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Tomwelcome Posted 14 years ago
Grammar
Help! Several phrases I don't understand in Don Quixote.
Hello, everyone. I'm an English learner from Taiwan. I am currently reading the Don Quixote and I can't grasp the meaning of several phrases.
In Chapter 3, there's a phrase, "As the night closed in with a light from the moon so brilliant that it might vie with his that lent it, everything the novice knight did was plainly seen by all."
What does it mean, "it might vie with his that lent it"? What and whom do the two "it" and "his" and "that" imply?
Later on in the same chapter, when Don Quixote hit the second carrier he "laid it open in four". Does it mean that he actually murdered the innocent carrier?
In Chapter 3, there's a phrase, "As the night closed in with a light from the moon so brilliant that it might vie with his that lent it, everything the novice knight did was plainly seen by all."
What does it mean, "it might vie with his that lent it"? What and whom do the two "it" and "his" and "that" imply?
Later on in the same chapter, when Don Quixote hit the second carrier he "laid it open in four". Does it mean that he actually murdered the innocent carrier?
Top answer
The light of the moon might vie with the light of the sun who lent the light. "Laid it open in four" is mighty strange; it makes no sense in modern English. "
- The light of the moon might vie with the light of the sun who lent the light.
- "Laid it open in four" is mighty strange; it makes no sense in modern English.
- "
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1 Answers
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The light of the moon might vie with the light of the sun who lent the light.
"Laid it open in four" is mighty strange; it makes no sense in modern English. My translation (Starkie) makes that "opened the second muleteer's head in four places."
"Laid it open in four" is mighty strange; it makes no sense in modern English. My translation (Starkie) makes that "opened the second muleteer's head in four places."
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