Re: Thinking to find a lark's nest

On Jan 23, 12:22 pm, "John Dean" <john-d...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Marius Hancu wrote:
On Jan 23, 12:29 pm, the Omrud <usenet.om...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

[Ernest tells his parents he lost his watch, which really had been
given by him to a former female servant of the family, Ellen, now
pregnant.]

Of course, Ernest was made to look for his lost property, and a
reward was offered for it, but it seemed he had wandered a good
deal off the path, thinking to find a lark's nest, more than once,
and looking for a watch and purse on Battersby piewipes was very
like looking for a needle in a bundle of hay: besides it might have
been found and taken by some tramp, or by a magpie of which there
were many in the neighbourhood, so that after a week or ten days
the search was discontinued, and the unpleasant fact had to be
faced that Ernest must have another watch, another knife, and a
small sum of pocket money.

The Way of All Flesh, by Samuel Butler, p. 237
--------

Yes, it's an idiom: "thinking to X" means "thinking that he will X",
i.e. believing or intending that he will X. So the character has
gone off the path to look for a lark's nest.

I don't see the implication in the context.

They were looking for an watch which had been presumably lost or
stolen, but had in effect been given by the owner (Ernest) to a girl,
a fact which Ernest hid from his father and others.

Thus the search for it in the woods didn't really have a point,
couldn't lead to anything positive.

Could it be that the searchers thought that a bird found the watch and
took it to its nest?

Or could it be that "finding a lark's nest" means an impossible task?

Ernest has given away his watch but tells his parents he has lost it -
dropped it on his way home. They insist he looks for it along the path he
followed home. He claims he wandered off the path from time to time looking
for larks' nests (larks nest on the ground).

So the hard part may have been the mildly ironic "it seemed", that is,
it seemed to Ernest's parents, since he claimed it. Sort of like
"Ernest had given his parents to understand". The indirect way of
saying it points up the lie.

Maybe since this follows Ernest's saying he lost his watch (which you
didn't quote), I get the impression that Ernest came up with the idea
that he'd been bird's-nesting after his parents asked him to check the
path.

By the way, I have the impression that collecting birds' nests or eggs
was a popular pastime for British boys until people started to think
about what it was doing to the bird population. Though if Ernest is a
nice boy (who would help a pregnant servant), maybe he only wanted to
look at the nests with the eggs or chicks.

--
Jerry Friedman
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Thinking to find a larks nest
    ... and looking for a watch and purse on Battersby piewipes was very ... gone off the path to look for a lark's nest. ... stolen, but had in effect been given by the owner (Ernest) to a girl, ... may have been picked up by a tramp or a magpie (who are notably attracted to ...
    (alt.usage.english)
  • Re: Thinking to find a larks nest
    ... watch and purse on Battersby piewipes was very like looking for a needle ... unpleasant fact had to be faced that Ernest must have another watch, ... gone off the path to look for a lark's nest. ... stolen, but had in effect been given by the owner (Ernest) to a girl, ...
    (alt.usage.english)
  • Thinking to find a larks nest
    ... Of course, Ernest was made to look for his lost property, and a reward was offered for it, but it seemed he had wandered a good deal off the path, thinking to find a lark's nest, more than once, and looking for a watch and purse on Battersby piewipes was very like looking for a needle in a bundle of hay: besides it might have been found and taken by some tramp, or by a magpie of which there were many in the neighbourhood, so that after a week or ten days the search was discontinued, and the unpleasant fact had to be faced that Ernest must have another watch, another knife, and a small sum of pocket money. ...
    (alt.usage.english)
  • Re: Thinking to find a larks nest
    ... "thinking to find a lark's nest" ... [Ernest tells his parents he lost his watch, ... Of course, Ernest was made to look for his lost property, and a reward ...
    (alt.usage.english)
  • Re: Thinking to find a larks nest
    ... and looking for a watch and purse on Battersby piewipes was very ... for larks' nests. ... may have been picked up by a tramp or a magpie (who are notably attracted to ...
    (alt.usage.english)