A question about Lila,the werewolf

[diablogundam]

Hi there,I come from where the first language is not English.

Today I have read an old story Lila, the Werewolf by Peter S Beagle.

And there's happen to a sentence that I cannot understand, from the paragragh below:

　　They always lost him quickly, that jubilant marriage procession, leaving him stumbling down rusty iron ladders into places where he fell over garbage cans. Yet he would come upon them as inevitably in time, loping along Broadway or trotting across Columbus Avenue toward the park; he would hear them in the tennis courts near the river, breaking down the nets over Lila and her moment's Ares. There were dozens of them now, coming from all directions. They stank of their joy, and he threw stones at them and shouted, and they ran.

Is the "breaking down the nets over Lila and her moment's Ares." that confuse me, especially the "moment's Ares."

Could anynoe help me out? Thank you.

[Randy M.]

Hi there,I come from where the first language is not English.

Today I have read an old story Lila, the Werewolf by Peter S Beagle.

And there's happen to a sentence that I cannot understand, from the paragragh below:

They always lost him quickly, that jubilant marriage procession, leaving him stumbling down rusty iron ladders into places where he fell over garbage cans. Yet he would come upon them as inevitably in time, loping along Broadway or trotting across Columbus Avenue toward the park; he would hear them in the tennis courts near the river, breaking down the nets over Lila and her moment's Ares. There were dozens of them now, coming from all directions. They stank of their joy, and he threw stones at them and shouted, and they ran.

Is the "breaking down the nets over Lila and her moment's Ares." that confuse me, especially the "moment's Ares."

Could anynoe help me out? Thank you.

Interesting. I've read that story a few times, but don't recall pausing to consider that line.

The pack chasing Lila is running over a tennis court, so there's the net. The pack breaks down the net as it converges on Lila and her "moment's Ares." Her "moment's Ares" is whichever dog has caught up with her at the time. Ares being the God of War, I think it's Beagle alluding to her moment's conqueror or attempted conqueror, the dog who has at the given moment been fast and brave enough to catch her; since the chase is less like mating than like skirmishing and fighting, he alludes to Ares.

At least, without digging out the story and looking more closely, that's how I'd interpret this.

Randy M.