Hello, everyone! In my story, there is a character who is a very high-ranked monk in a monastery. He is being held in a small, cell-like, room. I want to give the feeling that, though his superiors fear him (and, therefore, cage him), they still respect him. What is the right way to describe his bed? It can't be a four-post bed because he is, in some way, a prisoner. It can't be a mattress either because they respect him. (It also can't be a log bed because the room he lives in has a glass dome instead of walls or ceiling so that wouldn't fit). Does such a word exist? Thanks! G. H. Ivanovic
Maybe this: Pallet (noun) A crude or makeshift bed. or this: Divan (also divan bed) (noun) British A bed consisting of a base and mattress but no footboard or headboard.
That is indeed the style I am looking for, but I need a bed that has legs because the character uses the place underneath the bed for storage. The problem being that I'm not sure there is a bed with legs that can inflict such a feeling. Is there?
You may be looking for something like a camp bed (a fold up bed elsewhere in the world). They have legs so you can hide stuff but they are designed more to be portable than to be comfortable so they tend to have thin mattresses and the older ones are renown for having pokey springs too. They can be comfortable but can also be very much not so. In a building camp beds tend to be kept for visitors (because you can fold them away and store them) so that may work for your guy. Particularly if everyone else sleeps on the floor (or on solid surfaces with a mattress) then giving him an actual bed instead of a pile of straw might be them trying to make peace or at least to make a sign of good faith.