Sunday 29 December 2019

Touching A Horn

"Tiger By The Tail."

See Schotanian Nods And Shrugs.

After scouring the story, I have found one more example:

"She halted before him. Tapestries on the wall behind her depicted former triumphs. 'Proud Scotha lies fallen, in wreck and misery,' she said.
"'Be happy for that,' Flandry replied tonelessly.
"A slim hand touched a horn. 'What?'" (p. 273)

Flandry explains. We have already been told that touching a horn expresses surprise.

The tapestries depicting triumphs contrast with, and thus underline, the current wreck and misery - kind of the opposite of a pathetic fallacy.

For previous discussions of this story, see Flandry On Scotha.

1 comment:

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

The problem for Scothans was that they jumped from barbarism to decadence in one leap--without first becoming civilized. But Flandry discussed that better than I would have!

Ad astra and Happy New Year! Sean