Chapter 14 Chapter Fourteen Galen
Galen was the son of a weaver and had come to Buckkeep as a boy.Galen's father was one of Queen Lust's servants who had brought from Farrow for her own use.The Skillmaster at Buckkeep had been Gentle, and she had taught King Generosity and his son Shrewd, so she was very old when Shrewd's son was a boy.She petitioned King Bountiful to take an apprentice, and he granted.Galen was very favored by the queen, so under the strong impetus of the princess's lust, Yin Zhen chose the young Galen as her apprentice.The illegitimate son of the far-reaching family had no part in the Skill then as now, but when such a gift accidentally appeared in someone outside the royal family, the royal family would cultivate and reward him.Galen was undoubtedly one such boy, displaying strange and unexpected talents, which suddenly attracted the attention of the Master Skiller.
By the time Prince Rider and Prince Verity were old enough to be trained in the Skill, Galen had advanced enough to assist besides, though he was only a year or two older than them.
My life was looking for balance again, and for a while, it was.My awkwardness with Mrs. Patience gradually faded as we realized that the two of us would never be informal or very familiar.Neither of us felt the need to share feelings, and we just circled each other from a prim distance, but we also came to a fair degree of mutual understanding.Yet in this prim dance of our interactions, there are occasional moments of genuine joy, and sometimes our dances are even perfectly coordinated.
After she finally gave up and no longer just wanted to teach me everything the prince of the Zhanyuan family should know, there were really many things she could teach me, but most of them were not what she intended to teach at the beginning. mine.I did get a basic idea of the music, but it took a lot of time to borrow her instrument and practice in private.My job is not so much her page boy as her errand boy. In the process of buying things for her, I learned a lot of perfume blending skills and greatly increased my knowledge of plants.Even Chedde was excited when he discovered my new talent for pruning and propagating plants, and he followed enthusiastically the experiments Mrs. Patience and I were carrying out, such as cutting shoots from one tree to another. On the tree, try to make it grow leaves, but these experiments are rarely successful.She had heard rumors of this magic, and had no scruples to experiment with it.Until now, there is an apple tree in the woman's garden with pears on one branch.When I also expressed curiosity about tattooing skills, she refused to let me tattoo on myself, saying that I was too young to make such a decision, but she let me watch from the sidelines without any qualms, and finally did it from the sidelines. Assisting her, slowly dab the dye on her own ankles and calves, piercing a wreath of flowers.
But all of this has evolved over years, not just a few days.By the tenth day, we had established a way of being abrupt and polite to each other.She met Federon and enlisted him to join her project to make paper from plant roots.The puppies are doing well and make me happier every day.Mrs. Patience's errands into town gave me a lot of opportunities to meet friends in the city, especially Molly, who was the best guide and took me to the spice stalls to buy ingredients for Mrs. Patience's perfume.The Forge and the Red Ship Raiders were still threats hanging over the horizon, but in those weeks the dread seemed far away, like remembering the harshness of winter in a midsummer day.For that short time I was happy and, more rarely, I knew I was happy.
Then I started taking lessons with Galen.
Burrich called me the night before class.On the way there, I thought about it, wondering what kind of work I didn't do well to be scolded by him.He was waiting for me outside the stable, shifting his weight on his feet, like a locked stallion. When he saw me, he beckoned and asked me to follow him to his room.
"Tea?" he asked, I nodded, and he poured me a cup from a pot of still-warm tea on the stove.
"What's going on?" I took the teacup and asked.I've never seen him look so tense, it's so un-Burrich, and I'm afraid if I'm going to hear some terrible news - say Soot is sick or dead, or he's found the blacksmith .
"It's all right." He lied, and he lied badly, as he soon found out. "That's right, boy," he confided suddenly. "Galen came to me today. He told me you were to be trained in the Skill, and gave me orders that I should not interfere in any way while he was teaching you—not to advise, not to call you Work, not even eat with you. He put it very...directly." Burrich paused, and I wondered what a better adjective he left out.He turned around and looked after him. "I used to want them to give you this chance, but they didn't, and I thought, well, maybe this would be better! Galen would be a tough teacher, very tough. I've heard it said. student, but he claims he doesn't ask of his student more than he asks of himself. Well, boy, I've heard that said of me, too, if you can believe it."
I let myself smile a little, and Burrich scowled.
"Listen to me. Galen doesn't like you, he's making no secret of it. Of course, he doesn't know you at all, so it's not your fault, it's all because of... who you are, and what you caused, God knows it wasn't your fault. But if Garen admits it, he'll have to admit it was the Rider's fault, and I've never seen him admit that the Rider was missing anything, did anything wrong...but Even if you love someone, know that he can't be perfect." Burrich walked briskly around the room, then returned to the fire.
"Just say what you want to tell me," I suggested.
"I'm working hard? Choose" he said fiercely. "It's not easy figuring out what to say. I'm not even sure if I should talk to you now because I don't know if that counts as meddling, or giving advice? But you haven't started class yet, so I'm saying it now. Do your best in front of him. Don't talk back to Galen, be respectful, listen to everything he has to say, and learn as fast as you can." He paused again.
"I didn't have any other plans, did I?" I blurted out a little bit meanly, because I could tell that wasn't what Burrich really wanted to say.
"I know, Fitz!" He sighed suddenly, and sat down heavily across the table from me.He pressed the heels of his hands to his temples, as if feeling pain.I've never seen him so disturbed. "I told you about that other kind of...magic a long time ago. Wit. It's being with the beasts, almost becoming one of them." He paused slightly, glancing around, as if worried that someone might hear him leaning closer. Me, speaking in a soft but urgent voice. "You stay away from it. I tried my best to make you understand that it was shameful and wrong, but I never felt like you actually agreed with that. Oh, I know you followed my rules most of the time, no Do that, but a few times I've had the feeling, or suspected, that you're messing around with something a decent man would never touch. I'm telling you, Fitz, I'd rather... I'd rather wait till you're forged than Don't want you to be like that. Yeah, don't look so shocked, I really do. As for Galen... Listen, Fitz, don't even mention it in front of him. Don't talk about it , don't even think about it near him. I know very little about the Skill, but sometimes... oh, sometimes your father touches me with the Skill, and it feels as if he knew about me before I did The thoughts in my heart can also see things that I even hide from myself."
Burrich's dark face suddenly flushed darkly, and I almost thought I saw tears in his black eyes.He turned his head to look at the fire, and I felt like we were finally getting to the point of what he needed to say.It is a "need" rather than a "want".There is a deep fear in his heart, and he does not allow himself to have this fear; if it is someone else, who is less courageous and not so strict with himself, that fear will make him tremble.
"...worry about you, boy." He spoke to the stones above the mantelpiece in such a low, muffled voice that I could barely catch what he was saying.
"Why?" Simple questions open up conversations the most, Chade taught me.
"I don't know if he'll see it in you, or what he'll do if he does. I've heard... no, I know it's true. There used to be a woman who was actually just a Girl, she is very friendly with birds. She lives in the hills to the west, and people say she can call down wild eagles from the sky. Some people admire her very much, saying it is a gift, and they take sick fowls to Show her, or fetch her when the hen won't hatch. As far as I'm told, she does good things. But Galen spoke ill of her openly, and called her a nuisance, and said if she Continuing to live and having a child is harmful to the world. As a result, people found her beaten to death one morning." "Galen did it?"
Burrich shrugged, which was very unlike him. "His horse left the barn that night, I know that. And his hands were bruised, and he had scratches on his face and neck, but not the kind a woman would get with her hands, boy, it was a claw mark, Like a hawk attacked him." "And you didn't say anything?" I asked in disbelief.
He half barked, half laughed. "Before I spoke, someone else spoke. The girl's cousin, who happened to work in the stables here, accused Galen of killing her. Galen did not deny it. They went to the Witness Stone to have a fight, and it was always The god El, who sat there, came to do justice. Solved the problem there, and the answer was more effective than the king's court. The boy accused Galen of falsehood. Someone told Galen so, and his answer was that El's justice was that the girl died without having a child, and so did her tainted cousin."
Burrich fell silent.What he said made me feel dizzy and nauseous, and a cold fear ran through me like a snake.Once the matter is settled at the witness stone, no plea can be raised; and the verdict there is stronger than the law, as the will of the gods.So the one who is going to teach me is a murderer, and if he suspects that I have Wit, he will want to kill me.
"Yes," Burrich said, seeming to hear my thoughts. "Oh, Fitz, my boy, take care and be wise." I was startled for a moment because he sounded as if he was worried for me, but then he added, "Don't put me to shame, boy. , and don’t let your father be ashamed. Don’t let Galen say that I let the prince’s son grow up to be half-human and half-beast, let him see that you are worthy of the blood of a horse.” “I will do my best.” I muttered.I went to bed that night in a state of tragic terror.
The Queen's Garden was far from the Ladies' Garden, far from the Kitchen Garden or any other garden at Buckkeep.It was in fact at the top of a round tower, with a high wall on the seaward side, but a lower wall on the south and west sides, with seats running along it.The stone walls retain the warmth of the sun and block the salty sea breeze.The air there is still, almost like a hand curled over an ear.However, gardens built on rocks have a strange wildness of their own. There are water basins made of stone, which may have been used for bird watering or fountains, and there are many large buckets, small basins, and long troughs filled with dirt. , interspersed with statues.These vats and small pots may have been filled with green leaves and flowers in the past, but now the only remaining plants are a few branches and moss growing on the soil in the pot, and a half-rotten coconut trellis is crawling with withered vines.This scene filled my heart with an ancient sadness, and the coldness was better than the coldness of late autumn and early winter that had already appeared at this time.I thought to myself, this place should be handed over to Patience, she will make this place come alive again.
I was the first to arrive, and Wei Yi followed soon after.He also has the characteristics of the dark hair and skin of the Zhanyuan family, and his figure is like Verity, and he is short and stocky, while I am like a horse, and I am taller.He gave me a distant but polite nod, as usual, and wandered around looking at the statues.
Others soon followed, and I was amazed at how many there were, a dozen in all.Except that Weiyi is the son of the king's sister, no one here has more Zhanyuan family blood than me.There were cousins and further distant relatives, both male and female, older and younger than me.Weiyi, who is two years younger than me, is probably the youngest, and Duanning, who is about 25 years old, should be the oldest.The attitude of this group of people was strangely restrained and low-key. A few of them gathered together and talked softly, but most of them scattered around, touching things in the hollow garden or looking at the statues.
Then Galen came.
He came up the stairwell, letting the door slam shut behind him, and several people jumped.He stood there looking at us, and we watched him in silence.
After so many years, I have a little observation experience on thin people.Some thin people, like Chade, seemed so busy and absorbed in life that they either forgot to eat or were consumed by their eager interest in life.The other kind is thin and haggard, with sunken cheeks and protruding bones, making you feel that he is too dissatisfied with the world, so he is unwilling to eat every little thing in his body.The first time I saw Galen, I'd bet he'd never really enjoyed half a mouthful of food or drink in his life.
His clothes puzzled me.The clothes were very luxurious and rich, with fur rolled around the neckline and fur around the neck, and the amber beads on the vest were thick enough to block swords, but the gorgeous material was stretched tightly on his body, and the cut was so close that one wondered if it was It's not that tailors don't have enough fabric for clothes.At that time, rich people wore toga with big sleeves, and the sleeves were deliberately cut with slits and lined with different colors, but his shirt was as tight as the skin of a cat.He wore high boots that pressed close to his calves, and he carried a riding whip in his hand, as if he had just come straight after riding.His clothes don't look comfortable, and he is thin, giving people a stingy impression.
His pale eyes scanned us across the Queen's Garden calmly, and immediately decided that we were an unqualified bunch.His hooked nose snorted, as if facing an unpleasant errand. "Clear out a place." He directed us. "Push all this junk aside and pile it up against that wall. Be quick, I've got no patience for slackers."
And so the last vestiges of the garden were destroyed.The pots and beds, which had been placed in the same places as the paths and trees that had existed before, were all cleared away, the pots pushed aside, and the pretty figurines stacked here and there on top of the pots.Galen spoke only once, and it was to me. "Hurry up, little bastard," he ordered me as I struggled with a pot of heavy dirt, slapping my shoulder with a whip.It wasn't a hard blow, more like a tap, but it seemed so deliberate that I stopped and looked at him. "Didn't you hear what I said?" he demanded.I nodded and continued to move the flowerpot, seeing a strange expression of satisfaction on his face out of the corner of my eye.I feel like the one he hit me was some sort of test, but I'm not sure I passed it.
The top of the tower became a bare open space, with only streaks of green turtle moss and old mud ditches to show that there had been a garden.He asked us to line up in two rows, adjust our position according to our age and body size, and then separate boys and girls, and the girls lined up behind and to the right of the boys. “I have absolutely no tolerance for absent-mindedness or mischievous behavior. You are here to learn, not to fool around,” he warned us.Then he asked us to spread out and stretch our arms so that we can't touch others at all.This made me think the physical movement was about to start, but he directed us to stand still, put our hands to our sides, and listen to him.So we stood at the top of the cold tower and listened to his lectures.
"I have been a Skill Master in this castle for 17 years. Before you, my students were taught in small groups, small groups, and the lessons were conducted in private. Those who lack potential will Quietly eliminated. Only a handful of people from the Six Duchies needed this kind of training at the time, I only trained the most potential and didn't waste any time on anyone who lacked talent or discipline. And I've had it for 15 years No one was taught the Skill." "But we now face wicked times, when the Outislands plunder our shores and forge our people. King Shrewd and Prince Verity protect us with their Skill, They have tried very hard and achieved a great deal of success, although ordinary people would never dream of what they have done. I can assure you that the Out Islanders have no chance of success against the mind I have trained. They Taking advantage of our unpreparedness, we may have won a few scrappy victories, but the power I created to fight against them will surely win?"
His pale eyes were burning with fire, and his hands were raised to the sky.He was silent for a long time, raised his eyes to the sky, raised his arms above his head, as if he had grabbed power from the sky.Then he lowered his arms slowly.
"I know that," he continued in a calmer voice. "I know this. The power I create will prevail. But our King—may the gods bless him with glory—doubts me. Since he is His Majesty, I obey his will. He Ask me to search among you who are not pure of blood, to see if there is any one with enough talent and will, pure of heart, and fortitude of soul, to be trained in the Skill. I will do this, because the king has ordered me to commanded. Legend has it that in the past there were many men trained in the Skill who joined forces with the king to repel the dangers that threatened the country; perhaps this is true, or perhaps these ancient legends are exaggerated. At any rate, the king ordered me to try Train some Skill men, so I'll try."
He completely ignored the five or six women in our group, didn't even look at them.His exclusion of them was so obvious that I wondered where they had offended him.I know Duanning more or less, because she is also a proud student of Federen.I could almost feel her hot displeasure.A boy in the row behind me moved, and Galen jumped right in front of him.
"Bored, huh? Tired of listening to the old man?" "I just have a cramp in my calf, my lord," the boy replied irrationally.
Galen slapped him backhanded, sending the boy's head shaking. "Shut up and stand, or leave me. It's all the same to me. Anyway, I have seen that you obviously lack the perseverance to master the Skill. But since the king thinks you are worthy to come here, I will try to teach you .”
I trembled inside because Galen, while speaking to the boy, stared at me as if the boy's actions were my fault.A strong dislike for Galen welled up in me.I took blows from Hod when I was learning to stick and sword, and I even endured discomfort during my lessons with Chade, as he showed where to press, how to strangle, and how to choke. There are various ways of quieting a man without crippling him.Burrich has slapped me, kicked me, and hit me, too, some for good reason and some of the frustration of a busy man.But I've never seen a man hit a boy with such relish as Galen showed.I tried to keep my face blank and not look like I was staring at him, but to look at him because I knew if I looked away he would accuse me of not paying attention.
Satisfied, Galen nodded to himself, and went on lecturing.To master the Skill, he must first teach us to master ourselves.He believes that the key is to work his muscles and bones and starve his skin.Tomorrow we're going to be here before the sun comes out, no shoes and socks, no ponchos, no woolen things of any kind, and no hats on your heads.We must be scrupulous about keeping our bodies clean, and he exhorts us to imitate his eating and living habits.We avoid meat, sweet fruit, seasoned vegetables, milk, and "frivolous food." He advocates porridge, cold water, white bread, and boiled root vegetables.We must avoid all unnecessary conversations, especially with the opposite sex.At length he advises us to avoid any "sensual" cravings, including cravings for food, sleep, or warmth.In addition, he informed us that he had allocated a special separate table for us in the dining room, so that we could eat the right food and not be distracted by unnecessary chatter—or questions.He said "doubt" almost threateningly.
Then he asked us to do various exercises.Close your eyes and roll your eyeballs up as far as possible.Try to turn the eyeballs completely away, so that you can see the back of your head.Feel the pressure of the movement.Imagine if you could turn your eyes to the back, what you might see?Is what you see honorable and correct?Keep your eyes closed and stand on one foot.Try to remain completely still.Find the balance, not only the balance of the body, but also the balance of the spirit.Just get all dubious thoughts out of your head and you can stand like this forever.
We stood there with our eyes closed, and he walked between us, and I could tell where he was by the sound of his whip. "Concentrate? Pick" he'd order us, or "You at least try hard? Pick" I myself took at least four whips that day.Those hits weren't hard, like light taps on me, but being touched by the whip was a tense thing, even if it didn't hurt.The last blow hit me high in the shoulder, the tip of the whip bounced on my bare neck, and the tip of the whip hit me on the chin.I scowled in pain, but managed to keep my eyes open, balancing on one aching knee.He walks away and I feel a stream of warm blood trickle down my chin.
He kept us all day till the sun sank like a half-coin below the horizon and the evening wind blew up.Not once during this time did he let us eat, drink, or do anything else necessary.He watched us file past him with a sinister smile on his face, and we didn't dare to stagger down the stairs until we were through the door.
I was starving, my hands were red and swollen with cold, and my mouth was so dry I couldn't speak even if I wanted to.Others looked pretty much the same, though some suffered more than I did.I am at least used to working long hours, and many of them are also used to staying outdoors. Xinyi, who is one or two years older than me, is used to helping Master Ji Jingfeng weave. redness.Duanning held her hand when we went downstairs, and I heard her whisper something to Duanning. "If he paid any attention to us, it wouldn't feel so bad." Duan Ning whispered to her, and then I saw the two of them turn their heads away in fear, fearing that Galen would see them talking. An unsatisfactory sight.
The supper that day was the most miserable meal I have ever had at Buckkeep. It consisted of cold porridge of boiled corn, bread, water, and boiled mash of turnips.Galen didn't eat and supervised our meal.No one at the table spoke, I don't think we even looked at each other.I finished my allotted portion and left the table almost as hungry as I was before the meal.
Halfway up the stairs I thought of the blacksmith, and went back to the kitchen to get the bones and bits of meat that the cook had left for me, and a jug of water to refill its bowls.I walked up the stairs and these things felt incredibly heavy.I find it odd that a relatively inactive day out in the cold wears me out as much as a full day's hard work.
When I returned to my room, the blacksmith's warm welcome and eagerness to eat the leftovers soothed me like a healing salve.We huddled together on the bed as soon as it finished eating, and it tried to bite me, but gave up soon after.I let sleep take me away.
Then I woke up in the dark, scared that I had overslept.I glanced at the sky and knew I'd still have time to get to the roof before the sun came out, but it would be a long one.I don't have time to bathe, eat, or clean up for the blacksmith, and it's good that Galen doesn't let us wear shoes and socks, because I don't have time for them.I was running around the fort, running up the stairs to the top of the tower, feeling like an idiot because I was so tired.The flickering light of the torch ahead let me know that someone was running ahead, and when I ran from the stairwell to the top of the tower, Galen whipped me on the back.
It pierced through my thin shirt, and it hurt unexpectedly.I cried out, both from pain and accident. "Stand like a man and harness yourself, little bastard," Galen said to me sternly, taking another whip down.Everyone else was in the same position as the day before, and they looked just as tired as I did, and most of them looked just like me, shocked at how Galen treated me.I silently walked to my place and stood facing Galen, but to this day I don't know why I did that.
"The last person to arrive is late, and that's how he gets treated," he warned us.I think this is a cruel rule because the only way to avoid getting spanked by him tomorrow is to arrive early and let the whip fall on one of my classmates.
Another day of discomfort and random abuse followed.I see it now, and I think I knew in the deepest part of myself back then, that the cold, rocky ground numbs bare feet, and he speaks of it as an honor.He inspired us to be competitive, not just with each other, but with the shabby image he had made of us. "Prove me wrong? Choose," he said over and over again. "I beg you, prove me wrong so I can show the king that at least one student is not wasting my time." So we tried.It was very strange looking back on it, and I marveled at myself, but at the time, in one short day, he managed to isolate us and put us suddenly in another reality, where all the etiquette And the rules of common sense don't work.We stood silently in the cold, in various uncomfortable positions, eyes closed, wearing little more than underwear, while he walked between us, lashing us with his stupid little leather whip , insulting the actors with his vicious little tongue.Sometimes he'll slap you or give you a hard push, which hurts a lot more when you're cold to the bone.
Those who shrink back or waver slightly are called weak.All day long he was berating us, and saying that he had only come to teach us at the king's behest.He ignored the girls, and though he often mentioned the many princes and kings who had used the Skill to defend their lands in the past, he never mentioned any queens and princesses who had done the same.He didn't say at all what he was trying to teach us, it was just the cold and the uncomfortable movements he made us do, and the feeling of not knowing when we were going to get hit, I really don't know why we were trying to endure it Get over it.We have so quickly become his accomplices, degrading ourselves with him.
The sun finally plucked up the courage to set again toward the horizon, but Garen had two surprises in store for us.He told us to stand up, open our eyes, and stretch out a bit.Then he went and lectured us again, this time warning us against those foolish and self-willed people among us who would spoil everyone's training.He walked slowly between us as he spoke, weaving back and forth between lines, and I saw many people roll their eyes and take deep breaths as he passed.Then, for the first time that day, he walked to the girls' corner.
"Some people," he admonished us as we walked, "think they don't obey the rules. They think they deserve special attention and special indulgence. This illusion of superiority must be driven out of your minds before you Possibly learn anything. It's a waste of time to teach this kind of lesson to slackers and fools, but they are here too, so I will respect the king's will and try to teach them. But I only know one way to wake up this A lazy mind."
He whipped Xinyi twice quickly with a whip, while Duanning was pushed to kneel on one knee by him and received four whips.To my shame, I stood there with the others, watching him whip and whip, and only hoped she wouldn't scream and get herself some more blows.
But Duanning stood up, shook a bit, then stood firm again, looked forward over the girl in front of her, and didn't move.I sighed: a big stone fell to the ground.But Galen's back again, like a shark circling a small fishing boat, and now he's talking about some people who think they don't have to obey group discipline, when the rest of us only eat wholesome grains and pure foods, those people But he ate meat.I wondered uncomfortably who was so stupid as to go into the kitchen after class.
Then I felt the whip hit me hot on the shoulder.If I thought he swung the whip with all his strength, now I know I was wrong.
"You're trying to trick me. You think I don't know that the cook left a plate of food for her dear pet, don't you? But I know all about what happened at Buckkeep, so don't get me wrong."
It dawned on me that he was referring to the plate of minced meat I was taking back to the blacksmith.
"That food isn't for me," I protest, then want to bite my tongue.
There was a cold light in his eyes. "You're willing to lie just to avoid a little pain. You'll never learn the Skill, you'll never be good enough for it. But the King ordered me to try to teach you, so I'll try, despite your There are lowborn fellows."
I bear his whipping in humiliation.He berated me as he beat me, and told the others that it was the old rule that bastards couldn't learn the Skills, and that if we kept the old rules we could keep it from happening.
Afterwards I stood there silently, listening in shame as he continued to whip each of my classmates, explaining that we all had to be punished if one made a mistake.This sentence is completely unreasonable, but it doesn't matter; Galen's whip hit my classmates far less than it just hit me, but it doesn't matter; the point is that they all paid for my unruly behavior .I've never felt so ashamed in my life.
Then he let us go and we went downstairs to have the same dismal dinner as last night.This time no one spoke, neither in the stairwell nor at the dinner table.Immediately after dinner I went back to my room.
There'll be meat later, I promise the hungry pups waiting for me.Despite my sore back and sore muscles, I forced myself to clean the room, clean up the blacksmith's shit, and went out to fetch fresh reeds for the floor.The blacksmith was a little mad at me for being alone all day, and it bothered me when I thought I had no idea how long this damn training was going to last.
I waited until late at night, when all the servants in the castle were asleep, before I dared to go downstairs to fetch food for the blacksmith.I'm terribly afraid Galen will find out, but what else can I do?I was halfway down the wide staircase when I saw the flickering light of a candle approaching me. I leaned against the wall, suddenly convinced that it must be Galen.But coming towards me was the Fool, as pale as the candle he was holding, with a pail of food in his other hand, and a large glass of water on it.He waved to me silently and led me back to my room.
When I entered the room, as soon as the door was closed, he started talking to me. "I can take care of the puppy for you," he told me nonchalantly, "but I can't take care of you. Use your brains, boy. He's just abusing you now. Where's he going to teach you anything?"
I shrugged, then wrinkled my face in pain. "It's just to toughen us up a little bit, I don't think it will last long before he starts teaching us for real. I can live with it." And then: "Wait a minute," I said, taking it out of the bucket. "How do you know what Galen did to us?" said he, who fed minced meat to the blacksmith. "Oh, that would be giving away the secret," he said briskly. “这我可不能做。我是指泄漏秘密。”他把桶里的东西全倒出来给铁匠吃，替它的水碗添满水，然后站起来。
“我可以替你喂小狗，”他告诉我，“我甚至会试着每天带它出去走一走，但我可不要清理它的大小便。”他走到门前稍停了一下。“那是我的界线。你最好也决定你的界线在哪里，而且要快，非常快。你不知道有多危险。”
然后他就走了，把蜡烛和警告一起带走。我躺下来睡着了，铁匠正啃着一根骨头，自顾自发出小小狗的咆哮声。