Favorite Quotes

[Jeane, Book-tator]

Shiver me timbers!
Did you come across an awesome, important, memorable, thematically enchanting, or just plain dumb? If so we want to hear about it! Put your quotes from the book here and explain what you think about it.

[Beth]

When Silver's crew talked of mutiny, Silver challenged them by saying, "Take a cutlass, him that dares, and I'll see the colour of his inside, crutch and all..."

[Karen]

I loved the explanation Captain Silver gave to his ne'er-do-well crew-mates in answer to George Merry's four points - this is just the first point but the rest of the exchange is equally fun and colorful. I particularly like George Merry's "...swing and sun-dry..." and Silver's "...and I leave it to fancy where your mothers was that let you come to sea."

Chapter 24: The Black Spot Again

"Is that all?" asked Silver quietly.
"Enough, too," retorted George. "We'll all swing and sun-dry for your bungling."
"Well now, look here, I'll answer these four p'ints; one after another I'll answer 'em. I made a hash o' this cruise, did I? Well now, you all know what I wanted, and you all know if that had been done that we'd 'a been aboard the Hispaniola this night as ever was, every man of us alive, and fit, and full of good plum-duff, and the treasure in the hold of her, by thunder! Well, who crossed me? Who forced my hand, as was the lawful cap'n? Who tipped me the black spot the day we landed and began this dance? Ah, it's a fine dance—I'm with you there—and looks mighty like a hornpipe in a rope's end at Execution Dock by London town, it does. But who done it? Why, it was Anderson, and Hands, and you, George Merry! And you're the last above board of that same meddling crew; and you have the Davy Jones's insolence to up and stand for cap'n over me—you, that sank the lot of us! By the powers! But this tops the stiffest yarn to nothing."
Silver paused, and I could see by the faces of George and his late comrades that these words had not been said in vain.
"That's for number one," cried the accused, wiping the sweat from his brow, for he had been talking with a vehemence that shook the house. "Why, I give you my word, I'm sick to speak to you. You've neither sense nor memory, and I leave it to fancy where your mothers was that let you come to sea. Sea! Gentlemen o' fortune! I reckon tailors is your trade."

[Colleen]

I'm not sure what the "pieces of eight!" meant?

[Karen]

Money! Spanish coin. A Spanish dollar, equivalent to 8 reals. There are some Internet sites that define the term - Wikipedia, WiseGeek, and Ask.com. Or watch Pirates of the Caribbean! :)

[Joyce]

Thanks, Karen, for pointing out the quotes between Silver and Merry -- George Merry's "...swing and sun-dry..." and Silver's "...and I leave it to fancy where your mothers was that let you come to sea."

I wonder if pirates really talked like that, or if it is our romanticized fiction of how people spoke in that era, reinforced by movies depicting the time.