The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe Mr. and Mrs. Beaver Quotes

"Aslan a man!" said Mr. Beaver sternly. "Certainly not. I tell you he is the King of the wood and the son of the great Emperor-Beyond-the-Sea. Don't you know who is the King of Beasts? Aslan is a lion – the Lion, the great Lion." (8.22)

Narnian mythology suggests that the great Lion Aslan has a strange and powerful father, the "Emperor-Beyond-the-Sea," who remains mysterious but sounds totally awesome.

"Down at Cair Paravel – that's the castle on the sea coast down at the mouth of this river which ought to be the capital of the whole country if all was as it should be – down at Cair Paravel there are four thrones and it's a saying in Narnia time out of mind that when two Sons of Adam and two Daughters of Eve sit in those four thrones, then it will be the end not only of the White Witch's reign but of her life. (8.41)

The arrival of Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy in Narnia is not a mere accident or a convenient occurrence. Instead, it is the fulfillment of an ancient prophecy, with deep spiritual overtones for good Narnians like the Beavers.

But amidst all these rejoicings Aslan himself quietly slipped away. And when the Kings and Queens noticed that he wasn't there they said nothing about it. For Mr. Beaver had warned them, "He'll be coming and going" he had said. "One day you'll see him and another you won't. He doesn't like being tied down – and of course he has other countries to attend to. It's quite all right. He'll often drop in. Only you mustn't press him. He's wild, you know. Not like a tame lion." (17.23)

Aslan's ways are not the ways of men (or Narnian creatures), and there will always be something inexplicable and mysterious about him. He can't be tied down to a regular schedule and he won't ever do things in quite the way you expected.