Prompted by the 'Coded Message' discussion, I have
been re-reading all of 'Rewards and Fairies', and have
noticed that every story contains one phrase, or a
simple variant of it. The phrase is: "What else could
I have done?"
Using my 1946 Macmillan reprint, the occurrences are
as follows:
Cold Iron - p23
Gloriana - p46 "What else in England's name could she
have done?"
- p49 "I don't see what else they could
have done"
- p49 "I don't see what else she could
have done"
The Wrong Thing - p75
Marklake Witches - p95
The Knife and the Naked Chalk - p125, p126, p139
Brother Square Toes - p171 "What else can I do?"
A Priest in Spite of Himself - p193
The Conversion fo St Wilfrid - p236 "What else could I
have said?"
A Doctor of Medicine - p262
Simple Simon - p297 "What else could I ha' done?"
The Tree of Justice - p327
For me, this makes a common theme throughout the
collection that emphasises the inevitability of doing
one's duty and of what is right for others at whatever
risk to oneself.
Interstingly, the phrase is not used at all in 'Puck
of Pook's Hill'.
Do anyone have else have any thoughts on any this,
whether it relates to the Coded Message or not?
With best regards
David Page
Harrow UK
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