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Wholegrain Posted 18 years ago
Grammar
I don't understand this extract
FULL EXTRACT:
http://www.online-literature.com/melville/confidence-man/4/
The Confidence Man - Herman Melville
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Upon this, the stranger regarded him with mild gravity, not a little disconcerting; the more so, as there was in it what seemed the aspect not alone of the superior, but, as it were, the rebuker; which sort of bearing, in a beneficiary towards his benefactor, looked strangely enough; none the less(=nonetheless?), that(=?), somehow, it(=?) sat not altogether unbecomingly upon the beneficiary, being free from anything like the appearance of assumption, and mixed with a kind of painful conscientiousness, as though nothing but a proper sense of what he owed to himself swayed him. At length he spoke:
http://www.online-literature.com/melville/confidence-man/4/
The Confidence Man - Herman Melville
------------------------
Upon this, the stranger regarded him with mild gravity, not a little disconcerting; the more so, as there was in it what seemed the aspect not alone of the superior, but, as it were, the rebuker; which sort of bearing, in a beneficiary towards his benefactor, looked strangely enough; none the less(=nonetheless?), that(=?), somehow, it(=?) sat not altogether unbecomingly upon the beneficiary, being free from anything like the appearance of assumption, and mixed with a kind of painful conscientiousness, as though nothing but a proper sense of what he owed to himself swayed him. At length he spoke:
Top answer
I think it means: The fact that, somehow, the bearing did not weigh entirely improperly upon him—being free from anything like the appearance of assumption and mixed with a kind of painful conscientiousness, as if nothing but a proper sense of what he owed to himself, swayed him. Am I right?
- I think it means: The fact that, somehow, the bearing did not weigh entirely improperly upon him—being free from anything like the appearance of assumption and mixed with a kind of painful conscientiousness, as if nothing but a proper sense of what he owed to himself, swayed him.
- Am I right?
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1 Answers
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I think it means: The fact that, somehow, the bearing did not weigh entirely improperly upon him—being free from anything like the appearance of assumption and mixed with a kind of painful conscientiousness, as if nothing but a proper sense of what he owed to himself, swayed him.
Am I right?
Am I right?
0
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