Prince Caspian

While standing on a railway station in 1941, Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy are magically whisked away to a beach near an old and ruined castle. After Susan discovers a chess knight, Peter soon realizes that they are in Cair Paravel, where they once ruled as the Kings and Queens of Narnia, and convinces the others of the same. They explore downstairs and find Susan’s bow and arrows and Lucy’s bottle of magical cordial. The horn that can call Aslan is not there, however, for Susan left it in the woods the day they returned to England after their first visit to Narnia. Peter finds his shield and royal sword Rhindon. Although only a year has passed in their world, 1300 years have passed in Narnia. Edmund figures out the time problem, suggesting that Narnian time operates differently from earth time and that hundreds of years of Narnian could well have passed since the one year of England time had elapsed.

Then they hear a boat coming down the river with two soldiers and a bundle that moves. Susan strikes one of the soldiers on the helmet with an arrow, and both jump into the water and head for the far shore. Peter and Susan plunge into the water and rescue the boat and its bundle. It is a Dwarf called Trumpkin. After offering him some apples, they listen to his story. He tells the legend of ghosts in the ruins of Cair Paravel, explaining why the two soldiers fled. Then they exchange stories. The Dwarf is a messenger of King Caspian the Tenth. During their absence, a race of men called Telmarines have invaded Narnia, driving the Talking Beasts into the wilderness and pushing even their memory underground. Narnia now is ruled by King Miraz, a cruel despot, with his wife Queen Prunaprismia.

Miraz is also an usurper, having killed his brother, King Caspian IX, to take the throne. His nephew, Prince Caspian, is initially ignorant of his uncle’s evil deeds, but eventually learns the truth. He also learns about Old (pre-Telmarine) Narnia, first from his Nurse and later from Doctor Cornelius, his tutor. Unknown to Miraz, Cornelius is part Dwarf and part human and also tells the stories of old Narnia to Caspian. He especially tells much of the story in the middle of the night, on the roof of the Great Tower, when the planets Tarva and Alambil pass within one degree of each other. Cornelius tells Caspian that the story about ghosts at Cair Paravel was invented by the Telmarines because they fear the sea, never forgetting that Aslan came from over the sea in all the stories.

Miraz is childless and is thus willing for Caspian to be his heir, but when the Queen has a son, Cornelius warns Caspian that his life is now in danger. Before he leaves, Cornelius gives Caspian Queen Susan’s horn with instructions to use it only at the point of his greatest need. Caspian escapes on his horse Destrier. After a long ride and a long sleep, Caspian begins to ride again. The weather gets stormy, and Destrier bolts. Caspian hits his head on a branch and is knocked unconscious. He awakes in the den of a badger, Trufflehunter, and two dwarfs, Nikabrik and Trumpkin. Nikabrik wants to kill Caspian, but the other two won’t allow it. Caspian tells them his story, and they want him as their king.

The badger and Dwarfs take Caspian to meet many creatures of Old Narnia. They first meet the Three Bulgy Bears, Pattertwig the squirrel, then the Seven Brothers of the Shuddering Wood (Dwarfs work a smithy; they give Caspian a mail shirt, helmet, and sword), and the five Black Dwarfs. They inform them of a council at midnight three nights ahead on Dancing Lawn. Pattertwig takes the message to many others. Then they meet Glenstorm, the Centaur (also a prophet and a star gazer, like in most literature), and his three sons, who suggest that the council at Dancing Lawn must be a council of war. Next they meet Reepicheep the foot tall mouse and receive his assurance of the help of twelve mice. They also meet Clodsley the Mole, the three Hardbiters (badgers), Camillo the Hare, and Hogglestock the Hedgehog. They dream about waking up the trees, but the Dryads and Naiads have sunk into a deep sleep. Finally they meet fauns, dozens of them, including Mentius and Obentinus, Dumnus, Voluns and Voltinus, Girbius and Nimienus, and Nausas and Oscuns, all sent by Pattertwig.

They gather for the council, when Camillo says there is a Man coming. It turns out to be Doctor Cornelius, who had used magic to find them. He says that King Miraz is coming with his army and they should flee to Aslan’s How and the Great Woods near Cair Paravel. But Miraz arrives there shortly after they do, and various skirmishes characterize the next few days with Caspian's forces gradually losing. In another council inside Aslan’s How, which had been built over the Stone Table in years past, they discuss whether or not to use Queen Susan's horn. Cornelius thinks it more likely to bring King Peter and company than to bring Aslan. Then they dispatch Pattertwig to Lantern Waste and Trumpkin to Cair Paravel to discover the results of the blowing of the horn.

The children realize that the horn summoned them the day before. Trumpkin tells how he was caught, trying to take a shortcut to Cair Paravel to discover whom the horn might have brought. He is a bit disappointed, having expected to meet the adult Kings and Queens of the past, not teenagers. So, after they outfit the Dwarf in mail and weapons, they challenge him to a sword fight and a bow and arrow contest. The Dwarf loses the first contest to Edmund and the second to Susan. His estimation of the four children improves greatly thereafter. Having heard the story, the true Kings and Queens of Narnia try to make their way to the battlefield.

They decide to save time by traveling by water and going up Glasswater Creek. Unable to sleep that night, Lucy tries to talk to the trees. They rustle but do not awaken. Finally she goes to sleep. The next morning they begin again. A grey bear attacks, after again surprising Lucy with its lack of talking ability. Forced to kill the apparently wild bear with arrows, they take some of the meat to eat later. After some time, they realize they are lost. They decide to go down the ravine until it meets the river and then travel up the river. Lucy sees Aslan and wants to continue in his direction, but they ignore her. But the journey is long and hard, and the children lose their way.

Finally they reach the Great River. Suddenly arrows whiz past them, and they fall to the ground and crawl away. They have to return up the gorge from whence they came. After some distance, they light a fire and cook the bear meat. Then they sleep. In the night Aslan calls Lucy. She sees the trees moving and then she sees Aslan. He tells her that it was her fault for the detour. He instructs her to go back, awaken the others, and insist that they follow her, who would be following Aslan. She does.

They finally agree to follow Lucy in the middle of the night, and gradually, as they obey, they begin to see Aslan's shadow, then Aslan himself. Susan apologizes in another moment of confession. Aslan finally stops, and the others catch up. Aslan says: “And now, where is this little Dwarf, this famous swordsman and archer, who doesn’t believe in lions?” Aslan gives Trumpkin a toss in the air and a shake. Peter, Edmund, and Trumpkin are to head to the mound. The girls see the woods come alive and dance with Aslan, including Bacchus and Silenus.

Peter, Edmund, and Trumpkin enter Aslan’s How and decide to listen at the door to the conversation. Nikabrik has brought two friends, one a Hag and the other a Werewolf, trying to convince Caspian, Cornelius, and Trufflehunter to ally themselves with the powers of evil against Miraz. A fight ensues, and Nikabrik and his two friends are slain.

Peter decides to send a challenge to fight Miraz in single combat to decide which army shall be considered victorious in the war. Edmund, with Glenstorm and the giant along, delivers the challenge. Miraz accepts, even though he has a stronger army and thus has more to lose by reducing it to a single combat, in part because his two lords, Glozelle and Sopespian, egg him on. Peter picks his Marshals of the List for the fight — a Bulgy Bear, Giant Wimbleweather, and the Centaur Glenstorm.

The fight begins around two o’clock. They fight for a while and then take a rest. Miraz gets the advantage and Peter’s left wrist is sprained, so they bind it tightly. Peter does better in the next fight until Miraz trips on a tussock. Peter steps back, waiting for him to rise, but the Lords Glozelle and Sopespian stab Miraz, claiming treachery by the Narnians, and initiate a full scale fight. After a short time, the Wood enters the fight and end it soon. Early that morning Aslan, Lucy, and Susan had freed the river-god from the bridge at Beruna, children from school, a boy from a man who was beating him, and others, including Caspian’s old nurse, who had been ill and near death. They come by a schoolhouse where a girl is forced to teach several fat, rude, mean, pig-like boys. Aslan and company frighten the fat boys and they run, and it is implied they turn into pigs for their greed.

When Aslan arrives at the battle, the Telmarine soldiers surrender. Lucy uses her cordial bottle to heal Reepicheep, and Aslan restores Reepicheep's tail, in payment for the mice having eaten away the cords that had bound him on the stone table long ago. The Telmarines are locked up at Beruna. Aslan and company celebrate. The next day messengers go throughout the country with an offer to allow people to go to another home if they do not wish to follow Caspian as King and live in a Narnia on equal terms with Talking Beasts and Dwarfs and Dryads and Fauns. Aslan tells the Telmarines of their true origin, from the world of men, where their ancestors were pirates in the South Seas who fell through a gap between worlds. About half of them accept the offer and arrive at the Ford of Beruna on the fifth day.

Aslan has set up two stakes of wood with a third piece uniting them on top. Peter, Aslan, and Caspian stand in front of the "door". Peter and Susan are told by Aslan that they will never return to Narnia. Peter tells the others he can cope with this as "it's all a bit different from what I thought". Although fearful that the doorway is a way of execution, one of the Telmarine soldiers advances and goes through the door and disappears. Then, to allay fears, Peter and the rest of the children go through the doorway, knowing that Peter and Susan will not be allowed to return to Narnia again. They arrive back at the railway station, Edmund without his new torch, which he left in Narnia.

i have seen the movie to this well known book and from what i have seen to what i have read, the book and the movie seem quite similar but the movie has edited some stuff that should not have been edited to understand the storyline. From working at the movies i have asked other people about what they thought about the movie and people say it was alot better then the lion the witch and the wardrobe.