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NL888 Posted 13 years ago
Grammar

Does " among his ancestors" refer to "among the king's ancestors"?

Context:

One of Helen's Swiss ancestors was the first teacher for the deaf in Zurich. Keller reflected on this coincidence in her first autobiography, stating "that there is no king who has not had a slave among his ancestors, and no slave who has not had a king among his."[7]

MOre:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helen_Keller
  

Top answer

Yes. There must have been a slave among every king's ancestors.

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  • Yes.
  • There must have been a slave among every king's ancestors.
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7 Answers
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Yes. There must have been a slave among every king's ancestors.
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Thanks.

Would you like to explain what the saying "that there is no king who has not had a slave among his ancestors, and no slave who has not had a king among his" means?

A slave has his king, and a king must have his slave.

What does it mean? A mutual dependent relationship?
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NL888 Thanks. Would you like to explain what the saying "that there is no king who has not had a slave among his ancestors, and no slave who has not had a king among his" means? A slave has his king, and a king must have his slave. What does it mean? A mutual dependent relationship?
No. "Had" there is not literal. It's like when you have a lawyer in you
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NL888"that there is no king who has not had a slave among his ancestors,
eg
King Galahad's great-great-great uncle on his mother's side of the family was a slave.
Slave Paternia's great-great-great-great grandfather's brother was King of Utopia.

The European royals used to try to prevent their blood from being polluted by commoner's blood, so
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Thank you.

I didn't get it very well. It seems to me that it says that mankind is a family - one that both kings and slaves share.
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NL888Thank you. I didn't get it very well. It seems to me that it says that mankind is a family - one that both kings and slaves share.
"Among his ancestors" means "as one of his ancestors".
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NL888there is no king who has not had a slave among his ancestors
If you list the names of all the ancestors of any king, you will always find the name of a slave somewhere in the list.
NL888no slave who has not had a king among his
If you list the names of all the ancestors of any slave, you will always find the name of a k
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