Linguistic differences continue. When Yasmin asks whether Silva is the next country, the Nikean woman, Elanor Landa, confirms that it is the "'...next cavedom...'" (p. 496) The Landa family has never missed a Founder's Festival except when there was none "...the year after the friends came..." (p. 497)
This confirms that the word, "friend," has changed its meaning. See Meanings.
Elanor's conversation confirms that Nike is "...poor in heavy metals." (p. 499) Aluminum, beryllium, magnesium etc "...were obtained electrochemically from the sea.and from clays..." (ibid.) whereas iron, copper, silver, uranium etc were traded for agricultural products. Nowadays, heavy metals are obtained only by reclaiming scrap and therefore are expensive. Some extractor plants for lighter elements remain but not enough. When Petar Landa inherited a quantity of ironware, he could have sold it for very high prices but preferred to make it "...into cutting edge implements." (p. 500) Elanor has a ceramic stove but an aluminum coffeepot and a steel knife. When Yasmin offers her a gold coin for two horses, she gasps, makes a sign, sits down and fans herself, causing her youngest child to whimper.
Of course, this absence of metals will prove to be significant.
3 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
Even a copper two pence UK coin might command a high price on Nike!
Ad astra! Sean
That lack of metals would have medical implications. You need them metabolically, in trace amounts at least.
Kaor, Paul!
But couldn't the original colonists of Nike compensate for that with certain Terrestrial crops and meat animals? We see Poul Anderson using a gruesome variant of that idea in "The Sharing of Flesh."
Ad astra! Sean
Post a Comment