The Shaving of Shagpat quotes
The lines readers remember from The Shaving of Shagpat, by George Meredith.
9 quotes · About the book
Standout lines
And “wisdom to a hungry stomach is thin pottage,” saith the shrewd reader of men.
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“The preacher preacheth, and the hearer heareth, But comfort first each function requireth.”
And “wisdom to a hungry stomach is thin pottage,” saith the shrewd reader of men.
Little comfort was there with Shibli Bagarag, as he looked on the city of Shagpat the clothier!
He was as a sleepy lion cased in his mane; as an owl drowsy in the daylight.
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If the mole could swear to him, surely can I.” So he regarded the clothier, and there was naught seen on Earth like the gravity of Shagpat as he lolled before those people, that failed not to assemble in groups and gaze at him.
He was as a sleepy lion cased in his mane; as an owl drowsy in the daylight.
Now would he close an eye, or move two fingers, but of other motion made he none, yet the people gazed at him with eagerness. Shibli Bagarag was astonished at them, thinking, “Hair! hair! There is might in hair;
Hair! hair! There is might in hair; but there is greater might in the barber!
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as an owl drowsy in the daylight. Now would he close an eye, or move two fingers, but of other motion made he none, yet the people gazed at him with eagerness. Shibli Bagarag was astonished at them, thinking, “
Hair! hair! There is might in hair; but there is greater might in the barber!
Nevertheless here the barber is scorned, the grower of crops held in amazing reverence.” Then thought he, “ ’Tis truly wondrous the crop he groweth; not even King Shamshureen, after a thousand years, sported such mighty profusion! Him I sheared:
Unhappy are the beautiful! born to misery! Allah dressed them in his grace and favour for their certain wretchedness!
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She started and sought the eye of the Chief, and it was fixed on her face in a softened light, as if his soul had said that thing. Then she sighed, and exclaimed, “
Unhappy are the beautiful! born to misery! Allah dressed them in his grace and favour for their certain wretchedness!
Lo, their countenances are as the sun, their existence as the desert; barren are they in fruits and waters, a snare to themselves and to others!”
Know, that when I was a babe, I lay on my mother’s bosom in the wilderness, and it was the bosom of death.
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Know, that when I was a babe, I lay on my mother’s bosom in the wilderness, and it was the bosom of death.
Surely, I slept and smiled, and dreamed the infant’s dream, and knew not the coldness of the thing I touched. So were we even as two dead creatures lying there;
Surely, I slept and smiled, and dreamed the infant’s dream, and knew not the coldness of the thing I touched.
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Know, that when I was a babe, I lay on my mother’s bosom in the wilderness, and it was the bosom of death.
Surely, I slept and smiled, and dreamed the infant’s dream, and knew not the coldness of the thing I touched.
So were we even as two dead creatures lying there;
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The Thwackings
And “wisdom to a hungry stomach is thin pottage,” saith the shrewd reader of men.
Show the passage
“The preacher preacheth, and the hearer heareth, But comfort first each function requireth.”
And “wisdom to a hungry stomach is thin pottage,” saith the shrewd reader of men.
Little comfort was there with Shibli Bagarag, as he looked on the city of Shagpat the clothier!
He was as a sleepy lion cased in his mane; as an owl drowsy in the daylight.
Show the passage
If the mole could swear to him, surely can I.” So he regarded the clothier, and there was naught seen on Earth like the gravity of Shagpat as he lolled before those people, that failed not to assemble in groups and gaze at him.
He was as a sleepy lion cased in his mane; as an owl drowsy in the daylight.
Now would he close an eye, or move two fingers, but of other motion made he none, yet the people gazed at him with eagerness. Shibli Bagarag was astonished at them, thinking, “Hair! hair! There is might in hair;
Hair! hair! There is might in hair; but there is greater might in the barber!
Show the passage
as an owl drowsy in the daylight. Now would he close an eye, or move two fingers, but of other motion made he none, yet the people gazed at him with eagerness. Shibli Bagarag was astonished at them, thinking, “
Hair! hair! There is might in hair; but there is greater might in the barber!
Nevertheless here the barber is scorned, the grower of crops held in amazing reverence.” Then thought he, “ ’Tis truly wondrous the crop he groweth; not even King Shamshureen, after a thousand years, sported such mighty profusion! Him I sheared:
Thou art that thou art!
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He was nigh laughing in her face, but restrained himself to reply, “
Thou art that thou art!
”
And This Is the Story of Bhanavar the Beautiful
Unhappy are the beautiful! born to misery! Allah dressed them in his grace and favour for their certain wretchedness!
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She started and sought the eye of the Chief, and it was fixed on her face in a softened light, as if his soul had said that thing. Then she sighed, and exclaimed, “
Unhappy are the beautiful! born to misery! Allah dressed them in his grace and favour for their certain wretchedness!
Lo, their countenances are as the sun, their existence as the desert; barren are they in fruits and waters, a snare to themselves and to others!”
The Genie Karaz
Easily, O Karaz, is a woman outwitted!
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Then she said in scorn, “
Easily, O Karaz, is a woman outwitted!
Surely I could not guess what would be thy action! and I was wanting in foresight and insight! and I am a woman bearing the weight of my power as a woodman staggereth under the logs he hath felled!”
And This Is the Story of Noorna Bin Noorka, the Genie Karaz, and the Princess of Oolb
Know, that when I was a babe, I lay on my mother’s bosom in the wilderness, and it was the bosom of death.
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Know, that when I was a babe, I lay on my mother’s bosom in the wilderness, and it was the bosom of death.
Surely, I slept and smiled, and dreamed the infant’s dream, and knew not the coldness of the thing I touched. So were we even as two dead creatures lying there;
Surely, I slept and smiled, and dreamed the infant’s dream, and knew not the coldness of the thing I touched.
Show the passage
Know, that when I was a babe, I lay on my mother’s bosom in the wilderness, and it was the bosom of death.
Surely, I slept and smiled, and dreamed the infant’s dream, and knew not the coldness of the thing I touched.
So were we even as two dead creatures lying there;
The Veiled Figure
Verily there was lightning in Aklis as Shibli Bagarag flashed the Sword over the clamouring beasts
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Verily there was lightning in Aklis as Shibli Bagarag flashed the Sword over the clamouring beasts
: the shape of the great palace stood forth vividly, and a wide illumination struck up the streams, and gilded the large hanging leaves, and drew the hills glimmeringly together, and scattered fires on the flat faces of the rocks.
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