Day 1: Chapters 1-2

Bits I liked and random thoughts:

I love the quote: "It was an empty, sleepy country station and there was hardly anyone on the platform except themselves." I've had to wait at country stations like that and England and there's something pleasant about them (when it's not too windy or rainy). This quote gave me happy memories.

I laughed at Edmund's excuse about the heat messing up the sandwiches (I mean, he may have been right, but it does seem awfully like a convenient excuse that he makes a point of pushing.)

Peter's thought about them possibly needing to eat raw eggs, but deciding not to burden the others by saying it aloud struck me as a good big-brotherly thing to do.

I giggled at the bit where they don't quite know what is meant by "eating roots": "A always thought it meant roots of trees," said Lucy. This reminds us that they are, after all, children from 20th century England.

I liked the description of them discovering old things in the treasure chamber and reminiscing with joy and a bit of nostalgia. A couple weeks ago I went through some cupboards in my room and found some ols notebooks and other stuff I haven't looked at in years. I felt a bit like I was going through a time capsule and it must have felt much like that to the Pevensies

Chapter 1: An Adventurous Spirit
One of the things I really like about this first chapter of Prince Caspian is that it creates a good mix of imaginative adventure with realism. On the one hand we have the children in the magical and exotic setting of what appears to be a deserted island. But it is also a place of potential danger and there are bits of the adventure that are not fun like being thirsty and hungry. The way the children explore could be part of any imaginative game children that age might have playing outdoors (for example while on a beach holiday) but in the Pevensie's case it is real. It reminds me of the passage in VDT that says "Most of us, I suppose, have a secret country, but for most of us it is only and ordinary country. Edmund and Lucy were luckier than other people in this respect." And we get hints as to just how real their world of play is when comments about real difficulties and danger are highlighted. While the reader might be driven to envy the children at their exciting adventure, the author stresses that bits of it actually aren't fun, like none of them having quite enough to eat and their having to take precautions against the cold and dark.

Lewis builds on Susan's ever-practical attitude that we first see in LWW, where she is the one warning them against leaving their shoes or other clothes behind, suggesting they not eat the sandwiches at once and not wanting an open treasure chamber at night. I think one of the things that makes the Narnia books special is that each of the children have their own personalities: Peter with his clear-minded deductive skills, Susan with her cautious wisdom, Edmund with his more carefree nature; quick to give in to temptations like hunger but also ready to take on the adventure as it comes like "hermits and knights errant" and Lucy with her child-like wonder and awe at the world.

Another thing that I like about the introductory chapter/s is how wonderfully different Lewis makes the story from LWW. There we had the children thrown into the middle of a winter-world populated with animals and an evil witch. Here they're among ruins on a seemingly deserted (and rather warm) island. While the first time they were given assistance almost at once by aid from the Beavers, here they are left to fend for themselves. But of course they are far more able to do so given all their previous experience. The first time Aslan gives them all the assistance and guidance they need at once, but here he lets them fend for themselves at first.

In sum, I'm impressed by the creative skill with which Lewis draws up this initial scene that provides the setting for the rest of the story.

Chapter 2: The Truth Dawns
What I like about this chapter is how the children slowly come to realise the truth of where they are. It is as if the veil is slowly lifted: at first they can't really see clearly, but as they investigate, they discover more and more. And this isn't just an intellectual awareness, there's a hint of something else going on. On first finding the ruins of Cair Paravel, they haven't the slightest inkling of where they might be and yet there's this sense of premonition (it's almost like they're experiencing déjà vu) that grows stronger and stronger as they see things that seem so uncannily familiar to them.

"It gives me a queer feeling," said Lucy
"Does it, Lu?" said Peter turning and looking hard at her, "Because it does the same to me. It is the queerest thing that has happened this queer day."

It climaxes with Susan finding the chess piece, although even then they still don't fully understand what's going on. ("Look, she said in a rather choking kind of voice…") As the realisation grows on them, we also see signs of them falling more and more back into their Narnian mould. Lewis seems to have the idea that the more time one spends in another world, the more one forgets one's own - as though Narnia becomes more real and our world less real as they spend time there (perhaps a hint of what ultimately happens in The Last Battle where it turns out both our world and Narnia were only shadowlands of the real real world).

"Our castle at Cair Paravel," continued Susan in a dreamy and rather sing-song voice, "at the mouth of the great river of Narnia. How could I forget?"
"How it all comes back!" said Lucy

We see this shift in memory happen especially as they explore the treasure chamber and begin to remember details of objects and events seemingly forgotten. It culminates with them finding their Christmas presents and especially the quote about Peter on his drawing out his sword "All felt that he was really Peter the High King again". The strongest sense of Narnia becoming more real and our world less so comes when Susan says (almost shockingly) "that other place - England, I mean." Given what we know happens to Susan later in the Chronicles, I think it's significant that it's Susan that this happens to here.

I think we can relate their experiences in a slow realisation of the truth in our own lives. Sometimes certain things (especially spiritual things) seem as obscure and foreign to us as the island and ruins do to the children. But with the guidance of the Spirit (especially when we read scripture) he can pull back that veil and reveal truths to us. When that happens it's just as exciting, thrilling and sometimes a little scary as it was for the children when the truth dawned on them. To take the illustration further, I think it's interesting that the revelation doesn't come out of the blue; it does take "using our brains" to logically work through things. Peter presents his argument that the ruins are Cair Paravel by "tak[ing] the points one by one." He considers the evidence and bases his conclusion on that. While there is probably some divine inspiration that triggers the thought, he still works through it logically. He even recognises that there is one problem with his theory (the fact the Cair appears to have been deserted for centuries), but he places that aside temporarily to look at the remaining evidence, which is compelling. And because the remaining evidence is compelling, he takes it on faith that, even despite the problem of time, it must be the Cair and there must be an explanation to account for the fact that doesn't make sense (they eventually work this out, of course - that time doesn't pass the same in our world as it does in Narnia). So Peter reaches his conclusion by a combination of inspiration, rational thinking and faith (that the unexplained can be explained). They then put this assumption to the test but looking for the treasure room which confirms Peter's theory.

I know Lewis wouldn't have intended this level of allegory in this passage but when I think about how exciting it was for the Pevensies as they slowly realised where they were, I like the parallels it has to how the Lord teaches us truths and reveals things to us relying on inspiration, rational thinking and faith.

I'd nearly forgotten about the summer challenge, but remembered this afternoon and read the two chapters. Then when I came to read my Year With Aslan for today, what did I find but a passage from the first chapter in Prince Caspian! It was a fun, unexpected little thing that made me laugh. 😛

I'm kinda gonna be addressing both chapters at once here.

One thing that struck me as a little odd was that the kids begin their adventure with knowledge gleaned from books in this world - knights-errant and such. The possibility of this adventure being set in Narnia is brought up very early on, so I thought it strange that they didn't really draw from their previous Narnian experiences to help them out earlier on (I mean, I'm sure it didn't happen all that often, but surely someone should have remembered that "roots" didn't mean the roots of trees!). It's a slow process of remembering.

Another little oddity was that inside the castle walls, there are no trees. One would think that there would be. There are trees taller than the wall, for one, and a huge apple tree right in the gate, for another, plus wind factor and stuff. Combine that with the lack of so much as birdsong and the fact that Peter specifically mentions someone digging a channel between the Cair and the mainland (as opposed to gradual erosion, like the Rush (granted, Peter didn't think of erosion at the Rush either))... well, I got a feeling of overall forgetfulness. Later in the book, it's explained that the Telmarines wanted to forget Old Narnia and it's clear that a good many "Old Narnians" have forgotten too. The Cair is almost literally cast adrift, totally isolated and inaccessible.
And yet.
The Cair - forgotten, disused, broken down, overgrown, virtually unfindable as it is - is (in a curious way) almost preserved. It's surrounded, and very closely at that, by trees, yet there are none within. Enough of its structure is left to give an idea as to what used to be there. The well is still good. And let's not forget the completely untouched treasure chamber with all its goodies!

Yes, I say that it all struck me as odd, but honestly, it led me to think along the same lines as Ajjie was: how growing spiritually does take time and work. Not only that, but how easy it can be to forget things we have already learned when we don't put them into practice. It's all there at our fingertips, even in our minds and hearts, and even preserved (even if it's dusty and ivy-ridden), unsullied and unspoiled, as sharp and bright as ever! But what good are an not-perished bowstring or a non-rusty sword if we fail to let our "fingers remember their old strength", to borrow a phrase from LotR? I'd elaborate on that more, but Ajjie beat me to it, so... go read hers again. 😛

Day 1

Day 2

(and our scanner did cut out the last word "to" in the fourth line from the top)

I'm running behind (on the reflections not the readings) already. For those who don't know, I'm kinda cheating this year by listening to the audiobook in my car driving to and from uni every day. Since our semester has started and I'm lecturing this week that was the only way to make it happen. But today was our municipal elections that happen once every 5 years and a public holiday, so I didn't go into uni. I did get to listen to the first of today's chapters while queuing to vote and Ajjiesis was with me so we listened together, which was fun. (p.s. Sorry, for typos, I haven't had time to proof-read)

Day 2

Chapter 3: Growing Young
"But couldn't we all swim long ago - if it was long ago - when we were kings and queens in Narnia? We could ride then too, and do all sorts of things. Don't you think - "
"Ah, but we were sort of grown-ups then," said Peter. "We reigned for years and years and learned to do things. Aren't we just back at our proper ages again now?"

I've been thinking about this quite a bit with regards to my Susan Fic. What was it like for them to have gone through adolescence and into adulthood and then suddenly be thrust back to being children again? I mean, Susan was considering getting married at one point. It struck me that maybe part of Susan's wanting to be grown-up so badly (which made her abandon Narnia later on) was because she had been grown up before and (probably erroneously) idealised those memories.

I'm kinda sorry Lewis doesn't discuss this further but it's nice that he at least alludes to it. I was talking to my brother who suggested they probably didn't remember much of their time in Narnia when they were back in England and I think that makes sense given their slow realisation and remembering in the last chapter and also hints that while in Narnia they tend to forget our world (like when they find the lamppost at the end of LWW and don't know what it is and here when Susan called England "that other place"). But then the question becomes what was it like for them to be back in Narnia and have those memories return but still be children. It's interesting, given the discussion about whether they can remember to swim and ride, that later we see Susan hasn't lost her still with the bow and arrow. Would archery have been something girls learnt to do in those days? (a genuine question; I have no idea what the answer is).

Chapter 4 (and 5): Character Profile - Cornelius
Doctor Cornelius is an interesting character. I'd love to know more about his history and how he ended up being appointed as Caspian's tutor. Here's what we do know:

Appearance: "He was the smallest, and also the fattest, man Caspian had ever seen. He had a long, silvery beard which came down to his waist, and his face, which was brown and covered with wrinkles, looked very wise, very ugly and very kind. His was grave and his eyes so merry…"

Personality: "The sort of person it is almost impossible not to like". Although he is cautious about what he tells Caspian, he is also eager to share the truth with him. "My old heart has carried these secret memories so long that it aches with them and would burst if I did not whisper them to you." He is also brave to trust Caspian with the truth about his being half-dwarf.

Skills: He's called "Doctor" and obviously of the academic sort. His depth of knowledge which he is able to share with Caspian is immense: History, Grammar, Cosmography, Rhetoric, Heraldry, Versification (is that like how to write poetry?), Law, Physic, Alchemy (apparently not the same as magic; more like chemistry I suppose?), Astronomy and Magic. I'm not sure whether Cornelius also taught Caspian the more practical aspects of his education (swimming, riding, sword-fighting etc) but I imagine there were others in the royal household who taught those.

Background: We know he is a half-dwarf (or at least of mixed blood). It would be interesting to know exactly what had happened to his grandcestor dwarfs who had disguised themselves as (and married) humans. Obviously the truth of their ancestry was passed down from generation to generation. He doesn't consider himself a Telmarine, which means presumably neither did most of his family.

One of the things I found really interesting is what he says about Caspian's mother: "The only Telmarine who was ever kind to me." This suggests that people may have been aware he was of mixed race (unless it just happened that people had a tendency to be mean to him). It also suggests he somehow had connections to the royal family (at least had had some direct interaction with the queen). (I can't decide whether the implication that Caspian IX wasn't unkind to him means he was mean or he just never had any direct interaction with him). And yet despite his questionable reputation but apparent connection to the queen, he somehow manages not to be killed along with Caspian IX's followers but instead appointed to be Caspian X's tutor. It would seem that Miraz hadn't realised he had dwarfish blood or he wouldn't have dreamed of appointing him. It's all rather curious.

Another random thought I had about Cornelius is how he got the title "Doctor". Did Narnia have universities? On a related (but kinda silly) note, being a Doctor Who fan now (I probably wasn't the last time I read PC), I found it really funny every time in the book that he's referred to as "the Doctor" or Caspian calls him "Doctor". I'm not sure if the effect was stronger because I'm listening to the audiobook rather than reading it and the lady keeps saying "the Doctor" in this very British accent. 😛

In sum, Cornelius is a really interesting character and I'd love to know more about his history.

Really enjoying your reflections 🙂

I like your comments on how they referred to England, Aj. It is quite interesting that it was Susan who seemed to have forgot the name for England for a moment. Every time they talk about it, it reminds me of the awkward way I answer the "where do you live?" or "where are you from?" question these days. I'm rather torn between my childhood home and the city where I'm working, and I'm never sure what to say.

It's interesting that both their swimming abilities and knowledge about edible roots receded while in England. They almost become different people, but I think the Narnian air begins to turn them back into their Narnian selves, and that will be more up for discussion later in the story.

Cair Paravel
Overgrown and lonely
Overlooked and broken down
Finds its great and ancient sovereigns
Children sleeping on its ground

I had a little photo scavenger hunt for things around the apartment that reminded me of the story 🙂

Noticing that the Doctor's account of what he went through to find Susan's horn is similar to what Uncle Andrew told Digory about his research about the dust in the Atlantean box. 😛

"Many terrors I endured, many spells did I utter, to find it, when I was still young." - Doctor Cornelius (PC, chapter V)
"I had to get to know some—well, some devilish queer people, and go through some very disagreeable experiences. That was what turned my head gray." - Uncle Andrew (MN, chapter II)

I was also noticing that Glenstorm says this later (in chapter 6):
"...on earth a son of Adam has once more arisen to rule and name the creatures."
Is reminded me of Adam naming and ruling over the animals in Genesis. Somehow I've managed to never notice this before. I now feel very unintelligent. 🙄

*bounds in*

I have three chapters reflections for you!

Chapter 1:

It was so natural to the Pevensies. They'd been ripped out of England and were kinda plopped into a place they didn't recognize. They didn't know it was Narnia, in fact, I got this impression they thought they were in /another/ world. And yet it was so natural to them -- they didn't even blink an eye. There was water; they went to wade. They got thirsty; they searched for a stream. They even thought about lunch. It didn't seem to stress them out too much (other than that brief part where they crabbed at each other). It was just so natural. o.O

Chapter 2:

It must have been simply awful, AND simply wonderful for the Pevensies to realize that they were in Narnia. The movie pointed it out really well: "Mr. Tumnus and the Beavers -- Everyone we knew -- They're all gone." To see their lovely home in waste, and to wonder what had happened and why, oh, it must have been awful for the. o.o
I was wondering why Susan said to wait til morning to open the door to the treasure chamber, and had a thought. Perhaps she was saddened so much by the thought that this broken-down, overgrown place was once the royal home she entertained guests in that she wanted to postpone finding out where she was as long as possible. Maybe she didn't /want/ it to be Narnia, because of how sad she was at it's condition.

Chapter 3:
Favorite line EVER: "The worst of sleeping out of doors is that you wake up so dreadfully early. And when you wake up you have to get up because the ground is so hard that you are uncomfortable." You have no idea how many times I have quoted that. When Arli, Gypsy, and I used to camp in our backyard, we always said it in unison -- usually before we fell asleep and then after we woke up. I quote it ever so often in random situations, and I got to quote it in a Narnia movie tent once after sleeping in a wooded glade-like thing. My word, but that was fun.

I forgot to read last night, so I'm making up for it now. 😳

Chapter 3
Technically, what I'm about to say also shows up in chapters 1 and 2 (and indeed, elsewhere), but I've only just noticed it now. It comes off as a series of happenstances, but Aslan is providing for the children's needs all along: from the apples and firewood to the armour and weapons to the messenger from Caspian and the boat they would use to make part of their journey.

Chapters 4-5
I'm curious as to how stories of Old Narnia circulated amongst the Telmarines if there was such a great effort of hush up the very memory of it. Cornelius mentions that many of the younger Telmarines secretly wished for the Old Days, as Caspian did; we'll see them in person later. Perhaps some of it was done by the intermarried Dwarfs and their offspring. Perhaps some Telmarines treasured these stories and told them in secret. (I don't recall if Lewis mentioned the Nurse's lineage or not.) Or perhaps international relations might have kept some of these stories alive (eg: traders and ambassadors to and from Archenland hearing some of these accounts from the Archenlanders).
But equally interesting is the same divide within the Old Narnian population: those who "hold on" like Trufflehunter, those who don't believe at all like Trumpkin, and those with selective memory like Nikabrik.

Anyway, I'm about to fall asleep here, so I'll have to read chapter 6 tomorrow....

Haven't caught up, but interesting story from last night.

My oldest nephew had at least some of the Narnia stories read to him as a way of transitioning to chapter books around third grade. He may have carried on reading a few for a bit. So now he claims that he's read them, but he doesn't remember any of the details! In my book this doesn't count. (My mom's the same way. She can't remember the plot of a movie she's watched, but if she knows she's watched it at some point she'll refuse to watch it again.) So last night we had an evening together and he was playing with his new Zelda game Grandma just got him for his birthday, and we got to talking briefly about Narnia, with the same sort of disinterested "been there already" reaction.

Soooo...rather than sit on my computer and work on the new character builder while he played his game, I got sneaky. I told him I was behind on reading for the Summer Challenge and would he mind if I read chapters five and six aloud, since that was where I was supposed to be. He said he didn't mind.
I ended up going back a little way in chapter four to give him some context as to who Doctor Cornelius was, and pretty soon he'd set the game aside and was sitting on the sofa just listening. 🙂

I had high hopes that when he got home he might look up a copy at the library or get one from his mom and continue reading where we left off, but unfortunately my mom, sister and other nephew got back from their shopping trip much earlier than expected, so we weren't far into chapter five before I had to set the book down, coo over their shopping finds, and help with supper. So...I don't know if he's hooked or not. Here's hoping. 🙂

Hobbit: I love those drawings, your pictures always capture the characterisation so well

Swan: I noticed in today's chapters the bit about the air of Narnia helping them return their physical strength (and I guess also memories) from their time before. So I'm guessing Lucy would eventually be able to swim again? I also like your photos, though I couldn't work out what the second one is of. Is the teddy sucking his paw?

Hobbit: That's a really interesting comparison about Cornelius finding the horn and Uncle Andrew the contents of the Atlantean box. I think Cornelius was a lot wiser with his use of magic and more aware of its dangers than Uncle Andrew though. I also noticed the bit about the mention of humans being responsible for naming the animals (like in Genesis) and hadn't noticed that before. That's one of the cool things about the Summer Challenge. When you just read a book through from beginning to end, you miss a lot of the insignificant details, but when you are forced to focus on a couple chapters at a time, you are more likely to notice those little things.

Ariel: Interesting question about the stories. I've been wondering a lot what life was like for the Telmarines. Miraz seems to be very cruel but must also be very powerful because he managed to get away with murdering the king and most of his close followers. It seems perhaps there were a lot of things uttered in secret that would not be said aloud. And of course when it was, bad things would happen like to the Nurse. But people knew what was going on because Cornelius says "Everyone but your Majesty knows that Miraz is a usurper." I also wonder what things were like before Miraz. Were the previous kings similarly bad? The Old Narnians seem to have been in hiding for some generations, but was it like that from the beginning. Just because they were conquered doesn't mean stories of the old days were initially suppressed but it had been long enough for the woods to grow up, Cair Paravel to fall to ruins and the stories to become of mythical status. Hmmm...it's all rather interesting.

Kristi: I hope he gets to it. But don't despair. I was introduced to Narnia first at a very young age (and I remembered none of the actual stories like your nephew) and then later in school. But I didn't finally get into it until high school so, there's still hope. (I also smiled at you reading the day's chapters to him, because that's what happened with me and my sister listening to the chapters while queuing to vote (she was also thrown into it mid-story). I thought she'd gotten bored after a while when her earphone fell out but then she complained when I didn't give it back to her so apparently she was enjoying it, although she didn't ask to hear more later).

Day 3

Chapter 5 (and 3)
I really like Trumpkin's alliterative exclamations so I thought I'd make a list of them. (I'll add to it as more come up). I also looked up some of the words I didn't know.

Beards and bedsteds!
Horns and halibuts! (halibut = type of fish)
Bulbs and bolsters? (bolster = long round pillow or cushion)
Whistles and whirligigs! (whirligig = 1. a spinning toy like a top or windmill 2. a beetle that skims on the surface of water)

Chapter 6: The people who lived in hiding
I really love this chapter. I think it's the one place in all the stories where we really get insight into the lives of the "Old Narnians" i.e. the non-humans. Although Narnia known for being a world populated by talking animals, apart from the bits in LWW set in Tumnus' and the beavers' homes, the stories are chiefly about humans and the adventures of the Children. But here we get insight into the animal life of Narnia. I kinda feel a bit like Caspian in this part "Now began one of the happiest times that Caspian had ever known." It must have been so exciting for Caspian to see how all these animals were thriving despite their living in hiding.

I also found that Lewis' ability to describe the different animals is brilliant. He's so clever at giving them each the characteristics of their own creature despite being anthropomorphic. I feel like he actually does this better here than in LWW, where he might be accused of making the beavers a bit too human-like what with Mrs Beaver's sewing machine etc. From writing my Susan Fiction, and setting it in a world of only talking animals, I can appreciate how hard this is and Lewis did a much better job of it than me.

Here are a few quotes about the animals I liked:

Of the bulgy bears: "There was a noise like a small earthquake…" and "very wet, snuffly kisses they were"
Of Pattertwig: "Indeed the difficulty was to get him to stop talking, for like all squirrels, he was a chatterer." (interestingly, the same is said of Reep in VDT - Lewis accidentally used the same joke twice 😛 )
Of Glenstorm: "He was a prophet and a star-gazer and knew what they had come about"
Of Reep: "[his ears were] nearly as long (though broader) than a rabbit's" and "He wore a tiny little rapier at his side and twirled his long whiskers as if they were a moustache."

Also: yay for mention of Hogglestock the hedgehog, I so wish we'd learned more about him.

I also really liked the characterisation of the dwarfs as sceptics. The red dwarfs are loyal despite their scepticism, but the black dwarfs are a bit more self-serving and side with Caspian only because they feel he will aid their cause.

Day 3:

Day 4:

(The carvings are obviously influenced by Egyptian art, because I am more than a little obsessed with Egyptology...)

Chapter 6-8

Yeah, I'm lumping together again.

It's almost surprising to see how quickly a lot of these Old Narnians are swearing allegiance to Caspian. Yes, there are suspicions, but still.
On the flip side, Caspian is growing into his role as king. No sense of self-importance or a trumpeting of everyone's allegiance, just a sense of assertion and authority.
You know, I don''t remember any particular mention after chapter 7 of Cornelius and Reep's relationship, even though Reep declares that Cornelius shall have his friendship. That would be interesting to explore in a fic...
I knew it before, but it's really sticking out now: the mound was built over the Stone Table. This being after years of wind, rain, and snow. Even here, we have another case of Old Narnia being preserved for the future.
Also, Cornelius mentions the Stone Table as being the most ancient location in Narnia, even over the lamppost, which grew at the dawn of time. Now I'm wondering when the Stone Table came to be. Whatever the answer to that, though, I think it would still qualify as "most ancient" simply because it is part of the Deeper Magic since before the dawn of time, even if the Table itself came afterward.
Trumpkin continues to be skeptical about all things magical, and yet it doesn't seem to faze anyone. And what I mean by that is, that it's not shaking anyone else's faith. The rest of the council carries on as if he hadn't declared that the horn (in his opinion) wouldn't work. Even the Pevensies seem to brush off his skepticism and talk about Jinns and such. 🙂
"... we're awfully fond of children and all that..." Unless he's referring to Edmund and Lucy specifically, Trumpkin seems to forget that Caspian is a child too, not much younger than Peter himself. Perhaps their clothes and mannerisms made them seem a little younger as the Narnian air had not made them seem as kingly and queenly just yet?
Peter's plan to set up a duel with Trumpkin. Very clever and diplomatic way of saying, "We are a little more useful to Caspian than just mere children."

Aaaaand that's all I have for today.

Hobbit, what lovely pictures those are! You have such a knack for drawing ^.^
Ajjie, I love those animal quotes ^.^
Kristi, you're very very sneaky, aren't you?
*squees at Swan a little bit* I love the idea of a scavenger hunt! We should do one all together sometime 😀
Ariel, I hadn't noticed the way Trumpkin looked down on the Pevs, and not on Caspian. That's very interesting to note. I think, like you suggested, that I would consider his reaction being because their looking so different and... young... in their English clothes.

I'm still behind. I finished chapter 4 tonight, though!

"No, Dear Prince. The great lords of the upper sky know the steps of their dance far too well for that."

I'm sure Cornelius told Caspian who taught Tarva and Alambil their dance steps. I wonder, when he wasn't sure what to do before the Pevensies arrived, if he thought about that. Perhaps he thought that Aslan would lead and teach him what he needed to do to defeat Miraz. Even in our world, God knows everything that's going to happen. He knows what steps should be taken, and what steps WILL be taken. And he's willing to teach us the steps he wants us to take -- just like the stars 🙂

*nearly falls asleep half through Chapter 5* This is what happens when you work, practice driving two hours, make dinner, do a days worth of school, write a speech, and try to read a book at 2 in the morning 😛
Anyway -- I'll give my reflections so far! I'm seriously not impressed with the amount of magic Mr. Cornelius is using. Tsk tsk. A contrived sleep, spells to find the horn, like seriously. *stares at Lewis*

Also, this line reminds me of a Studio C episode.: "But when day came, with a sprinkle of rain, and he looked about him and saw on every side unknown woods, wild heaths and blue mountains, he thought how large and strange the world was and felt frightened and small." *grins impishly and wonders who will know which skit she is thinking of*

Meh. I'll stop there. I'm tired. 😛