Prince Caspian

I've completed another of C.S. Lewis’ Narnia books: Prince Caspian. Irregular readers of this blog will surely marvel when they discover that I should not have read it till my 39th year. It’s a good story, and I've developed a real love for Aslan, the lion who represents Christ. Lewis cuts some real gems in this regard:

“Welcome child”, he said

“Aslan”, said Lucy, “you’re bigger”.

“That is because you are older, little one”, answered he.

“Not because you are?”

“I am not. But every year you grow, you will find me bigger.”

Interestingly for a set of stories depicting Christ, Lewis manages to include such characters as Bacchus, the Roman god of wine and fun (‘his face would have been almost too pretty for a boy’s, if it had not looked so extremely wild’) and Silenus, his donkey-riding tutor and companion. Early Christians identified Bacchus, or Dionysus, with Satan; Lewis charmingly weaves him into the tale as an ally and benevolent servant of Aslan.

When Nikabrik, the angry dwarf, considers summoning the White Witch from the dead in order to defeat Miraz, he reasons “We want power: and we want power that will be on our side. As for power, do not the stories say that the Witch defeated Aslan, and bound him, and killed him on that very stone which is over there, just beyond the light?”

“But they also say he came to life again”, said the Badger sharply.

“Yes, they say”, answered Nikabrik, “but you’ll notice that we hear precious little about anything he did afterwards. He just fades out of the story. How do you explain that, if he really came to life? Isn’t it much more likely that he didn’t, and that the stories say nothing more about him because there was nothing more to say?”

I’ve met dozens of Nikarbriks in this world. They would reject the supernatural occurrence of Christ’s resurrection, while thinking nothing of contacting spirits via Ouija boards and seances. Another passage recounts Aslan’s encounter with a sick woman:

‘She was at death’s door, but when she opened her eyes and saw the bright hairy head of the lion staring into her face, she did not scream or faint. She said “Oh Aslan! I knew it was true. I’ve been waiting for this all my life. Have you come to take me away?”

“Yes Dearest”, said Aslan. “But not the long journey yet”. And as he spoke, like the flush creeping along the underside of a cloud at sunrise, the colour came back to her white face and her eyes grew bright.                                                                              

Towards the end of the novel, Aslan explains the origins of the Telmarine race, among whom is Caspian. Coming from a rough bunch of pirates, Caspian confesses “I was wishing that I came from more honourable lineage”.

“You come out of the Lord Adam and Lady Eve” said Aslan. “And that is both honour enough to erect the head of the poorest beggar, and shame enough to bow the shoulders of the greatest emperor on earth. Be content.”

Image by Clker-Free-Vector-Images from Pixabay