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    The Horse and His Boy: The Classic Fantasy Adventure Series (Official Edition)
    The Horse and His Boy: The Classic Fantasy Adventure Series (Official Edition)
    The Horse and His Boy: The Classic Fantasy Adventure Series (Official Edition)
    Ebook199 pages3 hours

    The Horse and His Boy: The Classic Fantasy Adventure Series (Official Edition)

    By C. S. Lewis and Pauline Baynes

    4.5/5

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    About this ebook

    Illustrations in this ebook appear in vibrant full color on a full-color ebook device and in rich black and white on all other devices.

    Narnia . . . where horses talk . . . where treachery is brewing . . . where destiny awaits.

    On a desperate journey, two runaways meet and join forces. Though they are only looking to escape their harsh and narrow lives, they soon find themselves at the center of a terrible battle. It is a battle that will decide their fate and the fate of Narnia itself.

    The Horse and His Boy is the third book in C. S. Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia, a series that has become part of the canon of classic literature, drawing readers of all ages into a magical land with unforgettable characters for over sixty years. This is a novel that stands on its own, but if you would like to return to Narnia, read Prince Caspian, the fourth book in The Chronicles of Narnia.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateOct 6, 2009
    ISBN9780061974137
    The Horse and His Boy: The Classic Fantasy Adventure Series (Official Edition)
    Author

    C. S. Lewis

    Clive Staples Lewis (1898-1963) was one of the intellectual giants of the twentieth century and arguably one of the most influential writers of his day. He was a fellow and tutor in English Literature at Oxford University until 1954 when he was unanimously elected to the Chair of Medieval and Renaissance English at Cambridge University, a position he held until his retirement.

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    Reviews for The Horse and His Boy

    4.5/5

    139 ratings74 reviews

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    • 5/5
      Loved this series as a kid.
    • 5/5
      He had not yet learned that if you do one good deed your reward usually is to be set to do another and harder and better one.My good Horse, you've lost nothing but your self-conceit. No, no, cousin. Don't put back your ears and shake your mane at me. If you are really so humbled as you sounded a minute ago, you must learn to listen to sense. You're not quite the great Horse you had come to think, from living among poor dumb horses. Of course you were braver and cleverer than them. You could hardly help being that. It doesn't follow that you'll be anyone very special in Narnia. But as long as you know you're nobody special, you'll be a very decent sort of Horse, on the whole, and taking one thing with another."Who are you?" asked Shasta."Myself," said the Voice"I was the lion." And as Shasta gaped with open mouth and said nothing, the Voice continued. "Iwas the lion who forced you to join with Aravis. I was the cat who comforted you among the houses ofthe dead. I was the lion who drove the jackals from you while you slept. I was the lion who gave theHorses the new strength of fear for the last mile so that you should reach King Lune in time. And I wasthe lion you do not remember who pushed the boat in which you lay, a child near death, so that it came toshore where a man sat, wakeful at midnight, to receive you."But he looked very carefully out of the corners of his eyes to see what the others were doing (as some of us have done at parties when we weren't quite sure which knife or fork we were meant to use)The hillside path which they were following became narrower all the time and the drop on their righthand became steeper. At last they were going in single file along the edge of a precipice and Shastashuddered to think that he had done the same last night without knowing it. "But of course," he thought,"I was quite safe. That is why the Lion kept on my left. He was between me and the edge all the time."The ground between the two armies grew less every moment. Faster, faster. All swords out now, all shields up to the nose, all prayers said, all teeth clenched. Shasta was dreadfully frightened. But it suddenly came into his head, "If you funk this, you'll funk every battle all your life. Now or never."Aravis also had many quarrels (and, I'm afraid, even fights) with Cor, but they always made it up again: so that years later, when they were grown up, they were so used to quarrelling and making it up again that they got married so as to go on doing it more conveniently.
    • 3/5
      I have mixed feelings about The Horse and His Boy. On the one hand, excellent adventure, great characters (especially the horses), and the sure hand of Aslan guiding the narrative. On the other...well... there's Calormen.Also, inexplicably, Shasta develops a British schoolboy's diction at the end of the book.
    • 5/5
      This is a great book as is all of the others, however this one isn't as exciting as The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe!
    • 5/5
      É ótimo como sempre, um dos meus favoritos da coleção
    • 5/5
      I loved it and well because it was awesome ??
    • 5/5
      I'm attempting to read all seven of the Chronicles of Narnia. This third book in the series was a re-read for me, but I didn't remember the story well. However, this time around, I loved the story of a talking horse from Narnia, who finds himself in a foreign land. Together with a boy from a fishing village, he attempts to get back to Narnia. Another well-told story from a master.
    • 3/5
      A nice children's story. Not the best of the series
    • 4/5
      The most interesting, but the most troubling because of the racism against the 'dark Calormen.'
    • 4/5
      Number two (or three) in the Narnia-series - about a young slave boy, Shasta, who escapes from his homeland with the Narnian talking horse Bree - under way they meet Aravis and her horse Whin (Aravis runs from an arranged marriage) - and when they discover that the Calormen people are about to attack Narnia they race to warn the narnians. The setting here is a lot like the medieval faerie romance and with inspiration from Arabian Nights - a very exciting fast-paced adventure. Just wonderful. Again - I love the way Aslan turns up from time to time to guide and comfort:“Child,’ said the Lion, ‘I am telling you your story, not hers. No one is told any story but their own.” Audiobook narrated by Alex Jennings.
    • 5/5
      Shasta escapes Calormen with the stallion, Bree, and Aravis, a young Calormene aristocrat, and her horse, Hwin, and when they finally meet the Narnians, they all get a huge surprise once they meet Corin, The Prince of Archenland. This was one of my favorite books as a child and, although the religious allusions are too heavy-handed for an adult, every time I reread it, this little band of escapees bring me the same joy they always have. This, and the other books in the series, will be on my to-reread list for the rest of my life.
    • 4/5
      This was one of my favorite Narnia books when I was a kid. The main characters filled my favorite tropes: Shasta is a poor pitiful orphan whose good heart launches him into an adventure, while Aravis has all the quick wits and tough spirit that a girl could wish for. I liked that their relationship began badly but ended with complete trust in each other. And there's basically no adult help until the very end (to my mind, Hwin and Bree don't count as adults, being horses), which always thrills a young lass. I reread this book so many times that I could practically recite the section where Shasta has orange sherbert for the first time, or when he and Aravis try to outrun lions across the desert.

      But this was also the start of my discomfort with Narnia, because even as a child I could tell that the Calormen and their society were created and described with racist, Islamaphobic, Orientalist cliches. And I never felt right about Aslan tearing up Aravis's back--like so many of Aslan's punishments, it felt disproportionate and unfair. So I think this is a book that will stay on the shelf, lest I reread it and become further disappointed.
    • 2/5
      Well I didn't hate it - but it wasn't a patch on the first two - although I couldn't really remember the story from when I read it as a child there was something about me that put me off reading it. Having read it now I'm not sure what it was about it that made me feel that way - it's fairly harmless. However, it doesn't really seem to sit with the other books. I know Edmund, Lucy and Susan are in it, and Aslan - and Narnia appears a little, but it didn't really feel like a Narnia book!
    • 4/5
      I really enjoyed this as a read-aloud! I enjoyed it as much as I may have enjoyed The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe had I read it before seeing the movie. The plot events inspired interesting conversations with my son: about religion, recurring themes in literature, politics, morality, etc. I'd have to say that these were some of our best religion conversations we've had so far, and I'm so thankful to have read this (thanks, Ami!).

      Unfortunately, there were some outrageously boring chapters, such as 20 pages describing the monotony of a trip across the desert. Bravo, I guess, for so effectively getting us into that place where we can so identify with the main character's desire to end it all, but really, I could've lived without it. Twice, I ended the chapter with my own commentary, "And that, thank goodness, is the end of that dreadful chapter!," to which my son would respond, "Thank god!"

      Fortunately, the book was long enough to include many exciting and/or interesting chapters to make up for it, but I do have to warn you that I don't mean "exciting" as in the Percy Jackson type of exciting (which isn't really that captivating to an adult), but the kind that is more akin to real life excitement, such as overhearing an important conversation not intended for your ears that could change everything and deciding what to do with that information....you know, real life exciting.

      I don't know that I would've valued this book as just an adult read, so my recommendation is definitely to the parent of a 10-year-old (or kids equivalent to mine in terms of maturity and vocabulary), and definitely as a read-aloud.


      This line cracked me up: "...so that years later, when they were grown up they were so used to quarreling and making it up again that they got married so as to go on doing it more conveniently."


      Should I read the next one? I'm not sure....I'd appreciate some guidance on that.
    • 5/5
      This book would be good to use when talking about how to treat others as well as how important people might come from insignificant means. I thinks students will like this book because of the relationship between the boy and his talking horse.
    • 5/5
      This was a wonderful modern fantasy book. This modern fantasy was characterized bty allusion to Christian myths. The story begins with a young boy being sold to a trader by his own father. He meets a talking horse and they both run away from the slave trader towards Narnia. The boy meets Aravis (a fiesty runaway princess) and Hwin (another talking horse). The four of them decide to travel towards Narnia. While on their journey, they discover a wicked plan to overthrow Narnia and its allies. The witty bunch is able to inform the kingdom that they are under attack. By doing so, they are able to defeat the oppressors. I would read a chapter a die to my fourth grade students.
    • 5/5
      Inversion of roles story, as ðe title makes clear – but what makes it great, besides being so beautifully written,is being all about grace.
    • 4/5
      My favorite Narnia book
    • 3/5
      I liked this book, but it wasn't as good as others in the Narnia series. I don't really understand why the author chose to leave the point of view of the modern characters and instead focus on characters from the Narnia world. They were interesting, but not nearly as interesting as the more familiar people, and they just didn't do a whole lot. So, on to the next book in the series, The Magician's Nephew.
    • 5/5
      one of my favorite of the series.
      The characters I enjoyed here more than the other books & I liked the mystery & exoctcness of the new lands desert etc
      Plus talking horses! :)
    • 4/5
      I tried reading the Horse and His Boy as a child and got lost fairly quickly in all of the eastern imagery, and so it was about time that I got back to it and finished it. There are some wonderful moments in this book: I particularly love the way that Aslan keeps on popping in and out of the storyline, looking after the young boy, Shasta, but without Shasta realising that he's been there helping him all along. At one point he wants the lion, Aslan, to leave him alone, only to find that Aslan actually wants to help him and has carried him on his journey up until that point. Shasta's character begins to morph into a wiser creature, now rooted in the mercy and kindness of Aslan. Having faith, myself, the meaning of these scenes is not lost on me. How often have I wondered whether God has been with me in a situation, but in hindsight it has been so abundantly clear that he has been there the whole time. Few stories are as enriching as this – this is not a children's novel; this is a novel for all ages.
    • 3/5
      The book has lots of enjoyable moments. The characters and interactions of the two horses are fun. The punishment of Radagast is kind of useful, although I expect that he would have been assassinated by his subjects or his father fairly shortly, having been rendered so powerless by Aslan's magic.As usual Aslan should be doing either a whole lot more, since he can do more, or a whole lot less, if he can't. Either way, he's creepy and annoying, just like C. S. Lewis's Anglican god, of which he is an allegory.The main characters, although not English children, occasionally use English slang, while the characters who were English children seem to have forgotten it.
    • 3/5
      The characters in this one seemed almost cartoonish. Seemed more of a fable or fairy tale than a fantasy novel.
      I did like how everything tied together and everything had a purpose at the end although Aslan's holier than thou schtick gets tiring.

      I enjoyed it because it was part of the series but if this was the only book in the series that I read or would read then the scoring might be even lower.
    • 5/5
       After re-reading this book, I fell in love with it even more. What's weird about it was it made me cry. I really loved the part where Shasta was riding through the fog with Aslan beside him. It really struck a chord me and made me realize of God's love. The Narnia series will be one of the first books I will make my children read. This was really one of the best book in the series.
    • 4/5
      A delicious classic, suitable for children of any age - including adults. The cultural flavor of a fairy tale or a medieval romance, with suspense and adventure, this novel can be read separately from the Narnia series, though I can't imagine wanting to skip the other volumes. Chivalry and perfidy, courage and cowardice, and a story that illustrates the fundamental importance of character - and that character is a choice.
    • 3/5
      Out of the all the books in the Chronicles of Narnia series I have read so far, this was my least favorite. I kept getting confused by the various characters' names and had a tough time staying interested in this story. It wasn't a terrible book, but it also wasn't great. It just wasn't as compelling as some of the other books in the series.
    • 4/5
      The Horse and His Boy isn't one of my favourite books of the series, now. I think when I was younger it might have been one of my favourites -- I think I owned a BBC dramatisation of it, or something like that, which was pretty good and helped my very positive memories of it. Shasta wasn't my favourite protagonist even then, I think, though I did love Aravis and wished we saw more of her.

      Looking at it now, The Horse and His Boy feels like a bit of an aside, really. Shasta/Cor, Aravis and the two horses aren't that important, ultimately, to the history of Narnia. The other books all cover pretty important moments -- creation, freedom from oppressive regimes, new rulers, daring rescues... This book hardly has Narnian characters in it, and when it does, they're not absolutely central to the plot. It's more about Archenland and Calormen -- which is nice, in seeing more of the world, but it just doesn't seem to quite fit.

      The writing is still beautiful, the narrator still a benevolent omniscient storyteller type. The book makes me want to go to Narnia as much as the others do. If I say I don't love it as much as the others, that doesn't mean I don't love it very much.

      But now for Prince Caspian!
    • 4/5
      A good story despite some latent racism. That's a good argument for continuing to read aloud to/with your children even after they can read chapter books on their own.
    • 4/5
      Third book in the series. I love this classic tale of adventure and friendship. Useful for map reading and applying fantasy!
    • 4/5
      So far, this is my favorite of the Chronicles. I love the story's simplilcity. It is just the classic fantasy tale, made all the better by Lewis's distintly British writing. Loved it.

    Book preview

    The Horse and His Boy - C. S. Lewis

    ONE

    HOW SHASTA SET OUT ON HIS TRAVELS

    THIS IS THE STORY OF AN ADVENTURE that happened in Narnia and Calormen and the lands between, in the Golden Age when Peter was High King in Narnia and his brother and his two sisters were King and Queens under him.

    In those days, far south in Calormen on a little creek of the sea, there lived a poor fisherman called Arsheesh, and with him there lived a boy who called him Father. The boy’s name was Shasta. On most days Arsheesh went out in his boat to fish in the morning, and in the afternoon he harnessed his donkey to a cart and loaded the cart with fish and went a mile or so southward to the village to sell it. If it had sold well he would come home in a moderately good temper and say nothing to Shasta, but if it had sold badly he would find fault with him and perhaps beat him. There was always something to find fault with for Shasta had plenty of work to do, mending and washing the nets, cooking the supper, and cleaning the cottage in which they both lived.

    Shasta was not at all interested in anything that lay south of his home because he had once or twice been to the village with Arsheesh and he knew that there was nothing very interesting there. In the village he only met other men who were just like his father—men with long, dirty robes, and wooden shoes turned up at the toe, and turbans on their heads, and beards, talking to one another very slowly about things that sounded dull. But he was very interested in everything that lay to the North because no one ever went that way and he was never allowed to go there himself. When he was sitting out of doors mending the nets, and all alone, he would often look eagerly to the North. One could see nothing but a grassy slope running up to a level ridge and beyond that the sky with perhaps a few birds in it.

    Sometimes if Arsheesh was there Shasta would say, O my Father, what is there beyond that hill? And then if the fisherman was in a bad temper he would box Shasta’s ears and tell him to attend to his work. Or if he was in a peaceable mood he would say, O my son, do not allow your mind to be distracted by idle questions. For one of the poets has said, ‘Application to business is the root of prosperity, but those who ask questions that do not concern them are steering the ship of folly toward the rock of indigence.’

    Shasta thought that beyond the hill there must be some delightful secret which his father wished to hide from him. In reality, however, the fisherman talked like this because he didn’t know what lay to the North. Neither did he care. He had a very practical mind.

    One day there came from the South a stranger who was unlike any man that Shasta had seen before. He rode upon a strong dappled horse with flowing mane and tail and his stirrups and bridle were inlaid with silver. The spike of a helmet projected from the middle of his silken turban and he wore a shirt of chain mail. By his side hung a curving scimitar, a round shield studded with bosses of brass hung at his back, and his right hand grasped a lance. His face was dark, but this did not surprise Shasta because all the people of Calormen are like that; what did surprise him was the man’s beard which was dyed crimson, and curled and gleaming with scented oil. But Arsheesh knew by the gold on the stranger’s bare arm that he was a Tarkaan or great lord, and he bowed kneeling before him till his beard touched the earth and made signs to Shasta to kneel also.

    The stranger demanded hospitality for the night which of course the fisherman dared not refuse. All the best they had was set before the Tarkaan for supper (and he didn’t think much of it) and Shasta, as always happened when the fisherman had company, was given a hunk of bread and turned out of the cottage. On these occasions he usually slept with the donkey in its little thatched stable. But it was much too early to go to sleep yet, and Shasta, who had never learned that it is wrong to listen behind doors, sat down with his ear to a crack in the wooden wall of the cottage to hear what the grown-ups were talking about. And this is what he heard.

    And now, O my host, said the Tarkaan, I have a mind to buy that boy of yours.

    O my master, replied the fisherman (and Shasta knew by the wheedling tone the greedy look that was probably coming into his face as he said it), what price could induce your servant, poor though he is, to sell into slavery his only child and his own flesh? Has not one of the poets said, ‘Natural affection is stronger than soup and offspring more precious than carbuncles?’

    It is even so, replied the guest dryly. But another poet has likewise said, ‘He who attempts to deceive the judicious is already baring his own back for the scourge.’ Do not load your aged mouth with falsehoods. This boy is manifestly no son of yours, for your cheek is as dark as mine but the boy is fair and white like the accursed but beautiful barbarians who inhabit the remote North.

    How well it was said, answered the fisherman, that Swords can be kept off with shields but the Eye of Wisdom pierces through every defense! Know then, O my formidable guest, that because of my extreme poverty I have never married and have no child. But in that same year in which the Tisroc (may he live forever) began his august and beneficent reign, on a night when the moon was at her full, it pleased the gods to deprive me of my sleep. Therefore I arose from my bed in this hovel and went forth to the beach to refresh myself with looking upon the water and the moon and breathing the cool air. And presently I heard a noise as of oars coming to me across the water and then, as it were, a weak cry. And shortly after, the tide brought to the land a little boat in which there was nothing but a man lean with extreme hunger and thirst who seemed to have died but a few moments before (for he was still warm), and an empty water-skin, and a child, still living. ‘Doubtless,’ said I, ‘these unfortunates have escaped from the wreck of a great ship, but by the admirable designs of the gods, the elder has starved himself to keep the child alive and has perished in sight of land.’ Accordingly, remembering how the gods never fail to reward those who befriend the destitute, and being moved by compassion (for your servant is a man of tender heart)—

    Leave out all these idle words in your own praise, interrupted the Tarkaan. It is enough to know that you took the child—and have had ten times the worth of his daily bread out of him in labor, as anyone can see. And now tell me at once what price you put on him, for I am wearied with your loquacity.

    You yourself have wisely said, answered Arsheesh, that the boy’s labor has been to me of inestimable value. This must be taken into account in fixing the price. For if I sell the boy I must undoubtedly either buy or hire another to do his work.

    I’ll give you fifteen crescents for him, said the Tarkaan.

    Fifteen! cried Arsheesh in a voice that was something between a whine and a scream. Fifteen! For the prop of my old age and the delight of my eyes! Do not mock my gray beard, Tarkaan though you be. My price is seventy.

    At this point Shasta got up and tiptoed away. He had heard all he wanted, for he had often listened when men were bargaining in the village and knew how it was done. He was quite certain that Arsheesh would sell him in the end for something much more than fifteen crescents and much less than seventy, but that he and the Tarkaan would take hours in getting to an agreement.

    You must not imagine that Shasta felt at all as you and I would feel if we had just overheard our parents talking about selling us for slaves. For one thing, his life was already little better than slavery; for all he knew, the lordly stranger on the great horse might be kinder to him than Arsheesh. For another, the story about his own discovery in the boat had filled him with excitement and with a sense of relief. He had often been uneasy because, try as he might, he had never been able to love the fisherman, and he knew that a boy ought to love his father. And now, apparently, he was no relation to Arsheesh at all. That took a great weight off his mind. Why, I might be anyone! he thought. I might be the son of a Tarkaan myself—or the son of the Tisroc (may he live forever)—or of a god!

    He was standing out in the grassy place before the cottage while he thought these things. Twilight was coming on apace and a star or two was already out, but the remains of the sunset could still be seen in the west. Not far away the stranger’s horse, loosely tied to an iron ring in the wall of the donkey’s stable, was grazing. Shasta strolled over to it and patted its neck. It went on tearing up the grass and took no notice of him.

    Then another thought came into Shasta’s mind. I wonder what sort of a man that Tarkaan is, he said out loud. It would be splendid if he was kind. Some of the slaves in a great lord’s house have next to nothing to do. They wear lovely clothes and eat meat every day. Perhaps he’d take me to the wars and I’d save his life in a battle and then he’d set me free and adopt me as his son and give me a palace and a chariot and a suit of armor. But then he might be a horrid cruel man. He might send me to work on the fields in chains. I wish I knew. How can I know? I bet this horse knows, if only he could tell me.

    The Horse had lifted its head. Shasta stroked its smooth-as-satin nose and said, "I wish you could talk, old fellow."

    And then for a second he thought he was dreaming, for quite distinctly, though in a low voice, the Horse said, But I can.

    Shasta stared into its great eyes and his own grew almost as big, with astonishment.

    "How ever did you learn to talk?" he asked.

    Hush! Not so loud, replied the Horse. Where I come from, nearly all the animals talk.

    Wherever is that? asked Shasta.

    Narnia, answered the Horse. The happy land of Narnia—Narnia of the heathery mountains and the thymy downs, Narnia of the many rivers, the plashing glens, the mossy caverns and the deep forests ringing with the hammers of the Dwarfs. Oh the sweet air of Narnia! An hour’s life there is better than a thousand years in Calormen. It ended with a whinny that sounded very like a sigh.

    How did you get here? said Shasta.

    Kidnapped, said the Horse. "Or stolen, or captured—whichever you like to call it. I was only a foal at the time. My mother warned me not to range the Southern slopes, into Archenland and beyond, but I wouldn’t heed her. And by the Lion’s Mane I have paid for my folly. All these years I have been a slave to humans, hiding my true nature and pretending to be dumb and witless like their horses."

    Why didn’t you tell them who you were?

    Not such a fool, that’s why. If they’d once found out I could talk they would have made a show of me at fairs and guarded me more carefully than ever. My last chance of escape would have been gone.

    And why— began Shasta, but the Horse interrupted him.

    Now look, it said, we mustn’t waste time on idle questions. You want to know about my master the Tarkaan Anradin. Well, he’s bad. Not too bad to me, for a war horse costs too much to be treated very badly. But you’d better be lying dead tonight than go to be a human slave in his house tomorrow.

    Then I’d better run away, said Shasta, turning very pale.

    Yes, you had, said the Horse. But why not run away with me?

    Are you going to run away too? said Shasta.

    Yes, if you’ll come with me, answered the Horse. This is the chance for both of us. You see if I run away without a rider, everyone who sees me will say ‘Stray horse’ and be after me quick as he can. With a rider I’ve a chance to get through. That’s where you can help me. On the other hand, you can’t get very far on those two silly legs of yours (what absurd legs humans have!) without being overtaken. But on me you can outdistance any other horse in this country. That’s where I can help you. By the way, I suppose you know how to ride?

    Oh yes, of course, said Shasta. At least, I’ve ridden the donkey.

    "Ridden the what? retorted the Horse with extreme contempt. (At least, that is what he meant. Actually it came out in a sort of neigh—Ridden the wha-ha-ha-ha-ha." Talking horses always sound more horsey in accent when they are angry.)

    In other words, it continued, "you can’t ride. That’s a drawback. I’ll have to teach you as we go along. If you can’t ride, can you fall?"

    I suppose anyone can fall, said Shasta.

    I mean can you fall and get up again without crying and mount again and fall again and yet not be afraid of falling?

    I—I’ll try, said Shasta.

    Poor little beast, said the Horse in a gentler tone. "I forget you’re only a foal. We’ll make a fine rider of you in time. And now—we mustn’t start until those two in the hut are asleep. Meantime we can make

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