Mayor Uriason blows his stack at three "traitors" who propose to join the outbackers but then, to Ridenour:
"'My performance was merely in character...'
"'I kept my ears open down yonder as well as my mouth...'
"'I played the buffoon in order to be discounted and ignored. Your own best role is probably that of the impractical academician...'" (pp. 84-85)
Ridenour, the investigator, learns a lot. He has just heard Evagail speak knowledgeably about practical ecology and learned that she is not a savage. Now he learns this about Uriason. Several plots thicken.
Today we will attend the Vintage Festival and there will be no more posts until tomoz.
Laters.
5 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
Exactly what I was hinting about, re Uriason, in one of my earlier comments!
Ad astra! Sean
I always thought that was a really delightful surprise in the story, that the buffoon was actually one of the smartest characters in the story.
Kaor, Jim!
It was! Sometimes it can be very useful to have people underestimating you.
Stirling used that idea in a broader sense in "A Slip in Time," where we see the Austro-Hungarians finding it useful to be underestimated.
Ad astra! Sean
He's analogous to Van Rijn, in some respects.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
I never thought of that, but I can Mayor Uriason and Old Nick getting along just fine.
Ad astra! Sean
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