"Goblets went to mouths for a time in which the storm alone had voice." (p. 137)
Here again, the wind underlines a pause in the dialogue. The text says "storm" which, in this case, we have been told, means both dashing rain and howling wind. Maybe this storm even contributes to the dialogue since its sound is described as a "voice."
Ivan's grudge against Nada is that he thinks that it was she that caused the oldest son who should have been his heir to go into a monastery but he adds:
"'I could be wrong. Who knows the wellsprings of the heart, save God?'" (ibid.)
An important question. It would be glib just to say, "I don't believe in God." That is not quite the point. The main point is that no human being can fully know the motivations of another. I have had motives attributed to me wrongly. We can imagine what it would be like if there were an omniscient being who knew everyone's innermost thoughts and even their unconscious motivations. Many among us believe that such a being exists. It is an enlightening exercise to imagine conversing with such a being. Dishonesty would be impossible. In Zen meditation, we "sit with" whatever thoughts or memories come up. We practice neither denying nor suppressing them. There is some overlap with prayer. God, if He exists, knows us even if we do not know Him.
12 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
We sometimes get glimpses of that in the Gospels when Christ show flashes of that kind of knowledge of others.
Recognized the titles of all the Anderson books in the illustration except the ones in the upper left and lower right corners.
Ad astra! Sean
SHIELD; THREE HEARTS AND THREE LIONS.
Note that human beings don't fully understand their -own- motives. Indeed, they often delude themselves about 'em.
Kaor, Paul and Mr. Stirling!
Paul: Got it, I sometimes puzzle over the illustrations you select.
Mr. Stirling: I agree, and I try to have no Tom fool illusions about myself or the human race.
Ad astra! Sean
Sean,
I have to choose what illustrations I can get. Hence, repetition.
The original Tom Fool was very near here. I mention him on the blog because both Poul Anderson's Dominic Flandry and CS Lewis' Elwin Ransom say "tomfool."
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
I don't mind that "repetition."
I will look up that original Tom Fool. And I recall Flandry's use of "Tom, Dick, and Harry foolishness" in A CIRCUS OF HELLS.
Ad astra! Sean
"original Tom Fool"
Googling "Tom Fool" gets me an article about a race horse by that name. It seems unlikely to me that was the origin of the term. Can you fill me in on the original Tom Fool?
Jim,
When I googled "Tom Fool," the first item that came up was the Wikipedia article on "Muncaster Castle." Search for that. Tom was based at Muncaster.
Paul.
Kaor, Jim!
That's what I did, what Paul said. I scrolled down till I found the original Tom Fools, the nasty one and the far more benign persons who were court entertainers.
Ad astra! Sean
For Tom Fool on this blog, see "Tom Fool" (Wednesday, 17 March 2021) and "Today" (Thursday, 4 June, 2015).
Looking up Muncaster Castle got me enough about Tom Fool to make sense.
Jim,
But now, if you read my latest post, "Shamanism Or Tomfoolery," you'll see that maybe Tom of Muncaster is not the original Tom Fool after all.
Paul.
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