Literary notes about Telltale (AI summary)
The term "telltale" in literature is used to signal the presence of hidden truths or underlying characteristics that reveal much more than meets the eye. In spiritual and emotional contexts, such as in Paramahansa Yogananda's work, "telltale charts" document an unexpected vitality in plants ([1]), and "telltale windows of the mind" suggest subtle emotional depths ([2]). Meanwhile, in detective and adventure narratives like Conan Doyle's and Verne's, "telltale" eyes or rings serve as unmistakable indicators of distress or identity, subtly pointing the characters toward critical discoveries ([3], [4]). Even within more intimate or cautionary contexts, as seen in "The Romance of Lust" and "The Lani People," the term is used to highlight the presence of leaving marks or signals that warn of impending events or truths waiting to be uncovered ([5], [6]).
- The telltale charts of my crescograph 8-2 are evidence for the most skeptical that plants have a sensitive nervous system and a varied emotional life.
— from Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda - " "Please tell me, sir, if it is absolutely true that she eats nothing?" I looked directly into his eyes, those telltale windows of the mind.
— from Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda - But her telltale eyes were red and glanced at me from between swollen lids.
— from The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle - A few months later off the coast of Syria, I recaptured a few specimens of my fish, adorned with their telltale rings.
— from Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas: An Underwater Tour of the World by Jules Verne - I had brought a towel to lay on the couch below her bottom, to prevent any telltale stains.
— from The Romance of Lust: A classic Victorian erotic novel by Anonymous - Kennon backed away, watching the humanoid’s eyes for that telltale flicker of the pupils that gives warning of attack.
— from The Lani People by Jesse F. Bone
