In the story 'The River' by Mark Twain, he uses an extended metaphor, comparing the Mississippi river to books, art, and poetry. In ‘reading the river’ the pilot’s rigorous study of the river is referred to, Twain regard this as reading a book.
“The face of the water in time became a wonderful book- a book that was a dead language to the uneducated passenger but which told its mind to me without reserve, delivering its most cherished secrets as clearly as if it uttered them with a voice.”
In the above line, Twain compares water to the book. The sight of the pilot is compared to that of passenger’s is another extended metaphor used. He compares it with “italicized passages”, “shouting exclamation points” and the “pretty pictures". To the pilot’s eye, such features of the river becomes the language of water. However, how the river is being read as a book depends upon one’s experience who is reading, as it can have different meanings.
Answer: This is a passage from <em>"Emma"</em>, a novel written by Jane Austen.
Explanation:
<em>"Emma" </em>is Jane Austen's 1815 novel. It is a story about the relationships between different people and families in the fictional village of Highbury. The protagonist of the story is Emma Woodhouse, a twenty-year-old.
The passage given above is an excerpt from <em>Chapter 47</em>. Emma is having a conversation with her friend, Harriet Smith. Harriet reveals to Emma that she has certain feelings for Mr. Knightley, a landowner who is almost twenty years older than her. Throughout the novel, Emma never truly thinks about her own feelings - she is too busy finding a perfect match for Harriet. It is only when Harriet confesses that she is in love with Knightley that Emma becomes jealous and realizes that she might love him, too.
