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Buddy, when I work at night, if I look up at the sky, the suspect is going to escape. […] To be honest, even if I were to look at the stars in this sky, I wouldn't be thinking about your philosophical questions. I have too much to worry about! I gotta pay the mortgage, save for the kids’ college, and handle the endless stream of cases […] You think that's not enough for me to worry about? You think I've got the energy to gaze at stars and philosophize?

Explanation and Analysis:

While Wang panics about the strange flicker he has just witnessed in the universe’s radio waves, Shi offers a more practical view of life. Though many of the novel’s scientists and theorists try to understand their world at the largest scale, t...

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Original

Romeo

(aside) She speaks.
O, speak again, bright angel! For thou art
As glorious to this night, being o’er my head,
As is a winged messenger of heaven
Unto the white, upturnèd, wondering eyes
Of mortals that fall back to gaze on him
When he bestrides the lazy-puffing clouds
And sails upon the bosom of the air.

Juliet

O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art though Romeo?
Deny they father and refuse they name.
Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love,
And I’ll no longer be a Capulet.

Modern

Romeo

(to himself) She speaks. Speak again, bright angel! For tonight you are as glorious, there up above me, as a winged messenger of heaven who makes mortals fall onto their backs to gaze up with awestruck eyes as he strides across the lazy clouds and sails through the air.

Juliet

O Romeo, Romeo! Why must you be Romeo? Deny your father and give up your name. Or, if you won’t change your name, just swear your love to me and I’ll give up being a Capulet.

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