Chapter 10 10. Shaman

Lee Scoresby landed at the port at the mouth of the Yenisei River, where he found chaos.Fishermen trying to sell the poor, unknown fish they catch to the cannery; boat owners angry at the authorities for increasing port fees to deal with floods; animals behaving strangely because of the rapid melting of forest ice and snow; The hunters and fur trappers are out of work and they all hang out in the town. What is certain is that it will be difficult for him to go inland along the river now, because usually this road is just a clean frozen dirt road, and now even the permafrost has begun to thaw, and the road is muddy.

So Lee packed up his balloons and gear, rented a gasoline-powered boat with what little gold he had left, bought a few barrels of oil and some reserves, and set out for the swollen upstream. His progress was slow at first, not only because of the changing currents but also because of all kinds of debris floating in the water: tree trunks, bush branches, drowned animals, and in one case the bloated corpse of a human being.He had to steer carefully, letting the little engine rev up. He headed for the village where Grumman's tribe was, and he could only tell from his memory of flying over the country a few years ago, but that memory was clear, even if the riverbanks in places had disappeared in the brown, murky floodwaters. , he still found the correct channel in the turbulent river without any trouble.The temperature affected the insects, and a cloud of tiny mosquitoes blurred the outlines of the scene.Li dabbed datura ointment on his face and hands, and smoked a few acrid cigars, and he got better.

Hurst sat taciturn in the bow, his eyes squinted, his long ears drooping on his skinny back.Both of them were used to each other's silence and only spoke when necessary. On the morning of the third day, Lee steered the boat into a small tributary stream that flowed from a stretch of hills that should have been covered with snow but now showed brown patches of earth.Dwarf pines and spruces soon appeared on both sides of the creek, and after a few more miles they saw a large round stone as high as a house, and Lee anchored the boat on the bank and tied the cable. "There used to be a wharf here," he said to Hearst. "Remember the sealer who told us about it at New Earth? It must be six feet down now."

"I wish they were smarter and built the village higher," she said, jumping ashore. In less than half an hour, he had put his backpack next to the village chief's wooden house.He turned and greeted the crowd that had gathered around him.He made the usual northern gesture of friendship and kept his rifle at his feet. An elderly Siberian Tatar, his eyes sunken and almost invisible in the surrounding wrinkles, laid his bow beside the gun.His wolverine sprite sniffed at Hearst, who in response wagged her ear.Then the chief spoke. Lee answered, and they took turns using half a dozen languages ​​before finally finding one they could converse with.

"I salute you and your tribe," Lee said. "I have some tobacco seeds, which may not be very valuable, but I am honored to present it to you." The chief nodded with satisfaction, and one of his wives took a package that Lee had pulled from his backpack. "I'm looking for a man named Grumman," Lee said. "I heard your tribe accepted him and he became one of your people. He may have other names, but he's European." "Oh," said the chief, "we've been waiting for you." The rest of the villagers stood on the muddy ground of the village, gathered in the thin misty sunlight. They couldn't understand, but they could see the chief's joy.Delighted, relieved, Lee felt Hearst's thoughts.

The chief nodded frequently. "We've been waiting for you," he repeated. "You've come to take Dr. Grumman to another world." Lee raised his eyebrows, but he said mildly, "As you said, sir. Is he here?" "Come with me," said the Chief. The other villagers stepped aside respectfully, and Hester had to trot along the dirty dirt road. Li understood her disgust, so he held her in his arms, carried the bag on his shoulder, and followed the chief. , along the forest path to a hut.The cottage stood in a clearing surrounded by larches, ten arrows from the village.

The chief stopped outside the wooden-framed, fur-covered hut.The place was adorned with boar tusks and elk and reindeer horns, but not just as hunting souvenirs, for they were hung with dried flowers and carefully woven pine branches as if for some ceremony. "You have to speak to him respectfully," the chief whispered. "He's a shaman, and he has a sick heart." Lee felt a sudden shiver in his back, Hearst stiffened in his arms, and they found themselves being watched.Behind the dried flowers and pine branches, there is a bright yellow eye looking out. It is an elf. When Li looked at her, she turned her head, nimbly bit a pine branch with her powerful beak, and pulled it to the ground. The front is like a curtain.

The chiefs called him in their own language, by the name the elderly sealer had told him: Yopari.After a while, the door opened. Standing at the door was a man dressed in animal fur, with a haggard face, fiery eyes, black hair mixed with gray hair, and a stubborn chin. His elf, an osprey, stood on his wrist , staring. The chief bowed three times, then stepped back, leaving Lee alone with the shaman he was looking for. "Dr. Grumman," he said, "my name is Lee Scoresby. I'm from Texas and I'm a professional hot air balloon pilot. If you'll sit me down and talk slowly, I'll tell you what makes me come here.

Am I right?Are you Dr. Stanislaus Grumman from the Berlin Academy? " "Yes," said the shaman, "you said you were from Texas, and the wind has blown you here far enough from home, Mr. Scoresby." "Oh, the wind is strange in this world now, sir." "Indeed. I think the sun is warm, and you'll find a bench in my cabin, and if you'll move it out for me, we can sit and talk in the nice sun. I've got some coffee, too, if you If you are willing to share with me." "It couldn't be better, sir," Lee said.He moved the bench out, and Grumman went to the stove and poured the scalding drink into two tin cups.To Lee, he didn't speak with a German accent, but with a British accent, an English accent.The director of the observatory was right.

They sat down, Hearst squinting impassively beside Lee, while the huge Osprey sprite stared at the sun.Lee began to talk, starting with his meeting in Trollsand with John Faah, the chief of the gypsies, and how they took in the armored bear Iorek Bernison and traveled to Burr Vangar, saved Lila and the other kids, and then he told him and Lila, and Serafina. What Pekkala learned from the two of them as they flew together in a hot air balloon to Svalbard. "You see, Dr. Grumman, it seems to me that from what the little girl described, Lord Asriel just waved his frozen head at the Academicians and it frightened them, so they didn't dare look closer.

That makes me wonder if you're still alive.It is obvious, sir, that you have expertise in this field.I've heard about you all the way along the coast of the Arctic Ocean, about how you drilled holes in your head, about your research work beyond digging the seabed and looking at the northern lights, about how ten or twelve years ago you were Out of nowhere, it's all very interesting.But it wasn't just curiosity that drew me here, Dr. Grumman.I care about that child.I think she's very important, and so do witches.If you know anything about her, anything going on, please let me know.Like I said, there are a few things that convince me that you can do this, and that's why I'm here. "But unless I have misheard, sir, I have heard the chief of the village say that I have come to take you to another world. Am I misheard, or is that what he said? One more question for you , sir, what name does he call you? Is that a tribal name, or some kind of magician's title?" Grumman smiled slightly and said, "He called me by my original name, John Perry. Yes, you came to take me to another world. As for what brought you here, I think you You'll find that's it." He stretched out his palm, and there was something lying in his palm. Li could see it, but couldn't understand it.What he saw was a silver ring set with an emerald, in the Navajo [Navajo, the largest Indian tribe in the United States] design, and it was clear to him that it was his mother's ring.He was familiar with its weight and the smoothness of the stone, and the way silversmiths deliberately encase the facets of the stone.He knew how the cut corner became smooth, because a few years ago, when he was young, he touched it with his fingers countless times on the land of his motherland. He stood up, and Hurst straightened tremblingly, his ears pricked up.Lee didn't notice that the osprey had moved between him and Grumman, protecting her master.But Lee wasn't about to attack, he was so distraught, he felt like he was a kid again, and he asked in a nervous trembling voice, "Where did you get it?" "Take it," said Grumman, or Perry, "it's done. It called you here, and I don't need it now." "But how—" Lee said, taking the beloved ring from Grumman's palm, "I don't understand how you have—you are—how did you get it? I've got forty Haven't seen it in years." "I'm a shaman. I'll do things you don't understand. Sit down, Mr. Scoresby, calm down, and I'll tell you everything you need to know." Lee sat down again, holding the ring, running his fingers over it. "Well," he said, "I'm upset, sir, and I think I'll hear what you can tell me." "Very well," said Grumman, "I'm going to begin. My name, as I told you, is Perry, and I was not born in this world. Lord Asriel was not the first A person who traveled between different worlds, although he was the first to open that passage in a shocking way. In my world, I used to be a soldier, and then I became an explorer. Twelve years ago, I accompanied a Expedition team, go to a place in my world, which corresponds to your Bering region. My companions have other purposes, but what I am looking for is something I have heard from ancient legends: the big cloth of the world A gap in the universe, a hole between our universe and other universes. In the search for some of my companions who went missing, I and two other people went through this hole, this passage, our Without even noticing it, we left our own world. At first we didn't realize what was happening, and we kept walking until we found a small town, at which point it became clear: we had come to a different world. "No matter how hard we tried, we never found that first passage again. We made it through a snowstorm, and you have experience in the Arctic—you know what that means. "So we had no choice but to stay in the New World. We soon found out that it was a dangerous place. There seemed to be some strange and terrible ghouls or phantoms there, and my two companions soon died, the prey of the goblins, by that name. "It turned out that their world was an abominable place, and I couldn't wait to get out of it. The way back to my own world was permanently blocked, but there was still access to other worlds. I searched for a while and found it. way. "So I came here, and as soon as I got here, I found a miracle, Mr. Scoresby, because the world is different, and in this world I saw my own spirit for the first time. Yes, until I came It was only when I came to your world that I got to know Seyan'kot. People here can't figure out that in some worlds, elves are just a silent voice in the depths of consciousness. When I know that part of my nature is female, a bird Can you imagine how amazed I was when it was shaped and beautiful? "So Seyan Cotter accompanied me on the northern lands, and I learned a lot from the people in the Arctic, like my good friends in the village over there. They told me that there are some gaps in the world, Combined with my own knowledge, I began to understand the answers to many mysteries. "I went to Berlin under the name of Grumman. I told no one where I came from, it was my secret. I submitted and defended a thesis to the Academy, which is their way of doing scholarship. Academicians are more knowledgeable, and I got the academician qualification without any difficulty. "With my new qualifications, I can start working in this world, which I am generally happy with, but for sure, I still miss some things about my own world. Are you married, Sco Mr. Slby? No? Oh, I am married, I love my wife very much, and I love my son, who is my only child, and he was not a year old when I left my world. Boy. I miss them so much, but it may take me another thousand years to find my way back, we are separated forever. "However, my work attracted me. I also pursued other knowledge. I was accepted by the Cult of the Skull, and I became a shaman. I also made some useful discoveries. For example, I found a blood moss. A method of making an ointment that preserves all the potency of the fresh plant. "I know the world very well now, Mr. Scoresby. For example, I know about dust. I can tell by the look on your face that you've heard of it.It scares your theologians to death, but they scare me too.I know what Lord Asriel is doing and I know why, which is why I have summoned you here.I'm going to help him, you see, because what he's doing is the greatest enterprise in the history of mankind, the greatest enterprise in thirty-five thousand years, Mr. Scoresby. "There's not much I can do on my own. No one in this world can cure my heart. Maybe I have one more achievement. I know something Lord Asriel doesn't, but he must know to be successful. matter. "I'm interested in the world of monsters that devour human consciousness. I want to know what they are and how they are formed. As a shaman, I can discover spiritually, but not physically. so I spent a lot of time on Human Set, exploring that world. I found out that the philosophers there had invented a tool for their own research and exploration centuries ago: a magic knife they called instrument. It was powerful—greater than they guessed when it was made, and even greater than they now know—and somehow, by using it, they allowed the genie to enter their world. "I know the magic knife and what it does, and where it is, and I know how to identify the man destined to wield it, and I know what he was destined to do in Lord Asriel's career, I hope he is worthy of this task. So I summon you here, and you will fly me north, to the world opened by Lord Asriel, where I hope to find the wielder of the magic sword . "Beware it's a dangerous world, those monsters are more evil than anything in your world. We have to be bold, I may not come back, if you want to see your country again, you need all the courage, resourcefulness and luck. "That's your job, Mr. Scoresby. That's why you came to me." The shaman was silent, his face pale and dripping with sweat. "That's the craziest fucking idea I've ever heard," Lee said. He stood up excitedly and took a few steps back and forth. Hester on the bench stared at him unblinkingly. Grumman's eyes were half-closed. His elf sat on his lap, vigilantly Look at Lee. "Would you like money?" Grumman said after a while, "I can give you some gold, it won't be hard." "Fuck him, I'm not here for gold," Lee said eagerly, "I'm here...I'm here to see if you're alive as I think you are. So, in that sense, My curiosity was satisfied." "I'm glad to hear that." "There's another consideration to this," Lee added, telling Grumman about the witch meeting at Lake Enara, and the resolutions the witches had reached. "You know," he concluded, "that little girl, Lyra...well, it was because of her that I started helping witches in the first place. You said you summoned me here with that Navajo ring, maybe that's what it is , maybe not. All I know is that I'm here because I want to help Laila. I have never seen a child like her.If I had a daughter myself, I'd just want her to be half as strong and brave and kind as Laila was.Now, I hear you know something that protects the person who owns it, I don't know what it might be.From what you said, I think it must be the Magic Sword. "This is what I want for taking you to another world, Dr. Grumman. Not gold, but a magic sword. I don't want it myself. I want it for Laila. You swear that she will have it." Its protection, and then I will take you wherever you want to go." The shaman listened carefully, and then said, "Very well, Mr. Scoresby, I swear. Do you believe my oath? "What do you swear by?" " "You can say whatever you want." Lee thought for a moment, then said, "Just use the reason you refused the witch's courtship, whatever that is, I guess that's the most important thing you think." Grumman's eyes widened as he said, "You guessed it right, Mr. Scoresby. I'd love to swear on it. I promise you I'll let that kid Lyra. Belacova get the magic The protection of the magic knife. But I warn you: the knife bearer has his own mission to complete, and his mission may put her in greater danger." Li nodded solemnly. "Probably," he said, "but however small the chances of safety, I want her to have it." "I promise you. Now I must go to the New World, and you will take me there." "But the wind? I suppose you're not too sick to tell the weather?" "Leave the problem of the wind to me." Lee nodded.He sat on the bench again, touching the emerald ring over and over again.During this period, Grumman packed a few necessities into a buckskin bag, and then the two returned to the village along the forest path. The chief said something, and more and more villagers came running out, holding Grumman's hand, muttering something, and the response they got looked like some kind of blessing.In the meantime, Li waited and watched the weather.The southern sky was clear and a fresh breeze was blowing through the treetops.Looking north, fog still hangs over the flooded river, but for the first time in days there are signs the fog is about to lift. At the boulders that had been the pier, he hoisted Grumman's bag aboard and filled the little engine, which started immediately.He set off, with the shaman in the bow, and the boat went down the current, under the trees, and skimmed the water quickly, into the main river, and the boat was going so fast that Lee was a little worried for Hearst, Because she squatted and hid on the inside of the ship.But he should know she was an experienced traveler, so why should he be so worried? They reached the port at the mouth of the river and found every hotel, inn, and private residence occupied by soldiers.They were not ordinary soldiers, they were the Royal Guards of Moscow, the most ferociously trained and best-equipped troops in the world, and they swore to firmly support the regime of the Church authorities. Lee had wanted to rest for the night before departure, because Grumman seemed to need it, but there was no hope of finding a room now. "What happened?" he asked the charterer as he returned the boat. "We don't know. The army came yesterday, and they took all the lodgings, food, and boats in the town, and they would have taken the boat if you hadn't taken it." "Do you know where they're going?" "In the North," said the boatman, "there are various tales that there is a battle to be fought, the greatest war ever known." "North, are you going to that new world?" "Yes. There are more troops coming, and this is just the vanguard. There won't be a loaf of bread or a gallon of wine left here in a week. You've done me a great favor by chartering this boat - the price of the boat has already doubled..." Even if they can find a place now, they absolutely cannot rest here.Lee was very worried about his balloon, and he immediately went to the warehouse where the balloon was stored, and Grubman followed him, he looked as if he was sick physically, but he was strong. The warehouse keeper was busy counting out some engine parts and handing them over to a guard sergeant who came to requisition the items.The administrator glanced up at him from his laptop. "The balloon—badly—was requisitioned yesterday," he said. "You've seen the situation, and there's nothing I can do about it." Hester shook his ears, and Lee understood what she meant. "Did you hand over the balloon?" he asked. "They're coming to get it this afternoon." "No, they won't come," Lee said, "because I have a higher authority than the Guard." He showed the storekeeper the ring that he had taken from the finger of the dead Suk-Aelin in New Earth.The sergeant beside him stood by the counter, stopped what he was doing when he saw the ring, and saluted.Despite his well-trained demeanor, a look of doubt crossed his face. "We need this balloon right now," Lee said. "You go get some people to inflate it, I mean right away, including food, water, and gizzards." The warehouse keeper looked at the sergeant, who shrugged and ran off to get the balloon ready.Lee and Grumman came to the pier where the gasoline cans were stored, and they talked quietly while supervising others to refuel. "Where did you get that ring?" Grumman asked. "Caught off a dead man's finger. It's a little dangerous to use, but I have no other way of getting my balloon back. Do you think the sergeant got suspicious?" "Of course he's suspicious, but he's a trained soldier and he won't question the Church. If he finally reports to his superiors, we'll be out of here by the time they take action. Well, I promise Here's a wind for you, Mr Scoresby, I hope you like it." The sky above them was blue and sunny.In the north, the fog still covered the sea like a big mountain, but the breeze kept blowing the fog back, and Li couldn't wait to fly into the sky. The balloon was inflating, and it was slowly puffing up, higher than the roof of the warehouse. Li checked the gondola and carefully put all the equipment in, because who knows what kind of situation they will encounter in another world? airflow?And his instruments, which he carefully fastened to the balloon frame, even the compass with its hands dangling on the dial.In the end he hung a number of sandbags outside the gondola as sandbags for ballast. The balloon was fully inflated, trembling in the breeze, tilting slightly to the north, and the whole device was pulled down tightly by strong ropes. Lee paid the last bit of gold to the storekeeper, and helped Grumman into the hanging basket.He turned to those who were tugging on the rope, commanding them to let go. Before they could do that, something happened out of the blue.From the alley on one side of the warehouse came the sound of boots, the sound of running, and an order: "Stop!" The people pulling the rope stopped, some looked over there, some looked at Li, Li yelled, "Let go! Take off!" Two obeyed the command, and the balloon slanted upward, but the attention of the other two was on the soldiers, who were running quickly around the corner of the warehouse.The two men were still tugging at the ropes on the bollard, and the balloon tipped sickly to one side, and Lee grabbed the ring, and Grumman grabbed it, and his daemon held it firmly in its claws. Lee yelled, "Let go, you fools! The balloon is up!" The buoyancy of the balloon was too great, and those people could not pull the balloon back with all their strength.One man let go, and his rope came loose from the bollard, but the other, feeling the lift of the rope, did not let go, but instinctively took hold of it.Li had seen something similar once before, and he was secretly worried.As the balloon rose into the sky, the poor man's daemon, a massive husky dog, howled on the ground in terror and pain, and after five long seconds, it was all over.The man's strength was exhausted, and he fell half-alive and into the water. The soldiers had already raised their rifles, and the dense bullets whizzed past the hanging basket. One bullet hit the hanging ring and sparked, making Li's hand sting, but the bullets did not damage the balloon.When they started the second round of shooting, the balloon was almost out of their range, rose into the blue sky, and flew quickly over the sea.Lee felt his heart fly, and he had once told Serafina Pekkala that he didn't really care about flying, it was just a job.That's not what he really said, soaring up in the air with the wind and a whole new world ahead - what could be better in life? He let go of the ring, and Hester crouched in her usual corner, eyes half-closed.From far below came the useless sound of rifle shots, and the town receded rapidly, and below appeared the broad surface of water at the mouth of the river, shimmering and sparkling in the sun. "Dr. Grumman," he said, "I don't know about you, but I feel better in the air. I wish the poor man let go of the rope, it's so fucking easy to die without letting go of the rope. " "Thank you, Mr. Scoresby," said the shaman, "you have done a good job on this matter. Now we can settle down to fly, and I would appreciate it if you would give me the fur coat, It's still cold in the air."