Under the Pendulum Sun Quotes

“I had been taught to tame my wild impulses and desires that had agitated me to pain. I had folded it with my soul and learnt to drink contentment like you would a poison. Drop by drop, day by day. Until it became tolerable.”
― Jeannette Ng, Under the Pendulum Sun

“I have but one candle of life to burn, and I would rather burn it out in a land filled with darkness than in a land flooded with light.”
― Jeannette Ng, Under the Pendulum Sun

“And it has been a while since I’ve watched my sister read the bloody entrails of the constellations…”
― Jeannette Ng, Under the Pendulum Sun

“They would never lie if the truth can hurt more. And the truth can always hurt more.”
― Jeannette Ng, Under the Pendulum Sun

“It is very dangerous out there, Cathy. In the mists. Anything… I cannot–” “What cannot you do, Laon?” I could feel my fingers growing numb. “Have you not done it all? Have you not gone to university? Have you not left England? Have you not made yourself a grand explorer, triumphant conqueror and–” It stung. I knew it stung. “Do not blame your confinement on me.” His voice was very cold, very slow. “I am not your gaoler.” “Do not shame me for knowledge that has been denied me. Do not patronise me over the position to which I have been born.” I saw him flinch, but I continued. “I had thought the respect you had for me was mine by right, as your sister and equal. Not granted to me on your whim. To be begged and earned, however tenderly.”
― Jeannette Ng, Under the Pendulum Sun

“If changelings are something between man and beast, what will become of them in the other world?”
― Jeannette Ng, Under the Pendulum Sun

“My mind was dwelling again on my own unreality, believing I would ripple and rip at his touch. I was that spirit from the moors that he supposed so long ago, here to tempt him and then disappear when the sun burnt away the morning mist.

And then, his hands were on me again, strong, demanding. I revelled in his force; it proved to me that I was not breaking, that I would not shatter. He tightened his grip on my hips and I gasped.

Fleetingly, I felt real.”
― Jeannette Ng, Under the Pendulum Sun

“The children that die as the price of that first Fall, I shall replace. For the love that my child bore his, sinful it may be in his eyes, I will love them both. I will bring her dolls of flesh to save her from that pain.”
― Jeannette Ng, Under the Pendulum Sun

“And this is a question no one had asked – why had He not painted again? Out of fear that He’d have to recycle this canvas? Though it seems an odd accusation to the all powerful that He would, of all things, run out of space. But no, I would say He never painted again because He ran out of ideas. Perhaps, like the best of us, He knew He had only one story in Him. One story. And He had written it all in every aspect of the world, from each pillar-like mountain to vaulting sky.”
― Jeannette Ng, Under the Pendulum Sun

“Thou hast ravished my heart, my sister, my spouse; thou hast ravished my heart with one of thine eyes, with one chain of thy neck. How fair is thy love, my sister, my spouse! how much better is thy love than wine! and the smell of thine ointments than all spices! Thy lips, O my spouse, drop as the honeycomb: honey and milk are under thy tongue; and the smell of thy garments is like the smell of Lebanon. A garden inclosed is my sister, my spouse; a spring shut up, a fountain sealed. Thy plants are an orchard of pomegranates, with pleasant fruits; camphire, with spikenard, Spikenard and saffron; calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense; myrrh and aloes, with all the chief spices: A fountain of gardens, a well of living waters, and streams from Lebanon. Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south; blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out. Let my beloved come into his garden, and eat his pleasant fruits. Song of Solomon 4:9-16”
― Jeannette Ng, Under the Pendulum Sun

“You’re human. And humanity loves us.” She was stroking my hand as though it were a lapdog. “So desperate are you to speak to us that you see us everywhere. You look across your borders, your walls, and instead of your neighbours, you see us. As your ships sail further and countries and continents discover each other, you see not each other. You see us. You want to see us.”
― Jeannette Ng, Under the Pendulum Sun

“Bäumchen, rüttel dich und schüttel dich, wirf Gold und Silber über mich.”
― Jeannette Ng, Under the Pendulum Sun

“Jesus shall reign where’er the sun Does his successive journeys run; His kingdom stretch from shore to shore, Till moons shall wax and wane no more. Behold the islands with their kings, And Europe her best tribute brings; From north to south the princes meet, To pay their homage at His feet. There Persia, glorious to behold, There Elphane shines in illusory gold; And barbarous nations at His word Submit, and bow, and own their Lord. Where He displays His healing power, Death and the curse are known no more: In Him the tribes of Adam boast More blessings than their father lost. Let every creature rise and bring Peculiar honours to our King; Angels descend with songs again, Earth and Fae-realm speak amen!”
― Jeannette Ng, Under the Pendulum Sun

“Native to Arcadia and sometimes found in earthly libraries, this pest is often said to feed off the written word. It allegedly consumes secrets and digests them into less informative fragmentary whispers.”
― Jeannette Ng, Under the Pendulum Sun

“Scorn the food and shun the drink, For faerie food and faerie tricks, Will snare the tongue and trap the sick. Sprinkle salt from human lands Sprinkle salt with human hands. Meat loves salt and salt loves meat, I pray the lord my soul to keep. So sprinkle salt, else restless sleep, So sprinkle salt, else endless weep. Traditional folk rhyme, collected by J Ritson in Fairy Tales and Folk Songs, Now First Collected, with Two Dissertations on Pygmies and on Fairies”
― Jeannette Ng, Under the Pendulum Sun

“And so, here I was: clutching the compass he had left behind, knot tightening within my heart, under the light of a pendulum sun.”
― Jeannette Ng, Under the Pendulum Sun

“Almost almost forgot. Remember, no walking down the silver corridor when it’s dark. No looking behind the emerald curtain. No staring portraits in the eye. No eating things without salt. And no trusting the Salamander.”
― Jeannette Ng, Under the Pendulum Sun

“They say the Howling Duke and the Chief of Winds are more cruel. They say He Who Commands Fear is stronger, more powerful. The Keeper of the Markets is more calculating. The Colourful King, She Who Sleeps For The Mountains and the Lost Emperors are more unpredictable, more changeable...This is all true, you have to understand." He swallowed, visibly. "But I daresay I fear the Pale Queen the most.”
― Jeannette Ng, Under the Pendulum Sun

“They say the Howling Duke and the Chief of Winds are more cruel. They say He Who Commands Fear is stronger, more powerful. The Keeper of the Markets is more calculating. The Colourful King, She Who Sleeps For The Mountains and the Lost Emperors are more unpredictable, more changeable...This is all true, you have to understand." He swallowed, visibly. "But I daresay I fear the Pale Queen the most."
"Why?"
Mr Benjamin grinned at my question, his lips stretching tight over his blunt, brown teeth. There was no humour in it.
"Because she is most human.”
― Jeannette Ng, Under the Pendulum Sun

“Have you not wanted to speak to me all your life?” “H-have I?” “You’re human. And humanity loves us.” She was stroking my hand as though it were a lapdog. “So desperate are you to speak to us that you see us everywhere. You look across your borders, your walls, and instead of your neighbours, you see us. As your ships sail further and countries and continents discover each other, you see not each other. You see us. You want to see us.”
― Jeannette Ng, Under the Pendulum Sun