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lost man
04-14-2012, 06:58 PM
Hi everyone
can anyone explain to me what saki means by this phrase "communication cord"

“Come over here and listen to a story,” said the aunt, when the bachelor had looked twice at her and once at the communication cord.
here is the full story http://www.classicshorts.com/stories/Storyteller.html
Thanks in advance.

miyako73
04-14-2012, 07:12 PM
It's a cord in the railway carriage akin to a bus' that is pulled by passengers to signal bus drivers.

lost man
04-14-2012, 07:18 PM
thanks a lot :)

Whifflingpin
04-15-2012, 04:18 AM
Pulling the communication cord causes the train to stop. In old railway carriages there was no corridor and it was not possible to get out of the compartment when the train was moving.
The implication is that the bachelor was considering the possibility of stopping the train (and paying the £5 "penalty for improper use" of the communication cord,) just to get away from the aunt and the children.

lost man
04-15-2012, 09:43 AM
thank you a lot