East Quotes

“That's the trouble with loving a wild thing: You're always left watching the door.”
― Edith Pattou, East

“East of the sun and west of the moon.' As unfathomable as the words were, I realized I must figure them out, reason it through. For I would go to this impossible land that lay east of the sun and west of the moon. From the moment the sleigh had vanished from sight and I could no longer hear the silver bells I knew that I would go after the stranger that had been the white bear to make right the terrible wrong I had done him.... All that mattered was to make things right. And I would do whatever it took, journey to wherever I must, to reach that goal.”
― Edith Pattou, East

“And telling a story, I suppose, is like winding a skein of spun yarn- you sometimes lose track of the beginning.”
― Edith Pattou, East

“She would search for him.
In the land that lay east of the sun and west of the moon.
But there was no way there.”
― Edith Pattou, East

“East of the sun and west of the moon.”
― Edith Pattou, East

“The joy I feel is immense; it burns inside me as though I have swallowed a piece of the sun.”
― Edith Pattou, East

“It was the difference between walking with a stranger and walking with your heartmate. It was the difference between working for duty and working for love.”
― Edith Pattou, East

“A pine needle fell in the forest. The hawk saw it. The deer heard it. The white bear smelled it”
― Edith Pattou, East

“They journeyed far and the white bear said, "Are you afraid?"
"No," she replied. "I am not afraid.”
― Edith Pattou, East

“It is odd, the twists that life will sometimes take. The ewe that you think will give birth with ease dies bringing forth a two-headed lamb. Or the ski trail that you have been told is treacherous, you navigate easily.”
― Edith Pattou, East

“Here.
After so long waiting.
Her purple eyes.
Torn cloak.
Skin pale, sheer as ice.
Exhausted.
But unafraid.”
― Edith Pattou, East

“It was not a monster that lay sleeping on the white sheets. Nor a faceless horror. Nor even the white bear.
It was a man.
His hair was golden, glowing bright as a bonfire in the light of the candle. And his features were fair, I suppose, but he was a stranger and that somehow was the greatest shock of all- that I had been lying all these months beside a complete stranger.”
― Edith Pattou, East

“That's the trouble with loving a wild thing: You're always left watching the door.
But you also get kind of used to it.”
― Edith Pattou, East

“I crossed the room to him. "I love you," I said in a rush, afraid I would change my mind.
"Charles," he replied.”
― Edith Pattou, East

“Where is it?" I asked, willing him to tell me.
He laughed suddenly, and I could hear the full-throated, grating sound of the white bear's laughter in it.
"East of the sun and west of the moon," he said.”
― Edith Pattou, East

“Neither Rose nor Charles liked to talk much of their adventures with the trolls, but some of the so-called "softskins" whom they had brought out of Niflheim, as well as the crew of the ship Soren had hired to go north to find Rose, must have spread the story, because for many years afterward, there were tales of a race of trolls living on top of the world.
Only Rose and her white bear know the whole truth of it.”
― Edith Pattou, East

“And I realized how much more complicated life is without the benefit of magic. Rubbing linseed oil into my blistered hands, I thought wistfully of how magic lets you skip over the steps of things. That is what makes it so appealing.
But, I thought, the steps of things are where life is truly found, in doing the day-to-day tasks.”
― Edith Pattou, East

“I knelt by the design. Yes, there was the sun rising. But the white form I had always thought to be a cloud was a bear. I could see it now, upside down. White bear, isbjorn, stood for north. Father had not been able to help himself. The truth was there, too. Truth and lie, side by side.”
― Edith Pattou, East

“For all that I loved the old tales of magic, I did not actually want there to be talking animals and mysterious requests on storm-tossed nights. Such things were for stories and ought to remain there.”
― Edith Pattou, East

“And Rose would have had no time at all on the loom were it not for Widow Hautzig’s rheumatism. When her rheumatism was acting up, the widow would take a long rest, sometimes even as much as a fortnight if it was a particularly bad bout.
“Thank God for Widow Hautzig’s rheumatism,” Rose would say every night before bed. Mother once overheard her and scolded her, so Rose was careful to whisper those words to herself from then on.”
― Edith Pattou, East

“I even wrote a white-bear poem. It began

Ghost bear wanders, always alone;
king of the north,
dispensing death from his traveling throne.

It was shortly after this effort that I decided I wouldn’t be a poet after all.”
― Edith Pattou, East

“The instruments that I liked the most were the flautos and recorders, especially the lovely flauto in the box with blue velvet. It was so beautiful I had been shy about even touching it, but one day I worked up my courage and took it out of the cabinet. I placed the mouthpiece to my lips and blew. A loud ringing note came out, startling me so that I almost dropped the instrument. But I held on and tried again. As that second note died away, the white bear entered the room. I fought down the instinct to hide the flauto behind my back as though I were a naughty child caught playing with grown-up things. As he came closer I could read a sort of yearning in his eyes. He lay down on the rug near the cabinet and looked up expectantly, as he did in the weaving room when he was ready to hear a story.
I shook my head. “I don’t know how to play,” I explained, my cheeks a little red.
“Play,” he said.
“I can’t.” But he just stared at me with those yearning eyes. So I tried.
And though the tone of the instrument was lovely, my playing sounded like two birds of different pitch scolding each other.
The white bear closed his eyes and flattened his ears against the sound.
“Well, I warned you,” I said.
Then he got up and crossed to a polished wooden chest, and, using a large paw, pushed the top up. I could see bundles of paper inside, some bound, some tied with ribbon. I knew what the papers were.
“I cannot read music,” I said.
The white bear sighed. Then he turned and left the room.
After he’d gone I went to the chest and sat down beside it, taking out a bundle of the papers with music written on them.
It became my new project, learning to read music. I was lucky to find a book in the chest that showed which note corresponded to which hole on the flauto.
Occasionally the white bear would come into the music room and sit and listen while I practiced, which made me self-conscious. But he never stayed long. It was as if he could only take it so long, hearing the music he knew mangled beyond all recognizable shape.”
― Edith Pattou, East

“East of the sun and west of the moon.” As unfathomable as the words were, I realized I must figure them out, reason it through. For I would go to this impossible land that lay east of the sun and west of the moon. From the moment the sleigh had vanished from sight and I could no longer hear the silver bells, I knew that I would go after the stranger that had been the white bear to make right the terrible wrong I had done him.
It didn’t occur to me to do anything else.
I could just as easily have looked around and thought, At last, I am free to return to my home and family! I could have put it all behind me and briskly turned my steps toward home. But I did not. Instead I was busily mapping out a journey to an unreachable place.
In the meager light of the small fire, I gathered my things together. When weaving a cloth, you must always know where you are in the design. So it was with me. Before I could begin to chart my course, I had to first find out where I was.
All that mattered was to make things right. And I would do whatever it took, journey to wherever I must to reach that goal.”
― Edith Pattou, East

“My heart pounding, I tried to follow what I saw the others doing. It did not seem difficult, though I managed to step on the troll’s feet several times. Luckily, he did not try to converse with me. It was not long before he led me off the dance floor and then left me. Relieved, I hoped he would pass along the word that the troll lady in the colorless dress had two left feet.”
― Edith Pattou, East

“of gaol,”
― Edith Pattou, East

“Glowing.

The moon through a doorway.
Breath hard in my throat.

Heart full to burst.
The moon through a doorway.

And its light…

Hope.”
― Edith Pattou, East

“The troll language was very difficult to learn, bearing no relation to Njorden or any other language I had heard... As I learned more and more, I was reminded of times I had to pick out the stitches of a particularly complicated piece of sewing. One word might unravel a whole set of words, and then I'd come to a knot and have to begin all over again.”
― Edith Pattou, East

“Are you afraid?” “No,” she replied. “I am not afraid.”
― Edith Pattou, East