Prompt: Do Animals keep animals as pets?
Chapter 5: Treat Them Gently
Extracted from a chapter of "Concerning Narnian Life and Customs", by the faun Nimienus, Royal Historian to Queen Lewena, in the middle days of the First Peace:
...and indeed, it is sadly commonplace for visiting dignitaries to take various members of the royal court for dumb beasts, or even vermin, and inadvertently insult them. Since Narnia is the only country in which Talking Beasts dwell, this prejudice is to a certain extent understandable. Nonetheless such offenses cannot be easily overlooked, for the race of her inhabitants is near-universally acknowledged as Narnia's distinguishing feature by those beyond her borders, and hence ought to be known to any noble visitors.
Foreigners are naturally used to consider animals only in terms of resource, tool, or pleasure, rather than as rational beings. Of these stances, only the first is truly widespread in Narnia—many dumb beasts are kept as livestock. As the subject of Narnia's livestock and their keepers will be treated at greater length in a later chapter, I will here list merely a representative selection: dryads are known tenders of sheep and poultry; many Tortoises are highly-regarded apiarists; naiads keep the rivershines, whose shimmering threadlike filaments are a key component in the weaving of their famed watersilk; the Monkeys make it their business to keep Narnia in milk, cheese, and butter of various kinds.
The second stance, of dumb beasts as tool, is significantly less common than the first. This is primarily due to the simple fact that most tasks for which Narnia's neighbors use dumb beasts can be completed with a vastly superior degree of speed and quality by a Talking Beast, such as hunting via raptor or dog, sheep-herding, or searching for truffles. Of the few dumb beasts which Narnians do utilize, the most notable example is likely the horse; this particular example has become so universal that in times of peace it is considered highly offensive to treat any Horse as a laborer or beast of burden.
The third stance, of animals as pleasure—whether trained to perform or as personal companion—is nearly nonexistent in Narnia. Similar to the functionary tasks, troupes of performing animals are a concept superiorly executed by Talking Beasts themselves. As for the notion of dumb beasts as personal companions, or "pets" as they are sometimes called, a plurality of Narnia's inhabitants are indeed Beasts themselves, and this naturally results most of Narnia's citizens finding it a rather disconcerting idea. As such, this type of usage has always been a rare occurrence, most often found in the halls of Cair Paravel among the human nobility, or between a dryad and an animal (usually but not always a rabbit or bird) who particularly likes one of her trees. It is not entirely unheard of for a Beast to keep a beast as companion, and none would be shunned for it, but it is seen as highly unusual and is not encouraged; it is esteemed more sensible and proper to befriend other Talking Beasts, who can speak and with whom one can form a true relationship, rather than the dumb beasts Aslan set Narnians above and instructed them to "treat gently and cherish."
Occasionally a foreign dignitary will arrive at Narnia's court with a pet in tow, or bearing an unusual dumb beast as gift, and while this is certainly an exciting thing for any children that may be present, it may also sometimes pose a diplomatic dilemma...