Lewis - Chronicles of Narnia. The Chronicles of Narnia: plan, general concept, chronological framework

Christianity and The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis

N. N. Mamaeva

Clive Staples Lewis was an Oxford scholar, philologist, theologian, and historian. medieval literature. He is the author of literary works, philosophical and religious treatises “Love”, “Suffering”, “Miracle”, allegories “The Roundabout Path” and “Dissolution of Marriage”, a science fiction trilogy and, finally, “The Chronicles of Narnia”. C.S. Lewis was part of the same literary circle, that J. R. R. Tolkien, just like him, wrote fairy tales for children, in which he talked about the eternal questions of Existence, asserted the possibility and necessity of the existence of Good in this world.

Lewis wrote his Chronicles of Narnia for seven years (1950–1956), a year based on the book (Lewis C. S. Chronicles of Narnia. London, 1950–1956). The first translation of Lewis's fairy tale was published by the publishing house "Children's Literature" in 1978, translated by Mr. Ostrovskaya 1. After this there was a break that lasted 13 years. Although translations of The Chronicles of Narnia were made by N. Trauberg back in the 80s, they saw the light only in the early 90s. At the same time, other works by Lewis began to be published, in which their Christian content was completely obvious and which, quite naturally, could not be published in the USSR 2 . In 1998, the Alexander Men Foundation made an attempt to release the 8-volume collected works of Clive Staples Lewis 3 . Currently, two of the promised eight volumes have been published, but it seems that the publication of the works of C. S. Lewis will end there due to financial problems. As for the study of the works of C. S. Lewis, there is a huge gap in Russian literary criticism. We can name only small introductory articles preceding editions of certain works of Lewis 4 . As for the 8-volume collected works, which the A. Me Foundation began to publish, it examines Lewis’s work purely within the framework of theology 5 . Therefore, in our research we had to rely only on own opinion yes to the texts of Lewis himself 6 .

In his Chronicles of Narnia, Lewis talks about the creation of the magical land of Narnia by the lion Aslan, its history, wars and invasions, kings and queens, and its end. The heroes of the book are the boy Digory and the girl Polly, who were present at the birth of Narnia, the Pevensie siblings, who became the High Kings of Narnia, and their friends Eustace and Jill.

To create his world, Lewis turns to mythology. This is a long-standing English tradition literary fairy tale: Kipling, Barry, Travers, Tolkien often borrowed their stories from myths. But Lewis surpassed all his predecessors. He turns to the ancient Eastern, ancient, German-Scandinavian, medieval European, Christian traditions. His Narnia is inhabited by fauns, satyrs, naiads, dryads, unicorns, gnomes (these are the gnomes of English legends, squat, stocky creatures with thick, coarse hair and long beards, and German dwarfs with pig faces, rooster combs and tails), talking animals of folk tales and, finally, characters invented by the author himself, for example, tree herons. The gods of Tarkhistan, neighboring Narnia, seem to have descended from Hittite reliefs. Thus, the main goddess Tash is a man with the head bird of prey and four hands. And the servant of the White Witch, the wolf Mogrin, goes back to the Scandinavian Fenrir. Lewis often uses plots from ancient myths and literary works: Prince Rabadash, turned into a donkey for stupidity and meanness, takes on his human form on autumn holiday goddess Tash ("Golden Ass"), nasty schoolchildren Bacchus turns into piglets, the classroom is transformed into a forest clearing, and their teacher joins his retinue (legends about Dionysus and pirates, King Pentheus, daughters of Minias), on the Island Dead Water the heroes find a stream, the water of which turns everything that comes into contact with it into gold (the myth of King Midas).

But the main source for Lewis was, of course, the Gospel. It is not for nothing that his book is sometimes called a children's Christian catechism.

The creator of Narnia, the lion Aslan, is one of the hypostases of Jesus Christ. According to medieval tradition, the lion is a symbol of Christ. In one of the books, Aslan appears in the form of a lamb, which is a direct borrowing from the Gospel.

Lewis writes about Aslan's "royal and peaceful and at the same time sad" look, that he was "kind and formidable" at the same time. The golden radiance of Aslan’s mane, which the author constantly mentions, is associated with the gold of the halo. In Narnia they swear by the name of Aslan, the heroes say: “In the name of Aslan,” “I ask you by Aslan,” and the hermit even exclaims “Merciful Aslan!” 7. A stream originates from Aslan’s footprint, which is reminiscent of numerous medieval legends about the cutting of springs. According to the Bible, “God is light,” and as we move east to Aslan’s country, the water itself becomes like light, the light permeates the entire world surrounding the heroes, and the very name of the story and the ship on which they travel is “Sailing into the Dawn.”

The Great Lion creates Narnia with his song and gives its inhabitants the basic commandment: “And all of you love one another.” He determines that Narnia can only be ruled by the sons of Adam and the daughters of Eve. All this is a paraphrase of the corresponding lines of the Book of Genesis (Genesis 1, 26–27). The commandments that Aslan gives to the Narnians come from the commandments of Moses and the Sermon on the Mount. Aslan demands love, humility and repentance from the inhabitants of his country. He condemns any, even the weakest, attempt to shift one’s guilt onto another: “And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not feel the beam in your own eye?” (Matthew 7:5). Edmund committed the betrayal, but this is also Peter’s fault, since he was too harsh with his brother. Peter, Susan and Edmund do not believe Lucy when she says that she sees Aslan, and it is their fault, because their own shortcomings do not allow them to see him, but Lucy is also guilty because she could not convince them. Aslan punishes Aravita, following the commandment “an eye for an eye” - she receives as many wounds as the maid received for her escape.

Lewis very elegantly addresses one of the most controversial theological issues about the divinity and humanity of Jesus Christ. The talking horse Igogo, arguing a little naively on this topic, ends his speech with the conclusion: “You can understand how absurd it is to count ( we're talking about about Aslan) his real lion. Moreover, it is disrespectful." At this time Aslan appears and says: "And you, Igogo, you poor and proud horse, come closer. Touch me. Here are my paws, here is my tail, here are my whiskers. I, like you, am an animal." 8 Thus, Lewis resolves this issue in favor of the human (lion) nature of God.

The gospel defines the major themes of Lewis's books. It is the themes and plots that remain traditionally fairy tales: the fight against the evil witch, the search, the journey, the matchmaking, the escape. The theme running throughout the chronicles is redemption. In a fairy tale, the hero traditionally receives a reward for his feat, and the feat is usually performed with the expectation of reward. In the story "The Sorcerer's Nephew" Digory, extracting magic apple, who is supposed to ensure the prosperity of Narnia for many centuries to come, does not expect to receive anything (although he needs medicine for his sick mother), with this he atones for his guilt, since it was because of his curiosity that an evil witch appeared in Narnia. Lewis plays out the plot with the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in a unique way. In both the Bible and Lewis, the cause of evil was curiosity: in the first case, Eve, in the second, Digory, who, by ringing the bell, woke up the sleeping Jadis. But if in the Holy Scriptures the apple was the cause of the Fall, here, on the contrary, it is the guarantee of salvation.

Atonement for Edmund's betrayal, Aslan allows himself to be stabbed by the White Witch. But with the first rays of the sun he is resurrected, for the sacrifice was made voluntarily, innocent blood was shed, and the evil spell was dispelled. Aslan, like Christ, atones for the sins of people with his blood.

The second theme is also evangelical - temptation. This is not the temptation of wealth, power, power, no, this is the temptation of good, but imaginary good. The witch persuades Digory not to give the apple to Aslan, but to take it to his mother. Digory withstands temptation and eventually receives the desired fruit from the hands of Aslan himself. Truly, it is impossible to create any other good than God's.

Likewise, Lucy, leafing through the book of the wizard Coriakin, gives in to the temptation of finding out what others think of her, but this does not bring her joy, since because of this she almost loses her friend.

And one more question that Lewis’s heroes constantly solve is the choice of path in the broad sense of the word. How to distinguish true from false, genuine from imaginary, divine from devilish. The witch appears in the form beautiful woman, and only when the heroes find the strength to resist her witchcraft does it acquire its true appearance as a monstrous snake. And the captive prince initially appears before them as a madman and a monster. The world and its reflection (this idea, borrowed by Lewis from Plato, will receive its fullest development in the last book) are not easy to distinguish. What is the Sun, just a big lamp, as the witch claims, or is the lamp a weak semblance of the Sun?

Aslan rarely helps the hero resolve this issue. In general, he does not appear on the pages of the book often, is not always shown in his true appearance and prefers to speak in riddles, like the Son of God. For only the elect can hear the Word of God: “Blessed are your eyes that see and your ears that hear” (Matthew 13:16).

Lewis's characters eventually commit right choice. But if a person himself does not want to see the truth, if he has locked himself in the prison of his imagination, then no one, not even God, can help him. “For the hearts of these people have become hardened, and their ears are hard of hearing, and they have closed their eyes” (Matthew 13:15). Uncle Digory convinced himself that the lion could not sing, and when spoken to, he heard only a roar. The dwarves, having arrived in Aslan's country, convinced themselves that they were sitting in a dirty stable, and saw nothing but walls, dung and straw, although a green meadow stretched around. Verily, everyone is rewarded according to his faith.

Dear Lucy!

I wrote this story for you, but when I started writing it, I did not yet understand that girls grow up faster than books are written.

And now you are too old for fairy tales, and by the time this fairy tale is printed and published, you will become even older. But someday you will grow to the day when you will start reading fairy tales again. Then you will take this little book down from the top shelf, shake the dust off it, and then tell me what you think about it. Perhaps by then I will be so old that I will not hear or understand a word, but even then I will still be your loving godfather.

Clive S. Lewis

Chapter first
Lucy looks into the wardrobe

Once upon a time there were four children in the world, their names were Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy. This book tells what happened to them during the war when they were taken out of London to avoid being harmed by air raids. They were sent to an old professor who lived in the very center of England, ten miles from the nearest post office. He never had a wife and lived in a very big house with a housekeeper named Mrs. Macready and three maids - Ivy, Margaret and Betty (but they took almost no part in our story). The professor was very old, with disheveled gray hair and a tousled gray beard almost reaching his eyes. Soon the boys fell in love with him, but on the first evening, when he came out to meet them at the front doors, he seemed very strange to them. Lucy (the youngest) was even a little scared of him, and Edmund (next in age to Lucy) had difficulty keeping from laughing - he had to pretend to blow his nose.

When they wished the professor that evening Good night and went upstairs to the bedrooms, the boys went into the girls' room to chat about everything they had seen that day.

“We were very lucky, that’s a fact,” said Peter. - Well, we’ll live here! We can do whatever our heart desires. This grandpa won't say a word to us.

“I think he’s just lovely,” said Susan.

- Shut up! - said Edmund. He was tired, although he pretended not to be at all, and when he was tired, he was always out of sorts. - Stop saying that.

- How so? – asked Susan. - And anyway, it’s time for you to sleep.

“You imagine that you are a mother,” said Edmund. -Who are you to tell me? It's time for you to sleep.

“We’d better all lie down,” said Lucy. “If they hear us, we’ll get hit.”

“It won’t hit,” said Peter. “I’m telling you, this is the kind of house where no one will look at what we’re doing.” Yes, they won’t hear us. From here to the dining room it’s at least a ten-minute walk along all sorts of stairs and corridors.

- What is this noise? – Lucy suddenly asked.

She had never been in such a huge house, and the thought of long corridors with rows of doors leading to empty rooms made her feel uneasy.

“Just a bird, stupid,” said Edmund.

Well, I'm going to bed. Listen, let's go scouting tomorrow. In places like here you can find a lot of things. Did you see the mountains when we were driving here? And the forest? There are probably eagles here too. And deer! And certainly hawks.

“And badgers,” said Lucy.

“And foxes,” said Edmund.

“And rabbits,” said Susan.

But when morning came, it turned out that it was raining, and so often that neither mountains nor forests were visible from the window, even a stream in the garden was not visible.

- Of course, we can’t do without rain! - said Edmund.

They had just had breakfast with the professor and went upstairs to the room he had allocated for them to play - a long, low room with two windows on one wall and two on the other, opposite.

“Stop nagging, Ed,” Susan said. “I bet you what you want, it will clear up in an hour.” In the meantime, there is a radio and a bunch of books. What's bad?

“Well, no,” said Peter, “this activity is not for me.” I'll go explore the house.

Everyone agreed that it couldn't be a better game. And so their adventures began. The house was huge - it seemed there would be no end to it - and it was full of the most amazing corners. At first, the doors they opened led, as one would expect, to empty guest bedrooms. But soon the guys found themselves in a long, very long room, hung with paintings, where knightly armor stood; behind it was a room with green curtains, in the corner of which they saw a harp. Then, going down three steps and up five, they found themselves in a small hall with a door to the balcony; Behind the hall there was a suite of rooms, all the walls of which were lined with bookcases with books - these were very old books in heavy leather bindings. And then the guys looked into the room where there was a large wardrobe. You, of course, have seen such wardrobes with mirrored doors. There was nothing else in the room except a dried blue fly on the windowsill.

“Empty,” said Peter, and one after another they left the room... everyone except Lucy. She decided to try to see if the closet door would open, although she was sure that it was locked. To her surprise, the door immediately swung open and two mothballs fell out.

Lucy looked inside. There were several long fur coats hanging there. More than anything else, Lucy loved to stroke fur. She immediately climbed into the closet and began rubbing her face against the fur; She, of course, left the door open - after all, she knew: there is nothing stupider than locking yourself in a closet. Lucy climbed deeper and saw that behind the first row of fur coats there was a second one. It was dark in the closet, and, afraid of hitting her nose on something, she stretched out her arms in front of her. The girl took a step, another and another. She expected that her fingertips were about to touch the back wall, but her fingers still went into emptiness.

“What a huge closet! – thought Lucy, parting her fluffy fur coats and making her way further and further. Then something crunched under her foot. - I wonder what it is? - she thought. “Another mothball?” Lucy bent down and began to fumble with her hand. But instead of a smooth wooden floor, her hand touched something soft, crumbling and very, very cold.

“How strange,” she said and took two more steps forward.

The next second, she felt that her face and hands were resting not against the soft folds of fur, but against something hard, rough and even prickly.

- Just like tree branches! - Lucy exclaimed.

And then she noticed a light ahead, but not where the closet wall should be, but far, far away. Something soft and cold fell from above. A moment later, she saw that she was standing in the middle of the forest, there was snow under her feet, and snow flakes were falling from the night sky.

Lucy was a little scared, but curiosity was stronger than fear. She looked over her shoulder: behind, between the dark tree trunks, she could see an open closet door and through it - the room from which she got here (you, of course, remember that Lucy left the door open). There, behind the closet, it was still day.

“I can always come back if something goes wrong,” Lucy thought and moved forward. “Crunch, crunch,” the snow crunched under her feet. About ten minutes later she came to the place where the light came from. In front of her was... a lamppost. Lucy's eyes widened. Why is there a lantern in the middle of the forest? And what should she do next? And then she heard the slight creaking of footsteps. The footsteps were getting closer. A few seconds passed, and a very strange creature appeared from behind the trees and entered the circle of light from the lantern.

It was slightly taller than Lucy and held an umbrella, white with snow, over its head. The upper part of his body was human, and his legs, covered with black shiny fur, were goat, with hooves below. It also had a tail, but Lucy didn't notice it at first, because the tail was carefully thrown over the hand - the one in which the creature was holding an umbrella - so that the tail would not drag in the snow. A thick red scarf was wrapped around his neck, matching the color of his reddish skin. He had a strange, but very nice face with a short sharp beard and curly hair, with horns peeking out of his hair on both sides of his forehead. In one hand, as I already said, it held an umbrella, in the other - several packages wrapped in wrapping paper. Bags, snow all around - it seemed to be coming from a store with Christmas shopping. It was a faun. When he saw Lucy, he shuddered in surprise. All packages fell on the snow.

- Fathers! - exclaimed the faun.

Chapter two
What did Lucy find on the other side of the door?

“Hello,” said Lucy. But the faun was very busy - he was picking up his packages - and did not answer her. Having collected them all, he bowed to Lucy.

“Hello, hello,” said the faun. - Sorry... I don’t want to be too curious... but I’m not mistaken, you are the daughter of Eve?

“My name is Lucy,” she said, not quite understanding what the faun meant.

- But you... forgive me... you... what do you call it... a girl? - asked the faun.

“Of course, I’m a girl,” said Lucy.

- In other words, you are real human Man?

“Of course, I’m human,” said Lucy, still perplexed.

“Of course, of course,” said the faun. - How stupid of me! But I have never met the son of Adam or the daughter of Eve. I am delighted. That is... - Here he fell silent, as if he had almost accidentally said something he shouldn’t have, but remembered about it in time. - Delighted, delighted! - he repeated. - Let me introduce myself. My name is Mr. Tumnus.

“I’m very glad to meet you, Mr. Tumnus,” said Lucy.

- May I ask, O Lucy, daughter of Eve, how did you get to Narnia?

- To Narnia? What is this? – asked Lucy.

“Narnia is the country,” said the faun, “where you and I are now; all the space between the Lamppost and the great castle of Cair Paraval on the eastern sea. And you... come from the wild western forests?

- I... I came through the wardrobe from empty room…

“Ah,” said Mr. Tumnus sadly, “if I had studied geography properly in childhood, I would undoubtedly have been all about these unknown countries.” It's too late now.

“But this is not a country at all,” said Lucy, barely holding back her laughter. – It’s a few steps from here... at least... I don’t know. It's summer there now.

“Well, it’s winter here in Narnia,” said Mr. Tumnus, “and it’s been going on for ages.” And we’ll both catch a cold if we stand and talk here in the snow. Daughter of Eve from the distant country of Pusta-Yakomnata, where eternal summer reigns in the bright city of Platenashkaf, would you like to come to me and have a cup of tea with me?

“Thank you very much, Mr. Tumnus,” said Lucy. “But I guess it’s time to go home.”

“I live two steps from here,” said the faun, “and it’s very warm in my house... the fireplace is burning... and there’s toasted bread... and sardines... and pie.”

“You are very kind,” said Lucy. “But I can’t stay long.”

“If you take my arm, O daughter of Eve,” said Mr. Tumnus, “I can hold the umbrella over both of us.” Here we go. Well, let's go.

And Lucy set off through the forest arm in arm with the faun, as if she had known him all her life.

Soon the ground under their feet became uneven, with large stones sticking out here and there; The travelers either climbed the hill or descended the hill. At the bottom of a small hollow, Mr. Tumnus suddenly turned to the side, as if he was going to go straight through the rock, but, coming close to it, Lucy saw that they were standing at the entrance to a cave. When they entered, Lucy even closed her eyes - the wood in the fireplace was burning so brightly. Mr. Tumnus bent down and, taking a brand with polished tongs, lit the lamp.

“Well, it’ll be soon,” he said and at the same moment put the kettle on the fire.

Lucy had never seen such a cozy place before. They were in a small, dry, clean cave with walls made of reddish stone. There was a carpet on the floor, two armchairs (“One for me, the other for a friend,” said Mr. Tumnus), a table and a kitchen cupboard, and above the fireplace hung a portrait of an old faun with a gray beard. There was a door in the corner (“Probably to Mr. Tumnus’s bedroom,” Lucy thought), and next to it was a shelf with books. While Mr. Tumnus set the table, Lucy read the titles: “The Life and Letters of Silenus,” “The Nymphs and Their Customs,” “A Study of Common Legends,” “Is Man a Myth.”

“You are welcome, daughter of Eve,” said the faun.

What was not on the table! And soft-boiled eggs - an egg for each of them - and toasted bread, and sardines, and butter, and honey, and a pie covered in sugar icing. And when Lucy was tired of eating, the faun began to tell her about life in the forest. Well, these were amazing stories! He told her about the midnight dances, when the naiads who live in the wells and the dryads who live in the trees come out to dance with the fauns; about hunting for a milk-white deer that fulfills all your desires if you manage to catch it; about pirates and treasure hunts with dwarves in caves and mines deep underground; and about summer, when the forest is green and Silenus, and sometimes Bacchus himself, comes to visit them on his fat donkey, and then wine flows in the rivers instead of water and the holiday lasts week after week in the forest.

“Only now it’s always winter here,” he added sadly.

And to cheer himself up, the faun took out of a case that was lying on the cabinet a strange little flute, seemingly made of straw, and began to play. Lucy immediately wanted to laugh and cry, dance and fall asleep - all at the same time.

Apparently, more than an hour passed before she woke up and said:

“Ah, Mr. Tumnus... I hate to interrupt you... and I really like the motive... but, really, it’s time for me to go home.” I only came in for a few minutes.

“Now it’s too late to talk about it,” said the faun, putting down the flute and sadly shaking his head.

- Late? – Lucy asked and jumped up from her seat. She felt scared. - What do you mean by that? I need to go home immediately. Everyone there is probably worried. - But then she exclaimed: - Mr. Tumnus! What's wrong with you? - Because the faun's brown eyes filled with tears, then tears rolled down his cheeks, dripped from the tip of his nose, and finally he covered his face with his hands and cried out loud.

- Mister Tumnus! Mister Tumnus! – Lucy said, terribly upset. - Don't, don't cry! What's happened? Are you feeling unwell? Dear Mr. Tumnus, please tell me, tell me, what's the matter with you?

But the faun continued to sob as if his heart was breaking. And even when Lucy came up to him and hugged him and gave him her handkerchief, he did not calm down. He just took the handkerchief and rubbed it over his nose and eyes, squeezing it onto the floor with both hands when it got too wet, so that Lucy soon found herself in a large puddle.

- Mister Tumnus! – Lucy screamed loudly right in the faun’s ear and shook him. - Please stop. Stop it now. Shame on you, such a big faun! Why, why are you crying?

- A-ah-ah! - Mr. Tumnus roared. “I’m crying because I’m a very bad faun.”

“I don’t think you’re a bad faun at all,” said Lucy. “I think you are a very good faun.” You are the sweetest faun I have ever met.

“Ah, you wouldn’t say that if you knew,” Mr. Tumnus answered, sobbing. - No, I'm a bad faun. There was never such a bad faun in the whole wide world.

- What have you done? – asked Lucy.

- My father... that’s his portrait there, above the fireplace... he would never do that...

- How so? – asked Lucy.

“Like me,” said the faun. – I went to serve the White Witch - that’s what I did. I am in the pay of the White Witch.

- The White Witch? Who is she?

- She? She is the one who has all of Narnia under her shoe. The one that causes us to have eternal winter. Eternal winter, and still no Christmas. Just think!

- Terrible! - said Lucy. - But what does she pay you for?

“That’s where the worst part is,” said Mr. Tumnus with a deep sigh. “I’m a child abductor, that’s why.” Look at me, daughter of Eve. Can you believe that I am capable, having met a poor innocent child in the forest who has not done me any harm, pretend to be friendly towards him, invite him to my cave and put him to sleep with my flute - all in order to give the unfortunate man into the hands of Belaya Witches?

“No,” said Lucy. “I’m sure you’re not capable of doing that.”

“But I did this,” said the faun.

“Well,” replied Lucy, hesitating (she didn’t want to tell a lie and at the same time she didn’t want to be too harsh with him), “well, that was not nice of you.” But you regret your action, and I am sure that you will never do it again.

- Oh, daughter of Eve, don’t you understand? - asked the faun. “I haven’t done this before.” I am doing this now, at this very moment.

- What do you want to say?! – Lucy cried and turned white as a sheet.

“You are that same child,” said Mr. Tumnus. – The White Witch ordered me, if I suddenly see the son of Adam or the daughter of Eve in the forest, to catch them and hand them over to her. And you are the first one I met. I pretended to be your friend and invited you over for tea, and all this time I waited until you fell asleep so I could go and tell her everything.

“Ah, but you won’t tell her about me, Mr. Tumnus!” - Lucy exclaimed. - It’s true, you won’t tell me? Don't, please don't!

“And if I don’t tell her,” he picked up, starting to cry again, “she will certainly find out about it.” And he orders me to chop off my tail, saw off my horns and pluck out my beard. She'll wave her magic wand and my pretty cloven hooves will turn into hooves like a horse's. And if she gets especially angry, she will turn me to stone, and I will become a statue of a faun and will stand in her terrible castle until all four thrones in Ker Paraval are occupied. And who knows when this will happen and whether it will happen at all.

“I’m very sorry, Mr. Tumnus,” said Lucy, “but please let me go home.”

“Of course, I’ll let you go,” said the faun. - Of course I have to do it. Now it's clear to me. I didn't know what People were until I met you. Of course, I cannot hand you over to the Witch now that I have met you. But we need to leave quickly. I'll take you to the Lamppost. Surely you will find the way from there to Platenashkaf and Pusta-Yakomnata?

“Of course I’ll find it,” said Lucy.

“We must walk as quietly as possible,” said Mr. Tumnus. “The forest is full of her spies.” Some trees are on her side.

They didn't even clear the table. Mr. Tumnus opened his umbrella again, took Lucy by the arm, and they walked out of the cave. The path back was not at all like the path to the faun's cave: without exchanging a word, they crept under the trees, almost running. Mr. Tumnus chose the darkest places. Finally they reached the Lamppost. Lucy breathed a sigh of relief.

“Do you know the way from here, O daughter of Eve?” - asked Mr. Tumnus. Lucy peered into the darkness and saw in the distance, between the tree trunks, a light spot.

“Yes,” she said, “I see an open wardrobe door.”

“Then run home quickly,” said the faun, “and... you... can you forgive me for what I was about to do?”

“Of course,” said Lucy, shaking his hand warmly and wholeheartedly. “And I hope you don’t get into big trouble because of me.”

“Have a nice journey, daughter of Eve,” he said. – Can I keep your scarf as a souvenir?

“Please,” Lucy said and ran as fast as she could towards the distant patch of daylight. Soon she felt that it was not thorny tree branches that were pushing her hands apart, but soft fur coats, that under her feet it was not creaking snow, but wooden slats, and suddenly - bang! – she found herself in the same empty room where her adventures began. She closed the closet door tightly and looked around, still unable to catch her breath. It was still raining, and the voices of her sister and brothers could be heard in the corridor.

- I'm here! - she screamed. - I'm here. I'm back. Everything is fine.

Chapter Three
Edmund and the Wardrobe

Lucy ran out of the empty room into the corridor where everyone else was.

“It’s okay,” she repeated. - I'm back.

- What are you talking about? – asked Susan. - I don’t understand anything.

- How about what? – Lucy said in surprise. “Weren’t you worried about where I had gone?”

- So you were hiding, right? - said Peter. “Poor Lou hid and no one noticed!” Next time, hide longer if you want people to start looking for you.

“But I haven’t been here for many hours,” said Lucy.

The guys rolled their eyes at each other.

- She's gone crazy! - Edmund said, tapping his forehead with his finger. - I'm completely crazy.

– What do you want to say, Lou? – asked Peter.

“What I said,” Lucy replied. “I climbed into the closet right after breakfast, and I wasn’t here for many hours in a row, and I drank tea at a party, and all sorts of adventures happened to me.

“Don't be silly, Lucy,” said Susan. “We just left this room, and you were there with us.”

“She’s not talking,” said Peter, “she just made it up for fun, right, Lou?” Why not?

“No, Peter,” said Lucy. - I didn’t write anything. This is a magic closet. There's a forest inside and it's snowing. And there is a faun and a Witch, and the country is called Narnia. Go take a look.

The guys didn't know what to think, but Lucy was so excited that they returned with her to the empty room. She ran to the closet, opened the door and shouted:

– Hurry up and see with your own eyes!

“What a silly thing,” said Susan, sticking her head into the closet and parting the fur coats. - An ordinary wardrobe. Look, here's the back wall.

And then everyone else looked inside, parted their fur coats, and saw - and Lucy herself didn’t see anything else right now - an ordinary wardrobe. There was no forest or snow behind the fur coats - only the back wall and the hooks on it. Peter reached into the closet and rapped the wall with his knuckles to make sure it was solid.

The Chronicles of Narnia- a series of seven fantasy books (fairy tales) written by Clive Staples Lewis. They tell about the adventures of children in magical land called Narnia, where animals can talk, magic surprises no one, and good fights evil.

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe(1950) summary

Due to the bombing of London, the four Pevensie children (Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy) are sent to live with a family friend, Professor Digory Kirke.

During a game of hide and seek, Lucy hides in the Wardrobe, through which she enters Narnia, where she meets the faun Tumnus. Tumnus tells her that Narnia is under the rule of the White Witch, who has taken over the country and proclaimed herself queen; Because of her, there is eternal winter in Narnia and there is never Christmas. Returning to her brothers and sister, Lucy talks about her adventure, but they do not believe her. Later, when she goes to Narnia for the second time, Edmund follows her. He meets the White Witch, who gives him food and drink, thereby subordinating the boy’s will to herself. Under a plausible pretext, she orders Edmund to bring all four children to her castle.

Later, all four children end up in Narnia and discover that Tumnus was taken by Jadis' servants (as it turned out, Edmund repeated Lucy's story to the sorceress and thereby betrayed the faun). Mr. Beaver meets the children and tells them that Aslan is already on his way, which means that the ancient prophecy is beginning to come true that Aslan will come, the Long Winter will end, and four people will become rulers of Narnia, overthrowing the White Witch. During the story, Edmund escapes and heads towards the Queen's castle. Jadis is angry with Edmund for not bringing her all the Pevensie children and chains him up. Meanwhile, Peter, Susan, Lucy and the Beavers go to Aslan. On the way, they meet Santa Claus, who gives them gifts: Peter - a sword and shield, Susan - a bow, arrows and a horn, Lucy - a dagger and a magic drink made from the juice of fire flowers, one drop of which heals any wounds. Meeting the Great Lion, the children ask him to help save Edmund.

Edmund understands how wrong he was. But still he became a traitor and now belongs to the queen. Aslan makes an exchange: he remains in the hands of the White Witch, and Edmund is released. At night, the queen kills Aslan, but the latter is resurrected, since “when instead of the traitor, one who is innocent of anything, who has not committed any betrayal, ascends to the sacrificial Table of his own free will, the Table will break, and Death itself will retreat before him.” The next day the battle for Narnia takes place.

Aslan helps defeat the White Witch. After his victory, Peter is proclaimed Peter the Magnificent, High King of Cair Paravel, and rules Narnia for 15 years with his sisters and brothers: Susan the Magnanimous, Lucy the Brave, and Edmund the Fair. One day, while hunting for a white deer, they end up back in England. It turns out that not even a minute had passed there.

Prince Caspian (1951) summary

A whole year has passed in England since the adventures described in the book The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. The Pevensie children (Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy) are once again ordinary schoolchildren. But when the time comes to board the train and go to school, suddenly a miracle happens. " Former kings“They find themselves back in their domain again. It turns out that 1300 years have passed since their last visit. Animals have gone wild, trees have forgotten how to speak, Caire Paravel Castle is destroyed, and the topography of the country has changed. In the ruins of Cair Paravel, the children find a secret treasury where their weapons, armor and other royal belongings are still kept. But who and why called them to return to Narnia? The four children receive the answer to this question from a gnome, who is about to be drowned by Telmarine soldiers not far from Ker-Paraval. The gnome Tram (in another translation - Trumpik), saved by the children, says that instead of talking animals and bizarre creatures, they now live in Narnia ordinary people, aliens from the distant country of Telmar. They are ruled by the evil usurper Miraz, Lord Regent of Narnia and uncle of Crown Prince Caspian. He wants to become king and take the Narnian throne, which can only be owned by the will of Aslan. The true Narnians were killed or driven into the forests - the only place that the Telmarines fear - and live there illegally, since officially even fairy tales and everyday conversations about “old Narnia” are prohibited.

But this prohibition is violated at your own risk by the learned mentor of the young Prince Caspian, a half-breed dwarf named Doctor Cornelius. Under the guise of schoolwork, he tells the prince, Miraz's nephew, the whole truth, and Caspian begins to dream of life in old Narnia. Suddenly, events take a new turn: a son is born to the childless Miraz and his wife Prunaprismia, and Caspian becomes an obstacle to the future heir. Miraz, who once killed the father of Prince Caspian, will not stop at a new murder. Dr. Cornelius helps the young man escape from the palace in the midst of celebrations on the occasion of the birth of the “heir” and, before parting, gives him Queen Susan’s magic horn, which she had once left in Narnia and was miraculously acquired by the learned gnome.

Wandering around the country, Caspian finds himself in a remote, dark forest. The horse, frightened by the thunderstorm, throws Caspian to the ground. Unconscious, wounded, he finds himself in the cave of the old Narnians, where two dwarves and a talking badger live. One of the dwarves sees in the prince just a hated Telmarine and offers to kill him, but then it turns out that Caspian is the only legitimate heir to the throne, that he is not an enemy of old Narnia, but, on the contrary, wants to restore it and therefore needs allies against Miraz. Encouraged by this news, the dwarves and badger find other Narnians in their forest and help Caspian raise his own army. The headquarters of the rebels are the catacombs (Aslan's Hill), dug in time immemorial around the sacred Stone Table on which the White Witch killed Aslan. But Caspian's army is too small against Miraz's army, and therefore suffers setbacks. After the most severe defeat, fraught with complete defeat, Caspian decides to use a last resort - the horn of Susan, having first sent the gnome Thram to the ruins of Cair Paravel to meet reinforcements.

To meet Caspian and his army, the children go through wild uninhabited forests and mountains, experience difficulties, lose their way several times, and almost fall into an ambush by the Telmarines. But along the way, Aslan begins to appear to them, whom only Lucy sees this time, and the rest of the travelers are either too tired or do not believe in the reality of the vision. Through Lucy, Aslan shows the children the way through places unfamiliar to them and leads them to the Stone Table.

However, not all the old Narnians want Caspian's rule and Aslan's return. The witch and the werewolf, who were invited by the black gnome Nikabrik, propose to use witchcraft to call the White Witch to Narnia. Because of this, a fight simmers between Caspian's supporters and evil creatures, but at the decisive moment the ancient kings finally appear in the catacombs. Having met with Caspian, they decide to free Narnia from the power of the usurper and help the rightful heir take the throne.

A battle takes place between the Narnian and Telmarine armies, which begins with a duel between King Peter and Lord Miraz. The duel is needed by Caspian's army to delay time and wait for Aslan's help. Aslan really appears - he awakens the sleeping trees, which the Telmarines fear most. The Narnians win, and Caspian, by the will of Aslan, becomes the rightful king. To the captured Telmarines who do not want to remain under the rule of Caspian in a country inhabited fairy-tale creatures, Aslan opens the door back to human world, from which they once penetrated Telmar. But it is time for the Pevensie children to return to England, with Aslan saying that Peter and Susan will not return to Narnia again, since they have grown up. The heroes find themselves at the railway station again, waiting for the train, and Edmund realizes that he left a new lantern in Narnia.

The Treader of the Dawn Treader, or Sailing to the End of the World (1952) summary

What could be worse for Edmund and Lucy than to spend summer holidays in the company of their nasty cousin Eustace?

With longing they looked at the picture of a ship with a golden dragon on its bow, when suddenly it began to sway on the waves and a terrible wind blew. The picture frame disappeared and the children found themselves in the water. Grabbing hold of ropes thrown from the ship, they climbed aboard.

So Lucy, Edmund and Eustace traveled on the beautiful ship "The Dawn Treader", exploring the Eastern Isles with King Caspian and searching for his father's seven missing friends. At the coronation, Caspian swore that he would definitely find the seven lords - supporters of his father, whom his uncle Miraz sent to explore unknown lands in the east. And so, leaving the wise dwarf Thrum as the ruler of Narnia as the lord regent, Caspian gathered a team of brave daredevils, and on the ship “Dawn Treader” he sets off to meet the unknown...

They met a dragon, a Sea Serpent, a tribe of invisible one-topes, a wizard-star, they again saw the Lion - the Great Aslan. And in the end they returned safe and sound to their homeland, having found the seven lords. Caspian X married Ramandu's daughter - Daughter of the Star.

Silver chair (1953) summary

This time, none of the Pevensie family returns to Narnia - Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucistal are too old for this; The main characters of The Silver Chair are Eustace Harm, who first appeared in the story The Treader of the Dawn Treader..., and his classmate Jill Pole.

Jill is teased by her fellow students, so she hides in the backyard of the school and cries; Eustace finds her there and, trying to console her, tells her about his last year’s adventures in Narnia. Hearing that their classmate tormentors are looking for them, the children run up the hillside to leave school through a secret gate - but when they open the door, the children find themselves not on the top of the hill, but in a beautiful mountainous country unfamiliar to them. There, Jill discovers a huge abyss and accidentally pushes Eustace into it, but at that moment Lev appears nearby and blows on the boy. Eustace does not fall, but flies smoothly through the air to the west. Jill then meets with Aslan, who tells her about the mission for which he called them both from England - to bring home the missing Narnian prince, for whom his father, King Caspian X, is grieving. Aslan lists the "signs" - commandments that children must firmly remember and strictly follow them. He then sends Jill to follow Eustace to Narnia with the power of his breath.

The Narnians tell the children about the disappearance of Prince Rilian, who once went in search of a monstrous green snake that killed his mother, the Daughter of the Star. At the murder scene, Riliane met beautiful lady in a green dress, beckoning him to follow her, and after that he did not return home. The best Narnians tried to find the prince, but none of them returned, so the search for the prince was officially prohibited by King Caspian. To fulfill Aslan's behest, the children have to resort to the help and advice of talking owls, who introduce them to an eccentric and melancholy creature, a wandering heron named Khmur. He can show the way to the north and accompany the children. The travelers set out on a search along the path indicated by Aslan. However, it soon turns out that Gil does not remember the signs firmly, which is why the heroes get into trouble - they pass by the ruins of the city of ancient giants, which Aslan commanded them to find, and find themselves in the castle of the cannibal giants, tempted by a warm overnight stay and a hearty dinner. Fleeing from persecution, they find themselves deep underground, where they meet an army of gnomes, subjects of their queen. Heroes under escort make an unusual journey through mysterious caves, cross the underground sea and find themselves in the Underworld, in the city where, as it turns out, the enchanted prince lives. He has absolutely no memory of Narnia, believes that he spent his entire life in the Underdark, with his “mistress” the witch, and does not believe in the existence of the “Upper World”. Only once a day does the spell fall off him, and he remembers his past life. During this time, a sorceress in a green dress chains him to a magical Silver Chair, convincing the prince that he is seriously ill and for this time he is losing his mind, becoming dangerous to others. Fortunately, the heroes miraculously find themselves next to the prince during an attack of “madness”, and, hearing him ask them to free him “in the name of Aslan” (fourth sign), they cut the chains. Now the young man’s memory is fully restored, and he is ready to fight the witch and then return home.

The children, Khmur and Riliane defeat the green sorceress - first morally, when she tries to bewitch everyone and convince them that there is and cannot be any other world except the Underdark, and then physically, when she turns into a deadly snake. The travelers free the gnomes enslaved by the witch and return to Narnia on Christmas Eve through a long underground route. The elderly Caspian X, having barely met his son, dies, and Riliane becomes king in his place. Eustace and Jill, accompanied by Aslan, return to school and there they also defeat their enemies and tormentors.

Horse and his boy (1954) summary

The boy Shasta lives on the seashore in the hut of a fisherman, whom he calls his father. His life is difficult and full of hardships. One day, a noble stranger, a Tarkhan, appears at their home on a beautiful horse. Having overheard his father's conversation with a stranger, the boy learns that he is an adopted child and they want to sell him into slavery to a noble guest. He decides to escape from the cruel Tarkhistan. His companion in the escape is the stranger's talking horse. He tells Shasta about the beautiful northern country of Narnia, where they both come from, where the air is fresh and freedom reigns. Along the way, the fugitives meet Tarkhina Aravita, who ran away from home from her evil stepmother, forced into marriage with a rich old man, and her talking mare. Together they rush to Narnia. To get there, they need to go through the crowded capital of Tarkhistan - Tashbaan, where friends accidentally get separated in a crowd of streets. So Shasta ends up at the guest residence of four Narnian kings and queens who are visiting Tarkhistan, where everyone mistakes him for Prince Corin of Orland. There he learns that Queen Susan wants to refuse the matchmaking of the Tarkhistan prince Rabadash and because of this the entire Narnian embassy is under threat. The Narnians share plans for a speedy departure home and, in the presence of Shasta, discuss the advantages and disadvantages of various roads leading to Narnia. The Narnian kings choose a ship to depart. With this information, Shasta runs away from the residence in search of his friends, having previously met Prince Corin, whom he resembles like two peas in a pod.

Aravita, left alone in the city with two horses, meets her friend Lazarilina, who recently got married and leads a carefree social life. A friend undertakes to help Aravita, although she does not understand why she needs to run away from such a high-ranking and rich groom. They wait until nightfall and try to make their way to the agreed meeting place - abandoned tombs outside the city wall, on the edge of the desert. Lazarilina's servants should bring the horses there. The shortest route to the tombs lies through the palace of the Tarkhistan ruler Tisroc, where Lazarilina enters as a noble person. Once there, the girls witness a secret conversation between Prince Rabadash and his father Tisroc. Rabadash is furious that Queen Susan and her siblings fled from him on a ship. He wants to marry her at all costs. To do this, Rabadash invites his father to organize a military expedition to the north with the goal of capturing first Orland and then Narnia. After reflection, the Tisroc allows Rabadash to organize such an aggressive campaign at his own peril and risk. The girls get out of the Tisroc's secret chambers and part ways. Aravita, having climbed over the city wall, meets with Shasta and the horses outside the city and talks about Rabadash's treacherous plans. Knowing the road through the desert from Shasta's story, the friends immediately set off in order to have time to warn the king of Orland. Along the way, they overcome numerous difficulties and trials, with Rabadash's squad pursuing the travelers on their heels. The last stretch of the road from the hermit's dwelling to the royal castle of Anvard Shasta must run alone, since the horses are exhausted, and Aravita is wounded by a lion. But Shasta manages to warn King Lum of Orland in time. The castle is locked and prepared for siege. The Narnians who came to the rescue fought in a fierce battle with the Tarkhistanis, as a result of which Rabadash was captured and the rest of the Tarkhistanis were expelled.

After the battle, the powerful lion Aslan, the creator and true ruler of Narnia, appears to Shasta, Arabita and the talking horses and talks about how all their adventures and seeming misfortunes were in fact no coincidence. All these events were part of his plans, his care for Narnia, for Orland and for themselves. After the battle, it is revealed that Shasta is Prince Corin's lost twin brother as a child, and his real name is Cor. When the victors decide what to do with the vanquished, Aslan appears again and turns the blasphemous Rabadash into a donkey for a while, as punishment for his treachery and stupidity. But when Rabadash is “healed” from the image of a donkey and becomes the ruler of Tarkhistan, a spell will remain over him: he will not be able to leave his capital and the temple of the goddess Tash, whom he honors so much and whom he places above Aslan, otherwise he will again become a donkey.

The epilogue talks about future fate heroes and countries: Narnia and Orland, having got rid of the enemy threat, are prospering and prospering, the people of Tarkhistan are happy about the peaceful rule of Rabadash, Kor and Aravita became very friendly and, when they grew up, they got married, they had an heir, the king of Orland, Ram the Great; the warlike prince Corin became a great knight and champion in fist fights, and talking horses started a new free life in his native Narnia.

The Sorcerer's Nephew (1955) summary

Polly Plummer lives in London, next to the house where Digory Kirke was forced to live. Digory's mother is sick, so he lives with his uncle, a man with oddities. He doesn't understand why his aunt won't let him go into his uncle's workroom, until one day he ends up there with Polly by mistake. It turns out that his uncle Andrew was a sorcerer who was not particularly successful in this area, but managed to create rings, green and yellow, that took away anyone who touched them from our world. Andrew Ketterly doesn't know where the rings are taken. Therefore, he tricked Polly into taking the ring, and Digory was forced to go after her, taking with him two pairs of rings - for himself and for her.

The guys found themselves in the Forest-between-worlds, where time almost does not flow, and a person is almost unaware of himself, but in each of the many ponds of the Forest-between-worlds, a path begins to another world, almost the same as ours. Out of curiosity, they go to look at the first world they come across, and it turns out to be Charn. Charn - the city or world - is almost empty, but it was once inhabited. Digory and Polly accidentally find its last surviving inhabitant - Queen Jadis, a cruel and powerful sorceress. Digory, succumbing to temptation and curiosity, wakes up Jadis, although he did not yet know that this would bring him and Polly a lot of trouble. Together with the children, the sorceress finds herself in London at the beginning of the 20th century.

It turns out that in this world Jadis cannot cast magic, but all of her physical strength stays with her. Jadis sets off “to conquer the city,” and Uncle Andrew, enchanted by her, accompanies the sorceress, wanting to please. At this time, Polly and Digory are trying to figure out how to get her out of our world and into the Forest Between Worlds. Therefore, when the sorceress returns, they are already waiting for her in ambush at Digory’s house. In the turmoil and confusion, along with Jadis and the children, Uncle Andrew and the cabman Frank, who happened to be next to them, and his horse disappear from our world. So they get into new world; a world that is still being created. It is created by a song. First the earth appears, then the sky and stars, the Sun and plants, and then talking animals, fauns, gnomes, nymphs and other fairy-tale creatures. It becomes obvious that this song is sung by a lion, mighty and royal. While the song is still in the air, the world comes to life and grows, and even from the fragment of a lamppost from London, with which Jadis tried to kill Aslan the lion, a Lamppost grows.

Aslan talks to the guys, he tells them about Narnia, that evil came into the country along with the witch. Since the “son of Adam and Eve” brought him to Narnia, then the “children of Adam and Eve” are obliged to help keep him. To do this, Aslan sends Polly and Digory to bring an apple from a wonderful garden. Such an apple that a tree will grow from it, which can protect Narnia from many troubles. After the children set off on a horse (Aslan awarded it with wings), he crowns a cabman from London - this is how Frank becomes Francis I, King of Narnia, and his wife Nellie, now Queen Helen, appears from our world at Aslan’s call.

Meanwhile, Polly and Digory reach the orchard where the apples grow. Eternal Youth. Here Digory faces a test: he meets Jadis, who came to get an apple for herself and has already eaten it. Now she persuades Digory to take one for himself or for his sick mother.

But Digory refuses, rightly believing that the witch is lying to him, and picks only one apple - for Aslan. From the planted apple grows the very same tree that will protect Narnia from Jadis for many hundreds of years. And Digory receives one apple from this tree as a gift. Then Aslan explained to the children that the one who picks this apple for himself receives not only immortality, but also endless torment, and only those who receive it from another - if not immortality, then at least good health and happiness until the end of days .

The children return to England, Digory's mother recovers. The children bury all the magic rings in the ground, and Uncle Andrew, once home again, leaves witchcraft forever. From the remaining core of the apple another tree grows, not as wonderful as the Narnian one. But many years later, after it was broken by a storm, Digory (then Professor Kirke) ordered a wardrobe from it. And this wardrobe will lead the other four children to Narnia, to new adventures. All this will happen in the next book of the chronicles: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

last fight (1956) summary

The evil and treacherous monkey Sly, who lives on the outskirts of Narnia, with the help of his stupid friend, the donkey Burdock, finds the skin of a killed wild lion. The monkey has the idea to dress a donkey in this skin, show him to the Narnians as Aslan, seize power and rule on his behalf. So the last king Narnia, Tirian, encounters new threat. The country is gradually filled with Tarkhistanis, who cut down talking trees, enslave and exploit the inhabitants, and do this in the name of Aslan. Everything is led by the terrible monkey Cunning. Bad news finds Tirian far from the capital, so his allies and comrades at this moment can only be his closest friend, the unicorn Almaz and the centaur Runomud, who himself came to warn the king about the danger and about terrible signs in the sky. Tirian sends Runomudra to Ker-Paravel for help, and he and Almaz head to the epicenter of events. They unfold near the Lantern Wasteland, the Monkey's lair, where a special barn has been set up for the false Aslan. When Tirian arrives there and challenges Hitre to a fair fight, he, on behalf of Aslan, orders his assistants, the Tarkhistanis, to seize the king and tie him to a tree. The will of the animals and other creatures, the inhabitants of Narnia, is paralyzed by the mention of the name of the great Lion, whom they are accustomed to obey. They feed and care for the captive king, but are afraid to free him. Realizing that he cannot save the country and himself on his own, he mentally calls out to the children, the saviors of Narnia, who in the past many times came to his country along with Aslan and at his will. Then he plunges into oblivion and in a dream meets the seven friends of Narnia, who have rescued him more than once before Magic world. The king again asks them for help.

Meanwhile, in our world, in England, Professor Kirke, Aunt Polly, Peter Pevensie, Edmund Pevensie, Lucy Pevensie, Eustace Harm and Jill Pole, friends of Narnia, having received a message from Tirian, begin to act. Peter and Edmund disguised as workers repairing pipes near former home Professor Kirk, they take out a box hidden in the ground with magic rings, allowing you to move between worlds. Apparently, only Eustace and Jill can use them, since they have not yet grown up. The others (except Susan Pevensie, who has betrayed Narnia and is now only interested in "boys and invitations") arrive by train later, and Peter and Edmund meet them. Suddenly something happens, and Eustace and Jill are thrown straight from the train into the Narnian forest without any rings.

Having met Tirian and freed him from captivity, they decide to help him in the fight and understand the situation. Having found temporary refuge in a secret tower with military supplies (built in case of some kind of disaster), all three, using armor and makeup, disguise themselves as Tarkhistan warriors and enter the barn where Aslan is supposedly located. There they find the donkey Burdock, Monkey's "friend", whom he forced to wear a lion's skin. Having kidnapped and freed Burdock, they set off to meet the army of the centaur Runomudra, which he must lead from Ker-Paravel. The king's plan is to, with the support of loyal warriors, show the Narnians the false Aslan, deprive the monkey of power and neutralize him. But the cunning of the Trickster has already borne fruit: the Narnians do not trust anyone and do not want to hear any talk about Aslan. The Tarkhistanis, who at first pretended to be Khitr’s allies, now completely control him and, through the monkey, inspire everyone that Aslan and the evil Tarkhistani goddess Tash are essentially the same thing, and that the creature that is in the stable under the guise of Aslan should be called by the syncretic name “ Tashlan" (Tash+Aslan).

The king and his companions meet the gnomes captured by the Tarkhistanis and save them from slavery, but the gnomes, having survived the deception, do not believe their king. Only one dwarf, Poggin, joins them. Then the travelers see a terrible vision: not far from them, a giant multi-armed monster with a bird's head slips into Narnia - the goddess Tash, who was summoned to Narnia by the monkeys and his henchmen. Soon the eagle Farsight appears. Farsight reports that the Monkey has long been in secret relations with the Tisroc, and now Cair-Paravel is captured from the sea, its garrison is killed, the army of Runomudru is defeated, and he himself is dead. Dying, he asked to convey his covenant to the king: “All worlds are coming to an end, except for Aslan’s country, and a noble death is a treasure, and everyone is rich enough to buy it.”

With Tash's arrival in Narnia, Tirian considers the fight hopeless and foresees a final battle with a bloody outcome for himself and his friends. He tries to send the children back, but they do not want and cannot. They return to the ill-fated barn, where at this time the Tarkhistani commander Rishda-Tarkhan and the cat Red, who managed to unravel the cynical plans of the invaders and were taken into their share, are in charge. There is no longer Burdock in the barn, but it is clear to everyone that there is still something there. This “something” mortally frightened the cat, who pretended to try to go inside. The Tarkhistanis believe that Tash really is in the stable and begin to worship her. Getting closer to the stable, the king and his friends challenge the army of the Tarkhistanis to battle, calling all the Narnians loyal to the king and Aslan as allies. But there are very few of them, and reinforcements are coming to the Tarkhistani people. In addition, the freed dwarves betrayed the king and shoot at the Narnian talking horses who had gathered to help. Rishda Tarkhan promises pardon to everyone who helps sacrifice the king and children to Tash. Thus, the meaning of the Last Battle becomes not only to defeat the enemy, but also to drag him into the stable. The king's friends manage to throw the Monkey into the stable, but they themselves are crowded and pushed into the stable by their enemies. Finally, King Tirian also finds himself in the stable, having grabbed his main rival, Rishda Tarkhan. Rishda and the monkey eat Tash, who was really there, but now disappears, driven out by Aslan's voice.

Gil, Eustace and the other five friends of Narnia appear next to Tirian in their clothes of ancient kings and queens, as well as those animals and creatures that everyone thought died in last battle. Among them, Tirian feels himself in a new way and sees that he is also dressed in beautiful clothes. The barn is transformed, turning into a boundless Garden of Eden. All that remains of the former barn is the locked door. Trying to understand where they are and what happened, King Tirian and his friends walk further through the garden and see the dwarves whom the Trakhistans had thrown into the barn earlier, but, blinded by their own disbelief, pride and anger, they see nothing around. They then meet Emet, a young Tarkhistani warrior who sincerely sought Tash and sought to worship her, but lived piously and thus served not Tash, but Aslan. Finally, Aslan himself appears to the crowd and greets them, and then opens the mysterious door. Time and space change. Through the door, the heroes observe the apocalyptic events in Narnia and the death of everything that remains behind the door. All living creatures that have ever lived in Narnia pass by them. The good Narnians go through the door and find themselves in the kingdom of Aslan, the bad ones disappear in the shadow of the Lion. After the world behind the door dies and the door finally closes, the heroes find themselves in an even more beautiful place than the one the barn has become. This is the "real Narnia". Here they first meet their Narnian friends from the deep past, and then their own parents, who, accordingly, find themselves in “real England” (all real countries are here, in Aslan’s country). They are afraid that Aslan will return them to our world, but it turns out that there, on Earth, they died in a train accident and can stay here forever. Speaking of this, Aslan changes his image and appears to the grown Pevensie children and their friends as no longer a Lion. This ends the entire fairy tale cycle of C.S. Lewis.