Hear her chatter even now
Quotations
"She never stopped talking for a moment," Taran said gloomily. "Now, at least, it will be quieter in Caer Dallben."
Similes and comparisons
Probably the most obvious characteristic of Eilonwy's speech is her use of quirky comparisons to emphasise her point.
"I'm not sure I'm going to help you any more at all, after the way you've behaved; and calling me those horrid names, that's like putting caterpillars in somebody's hair."
"I can almost make it out, but not quite, and there's nothing more irritating. It's like not finishing what you started out to say."
"I don't like being called 'a girl' and 'this girl' as if I didn't have a name at all. It's like having your head put in a sack."
"You've been carrying that harp every since I met you," Eilonwy said, " and you've never once played it. That's like telling somebody you want to talk to them, and when they get ready to listen, you don't say anything."
"If you don't listen to what somebody tells you," Eilonwy remarked, "it's like putting your fingers in your ears and jumping down a well."
"We don't even know where we are, let alone why. It's worse than rolling downhill in the dark."
"You should be ashamed of yourself," Eilonwy put in, shaking her finger at the King, who appeared most embarrassed at being found out. "It's like looking the other way when someone's about to fall into a hole."
"It's silly," Eilonwy added, "to worry because you can't do something you simply can't do. That's worse than trying to make yourself taller by standing on your head."
"I can't stand people who say 'I told you so.' That's worse than somebody coming up and eating your dinner before you have a chance to sit down."
— The Book of Three
"They're impolite, whoever they are. That's worse than somebody shutting their eyes so you can't see them!"
"You might think we wanted to have [the Huntsmen] after us!" cried Eilonwy, unable to curb her impatience. "That's like inviting a bee to come and sting you."
"If this is the best the Fair Folk can manage, why, I'd rather be up a tree with my toes tied together!"
"I've never met a person," whispered Eilonwy, while Gurgi snuffled in fright, "who could talk about such dreadful things and smile at the same time. It's like ants walking up and down your back."
"If you stop now, then you've given up Adaon's brooch for nothing! That's worse than putting a necklace on an owl and letting it fly away!"
"He helped us – he certainly did that, just the way a robber helps you tidy up your house!"
"The only thing you have to decide is how we shall escape from this tent. If you're thinking of anything else, you're wasting your time. That's like wondering whether to scratch your head when a boulder's about to fall on it."
"Hurry along," Eilonwy called, "Hen Wen will be wanting her bath. And I'm afraid Gurgi and I left in such a hurry I didn't take time to straighten up the scullery. That's worse than starting a journey and forgetting to put on your shoes!"
— The Black Cauldron
"Taran of Caer Dallben," Eilonwy declared, "I really believe you're jealous. And sorry for yourself. And that's as ridiculous as – as painting your nose green!
"Right now, you look as if a mountain were about to fall on your head."
"I don't believe people should be allowed to come stamping into other people's dreams without asking first," Eilonwy said, with some vexation. "There's something impolite about it. Like walking into a spider web when the spider's still using it."
"Stop, stop!" she cried. "You're making my head swim. Listening to you is more confusing than trying to count your fingers and toes at the same time!"
— The Castle of Llyr
Words of wisdom
To Gurgi, Eilonwy was the 'wise Princess'
, and in her more serious moments she could speak very carefully and perceptively of the problems at hand. She often spoke up when Taran was feeling downhearted or unreasonable.
"I realize it's no consolation to you," she said, "but if you look at it in one way, you didn't give up a thing to the enchantresses, not really. You did exchange the clasp and everything that went along with it. But, don't you see, all those things came from the clasp itself; they weren't inside of you.
"I think," she added, "it would have been much worse giving up a summer day. That's part of you, I mean. I know I shouldn't want to give up a single one of mine. Or even a winter day, for the matter of that. So, when you come right down to it, Orddu didn't take anything from you; why, you're still yourself and you can't deny that!"
"Yes," Taran answered. "I am still only an Assistant Pig-Keeper. I should have known that anything else was too good to last."
"That may be true," said Eilonwy, "but as far as being an Assistant Pig-Keeper is concerned, I think you're a perfectly marvellous one. Believe me, there's no question in my mind you're the best Assistant Pig-Keeper in all Prydain. How many others there are, I'm sure I don't know, but that's beside the point. And I doubt a single one of them would have done what you did."
— The Black Cauldron
"We are too few to carry such a burden," Taran said hopelessly. With another horse or another pair of hands there might be a chance. We are only deceiving ourselves if we think we can bring the Crochan to Caer Dallben."
"That may be true," Eilonwy sighed wearily. "But I don't know what else we can do, except keep on deceiving ourselves. And perhaps by that time we'll be home."
— The Black Cauldron
Taran snorted. "I daresay that's [Rhun's] father's sword he's got on, and I daresay he's never drawn it except to frighten a rabbit. At least I've earned the right to wear mine. Yet he still calls himself a prince. Does his birth make him worthy of his rank? As worthy as Gwydion Son of Don?"
"Prince Gwydion's the greatest warrior in Prydain," Eilonwy replied. "You can't expect everyone to be like him. And it seems to me that if an Assistant Pig-Keeper does the best he can, and a prince does the best he can, there's no difference between them."
— The Castle of Llyr