circumstances

Question

Anyone who asks me to post a letter is a poor judge of character. Even if I carry the letter in my hand I am always past the first pillar-box before I remember that I ought to have posted it. Weary of holding it in my hand, I then put it for safety into one of my pockets and forget all about it. After that, it has an unadventurous life till a long chain of circumstances leads to a number of embarrasing questions being asked, and I am compelled to produce the evidence of my guilt from my pocket.

What is 'a long chain of circumstances' here?

Marius Hancu · Accepted Answer

long series of events/occurences

Taka · Answer

Marius Hanculong series of events/occurences

I know that literal meaning. My question is, what is the long chain of circumstances that leads to a number of embarrasing questions being asked?

Nona the brit · Answer

You can't know that from the paragraph, it gives no information on what happened. You could speculate that the person who was expecting the letter contacted the sender to find out where it was, but it sounds as though it was more complex than that.

Marius Hancu · Answer

TakaAnyone who asks me to post a letter is a poor judge of character. Even if I carry the letter in my hand I am always past the first pillar-box before I remember that I ought to have posted it. Weary of holding it in my hand, I then put it for safety into one of my pockets and forget all about it. After that, it has an unadventurous life till a long chain of circumstances leads to a number of embarrasing questions being asked, and I am compelled to produce the evidence of my guilt from my pocket.

What is 'a long chain of circumstances' here?

Such as the letter not being delivered in time.
Such as the person writing it getting in touch with the addressee (say by phone) and finding that the letter hasn't been received.
Such as this confused guy (the character) being asked "Did you really put that letter to the box?"

Elduende_ph · Answer

Hi Taka,

The "long chain of circumstances" that "leads to a number of embarrassing questions being asked" is not mentioned or specified in the paragraph you quoted.

Maybe, since I assume that paragraph is part of a longer work, the exact series of occurences and events, are mentioned somewhere else in the story, essay, diary entry, etc., that you quoted from.

But we could use our imagination. Let's think of a series of events that could form a "chain" and lead to embarrassing questions.

A. The supposed recipient of the letter, naturally, does not get the letter.

B. The said recipient calls up the letter's sender, to inform him or her of the unreceived post.

C. The letter sender wonders what happened and calls up the forgetful friend who was asked to mail the letter in the first place.

D. The friend, who is not only forgetful but also has a wild imagination, thinks all along that he/she had actually mailed the letter. He/She insists to the letter sender that yes, she had indeed mailed the letter.

E. The letter sender complains to the post office.

F. The letter sender turns out to be the child of a powerful politician, who also complains to the post office.

G. As a result, the local postmaster is suspended for the supposed failure in delivering the "missing" letter.

H. One day, after say, a couple of weeks, as the letter sender and the forgetful friend are having lunch, the letter falls from the forgetful friend's pocket.

All of the above constitute our make-believe chain of circumstances.

The letter sender sees it and asks the forgetful friend the following questions (which would be embarrassing, given the situation):

1. Wait a minute. Didn't you tell me that you mailed this letter?

2. So what is it doing in your pocket? Why did you lie to me?

3. Do you know that the postmaster, Mr. So-and-so, got suspended because my father complained to the post office?

Did all of that help you in any way, Taka?

Taka · Answer

Nona The BritYou can't know that from the paragraph, it gives no information on what happened.

Elduende_phThe "long chain of circumstances" that "leads to a number of embarrassing questions being asked" is not mentioned or specified in the paragraph you quoted.

Maybe, since I assume that paragraph is part of a longer work, the exact series of occurences and events, are mentioned somewhere else in the story, essay, diary entry, etc., that you quoted from.

Glad to know that you felt the same way I did. I mean, I couldn't find any clue about the circumstances either, so I thought it might have some special meaning(s) that I didn't know.

Elduende_phDid all of that help you in any way, Taka?

Absolutely, as always!
Thank you, people!

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