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Strawberry / Fledge
With his horse, Strawberry, the Cabby drives a hansom cab in London, which Queen Jadis commandeers when she is on the loose in the city. The Cabby is kind, brave, and down-to-earth, calmly confronting Jadis when she tries to steal Strawberry. When he’s accidentally transported to Narnia along with Strawberry, Jadis, and the children, the Cabby immediately responds joyfully to the beauty of Aslan’s song. Having grown up in the country, he expresses a desire to stay in Narnia forever, at which point Aslan summons the Cabby’s wife, Helen, to Narnia and crowns the two of them as Narnia’s first King and Queen. He rules Narnia as a just and wise King for many years.
The Cabby / King Frank Quotes in The Magician’s Nephew
The The Magician’s Nephew quotes below are all either spoken by The Cabby / King Frank or refer to The Cabby / King Frank. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 7 Quotes
“Now, Missie, let me get at ’is ’ead, and just you get off. You’re a Lidy, and you don’t want all these roughs going for you, do you? You want to go ’ome and ’ave a nice cup of tea and a lay down quiet like; then you’ll feel ever so much better.” At the same time he stretched out his hand toward the horse’s head with the words, “Steady, Strawberry, old boy. Steady now.”
Then for the first time the Witch spoke.
“Dog!” came her cold, clear voice, ringing loud above all the other noises. “Dog, unhand our royal charger. We are the Empress Jadis.”
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Chapter 10 Quotes
We must now go back a bit and explain what the whole scene had looked like from Uncle Andrew’s point of view. It had not made at all the same impression on him as on the Cabby and the children. For what you see and hear depends a good deal on where you are standing: it also depends on what sort of person you are. […] When the great moment came and the Beasts spoke, he missed the whole point; for a rather interesting reason. […] [The Lion’s song] made him think and feel things he did not want to think and feel. […] And the longer and more beautiful the Lion sang, the harder Uncle Andrew tried to make himself believe that he could hear nothing but roaring. Now the trouble about trying to make yourself stupider than you really are is that you very often succeed. Uncle Andrew did. He soon did hear nothing but roaring in Aslan’s song.
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Chapter 11 Quotes
Aslan threw up his shaggy head, opened his mouth, and uttered a long, single note; not very loud, but full of power. Polly’s heart jumped in her body when she heard it. She felt sure that it was a call, and that anyone who heard that call would want to obey it and (what’s more) would be able to obey it, however many worlds and ages lay between. And so, though she was filled with wonder, she was not really astonished or shocked when all of a sudden a young woman, with a kind, honest face stepped out of nowhere and stood beside her. Polly knew at once that it was the Cabby’s wife, fetched out of our world not by any tiresome magic rings, but quickly, simply and sweetly as a bird flies to its nest.
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The Cabby / King Frank Character Timeline in The Magician’s Nephew
The timeline below shows where the character The Cabby / King Frank appears in The Magician’s Nephew. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 7
A cabby in a bowler hat emerges from the crowd, saying that the Queen has stolen his...
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Chapter 8
The crowd turns angry as the Queen fells another policeman. But the Cabby, both brave and kind, keeps following her and trying to get a grip on Strawberry....
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...they discover that they’ve not only brought the Witch along, but unintentionally brought the horse, Cabby, and Uncle Andrew as well. The Queen once again looks sickened by her surroundings. Strawberry,...
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...The Queen assumes that her doom has arrived; Uncle Andrew pants for another drink. The Cabby alone is cheerful. He says they’ve either fallen into some diggings for the Underground, or...
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...and Digory refuses to leave his friends behind in such a place. But suddenly the Cabby hushes them all. In the darkness, someone is singing. The song is wordless and beautiful,...
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...singing. The sky is slowly lightening, too. They begin to see each other’s faces. The Cabby and children are beaming, Uncle Andrew looks frightened, and the Witch looks furious.
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...he will grab Polly and his ring and vanish, leaving them here helpless. But the Cabby interrupts, wanting to hear the music—which has now changed.
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Chapter 9
...disgraced him by robbing a jeweler, demanding an ostentatious lunch, and assaulting the police. The Cabby interrupts, saying that now is the time for watching and listening, not talking.
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...notes of the Lion’s song; this wondrous discovery takes away her fear. Digory and the Cabby feel nervous about the Lion’s approach, however, and Uncle Andrew is downright scared.
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Chapter 10
...we don’t know very much yet.” They are delighted to see that it’s Strawberry. The Cabby says he always knew the horse had a lot of sense.
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...Meanwhile, Digory resolves to approach Aslan directly regarding his mother. Polly accompanies him, and the Cabby comes along to talk with Strawberry.
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...what sort of food they might be, or perhaps another joke. Strawberry doesn’t recognize the Cabby at first, but he recalls a sort of muddled dream of a previous life. Little...
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...time, Uncle Andrew has been having a very different experience than the children and the Cabby have been having. This is because what one sees and hears depends a lot on...
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Chapter 11
...greater height, doesn’t look like the same sort of creature as the children and the Cabby. He also doesn’t talk like they do—only saying, “Good Doggie,” to the inquisitive Bulldog. Then...
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Aslan now summons Polly and the Cabby to come closer. Aslan tells the Cabby that he has known him for a long...
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...she’s dreaming, until she sees the Lion. She gives a small curtsey and takes the Cabby’s hand. Aslan looks at the two and tells them, “My children […] you are to...
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The Cabby haltingly thanks Aslan but explains that he’s not fit for the job—he hasn’t much education....
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Chapter 12
...that Polly would love to come along on the journey, to which Fledge agrees. King Frank boosts the children onto Fledge’s back, and Aslan sends them off with his blessing, promising...
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Chapter 14
Now it’s time for the coronation of King Frank and Queen Helen. The children notice the rich robes that the two are wearing; dwarfs...
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...Andrew’s pocket) to create beautiful, delicate crowns with precious stones set in them. Aslan crowns Frank and Helen as they kneel before him, blessing them and charging them to rule with...
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Chapter 15
...Narnia enjoys harmony, with no further trouble from the Witch for hundreds of years. King Frank and Queen Helen reign happily, and their children intermarry with Narnia’s magical peoples. The Witch’s...
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