Hello, /lit/, this is my first time posting here and I come in need of insight.
I'm a native portuguese speaker, and, while I am able to understand english pretty well, I am having trouble understanding a rather elusive passage by Lord Dunsany.
It's in the Distressing tale of Thangobrind the jeweller, in the passage that tells the fate of Thangobrind. It's been bugging me for a long time, and, though I enjoy very much the tale, the end just doesn't ring any bells to me. The passage reads:
And there carried Thangobrind the jeweller away those whose duty it was, to the house where the two men hang, and taking down from his hook the left-hand of the two, they put that venturous jeweller in his place; so that there fell on him the doom that he feared, as all men know though it is so long since, and there abated somewhat the ire of the envious gods.
I can't quite comprehend what happens here. It may be Dunsany's elusive manner of writing, or I may be missing something. That's the help I need, to understand what happens to the poor fella.
Here's a link to the full text: http://www.sff.net/people/doylemacdonald/d_thang.htm
I think he is slain in battle, and he's taken to the house "of night" i e judged in the afterlife, after the old woman sounds his death knell
>>7502001
Thanks for yout insight. Yes, it's what I always thought. But there seems to be more to it than that. I should have probably mentioned that the pic is a representation of the tale made by Sidney Sime, Dunsany's collaborator. In it you can see the "house where the two men hang". Also, the hook is mentioned earlier in the tale, and the left-hand thing left me completely wondering.
I mean, I doubt this is what you're asking, but "those" is the subject. That could be tricky for a non-native speaker.
Those [men] whose duty it was to carry away guys like Thangobrind, indeed carried him away to the house where the two men hang.. They switched Thangobrind for the hanging man on the left of the two. The doom that Thangobrind had feared fell on him.
But I don't understand "as all men know though it is so long since." Or what the two men represent.
>>7502022
Hello, thank you, your comment has clarified it in part. I get the "those" part. But the thing that bugged me was the hanged men, and the "left-hand" thing. If it means, as you explained, that they took the man on the left from the hook and placed Thangobrind there, it makes a lot of sense.
The "as all men know though it is so long since" thing, to me, is about how well known the tale of the jeweller is. It has long since happened, but all men know it.
>>7501971
>I'm a native portuguese speaker
>>7502051
Oh yeah you're right, shit. Feel dumb now.
I wonder what it means, then? I can't find any annotated versions.
I did find some disagreement about an earlier line (thought he / through the) in the published editions though. Weird.
>>7502116
Yes, there is some disagreements. I have the tale in two books, and one of them reads "and taking down from his hook the left-hand one of the two". It makes less sense to me, even more so because it's a pretty good version compared to the other book that has a fair share of mistakes, but reads as I quoted earlier.
Now, if you mean about the meaning of "as all men know though it is so long since", it has to be a characteristic of Dunsany's writing. The book the tale is inserted in, The Book of Wonder, has some connections between tales, and it is characteristic of Dunsany's style to treat his stories like myths known of old, or rather in an epic-like manner.
>>7501971
>I'm a native portuguese speaker
t. Alberto Barbosa
>>7502195
t. Jorge Barbosatao
>>7502197
>Poortugal always comes out slightly worse than every other country in EU stats
>people start editing maps so that Poortugal is always Africa-tier
>Albertos can't handle the banter of being compared to africans and called half-moors
>start quoting every post that defends portugal with t. alberto barbosa
>african kings for AoE released
>the guy on the cover art becomes the face of the Moorish Caliphate of Portugal
>>7502207
fuck i love /int/ so much
>>7502231
It really is the dankest board
>>7501971
Thangobrind steals the diamond and is punished for his sin.
>And there carried Thangobrind the jeweller away those whose duty it was
His soul is being taken away
>to the house where the two men hang
house of judgement, two men hang in balance like on a scale
>taking down from his hook the left-hand of the two
Thangobrind is going to hell
>they put that venturous jeweller in his place
hell, because he is a thief
Allusions to hanging and left-handed are made to reinforce he stole. Thieves got their left hand chopped off, the left path was also considered the path to the devil and sin, left-handed people were seen as evil. Hanging because repeat thieves were hanging, and also because after death your soul hangs in the balance between Heaven and Hell.
It's very confusing if you don't know the stuff about left/right path and the english is really awkward, probably cos he wanted to jam all those metaphors in there and triple play on words.
House of Night and old woman refers to Nyx, the mother of Sleep, Death and Darkness. Thangobrind is falling asleep from exhaustion after his fight with the spider-god, falls into the darkness of night and dies.
>>7502246
Hanging in the balance. I hadn't thought about it that way. The thing about the left-hand wasn't settling for me, but now it seems clarified. I always knew he had perished, but I wanted to get it clear what these things meant in the context, as I felt they were full of a meaning I wasn't quite tapping into.
Thank you, man, it really helps a lot to understand this great writer a little better. And thanks to the other fellas who helped with their insights. If anyone has any more to add, feel free, I'll be around a little longer.
