About a book

Dear teachers,

I read a children book of Canada. I can't understand this part.

"You wouldn't think that a talking cat would be stretching things much. Other children in other adventures got to talk to animals he reasoned, as he hurried up the hall after Bliss. It was only fair that he should, too."

he=boy Bliss=cat

This book is an adventure story. And in this scene, a boy can't talk to Bliss yet.

I think that "other children" means general or common children.
But I don't understand why there is he reasoned. I was said that I should ask native english speaker, so please help me.

Sorry for poor English. Thank you for your help:-D

Satoko

I believe the sentence should read: "You wouldn't think...talk to animals."

The closing quotation marks are missing in your transcription of the text. At this point the boy has just expressed/revealed his thoughts. This is what he reasoned(thought) ...as he hurried up the hall...

I hope this helps you to understand it better.

Thank you for your help!

I'm sorry for confuse. In my book, there aren't quotation mark. I wrote them because I wanted to express this is a quotation from book...sorry

So reasoned means just thought, doesn't it?

yes, you could say so.

Thank you very much for your help!

Satoko

my pleasure

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Satoko

Thank you for your help!

I'm sorry for confuse. In my book, there aren't quotation mark. I wrote them because I wanted to express this is a quotation from book...sorry

So reasoned means just thought, doesn't it?

---

The verb "reason" means a little more than "thought". If you substitute "thought" there, it would indicate a belief. This is a bit stronger. In his mind, other children having talked to animals made the possibility of a talking cat more likely. Therefore, "reasoned" means developed a belief based on evidence and/or after careful consideration..

Of course you are right. "To reason" does mean to think, infer or comprehend in a orderly rational way.