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navi - 30 Aug 2010 22:46 GMT

I hear this dell roar in a moment with the joint voice of wind and
fire, I see myself gallop for my soul, and the flying conflagration
chase and outflank me through the hills...

This is from 'Two Matches', by R. L. Stevenson.

He is imagining what will happen if the dell catches fire.

I have a problem with the last bit. When the fire is chasing him and
outflanking him through the hills, is HE in the hills or in the dell?

The way I see it, he is in the dell and the fire moves in a circle
and
comes out in front of him by passing through the hills.

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Ray O'Hara - 31 Aug 2010 04:40 GMT

>I hear this dell roar in a moment with the joint voice of wind and
> fire, I see myself gallop for my soul, and the flying conflagration
[quoted text clipped - 10 lines]
> and
> comes out in front of him by passing through the hills.

Could dell be a typo for dull?
Dull roar is a standard description for events like large fires or tornadoes

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navi - 31 Aug 2010 07:52 GMT

> >I hear this dell roar in a moment with the joint voice of wind and
> > fire, I see myself gallop for my soul, and the flying conflagration
[quoted text clipped - 15 lines]
>
> - Show quoted text -

Oh. Well the dell is the valley he is in. The whole valley roars. He
is imagining what will happen if the dell catches fire.

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Default User - 31 Aug 2010 18:35 GMT

>>I hear this dell roar in a moment with the joint voice of wind and
>> fire, I see myself gallop for my soul, and the flying conflagration
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
>>
>> He is imagining what will happen if the dell catches fire.

>> The way I see it, he is in the dell and the fire moves in a circle
>> and comes out in front of him by passing through the hills.

> Could dell be a typo for dull?
> Dull roar is a standard description for events like large fires or
> tornadoes

That was my first thought as well, but it seems not. The story is a
short-short and found at various sites on the web. One such:

http://www.readbookonline.net/readOnLine/1854/

Brian

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Don Phillipson - 31 Aug 2010 14:10 GMT

> I hear this dell roar in a moment with the joint voice of wind and
> fire, I see myself gallop for my soul, and the flying conflagration
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
> I have a problem with the last bit. When the fire is chasing him and
> outflanking him through the hills, is HE in the hills or in the dell?

The text does not imply this degree of geographic precision. Wherever
there are hills (uplands) there must also be dells (lowlands) and
both the protagonist and the fire are traveling along, thus are
also moving up and down at various times.

> The way I see it, he is in the dell and the fire moves in a circle
> and comes out in front of him by passing through the hills.

Not necessarily so, cf. the principal meaning of the verb
"outflank" = to move ahead of X by passing X to one side.
Neither X nor the fire can "pass through the hills" without
also passing through the dells.

Generally, Stevenson choice of words expresses well the haste
and uncertainty anyone feels when in a bush fire -- which few
of us ever encounter but Stevenson probably experienced
in California (cf. book Silverado Squatters.)

Signature

Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs
(Ottawa, Canada)

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Discussion Groups / English Usage / August 2010

outflank