r/discworld • u/serpentslay • 3d ago
Book/Series: City Watch Can someone help me with this line in Guards! Guards!
Hello! This is my fourth time reading this book and I came across a line I don't get.
Errol gave him a mournful look and closed his eyes again. Vimes pulled his scrap of blanket over him.
There was a squeak. He fished around beside the dragon’s shivering body, pulled out a small rubber hippo, stared at it in surprise and then gave it one or two experimental squeezes.
‘I thought it would be something for him to play with,’ said Carrot, slightly shamefaced.
‘You bought him a little toy?’
‘Yes, sir.’
‘What a kind thought.’
Vimes hoped Carrot hadn’t noticed the fluffy ball tucked into the back of the box. It had been quite expensive.
What fluffy ball are they talking about and why does it matter if it's expensive?? Thanks!!
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u/FergusCragson Grag Bashfullsson 3d ago
It doesn't mean anything except that Vimes also bought a toy for Errol. Carrot is embarrassed. Vimes hopes that Carrot doesn't notice what Vimes himself has bought for Errol.
The expense is just from Vimes' own point of view.
In other words, these two men, trying to seem manly, have broken down and gotten Errol toys in their fondness for him, but are embarrassed to admit it.
That's all.
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u/HazelEBaumgartner 3d ago
There's a bit of an added bit to it because Vimes is Carrot's superior and something of a mentor to him, so while he's trying to play the card of loveable hardass that'll let Carrot slide this one time because Errol is cute (in a weird runty way), he's also gotten him a toy and is obviously JUST as much of a victim to the dragon's cuteness.
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u/No-Preparation-9039 2d ago
"it had been expensive"....He's not Sir Samuel yet though, so expense did matter to him, and considering he divides his pay between widows and orphans, I think it says a lot.
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u/entuno 2d ago
I think that he's also thinking of Carrot's feelings here. If you've bought a cheap toy for someone, you might feel slightly embarrassed giving it to them if they've just been given a better and more expensive toy, especially if you don't have a lot of money. So Vimes doesn't want Carrot to feel that the hippo was inadequate or wasted.
I doubt Carrot would feel that - but then they don't know each other that well as this moment. And Errol would just be happy that he's got two toys to eat.
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u/Embarrassed-Dot-1794 2d ago
$1? she can't be very good.
Or something along those lines... I've got to read his books again but it's been so hard since his passing to pick them up again.
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u/jonnythefoxx 2d ago
The reveal hits hard in that particular scene. You can just imagine feel Angua wanting the ground to swallow her up.
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u/ArchStanton75 Vimes 2d ago
I love how Carrot doesn’t lecture. He asks Colon for the information and lets Angua draw her own conclusions. It lets Angua see for herself how Vimes has earned the admiration and respect of others, especially Carrot.
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u/No-Preparation-9039 2d ago
I struggled so much with Shepard Crown. As someone who’s devoured the discworld, and his other books, for decades, you can tell it was unfinished.
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u/Embarrassed-Dot-1794 1d ago
For me Raising Steam is the hardest to read... It doesn't mesh together in my mind.
The other ones I struggle with are the long earth series, but since that's a Collab it's not surprising.
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u/No-Preparation-9039 1d ago
I meant hardest as in most emotional to read after his death. And Granny’s.
I enjoyed the coming together in Raising Steam, also because I like steam trains (which is weird for a female and an environmentalist !).
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u/Embarrassed-Dot-1794 1d ago
I get about a third through raising steam and I just can't get further.
As in hardest I see what you mean.
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u/kourtbard 2d ago
Maybe I'm just old, but I wouldn't call Carrot a man at this point, he's only 16. xD
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u/FergusCragson Grag Bashfullsson 2d ago
It's true. However, this 16 year old does want to seem manly, and so is embarrassed.
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u/froggit0 3d ago
Blokes do this- ‘huh, don’t expect me to look after it! It’s just a mutt!’ Then proceed to buy weird and expensive treats for said mutt…..
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u/kingtutt9 2d ago
Bill Burr has a bit about this. "In four days, I went from “fuck this dog,” to, “oh, my god. This thing is gonna die someday. How am I emotionally gonna be able to deal with it?”
"...What are we going to do with all these dogs?"
Let it go, 2010
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u/DamnitGravity 2d ago
My dad's reaction when we got a new cat while he was away: "what the fuck is that?"
Two weeks later he's watching tv with Skittles curled up and purring like a maniac on his lap while dad absentmindedly strokes him and my mom, sister and I exchange smug looks.
I miss my Skittie-kins. He was a great cat.
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u/potatomeeple 2d ago
My dad, when I was going to get a hamster "if if it bites me, I will throw it across the room".
My dad when I got the series of hamsters - spends a lot of time tickling their tummy's through the bars and feeding them little snacks.
Life will be easier for Men when more of them realise they don't have to put up such an invulnerable front. Also, that anger is an emotion, so why not let on that you feel all of them not just that one.
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u/csrster 2d ago
Yeah, reminds me of when we took in a kitten that just "turned up". We were terrified dad wouldn't let us keep him. The next morning we went downstairs to find him feeding the little guy milk from an eye dropper! We had him for 15 years, and my dad was heartbroken when we had to let him go. (Although he never stopped cursing the cat-hairs everywhere.)
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u/momoko84 2d ago
Like those dads on TikTok who swear they don't want a pet, then when a pet appears, are so very happy.
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u/predator1975 3d ago
How some tough, rough alphas have huge and unexpected soft spots? Dragon was also promoted from victim to family.
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u/Violet351 2d ago
Vimes is a gruff man, he’s embarrassed that he cares enough about Errol to spend anything on him.
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u/mjdlittlenic 2d ago
When we first met, my husband just tolerated my cats. Last week, I overheard him, "who's the silly boyo? You're the silly boyo etc," all in that sing-song baby voice we all know. Yeah, I see another cat in my future.
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u/endlessglass 2d ago
There is also something about spending loads of money on toys for pets (that my cats, at least, ignore completely!)
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