Stardust --C6

What the Tree Said

Words and Expressions

1.plead or implore me
pled

• plead against sb 反驳某人
• plead for
• plead guilty v. 服罪
• plead with 向…恳求

implore

• implore sb

2.was endeavoring to lift it out of the way.
endeavor

• endeavor to do sth
• make every endeavor to do sth
• a political/military endeavor 政治事业/军事活动

3.......the witch-queen put them away and commenced her preparations
commence

• commence business 开始营业
• commence with a song
• commence doing sth

4.Tristran was about to tell his companion all about the encounter with the unicorn, but he thought better of it......(Tristran is getting smarter after he went through a lot.)
thought better of it 改变了主意

• He looked back at the whisperers as if he wanted to say something to them, but thought better of it.

5.earned the right to know his true name.
earned the right to do sth 有资格做某事
-You haven't earned the right to be treated as an adult.（《纸牌屋》）

• two men have now earned the right to reply. Captain Nemo and I. （《海底两万里》）

6.could have divined the existence of Victoria Forester.
divined the existence of sb/sth

7.recounting his adventures to her
recount 详细叙述

• story/adventures

8.make amends 赎罪；赔偿（损失等）；道歉
make amends for 补偿；赔偿…损失

Sentences

1.But then it occurred to him that any progress he had made on his quest so far he had made by accepting the help that had been offered to him.

• it occurred to sb

2.Things inanimate have always been more difficult to change than things animate.
越老越顽固

3.You are young, and in love. Every young man in your position is the most miserable young man who ever lived.
陷入爱情中的年轻人活得最悲剧。

Summary

Tristran has a deep and impressive conversation with a magnificent tree, which turned into a tree from a wood-nymph by a magician. The tree decides to give aid to Tristran after she heard Tristran's story and tells he three true things have to keep in mind that the star is in great danger, Tristran must not miss the coach which would coming down in a few minutes, and then gifts him a copper-colored leaf which would guide him in the rest adventures.
The coach is running toward Tristran but passing him, then a huge branch of an oak tree falls off and stops the running coach which helps Tristran catches up the coach. Tristran persuades the driver to let him hitchhike. They keep company and talk about their own story with each other. The driver is Primus and he warms Tristran to watch out Septimus. In addition, they also invite each other to their hometown. At the end of this chapter, they find an inn in a mountain after a heavy rain.
But they don't know the inn was once been a chariot. The witch-queen uses magic to builds the inn just for capture the star.
So, the witch, Tristran and Primus would meet each other in the next chapter, what will happen?

感悟

终于，争夺星星女孩的几班人马要相遇了，非常期待他们会发生什么争夺战。
这一章，让我觉得Tristran和Primus相处得挺不错的，患难见真情，但是不知道后面二人会不会因为星星女孩而反目。Tristran在遇见树时回溯自己的故事时，也意识到了这段经历的意义，并且在这一章中较多出现了他对星星女孩的担心：

• Tristran worried about the star. She might be ill-tempered, he thought, but it was with a certain amount of justification, after all. He hoped that she could stay out of trouble until he caught up with her.
• Tristran thought about the star and the unicorn. She would be cold by now, and wet. He worried about her broken leg, and thought about how saddle sore she must be.

而且这些都是非常具体地，再回想到他一路关于Victoria Forester想象，主要是她的唇啊、身体啊之类的，而且主要的点还是落在他自己身上，比如他对Victoria Forester讲述这些冒险，这不是喜欢，更向是一种对她证明自己。这里就形成了一个对比，作者对爱情的心理抓得很准。另外，这一章Tristran没有对Primus提过Victoria Forester，但是他说他要去找一个他曾经冒犯了的姑娘并弥补她，Primus后来说他陷在爱情中，他还以为是Victoria Foreste，真傻！