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.I then returned to the front of the cart.Some of the passengers had alighted.I regarded again the walls of glorious Ar, shining in the distance. I cannot wait, said Boabissia, to claim my patrimony. I nodded.I finished my food. Let us return to the cart! the driver called to some of the fellows who hadalighted. Let us return to the cart! I looked again upon the city in the distance.From here it looked verybeautiful.Yet Iknew that somewhere within it, perhaps within its crowded quarters, from whichmobs might erupt like floods, or within its sheltered patios and gardens,where high ladies might exchange gossip, sip nectars and toy with daintyrepasts, served to them by male silk slaves, or among its houses and towers,or on its streets or in the great baths, that somewhere there, somewherebehind those walls, was treason.Somewhere there, within those walls, coiledin the darkness of secrecy, corruption and sedition, like serpents, I wassure, awaited their hour to strike. It is a fine sight, said a fellow, climbing up through the cart gate, andstanding beside me for a moment, to look down on the city. Yes, I said.He returned to his place.From where we were, of course, we could not see dirt and crime, or poverty orhunger.We could not detect pain, misery and greed.We could not feel loneliness andwoe.And yet, for all these things, which so afflict so many of its own, howimpressive is the city.How precious it must be, that so many men are willingto pay its price.I wondered why this was, Ia voyager and soldier, more fond of the tumultuous sea and the wind-sweptfield than the street and plaza.Perhaps because it is alive, like drums andtrumpets.To be near it or within it, to be stirred by its life, to call itscylinders their own, is for many reward enough.(pg.258) The last fellow, climbing up and closing the gate behind him, tookhis seat.I did not take my eyes from the city, so splendid before us.Yes, I thought,it is all there, the habitats of culture, the intricate poetries of stone, theincredible places where, their heads among clouds, common bricks have beentaught to speak and sing, the meanings uttered scarcely understood by thosewho walk among them; yes it is all there, in them, in the cities, I thought;in them were dirt and crime, iron and silver, gold and steel; in them wereperfume and silk, and whips and chains; in them were love and lust in themwere mastery and submission, the owning and the helplessly being owned inthem were intrigue and greed, nobility and honor, deceit and treachery, theexalted and the base, the strong and the weak.In such places, filthy, andcrowded and frail, are found the fortresses of man.They are castles andprisons, arenas and troves, they are cities; they are the citadels ofPage 137 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlcivilization.The driver called to his tharlarion and shook the reins. Ahead! he called to the beast. Move! I returned to my seat, the cart beginning to move. You have seen Ar before? said a man. Yes, I said. It is then an old thing for you, he said. Yes, I said. You will have to forgive me, he said. But I found it quite astonishing,this first time. It often affects one that way, the first time, I said. I suppose so, he said.The cart continued to move down the incline.I noted the sound of the narrow,metal-rimmed wheels on the stones.I watched the walls of Ar grow closer.(pg.259)21 Within the Walls of Ar Are you come from Torcadino? asked the man. Yes, I said. Thousands of you are in the city, he said, from Torcadino and otherplaces. I nodded.I had never, myself, seen Ar so crowded. We need no more of you refugees here, snapped a woman, a seller of suls attheTeiban Market. We seek lodging in the city, I said to the man. Lodging is dear, he said. It is difficult to know what to tell you. Heglanced atFeiqa, who put down her head.She was kneeling behind me, to my left, my packstill on her back.She had knelt when we had stopped, and begun to speak tothe free person.This was appropriate, of course, for she was a slave.Herlocation was approximately what it had been when she had been following me, inthe heeling position. She, he said, you could sleep in the street, chainingher by the neck to a ring, perhaps putting her in an iron belt, but that sortof thing will not do for free folks. No, I said. You could try the southern insulae, he said, such as those below the PlazaofTarns. The Anbar district? I asked, skeptically. Or those of the Metellan Quarter, he said. What about east of the Avenue of the Central Cylinder? I asked. There is the District of Trevelyan, he said. That sounds nice, said Boabissia. We would hope to survive the night, I said. You know the city? he asked.(pg.260) I have been here before, I said. You are two big fellows, he said. I doubt that anyone would bother you. If they do bother us, said Hurtha, It is my hope that they are carryingcoins. We do not have much to steal, I told the man. You have a free female there, he said. Such can bring their prices incertain places. I am not afraid, said Boabissia. Brave and noble girl, he said. I can take care of myself, said Boabissia. To be sure, he said, her price could be lowered for stupidity. I am not stupid, said Boabissia. Forgive me, he said. From your remark I thought that perhaps you were. Page 138 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlBoabissia regarded him in fury.The fellow regarded her.It was one of those looks which, in effect, undress awoman, exposing all her lineaments, careless of her will, to his view. Do not look at me in that way, she said. I am free. He continued to consider her, perhaps now as she might look trembling, suingfor his favor, in chains at his feet. You are not veiled, he said. I am an Alar woman, she said. No, said Hurtha. She is not an Alar. I have been with the wagons, she said. That is true, said Hurtha.Boabissia, as I have mentioned, did not much resemble the typical Alar woman.She seemed of a much different type, that of the delicious, soft women of thecities, the sort which are generally put on slave blocks.Indeed, I suspectedthat her origin might be urban. What district do you think we might try? I asked the fellow. Regardless of this free woman, he said, you have something of value there, He indicated Feiqa.She put down her head, appraised. What district do you think we might try? I asked.(pg.261) I have suggested several, he said. Ar is a large city, I said. Are you looking for decent lodging? he asked. Yes, I said. Are you willing to pay a silver tarsk a night? he asked. No, I said.We could not afford that. Then I do not think you will find any, he said. I thank you, Citizen, I said, for your time. Is it true, he asked, that there are considerable Cosian forces in thevicinity ofTorcadino? Yes, I said. They have taken the city? he asked. I do not think so, I said
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Tematy
IndexJohn Ringo Ghost 01 Ghost
John DeChancie Castle 07 Castle Spellbound
John Dalmas Farside 01 The Lion of Farside
John Betancourt Dawn of Amber 1 Dawn of Amder
Black Elk Speaks Being the Life Story of A Holy Man of the Oglala Sioux as told to John G Neihardt
John Ruston Pagan Anne Orthwood's Bastard, Sex and Law in Early Virginia (2002)
Gribbin John & White Michael W poszukiwaniu kota Schrödingera realizm w fizyce kwantowej
John Connolly Charlie Parker 04 The White Road (com v4.0) (lit)
Roberts John Maddox Nova Roma 01 Operacja Marka Scypiona (2)
Raymond L. Cohn Mass Migration Under Sail, European Immigration to the Antebellum United States (2002)