The Horse and His Boy
Quotes from the Book
I hope no one who reads this book has been quite as miserable as Susan and Lucy were that night; but if you have been - if you've been up all night and cried till you have no more tears left in you - you will know that there comes in the end a sort of quietness. You feel as if nothing is ever going to happen again.
I wrote this story for you, but when I began it I had not realized that girls grow quicker than books. As a result you are already too old for fairy tales, and by the time it is printed and bound you will be older still. But some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again. You can then take it down from some upper shelf, dust it, and tell me what you think of it. I shall probably be too deaf to hear, and too old to understand a word you say, but I shall still be your affectionate Godfather, C. S. Lewis.
Safe?” said Mr. Beaver; “don’t you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you? Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.
Once a King in Narnia, always a King in Narnia. But don't go trying to use the same route twice. Indeed, don't try to get there at all. It'll happen when you're not looking for it. And don't talk too much about it even among yourselves. And don't mention it to anyone else unless you find that they've had adventures of the same sort themselves. What's that? How will you know? Oh, you'll know all right. Odd things, they say-even their looks-will let the secret out. Keep your eyes open. Bless me, what do they teach them at these schools." -The Professor
He'll be coming and going" he had said. "One day you'll see him and another you won't. He doesn't like being tied down--and of course he has other countries to attend to. It's quite all right. He'll often drop in. Only you mustn't press him. He's wild, you know. Not like a tame lion.
To the glistening eastern sea, I give you Queen Lucy the Valiant. To the great western woods, King Edmund the Just. To the radiant southern sun, Queen Susan the Gentle. And to the clear northern skies, I give you King Peter the Magnificent. Once a king or queen of Narnia, always a king or queen of Narnia. May your wisdom grace us until the stars rain down from the heavens.
Wrong will be right, when Aslan comes in sight, At the sound of his roar, sorrows will be no more, When he bares his teeth, winter meets its death, And when he shakes his mane, we shall have spring again.
All shall be done, but it may be harder than you think.
Once a king or queen of Narnia, always a king or queen of Narnia.
Aslan is a lion- the Lion, the great Lion." "Ooh" said Susan. "I'd thought he was a man. Is he-quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion"..."Safe?" said Mr Beaver ..."Who said anything about safe? 'Course he isn't safe. But he's good. He's the King, I tell you.
If you've been up all night and cried till you have no more tears left in you - you will know that there comes in the end a sort of quietness. You feel as if nothing was ever going to happen again.
Do not cite the Deep Magic to me, Witch. I was there when it was written.
If there's anyone who can appear before Aslan without their knees knocking, they're either braver than most, or else just silly.
She did not shut it properly because she knew that it is very silly to shut oneself into a wardrobe, even if it is not a magic one.
Daughter of Eve from the far land of Spare Oom where eternal summer reigns around the bright city of War Drobe, how would it be if you came and had tea with me?
Well, sir, if things are real, they’re there all the time." "Are they?" said the Professor; and Peter did not quite know what to say.
If ever they remembered their life in this world it was as one remembers a dream.
None of the children knew who Aslan was any more than you do; but the moment the Beaver had spoken these words everyone felt quite different. Perhaps it has sometimes happened to you in a dream that someone says something which you don't understand but in the dream it feels as if it had some enormous meaning--either a terrifying one which turns the whole dream into a nightmare or else a lovely meaning too lovely to put into words, which makes the dream so beautiful that you remember it all your life and are always wishing you could get into that dream again. It was like that now. At the name of Aslan each one of the children felt something jump in it's inside. Edmund felt a sensation of mysterious horror. Peter felt suddenly brave and adventurous. Susan felt as if some delicious smell or some delightful strain of music had just floated by her. And Lucy got the feeling you have when you wake up in the morning and realize that it is the beginning of the holidays or the beginning of Summer.
And so for a time it looked as if all the adventures were coming to and end; but that was not to be.
You have a traitor there, Aslan," said the Witch. Of course everyone present knew that she meant Edmund. But Edmund had got past thinking about himself after all he'd been through and after the talk he'd had that morning. He just went on looking at Aslan. It didn't seem to matter what the Witch said.
What do they teach them at these schools?
The castle of Cair Paravel on its little hill towered up above them; before them were the sands, with rocks and little pools of salt water, and seaweed, and the smell of the sea and long miles of bluish-green waves breaking for ever and ever on the beach. And oh, the cry of the seagulls! Have you ever heard it? Can you remember?
And Peter became a tall and deep-chested man and a great warrior, and he was called King Peter the Magnificent. And Susan grew into a tall and gracious woman with black hair that fell almost to her feet and the kings of the countries beyond the sea began to send ambassadors asking for her hand in marriage. And she was called Queen Susan the Gentle. Edmund was a graver and quieter man than Peter, and great in council and judgment. he was called King Edmund the Just. But as for Lucy, she was always gay and golden-haired, and all princes in those parts desired her to be their Queen, and her own people called her Queen Lucy the Valiant.
It was a full moon and, shining on all the snow, it made everything almost as bright as day -- only the shadows were rather confusing.
Logic!" said the Professor half to himself. "Why don't they teach logic at these schools? There are only three possibilities. Either your sister is telling lies, or she is mad, or she is telling the truth. You know she doesn't tell lies and it is obvious that she is not mad. For the moment then and unless any further evidence turns up, we must assume that she is telling the truth.
Lucy looked and saw that Aslan had just breathed on the feet of the stone giant. It's all right!" shouted Aslan joyously. "Once The feet are put right, all the rest of him will follow.
In our adversity, God shouts to us.
It's so large" "It's the world dear, did you think it'd be small?" "smaller
Did you know?
- The book was first published on 16 October 1950 by Geoffrey Bles in the United Kingdom.
- It was illustrated by Pauline Baynes, who illustrated the entire Chronicles of Narnia series.
- Though published first, it is often placed second in the series after The Magician's Nephew when read in chronological story order.
- A 1979 animated television adaptation won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program.
- The 2005 Disney film adaptation starred Georgie Henley, Skandar Keynes, William Moseley and Anna Popplewell as the four Pevensie children.
About C.S. Lewis
More by C.S. Lewis
All books by C.S. Lewis →About the book
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is a children's fantasy novel by C.S. Lewis, first published in 1950. Four siblings, Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy, are evacuated from London during World War II to the country home of an old Professor. There, Lucy discovers that an ordinary wardrobe is a doorway into Narnia, a magical land held in perpetual winter by the White Witch. The children are drawn into a prophecy and an ancient conflict, aided by the great lion Aslan, the true ruler of Narnia.
The book weaves together themes of temptation, betrayal, sacrifice and redemption. Edmund's fall to the Witch's flattery and Turkish delight, and his later repentance, sit alongside Aslan's willing self-sacrifice and return, elements often read as a Christian allegory that Lewis, a noted lay theologian, drew from his own faith. The wintry, enchanted setting and the promise that spring will come with Aslan give the story its emotional and moral shape.
Though written first, the novel became the opening book of The Chronicles of Narnia, a seven-volume series completed in 1956 and illustrated by Pauline Baynes. It remains among the most widely read children's books of the twentieth century, appearing on lists such as Time magazine's selections of notable novels, and has been adapted repeatedly for radio, stage, television and film, including the 2005 Disney live-action feature.
Key characters
- Lucy PevensieYoungest sibling; first to discover Narnia; crowned Queen Lucy the Valiant
- Edmund PevensieBrother who betrays the others to the White Witch, then repents; crowned King Edmund the Just
- Susan PevensieElder sister; crowned Queen Susan the Gentle
- Peter PevensieEldest sibling; crowned High King Peter the Magnificent
- AslanThe great lion and true ruler of Narnia who sacrifices himself and returns
- The White WitchAntagonist who keeps Narnia in endless winter
Book details
- First published
- 1950
- Length
- 172 pages
- Reading time
- 3 hours
- Author
- C.S. Lewis
- Genre
- Classics
- Goodreads rating
- 4.24 (3.2M ratings) →
- First line
- “Once there were four children whose names were Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy.”
Series & reading order
- 1 The Magician's Nephew
- 2 The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
- 3 The Horse and His Boy
- 4 Prince Caspian
- 5 The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
- 6 The Silver Chair
- 7 The Last Battle
Movie & TV adaptations
- IMDb
- IMDb
- IMDb
If you liked this, read…
- 1The HobbitClassic mid-century English fantasy quest for younger readers
- 2The Wonderful Wizard of OzA child crosses into a magical land ruled by good and wicked powers
- 3Alice's Adventures in WonderlandAn ordinary child steps through a portal into a fantastical world
Keep reading
The Chronicles of Narnia
Prince Caspian
The Silver Chair
Through the Looking Glass
Once Upon a Wardrobe
Wintersmith
Abarat
The Wee Free Men
A Conjuring of Light
The Golden Compass
Beyond the Kingdoms
Lords and Ladies
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
The Enchantress Returns
Age of Myth
The Complete Fairy Tales
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
The Story Girl
Castle of Wizardry
The Left-Handed Booksellers of London
Something Wicked This Way Comes
The Girl Who Raced Fairyland All the Way Home
The Railway Children
Twice Magic
The Return of the King
The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making
The Water Babies
Boy's Life
The Boy Who Lost Fairyland
The Enchanted
The Wednesday Wars
The Two Towers
Breadcrumbs
The Ladies of Grace Adieu and Other Stories
Palace of Stone
The Children's Book
Son of a Witch
Sword & Citadel
Mister Pip
Towers of Midnight
In Other Lands
James Potter and the Hall of Elders' Crossing
The Lord of the Rings
The Enchantress
Out of Oz
Egg & Spoon
The Great Hunt
The Magician's Elephant
The Arabian Nights
The Green Ember
Eldest
Emily's Quest
The Dire King
Emily of New Moon
Winter's Tale
The Beatryce Prophecy
Inheritance
An Author's Odyssey
Bradbury Stories: 100 of His Most Celebrated Tales
Little, Big

