Return to the Whorl

by Gene Wolfe

Page 27

 

  "What is he saying? Hes saying, `No cut, something the original Oreb, Patera Silks pet, always used to say. Possibly this is the same bird. "

  "No cut!" Oreb repeated more distinctly.

  "Do you know why he says it?" Hound inquired.

  "He knows animals are sacrificed there and is afraid he may be sacrificed as well. If we understood what more animals are trying to tell us, no doubt wed find they say the same. "

  Just then a flock of crows passed overhead, wheeling and cawing; hearing them, Pig asked, "Whatre they sayin, bucky? Yer halways ken what Horebs says, sae what habout those?"

  He looked toward the skylands, and seemed for a moment to have forgotten his companions and himself. " `Tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow. I think they mean Ill find Silk tomorrow, though Ive found him already; but they may also mean youll find new eyes tomorrow. I hope so. "

  Hound looked back curiously. "Youve found Silk already? Im surprised you didnt tell us. "

  "I found the god last night, after you had told me about him; and I should not have said even that much, Hound. Please forget I mentioned it. "

  Hound was silent as they passed more vacant houses. Then he said, "You can read the future in the flight of birds? Ive heard of that, but I forget what its called. "

  "If you want a word to impress your friends, auspicatory. If youre seeking knowledge for yourself, it is simply augury, the original form of augury, now much neglected. "

  "Silk know," Oreb assured them.

  "He very well may," he said, "but I do not. "

  Soon they reached the manteion; its wide front entrance was firmly locked, but Pigs questing fingers easily pulled the hasp from the side door. "Prized hout fore we come," he explained. "Screws pushed back hin but nae wood ter hold em. "

  The interior seemed dark and cavernous after the sunshine of the street. Pig made his way to the back, the scabbard rapping pews, found the altar, and laid his sword aside to grope its edges and corners for a moment.

  "No cut!" Oreb declared more adamantly than ever.

  "You neednt worry," his master told him. "Theres no Sacred Window here. Its what they were after, Im afraid. Was that what youre searching for back there, Pig?"

  "Aye, bucky. "

  Hound said, "There are several manteions that are still open. Horn could take you to one, since youre going with him. Or I will, if hes busy with other matters. "

  "Thank yer. Thank yer kinly. "

  "Would you like me to? We can stop someplace on our way to the inn. "

  Pig turned toward them, the brass tip of the leather-covered scabbard tapping the side of the altar again. "Gang ter yer Sun Street Quarter, yer said, bucky?"

  "Yes. Ill stop at the manteion there, though I have no way of knowing whether its still standing-or whether its still open if it is. I must warn you that much of the quarter burned twenty years ago. "

  "Gae wi yer," Pig decided. He was standing at the ambion, his thick black nails seeming to stab its carven sides.

  "Do you want to tell me whats bothering you? You neednt, of course; Ill do whatever I can whether you confide in me or not, though I may be able to assist you more intelligently if you do. "

  "Wad nae swaller hit. "

  "Poor Pig!" Oreb flew to his shoulder, and there was a silence in which it seemed that the ghosts of sacrifices past had returned. Almost, one could smell the incense, mingled with the odors of burning hair and cedar; almost, one could hear the augurs chant and the bleat of a lamb whose time had come.

  Hound coughed. "Cant you help him, Horn?"

  "You went to a manteion shortly before you lost your sight. " He spoke gently, just loudly enough to be heard. "You knelt there in prayer-prayers, perhaps, of which youre now ashamed, though you shouldnt be. Your gaze was fixed upon the Sacred Window. No god came at the moment of sacrifice-or at least, no visible theophany took place, no Holy Hues, none of that. But you felt peace and a deep joy that you cannot explain. You would like to recapture those, if you could. "

  "Were lootin," Pig said. "Me an na braithrean. "

  "I understand. "

  "Yer dinna. Hever loot yerself?"

  "No, Pig. "

  "Been hin a toon bein looted?"

  "No, never. "

  "Some goes fer ther women, some fer drink, some fer cards hor what fetches em. Done ane an tother. Said yer ken, bucky. Ken that? Hor do yer need mair? What drunk an what ther woman was?"

  His right hand made the sign of addition in the air. "Its not necessary. "

  "Thank yer. Fetch noo, ther Winders do. Yer right. Auld Pig dinna know hit then, but they do. Thinkin a gowd cups was hall. Ter big fer doors, bucky. Yer seen hit. Had ter gae hon me knees ter get hin ter yer house, Hound. Have ter, ter get hin ter most. Dinna like ter, but there tis. Dinna fash, but see ane ter stand hin, an tis hin every time. "

  "We could enlarge ours," Hound told him. "I could do the work myself. "

  "Good a yer. Saunt, aint yer, bucky?"

  "No," he said gently. "No, Im not, Pig. Ive told you Im not. "

  "He were, ter. "

  "Did you kill him, Pig?"

  "Ho, aye. Stood by his Winder, he did. "

  Pigs drew his sword as he spoke, and Oreb squawked with fear and flew back to his master.

  "Had a yeller cup ter gae me. Threw it down an broke. Twas chiner. "

  "Poor Pig. "

  "Did fer him. Cut doon wi me whin. " Pig held up his long blade, which gleamed faintly in the dusty sunlight.

  "And then?"

  "Aint yer goin ter say nae thing habout hit, bucky? Figured yer would. "

  He shook his head, although Pig could not have seen the gesture. "Later, perhaps. "

  "Suit yerself. Thats ther bad a hit. "

  "It is the good of it I wish to hear, Pig. "

  "None ter tell. "

  "After you had killed him, the Sacred Window behind him caught your attention. Am I correct?"

  "Nae. Told yer habout ther doors, reck hit? Big henough ter gae hin wihout kneelin. Sae did he? He did. "

  "Yes. "

  "Wasnt nae where he lay, but on me knees just ther same. Fou ter. Most fou. Could nae hardly, wihout fallin. "

  "Did you speak then, Pig? Did you pray, or try to pray?"

  "Nae. Tried ter. Couldnt. Could he? He could nae! Blubbed like ter a big girl. Blubbin noo. "

  "Weeping, you mean. So you are, but Hound and I are not laughing. "

  "Guid a yer. " Pig sighed deeply and wiped his nose on a sleeve already phenomenally dirty. "Tis hall, bucky. Ther lot a hit. "

  "No, it isnt. Not quite, and it will always be unfinished-incomplete-unless you tell the rest. Unless you do it now. It cannot be postponed any longer. "

  "Horn. . . " Hound gripped his arm.

  "Ill address your concerns in a few minutes," he said. "They can wait, believe me. Go on, Pig. "

  "Somethin tetched me. " Pig sounded as though he had forgotten anyone was listening. "Had me een. "

  "Yes. Of course. "

  "Touched me shoulders an me head, like hit were standin behind. Looked haround. Wasnt nae thing there. "

  "And then. . . ?"

  "Felt hit, bucky. What yer said. Wanted ter feel hit hallways, but nae felt hit nae mair. "

  "And you were changed, somewhat, after that. You found yourself doing things that surprised you. "

  "Aye. "

  From his shoulder, Oreb muttered, "Good Silk. "

  "This has been a shriving, Pig. I didnt announce it but it has been. Im a layman, as I said; but a layman may shrive when there is need. Id like you to kneel now. I know you dont like to, but you shouldnt withhold from the Outsider-it was he who touched you from behind, Im sure-the obeisance you pay so many doors. Will you kneel?"

  "Think he might gie back me een?"

  "I have no idea. Will you kneel?"

  Pig did.

  "Good. That was the worst hurdle, the one I feared we could not get over. " A swift gesture sent Hound to t
he front of the manteion. "Now say what I say. Cleanse me, friend. "

  Dutifully, Pig repeated it.

  "You dont like to say I, do you, Pig? I mean the pronoun, not the aye that signifies assent. Is it a superstition?"

  "Dinna sound weel hin ther light lands," Pig muttered.

  "Impolite? Then you may say, `for the Outsider and other gods have been offended by me. After that you must recount to me everything you have done that was seriously wrong, other than the looting and murder you have already described. Oreb, you must stay with Hound until I call you both. "

  At the rear of the manteion, Hound had watched the kneeling Pig (so huge that even on his knees he was nearly as tall as the erect man in the worn brown tunic) until embarrassment rendered it impossible.

  "Man talk," Oreb explained, lighting on the back of the pew in front of Hounds. "Talk Silk. " He whistled to emphasize the importance of that talk, and added, "Bird go. Go Hound. "

  Hound nodded absently. Statues of the Nine still stood in niches along the walls. Who was that with the owl, he wondered? Some were only minor gods, he felt certain. Since there were more than nine statues, they had to be. He had always dismissed the minor gods as unimportant; for the first time it occurred to him that he was unimportant as well, and the important gods like Echidna (over there, holding up a viper in each hand) might concern themselves with important men and things. "Echidna, and Molpe with the thrush. But whos that with the doves?"

  "Man talk," Oreb repeated in a different context.

  "To myself," Hound said. "I was trying to name these gods, thats all. "

  One of the murmuring voices at the front of the manteion rose to intelligibility. "Then I bring to you, Pig, the pardon of the gods. In the name of the Outsider, you are forgiven. In the names of Great Pas and Silver Silk, you are forgiven. And in the name of all lesser gods you are forgiven, by the power entrusted to me. " A quick gesture described the sign of addition over Pigs bowed head.

  Hound went to rejoin them, watching the huge Pig rise and straighten his shoulders. When Pigs blind face turned toward the noise of his shoes on the cracked stone floor, he said, "I didnt hear any of that. I think I ought to tell you so, Pig. I tried not to hear, and I didnt. I was way at the back, and you both spoke softly. "

  "Hall right hifyer did," Pig said. "Struth, bucky?"

  "Why, no. " He shook his head. "Neither of you are correct. Hound, you heard a part of what Pig said about looting the town in the Mountains That Look at Mountains. You also heard me say that what Pig had told me was part of a shriving, although it had not been so announced at the time. "

  Hound nodded.

  "You may be concerned about your duty as a citizen and a member of the Chapter. Nevertheless, you must understand where your duty lies. Whenever anyone, whether an augur, a sibyl, or a layperson, overhears part of a shriving by accident, that person is honor bound to reveal nothing that he-or she-has heard. He is not to hint at it or allude to it in any way. Am I making myself clear?"

  "Yes. " Hound nodded again. "You certainly are. "

  "Then let me say this. Ive said it already to Pig, but I want to say it to you. You know, just as Pig and I do, what was said earlier; and were none of us children. For an augur to die before his Sacred Window, and particularly for him to die by a steel blade as sacrifices die, is a great honor. It is the death every augur yearns for. I dont intend to imply that it isnt wrong to kill an augur under those circumstances; but when an augur dies in such a manner, other augurs and many pious laymen must wonder whether that death was not arranged by Hierax, as a reward. "

  Pig said, "Hierax is dead. "

  Hound stared at him.

  "I see. I didnt know that, though I surmised that it might be the case. No doubt its for the best. "

  "Horn?"

  He nodded. "Yes. What is it?"

  "Before we leave-" Hound began. "Are you worried about getting into the city late? You said you wouldnt go to the Juzgado till tomorrow. "

  "I would like to revisit the quarter in which I used to live this afternoon. But no, Im not. Not unless whatever youre about to propose will take hours. "

  "Fifteen minutes or half an hour, I hope. While. . . "

  Thick with muscle and armed with thick black nails, Pigs hand engulfed Hounds shoulder. "Hout wi hit, mon. Hall pals. "

  Hound nodded gratefully. "While I was back there in the back, I was trying to name the gods. The. . . These images. " He indicated them by a gesture. "You know a lot about them. Ive seen that already. Tansy saw it, too. Anyway, I couldnt, or only a few. I was hoping youd take me around and talk a little about each of them? It would give me something to tell Tansy. And Mother. Id like it myself, too, if it would be all right with Pig. "

  "Silk talk?" Oreb fixed him with a bright black eye.

  "Ho, aye. Do hit, bucky. Like ter hear yer meself. "

  "Very well. " He glanced around at the images set into the walls. "Where do you want me to begin?"

  "Well, that one. " Hound pointed to the nearest. "Its Phaea, isnt it?"

  "Yes, youre quite correct. Phaeas one of the Seven, Pass fourth daughter. Now that think of it, we couldnt have begun at a more appropriate place, since we hope to find new eyes for a man called Pig, and Im carrying seed corn to Blue. Feasting Phaeas the goddess of healing, and of foodstuffs generally. She presides over banquets and infirmaries alike. You can generally recognize her images by the boar at her side. "

  "Yes," Hound said eagerly. "Thats how I got it. "

  "Then I ought to add that when the boar is absent Phaea is customarily shown holding a young pig, that when the piglet is omitted as well you may know her by her thick waist, and that she is the generous patroness of cooks and physicians. Is that sufficient?"