"Insects stridulated." (p. 142)
OK. I infer that to stridulate is to make a sound somehow but how? Always google Poul Anderson's vocabulary. Some of James Blish's aliens communicate with human beings by stridulating. See The Callean.
"Haverner laughed aloud. To possess this power over lives and deaths was like being young again." (p. 144)
Oh yes? Then I prefer old age.
Check this sentence:
"A dimmer, narrower path which Anselmo has explained to me was made be free-browsing goats (will those animales de Castilla ruin this land as they ruined Greece and her isles, and will it then show forth the same skeletal comeliness?) leads from the human trail." (p. 131)
I had to stop reading the sentence and start again. The subject, "path," and its verb, "leads," are separated by five clauses:
"which Anselm has explained to me
"was made by free-browsing goats
"(will these animales de Castilla ruin this land
"as they ruined Greece and her isles
"and will it then show forth the same skeletal comeliness?)"
An unusually roundabout construction for Poul Anderson but it is part of the stream of consciousness of Byron Shaddock.
3 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
I too noticed "stridulation," which struck me as an odd word.
What you said about how the taste of power made Haverner feel young again reminded me of this bit from Chapter X of THE GOLDEN SLAVE, after Eodan, haranguing the slaves in the merchant ship he captured: "A moment's silence, then Tjorr whooped. And then they all shouted their throats raw, clapped, danced, shook weapons aloft. "CAPTAIN, CAPTAIN!" Eodan felt their worship beat on his face like sunshine. Now, he thought drunkenly, now I can forgive Marius that he made a triumph." Power can be a heady drink as another character said in THE LAST VIKING.
Ad astra! Sean
Human beings are attracted to power. That doesn't necessarily mean it's a good thing to have -- but your genes think so!
They also think sweets and fatty foods are rare, valuable treats you should gobble at any opportunity, so you'll have more energy to chase gazelles and run away from hyenas tomorrow.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
I agree, that is why the more fortunate societies are those where power is dispersed and limited, not concentrated in too few hands. And those states can have different forms, because I don't insist on one size fits all forms of gov't.
True, what you said about fatty foods and sweets! And since I don't have to chase gazelles or flee hyenas, I have to watch how much of those yummy things I eat.
Ad astra! Sean
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