The space of sky above us was the colour of ever-changing violet and towards it the lamps of the street lifted their feeble lanterns. The cold air stung us and we played till our bodies glowed. Our shouts echoed in the silent streets. The career of our play brought us through the dark muddy lanes behind the houses where we ran the gauntlet of the rough tribes from the cottages, to the back doors of the dark dripping gardens where odours arose from the ashpits, to the dark odorous stables where a coachman smoothed and combed the horse or shook music from the buckled harness

Question

The space of sky above us was the colour of ever-changing violet and towards it the lamps of the street lifted their feeble lanterns. The cold air stung us and we played till our bodies glowed. Our shouts echoed in the silent streets. The career of our play brought us through the dark muddy lanes behind the houses where we ran the gauntlet of the rough tribes from the cottages, to the back doors of the dark dripping gardens where odours arose from the ashpits, to the dark odorous stables where a coachman smoothed and combed the horse or shook music from the buckled harness

What does the phrase gauntlet of the rough tribes convey about the narrator's perception of his experience?
that he believed the lanes behind the houses were a passageway to a secret, hidden garden
that he feared playing behind the houses because of the darkness and the slippery mud
that he saw the children from the cottages as rivals and their territory as possibly dangerous

Answer 1

that he saw the children from the cottages as potential adversaries and the lanes behind the houses as a challenging and potentially hazardous environment

Answer 2

The phrase "gauntlet of the rough tribes" conveys that the narrator sees the children from the cottages as rivals and their territory as possibly dangerous.

Answer 3

Based on the given passage, the phrase "gauntlet of the rough tribes" suggests that the narrator perceived the children from the cottages as rivals and their territory as potentially dangerous. The word "gauntlet" typically refers to a challenge or ordeal, while "rough tribes" implies a sense of opposition or rivalry. Therefore, the narrator's experience playing in the dark muddy lanes behind the houses was seen as a journey through an unfriendly territory where they had to face and navigate past the other children.