Thread: mice

Explain that to me, plz.
The courtiers were brightly colored mice below.
Причем здесь мыши? Или это не мыши, а что-то другое?

Need much more context. On its own that sentence is at best ambiguous*, at worst nonsensical.

Originally Posted by scotcher

Need much more context. On its own that sentence is at best ambiguous*, at worst nonsensical.

She dreamt she sat the Iron Throne, high above them all.
The courtiers were brightly colored mice below. Great lords and proud ladies knelt before her. Bold young knights laid their swords at her feet and pleaded for her favors, and the queen smiled down at them. Until the dwarf appeared as if from nowhere, pointing at her and howling with laughter. The lords and ladies began to chuckle too, hiding their smiles behind their hands... etc

No mice or any other animals.. If that's a typo, what word should be instead of "mice"?

Sounds like it is taken from a fairy tale except fo I don't know what "below" is doing in the sentence... Or do you mean "the courtiers wore..."?

Originally Posted by gRomoZeka

She dreamt she sat the Iron Throne, high above them all.
The courtiers were brightly colored mice below.

So, it does sound as it is a fairy tale...

Originally Posted by MikeM

Sounds like it is taken from a fairy tale except fo I don't know what "below" is doing in the sentence... Or do you mean "the courtiers wore..."?

It means below the throne, which stands at the high dais.
P.S. That's George Martin's "A Song of Ice and Fire-4" - "A Feast for Crows". No men turning into animals or other fairy stuff like that. Though that's queen's dream... Who knows.

She dreamt she sat the Iron Throne, high above them all.
The courtiers were brightly colored mice below.

It's a metaphor. (or is it a simile? I can never remember the difference).

The throne she was sitting on was so high that the courtiers looked like brightly coloured mice.

Originally Posted by scotcher

She dreamt she sat the Iron Throne, high above them all.
The courtiers were brightly colored mice below.

It's a metaphor. (or is it a simile? I can never remember the difference).

The throne she was sitting on was so high that the courtiers looked like brightly coloured mice.

Oh, that makes sense.

For the record, a simile will use the words like or as. For example:

• Crazy like a fox
  Bright as the sun

A metaphor is a similar idea, but less restrictive. Also, it is only considered to be a simile or Metaphor if you are comparing two unlike things, as in the examples above.