当我抬头看到你的本来面目时，你没有穿着华丽的长袍，没有庄严的高脚杯——突然我有了希望。“我没有看到你在看，”米拉索尔说，“我不想让你看到，”大师说。我知道——我想我知道——这并不是真正的希望，而是关于看着你。于是我看着霍鲁德，看着他的剑，提醒自己他们就要杀了我。
(And when I looked up and saw you as you were, in no gaudy robes and bearing no solemn goblet - suddenly I had hope.''I did not see you looking,' said Mirasol.'I did no want you to see,' said the Master.'And I looked away quickly, because I knew the hope was false. I knew - I think I knew - that it was not really about hope, it was about looking at you. And so I looked at Horuld, and at his sword, and reminded myself that they were about to kill me.)
这段文字突出了绝望的时刻与转瞬即逝的希望感。说话者最初因看到另一个毫无矫饰的人而感到振奋，但意识到他们所感受到的希望是虚幻的。大师承认不想被人看见，这表明了更深层次的脆弱感以及处于权威地位所带来的期望负担。这一刻强调了联系的重要性，但也强调了认识到其潜在徒劳性的痛苦。
米拉索尔的回应反映了对这种复杂情感景观的承认。意识到她的希望是基于理想化的看法而不是现实，这导致她将注意力转移到更紧迫的问题上，例如霍鲁德和他构成的迫在眉睫的威胁。这种转变说明了对希望的渴望与严酷环境之间的斗争，概括了故事的一个辛酸主题，即希望与对危险和现实的认识交织在一起。
