"Varagan clutched his belly. Blood squirted between his fingers. He leaned against the wall and shouted.
"Castelar wasted no time finishing him."
-Poul Anderson, "The Year Of The Ransom" IN Anderson, Time Patrol (New York, 1991), pp. 399-458, AT 15 April 1610, p. 416.
"Pym cursed his stupidity for not finishing L'Ollonais while he had had the chance."
-John Sanders, The Hat Of Authority (London, 1966), 9, p. 114.
Varagan must survive to be captured by Manse Everard in "Ivory, And Apes, And Peacocks." L'Ollonais is a historical figure and was not killed by a fictional character. (His name is spelled differently on Wikipedia.)
Somewhere among the elaborate circular causality paradoxes of Tim Powers' The Anubis Gates, a character tells his younger self (I think) effectively that he can't kill him because he didn't!
5 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
I've read five or six of Tim Powers' books. And I think I liked best his THE ANUBIS GATES. One of the many book I have in the back of my mind of rereading.
Ad astra! Sean
To Castelar, he already -has- killed Varagan. Belly wounds of that type were always and without exception fatal before modern medicine; finishing him off would be taking time out to be merciful.
As an Exaltationist, Varagan probably has an improved immune system which makes him not subject to lethal infections from his own intestinal flora.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
I should have thought of that! And of how often belly wounds were fatal in both Anderson's books and yours. Yes, I can see Varagan, being born many thousands of years after our time, having such an improved immune system.
Ad astra! Sean
Anything that cut the intestine enough to release fecal matter into the body cavity resulted in infection and death; they used to sniff the wound. If you could smell human waste near it, all you could do was try to reduce the pain -- or ask the man if he wanted to be finished off. (I would.) At that point, death was inevitable and only the manner was in question.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
I agree, before modern medicine, beginning no earlier than WW I, injuries of that kind to the intestines were always fatal. It can still happen today, if persons troubled by perforated ulcers are not treated quickly enough.
I recall from your own Emberverse books how enemy wounded with such injuries were "finished off" like that, from simple mercy. And one's friends with such wounds were asked if they too would accept the mercy stroke.
Ad astra! Sean
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