Juxtaposition #17

From The Cloud-Capped Star:

TARAN: They’re dreaming of two stories now. You were successful! You set them all on their feet.

NEETA: Father!

TARAN: Why stay any longer? Now they just pity you. You weren’t up to carrying the burden, yet you were forced to. Now you yourself have become the burden.

From Watership Down by Richard Adams:

“‘But surely you must have heard of Captain Loosestrife? He was an officer of the Owsla in the fighting.’

“‘What fighting?’ asked another buck.

“‘The fighting against King Darzin,’ replied Rabscuttle.

“‘Here, do me a favor, old fellow, will you?’ said the buck. ‘That fighting–I wasn’t born when it finished.’

“‘But surely you know the Owsla captains who were?’ said Rabscuttle.

“‘I wouldn’t be seen dead with them,’ said the buck. ‘What, that white-whiskered old bunch? What do we want to know about them?’

“‘What they did,’ said Rabscuttle.

“‘That war lark, old fellow?’ said the first buck. ‘That’s all finished now. That’s got nothing to do with us.’

“If this Loosestrife fought King What’s-His-Name, that’s his business,’ said one of the does. ‘It’s not our business, is it?’

“It was all a very wicked thing,’ said another doe. ‘Shameful, really. If nobody fought in wars, there wouldn’t be any, would there? But you can’t get old rabbits to see that.’

“‘My father was in it,’ said the second buck. ‘He gets on about it sometimes. I always go out quick. “They did this and then we did that” and all that caper. Makes you curl up, honest. Poor old geezer, you’d think he’d want to forget about it. I reckon he makes half of it up. And where did it get him, tell me that?”

Previous “Juxtaposition” posts can be found here.