The witch asks her familiar, a rat:
"'...how went the journey?'" (p. 50)
He replies:
"'Long and cold... in bat shape, blown on the wind, I fared to Elfheugh...'" (ibid.)
That is as much as I plan to quote this evening but it suffices.
First, we notice that the wind takes a reasonably active role in the proceedings. By now we expect it to.
Secondly, the familiar's first three words sound familiar. I have read very little of Rudyard Kipling but have always been impressed by the following verse:
What of the hunting, hunter bold?
Brother, the watch was long and cold.
What of the quarry ye went to kill?
Brother, he crops in the jungle still.
Where is the power that made your pride?
Brother, it ebbs from my flank and side.
Where is the haste that ye hurry by?
Brother, I go to my lair to die!
-copied from here.
In a Poul Anderson text, there is always something to post about. Until some time tomorrow.
11 comments:
Kipling's always worth reading.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
Absolutely! Plus, Kipling wrote funny poems as well, a favorite of mine being his "Municipal."
Ad astra! Sean
"It begins by loving your neighbor,
And ends by loving his wife..."
Kaor, Mr. Stirlng!
Ha! I was thinking of the one about a local magistrate of the Raj who was chased by an elephant in musk into a blocked-up sewer. And how his hair was turning grey from the pachyderm trying to drag him out with its trunk.
Ad astra! Sean
Sean: Kipling thought the Raj was a good thing, but he wasn't blind to its faults and hardships.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
Absolutely! By and large the Raj (and the British Empire in general) was a good thing and it would have been better for India and the world if it had lasted longer.
Humans being what we all are, imperfect and flawed, there's never going to be a perfect society/State. So, realms like the British Empire and hegemonic powers like the US are going to be far better than any of the alternatives of our chaotic times.
That's exactly why I far prefer Anderson's Terran Empire to any of its enemies, without being "blind to its faults and hardships." I'll take NTTB any day over dreams of an impossible perfection.
Ad astra! Sean
Alternatives to NTTB are realistic programs for a much better society, not dreams of an impossible perfection.
Kaor, Paul!
Disagree, I've seen no alternatives to NTTB that were not futilely and hopelessly Utopian. Only the limited State, in whatever form, and free enterprise has worked, when given a chance. All other alternatives have failed, usually bloodily at the hands of monstrous tyrannies set up by ideological fanatics.
Ad astra! Sean
Sean,
Disagree.
I have replied about the limited State and free enterprise endlessly before! Free enterprise will be redundant when economic competition is no longer necessary because democratically controlled advanced technology produces more than everyone needs. What has worked (insofar as it really did) in the past is no indication of what will be both possible and necessary in completely different social conditions in a (hopefully) indefinite future.
NTTB means continued environmental destruction, aerial bombardment of cities, hostility to immigrants and threat of nuclear destruction. That is nowhere near enough. Our current rulers want to maintain this status quo. Increasing numbers of people throughout the world want to replace it with the benefits of advanced technology shared by all and for life, not its destruction.
The status quo includes monstrous tyrannies. All other alternatives have been opposed by powerful vested interests and are not just supported by ideological fanatics! Such extreme, one-sided language does no justice to the subtleties and complexities of social realities!
Paul.
I anticipate your replies but you should be able to anticipate my counterreplies. All this has been said before.
Kaor, Paul!
Noted, without assent.
Ad astra! Sean
Post a Comment