Question

Which two excerpts provide the best evidence that the story takes place in a historical setting?
“It smells of war,” he thought, his hand going instinctively to the stone knife which was tucked at an angle into his girdle of woven wool. (paragraph 7)
Maybe the trail was very near, with the first daylight he would be able to see it again. (paragraph 11)
The war of the blossom had started at the beginning of the moon and had been going on for three days and three nights now. (paragraph 11)
Laid next to the night from which he came back, the tepid shadow of the ward seemed delicious to him. A violet lamp kept watch high on the far wall like a guardian eye. (paragraph 14)

Answer 1

“It smells of war,” he thought, his hand going instinctively to the stone knife which was tucked at an angle into his girdle of woven wool. (paragraph 7)

The war of the blossom had started at the beginning of the moon and had been going on for three days and three nights now. (paragraph 11)

Reason: the stone knife and woven girdle indicate pre‑modern technology/clothing, and the moon‑based dating and named “war of the blossom” suggest an older, non‑modern cultural/temporal setting.