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The excerpt represents the core issue or deciding factor on which you must meditate, and is drawn from Allan Quatermain by H. Rider Haggard: namely, the language and the system of calligraphy. As for
the former, it is soft-sounding, and very rich and flexible.
Sir Henry says that it sounds something like modern Greek,
but of course it has no connection with it. It is easy to acquire,
being simple in its construction, and a peculiar quality about it
is its euphony, and the way in which the sound of the words
adapts itself to the meaning to be expressed. Long before
we mastered the language, we could frequently make out what
was meant by the ring of the sentence. It is on this account
that the language lends itself so well to poetical declamation,
of which these remarkable people are very fond. The Zu-Vendi
Allan Quatermain |
