Literary notes about Table (AI summary)
The word "table" in literature serves a multitude of functions beyond its simple definition as a piece of furniture. It acts as the central setting for interpersonal dynamics—where characters share meals, conduct secretive meetings, or engage in everyday conversation—in works ranging from Dickens’ scenes of communal dining ([1], [2], [3]) to Chekhov’s moments of both levity and tension around a modest table ([4], [5], [6]). In some texts, the table transforms into a metaphorical or symbolic space, such as the legendary Round Table in Arthurian lore ([7], [8]), while in others it becomes a practical tool for organizing ideas or actions, as seen in mathematical problems or when laying out items for inspection ([9], [10], [11]). Whether the table hosts a secret letter, a heated discussion, or the simple act of dining, it consistently represents both the literal and figurative gathering point in narrative life ([12], [13], [14]).
- Breathing more freely in a little while, he sat down at the table, and listened again until the clock struck Two.
— from A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens - It was awful to me to think of all those lords and ladies sitting round that breakfast-table and waiting for me to come back.
— from Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle - I hope they won't quarrel in the hunting season, or say unpleasant things to each other at the dinner-table; rows always upset a man's digestion.
— from Lady Audley's Secret by M. E. Braddon - The murderers were delighted and began to divide the money between them, they almost quarrelled, then they sat down to the table, you know, to drink.
— from Project Gutenberg Compilation of Short Stories by Chekhov by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov - She would sit at the table opposite me, watching my movements and asking questions.
— from Project Gutenberg Compilation of Short Stories by Chekhov by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov - A little later he sat down to the table and rapidly began writing.
— from Project Gutenberg Compilation of Short Stories by Chekhov by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov - How Sir Launcelot jousted against four knights of the Round Table and overthrew them.
— from Le Morte d'Arthur: Volume 1 by Sir Thomas Malory - And there King Arthur made the Duke de la Rowse a Knight of the Round Table to his life's end, and gave him great lands to spend.
— from Le Morte d'Arthur: Volume 1 by Sir Thomas Malory - Place one counter on the table—that is, the first triangular number.
— from Amusements in Mathematics by Henry Ernest Dudeney - We have to lay "every one of the sticks on the table."
— from Amusements in Mathematics by Henry Ernest Dudeney - Holding the knife upright on the table, he says, "What do you call that, my boy?"
— from The Principles of Psychology, Volume 1 (of 2) by William James - The banker took the sheet from the table and read: “To-morrow at twelve o’clock midnight, I shall obtain my freedom and the right to mix with people.
— from Best Russian Short Stories - "My desk is on that table.
— from The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins - Stepan Arkadyevitch took the glass, and looking towards a bald man with red mustaches at the other end of the table, he nodded to him, smiling.
— from Anna Karenina by graf Leo Tolstoy
