Para. 6

Yellowstone, it seemed to me, was the top of the world, a region of deep lakes and dark timber, canyons and waterfalls. But, beautiful as it is, one might have the sense of confinement there. The skyline in all directions is close at hand, the high wall of the woods and deep cleavages of shade. There is a perfect freedom in the mountains, but it belongs to the eagle and the elk, the badger and the bear. The Kiowas reckoned their stature by the distance they could see, and they were bent and blind in the wilderness.

50. What is the main idea of Paragraph 6?

The Kiowas felt a sense of confinement in Yellowstone, Montana.

51. Yellowstone: See Note 15.

52. The top of the world: the best of the world 世界上最好的地方

the top: (informal) the best

53. But, beautiful as it is, one might have the sense of confinement there.

(1) Translate the sentence into Chinese：虽然黄石地区很美，但人们可能有受束缚、被禁锢的感觉。

(2) beautiful as it is: although it is beautiful

(3) confinement: state of being kept within limits; restriction, imprisonment

54. The sky in all directions is close at hand... deep cleavages of shade.

(1) Translate the sentence into Chinese：放眼望去，四周天际线近在咫尺，伸手可及。这天际线是一道树的高墙和一条条幽深的裂缝。

(2) skyline: the line along which the sky seems to touch the earth; visible horizo

(3) close at hand: very close

(4) cleavage: division, split

(5) the high wall of the woods and deep cleavages of shade: This part is in apposition with the word “skyline”, a further explanation of the word.

55. There is prefect freedom… The badger and the bear.

(1) Explain the implied meaning of the sentence: I admit there is perfect freedom in the mountains, but only animals can enjoy this freedom thoroughly. The Kiowas did not feel free at all. Here this sentence echoes the idea of “the sense of confinement” expressed earlier.

(2) The eagle and the elk, the badger and the bear: Alliteration again. Of all animals inhabiting in that large area, the author chooses a pair beginning with “e” and a pair with “b” to achieve a poetic effect. Also the author uses the singular form of the noun with the definite article “the” to denote a group.

56. The Kiowas reckoned their stature by the distance... in the wilderness.

(1) As hunters, it was very important for the Kiowas to be able to see far. So if a Kiowas could see very far, he would be respected by the fellow Kiowas. In other words, their stature was measured by the distance they could see. Yet, because of the dense forests, they could not see very far, and they could hardly stand straight. Thus the author says they were bent and blind in the wilderness.

(2) Note the repetition of the initial sound “b” in bent and blind. Beside, the author employs the rhetorical devise of hyperbole to make the description more vivid and effective. Hyperbole is exaggeration for effect and not meant to be taken literally. Although they felt a sense of confinement, they were certainly not bent and blind.

(3) to reckon: to judge, consider, estimate

(4) stature: the degree to which someone is admired or regarded as important. Example: Louis Armstrong was a musician of world stature.

Para. 7

Descending eastward, the highland meadows are a stairway to the plain. In July the inland slope of the Rockies is luxuriant with flax and buckwheat, stonecrop and larkspur. The earth unfolds and the limit of the land recedes. Clusters of trees, and animals grazing far in the distance, cause the vision to reach away and wonder to build upon the mind. The sun follows a longer course in the day, and the sky is immense beyond all comparison. The great billowing clouds that sail upon it are shadows that move upon the grain like water, dividing light. Farther down, in the land of the Crows and Blackfeet, the plain is yellow. Sweet clover takes hold of the hills and bends upon itself to cover and seal the soil. There the Kiowas paused on their way; they had come to the place where they must change their lives. The sun is at home on the plains. Precisely there does it have the certain character of a god. When the Kiowas came to the land of the Crows, they could see the darklees of the hills at dawn across the Bighorn River, the profusion of light on the grain shelves, the oldest deity ranging after the solstices. Not yet would they veer southward to the caldron of the land that lay below; they must wean their blood from the northern winter and hold the mountains a while longer in their view. They bore Tai-me in procession to the east.

57. What is the main idea of Paragraph 7?

This paragraph is a depiction of the landscape which they came upon when they got out of the highlands in Montana. The new landscape is open, limitless and sunlit, allowing them a new vision into unknown distances. This forms a sharp contrast with the sunless mountainous landscape of Yellowstone. The sense of confinement and limitation in the mountains gave way to a sense of freedom in the plains. The description is very pictorial: the author is good at painting pictures with words. In an interview with Wm. T. Morgan, Jr. In 1975, Momaday said, “I have always been concerned to see what I’m writing, and I have a real image of the subject I am treating. I deal a lot in descriptive writing. I write descriptions of things. I try to render them to the mind's eye accurately. To that extent I would say that my writing tends to be pictorial, I really want to see things in my writing, literally, and I want the reader to see what I'm talking about, to have a visual impression.”

58. Descending eastward, the highland meadows are a stairway to the plain.

(1) The subject of the verb “descending” is the highland meadows. The highland meadows, which are on the slope of the Rocky Mountains, descend from west to east.

(2) The Rocky Mountains (or the Rockies) are a mountain system in West North America, extending from central North Mexico to North Alaska, over 4,828 km. Long.

(3) The word “stairway” is used metaphorically. The sloping meadows are like a Stairway going down from a higher level to a lower level.

59. In July the inland slope of the Rockies is luxuriant with flax and buckwheat，stone crop and larkspur.

(1) the inland slope: the side of the Rocky Mountains facing the Great Plains，not the side facing the Pacific Ocean lying to the west of the Rocky Mountains

(2) luxuriant (with): growing strongly and thickly

(3) Translate the sentence into Chinese：七月，落基山脉面向平原的内坡上长满了亚麻、荞麦、景天和翠雀等各种植物。

60. Clusters of trees... to build upon the mind.

(1) Explain the meaning of the sentence in your own words: The earth unfolds and the limit of the land is far in the distance, where there are clusters of trees and animals eating grass. This landscape makes one see far and broadens one's horizon. Remember that they could not see far into the distance in the forest-covered mountains.

(2) cause the vision to reach away: make one see far into the distance，broaden one's horizon

(3) cause... wonder to build upon the mind: cause wonder to grow, make their imagination grow

61. The sun follows a longer course in the day... beyond all comparison.

(1) Why does the sun follow a longer course in the day?

Because of the low horizon, the sun rises early and sets down late, thus making the day longer and night shorter than in the mountains.

(2) the sky is immense beyond all comparison：天空宽阔无比

beyond all comparison：无可比拟，无以伦比

This forms a contrast with the sentence in Paragraph 6: “The skyline in all directions is close at hand.”

62. The great billowing clouds that sail… upon the grain like water…

(1) Note the figure of speech connected with water-billowing, sail, like water. When you use an extended metaphor, stick to the same metaphor and avoid using mixed metaphors.

(2) to billow: to surge, swell in large waves of water

(3) Express the idea in your own way: Clouds swell like large waves and move like sails upon the sky, casting shadows on the grain fields. As the clouds move, the shadows move, too, making some patches of land brighter and some darker.

63. Sweet clover takes hold of the hills… seal the soil.

(1) Translate the sentence into Chinese：草木犀长满了山丘，它低垂的枝叶盖到地上，密密地封住土壤。

(2) take hold of: to get control or possession of

(3) seal the soil: cover the soil tightly to prevent it from being washed away

64. at home: comfortable, at ease

65. Precisely there does it have the certain character of a god.

(1) Note the inversion of the sentence order for emphasis. The word “there” is being stressed.

(2) the certain character of a god: Here the word “certain” means unquestionable, not to be doubted.

(3) After their migration to the plains, the Kiowas began to worship the sun as their god. The Sun Dance was their religious ceremony, and Tai-me was the Sun Dance fetish, their object of religious worship.

66. When the Kiowas came to the land... after the solstices.

(1) Translate the sentence into Chinese: Kiowa人来到Crow人的土地上，他们在黎明时，隔着Bighorn河可以看到山的背阴处，明媚的阳光照在层层的庄稼地上。

(2) The Bighorn River, which is 741 km. Long, is formed in west central Wyoming and flows north to join the Yellowstone River in south Montana.

(3) profusion: a pouring forthwith with great liberality; abundance; a great amount or quantity

(4) grain shelves: terraced fields of grain

(5) The oldest deity refers to the sun.

(6) After the solstices, the sun plays the dominant role.

37. Not yet would they veer southward to the caldron… a while longer in their view.

(1) Note the inversion of the sentence order.

(2) Explain the meaning of the sentence in your own words: They would not yet change the direction southward to the land lying below which was like a large kettle. First, they must give their bodies some time to get used to the plains. Secondly, they didn’t want to lose sight of the mountains so soon.

(3) to veer: to change the direction, change the course

(4) the caldron of the land; the land that is like a caldron. The use of implied comparison and the noun “caldron” instead of the attributive clause makes the description more vivid.

Other examples:

They lived in a palace of a house.

It is a dark cave of a room.

Before him stood a little shrimp of a fellow.

(5) the land that lay below: Now they are stopping by the Bighorn River in Wyoming, midway between the highlands of Montana and the Great Plains.

(6) wean: The word “wean” originally means to withhold mother’s milk from the baby or the young mammal and substitute it with other nourishment. It is used here metaphorically. The Kiowas paused on their way; not in a hurry to go on toward the southeast because they wanted to give their bodies some time, to get accustomed to the change of weather and other physical conditions.

68. They bore Tai-me in procession to the east: They carried Tai-me in their migration to the east, With the acquisition of Tai-me, the sacred Sun Dance fetish, the Kiowas entered into an alliance with the sun，their highest deity.

Para. 8

A dark mist lay over the Black Hills, and the land was like iron. At the top of a ridge I caught sight of Devil's Tower upthrust against the gray sky as if in the birth of time the core of the earth had broken through its crust and the motion of the world was begun. There are things in nature that engender an awful quiet in the heart of man; Devil's Tower is one of them. Two centuries ago, because they could not do otherwise, the Kiowas made a legend at the base of the rock. My grandmother said: “Eight children were there at play, seven sisters and their brother. Suddenly the boy was struck dumb; he trembled and began to run upon his hands and feet. His fingers became claws, and his body was covered with fur. Directly there was a bear where the boy had been. The sisters were terrified; they ran, and the bear after them. They came to the stump of a great tree, and the tree spoke to them. It bade them climb upon it, and as they did so it began to rise into the air. The bear came to kill them, but they were just beyond its reach. It reared against the tree and scored the bark all around with its claws. The seven sisters were borne into the sky, and they became the stars of the Big Dipper.” From that moment, and so long as the legend lives, the Kiowas have kinsmen in the night sky. Whatever they were in the mountains, they could be no more. However tenuous their well-being, however much they had suffered and would suffer again, they had found a way out of the wilderness.

69. What is the main idea of Paragraph 8?

In this paragraph the author describes Devil’s Tower and tells the Kiowas’ legend about it.

70. The land was like iron: The land was barren and hard. This sentence echoes the expression “the prairie is an anvil’s edge” in Paragraph 1.

71. At the top of a ridge I caught sight of Devil’s Tower... the world was begun.

(1) Translate the sentence into Chinese: 在一座山脊顶上，我看到魔鬼塔高高插人灰蒙蒙的天空，似乎在时间诞生之时，地核开裂，地壳破裂，宇宙的运动从此开始。

(2) Devil’s Tower: See Note 16. The rolling hills of the 1,347 acre park are covered with pine forests, woodlands, and prairie grasslands. Deer, prairie dogs, and other wildlife are abundant. It was proclaimed in 1906 as the first national monument by president Theodore Roosevelt. Millions of people will recognize the shape of Devil’s Tower from the movie “Close Encounters of the Third Kind”, which featured the Tower as the landing spot of the awesome Mother Ship. Devil’s Tower is one of the legendary places in American Indian cultures. There are different versions of the origin of the Tower. Some tribes call it Bears Lodge. It is an important place in the Kiowas history. When Momaday was a baby his parents made a trip to the Black Hills with him. There, Momaday was given a Kiowa name - Tsoaitalee, “Rock Tree Boy” in English, which was derived from the Kiowa story about Devil’s Tower.

(3) upthrust: a geological term meaning an upheaval of a part of the earth’s crust

(4) core: the central portion of the earth

(5) crust: the solid, rocky outer portion or shell of the earth

(6) The motion of the world was begun: Everything in the world was made moving. The use of the passive voice suggests that there was a force that began the motion of the world.

72. There are things in nature that engender an awful quiet in the heart of man…

(1) to engender: to bring into being, bring about, produce

(2) awful: inspiring awe, full of awe. The sentence means that people are awe-stricken when they see spectacular things in nature.

73. Two centuries ago, because they could not do otherwise... of the rock.

Two centuries ago, because the Kiowas could not explain how Devil’s Tower was formed in scientific terms, the only thing they could do was to make up a story by imagination at the base of the rock.

74. Suddenly the boy was struck dumb: Suddenly the boy became dumb, unable to speak.

75. Run upon his hands and feet：用手脚爬行

76. Directly there was a bear where the boy had been.

(1) The meaning of the sentence is that the boy had turned into a bear.

(2) Why did he become a bear, not some other animal?

In the Kiowas culture，the bear is regarded as the most powerful of all animals. In an interview with Bettye Givens in 1982, Momaday says, “Bears are wonderful creatures. They are human-like，adventurous, powerful, curious, extremely confident in their elements. If you took a lion and you pitted him against the bear, I would bet on the bear. Bears are powerful.” He also says, “I identify with the bear because I’m intimately connected with that story. And so I have this bear power. I turn into a bear every so often. I feel myself becoming a bear… The boy who turns into a bear, what does that mean? What is the metaphor? What is the symbolism there? I suspect it is that part of man which is subhuman. Primitive. Most people cannot recover nature. At one time, we lived in nature. But somewhere along the way, we were severed from nature. And we cannot any longer comprehend the creatures of nature, We don't know about them as we once did. But this boy is an exception. He turns into a bear; that means that he reconstructs that link with nature.”

77. It bade them climb upon it: The tree ordered them to climb upon it.

78. It reared against the tree and scored the bark all around with its claws: The bear rose upright on its back legs and scratched the bark of the tree around with its sharp claws. In this legend, Devil’s Tower was that tree, and the marks on the rock formation were scratches left by the bear.

79. Borne: the past participle of the verb “bear”. To bear means to carry someone or something, especially something important. Example: The emperor was borne along in a sedan chair.

80. They became the stars of the Big Dipper:

(1) the Big Dipper:（大熊座内的）北斗七星

(2) The seven sisters became the stars of the Big Dipper.

81. From that moment, and so long as the legend lives… in the night sky.

What is the symbolic meaning of this legend? In the legend the seven sisters are immortalized. With this legend, the Kiowas established a kinship with the stars. They had already been allied with the sun through Tai-me. Now that they were related to the Big Dipper through the myth of Devil’s Tower, they stood in good relation to the universe. The sun and the stars protected them day and night. This prepared them for the coming of their golden age.

82. Whatever they were in the mountains, they could be no more.

Explain the meaning of the sentence: They were a mountain people in Montana, and now they had completely been transformed into a plains people.

Para. 9

My grandmother had a reverence for the sun, a holy regard that now is all but gone out of mankind. There was a wariness in her, and an ancient awe. She was a Christian in her later years, but she had come a long way about, and she never forgot her birthright. As a child she had been to the Sun Dances; she had taken part in those annual rites, and by them she had learned the restoration of her people in the presence of Tai-me. She was about seven when the last Kiowa Sun Dance was held in 1887 on the Washita River above Rainy Mountain Creek. The buffalo were gone. In order to consummate the ancient sacrifice--to impale the head of a buffalo bull upon the medicine tree--a delegation of old men journeyed into Texas, there to beg and barter for an animal from the Goodnight herd. She was ten when the Kiowas came together for the last time as a living Sun Dance culture. They could find no buffalo; they had to hang an old hide from the sacred tree. Before the dance could begin, a company of soldiers rode out from Fort Sill under orders to disperse the tribe. Forbidden without cause the essential act of their faith, having seen the wild herds slaughtered and left to rot upon the ground, the Kiowas backed away forever from the medicine tree. That was July 20, 1890, at the great bend of the Washita. My grandmother was there. Without bitterness, and for as long as she lived, she bore a vision of deicide.

83. What is he main idea of Paragraph 9?

In this paragraph the author tells about the last days of the Sun Dance culture by using his grandmother as a witness.

84. My grandmother had a reverence for the sun… out of mankind.

(1) reverence: a feeling or attitude of deep respect, love, and awe for something sacred; holy regard

(2) all but gone out of mankind: In American spoken English, the word “but” is used to emphasize what you are saying. Example: Go there but fast.

85. she had come a long way about: She had changed a lot before becoming a Christian. “Have come a long way” means to have developed or changed a lot. Example: Psychiatry has come a long way since the 1920s.

86. …She never forgot her birthright.

(1) Explain the meaning of the sentence: Although she became a Christian in her later years, she never forgot her cultural heritage as a Kiowa.

(2) birthright: a right or rights that a person has because of being born in a certain family, nation, etc.

87. As a child she had been… in the presence of Tai-me.

(1) See Note 12 about the Sun Dance.

(2) The restoration of her people in the presence of Tai-me: Tai-me was the most powerful medicine the Kiowas possessed. During a Sun Dance ceremony, it was hung from a tree and worshiped as the bringer of good luck. This was the only time when it was exhibited for viewing. In the presence of Tai-me, the Kiowas were revived, healed and energized. After the ceremony, an important member of the Kiowa tribe was responsible for keeping Tai-me, Only this keeper had the right to open it.

88. The buffalo were gone: About the buffalo, see Note 17. The buffalo not only supplied the Kiowas with food and clothing, but also was the animal representation of the sun.

89. In order to consummate the ancient sacrifice… the Goodnight herd.

(1) to consummate: to make complete, perfect

(2) sacrifice: the act of offering something to a god, especially in former times by killing a animal or a person in a religious ceremony

(3) to impale: to push a sharp pointed object through something or someone. One of the Sun Dance rites was to pierce the head of a buffalo bull and hang it upon the medicine tree.

(4) to beg and barter: Alliteration To barter means to trade by exchanging goods or serves without using money.

(5) Goodnight: Charles Goodnight (1836-1927) was a Texas cattleman, born in Macoupin County, Illinois. He went to Texas in 1846, where he joined the Texas Rangers and became a noted scout and Indian fighter. He was later a pioneer in cattle ranching in New Mexico and Colorado and in 1866 laid out the Goodnight cattle trail from Texas to Wyoming, later extended (1875) to Colorado. In 1877, in partnership with John Adair, he established in the Texas Panhandle the J A Ranch of nearly 1 million acres (404,700 hectares), on which he maintained about 100,000 head of cattle. By crossing bison and Polled Angus cattle he produced the first herd of cattle. He also bred bison and is thereby credited with preserving the remnant of the South Plains herd.

(6) herd: a number of cattle, sheep, or other animals feeding, living, or being driven together

90. As a living Sun Dance culture: After the Sun Dance culture was forbidden and destroyed, it ceased to exist.

91. Hide: an animal’s skin, especially when it has been removed to be used for leather

92. Before the dance could begin… to disperse the tribe.

(1) The orders came from the U. S. Government, Judged by the values of Christianity and European civilization, the Naive American cultures appeared to be inferior and backward. The U.S. government perceived the Sun Dance as idolatry and therefore abolished it by force. For the Kiowa people, the Sun Dance was their holiest religious ceremony. Forbidden to practice their own religion, they were cut off from the life-sustaining power of the sun.

(2) to disperse: to break up and scatter in all directions, Example: The police used tear gas to disperse the crowd.

93. Forbidde without cause the essential act… from the medicine tree.

(1) Forbidden without cause the essential act of their faith: Without cause they were forbidden to perform the most important part of their religion. No reason was given for abolishing the Sun Dance religion. But actually there was a reason. See Note 92 (1). without cause：毫无理由

(2) having seen the wild herds slaughtered and left to rot upon the ground: The white new comers and merchants killed buffalo in large numbers for commercial purposes, mainly for the hides. So after killing the animals, they would leave the dead bodies rotting on the ground. To slaughter means to kill large numbers of (people) in a cruel or violent way.

(3) The above two phrases explain why the Kiowas backed away forever from the medicine tree.

(4) The medicine tree was the tree from which the Sun Dance medicine bundle was hung.

94. …At the great bend of the Washita.

(1) bend: a bent or curving part of a river

(2) the Washita: The Washita River,720 km. long, rises in the Texas Panhandle near the Oklahoma line and flows southeast to the Red River.

95. Without bitterness, and for as long as she lived, she bore a vision of deicide.

(1) Why without bitterness? Maybe the Kiowas had suffered too much to feel bitter, or maybe they accepted this as their fate.

(2) deicide: the killing of a god. “-cide” is a suffix forming nouns. It means (i) a killer (e. g. pesticide); (ii) a killing (e. G. Suicide, genocide)

96. In summing up we can see that in Paragraphs 4 to 9, the author, by involving himself with the landscape, explores the three stages of the Kiowas’ culture- emergence, evolution and decline. His grandmother serves as a focus or a link by which the author moves his narrative from one stage to another.

Para. 10

Now that I can have her only in memory, I see my grandmother in the several postures that were peculiar to her: standing at the wood stove on a winter morning and turning meat in a great iron skillet; sitting at the south window, bent above her beadwork, and afterwards, when her vision failed, looking down for a long time into the fold of her hands; going out upon a cane, very slowly as she did when the weight of age came upon her; praying. I remember her most often at prayer. She made long, rambling prayers out of suffering and hope, having seen many things. I was never sure that I had the right to hear, so exclusive were they of all mere custom and company. The last time I saw her she prayed standing by the side of her bed at night, naked to the waist, the light of a kerosene lamp moving upon her dark skin. Her long, black hair, always drawn and braided in the day, lay upon her shoulders and against her breasts like a shawl. I do not speak Kiowa, and I never understood her prayers, but there was something inherently sad in the sound, some merest hesitation upon the syllables of sorrow. She began in a high and descending pitch, exhausting her breath to silence; then again and again--and always the same intensity of effort, of something that is, and is not, like urgency in the human voice. Transported so in the dancing light among the shadows of her room, she seemed beyond the reach of time. But that was illusion; I think I knew then that I should not see her again.

97. What is the main idea of Paragraph 10?

For the first time, the author concentrates only on his grandmother's story rather than mixing it with the history of the whole Kiowa tribe. Also for the first time the author shifts the focus of depicting the landscape to describing a person - his grandmother Aho as an old woman.

98. Now that I can have her only in memory…came upon her…

(1) This is a long sentence with several participle phrases portraying the different postures peculiar to his grandmother. Each posture is described in precise details - standing at the wood stove on a winter morning, turning meat in a great iron skillet, sitting at the south window, bent above her beadwork, looking down for a long time into the fold of her hands, going out upon a cane very slowly, and praying. The method the author uses here is similar to montage, a technique often employed in films as well as in literature and music. Montage is the art or process of selecting, editing, and piercing together separate sections of cinema or television film to form a continuous whole; the technique of producing a new composite whole from fragments of pictures, words, music, etc.

(2) now that: because of something, as a result of something

(3) posture: the position or carriage of the body in standing or sitting; bearing. The word refers to the habitual or assumed disposition of the parts of the body in standing, sitting, etc.

(4) skillet: a flat heavy cooking pan with a long handle

(5) beadwork: decorative work in beads. American Indians like to wear beads as decoration.

(6) when her vision had failed: when she could not see well

vision: the ability to see

To fail means to become weaker, cease functioning; break down.

Examples:

Her health is failing.

The engine has failed.

He broke down with a heart failure.

99. She made long rambling prayers out of... many things:

Since she had seen many things, experienced a lot in her long life, she talked about suffering and hope in her long and disconnected prayers.

100. … so exclusive were they of all mere custom and company.

(1) Note the inversion for stressing the word“exclusive”。

(2) exclusive (of): not including or allowing for (e. g. the cost exclusive of taxes)

(3) custom and company: Alliteration again. “Custom” means a usual practice, a habitual way of behaving; habit. “Company” means companionship, a group of people gathered for a social purpose, etc.

(4) The meaning of this sentence is that his grandmother’s prayers did not follow any customary way of praying, and she did not want anyone else to hear them.

101. The last time I saw her she prayed standing by the side of her bed... like a shawl.

(1) Unlike the first sentence of this paragraph, which juxtaposes several postures together, these two sentences focus on only one posture of his grandmother - praying by the side of her bed at night. Here the author uses the technique of closeup instead of montage. With words he creates a memorable portrait of hi s grandmother. Apparently，as an artist，he knows how to use light in painting the portrait. This is a fine example demonstrating the author' s ability to create a visual impression.

(2) naked to the waist: She didn’t wear anything on the upper part of her body above the waist. Note the preposition “to”.

(3) drawn: pulled up

(4) shawl: a piece of fabric, usually rectangular and often folded into a triangle, worn over the shoulders or head or wrapped round a baby.

102. …but there was something inherently sad in the sound… the syllables of sorrow.

(1) sad in the sound: alliteration

(2) inherently: existing in someone or something as a natural and inseparable quality

(3) some merest hesitations: very small hesitations

(4) syllables of sorrow: alliteration

103. She began in a high, descending pitch… in the human voice.

(1) pitch: the degree of highness or lowness of a tone

(2) exhausting her breath to silence: using up all her breath and then becoming silent

(3) always the same intensity of effort: always with great effort

(4) something that is, and is not, like urgency in the human voice: Note the ambiguity here.

104. Transported so in the dancing light among the shadows… the reach of time.

(1) Explain the meaning of the sentence: In this way she was entranced in the dancing light among the shadows of her room, and she seemed to be timeless; it seemed that she would live forever.

(2) transport: carry away with emotion; entrance

(3) beyond the reach of time: timeless. The implied meaning is that she would live forever.

105. But that was illusion; I knew then that I should not see her again: That she was timeless was a false idea, not in accord with facts of life. The fact was that I realized that this was going to be my last time to see her. The implied meaning is that she would die soon.