as pardonable, if not estimable, in their eyes, as this hazardous

00:12:44attempt, especially because it is undertaken for the love of a woman.

00:12:49Therefore, if the Prince, by misfortune, fell into their hands, they would assuredly not

00:12:54kill him.

00:12:55Nay, it may even be, that though he failed to carry off the Queen, yet the sight of his

00:13:00great valour, and of the extremity of his passion, might incline her heart to him.'

00:13:06"'That is a good point, O Babler,' said Rabadash, very good, however it came into your ugly

00:13:13head."

00:13:14"'The praise of my masters is the light of my eyes,' said Ahoshta.

00:13:18"'And secondly, O Tisrock, whose reign must and shall be interminable, I think that with

00:13:24the aid of the gods it is very likely that Anvad will fall into the Prince's hands, and

00:13:30if so, we have Narnia by the throat.'

00:13:34There was a long pause, and the room became so silent that the two girls hardly dared

00:13:39to breathe.

00:13:40At last the Tisrock spoke.

00:13:42"'Go, my son,' he said, and do as you have said, but expect no help nor countenance from

00:13:50me.

00:13:51I will not avenge you if you are killed, and I will not deliver you if the barbarians cast

00:13:56you into prison.

00:13:57And if, either in success or failure, you shed a drop more than you need of Narnian

00:14:02noble blood, and open war arises from it, my favour shall never fall upon you again,

00:14:08and your next brother shall have your place in Kalormen.

00:14:12Now go, be swift, secret, and fortunate.

00:14:16May the strength of Tash the inexorable, the irresistible, be in your sword and lance."

00:14:23"'To hear is to obey,' cried Rabadash, and, after kneeling for a moment to kiss his father's

00:14:28hands, he rushed from the room.

00:14:31Greatly to the disappointment of Aravis, who was now horribly cramped, the Tisrock and

00:14:35Vizier remained.

00:14:37"'O Vizier,' said the Tisrock, "'is it certain that no living soul knows of this council

00:14:45we three have held here to-night?'

00:14:47"'O my master,' said Ahoshta, "'it is not possible that any should know.

00:14:53For that very reason I proposed, and you in your wisdom agreed, that we should meet here

00:14:58in the old palace, where no council is ever held, and none of the household has any occasion

00:15:03to come.'"

00:15:04"'It is well,' said the Tisrock.

00:15:07"'If any man knew, I would see to it that he died before an hour had passed.

00:15:14And you also, O prudent Vizier, forget it.

00:15:18I sponge away from my own heart, and from yours, all knowledge of the Prince's plans.

00:15:24He is gone without my knowledge or my consent, I know not whether, because of his violence

00:15:28and the rash and disobedient disposition of youth.

00:15:32No man will be more astonished than you and I to hear that Anvad is in his hands.'"

00:15:39"'To hear is to obey,' said Ahoshta.

00:15:43"'That is why you will never think even in your secret heart that I am the hardest-hearted

00:15:49of fathers who thus sends my first-born son on an errand so likely to be his death.

00:15:56Pleasing as it must be to you, who do not love the Prince, for I see into the bottom

00:16:02of your mind.'"

00:16:03"'O impeccable Tisrock,' said the Vizier, "'in comparison with you, I love neither

00:16:10the Prince, nor my own life, nor bread, nor water, nor the light of the sun.'"

00:16:15"'Your sentiments,' said the Tisrock, "'are elevated and correct.

00:16:21I also love none of these things in comparison with the glory and strength of my throne.

00:16:27If the Prince succeeds, we have Arkenland, and perhaps hereafter Narnia.

00:16:33If he fails, I have eighteen other sons, and Rabadash, after the manner of the eldest sons

00:16:39of kings, was beginning to be dangerous.

00:16:43More than five Tisrocks in Tashbarn have died before their time, because their eldest sons,

00:16:49enlightened princes, grew tired of waiting for their throne.

00:16:53He had better cool his blood abroad, than boil it in inaction here.'"

00:16:58"'And now, O excellent Vizier, the excess of my paternal anxiety inclines me to sleep.

00:17:06Command the musicians to my chamber.

00:17:08But before you lie down, call back the pardon we wrote for the third cook.

00:17:12I feel within me the manifest prognostics of indigestion.'"

00:17:16"'To hear is to obey,' said the grand Vizier.

00:17:22He crawled backward on all fours to the door, rose, bowed, and went out.

00:17:28Even then the Tisrock remained seated in silence on the divan, till Aravis almost began to

00:17:33be afraid that he had dropped asleep.

00:17:35But at last, with a great creaking and sighing, he heaved up his enormous body, signed to

00:17:41the slaves to precede him with the lights, and went out.

00:17:45The door closed behind him, the room was once more totally dark, and the two girls could

00:17:50breathe freely again."

00:17:56CHAPTER NINE

00:17:57ACROSS THE DESERT

00:17:58"'How dreadful!

00:17:59How perfectly dreadful!' whimpered Lazareline.

00:18:00"'Oh, darling, I am so frightened!

00:18:01I am shaking all over.

00:18:02Feel me!'

00:18:03"'Come on,' said Aravis, who was trembling herself.

00:18:04"'They've gone back to the new palace.

00:18:05Once we're out of this room we're safe enough, but it's wasted a terrible time.

00:18:19Get me down to that water-gate as quick as you can.'"

00:18:22"'Darling, how can you?'

00:18:24squeaked Lazareline.

00:18:25"'I can't do anything.

00:18:27Not now.

00:18:28My poor nerves!

00:18:29No, we must just lie still a bit, and then go back.'

00:18:32"'Why back?' asked Aravis.

00:18:33"'Oh, don't you understand?

00:18:34You're so unsympathetic!' cried Lazareline, beginning to cry.

00:18:41Aravis decided it was no occasion for mercy.

00:18:43"'Look here!' she said, catching Lazareline and giving her a good shake.

00:18:47"'If you say another word about going back, and if you don't start taking me to that water-gate

00:18:52at once, do you know what I'll do?

00:18:54I'll rush out into that passage and scream.

00:18:56Then we'll both be caught.'"

00:18:57"'But we shall both be k-k-k-killed,' said Lazareline.

00:19:02"'Didn't you hear what the tisrock Mihilforever said?'

00:19:05"'Yes, and I'd sooner be killed than married to her hosta.

00:19:09So come on!'

00:19:10"'Oh, you are unkind,' said Lazareline, and I in such a state."

00:19:16But in the end she had to give in to Aravis.

00:19:19She led the way down the steps they had already descended, and along another corridor, and

00:19:23so finally out into the open air.

00:19:26They were now in the palace garden, which sloped down in terraces to the city wall.

00:19:30The moon shone brightly.

00:19:32One of the drawbacks about adventures is that when you come to the most beautiful places,

00:19:36you are often too anxious and hurried to appreciate them, so that Aravis, though she remembered

00:19:42them years later, had only a vague impression of grey lawns, quietly bubbling fountains,

00:19:47and the long black shadows of cypress trees.

00:19:51When they reached the very bottom, and the wall rose frowning above them, Lazareline

00:19:55was shaking so much that she could not unbolt the gate.

00:19:58Aravis did it.

00:19:59There, at last, was the river, full of reflected moonlight, and a little landing-stage, and

00:20:05a few pleasure-boats.

00:20:07"'Good-bye,' said Aravis, "'and thank you.

00:20:11I'm sorry if I've been a pig, but think what I'm flying from!'

00:20:16"'Oh, Aravis, darling,' said Lazareline, "'won't you change your mind, now that you've

00:20:21seen what a very great man a hosta is?'

00:20:24"'Great man!' said Aravis, "'a hideous grovelling slave who flatters when he's kicked, but treasures

00:20:30it all up, and hopes to get his own back by egging on that horrible Tisrock to plot his

00:20:34son's death.

00:20:36Foh!

00:20:37I'd sooner marry my father's scullion than a creature like that!'

00:20:41"'Oh, Aravis, Aravis, how can you say such dreadful things?

00:20:46And about the Tisrock may he live for ever, too.

00:20:49It must be right if he's going to do it!'

00:20:51"'Good-bye,' said Aravis, "'and I thought your dresses were lovely, and I think your

00:20:57house is lovely too.

00:20:59I'm sure you'll have a lovely life, though it wouldn't suit me.

00:21:03Close the door softly behind me.'

00:21:06She tore herself away from her friend's affectionate embraces, stepped into a punt, cast off, and

00:21:12a moment later was out in mid-stream, with a huge real moon overhead, and a huge reflected

00:21:17moon down, deep down in the river.

00:21:20The air was fresh and cool, and as she drew near the farther bank she heard the hooting

00:21:25of an owl.

00:21:26"'Ah, that's better,' thought Aravis.

00:21:29She had always lived in the country, and had hated every minute of her time in Tashban.

00:21:36When she stepped ashore she found herself in darkness, for the rise of the ground and

00:21:40the trees cut off the moonlight.

00:21:43But she managed to find the same road that Shasta had found, and came just as he had

00:21:48done to the end of the grass and the beginning of the sand, and looked like him to her left,

00:21:53and saw the big black tombs.

00:21:56And now at last, brave girl though she was, her heart quailed.

00:22:01Supposing the others weren't there!

00:22:03Supposing the ghouls were!

00:22:05But she stuck out her chin, and a little bit of her tongue, too, and went straight toward

00:22:10them.

00:22:11But before she had reached them, she saw Brie and Hwin, and the groom.

00:22:15"'You can go back to your mistress now,' said Aravis, quite forgetting that he couldn't

00:22:20until the city gates opened next morning.

00:22:22"'Here is money for your pains.'

00:22:24"'To hear is to obey,' said the groom, and at once set off at a remarkable speed

00:22:30in the direction of the city.

00:22:32There was no need to tell him to make haste.

00:22:34He also had been thinking a good deal about ghouls.

00:22:38For the next few seconds Aravis was busy kissing the noses and patting the necks of Hwin and

00:22:42Brie, just as if they were quite ordinary horses.

00:22:45"'And here comes Shasta, thanks be to the lion,' said Brie.

00:22:52Aravis looked round, and there, right enough, was Shasta, who had come out of hiding the

00:22:56moment he saw the groom going away.

00:22:58"'And now,' said Aravis, "'there's not a moment to lose.'

00:23:02And in hasty words she told them about Rabadash's expedition.

00:23:06"'Treacherous hounds!' said Brie, shaking his mane and stamping his hoof.

00:23:11"'An attack in time of peace, without defiance sent!

00:23:15But we'll grease his oats for him.

00:23:17We'll be there before he is.'

00:23:18"'Can we?' said Aravis, swinging herself into Hwin's saddle.

00:23:24Shasta wished he could mount like that.

00:23:26"'Bruh-hoo!' snorted Brie.

00:23:27"'Up you get, Shasta!

00:23:29Can we?

00:23:30And with a good start, too!'

00:23:32"'He said he was going to start at once,' said Aravis.

00:23:36"'That's how humans talk,' said Brie.

00:23:38"'But you don't get a company of two hundred horse and horsemen, watered and vittled and

00:23:42armed and saddled and started all in a minute.

00:23:45Now, what's our direction?

00:23:47To the north?'

00:23:48"'No,' said Shasta, 'I know about that.

00:23:51I've drawn a line.

00:23:52I'll explain later.

00:23:53Bear a bit to our left.

00:23:55Both you horses.

00:23:56Ah!

00:23:57Here it is!'

00:23:58"'Now,' said Brie, 'all that about galloping for a day and a night, like in stories, can't

00:24:03really be done.

00:24:04It must be walk and trot, but brisk trots and short walks.

00:24:07And whenever we walk, you two humans can slip off and walk, too.

00:24:11Now, are you ready, Hwin?

00:24:13Off we go!

00:24:15Narnia and the north!'

00:24:17At first it was delightful.

00:24:20The night had now been going on for so many hours that the sand had almost finished giving

00:24:24back all the sun-heat it had received during the day, and the air was cool, fresh and clear.

00:24:30Under the moonlight the sand, in every direction and as far as they could see, gleamed as if

00:24:35it were smooth water or a great silver tray.

00:24:39Except for the noise of Brie's and Hwin's hoofs, there was not a sound to be heard.

00:24:44Shasta would nearly have fallen asleep if he had not had to dismount and walk every

00:24:47now and then.

00:24:49This seemed to last for hours.

00:24:52Then there came a time when there was no longer any moon.

00:24:55They seemed to ride in the dead darkness for hours and hours.

00:24:59And after that there came a moment when Shasta noticed that he could see Brie's neck and

00:25:02head in front of him a little more clearly than before, and slowly, very slowly, he began

00:25:08to notice the vast grey flatness on every side.

00:25:12It looked absolutely dead, like something in a dead world, and Shasta felt quite terribly

00:25:18tired, and noticed that he was getting cold, and that his lips were dry.

00:25:23And all the time the squeak of the leather, the jingle of the bits, and the noise of the

00:25:28hoofs, not property, property, as it would be on a hard road, but thubbity, thubbity

00:25:33on the dry sand.

00:25:36At last, after hours of riding, far away on his right there came a single long streak

00:25:42of paler grey, low down on the horizon, then a streak of red.

00:25:47It was the morning at last, but without a single bird to sing about it.

00:25:52He was glad of the walking bits now, for he was colder than ever.

00:25:56Then suddenly the sun rose and everything changed in a moment.

00:26:00The grey sand turned yellow and twinkled as if it were strewn with diamonds.

00:26:05On their left, the shadows of Shasta and Hwin and Brie and Aravis, enormously long, raced

00:26:10beside them.

00:26:12The double peak of Mount Pyre, far ahead, flashed in the sunlight, and Shasta saw they

00:26:16were a little out of the course.

00:26:18A bit left, a bit left, he sang out.

00:26:21Best of all, when you look back, Tashbarn was already small and remote.

00:26:27The tombs were quite invisible, swallowed up in that single jagged-edged hump which

00:26:31was the city of the Tisrock.

00:26:34Everyone felt better.

00:26:36But not for long.

00:26:38So Tashbarn looked very far away when they first saw it.

00:26:41It refused to look any further away as they went on.

00:26:45Shasta gave up looking back at it, for it only gave him the feeling that they were not

00:26:48moving at all.

00:26:50Then the light became a nuisance.

00:26:52The glare of the sand made his eyes ache, but he knew he mustn't shut them.

00:26:56He must screw them up and keep on looking ahead at Mount Pyre and shouting out directions.

00:27:02Then came the heat.

00:27:03He noticed it for the first time when he had to dismount and walk.

00:27:07As he slipped down to the sand, the heat from it struck up into his face as if from

00:27:10the opening of an oven door.

00:27:13Next time it was worse, but the third time, as his bare feet touched the sand, he screamed

00:27:18with pain and got one foot back in the stirrup and the other half over Brie's back before

00:27:22you could have said, Knife!

00:27:24Sorry, Brie, he gasped.

00:27:26I can't walk.

00:27:28It burns my feet.

00:27:29Of course, panted Brie.

00:27:31Should have thought of that myself.

00:27:34Stay on.

00:27:35Can't be helped.

00:27:36It's all right for you, said Shasta to Aravis, who was walking beside Wynne.

00:27:40You've got shoes on.

00:27:43Aravis said nothing and looked prim.

00:27:45Let's hope she didn't mean to, but she did.

00:27:49On again, trot and walk and trot, jingle, jingle, jingle, squeak, squeak, squeak, smell

00:27:55of hot horse, smell of hot self, blinding glare, headache, and nothing at all different

00:28:00for mile after mile.

00:28:03Tash Barn would never look any further away.

00:28:05The mountains would never look any nearer.

00:28:08He felt this had been going on for always, jingle, jingle, jingle, squeak, squeak, squeak,

00:28:14smell of hot horse, smell of hot self.

00:28:18Of course, one tried all sorts of games with oneself to try to make the time pass, and

00:28:22of course they were all no good, and one tried very hard not to think of drinks, iced sherbet

00:28:27in a palace in Tash Barn, clear spring water tinkling with a dark earthy sound, cold smooth

00:28:35milk just creamy enough and not too creamy, and the harder you tried not to think, the

00:28:40more you thought.

00:28:42At last there was something different.

00:28:45A mass of rock sticking up out of the sand, about fifty yards long and thirty feet high.

00:28:50It did not cast much shadow, for the sun was now very high, but it cast a little.

00:28:55Into that shade they crowded.

00:28:58There they ate some food and drank a little water.

00:29:01It is not easy giving a horse a drink out of a skin bottle, but Bree and Hwin were clever

00:29:06with their lips.

00:29:07No one had anything like enough, no one spoke.

00:29:11The horses were flecked with foam and their breathing was noisy.

00:29:14The children were pale.

00:29:18After a very short rest they went on again, same noises, same smells, same glare, till

00:29:23at last their shadows began to fall on their right, and then got longer and longer, till

00:29:28they seemed to stretch out to the eastern end of the world.

00:29:32Very slowly the sun drew nearer to the western horizon, and now at last he was down, and

00:29:37thank goodness the merciless glare was gone, though the heat coming up from the sand was

00:29:42still as bad as ever.

00:29:44Four pairs of eyes were looking out eagerly for any sign of the valley that Salopad the

00:29:48Raven had spoken about, but mile after mile there was nothing but level sand.

00:29:54Now the day was quite definitely done, and most of the stars were out, and still the

00:29:59horses thundered on, and the children rose and sank in their saddles, miserable with

00:30:04thirst and weariness.

00:30:06Not till the moon had risen did Shasta, in the strange barking voice of someone whose

00:30:11mouth is perfectly dry, shout out,

00:30:14There it is!

00:30:16There was no mistaking it now.

00:30:18Ahead, and a little to their right, there was at last a slope, a slope downward and

00:30:23hummocks of rock on each side.

00:30:26The horses were far too tired to speak, but they swung round toward it, and in a minute

00:30:30or two they were entering the gully.

00:30:33At first it was worse in there than it had been out in the open desert, for there was

00:30:38a breathless stuffiness between the rocky walls and less moonlight.

00:30:42The slope continued steeply downward, and the rocks on either hand rose to the height

00:30:46of cliffs.

00:30:48Then they began to meet vegetation, prickly cactus-like plants and coarse grass of the

00:30:53kind that would prick your fingers.

00:30:55Soon the horse-hoofs were falling on pebbles and stones instead of sand.

00:31:00Round every bend of the valley, and it had many bends, they looked eagerly for water.

00:31:05The horses were nearly at the end of their strength now, and wind, stumbling and panting,

00:31:10was lagging behind Brie.

00:31:12They were almost in despair before at last they came to a little muddiness and a tiny

00:31:17trickle of water through softer and better grass.

00:31:20Then the trickle became a brook, and the brook became a stream with bushes on each

00:31:25side, and the stream became a river, and there came, after more disappointments than I could

00:31:29possibly describe, a moment when Shasta, who had been in a kind of doze, suddenly realized

00:31:35that Brie had stopped and found himself slipping off.

00:31:39Before them a little cataract of water poured into a broad pool, and both the horses were

00:31:45already in the pool, with their heads down, drinking, drinking, drinking.

00:31:50Oh!

00:31:51Oh! said Shasta, and plunged in, it was about up to his knees, and stooped his head right

00:31:56into the cataract.

00:31:58It was perhaps the loveliest moment in his life.

00:32:02It was about ten minutes later when all four of them, the two children wet nearly all over,

00:32:07came out and began to notice their surroundings.

00:32:10The moon was now high enough to peep down into the valley.

00:32:13There was soft grass on both sides of the river, and beyond the grass, trees and bushes

00:32:18sloped up to the bases of the cliffs.

00:32:21There must have been some wonderful flowering shrubs hidden in that shadowy undergrowth,

00:32:25for the whole glade was full of the coolest and most delicious smells.

00:32:29And out of the darkest recess among the trees, there came a sound Shasta had never heard

00:32:34before—a nightingale.

00:32:38Everyone was much too tired to speak or to eat.

00:32:41The horses, without waiting to be unsaddled, lay down at once.

00:32:45So did Aravis and Shasta.

00:32:48About ten minutes later, the careful Thwin said,

00:32:51"'But we mustn't go to sleep.

00:32:53We've got to keep ahead of that rabid ash.'

00:32:56"'No,' said Brie, very slowly.

00:32:59"'Mustn't go to sleep.

00:33:02Just a little rest.'

00:33:05Shasta knew, for a moment, that they would all go to sleep if he didn't get up and do

00:33:09something about it, and felt that he ought to.

00:33:12In fact, he decided that he would get up and persuade them to go on.

00:33:15But presently—not yet—not just yet."

00:33:21Very soon the moon shone, and the nightingale sang, over two horses and two human children,

00:33:28all fast asleep.

00:33:31It was Aravis who awoke first.

00:33:34The sun was already high in the heavens, and the cool morning hours were already wasted.

00:33:38"'It's my fault,' she said to herself furiously, as she jumped up and began rousing the others.

00:33:44"'One wouldn't expect horses to keep awake after a day's work like that, even if they

00:33:48can talk.

00:33:49And, of course, that boy wouldn't.

00:33:51He's had no decent training.

00:33:53But I ought to have known better.'

00:33:56The others were dazed and stupid with the heaviness of their sleep.

00:34:01"'Hey-ho!

00:34:02Brr-ho!' said Brie.

00:34:04"'Been sleeping in my saddle, eh?

00:34:07I'll never do that again.

00:34:09Most uncomfortable!'

00:34:10"'Oh, come on, come on,' said Aravis.

00:34:13"'We've lost half the morning already.

00:34:15There isn't a moment to spare.'

00:34:17"'A fellow's got to have a mouthful of grass,' said Brie.

00:34:21"'I'm afraid we can't wait,' said Aravis.

00:34:24"'What's the terrible hurry?' said Brie.

00:34:26"'We've crossed the desert, haven't we?'

00:34:29"'But we're not in Arkenland yet,' said Aravis.

00:34:32"'And we've got to get there before Aberdash.'

00:34:34"'Oh, we must be miles ahead of him,' said Brie.

00:34:37"'Haven't we been coming a shorter way?

00:34:40Didn't that raven friend of yours say this was a shortcut, Shasta?'

00:34:44"'He didn't say anything about shorter,' answered Shasta.

00:34:47"'He only said better.

00:34:49Because you got to a river this way.

00:34:51If the oasis is due north at Tashbarn, then I'm afraid this may be longer.'

00:34:55"'Well, I can't go on without a snack,' said Brie.

00:34:59"'Take my bridle off, Shasta.'

00:35:01"'Please,' said Hwyn, very shyly.

00:35:05"'I feel just like Brie that I can't go on.

00:35:08But when horses have humans with spurs and things on their backs, aren't they often made

00:35:13to go on when they're feeling like this?

00:35:16And then they find they can.

00:35:18I mean, wouldn't we be able to do even more, now that we're free?

00:35:24It's all for Narnia.'

00:35:26"'I think, ma'am,' said Brie, very crushingly,

00:35:30"'that I know a little more about campaigns and forced marches and what a horse can stand

00:35:35than you do.'

00:35:36To this Hwyn made no answer, being, like most highly bred mares, a very nervous and gentle

00:35:42person who was easily put down.

00:35:45In reality, she was quite right.

00:35:48And if Brie had had a tacan on his back at that moment to make him go on, he would have

00:35:52found that he was good for several hours, hard going.

00:35:56But one of the worst results of being a slave and being forced to do things is that when

00:36:00there is no one to force you any more, you find you have almost lost the power of forcing

00:36:05yourself.

00:36:06So they had to wait while Brie had a snack and a drink, and of course Hwyn and the children

00:36:11had a snack and a drink too.

00:36:13It must have been nearly eleven o'clock in the morning before they finally got going

00:36:17again.

00:36:18And even then Brie took things much more gently than yesterday.

00:36:21It was really Hwyn, though she was the weaker and more tired of the two who set the pace.

00:36:26The valley itself, with its brown, cool river, and grass and moss and wild flowers and rhododendrons,

00:36:33was such a pleasant place that it made you want to ride slowly.

00:36:40Chapter 10 The Hermit of the Southern March

00:36:45After they had ridden for several hours down the valley, it widened out, and they could

00:36:50see what was ahead of them.

00:36:52The river which they had been following here joined a broader river, wide and turbulent,

00:36:57which flowed from their left to their right, toward the east.

00:37:00Beyond this new river, a delightful country rose gently in low hills, ridge beyond ridge,

00:37:06to the northern mountains themselves.

00:37:09To the right there were rocky pinnacles, one or two of them with snow clinging to the ledges.

00:37:14To the left, pine-clad slopes, frowning cliffs, narrow gorges, and blue peaks stretched away

00:37:20as far as the eye could reach.

00:37:22Shasta could no longer make out Mount Pyre.

00:37:25Straight ahead, the mountain range sank to a wooded saddle, which of course must be the

00:37:30pass from Arkenland into Narnia.

00:37:33Brrrrrrrrrr!

00:37:34The north!

00:37:34The green north!

00:37:36neighed Brie.

00:37:38And certainly the lower hills looked greener and fresher than anything that Aravis and Shasta,

00:37:43with their southern-bred eyes, had ever imagined.

00:37:46Spirits rose as they clattered down to the water's meat of the two rivers.

00:37:51The eastern-flowing river, which was pouring from the higher mountains at the western end

00:37:55of the range, was far too swift and too broken with rapids for them to think of swimming it.

00:38:00But after some casting about, up and down the bank, they found a place shallow enough to wade.

00:38:06The roar and clatter of water, the great swirl against the horse's fetlocks,

00:38:10the cool stirring air and the darting dragonflies, filled Shasta with a strange excitement.

00:38:17Friends, we are in Arkenland!

00:38:20said Brie, proudly, as he splashed and churned his way out on the northern bank.

00:38:25I think that river we've just crossed is called the Winding Arrow.

00:38:29I hope we're in time, murmured Hwin.

00:38:32Then they began going up, slowly and zigzagging a good deal, for the hills were steep.

00:38:38It was all open park-like country, with no roads or houses in sight.

00:38:42Scattered trees, never thick enough to be a forest, were everywhere.

00:38:46Shasta, who had lived all his life in an almost treeless grassland,

00:38:50had never seen so many or so many kinds.

00:38:53If you had been there, you would probably have known, he didn't,

00:38:56that he was seeing oaks, beeches, silver birches, rowans, and sweet chestnuts.

00:39:02Rabbits scurried away in every direction as they advanced,

00:39:05and presently they saw a whole herd of fallow deer making off among the trees.

00:39:09Isn't it simply glorious? said Aravis.

00:39:13At the first ridge, Shasta turned in the saddle and looked back.

00:39:17There was no sign of Tash Barn.

00:39:19The desert, unbroken except by the narrow green crack down which they had travelled down,

00:39:24spread to the horizon.

00:39:26Hello! he said suddenly.

00:39:28What's that?

00:39:30What's what? said Brie, turning round.

00:39:32Hwin and Aravis did the same.

00:39:35That, said Shasta, pointing, it looks like smoke.

00:39:39Is it a fire?

00:39:41Sandstorm, I should say, said Brie.

00:39:45Not much wind to raise it, said Aravis.

00:39:48Oh! exclaimed Hwin.

00:39:50Look! there are things flashing in it.

00:39:53Look! they're helmets, and armour, and it's moving, moving this way.

00:40:00By Tash! said Aravis.

00:40:03It's the army.

00:40:04It's Rabadash.

00:40:06Of course it is, said Hwin.

00:40:08Just what I was afraid of.

00:40:10Quick, we must get to Anvar before it.

00:40:13And without another word, she whisked round and began galloping north.

00:40:17Brie tossed his head and did the same.

00:40:20Come on, Brie, come on! yelled Aravis over her shoulder.

00:40:24The race was very gruelling for the horses.

00:40:27As they topped each ridge, they found another valley and another ridge beyond it.

00:40:31And though they knew they were going in more or less the right direction,

00:40:34no one knew how far it was to Anvar.

00:40:37From the top of the second ridge, Shasta looked back again.

00:40:41Instead of a dust-cloud well out in the desert, he now saw a black moving mass,

00:40:46rather like ants, on the far bank of the winding arrow.

00:40:49They were doubtless looking for a ford.

00:40:52They're on the river! he yelled wildly.

00:40:55Quick, quick! shouted Aravis.

00:40:57We might as well not have come at all if we don't reach Anvar in time.

00:41:00Gallop, Brie, gallop!

00:41:02Remember, you're a war-horse!

00:41:04It was all Shasta could do to prevent himself from shouting out similar instructions.

00:41:09But he thought, the poor chap's doing all he can already, and held his tongue.

00:41:15And certainly both horses were doing, if not all they could, all they thought they could,

00:41:19which is not quite the same thing.

00:41:22Brie had caught up with Hwin, and they thundered side by side over the turf.

00:41:27It didn't look as if Hwin could possibly keep it up much longer.

00:41:31At that moment, everyone's feelings were completely alerted by a sound from behind.

00:41:35It was not the sound they had been expecting to hear,

00:41:38the noises of hoofs and jingling armour mixed, perhaps, with Kalomin battle-cries.

00:41:44Yet Shasta knew it at once.

00:41:46It was the same snarling roar he had heard that moonlit night

00:41:50when they first met Alavis and Hwin.

00:41:53Brie knew it too.

00:41:54His eyes gleamed red, and his ears lay flat back on his skull.

00:41:59And Brie now discovered that he had not really been going as fast,

00:42:03not quite as fast, as he could.

00:42:06Shasta felt the change at once.

00:42:08Now they were really going all out.

00:42:10In a few seconds they were well ahead of Hwin.

00:42:13It's not fair, thought Shasta.

00:42:15I did think we'd be safe from lions here.

00:42:18He looked over his shoulder.

00:42:20Everything was only too clear.

00:42:22A huge, tawny creature, its body low to the ground,

00:42:26like a cat streaking across the lawn to a tree

00:42:29when a strange dog has got into the garden, was behind them.

00:42:32And it was nearer every second and half-second.

00:42:36He looked forward again and saw something which he did not take in nor even think about.

00:42:40Their way was barred by a smooth green wall about ten feet high.

00:42:45In the middle of that wall there was a gate.

00:42:48Open, in the middle of the gateway, stood a tall man, dressed down to his bare feet,

00:42:53in a robe coloured like autumn leaves, leaning on a straight staff.

00:42:59His beard fell almost to his knees.

00:43:02Shasta saw all this in a glance and looked back again.

00:43:06The lion had almost got Hwin now.

00:43:08It was making snaps at her hind legs,

00:43:10and there was no hope now in her foam-flecked, wide-eyed face.

00:43:15"'Stop!' bellowed Shasta in Bree's ear.

00:43:18"'Must go back!

00:43:19Must help!'

00:43:20Bree always said afterward that he never heard or never understood this.

00:43:25And as he was, in general, a very truthful horse, we must accept his word.

00:43:30Shasta slipped his feet out of the stirrups, slid both his legs over on the left side,

00:43:35hesitated for one hideous hundredth of a second, and jumped.

00:43:40It hurt horribly and nearly winded him.

00:43:42But before he knew how it hurt him, he was staggering back to help Aravis.

00:43:48He had never done anything like this in his life before,

00:43:51and hardly knew why he was doing it now.

00:43:54One of the most terrible noises in the world, a horse's scream, broke from Hwin's lips.

00:44:00Aravis was stooping low over Hwin's neck and seemed to be trying to draw her sword,

00:44:06and now all three, Aravis, Hwin, and the lion, were almost on top of Shasta.

00:44:11Before they reached him, the lion rose on its hind legs,

00:44:14larger than you would have believed a lion could be, and jabbed at Aravis with its right paw.

00:44:20Shasta could see all the terrible claws extended.

00:44:23Aravis screamed and reeled in the saddle.

00:44:26The lion was tearing her shoulders.

00:44:29Shasta, half mad with horror, managed to lurch toward the brute.

00:44:33He had no weapon, not even a stick or a stone.

00:44:35He shouted out, idiotically, at the lion, as one would at a dog,

00:44:39Go home!

00:44:40Go home!

00:44:42For a fraction of a second he was staring right into its wide-opened, raging mouth.

00:44:47Then, to his utter astonishment, the lion, still on its hind legs, checked itself suddenly,

00:44:54turned head over heels, picked itself up, and rushed away.

00:44:59Shasta did not for a moment suppose it had gone for good.

00:45:03He turned and raced for the gate in the green wall,

00:45:05which now, for the first time, he remembered seeing.

00:45:08Hwinn, stumbling and nearly fainting, was just entering the gate.

00:45:12Aravis still kept her seat, but her back was covered with blood.

00:45:17Come in, my daughter.

00:45:19Come in, the robed and bearded man was saying, and then,

00:45:24Come in, my son, as Shasta panted up to him.

00:45:28He heard the gate closed behind him,

00:45:31and the bearded stranger was already helping Aravis off her horse.

00:45:34They were in a wide and perfectly circular enclosure,

00:45:38protected by a high wall of green turf.

00:45:41A pool of perfectly still water,

00:45:43so full that the water was almost exactly level with the ground, lay before him.

00:45:48At one end of the pool, completely overshadowing it with its branches,

00:45:51there grew the hugest and most beautiful tree that Shasta had ever seen.

00:45:56Beyond the pool was a little low house of stone,

00:45:59roofed with deep and ancient thatch.

00:46:02There was a sound of bleating,

00:46:03and over at the far side of the enclosure there were some goats.

00:46:08The level ground was completely covered with the finest grass.

00:46:12Ah, are you, panted Shasta, are you King Luna of Arkenland?

00:46:19The old man shook his head.

00:46:22No, he replied in a quiet voice.

00:46:25I am the hermit of the Southern March.

00:46:28And now, my son, waste no time on questions, but obey.

00:46:33This damsel is wounded.

00:46:35Your horses are spent.

00:46:37Rabidash is at this moment finding a ford over the winding arrow.

00:46:42If you run now, without a moment's rest, you will still be in time to warn King Loon.

00:46:48Shasta's heart fainted at these words, for he felt he had no strength left,

00:46:52and he writhed inside at what seemed the cruelty and unfairness of the demand.

00:46:58He had not yet learned that if you do one good deed,

00:47:00your reward usually is to be set to do another, and harder and better one.

00:47:05But all he said out loud was,

00:47:07Where is the King?

00:47:09The hermit turned and pointed with his staff.

00:47:12Look, he said, there is another gate, right opposite to the one you entered by.

00:47:17Open it and go straight ahead, always straight ahead,

00:47:20over level or steep, over smooth or rough, over dry or wet.

00:47:24I know by my art that you will find King Loon straight ahead.

00:47:28But run, run, always run.

00:47:32Shasta nodded his head, ran to the northern gate, and disappeared beyond it.

00:47:37Then the hermit took Aravis, whom he had all this time been supporting with his left arm,

00:47:42and half led, half carried her into the house.

00:47:45After a long time he came out again.

00:47:48Now, cousins, he said to the horses, it is your turn.

00:47:52Without waiting for an answer, and indeed they were too exhausted to speak,

00:47:56he took the bridles and saddles off both of them.

00:48:00Then he rubbed them both down so well that a groom in a King's stable would not have done it better.

00:48:05There, cousins, he said, dismiss it all from your minds and be comforted.

00:48:10Here is water and there is grass.

00:48:13You shall have a hot mash when I have milked my other cousins, the goats.

00:48:17The goats?"

00:48:19"'Sir," said Hwin, finding her voice at last,

00:48:23"'will the Tarkina live?

00:48:25Has the lion killed her?'

00:48:28"'I, who know many present things by my art,' replied the hermit with a smile,

00:48:34"'have yet little knowledge of things future.

00:48:37Therefore I do not know whether any man or woman or beast in the whole world

00:48:41will be alive when the sun sets to-night.

00:48:44But be of good hope.

00:48:46The damsel is likely to live as long as any of her age.'"

00:48:51When Aravis came to herself, she found that she was lying on her face,

00:48:55on a low bed of extraordinary softness, in a cool, bare room with walls of undressed stone.

00:49:01She couldn't understand why she had been laid on her face,

00:49:04but when she tried to turn and felt the hot, burning pains all over her back,

00:49:08she remembered and realised why.

00:49:11She couldn't understand what delightfully springy stuff the bed was made of,

00:49:15because it was made of heather, which is the best bedding,

00:49:18and heather was a thing she had never seen or heard of.

00:49:22The door opened and the hermit entered, carrying a large wooden bowl in his hand.

00:49:27After carefully setting this down, he came to the bedside and asked,

00:49:31"'How do you find yourself, my daughter?'

00:49:34"'My back is very sore, father,' said Aravis,

00:49:38"'but there is nothing else wrong with me.'

00:49:40He knelt beside her, laid his hand on her forehead, and felt her pulse.

00:49:45"'There is no fever,' he said.

00:49:48"'You will do well.

00:49:49Indeed, there is no reason why you should not get up tomorrow.

00:49:53But now, drink this.'

00:49:56He fetched the wooden bowl and held it to her lips.

00:49:59Aravis couldn't help making a face when she tasted it,

00:50:02for goat's milk is rather a shock when you are not used to it.

00:50:05But she was very thirsty, and managed to drink it all,

00:50:07and felt better when she had finished.

00:50:10"'Now, my daughter, you may sleep when you wish,' said the hermit,

00:50:14"'for your wounds are washed and dressed, and though they smart,

00:50:17they are no more serious than if they had been the cuts of a whip.

00:50:21"'He must have been a very strange lion, for instead of catching you

00:50:26out of the saddle and getting his teeth into you,

00:50:28he has only drawn his claws across your back.

00:50:32Ten scratches.

00:50:34Sore, but not deep or dangerous.'

00:50:37"'I say,' said Aravis, "'I hath had luck.'

00:50:41"'Daughter,' said the hermit, 'I have now lived a hundred and nine

00:50:45winters in this world, and have never yet met any such thing as luck.

00:50:51There is something about all this that I do not understand.

00:50:55But if ever we need to know it, you may be sure that we shall.'

00:51:00"'And what about Rabadash and his two hundred horse?' asked Aravis.

00:51:04"'They will not pass this way, I think,' said the hermit.

00:51:08"'They must have found a ford by now well to the east of us.

00:51:11From there they will try to ride straight to Anvard.'

00:51:15"'Poor Shasta!' said Aravis.

00:51:17"'Has he far to go?

00:51:19Will he get there first?'

00:51:21"'There is good hope of it,' said the old man.

00:51:25Aravis lay down again, on her side this time, and said,

00:51:29"'Have I been asleep for a long time?

00:51:32It seems to be getting dark.'

00:51:34The hermit was looking out of the only window which faced north.

00:51:38"'This is not the darkness of night,' he said presently.

00:51:42"'The clouds are falling down from Storm-Ness Head.

00:51:46Our foul weather always comes from there in these parts.

00:51:50There will be thick fog to-night.'

00:51:54Next day, except for her sore back, Aravis felt so well that after breakfast,

00:51:59which was porridge and cream, the hermit said she could get up.

00:52:03And, of course, she at once went out to speak to the horses.

00:52:06The weather had changed, and the whole of that green enclosure was filled

00:52:10like a great green cup with sunlight.

00:52:12It was a very peaceful place, lonely and quiet.

00:52:16Whyn at once trotted across to Aravis and gave her a horse kiss.

00:52:21"'But where's Bree?' said Aravis, when each had asked after the other's health and sleep.

00:52:26"'Over there,' said Whyn, pointing with her nose to the far side of the circle.

00:52:31"'And I wish you'd come and talk to him.

00:52:33There's something wrong.

00:52:35I can't get a word out of him.'

00:52:37They strolled across, and found Bree lying with his face toward the wall.

00:52:42And though he must have heard them coming, he never turned his head or spoke a word.

00:52:47"'Good morning, Bree,' said Aravis.

00:52:49"'How are you this morning?'

00:52:51Bree muttered something that no one could hear.

00:52:55"'The hermit says that Chaster probably got to King Loon in time,'

00:52:58continued Aravis.

00:53:00"'So it looks as if all our troubles are over.

00:53:03Narnia at last, Bree!'

00:53:05"'I shall never see Narnia,' said Bree in a low voice.

00:53:10"'Aren't you well, Bree dear?' said Aravis.

00:53:14Bree turned round at last, his face mournful as only a horse's can be.

00:53:20"'I shall go back to Cullohamon,' he said.

00:53:23"'What?' said Aravis.

00:53:25"'Back to slavery?'

00:53:27"'Yes,' said Bree.

00:53:30"'Slavery is all I am fit for.

00:53:33How can I ever show my face among the free horses of Narnia?

00:53:37I, who left a mare and a girl and a boy to be eaten by lions,

00:53:41while I galloped all I could to save my own wretched skin—'

00:53:45"'We all ran as hard as we could,' said Wynne.

00:53:49"'Chaster didn't,' snorted Bree.

00:53:51"'At least he ran in the right direction.

00:53:53Ran back.'

00:53:54"'That is what shames me most of all.

00:53:58I, who called myself a warhorse and boasted of a hundred fights to be beaten by a little

00:54:02human boy—a child, a mere foal, who had never held a sword nor had any good nurture

00:54:09or example in his life—'

00:54:11"'I know,' said Aravis.

00:54:14"'I felt just the same.

00:54:16Chaster was marvellous.

00:54:18I'm just as bad as you, Bree.

00:54:20I've been snubbing him and looking down on him ever since you met us,

00:54:23and now he turns out to be the best of us all.

00:54:27But I think it would be better to stay and say we're sorry than to go back to Cullornan.'

00:54:32"'It's all very well for you,' said Bree.

00:54:35"'You haven't disgraced yourself.

00:54:37But I've lost everything.'

00:54:40"'My good horse,' said the hermit, who had approached them unnoticed,

00:54:45because his bare feet made so little noise on that sweet dewy grass.

00:54:49"'My good horse, you've lost nothing but your self-conceit.'

00:54:54"'No, no, cousin.

00:54:56Don't put back your ears and shake your mane at me.

00:54:59If you're really so humbled as you sounded a minute ago, you must learn to listen to sense.

00:55:05You're not quite the great horse you had come to think, from living among poor dumb horses.

00:55:12Of course you were braver and cleverer than them.

00:55:15You could hardly help being that.

00:55:17It doesn't follow that you'll be anyone very special in Narnia.

00:55:21"'But as long as you know you're nobody special,

00:55:25you'll be a very decent sort of horse on the whole, and taking one thing with another.

00:55:31Now, if you and my other four-footed cousin will come round to the kitchen door,

00:55:36we'll see about the other half of that mash.'

00:55:42CHAPTER XI. THE UNWELCOME FELLOW-TRAVELER

00:55:45When Shasta went through the gate, he found a slope of grass and a little heather running up

00:55:51before him to some trees. He had nothing to think about now, and no plans to make.

00:55:56He had only to run, and that was quite enough.

00:56:00His limbs were shaking, a terrible stitch was beginning in his side,

00:56:03and the sweat that kept dropping into his eyes blinded them and made them smart.

00:56:07He was unsteady on his feet too, and more than once he nearly turned his ankle on a loose stone.

00:56:13The trees were thicker now than they had yet been, and in the more open spaces there was bracken.

00:56:18The sun had gone in without making it any cooler. It had become one of those hot grey days when

00:56:24there seemed to be twice as many flies as usual. Shasta's face was covered with them.

00:56:29He didn't even try to shake them off—he had too much else to do.

00:56:33Suddenly he heard a horn, not a great throbbing horn like the horns of Tash Barn, but a merry

00:56:39call, Ti-ro-to-to-ho. Next moment he came out into a wide glade and found himself in a crowd

00:56:46of people. At least it looked a crowd to him. In reality there were about fifteen or twenty of them,

00:56:53all gentlemen in green hunting dress, with their horses, some in the saddle and some

00:56:58standing by their horses' heads. In the centre someone was holding the stirrup for a man to mount,

00:57:04and the man he was holding it for was the jolliest, fattest, most apple-cheeked,

00:57:07twinkling-eyed king you could imagine. As soon as Shasta came in sight,

00:57:12this king forgot all about mounting his horse. He spread out his arms to Shasta, his face lit up,

00:57:18and he cried out in a great deep voice that seemed to come from the bottom of his chest.

00:57:23"'Corinne, my son, and on foot and in rags! What the—'

00:57:29"'No,' panted Shasta, shaking his head,

00:57:32"'not Prince Corinne. I—I know I'm like him. Saw His Highness in Tashbarn. Sent his greetings.'

00:57:39The king was staring at Shasta with an extraordinary expression on his face.

00:57:44"'Are you—King Loon?' gasped Shasta, and then, without waiting for an answer,

00:57:50"'Lord, King, fly! Anvar, shut the gates! Enemies upon you! Rabid ash and two hundred horse!'

00:57:58"'Have you assurance of this boy?' asked one of the other gentlemen.

00:58:01"'My own eyes,' said Shasta. "'I've seen them. Raced them all the way from Tashbarn.'

00:58:06"'On foot,' said the gentleman, raising his eyebrows a little.

00:58:10"'Horses—with the hermit,' said Shasta. "'Question him no more, Darren,' said King Loon.

00:58:17"'I see truth in his face. We must ride for it, gentlemen. A spare horse there for the boy.

00:58:23You can ride fast, friend.' For answer Shasta put his foot in the stirrup of the horse which

00:58:28had been led toward him, and a moment later he was in the saddle. He had done it a hundred times

00:58:33with Bree in the last few weeks, and his mounting was very different now from what it had been on

00:58:38that first night when Bree had said that he climbed up a horse as if he were climbing a haystack.

00:58:43He was pleased to hear the Lord Darren say to the king,

00:58:46"'The boy has a true horseman's seat, sire. I'll warrant there's noble blood in him.'

00:58:51"'His blood? Ay, where's the point?' said the king.

00:58:56But he stared hard at Shasta again with that curious expression, almost a hungry expression,

00:59:02in his steady grey eyes. But by now the whole party was moving off at a brisk canter.

00:59:08Shasta's seat was excellent, but he was sadly puzzled as to what to do with his reins,

00:59:13for he had never touched the reins while he was on Bree's back. But he looked very carefully out of

00:59:18the corners of his eyes to see what the others were doing, as some of us have done at parties

00:59:22when we weren't quite sure which knife or fork we were meant to use, and tried to get his fingers

00:59:27right. But he didn't dare to try really directing the horse. He trusted it would follow the rest.

00:59:34The horse was, of course, an ordinary horse, not a talking horse, but it had quite wits enough to

00:59:39realise that the strange boy on its back had no whip and no spurs, and was not really master of

00:59:45the situation. That was why Shasta soon found himself at the tail end of the procession.

00:59:51Even so, he was going pretty fast, and there were no flies now, and the air in his face was

00:59:55delicious. He had got his breath back too, and his errand had succeeded. For the first time since

01:00:02the arrival at Tash Barn, how long ago it seemed, he was beginning to enjoy himself.

01:00:08He looked up to see how much nearer the mountaintops had come. To his disappointment,

01:00:12he could not see them at all, only a vague greyness rolling down toward them. He had never

01:00:18been in mountain country before, and was surprised. It's a cloud, he said to himself,

01:00:24a cloud coming down. I see. Up here in the hills one is really in the sky. I shall see what the

01:00:31inside of a cloud is like. What fun! I have often wondered. Far away on his left, and a little

01:00:38behind him, the sun was getting ready to set. They had come to a rough kind of road by now,

01:00:44and were making very good speed. But Shasta's horse was still the last of the lot. Once or

01:00:50twice, when the road made a bend, there was now continuous forest on each side of it,

01:00:54he lost sight of the others for a second or two. Then they plunged into the fog,

01:00:59or else the fog rolled over them. The world became grey. Shasta had not realised how cold

01:01:05and wet the inside of a cloud would be, nor how dark. The grey turned to black with alarming speed.

01:01:12Someone at the head of the column winded the horn every now and then, and each time the sound came

01:01:18from a little farther off. He couldn't see any of the others now, but of course he'd be able to as

01:01:23soon as he got round the next bend. But when he rounded it, he still couldn't see them. In fact,

01:01:29he could see nothing at all. His horse was walking now. Get on, horse, get on, said Shasta.

01:01:37Then came the horn, very faint. Brie had always told him that he must keep his heels well turned

01:01:43out, and Shasta had got the idea that something very terrible would happen if he dug his heels

01:01:48into a horse's sides. This seemed to him an occasion for trying it.

01:01:53Look here, horse, he said. If you don't buck up, do you know what I'll do? I'll dig my heels into

01:01:58you. I really will. The horse, however, took no notice of this threat. So Shasta settled himself

01:02:05firmly in the saddle, gripped with his knees, clenched his teeth, and punched both the horse's

01:02:10sides with his heels as hard as he could. The only result was that the horse broke into a kind

01:02:15of pretense of a trot for five or six paces, and then subsided into a walk again. And now it was

01:02:22quite dark, and they seemed to have given up blowing that horn. The only sound was a steady

01:02:28drip-drip from the branches of the trees. Well, I suppose even a walk will get us somewhere

01:02:34sometime, said Shasta to himself. I only hope I shan't run into Rabadash and his people.

01:02:40He went on for what seemed a long time, always at a walking pace. He began to hate that horse,

01:02:46and he was also beginning to feel very hungry. Presently he came to a place where the road

01:02:51divided into two. He was just wondering which led to Anvard when he was startled by a noise

01:02:57from behind him. It was the noise of trotting horses.

01:03:01Rabadash! thought Shasta. He had no way of guessing which road Rabadash would take.

01:03:07But if I take one, said Shasta to himself, he may take the other, and if I stay at the crossroads,

01:03:13I am sure to be caught. He dismounted and led his horse as quickly as he could along the right-hand

01:03:18road. The sound of the cavalry grew rapidly nearer, and in a minute or two Shasta realised

01:03:23that they were at the crossroads. He held his breath, waiting to see which way they would take.

01:03:29There came a low word of command. Halt! Then a moment of horsey noises, nostrils blowing,

01:03:35hoofs pawing, bits being champed, necks being patted. Then a voice spoke.

01:03:42Attend, all of you, it said. We are now within a furlong of the castle. Remember your orders.

01:03:50Once we are in Narnia, as we should be by sunrise, you are to kill as little as possible.

01:03:56On this venture you are to regard every drop of Narnian blood as more precious than a gallon of

01:04:01your own. On this venture, I say. The gods will send us a happier hour, and then you must leave

01:04:08nothing alive between Caer Paravel and the Western Waste. But we are not yet in Narnia. Here in

01:04:16Arkenland it is another thing. In the assault on this castle of King Lunes nothing matters but

01:04:22speed. Show your mettle. It must be mine within an hour, and if it is, I give it all to you.

01:04:30I reserve no booty for myself. Kill me every barbarian male within its walls, down to the

01:04:36child that was born yesterday, and everything else is yours to divide as you please—the women,

01:04:42the gold, the jewels, the weapons, and the wine. The man that I see hanging back when we come to

01:04:49the gates shall be burned alive. In the name of Tash the Irresistible, the Inexorable, forward!

01:04:58With a great cloppity-clop the column began to move, and Shasta breathed again. They had taken

01:05:04the other road. Shasta thought they took a long time going past, for though he had been talking

01:05:10and thinking about two hundred horse all day, he had not realised how many they really were.

01:05:16But at last the sound died away, and once more he was alone amid the drip-drip from the trees.

01:05:23He now knew the way to Anvard, but of course he could not now go there. That would only mean

01:05:28running into the arms of Rabidash's troopers. What on earth am I to do? said Shasta to himself.

01:05:35But he remounted his horse, and continued along the road he had chosen,

01:05:39in the faint hope of finding some cottage where he might ask for shelter and a meal.

01:05:44He had thought, of course, of going back to Aravis and Bree and Whyn at the Hermitage,

01:05:48but he couldn't, because by now he had not the least idea of the direction.

01:05:52After all, said Shasta, this road is bound to get somewhere.

01:05:57But that all depends on what you mean by somewhere. The road kept on getting to somewhere,

01:06:02in the sense that it got to more and more trees, all dark and dripping, and to colder and colder

01:06:07air. And strange icy winds kept blowing the mist past him, though they never blew it away. If he

01:06:14had been used to mountain country, he would have realised that this meant he was now very high up,

01:06:18perhaps right at the top of the pass. But Shasta knew nothing about mountains.

01:06:24I do think, said Shasta, that I must be the most unfortunate boy that ever lived in the whole

01:06:29world. Everything goes right for everyone except me. Those Narnian lords and ladies got safe away

01:06:35from Tashban. I was left behind. Aravis and Bree and Whyn are all as snug as anything with that

01:06:41old hermit. Of course I was the one who was sent on. King Lunan and his people must have got safely

01:06:47into the castle and shut the gates long before Rabadash arrived. But I get left out. And being

01:06:53very tired and having nothing inside him, he felt so sorry for himself that the tears rolled down

01:06:59his cheeks. What put a stop to all this was a sudden fright. Shasta discovered that someone,

01:07:07or somebody, was walking beside him. It was pitch-dark, and he could see nothing. And the

01:07:13thing, or person, was going so quietly that he could hardly hear any footfalls. What he could

01:07:20hear was breathing. His invisible companion seemed to breathe on a very large scale,

01:07:26and Shasta got the impression that it was a very large creature. And he had come to notice this

01:07:31breathing so gradually that he had really no idea how long it had been there. It was a horrible

01:07:36shock. It darted into his mind that he had heard long ago that there were giants in these northern

01:07:42countries. He bit his lip in terror. But now that he really had something to cry about, he stopped

01:07:49crying. The thing, unless it was a person, went on beside him so very quietly that Shasta began

01:07:56to hope he had only imagined it. But just as he was becoming quite sure of it, there suddenly

01:08:02came a deep, rich sigh out of the darkness beside him. That couldn't be imagination.

01:08:08Anyway, he had felt the hot breath of that sigh on his chilly left hand. If the horse had been

01:08:14any good, or if he had known how to get any good out of the horse, he would have risked everything

01:08:19on a breakaway and a wild gallop. But he knew he couldn't make that horse gallop. So he went on at

01:08:26a walking pace, and the unseen companion walked and breathed beside him. At last he could bear

01:08:32it no longer. Who are you? he said, scarcely above a whisper.

01:08:38One who has waited long for you to speak, said the thing. Its voice was not loud, but very large and deep.

01:08:48Are you—are you a giant? asked Shasta. You might call me a giant, said the large voice,

01:08:57but I am not like the creatures you call giants. I can't see you at all, said Shasta,

01:09:06after staring very hard. Then, for an even more terrible idea had come into his head, he said,

01:09:13almost in a scream, You're not—not something dead, are you? Oh, please, please do go away!

01:09:21What harm have I ever done you? Oh, I am the unluckiest person in the whole world!

01:09:28Once more he felt the warm breath of the thing on his hand and face.

01:09:32There! it said. That is not the breath of a ghost. Tell me your sorrows.

01:09:41Shasta was a little reassured by the breath. So he told how he had never known his real father

01:09:47or mother, and he had been brought up sternly by the fishermen. And then he told the story

01:09:52of his escape, and how they were chased by lions and forced to swim for their lives,

01:09:56and of all their dangers in Tash Barn, and about his night among the tombs, and how the

01:10:00beasts howled at him out of the desert. And he told about the heat and thirst of their desert

01:10:05journey, and how they were almost at their goal when another lion chased them and wounded Alavis,

01:10:11and also how very long it was since he had had anything to eat.

01:10:16I do not call you unfortunate, said the large voice.

01:10:20Don't you think it was bad luck to meet so many lions? said Shasta.

01:10:25There was only one lion, said the voice.

01:10:30What on earth do you mean? I've just told you there were at least two the first night, and—

01:10:35There was only one. But he was swift of foot.

01:10:40How do you know?

01:10:42I was the lion.

01:10:45And as Shasta gaped with open mouth and said nothing, the voice continued,

01:10:50I was the lion who forced you to join with Alavis. I was the cat who comforted you among

01:10:56the houses of the dead. I was the lion who drove the jackals from you while you slept.

01:11:01I was the lion who gave the horses the new strength of fear for the last mile,

01:11:06so that you should reach King Loon in time. And I was the lion, you do not remember,

01:11:11who pushed the boat in which you lay, a child near death, so that it came to shore where a man sat,

01:11:18wakeful at midnight, to receive you.

01:11:21Then it was you who wounded Alavis.

01:11:25It was I.

01:11:26But what for?

01:11:28Child, said the voice, I am telling you your story, not hers. I tell no one any story but his own.

01:11:38Who are you? asked Shasta.

01:11:42Myself, said the voice, very deep and low, so that the earth shook. And again,

01:11:49Myself, loud and clear and gay. And then the third time, Myself, whispered so softly you

01:11:58could hardly hear it, and yet it seemed to come from all round you as if the leaves rustled with

01:12:04it. Shasta was no longer afraid that the voice belonged to something that would eat him,

01:12:09nor that it was the voice of a ghost. But a new and different sort of trembling came over him,

01:12:15yet he felt glad too. The mist was turning from black to grey and from grey to white.

01:12:22This must have begun to happen some time ago, but while he had been talking to the thing,

01:12:27he had not been noticing anything else. Now the whiteness around him became a shining whiteness,

01:12:33his eyes began to blink. Somewhere ahead he could hear birds singing. He knew the night

01:12:40was over at last. He could see the mane and ears and head of his horse quite easily now.

01:12:46A golden light fell on them from the left. He thought it was the sun. He turned and saw,

01:12:53pacing beside him, taller than the horse, a lion. The horse did not seem to be afraid of it,

01:12:59or else could not see it. It was from the lion that the light came. No one ever saw anything

01:13:06more terrible or beautiful. Luckily Shasta had lived all his life too far south in Kalormen to

01:13:13have heard the tales that were whispered in Tashban about a dreadful Narnian demon that

01:13:18appeared in the form of a lion. And of course he knew none of the true stories about Aslan,

01:13:23the great lion, the son of the Emperor over the Sea, the king above all high kings in Narnia.

01:13:30But after one glance at the lion's face, he slipped out of the saddle and fell at its feet.

01:13:37He couldn't say anything, but then he didn't want to say anything, and he knew he needn't say

01:13:42anything. The high king above all kings stooped toward him. Its mane, and some strange and solemn

01:13:50perfume that hung about the mane, was all round him. It touched his forehead with its tongue.

01:13:55He lifted his face, and their eyes met. Then instantly, the pale brightness of the mist,

01:14:02and the fiery brightness of the lion, rolled themselves together into a swirling glory,

01:14:07and gathered themselves up and disappeared. He was alone with the horse on a grassy hillside

01:14:14under a blue sky, and there were birds singing.

01:14:32you

Narnia: The Horse and His Boy - Audiobook - Pt 3/4

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