"'And so we fare forth again, we three and our ship, like our young days come back,' Adzel sighed, 'except that this time our mission is not into the hopeful yonder.'" (I, p. 46)
Adzel is a Wodenite addressing a Cynthian, Chee Lan, although the remaining member of the team that he refers to is a human being, David Falkayn. However, the author and readers of the novel are human. How much of human life is expressed in Adzel's words? We do things when we are young. We remember what we did then and can sometimes repeat it later although it is not the same. When Bill, a good cricketer, played again comparatively recently, someone said that it was "like having the old Bill back again," but that could hardly last. That cricket team no longer plays although its members are still with us.
Adzel and Chee Lan say more in the concluding pages.
Adzel: "'...those were good years. Were they not?'" (XXI, p. 289)
They agree to meet occasionally and to:
"'...swap lies about bygone times...'" (ibid.)
Chee Lan: "'We can't go home to what we left when we were young; it may still be, but we aren't, nor is the rest of the cosmos.'" (p. 290)
"'We enjoyed the trader game as long as that lasted.'" (p. 291)
They agree that they will continue to meet and confer on practical matters just as van Rijn will do what he can to hold the League together for a little while longer and we are content with that.
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
On another occasion Chee Lan expressed annoyance about that! She had hoped to retire to a life of luxury, and not to becoming in effect, a politician and administrator.
Ad astra! Sean
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