Stardust --C5

In Which There is Much Fighting for the Crown

Words

1. seemed more human and less ethereal

• ethereal=ether+al
• ether: Greek word, ether is a drug that makes you feel light headed
• -al: (forming adjectives) relating to; of the kind of.
• the ethereal beauty

2.every time she winced or flinched……

• wince（因痛苦而产生）
  give a slight involuntary grimace or shrinking movement of the body out of or in anticipation of pain or distress: he winced at the disgust in her voice.

• flinch（因惊喜而表现在脸部和身体的紧张）
  make a quick, nervous movement of the face or body as an instinctive reaction to surprise, fear or pain: she flinched at the acidity in his voice | he had faced death without flinching.• (flinch from) avoid doing or becoming involved in (something) through fear or anxiety: I rarely flinch from a fight when I'm sure of myself.

3.Some kind of road, or a level clearing……

• clearing:
  n. an open space in a forest, especially one cleared for cultivation.
  level=flat

4.by the puissance of the Lilim

• puissance
  n. the puissance of the labor vote.
• puissant
  adj. having great power or influence.
  have puissant support

5.glared at him and glowered at him and scowled at him

• glare
• glower
• scowl

6.……it was not a horse, did not subscribe to any of the ancient pacts between Man and Horse.

• subscribe to: 以前只知道有“订阅”的意思，现在还有“同意”之意，后可接ideology, theory, pact
• Its entire worldview is based on eliminating those who do not subscribe to its perverse ideology.

7.And then, opening her eyes, once again self-possessed,

• self-possessed:
  Someone who is self-possessed is calm and confident and in control of their emotions.

8.it would have frozen your blood in your veins
将让你体会到终极的恐惧

• The Dursleys were what wizards called Muggles (not a drop of magical blood in their veins), ……

Expressions

with might and main: 主力；尽全力
have not the heart to refuse sb.
much-married
appeared to offer no opposition
a pang of (guilt, shame, regret)
red lips curved up into a smile
with a snort of derision = with a sneer

Sentences

For the heart of a living star is a sovereign remedy against all the snares of age and time.

Distant lightning flickered in her words as she spoke, and the forest was hushed, as if every leaf and every tree were listening intently to what she said.

Summary

Tristran and the star-girl

• Tristran makes a crutch and a splint for the girl in order to walk back to Wall together. They arrive to a clearing where they happen to see a lion and a unicorn fighting for a Crown. And they help to stop the fight so as to rescue the unicorn which a nursery rhyme reflected. The girl insists to wait beside the unicorn, and the unicorn gives a lift to the girl after few days later on the way to Wall. When they find a nearby village, Tristran unchains the star, and goes to the village to exchange his stuff for something to eat by himself. The girl makes a promise to Tristran that she would not escape and wait for him. But the girl is gone with the unicorn which makes Tristran feels numbed and regret.

The witch-queen

• The witch-queen reaches the brightly painted gypsy caravan with her pairs of goats. She vows to a grey-haired woman at the fire that she would not to harm her. The grey-haired woman feeds the witch-queen some limbus grass, which makes the eater tell the truth. And the witch-queen tells the grey-haired woman the secret target of her journey which is to looking for the fallen star and eat her heart to against all the traps of age and time. Craftily and insidiously, she lays a spell on the grey-haired woman that she will be blind and deaf once she meets the star. And then she wipes the grey-haired woman's memory about this encounter.

The brothers

• Primus reaches a town called Scaithe's Ebb and here the women are much-married. He is learning caution and hires a ship named Heart of a Dream to East. A boy, who is hired by Primus, reports to Primus there is a man, dark and crowlike, is suspicious.
  Coincidentally, a sailor breaks his hip before the one night of the ship sailing out. And the tall, dark and crowlike man makes a replacement immediately. The ship sails to East without Primus on it.

感悟

坠落的星星就是一枚“魔戒”，三条线同时围绕着她而展开。
爱情使人盲目，Tristran是一个很善良的小伙，留意路边的一切，在狮子的嘴里救了独角兽，但是他却坚信地为了他以为的所谓的爱“囚禁”了另一个姑娘，但是文中处处都表现了他对星星女孩的恻隐，然后又用Victoria Forester的一颦一笑来麻痹自己来为自己壮胆来合理化自己的行为，Because every lover is in his heart a madman, and in his head a minstrel.