[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
idea how to cope with them. Those islanders whose ears found the right heads
were stunned by the loudness a couple of convoluted slabs of flesh could
convey. Others kept newly restored eyes shut tight lest they be mentally
blinded by the shock of sharply outlined images delivered direct to the brain.
Noses brought not satisfaction but nausea, and mouths a mindless, disconsolate
wailing that began to spread all across the island and to other islands, as
freed features flocked to owners living there.
file:///C|/Documents%20and%20Settings/harry%20krui...0Catechist%2003%20-%20A%2
0Triumph%20Of%20Souls.htm (70 of 255)19-2-2006 17:08:14
A Triumph of Souls: Journeys of the Catechist, Book 3
Page 50
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
With the aid of nets and clubs, the aroused populace tediously began to bring
the situation under control.
Eyes and ears were rounded up and bagged for return to the domed chamber.
Stunned noses fluttered and hopped on the ground, to be recovered and placed
in bags by busy, faceless children. A carnival of the grotesque was on view as
Tiloeans with one eye and a mouth, or two ears and nothing else, struggled to
clean up the mess engendered by the mass release of features.
Nor were the impatient, agitated organs always precise in their deployment.
Stumbling along the paths and past the village, the departing crew saw men and
women with ears where their eyes ought to have been, noses taking the places
reserved for mouths, and individual eyes occupying the high points of faces
where nostrils ought to reside. All of which contributed to the general chaos
and allowed the sailors to escape unchallenged.
Commandeering several fishing boats, they rowed their way back to the waiting
Grömsketter.
Ignoring the danger inherent in attempting to pass through close-set islands
at night, the Captain ordered all sail put on. Not one of the grateful crew
challenged her decision. Had she so ordered it, they would have jumped into
the water in a body and pushed and kicked the heavy craft with their own
hands, so frantic were they to flee that gentle, kindhearted, accursed land.
It was only when they were safely clear of the Tilo Isles and their bizarre
inhabitants that the mariners took the time to note that not everything had
been put back the way it had formerly been. There was some question as to
which eye belonged to whom, and what lips ought rightly to reside above
certain chins. This posttraumatic confusion was understandable and was soon
sorted out. Personal disappointments aside, it was understood that everyone
had recovered his or her rightful features, and that if anyone held any second
thoughts on the matter, they were best kept to oneself, since nothing could be
done in any event to further alter the current state of affairs.
What lingering discontent existed was quickly swallowed in the wave of
euphoria that followed the last peak of the Tilos falling behind the horizon
astern. Everyone realized they should be grateful for having had the proper
complement of features returned to them. After all, everyone knows it is
better to have the wrong nose than no nose at all.
There was one attempt made to honor and praise the black litah for effecting
their freedom and the restoration of their countenances, but the big cat
forcefully demurred. Such frivolities were time-wasting activities fit for
humans, it avowed curtly, and not for nobler species like himself. Besides, it
went on to explain, it was by nature already lionized, and had no need of
gyrating, genuflecting humans to remind it of that fact.
But despite the cat s insistence, a few brave sailors did manage to slip in a
stroke or two when it was not looking, before dashing quickly back to their
posts. After a while the litah gave up trying to frighten them off, even going
so far as to tolerate their accolades and attention. Once when it was being
the recipient of such attention, the lankier of its human companions caught it
purring thunderously to itself.
Confronted with this embarrassing contradiction, the litah promptly retired
below, and thereafter showed
file:///C|/Documents%20and%20Settings/harry%20krui...0Catechist%2003%20-%20A%2
0Triumph%20Of%20Souls.htm (71 of 255)19-2-2006 17:08:14
A Triumph of Souls: Journeys of the Catechist, Book 3
itself as little as possible except at mealtimes and when taking the
occasional feline constitutional around the deck.
file:///C|/Documents%20and%20Settings/harry%20krui...0Catechist%2003%20-%20A%2
0Triumph%20Of%20Souls.htm (72 of 255)19-2-2006 17:08:14
A Triumph of Souls: Journeys of the Catechist, Book 3
Page 51
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
VII
After the remarkable occurrences of the past week it was a relief to
passengers and mariners alike to find themselves navigating a calm sea devoid
of preternatural spectacles. Except for the flock of web-footed pink and white
sea dragonets that glided gracefully past one morning, nothing out of the
ordinary presented itself for their perusal. Life aboard ship resumed a
normalcy it had not known since the
Grömsketter had first cleared the mouth of the now distant Eynharrowk delta.
They were still in waters foreign to Stanager Rose and her crew, but sailing
on the right course to make landfall somewhere north of the trading town of
Doroune. The sometimes gruff Captain seemed pleased with their progress, and
voiced aloud the hope that they would encounter no more unaccountable
interruptions.
It was a false hope.
Contrary to what landsmen think, there are many kinds of fog. These are as
familiar to mariners as the many varieties of wind and rain are to a farmer.
There is the fog that sneaks up on a ship, scudding along the surface of the
sea until it begins to cling in bits and pieces to its hull, gradually
building up until it is heavy enough to creep over the bow and obscure a
skipper s vision. There is fog that arrives in thick clumps like gray cotton
pulled from some giant s mattress. Some fog drifts down from the sky, settling
over ship and crew like a moist towel, while another fog rolls over the ocean
in the proverbial bank that is more like a dark gray wall than a line of mist.
There are almost as many species of fog as dog and, like dogs, each has its
own peculiarities and unique identifying characteristics and habits.
There was nothing striking about the fog that began to assemble itself around
the
Grömsketter.
At first. It announced itself as a single patch drifting out of the west, [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl fopke.keep.pl
idea how to cope with them. Those islanders whose ears found the right heads
were stunned by the loudness a couple of convoluted slabs of flesh could
convey. Others kept newly restored eyes shut tight lest they be mentally
blinded by the shock of sharply outlined images delivered direct to the brain.
Noses brought not satisfaction but nausea, and mouths a mindless, disconsolate
wailing that began to spread all across the island and to other islands, as
freed features flocked to owners living there.
file:///C|/Documents%20and%20Settings/harry%20krui...0Catechist%2003%20-%20A%2
0Triumph%20Of%20Souls.htm (70 of 255)19-2-2006 17:08:14
A Triumph of Souls: Journeys of the Catechist, Book 3
Page 50
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
With the aid of nets and clubs, the aroused populace tediously began to bring
the situation under control.
Eyes and ears were rounded up and bagged for return to the domed chamber.
Stunned noses fluttered and hopped on the ground, to be recovered and placed
in bags by busy, faceless children. A carnival of the grotesque was on view as
Tiloeans with one eye and a mouth, or two ears and nothing else, struggled to
clean up the mess engendered by the mass release of features.
Nor were the impatient, agitated organs always precise in their deployment.
Stumbling along the paths and past the village, the departing crew saw men and
women with ears where their eyes ought to have been, noses taking the places
reserved for mouths, and individual eyes occupying the high points of faces
where nostrils ought to reside. All of which contributed to the general chaos
and allowed the sailors to escape unchallenged.
Commandeering several fishing boats, they rowed their way back to the waiting
Grömsketter.
Ignoring the danger inherent in attempting to pass through close-set islands
at night, the Captain ordered all sail put on. Not one of the grateful crew
challenged her decision. Had she so ordered it, they would have jumped into
the water in a body and pushed and kicked the heavy craft with their own
hands, so frantic were they to flee that gentle, kindhearted, accursed land.
It was only when they were safely clear of the Tilo Isles and their bizarre
inhabitants that the mariners took the time to note that not everything had
been put back the way it had formerly been. There was some question as to
which eye belonged to whom, and what lips ought rightly to reside above
certain chins. This posttraumatic confusion was understandable and was soon
sorted out. Personal disappointments aside, it was understood that everyone
had recovered his or her rightful features, and that if anyone held any second
thoughts on the matter, they were best kept to oneself, since nothing could be
done in any event to further alter the current state of affairs.
What lingering discontent existed was quickly swallowed in the wave of
euphoria that followed the last peak of the Tilos falling behind the horizon
astern. Everyone realized they should be grateful for having had the proper
complement of features returned to them. After all, everyone knows it is
better to have the wrong nose than no nose at all.
There was one attempt made to honor and praise the black litah for effecting
their freedom and the restoration of their countenances, but the big cat
forcefully demurred. Such frivolities were time-wasting activities fit for
humans, it avowed curtly, and not for nobler species like himself. Besides, it
went on to explain, it was by nature already lionized, and had no need of
gyrating, genuflecting humans to remind it of that fact.
But despite the cat s insistence, a few brave sailors did manage to slip in a
stroke or two when it was not looking, before dashing quickly back to their
posts. After a while the litah gave up trying to frighten them off, even going
so far as to tolerate their accolades and attention. Once when it was being
the recipient of such attention, the lankier of its human companions caught it
purring thunderously to itself.
Confronted with this embarrassing contradiction, the litah promptly retired
below, and thereafter showed
file:///C|/Documents%20and%20Settings/harry%20krui...0Catechist%2003%20-%20A%2
0Triumph%20Of%20Souls.htm (71 of 255)19-2-2006 17:08:14
A Triumph of Souls: Journeys of the Catechist, Book 3
itself as little as possible except at mealtimes and when taking the
occasional feline constitutional around the deck.
file:///C|/Documents%20and%20Settings/harry%20krui...0Catechist%2003%20-%20A%2
0Triumph%20Of%20Souls.htm (72 of 255)19-2-2006 17:08:14
A Triumph of Souls: Journeys of the Catechist, Book 3
Page 51
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
VII
After the remarkable occurrences of the past week it was a relief to
passengers and mariners alike to find themselves navigating a calm sea devoid
of preternatural spectacles. Except for the flock of web-footed pink and white
sea dragonets that glided gracefully past one morning, nothing out of the
ordinary presented itself for their perusal. Life aboard ship resumed a
normalcy it had not known since the
Grömsketter had first cleared the mouth of the now distant Eynharrowk delta.
They were still in waters foreign to Stanager Rose and her crew, but sailing
on the right course to make landfall somewhere north of the trading town of
Doroune. The sometimes gruff Captain seemed pleased with their progress, and
voiced aloud the hope that they would encounter no more unaccountable
interruptions.
It was a false hope.
Contrary to what landsmen think, there are many kinds of fog. These are as
familiar to mariners as the many varieties of wind and rain are to a farmer.
There is the fog that sneaks up on a ship, scudding along the surface of the
sea until it begins to cling in bits and pieces to its hull, gradually
building up until it is heavy enough to creep over the bow and obscure a
skipper s vision. There is fog that arrives in thick clumps like gray cotton
pulled from some giant s mattress. Some fog drifts down from the sky, settling
over ship and crew like a moist towel, while another fog rolls over the ocean
in the proverbial bank that is more like a dark gray wall than a line of mist.
There are almost as many species of fog as dog and, like dogs, each has its
own peculiarities and unique identifying characteristics and habits.
There was nothing striking about the fog that began to assemble itself around
the
Grömsketter.
At first. It announced itself as a single patch drifting out of the west, [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]