|
0f385ea
|
"When she brought Mira up, Eve gave Roarke another glance. "Don't talk to him," she warned. "He can get bitchy when he's in this deep. I don't know if we have any of that tea stuff." "I had it stocked, and I don't get bitchy. Bloody, buggering HELL." Eve just rolled her eyes and got the tea."
|
|
humor
roarke
|
J.D. Robb |
|
bceeade
|
"[Caine] "Interesting. Me, I've always wanted to know who my real parents were." [Sam] "Let me guess: you're secretly a wizard who was raised by muggles."
|
|
harry-potter-related
humor
identity
muggles
|
Michael Grant |
|
73a7a5d
|
"So I am death" Charlie said then turned to his daughter while buttering his toast. "This is death toast sweety."
|
|
humor
|
Christopher Moore |
|
59033c8
|
Here's to another year and let's hope it's above ground.
|
|
humor
living
|
Carol Shields |
|
7398a96
|
Man, it was a good thing vampires didn't get cancer. Lately he'd been chain-smoking like a felon.
|
|
cancer
humor
life
smoking
|
J.R. Ward |
|
3063015
|
Dogs are here to remind us life really is a simple thing. You eat, sleep, take walks, and pee when you must. That's about all there is. They are quick to forgive trespasses and assume strangers will be kind.
|
|
humor
life
|
Jonathan Carroll |
|
68d4069
|
"[Eric:] "I'm hoping that the more you see me, the more I'll grow on you." [Sookie:] "Like a fungus?" --
|
|
humor
sookie-eric
sookie-stackhouse
|
Charlaine Harris |
|
96e0e0b
|
"I nodded, disappointed, but then I got an idea. "Hey, Grover. You want a magic item?" His eyes lit up. "Me?" Pretty soon we'd laced the sneakers over his fake feet, and the world's first flying goat boy was ready for launch. " " he shouted. He got off the ground okay, but then fell over sideways so his backpack dragged through the grass. The winged shoes kept bucking up and down like tiny broncos. "Practice," Chiron called after him. "You just need practice!" "Aaaaa!" Grover went flying sideways down the hill like a possessed lawn mower, heading toward the van."
|
|
humor
launch
|
Rick Riordan |
|
76961f5
|
"Eve, did you marry me for my money?" "You bet your ass. And you'd better hold on to it, or I'm history" "It's very sweet of you to say so."
|
|
humor
roarke
|
J.D. Robb |
|
73d02a7
|
"I understand that you are an accomplished swords-man," she finally said. He eyed her curiously. Where was she going with this? "I like to fence, yes," he replied. "I have always wanted to learn." "Good God," Gregory grunted. "I would be quite good at it," she protested. "I'm sure you would," her brother replied, "which is why you should never be allowed within thirty feet of a sword." He turned to Gareth. "She's quite diabolical." "Yes, I'd noticed," Gareth murmured, deciding that maybe there might be a bit more to Hyacinth's brother than he had thought. Gregory shrugged, reaching for a piece of shortbread. "It's probably why we can't seem to get her married off." "Gregory!" This came from Hyacinth, but that was only because Lady Bridgerton had excused herself and followed one of the footmen into the hall. "It's a compliment!" Gregory protested. "Haven't you waited your entire life for me to agree that you're smarter than any of the poor fools who have attempted to court you?" "You might find it difficult to believe," Hyacinth shot back, "but I haven't been going to bed each night thinking to myself--Oh, I do wish my brother would offer me something that passes for a compliment in his twisted mind."
|
|
compliments
humor
siblings
swordplay
|
Julia Quinn |
|
0d91ffd
|
"Small men oft feel a need to prove their courage with unseemly boasts," he declared. "I doubt if he could kill a duck." Tyrion shrugged. "Fetch the duck."
|
|
courage
dance
dragons
duck
funny
humor
kill
martin
prove
small
soiaf
tyrion
|
George R.R. Martin |
|
ea362cb
|
"Rest. Heal. Sleep. I shall most likely kill you on the morrow." "You? A Princess Bride quote?" I croaked. "What is that?" she asked."
|
|
harry-dresden
humor
princess-bride
|
Jim Butcher |
|
fcb3b3a
|
"Miss Bridgerton," he said, "the devil himself couldn't scare you." She forced her eyes to meet his. "That's not a compliment, is it?" He lifted her hand to his lips, brushing a feather-light kiss across her knuckles. "You'll have to figure that out for yourself," he murmured. To all who observed, he was the soul of propriety, but Hyacinth caught the daring gleam in his eye, and she felt the breath leave her body as tingles of electricity rushed across her skin. Her lips parted, but she had nothing to say, not a single word. There was nothing but air, and even that seemed in short supply. And then he straightened as if nothing had happened and said, "Do let me know what you decide." She just stared at him. "About the compliment," he added. "I am sure you will wish to let me know how I feel about you." Her mouth fell open. He smiled. Broadly. "Speechless, even. I'm to be commended." "You--" "No. No," he said, lifting one hand in the air and pointing toward her as if what he really wanted to do was place his finger on her lips and shush her. "Don't ruin it. The moment is too rare."
|
|
humor
romance
|
Julia Quinn |
|
3f8f03d
|
I hit him on the back of the neck. He submerged.
|
|
drowning
humor
ilona-andrews
kate
magic-strikes
tub
|
Ilona Andrews |
|
bb3c288
|
"I like to see an angry Englishman," said Poirot. "They are very amusing. The more emotional they feel the less command they have of language."
|
|
englishman
humor
language
|
Agatha Christie |
|
0d832be
|
They don't make morgues with windows. In fact, if the geography allows for it, they hardly ever make morgues above the ground. I guess it's partly because it must be eisier to refrigerate a bunch of coffin-sized chambers in a room insulated by the earth. But that can't be all there is to it. Under the earth means a lot more than relative altitude. It's where dead things fit. Graves are under the earth. So are Hell, Gehenna, Hades, and a dozen other reported afterlives. Maybe it says somthing about people. Maybe for us, under the earth is a subtle and profound statement. Maybe ground level provides us with a kind of symbolic boundary marker, an artificial construct that helps us remember that we are alive. Mabye it helps us push death's shadow back from our lives. I live in a basement apartment and like it. What does that say about me? Probably that I overanalyze things.
|
|
harry-dresden
humor
|
Jim Butcher |
|
e3f4b15
|
Well, Diotallevi and I are planning a reform in higher education. A School of Comparative Irrelevance, where useless or impossibe courses are given. The school's aim is to turn out scholars capable of endlessly increasing the number of unnecessary subjects.
|
|
humor
nonsense
|
Umberto Eco |
|
8dd0853
|
But you have to understand, mental illness is like cholesterol. There is is good kind and the bad. Without the good kind- less flavor to life. Van Gogh, Beethoven, Edgar Allen Poe, Sylvia Plath, Pink Floyd (the early Piper at the Gates of Dawn line up), scientific breakthroughs, spiritual revolution, utopian visions, zany nationalism that kills millions- wait, that's the bad kind. Tim Dorsey (Hurricane Punch)
|
|
humor
serge
serial-killer
witty
|
Tim Dorsey |
|
f7303e3
|
"He talks pretty big for a gutter wizard," he muttered. "You don't understand at all," said the wizard wearily. "I'm so scared of you my spine has turned to jelly, it's just that I'm suffering from an overdose of terror right now. I mean, when I've got over that then I'll have time to be decently frightened of you."
|
|
fright
humor
rincewind
|
Terry Pratchett |
|
15f624a
|
Actually, I was prone to random acts of stupidity. I considered it to be one of my talents.
|
|
humor
stupidity
talents
|
Jennifer L. Armentrout |
|
e42b924
|
Tori joined us for dinner --in body, at least. She spent the meal practicing for a role in the next zombie movie, expressionless, methodically moving fork to mouth, sometimes even with food on it.
|
|
humor
summoning
tori
|
Kelley Armstrong |
|
49f2bf8
|
...hanging out does not make one an artist. A secondhand wardrobe does not make one an artist. Neither do a hair-trigger temper, melancholic nature, propensity for tears, hating your parents, nor even HIV - I hate to say it - none of these make one an artist. They can help, but just as being gay does not make one witty (you can suck a mile of cock, as my friend Sarah Thyre puts it, it still won't make you Oscar Wilde, believe me), the only thing that makes one an artist is making art. And that requires the precise opposite of hanging out; a deeply lonely and unglamorous task of tolerating oneself long enough to push something out.
|
|
artists
humor
rent
wilde
writers
writing
|
David Rakoff |
|
caaac2a
|
As for hearing, the sloth is not so much deaf as uninterested in sound.
|
|
humor
senses
|
Yann Martel |
|
ff6d9a4
|
Don't think about it. Don't think about what could have been. It's too unbearable.
|
|
humor
life
|
Sophie Kinsella |
|
7582876
|
Probably the last man who knew how it worked had been tortured to death years before. Or as soon as it was installed. Killing the creator was a traditional method of patent protection.
|
|
humor
|
Terry Pratchett |
|
c815a07
|
"A knock came at the door. Everyone looked up. Elena's nostrils flared and she leaned over to whisper something to Clay. "Fuck," he muttered. "Keep talking, Jaime. It's only Cassandra. She can wait. Forever, if we're lucky." "I heard that, Clayton," Cassandra said as she walked in. "Who the hell forgot to lock the door?" Clay said. "You were the last one in," Elena murmured. "Damn."
|
|
humor
mistrust
|
Kelley Armstrong |
|
3cce926
|
A knavish speech sleeps in a fool's ear.
|
|
humor
ignorance
intelligence
wisdom
|
William Shakespeare |
|
949e07e
|
Had I ever been so terrified? Perhaps when Typhon raged across the earth, scattering the gods before him. Perhaps when Gaea unleashed her giants to tear down Olympus. Or perhaps when I accidentally saw Ares naked in the gymnasium. That had been enough to turn my hair white for a century.
|
|
humor
|
Rick Riordan |
|
2afcd97
|
"The Beast Lord walked out of the warehouse. The screen went dark. My knight in furry armor. Saiman opened his mouth. "This is why I didn't. Personally, I think your smile is inappropriate."
|
|
curran
humor
kate
|
Ilona Andrews |
|
8a0041d
|
Please go to this pizzeria. Order the margherita pizza with double mozzarella. If you do not eat this pizza when you are in Naples, please lie to me and tell me that you did.
|
|
humor
|
Elizabeth Gilbert |
|
c330ed8
|
May the IRS find that you deduct your pet sheep as an entertainment expense.
|
|
humor
insult
irs
malediction
|
Christopher Moore |
|
d312a09
|
"Could I have a Sloe Gin Fizz, without the gin?" "What's the point of that, Miss?" the waiter said. "Tomorrow morning," Mabel said."
|
|
humor
|
Libba Bray |
|
9c5126f
|
"Mr. Satterthwaite looked cheered. Suddenly an idea struck him. His jaw fell. "My goodness," he cried, "I've only just realized it! That rascal, with his poisoned cocktail! Anyone might have drunk it! It might have been me!" "There is an even more terrible possibility that you have not considered," said Poirot. "Eh?" "It might have been me," said Hercule Poirot."
|
|
hercule-poirot
humor
mystery
poirot
poison
|
Agatha Christie |
|
c4f0ee7
|
"Wroth, darling," she purred, smiling so sweetly. "I can't wait for the next time I get to put my mouth on you." In an instant the smile faded and she snapped her teeth and yanked her head back as if she was chewing something free."
|
|
humor
humorous
|
Kresley Cole |
|
657f304
|
"When they ran up to him, Percy said, 'Hey,' like they were just meeting for lunch or something. 'You're alive!' Frank marveled. Percy frowned. 'The fall? That was nothing. I fell twice that far from the St. Louis Arch.'
|
|
hazel
humor
percy
|
Rick Riordan |
|
7c6dec0
|
"And the seventh hero...Leo Valdez?" Nico raised his eyebrows. "You remember his name?" "Of course! He invented the Valdezinator. Oh, what a musical instrument! I barely had time to master its major scales before Zeus zapped me at the Parthenon. If anyone could help me, it would be Leo Valdez."
|
|
humor
leo-valdez
valdezinator
|
Rick Riordan |
|
f2ef5f3
|
There's a friendly tie of some sort between music and eating.
|
|
humor
music
|
Thomas Hardy |
|
fdb6aa6
|
"I gave him my Order smile: sweet grin, hard eyes, reached over to my passenger seat, and pulled out my submachine gun. About twenty-seven inches long, the HK was my favorite toy for close-quarters combat. The rider's eyes went wide. "This is an HK UMP submachine gun. Renowned for its stopping power and reliability. Cyclic rate of fire: eight hundred rounds per minute. That means I can empty this thirty-round clip into you in less than three seconds. At this range, I'll cut you in half." It wasn't strictly true but it sounded good. "You see what it says on the barrel?" On the barrel, pretty white letters spelled out PARTY STARTER."
|
|
humor
|
Ilona Andrews |
|
ec29ca0
|
It's not easy remembering the good times.
|
|
humor
love
memories
past
remembered
|
Cecelia Ahern |
|
e1fcc3e
|
"Look, he isn't even concerned." I poured the tea. "He's concerned, Mother. He just doesn't panic, because he's in charge and if he panics, everybody else will panic." "I can jog around the room pretending to scream if you would like," Jim offered."
|
|
don-t-panic
humor
jim
|
Ilona Andrews |
|
076f0f0
|
"Is there some kind of rule for when Sam should be a boy and when he's a Wolf?" "A Wolf lifts his leg and yellows up the snow. A boy has to use the toilet." "And that will work?" "Only if he needs to pee."
|
|
humor
wolfs
|
Anne Bishop |
|
44b64ff
|
"Can't you home school me?" Nate pleaded. "You would never do any work." (Nate's mom) "Sounds perfect!"
|
|
humor
|
Brandon Mull |
|
1707ddb
|
"Beatrix," Amelia said over her shoulder as they proceeded through the hallway. "Perhaps you should reconsider your attire. Poor Captain Phelan may find it somewhat shocking." "But he's already seen me like this," came Beatrix's voice from behind Christopher, "and I've already shocked him. What is the point in changing clothes? Captain, would you feel more comfortable if I took my breeches off?" "No," he said hastily. "Good, I'll keep them on. Really, I don't see why women shouldn't dress like this all the time. One can walk freely and even leap. How is one to chase after a goat in skirts?"
|
|
hathaways
humor
|
Lisa Kleypas |
|
419d11c
|
"You take I-55 south, and you'll run into I-20. Or you could take..." I was about to be overloaded with information. "Oh that sounds just perfect. Let me do just that, or I'll lose track." Sure, glad I could help." Oh, you surely did." We beamed at each other, just two nice women. I had to fight an impulse to say "I have a tortured vampire in my trunk," out of sheer giddiness."
|
|
humor
|
Charlaine Harris |
|
8632e1b
|
Because . . . most of us think that the point is something to do with work, or kids, or family, or whatever. But you don't have any of that. There's nothing between you and despair, and you don't seem a very desperate person.' 'Too stupid.' 'You're not stupid. So why don't you ever put your head in the oven?' 'I don't know. There's always a new Nirvana album to look forward to, or something happening in NYPD Blue to make you want to watch the next episode.' 'Exactly.' 'That's the point? NYPD Blue? Jesus.' It was worse than he thought. 'No, no. The point is you keep going. You want to. So all the things that make you want to are the point. I don't know if you even realize it, but on the quiet you don't think life's too bad. You love things. Telly. Music. Food.
|
|
humor
life-lessons
simplicity
suicide
|
Nick Hornby |
|
be1e4aa
|
You're a fine fastidious young man, as proud as a lion, as gentle as a girl. You'd make a good catch for the devil.
|
|
coolness
eloquence
humor
swagger
|
Honoré de Balzac |
|
2f108fe
|
"He stepped aside, allowing me back into the hallway. As we headed to another elevator, he was glued to my hip. "As close as you're riding me, man, I feel like I need to take you out to dinner or something. At least I should get your name."
|
|
daemon-black-pov
humor
|
Jennifer L. Armentrout |
|
97c5d3f
|
Big lots,' I said, seeing the eighty-year-old oaks and shady lawns. The houses were set way back and had iron fences and stone drives. The harder to hear your neighbors scream, my dear,' was David's answer, and I sent my head up and down in agreement.
|
|
humor
rachel-morgan
romance
supernatural
vampire
|
Kim Harrison |
|
14d968e
|
And I find chopsticks frankly distressing. Am I alone in thinking it odd that a people ingenious enough to invent paper, gunpowder, kites and any number of other useful objects, and who have a noble history extending back 3,000 years haven't yet worked out that a pair of knitting needles is no way to capture food?
|
|
humor
|
Bill Bryson |
|
32e36be
|
"Amelie said, "I won't be your servant in Morganville. Nor should you be mine. Equals." She offered her hand to him, and he looked down at it, clearly taken aback. But he took it. "Now defend what is ours, my partner." He grinned ... grinned! ... and whirled to meet Myrnin in midleap as Myrnin attacked."
|
|
eve-rosser
funny
ghost-town
humor
michael-glass
morganville-vampires
myrnin
rachel-caine
shane-collins
vampire
vampires
|
Rachel Caine |
|
4e37061
|
NEVER INTERFERE WITH MELENGAR AGAIN BY ORDER OF THE KING ... AND US
|
|
humor
|
Michael J. Sullivan |
|
1904688
|
It turns out that Molly wasn't her mother's daughter in that respect. Charity was like the MacGuyver of the kitchen. She could whip up a five-course meal for twelve from an egg, two spaghetti noodles, some household chemicals, and a stick of chewing gum. Molly ... Molly once burned my egg. My boiled egg. I don't know how.
|
|
domesticity
dresden-files
humor
|
Jim Butcher |
|
894f902
|
I kept a straight face while my inner Neanderthal spluttered and then went on a mental rampage through a hypothetical produce section, knocking over shelves and spattering fruit everywhere in sheer frustration, screaming, 'JUST TELL ME WHOSE SKULL TO CRACK WITH MY CLUB, DAMMIT!
|
|
humor
rage
|
Jim Butcher |
|
cb767f6
|
"Maybe," he said in a slow, rural drawl, "you could explain to me why I found you in the middle of an orgy." "Well," I said, "if you're going to be in an orgy, the middle is the best spot, isn't it."
|
|
humor
orgy
sarcasm
|
Jim Butcher |
|
ebd6080
|
I find that the world is changing much, much faster than I can even bitch about it.
|
|
humor
politics
society
|
Bill Maher |
|
88448d8
|
The coldest depth of Hell is reserved for people who abandon kittens.
|
|
funny
humor
kittens
|
Robert A. Heinlein |
|
f7de6a3
|
Do you have a little white dress? I've had this deep-seated nurse fantasy about you, Murphy.
|
|
humor
karrin-murphy
women
|
Jim Butcher |
|
f43962c
|
She had wailed loudly enough to wake the dead and make them call the cops.
|
|
humor
kate-daniels
|
Ilona Andrews |
|
3473986
|
Laboring through a world every day more stultified, which expected salvation in codes and governments, ever more willing to settle for suburban narratives and diminished payoffs--what were the chances of finding anyone else seeking to transcend that, and not even particularly aware of it?
|
|
humor
inspirational
science
|
Thomas Pynchon |
|
5f9b64f
|
"He swallowed. "Have you no modesty?" Never in his life had he encountered a female so quick to be naked. Of course, he'd never in his life encountered a female who should so utterly be naked at any chance."
|
|
flirty
humor
humorous
|
Kresley Cole |
|
37de017
|
In the old legends, Arachne had gotten into trouble because of pride. She'd bragged about her tapestries being better than Athena's, which had led to Mount Olympus's first reality TV punishment program: 'So You Think You Can Weave Better Than a Goddess?' Arachne had lost in a big way.
|
|
athena
funny
humor
lol
wicked
|
Rick Riordan |
|
47b1dcc
|
"I don't believe him," said Hermione in a very unsteady voice, the moment they were out of earshot of Hagrid. "I don't believe him. I don't believe him. . . ." "Calm down," said Harry. "Calm down!" she said feverishly. "A giant! A giant in the forest! And we're supposed to give him English lessons! Always assuming, of course, we can get past the herd of murderous centaurs on the way in and out! I -- don't -- -- him!"
|
|
centaurs
duty
humor
promises
|
J.K. Rowling |
|
61535ae
|
Ford Prefect suppressed a little giggle of evil satisfaction, realized that he had no reason to suppress it, and laughed out loud, a wicked laugh.
|
|
humor
laugh
|
Douglas Adams |
|
f9a29a1
|
"Lowering my chin, I sighed. What my Seth wanted, I wanted, but... daimons? I rubbed my hands on my bent knees and sighed again - louder, like a petulant child. Aiden's back twisted as he turned his head. "What, Alex?" "Nothing," I mumbled. "There's something." He leaned back, tipping his head against the bar. "You have that tone." I frowned at the wall. "What tone?" "The 'I have something I want to say but I shouldn't' tone" A little bit of humor seeped into his voice. "I'm well familiar with it." Well... damn."
|
|
alex
humor
|
Jennifer L. Armentrout |
|
7792d99
|
Darkness was cheap, and Scrooge liked it.
|
|
humor
|
Charles Dickens |
|
f9a7693
|
"She can't afford to commit more troops,' Holly whispered. 'The gate is her priority, and she needs to have as many Berserkers watching her back as possible. We are secondary at this point.'
|
|
captain-short
eight
eoin-colfer
holly-short
humor
secondary
series
|
Eoin Colfer |
|
98aaa73
|
Parvati positively beamed. Harry could tell that she was feeling guilty for having laughed at Hermione in Transfiguration. He looked around and saw that Hermione was beaming back, if possible even more brightly. Girls were very strange sometimes.
|
|
girls
harry-potter
hermione
humor
parvati
|
J.K. Rowling |
|
340d3a1
|
Girls with their legs crossed, girls with their legs not crossed, girls with terrific legs, girls with lousy legs, girls that looked like swell girls, girls that looked like they'd be bitches if you knew them... You figured most of them would probably marry dopey guys. Guys that always talk about how many miles they get to a gallon in their goddam cars. Guys that get sore and childish as hell if you beat them at golf, or even just some stupid game like ping-pong. Guys that are very mean. Guys that never read books. Guys that are very boring.
|
|
guys
holden-caulfield
humor
|
J.D. Salinger |
|
ba65240
|
"I lean back. "What the hell are you doing?" "What do you mean?" she asks, innocently batting her eyelashes against the hot sun beaming down on us. Is she kidding me? "Where's you toungue?" I ask stupidly. Her wet little eyebrows furrow. "In my mouth. Why, where's it supposed to be?"
|
|
humor
maggie-armstrong
|
Simone Elkeles |
|
3d9dff6
|
I can't go back because I lost all my Soul Reaper powers! - Rukia You lost your powers? What are they, socks? - Ichigo
|
|
humor
|
Tite Kubo |
|
4e760f8
|
It struck Mort with sudden, terrible poignancy that Death must be the loneliest creature in the universe. In the great party of Creation, he was always in the kitchen.
|
|
death
humor
|
Terry Pratchett |
|
eed5be2
|
Now, there is a tendency at a point like this to look over one's shoulder at the cover artist and start going on at length about leather, tightboots and naked blades. Words like 'full', 'round' and even 'pert' creep into the narrative, until the writer has to go and have a cold shower and a lie down. Which is all rather silly, because any woman setting out to make a living by the sword isn't about to go around looking like something off the cover of the more advanced kind of lingerie catalogue for the specialized buyer. Oh well, all right. The point that must be made is that although Herrena the Henna-Haired Harridan would look quite stunning after a good bath, a heavy-duty manicure, and the pick of the leather racks in Woo Hun Ling's Oriental Exotica and Martial Aids on Heroes Street, she was currently quite sensibly dressed in light chain mail, soft boots, and a short sword. All right, maybe the boots were leather. But not black.
|
|
fantasy
humor
women
|
Terry Pratchett |
|
ab03a83
|
Taxation, gentlemen, is very much like dairy farming. The task is to extract the maximum amount of milk with the minimum amount of moo.
|
|
humor
|
Terry Pratchett |
|
a28591f
|
The only moral it is possible to draw from this story is that one should never throw the Q letter into a privet bush, but unfortunately there are times when it is unavoidable.
|
|
hitchihikers
humor
philosophy
|
Douglas Adams |
|
240f190
|
It isn't often that Aunt Dahlia lets her angry passions rise, but when she does, strong men climb trees and pull them up after them.
|
|
fearsomeness
fury
humor
|
P.G. Wodehouse |
|
c1e02e4
|
The ideas of debtor and creditor as to what constitutes a good time never coincide.
|
|
economics
humor
money
|
P.G. Wodehouse |
|
3b983c9
|
"One of Renee's friends asked her, "Does your boyfriend wear glasses?" She said, "No, he wears a Walkman."
|
|
humor
love
music
music-lover
walkman
|
Rob Sheffield |
|
3b83588
|
To call that writing, madam, is an insult to quills and ink across the world.
|
|
humor
penmanship
|
Julia Quinn |
|
d7ea681
|
"There wasn't a colloquial phrase, or curse, that went something like, "May your day be full of angry dragons" or, "May every dragon you meet today be pissed off." But, there should have been."
|
|
fantasy
humor
|
Michelle Sagara |
|
f5e69ff
|
Saying someone is religious is heard in most of America as a compliment, a reassuring affirmation that someone will be moral, ethical, and after a few glasses of wine, a freak in the bedroom.
|
|
humor
religion
|
Bill Maher |
|
acee60a
|
"You can go back to blacksmithing in Hintindar and live a quiet happy life. Do me a favor and marry some pretty farm girl and train your son to beat the crap out of imperial knights." "Sure," Hadrian told him. "And with any luck he'll make friends with a cynical burglar who'll do nothing but torment him."
|
|
hadrian
humor
royce
|
Michael J. Sullivan |
|
233a158
|
"You'll be seeing him tomorrow night, anyway." "I am?" Hyacinth asked, at precisely the moment Mr. St. Clair said, "She will?" "You're accompanying me to the Pleinsworth poetry reading," Lady D told her grandson. "Or have you forgotten?" Hyacinth sat back, enjoying the sight of Gareth St. Clair's mouth opening and closing in obvious distress. He looked a bit like a fish, she decided. A fish with the features of a Greek god, but still, a fish. "I really..." he said. "That is to say, I can't--" "You can, and you will be there," Lady D said. "You promised." He regarded her with a stern expression. "I cannot imagine--" "Well, if you didn't promise, you should have done, and if you love me..." Hyacinth coughed to cover her laugh, then tried not to smirk when Mr. St. Clair shot a dirty look in her direction. "When I die," he said, "surely my epitaph will read, 'He loved his grandmother when no one else would.'" "And what's wrong with that?" Lady Danbury asked."
|
|
humor
|
Julia Quinn |
|
9b2043a
|
I was just struggling with my inner vachette and pondering the depths of my own inhumanity.
|
|
guilt
humor
ponder
|
David Sedaris |
|
025a6e4
|
He reached up t0 grab one and came down with several, and they kept coming, washing over him, floating all around him. Never have tampon strings seemed so beautiful as they rolled up and down with the wind, landing on the ground and then twirling and floating up again, falling and rising and falling and rising.
|
|
humor
|
John Green |
|
16b486e
|
"First of all, this goes no further than this room." "Agreed," she said quickly. Anthony looked pointedly at Simon. "Of course," he replied. "Mother would be devastated if she learned the truth." "Actually," Simon murmured, "I rather think your mother would applaud our ingenuity, but since you have quite obviously known her longer, I bow to your discretion." Anthony shot him a frosty look. "Second, under no circumstances are the two of you to be alone together. Ever." "Well, that should be easy," Daphne said, "as we wouldn't be allowed to be alone if we were courting in truth, anyway." Simon recalled their brief interlude in the hall at Lady Danbury's house, and found it a pity that he wasn't to be allowed any more private time with Daphne, but he recognized a brick wall when he saw one, especially when said wall happened to be named Anthony Bridgerton. So he just nodded and murmured his assent. "Third--" "There is a third?" Daphne asked. "There would be thirty if I could think of them," Anthony growled. "Very well," she acceded, looking most aggrieved. "If you must."
|
|
conditions
humor
|
Julia Quinn |
|
c3b09bb
|
"Ginny, listen . . . I can't be involved with you anymore. We've got to stop seeing each other. We can't be together." "It's for some stupid, noble reason, isn't it?"
|
|
humor
noble
|
J.K. Rowling |
|
b8269f6
|
How would this do: and they all settled down and lived together happily ever after?' 'It will do well, if it ever comes to that,' said Frodo. 'Ah!' said Sam. 'And where will they live? That's what I often wonder.
|
|
humor
sam-gamgee
|
J.R.R. Tolkien |
|
8ea267b
|
Was this some new level of depravity? Had he developed a spinster fetish?
|
|
humor
romance
|
Lisa Kleypas |
|
df5841b
|
You can't possibly ask me to go without having some dinner. It's absurd. I never go without my dinner. No one ever does, except vegetarians and people like that.
|
|
humor
vegetarianism
|
Oscar Wilde |
|
54760d3
|
"The security officer smiled and said, 'Good afternoon, ma'am,' to me before I gave him ID." "It's a sick world, Eve." He resisted taking her hand for another squeeze. "A sick, sad world."
|
|
eve-dallas
humor
j-d-robb
roarke
|
j.d. robb |
|
f89b91a
|
"While Coach Hedge was having dinner on the foredeck, a wild pegasus appeared from nowhere,stampeded over the coach's enchiladas, and flew off again, leaving cheesy hoof prints all across the deck. "What was that for?" the coach demanded."
|
|
coach
humor
pegasus
|
Rick Riordan |
|
1e2dff7
|
"Huxley: "Tell me something Bryce, do you know the difference between a Jersey, a Guernsey, a Holstein, and an Ayershire?" Bryce: "No." Huxley: "Seabags Brown does." Bryce: "I don't see what that has to do..." Huxley: "What do you know about Gaelic history?" Bryce: "Not much." Huxley: "Then why don't you sit down one day with Gunner McQuade. He is an expert. Speaks the language, too." Bryce: "I don't..." Huxley: " What do you know about astronomy?" Bryce: "A little." Huxley: "Discuss it with Wellman, he held a fellowship." Bryce: "This is most puzzling." Huxley: "What about Homer, ever read Homer?" Bryce: "Of course I've read Homer." Huxley: "In the original Greek?" Bryce: "No" Huxley: "Then chat with Pfc. Hodgkiss. Loves to read the ancient Greek." Bryce: "Would you kindly get to the point?" Huxley: "The point is this, Bryce. What makes you think you are so goddam superior? Who gave you the bright idea that you had a corner on the world's knowledge? There are privates in this battalion who can piss more brains down a slit trench then you'll ever have. You're the most pretentious, egotistical individual I've ever encountered. Your superiority complex reeks. I've seen the way you treat men, like a big strutting peacock. Why, you've had them do everything but wipe your ass."
|
|
ego
humor
marine-corps
superior
|
Leon Uris |
|
a4fd1db
|
I pray. I go to mass. I even remember to respect my elders and help little old ladies across the street. What the hell did I do to deserve this?
|
|
humor
|
Lora Leigh |
|
87d4f9b
|
"I'm never going to believe a Poirot mystery again. Never. All those witnesses going, "Yes, I remember it was 3:06 p.m. exactly, because I glanced at the clock as I reached for the sugar tongs, and Lady Favisham was quite clearly sitting on the right-hand side of the fireplace." Bollocks. They have no idea where Lady Favisham was, they just don't want to admit it in front of Poirot. I'm amazed he gets anywhere."
|
|
humor
poirot
|
Sophie Kinsella |
|
55a1deb
|
"To those who care about punctuation, a sentence such as "Thank God its Friday" (without the apostrophe) rouses feelings not only of despair but of violence. The confusion of the possessive "its" (no apostrophe) with the contractive "it's" (with apostrophe) is an unequivocal signal of illiteracy and sets off a Pavlovian "kill" response in the average stickler."
|
|
humor
punctuation
writing
|
Lynne Truss |
|
ac0c3be
|
Every so often I would look at my women friends who were happily married and didn't cook, and I would always find myself wondering how they did it. Would anyone love me if I couldn't cook? I always thought cooking was part of the package: Step right up, it's Rachel Samstat, she's bright, she's funny and she can cook!
|
|
humor
marriage
|
Nora Ephron |
|
dc76a04
|
I love you. I will love you till the stars crumble, which is a less idle threat than is usual to lovers on parting.
|
|
humor
love
luthe
|
Robin McKinley |
|
fd4fa28
|
"Your lifeline...oh, the burning stick. Right." Leo resisted the urge to set his hand ablaze and yell: Bwah ha ha! The idea was sort of funny, but he wasn't that cruel."
|
|
heroes-of-olympus
humor
leo-valdez
|
Rick Riordan |
|
63e1b80
|
The fact is that camels are far more intelligent than dolphins. They are so much brighter that they soon realised that the most prudent thing any intelligent animal can do, if it would prefer its descendants not to spend a lot of time on a slab with electrodes clamped to their brains or sticking mines on the bottom of ships or being patronized rigid by zoologists, is to make bloody certain humans don't find out about it. So they long ago plumped for a lifestyle that, in return for a certain amount of porterage and being prodded with sticks, allowed them adequate food and grooming and the chance to spit in a human's eye and get away with it.
|
|
dolphins
hitchhiker-s-guide-to-the-galaxy
humor
pratchett
pyramids
|
Terry Pratchett |
|
d77d1d1
|
Woah,' I said, blocking the doorway. 'You can't come in here. This is the girls' room.' Even as it came out of my mouth, I knew it sounded dumb. Dumb, I thought and maybe even . You...are a boy, aren't you?' I asked. 'I mean, don't take that the wrong way or anything -' J.Lo is a boy, yes.' I let that go. So...you Boov have boys and girls...just like us?' Of course,' said J.Lo. 'Do not be ridicumlous.' I smiled a wan little smile. 'Sorry.' The Boov have magnificent genders. There is boy, girl, girlboy, boygirl, boyboy, boyboygirl, and boyboyboyboy.' I had absolutely no response to this.
|
|
gender
humor
politeness
|
Adam Rex |
|
69aa146
|
It turns out that one can perpetrate all manner of heinous villainy under a cloak of courtesy and good cheer. . .a man will forfeit all sensible self-interest if he finds you affable enough to share your company over a flagon of ale.
|
|
humor
|
Christopher Moore |
|
5b7a89b
|
Any civilization where the main symbol of religious veneration is a tool of execution is a bad place to have children.
|
|
humor
religion
|
Charles Stross |
|
00c1f15
|
Is there a cookie at the end of this lecture? ... I got a cookie after all ... Dear god, the cookie was poisoned.
|
|
humor
|
Ilona Andrews |
|
25bceb6
|
Jon: Have you seen the wall? | Sam: I'm fat, not blind.
|
|
fat
humor
sight
|
George R.R. Martin |
|
5e2a03c
|
"If you've spent any time trolling the blogosphere, you've probably noticed a peculiar literary trend: the pervasive habit of writers inexplicably placing exclamation points at the end of otherwise unremarkable sentences. Sort of like this! This is done to suggest an ironic detachment from the writing of an expository sentence! It's supposed to signify that the writer is self-aware! And this is idiotic. It's the saddest kind of failure. F. Scott Fitzgerald believed inserting exclamation points was the literary equivalent of an author laughing at his own jokes, but that's not the case in the modern age; now, the exclamation point signifies creative confusion. All it illustrates is that even the writer can't tell if what they're creating is supposed to be meaningful, frivolous, or cruel. It's an attempt to insert humor where none exists, on the off chance that a potential reader will only be pleased if they suspect they're being entertained. Of course, the reader isn't really sure, either. They just want to know when they're supposed to pretend to be amused. All those extraneous exclamation points are like little splatters of canned laughter: They represent the "form of funny," which is more easily understood (and more easily constructed) than authentic funniness. "
|
|
blogging
culture
humor
|
Chuck Klosterman |
|
81df920
|
Mrs. Cole was a perfect democrat. She hated all kids equally.
|
|
humor
it
stephen-king
|
Stephen King |
|
67c3796
|
A lot of the nonsense was the innocent result of playfulness on the part of the founding fathers of the nation of Dwayne Hoover and Kilgore Trout. The founders were aristocrats, and they wished to show off their useless eduction, which consisted of the study of hocus-pocus from ancient times. They were bum poets as well. But some of the nonsense was evil, since it concealed great crime. For example, teachers of children in the United States of America wrote this date on blackboards again and again, and asked the children to memorize it with pride and joy: 1492 The teachers told the children that this was when their continent was discovered by human beings. Actually, millions of human beings were already living full and imaginative lives on the continent in 1492. That was simply the year in which sea pirates began to cheat and rob and kill them. Here was another piece of nonsense which children were taught: that the sea pirates eventually created a government which became a beacon of freedom of human beings everywhere else. There were pictures and statues of this supposed imaginary beacon for children to see. It was sort of ice-cream cone on fire. It looked like this: [image] Actually, the sea pirates who had the most to do with the creation of the new government owned human slaves. They used human beings for machinery, and, even after slavery was eliminated, because it was so embarrassing, they and their descendants continued to think of ordinary human beings as machines. The sea pirates were white. The people who were already on the continent when the pirates arrived were copper-colored. When slavery was introduced onto the continent, the slaves were black. Color was everything. Here is how the pirates were able to take whatever they wanted from anybody else: they had the best boats in the world, and they were meaner than anybody else, and they had gunpowder, which is a mixture of potassium nitrate, charcoal, and sulphur. They touched the seemingly listless powder with fire, and it turned violently into gas. This gas blew projectiles out of metal tubes at terrific velocities. The projectiles cut through meat and bone very easily; so the pirates could wreck the wiring or the bellows or the plumbing of a stubborn human being, even when he was far, far away. The chief weapon of the sea pirates, however, was their capacity to astonish. Nobody else could believe, until it was much too late, how heartless and greedy they were.
|
|
history
humor
|
Kurt Vonnegut |
|
2f53396
|
"JP shouted, "TELL THEM WHAT YOU JUST DID TO EACH OTHER!" "Um," I said. "We kissed," the Duke said. "That's kinda gay," Keun said. "I AM A GIRL." "Yeah, I know, but so is Tobin," Keun said."
|
|
humor
|
John Green |
|
8d9b95b
|
"Unicorns," I said. "Very dangerous. You go first."
|
|
humor
unicorns
|
Jim Butcher |
|
21332a2
|
And even, if circumstances required, a contingency plan for his contingency plan's contingency plan.
|
|
circumstances
contingency
glass
humor
looking
plan
redd
seeing
wars
weird
|
Frank Beddor |
|
97b555c
|
"You're in a rather odd mood today." I'm soaking wet, Eloise." No need to snap at me about it, I didn't force you to walk across town in the rain." It wasn't raining when I left,". There was something about a sibling that brought out the eight-year-old in a body. I'm sure the sky was gray," Clearly, she had a bit of the eight-year-old in her as well."
|
|
humor
|
Julia Quinn |
|
5bce551
|
"He stepped forward. "We've been together a year. How many times have you seen me hunt?" Umm. "How many times, Kate?" "None." "That's because I don't hunt. I'm a male lion. I weigh six hundred pounds. Do you really expect me to scamper through the brush after deer? When I want a steak, I want a damn steak."
|
|
humor
kate-daniels
|
Ilona Andrews |
|
5cdca8c
|
"Because that's what it would catch in the wild, a boar, right? I can't wait to see a pack of bunnycats take down a wild hog with those short tiny legs. Wouldn't the boar be surprised?" Everybody was a comedian. "May be if I oink loud enough, it'll leap across the beam and try to devour me."
|
|
humor
kate-daniels
|
Ilona Andrews |
|
e594b8b
|
"Men are like dogs," Stacy was fond of saying. And she usually went on to add that, like dogs, they all took up too much space on the bed, and they always went for the crotch."
|
|
humor
men
smooth-talking-stranger
|
Lisa Kleypas |
|
b9d8bf4
|
That's great. Except for the fact that it's completely unimportant.
|
|
humor
|
Rick Riordan |
|
2926513
|
"Bet you ten bucks we make it." What are the odds? she thought, and realized with sudden, blinding clarity that she wouldn't take the other side of that bet, that only a loser would bet against them. This is really it, she thought, amazed. This is really forever. I believe in this. "Min?" he said, and she kissed him, putting all her heart into it. "No bet," she said against his mouth. "Your odds are too good." "Our odds are too good"
|
|
humor
jennifer-crusie
romance
|
Jennifer Crusie |
|
6c1ec56
|
"He nuzzled my neck, inhaling deeply. "Mmm. You smell so good." "Oh, yeah," I said, smirking. "I call this new perfume 'Le Jungle grime et tropical BO.' " "Dirt and sweat. Very sexy."
|
|
humor
lol
love
otp
qué-romántico
|
James Patterson |
|
df7d49f
|
"(Golden Globe acceptance speech in the style of ): "Four A.M. Having just returned from an evening at the Golden Spheres, which despite the inconveniences of heat, noise and overcrowding, was not without its pleasures. Thankfully, there were no dogs and no children. The gowns were middling. There was a good deal of shouting and behavior verging on the profligate, however, people were very free with their compliments and I made several new acquaintances. Miss Lindsay Doran, of Mirage, wherever that might be, who is largely responsible for my presence here, an enchanting companion about whom too much good cannot be said. Mr. Ang Lee, of foreign extraction, who most unexpectedly apppeared to understand me better than I undersand myself. Mr. James Schamus, a copiously erudite gentleman, and Miss Kate Winslet, beautiful in both countenance and spirit. Mr. Pat Doyle, a composer and a Scot, who displayed the kind of wild behavior one has lernt to expect from that race. Mr. Mark Canton, an energetic person with a ready smile who, as I understand it, owes me a vast deal of money. Miss Lisa Henson -- a lovely girl, and Mr. Gareth Wigan -- a lovely boy. I attempted to converse with Mr. Sydney Pollack, but his charms and wisdom are so generally pleasing that it proved impossible to get within ten feet of him. The room was full of interesting activitiy until eleven P.M. when it emptied rather suddenly. The lateness of the hour is due therefore not to the dance, but to the waiting, in a long line for horseless vehicles of unconscionable size. The modern world has clearly done nothing for transport. P.S. Managed to avoid the hoyden who has purloined my creation and added things of her own. Nefarious creature." "With gratitude and apologies to , thank you." --
|
|
golden-globes
humor
jane-austen
movies
sense-and-sensibility
speeches
|
Emma Thompson |
|
182f675
|
Most horses don't walk backwards voluntarily, because what they can't see doesn't exist.
|
|
humor
|
Terry Pratchett |
|
1d67287
|
Steal not this book for fear of shame For on it is the owners name And when you die the Lord will say Where is the book you stole away And when you say you do not know The Lord will say go down below.
|
|
humor
poem
punishment
stealing
|
L.M. Montgomery |
|
2c4fa6e
|
The netherworld is timeless and unchanging, and boring -- much like a doctor's waiting room.
|
|
humor
netherworld
|
Christopher Moore |
|
b8e2221
|
Despite the fact that an Indonesian island chicken has probably had a much more natural life than one raised on a battery farm in England, people who wouldn't think twice about buying something oven-ready become much more upset about a chicken that they've been on a boat with, so there is probably buried in the Western psyche a deep taboo about eating anything you've been introduced to socially.
|
|
ethics
humor
vegetarian
vegetarianism
|
Douglas Adams |
|
61fd03e
|
This letter is written on the skin of one of the water sprites who drowned your parents.' 'Ick!' I cried, and dropped the letter on the kitchen table.
|
|
faery
humor
letter
paranormal
revenge
sookie-stackhouse
urban-fantasy
|
Charlaine Harris |
|
cb6a71e
|
"Hardy! Hardy --" He had come for me. I nearly lost it then. In the wild torrent of relief and gratitude, there were at least a dozen things I wanted to tell him at once. But the first thing that came out was a fervent, "I'm so sorry I didn't have sex with you." I heard his low laugh. "I am too. But honey, there are a couple of maintenance guys with me who can hear every word we're saying." "I don't care," I said desperately. "Get me out of here and I swear I'll sleep with you."
|
|
hardy
haven
humor
travises
|
Lisa Kleypas |
|
e685918
|
Well, in the first place girls never marry the men they flirt with. Girls don't think it right.
|
|
humor
marriage
women
|
Oscar Wilde |
|
dd7e2e0
|
When you have been just told that the girl you love is definitely betrothed to another, you begin to understand how Anarchists must feel when the bomb goes off too soon.
|
|
engagement
humor
jealousy
marriage
|
P.G. Wodehouse |
|
7e26fa6
|
What if two people want to be your partner, then what?
|
|
humor
|
Emily Giffin |
|
be1aba0
|
I pondered what else I should take for him. Flowers seemed wrong; they're a love token, after all. I looked in the fridge, and popped a packet of cheese slices into the bag. All men like cheese.
|
|
eleanor-oliphant
funny
gail-honeyman
gift
humor
|
Gail Honeyman |
|
a389d3e
|
I so rarely have the chance to field-test anything. Amelie is so conservative about these things -Myrnin
|
|
humor
myrnin
|
Rachel Caine |
|
327ecd9
|
For a moment, or a second, the pinched expressions of the cynical, world-weary, throat-cutting, miserable bastards we've all had to become disappears, when we're confronted with something as simple as a plate of food.
|
|
food
humor
memoirs
|
Anthony Bourdain |
|
b4fb1a1
|
Err, sorry Father Abbot. I tripped y'see. Trod on my Abbot, Father Habit. Oh dear, I mean....
|
|
humor
|
Brian Jacques |
|
17cb684
|
"Anyway, why would you trust anything written down? She certainly didn't trust "Mothers of Borogravia!" and that was from the government. And if you couldn't trust the government, who could you trust? Very nearly everyone, come to think of it..."
|
|
humor
lies
propaganda
war
|
Terry Pratchett |
|
bb881d3
|
Yes, but humans are more important than animals,' said Brutha. 'This is a point of view often expressed by humans,' said Om.
|
|
humor
|
Terry Pratchett |
|
c6159d4
|
Some police forces would believe anything. Not the Metropolitan police, though. The Met was the hardest, most cynically pragmatic, most stubbornly down-to-earth police force in Britain. It would take a lot to faze a copper from the Met. It would take, for example, a huge, battered car that was nothing more nor less than a fireball, a blazing, roaring, twisted metal lemon from Hell, driven by a grinning lunatic in sunglasses, sitting amid the flames, trailing thick black smoke, coming straight at them through the lashing rain and wind at eighty miles an hour. That would do it every time.
|
|
good-omens
humor
neil-gaiman
terry-pratchett
|
Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett |
|
00e8dd7
|
When you shift, will your hawk form be plucked, then?
|
|
humor
rowan
sarah-j-maas
|
Sarah J. Maas |
|
fa2a7e7
|
"Stop," Kincaid said in a calm voice. "Unclench." "Unclench what?" Murphy demanded. "Unclench your ass." " me?" "You're going to trip the beam. You need another quarter inch. Relax." "I am relaxed," Murphy growled. "Oh," Kincaid said. "Damn, great ass then."
|
|
humor
|
Jim Butcher |
|
425a344
|
They came out in a dim, damp basement - a generic sort of place, full of moulding boxes. 'You take me to the nicest places,' Claire said, and sneezed.
|
|
claire-danvers
funny
humor
myrnin
rachel-caine
|
Rachel Caine |
|
c542ecb
|
Sticks and stones and small caliber bullets may break my bones... Words will never, et cetera.
|
|
humor
|
Jim Butcher |
|
1c380ef
|
And I'm sure than in Poland, or somewhere, it is considered cool to drive a Porsche and wear necklaces and black silk, but at least back in Brooklyn if you did those things you were either a drug dealer or from New Jersey.
|
|
humor
new-jersey
|
Meg Cabot |
|
d5e7506
|
If there were such a thing as an inter-city thieving contest, Ankh-Morpork would bring home the trophy and probably everyone's wallets.
|
|
humor
thievery
|
Terry Pratchett |
|
78e90ca
|
"This little piggy went to Hades This little piggy stayed home This little piggy ate raw and steaming human flesh
|
|
hades
humor
nursery-rhymes
piggy
pigs
|
Neil Gaiman |
|
6aa9e6b
|
He looked haggard and careworn, like a Borgia who has suddenly remembered that he has forgotten to shove cyanide in the consomme, and the dinner-gong due any moment.
|
|
forgetfulness
humor
poison
unhappiness
|
P.G. Wodehouse |
|
508534b
|
"Nobody got me out," Nellie replied. "They just let me go. They think I'm a deranged Jonah Wizard fan. Apparently, the hotel's full of them. A couple of idiots actually jumped off the front balcony. Can you picture that?" "In Technicolor," Amy said bitterly. "That low-down KGB reject!" Dan fumed. "I can't believe she cheated me-right when I was in the middle of cheating her!"
|
|
humor
jonah-wizard
nellie-gomez
the39clues
|
Gordon Korman |
|
ddf0bf4
|
"Hardly had the light been extinguished, when a peculiar trembling began to affect the netting under which the three children lay. It consisted of a multitude of dull scratches which produced a metallic sound, as if claws and teeth were gnawing at the copper wire. This was accompanied by all sorts of little piercing cries. The little five-year-old boy, on hearing this hubbub overhead, and chilled with terror, jogged his brother's elbow; but the elder brother had already shut his peepers, as Gavroche had ordered. Then the little one, who could no longer control his terror, questioned Gavroche, but in a very low tone, and with bated breath:-- "Sir?" "Hey?" said Gavroche, who had just closed his eyes. "What is that?" "It's the rats," replied Gavroche. And he laid his head down on the mat again. The rats, in fact, who swarmed by thousands in the carcass of the elephant, and who were the living black spots which we have already mentioned, had been held in awe by the flame of the candle, so long as it had been lighted; but as soon as the cavern, which was the same as their city, had returned to darkness, scenting what the good story-teller Perrault calls "fresh meat," they had hurled themselves in throngs on Gavroche's tent, had climbed to the top of it, and had begun to bite the meshes as though seeking to pierce this new-fangled trap. Still the little one could not sleep. "Sir?" he began again. "Hey?" said Gavroche. "What are rats?" "They are mice." This explanation reassured the child a little. He had seen white mice in the course of his life, and he was not afraid of them. Nevertheless, he lifted up his voice once more. "Sir?" "Hey?" said Gavroche again. "Why don't you have a cat?" "I did have one," replied Gavroche, "I brought one here, but they ate her." This second explanation undid the work of the first, and the little fellow began to tremble again. The dialogue between him and Gavroche began again for the fourth time:-- "Monsieur?" "Hey?" "Who was it that was eaten?" "The cat." "And who ate the cat?" "The rats." "The mice?" "Yes, the rats." The child, in consternation, dismayed at the thought of mice which ate cats, pursued:-- "Sir, would those mice eat us?" "Wouldn't they just!" ejaculated Gavroche. The child's terror had reached its climax. But Gavroche added:-- "Don't be afraid. They can't get in. And besides, I'm here! Here, catch hold of my hand. Hold your tongue and shut your peepers!"
|
|
gavroche
horror
humor
les-mis
les-misérables
rats
victor-hugo
|
Victor Hugo |