For jokes as well as justice come in with speech

The expression “For jokes as well as justice come in with speech” condenses Aslan’s account of what the Talking Beasts have received: speech enables them not only to understand and answer, but also to laugh. The first joke is an awkward accident, and Aslan turns the animals’ embarrassment into shared merriment, joining playfulness to the solemn work of establishing Narnia.

The First Laughter

After the animals promise not to return to the ways of Dumb Beasts, a jackdaw adds “No fear!” just as everyone else has fallen silent. Its words emerge alone, making the bird so embarrassed that it hides its head beneath a wing as if going to sleep. The other animals respond with unfamiliar laughing noises, first trying to hold them back. Aslan’s invitation to laugh releases the gathering into open amusement.

The jackdaw then perches between the cab-horse’s ears and asks whether it has made the first joke and will always be remembered for it. Aslan corrects its claim with a playful distinction: the bird has not made the first joke; it has only been the first joke. The others laugh harder, but the jackdaw joins them rather than retreating into embarrassment. When the horse shakes its head and the bird loses its balance, it remembers its still-new wings before reaching the ground, extending the comic moment into a small demonstration of its new life.

Speech as Gift and Charge

The expression appears within a larger act of instruction. Aslan has given the Talking Beasts Narnia’s woods, fruits, rivers, and stars, and has also given them himself. He distinguishes them from the Dumb Beasts, who remain theirs to treat gently and cherish, and warns that the Talking Beasts must not return to their former ways lest they lose their speech and become Dumb Beasts again. In that setting, laughter is not a trivial diversion: it is one of the capacities made possible by their new status, alongside the ability to understand and respond to a charge.

The paired terms “jokes” and “justice” hold comic freedom beside moral seriousness. Aslan does not demand that the creatures remain grave; instead, he explicitly welcomes laughter after their solemn promise. The jackdaw’s failed bid for credit makes the principle tangible: speaking creates not only occasions for serious declarations, but also the possibility of wit, shared pleasure, and a joke at one’s own expense.

From Merriment to Rule

The gathering’s laughter leads directly into Narnia’s founding and its first political concern. Aslan declares the country established, then calls the chief Dwarf, River-god, Oak, the He-Owl, both Ravens, and the Bull-Elephant to his council. Although the world is not yet five hours old, he says that evil has already entered it. The animals left behind mishear this as a question about a “Neevil” or a “weevil,” carrying the comic confusion of their new speech into the immediate business of keeping Narnia safe.

The expression therefore gives the scene its tonal hinge: speech produces laughter, but speech also makes instruction, deliberation, and justice possible. The newly speaking creatures are welcomed into joy without being released from responsibility; Narnia begins with both at once.