The Horse and His Boy | Chapter 15: Rabadash the Ridiculous

Chapter Summary:

The last chapter of The Horse and His Boy begins with Shasta, Aravis, Bree, and Hwin being greeted by King Lune at Anvard. Aravis tells King Lune about Shasta saving her from the pouncing lion, and King Lune spreads the story. Queen Lucy joins them, having just set up Shasta and Aravis's apartments.

After lunch the same day, there is a discussion about what is to be done about Prince Rabadash. The decision is made to be merciful to him, and he is brought out in chains. Before being given the conditions of his release, Prince Rabadash curses the King and refuses the conditions. 

Suddenly, Aslan appears and warns Prince Rabadash that he must forget his pride and anger and accept the mercy of the King--or face consequences. Rabadash continues to curse, until finally he slowly turns into a (non-talking) donkey. Aslan then tells Rabadash that his punishment is not permanent--he will be turn into a man again in the temple of Tash during the Autumn Feast in Tashbaan. But, Aslan says, if he ever goes more than 10 miles from Tashbaan for the rest of his life thereafter, he will become a donkey permanently. Aslan then disappears.

(We are told that later, Prince Rabadash becomes a Tisroc, and the most peaceful one ever known--he could never go to war, because that would take him at least 10 miles away.)

Finally, King Lune tells Cor that he is his heir--Cor and Corin are twins, but Cor was born first.

Cor eventually becomes the King of Archenland, and Aravis becomes the Queen. Bree and Hwin live long lives in Narnia.

Reflection:

Well, here we are at the end of The Horse and His Boy. This chapter is a rather thought-provoking chapter, particularly as it relates to Prince Rabadash's situation. It is clear from the moment that Prince Rabadash opens his mouth that he won't be cooperating with King Lune and his merciful decision. Aslan's arrival definitely doesn't help much. Prince Rabadash, I would expect, is in many ways similar to Uncle Andrew in The Magician's Nephew, who only heard Aslan's voice as a lion's roar. It doesn't matter how many warnings Aslan gives him, Prince Rabadash seems pretty much destined for his doom. But what an interesting doom it is! Prince Rabadash's punishment is two-fold: He is turned into a donkey, and once he becomes a human again, he must remain in or near Tashbaan in order to avoid becoming a donkey again permanently. Clever, just, and meriful, all at the same time, which is just what Aslan wanted.

Another thought I've had throughout this chapter--Prince Rabadash swears by Tash, the god of Calormen. Indeed, he appeals to Tash many times while Aslan is present. As a result, here is what Aslan says:

"'You have appealed to Tash,' said Aslan. 'And in the temple of Tash you shall be healed. You must stand before the altar of Tash in Tashbaan at the great Autumn Feast this year and there, in the sight of all Tashbaan, your ass's shape will fall from you and all men will know you for Prince Rabadash'" (p. 208). 

Hold the phone. Here we are, at the end of the third TCON book, and Aslan is acknowledging for the first time that there is (at least) one other god in this world that we are reading about? It seems, of course, that in the situation described above that Aslan is really in charge of the entire scenario--in other words, we can safely assume that it is the work of Aslan, even within Tash's temple, that will allow Prince Rabadash to once again assume human form. But still, this should be rather surprising, I would think, to most readers at this point. It would be like Jesus saying, "Oh, you appealed to the Baals, so you will be healed in that temple." What? No. 

It is times like these that I just need to remind myself of something that I wrote in one of my first entries--that C.S. Lewis was not writing a strict allegory when he wrote TCON. Yes, Aslan may act like Jesus, but he is not always portrayed exactly like Jesus. This is not a one-to-one comparison. Yes, they have a ton of similarities, but they are not the same. Similarly, the world in which Narnia inhabits is not the same as ours, and they are not compared in a one-to-one way.

So once again, we are at the end of one of TCON books, and everyone lives happily ever after. Shasta and Aravis become King and Queen of Archenland, and have a son named Ram that because the most famousest (intentional non-word) King of Archenland. Even good comes to Rabadash. All's well that ends well, for the time being. Let us see how long this continues.

Tomorrow we journey onward to Prince Caspian--I hope you will join me.