The stag tells him that he is the eldest of the sons - the father's favorite - and he warns the father that if he tries to shoot any of the stags, their antlers will tear him to pieces.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
Killing a stag is like killing a child.
Sorrow is held the eldest child of sin.
The idea of a stag hunt evokes chivalry - knights in jerkins and hose, ladies on sidesaddles with wimples and billowing dresses, a white stag symbolizing something-or-other, and Robin Hood getting in the way. An actual stag hunt is more like a horseback meeting of a county planning commission.
I am certain that the Lord, who notes the fall of a sparrow, looks with compassion upon those who have been called upon to part, even temporarily, from their precious children.
The young man who has not wept is a savage, and the older man who will not laugh is a fool.
When a father gives to his son, both laugh; when a son gives to his father, both cry.
The home to everyone is to him his castle and fortress, as well for his defence against injury and violence, as for his repose.
As Lord Chesterfield said of the generals of his day, 'I only hope that when the enemy reads the list of their names, he trembles as I do.'
Victory has a thousand fathers, but defeat is an orphan.
He that loves not his wife and children feeds a lioness at home, and broods a nest of sorrows.