How would you say the lines?

[res23.livejournal.com]

In End of Term, Lawrie, upon discovering that Jesus was not literally a shepherd, realises that she would have to say the line in the play "Lest he, one day, should be a shepherd" differently than she had been planning.  (Well OK, not exactly planning, as she doesn't have the part yet, but you know what I mean; she thinks that the line would need to be said differently in the two cases).  While I appreciate the distinction between being a literal shepherd and being a metaphorical one, I can't translate that into different ways of actually saying the line... (I was rubbish at drama of any sort).  In what way do you think the lines would be said in each case?  What would she be trying to imply differently, and what would be different about the way they're said - stress and emphasis, tone, just the look on her face, etc?  Or, if you can't actually describe the difference - do you hear it as different for yourself??

Or is it just meant to have been an example of her amazing acting ability, and even AF didn't actually know how the lines might be said?

Comments

[richenda.livejournal.com]

I've thought a lot about that over the years.

In the one case, it would be a "looking into the practicaL future" and in the other it would be "looking into the spiritual future", so I can see that you might say it differently - except that either way, would he know that it was going to happen?
Either way, the "lest" is odd. I associate "lest" with negatives -
"Watch lest the wolf approaches", but perhaps I've got that wrong.

[carmine-rose.livejournal.com]

I always thought it meant "in case".

[richenda.livejournal.com]

I always thought it meant "in case".

Certainly, but I thought of it as negative - as in "lest worse befall".