help

[lorenya]

Hi.
I have the following points that need clarification to finalize my work. All your help is appreciated too much.

"He has a thumb free for each of them."
"This maid is a warm creature, not especially young with a tidy bent and a sympathetic face."
"I can't help thinking of her pain, also, as a rational being, one with whom she must argue to rescue herself, but as a poor reasoner she cannot."
"I liked him for that, for not leaving a beat."
"Everything aims at some end or good. Such ends exist in a hierarchy.."
"We walk into the world of men and horses, milling it seems like, the men stunned by the rent in the fabric they've just come through." (a battle scene)

Thanks.

[Tdol]

Where did these sentences come from?

[5jj]

Where did you find these? They all sound a little quaint to me

"He has a thumb free for each of them." Presumably 'he' is offering someone (two children?) thumbs for some purpose.
"This maid is a warm creature, not especially young with a tidy bent and a sympathetic face." She has a tidy nature. She tends to keep things tidy.
"I can't help thinking of her pain, also, as a rational being, one with whom she must argue to rescue herself, but as a poor reasoner she cannot."I can't quite work this one out.
"I liked him for that, for not leaving a beat." I don't know.
"Everything aims at some end or good. Such ends exist in a hierarchy.."Every thing is intended for some purpose or benefit." With the 'or', it would appear to be to make more sense as 'Everything has a purpose, though that purpose is not necessarily good.
"We walk into the world of men and horses, milling it seems like, the men stunned by the rent in the fabric they've just come through." (a battle scene). "...moving around aimlessly like men stunned by the tear in the cloth they have... " The image seems to present normal (peaceful) life as a cloth, with war as a gaping tear in that cloth..

I hope that helps. Sorry I can't do more.

[lorenya]

These are from a novel called 'the golden mean' of a Canadian writer.

[lorenya]

I thought my English was not sufficient to understand those properly but I feel better that you think they are quaint.
Maybe they are better understood if I quote like this:

"It is an important wedding, too, not so much because of who the bride and groom are -Philip (the king), presumably, still has a thumb free for each of them- but as an opportunity for him to display his grand greatness. "
(Can it be interpreted as he has control over the bride and groom?)

"I can't help thinking of her pain, also, as a rational being, one with whom she must argue to rescue herself, but as a poor reasoner she cannot." (This is what Aristoteles says about his sick wife. He always complains about her superstitions. Do you think he wants her to explain her sickness, symptoms in a logical way, so that he can help her or do you think this interpretation does not fit?)

"I liked him for that, for not leaving a beat." (Can it be 'for taking care of each detail'?)

Thanks for all your efforts.

[freezeframe]

"I can't help thinking of her pain, also, as a rational being, one with whom she must argue to rescue herself, but as a poor reasoner she cannot." (This is what Aristoteles says about his sick wife. He always complains about her superstitions. Do you think he wants her to explain her sickness, symptoms in a logical way, so that he can help her or do you think this interpretation does not fit?)

He cannot help but think that her pain is a being who is rational. He's personifying the pain. In order for his wife to save herself from this pain, she must argue with the pain, rationally. But she is not a good reasoner (she's superstitious, as you say), so she's unable to have a rational conversation with her pain, and thus cannot rescue herself.

[lorenya]

Yessss! You are certainly right. Thank you very much.