A little long, but I don’t see the possibility of a good cut:
“Other men were stronger, faster, younger, why was Syrio Forel the best? I will tell you now.” He touched the tip of his little finger lightly to his eyelid. “The seeing, the true seeing, that is the heart of it.
“Hear me. The ships of Braavos sail as far as the winds blow, to lands strange and wonderful, and when they return their captains fetch queer animals to the Sealord’s menagerie. Such animals as you have never seen, striped horses, great spotted things with necks as long as stilts, hairy mouse-pigs as big as cows, stinging manticores, tigers that carry their cubs in a pouch, terrible walking lizards with scythes for claws. Syrio Forel has seen these things.
“On the day I am speaking of, the first sword was newly dead, and the Sealord sent for me. Many bravos had come to him, and as many had been sent away, none could say why. When I came into his presence, he was seated, and in his lap was a fat yellow cat. He told me that one of his captains had brought the beast to him, from an island beyond the sunrise. ‘Have you ever seen her like?’ he asked of me.
“And to him I said, ‘Each night in the alleys of Braavos I see a thousand like him,’ and the Sealord laughed, and that day I was named the first sword.”
Arya screwed up her face. “I don’t understand.”
Syrio clicked his teeth together. “The cat was an ordinary cat, no more. The others expected a fabulous beast, so that is what they saw. How large it was, they said. It was no larger than any other cat, only fat from indolence, for the Sealord fed it from his own table. What curious small ears, they said. Its ears had been chewed away in kitten fights. And it was plainly a tomcat, yet the Sealord said ‘her,’ and that is what the others saw. Are you hearing?”
Arya thought about it. “You saw what was there.”
“Just so. Opening your eyes is all that is needing. The heart lies and the head plays tricks with us, but the eyes see true. Look with your eyes. Hear with your ears. Taste with your mouth. Smell with your nose. Feel with your skin. Then comes the thinking, afterward, and in that way knowing the truth.”
This is beautiful, and inspiring. In fact, I predict LW will do better if we have an introductory post consisting of this quote and “That’s our goal. Come on in and let’s work on that.” (would probably cause copyrighty troucle).
It’s not a pure illustration, though. Maybe the others thought “Huh, that’s just a regular cat. But if I say that the king might ordered me killed in the kind of way people die in Martin books. Better kiss some ass.”.
It’s not a pure illustration, though. Maybe the others thought “Huh, that’s just a regular cat. But if I say that the king might ordered me killed in the kind of way people die in Martin books. Better kiss some ass.”.
I agree that the existence of this factor makes whether someone announces that it’s a normal cat a poor indication of whether they actually realized such. However, I think it’s reasonable to hypothesize that Syrio was looking for someone who both recognized that he was holding a normal cat and was willing to tell him such.
What are the tigers with a pouch for their young? There seem to be no large carnivorous marsupials. A candidate is the marsupial lion (which is also striped), but it’s been extinct for a while.
Edit: Ah, the thylacine (“Tasmanian wolf”) was also known as the Tasmanian tiger. Yay for learning!
Yes, but “striped horses” have an obvious Earthly referent, and so it was not unreasonable to suppose that marsupial tigers might too (as indeed they have).
Dragons aren’t all that less physically possible than FTL travel, and no one complains about quoting sources that use that as a plot device.
Of course, I imagine this is really about the romanticism vs. enlightenment divide in literature, but dismissing a relevant and well-written quote on genre grounds nonetheless seems a little biased.
A little long, but I don’t see the possibility of a good cut:
- George R.R. Martin, “A Game of Thrones”
This is beautiful, and inspiring. In fact, I predict LW will do better if we have an introductory post consisting of this quote and “That’s our goal. Come on in and let’s work on that.” (would probably cause copyrighty troucle).
It’s not a pure illustration, though. Maybe the others thought “Huh, that’s just a regular cat. But if I say that the king might ordered me killed in the kind of way people die in Martin books. Better kiss some ass.”.
I agree that the existence of this factor makes whether someone announces that it’s a normal cat a poor indication of whether they actually realized such. However, I think it’s reasonable to hypothesize that Syrio was looking for someone who both recognized that he was holding a normal cat and was willing to tell him such.
What are the tigers with a pouch for their young? There seem to be no large carnivorous marsupials. A candidate is the marsupial lion (which is also striped), but it’s been extinct for a while.
Edit: Ah, the thylacine (“Tasmanian wolf”) was also known as the Tasmanian tiger. Yay for learning!
Thylacines, maybe.
The quote is from a fantasy book. There are dragons in it...
Yes, but “striped horses” have an obvious Earthly referent, and so it was not unreasonable to suppose that marsupial tigers might too (as indeed they have).
Yup. I don’t know if that’s what the terrible walking lizards are, or if they are that other kind of dragon of something in the same family.
Dragons aren’t all that less physically possible than FTL travel, and no one complains about quoting sources that use that as a plot device.
Of course, I imagine this is really about the romanticism vs. enlightenment divide in literature, but dismissing a relevant and well-written quote on genre grounds nonetheless seems a little biased.
Hrm. How would one tell it was not female? Was it sitting on the king’s lap in a rather unlikely fashion?
Tomcats are usually stouter and more muscular, and have a more robust head shape? Also, they have pretty large and conspicuous balls.
It’s a large cat by stipulation.
What, even when sitting nicely on someone’s lap?
A large indolent cat is unlikely to actually sit on somebody’s lap. In my experience they sprawl.
I think the “plainly” meant that his jewels were in plain sight.