Arsheesh lived by the shore and made his living as a fisherman. Arsheesh lived in his hovel with his son named Shasta. Shasta was not really his son; Arsheesh had come upon then a small boy when a row boat washed ashore with another occupant who had presumably just died (The body was still warm when it was found).
Arsheesh was often cruel to the boy, but the boy respected Arsheesh, as a boy should is father. Arsheesh was fond of quoting proverbs. It is ironic that Arsheesh seemed to know the letter of the law, but often did not practice it.
Shasta was a Narnian, but of cause did not realize this, but often gazed to the North. When he asked his father what laid to the North, his father, when in a foul mood would box Shasta ears, but when in a good mood Arsheesh would say to his son, “ ‘O my son, do not allow your mind to be distracted by idle questions’. He went on to quote the poet: ‘Application to business is the root of prosperity, but those who ask questions that do not concern them are steering the ship of folly towards the rock of indigence.’”
The Horse in his Boy, How Shasta Set Out on his Travels, The Chronicles of Narnia.
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