This is my favorite moment in all the Narnia stories. It occurs in The Horse and His Boy, which is my favorite book in the series. In this scene, the boy Shasta has been left behind, and as he travels on alone he begins to feel sorry for himself because of all the terrible misfortunes he has had. But in the midst of his emptiness, Aslan shows up.
And being very tired and having nothing inside him, (Shasta) felt so sorry for himself that the tears rolled down his cheeks.
What put a stop to all of this was a sudden fright. Shasta discovered that someone or somebody was walking beside him. It was pitch dark and he could see nothing. And the Thing (or Person) was going so quietly that he could hardly hear any footfalls. What he could hear was breathing. His invisible companion seemed to breathe on a very large scale, and Shasta got the impression that it was a very large creature. And he had come to notice this breathing so gradually that he had really no idea how long it had been there. It was a horrible shock.
It darted into his mind that he had heard long ago that there were giants in these Northern countries. He bit his lip in terror. But now that he really had something to cry about, he stopped crying.
The Thing (unless it was a person) went on beside him so very quietly that Shasta began to hope that he had only imagined it. But just as he was becoming quite sure of it, there suddenly came a deep, rich sigh out of the darkness beside him. That couldn’t be imagination! Anyway, he has felt the hot breath of that sigh on his chilly left hand.
If the horse had been any good – or if he had known how to get any good out of the horse – he would have risked everything on a break away and a wild gallop. But he knew he couldn’t make that horse gallop. So he went on at a walking pace and the unseen companion walked and breathed beside him. At last he could bear it no longer.
“Who are you?” he said, barely above a whisper.
“One who has waited long for you to speak,” said the Thing. Its voice was not loud, but very large and deep.
“Are you – are you a giant?” asked Shasta.
“You might call me a giant,” said the Large Voice. “But I am not like the creatures you call giants.”
“I can’t see you at all,” said Shasta, after staring very hard. Then (for an even more terrible idea had come into his head) he said, almost in a scream, “You’re not – not something dead, are you? Oh please – please do go away. What harm have I ever done you? Oh, I am the unluckiest person in the whole world.”
Once more he felt the warm breath of the Thing on his hand and face. “There,” it said, “that is not the breath of a ghost. Tell me your sorrows.”
Shasta was a little reassured by the breath: so he told how he had never known his real father or mother and had been brought up sternly by the fisherman. and then he told the story of his escape and how they were chased by lions and forced to swim for their lives; and of all their dangers in Tashbaan and about his night among the Tombs and how the beasts howled at him out of the desert. And he told about the heat and thirst of their desert journey and how they were almost at their goal when another lion chased them and wounded Aravis. And also, how very long it was since had had anything to eat.
“I do not call you unfortunate,” said the Large Voice.
“Don’t you think it was bad luck to meet so many lions?” said Shasta.
“There was only one lion.” said the Voice.
“What on earth do you mean? I’ve just told you there were at least two lions the first night, and -”
“There was only one, but he was swift of foot.”
“How do you know?”
“I was the lion.”
And as Shasta gaped with open mouth and said nothing, the Voice continued. “I was the lion who forced you to join with Aravis. I was the cat who comfroted you among the houses of the dead. I was the lion who drove the jackals from you as you slept. I was the lion who gave the Horses the new strength of fear for the last mile so that you should reach King Lune in time. And I was the lion you do not remember who pushed the baot in which you lay, a child near death, so that it came to shore where a man sat, wakeful at midnight, to receive you.”
“Then it was you who wounded Aravis?”
“It was I.”
“But what for?”
“Child,” said the Voice, “I am telling you your story, not hers. I tell no one any story but his own.”
“Who are you?” asked Shasta.
“Myself,” said the Voice, very deep and low so that the earth shook: and again “Myself,” loud and clear and gay: and then the third time “Myself,” whispered so softly you could hardly hear it, and yet it seemed to come from all around you as if the leaves rustled with it.
Shasta was no longer afraid that the Voice belonged to something that would eat him, nor that it was the voice of a ghost. But a new and different sort of trembling came over him. Yet he felt glad too.
The mist was truning from black to grey and from grey to white. This must have begun to happen some time ago, but while he had been talking to the Thing he had not been noticing anything else. Now, the whiteness around him became a shining whiteness; his eyes began to blink. Somewhere ahead he heard birds singing. He knew the night was over at last. He could see the mane and ears and head of his horse quite clearly now. A golden light fell on them from the left. He thought it was the sun.
He turned and saw, pacing beside him, taller than a horse, a Lion. The horse did not seem to be afriad of it or else could not see it. It was from the lion that the light came. No one ever saw anything more terrible or more beautiful.
Luckily Shasta had lived all of his life too far south in Calormen to have heard the tales that were whispered in Tashbaan about a dreadful Narnian demon that appeared in the form of a lion. And of course he knew none of the true stories about Aslan, the great Lion, the son of the Emperor-over-sea, the King above all High Kings in Narnia. But after one glance at the Lion’s face he slipped out of the saddle and fell at its feet. He couldn’t say anything but then he didn’t want to say anything, and he knew he needn’t say anything.
The High King above all kings stooped towards him. Its mane, and some strange and solemn perfume that hung about the manhe, was all around him. It touched his forehead with its tongue. He lifted his face and their eyes met. Then instantly the pale brightness of the mist and the feiry brightness of the Lion rolled themselves together into a swirling glory and gathered themselves up and disappeared. He was alone with horse on a grassy hillside under a blue sky. And there were birds singing.
Responses
I have loved reading, watching, and listening to the Chronicles of Narnia with you lately! I love you!
What a great quote. I’d love to hear why this particular chronicle is your favorite, Gav.
Hey Krista,>>I think its because of the theme of home-sickness and always feeling like an alien in your setting. Shasta has been raised in Calormen for as long as he can remember, but he somehow he knows he doesn’t belong there, and he longs to travel north. I can relate to that, and I think it parallels the Christian’s longing for heaven.>>Which is your favorite?
[…] it reminds me of when Shasta met Aslan for the first time. If you’ve never read it before, this blog has it pretty much word for word. Reading it ALWAYS gave me goosebumps because I could imagine […]
My favorite part, which I reflect on frequently, is when Shasta, Aravis, Bree and Hwin are trying to get away from the Calormene soldiers and Bree insists that they cannot go any faster. Hwin suggests that they could if they had soldiers whipping them. Aslan later proves that Hwin is correct. They are capable of more than their minds will allow. And the author points out that while slaves are capable of being pushed farther, they lose all their discipline when/if they become free.
[…] this idea beautifully. Its a long section, but well worth the read. You can read the full exchange here, but here is a […]
[…] is right there alongside them; like the lion Aslan in the book ‘The horse and his boy‘ (read the excerpt here). “surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” – Matthew […]
[…] There is a passage in C.S. Lewis’ book The Horse and His Boy where one of the characters, Shasta, meets Aslan. Shasta is in near pitch darkness and senses something walking next to him. Unbeknownst to him, it is Aslan and not only that, Aslan is leading him through the darkness and reveals he had been guiding him the whole time (check out the passage here). […]
My favorite moment too.
Reminds me of when i gave my life to Jesus.
Early in the story of The Silver Chair, Jill meets Aslan on the great mountaintop of Aslan’s Country. Jill becomes puzzled when The Lion mentions calling her and Eustace out of their own world and into His. Sensing her confusion Aslan tells Jill to speak her thoughts. She kindly explains that it was her and Eustace who asked to come to Narnia. Aslan says, “you would not have been called to me unless I had been calling to you.”
I just love Narnia series than any other book series. I love all movies of Narnia. You know, I love Narnia more than any other thing except something complicated of my life.
[…] story comes from the Narnia series, The Horse and the Boy. The full excerpt of this story is found here and worth the read. Bear with my abbreviated version as I am no C.S. […]
In which I read the first few sentences about Aslan being so quiet but there and proceed to spend the next half hour bawling my eyes out because I needed so badly to hear that He was the Lion.
I was searching for this quote for a sermon on John 21 (“Child,” said the Voice, “I am telling you your story, not hers. I tell no one any story but his own.”) and this site was the first one Google sent me to. Thanks for typing it out for me Gavin!