Chapter 17 Chapter Seventeen

At night Leto and Stilgar left the cave, and came to a ledge on the top of a rock jutting out of the ground, which the people of Teb's cave called The Servant.Standing on the ledge in the light of the waning 2nd moon, the entire desert can be seen—Shield Wall Mountain and Idaho Peak to the north, the Great Desert to the south, and the rolling sand dunes to the east toward the Habaya Ridge .After the sandstorm, the yellow sand covered the southern horizon.The moonlight cast a layer of frost on the shield wall mountain. Stilgar was reluctant to come, and only ended up taking part in the adventure because Leto piqued his curiosity.Why risk crossing the desert at night?The kid also threatened to sneak out on his own if Stilgar refused.Their adventure unsettled him.Think about it, two such important goals walk alone in the desert at night.

Leto squatted on the ledge, facing the great desert to the south.Occasionally, he would beat his knees, looking anxious. Stilgar stood two steps away from his master, who was good at waiting in silence.With his arms folded across his chest, the night wind gently fluttered his robe. For Leto, crossing the desert was a response to inner anxiety.After Ganima can no longer risk fighting the life within him with him, he needs to find new allies.He managed to get Stilgar involved in the operation.There were things Stilgar had to know, so he could prepare for the days ahead. Leto thumped his knee again.He doesn't know how to start!He often felt that he was an extension of countless lives in him, and those lives seemed so real, as if they were his own.In those rivers of life there is no end, no success - only the beginning of eternity.Sometimes these beings coalesced and yelled at him as if he was the only window through which they could peer into the world.The danger they posed had devastated Arya.

Leto watched the blowing sand left by the storm, shining silver in the moonlight.Continuous sand dunes dotted the entire desert: wind-laden silica sand created waves across the desert—pea sand, coarse gravel, and pebbles.As he gazed into the scorching darkness, dawn came.The sunlight passed through the sand and dust, forming beams of light, which dyed the sand and dust a layer of orange.He closed his eyes and imagined how a new day in Araken would begin.In his subconscious, the image of the city is like countless boxes, scattered between light and shadow.desert...box...desert...box... When I opened my eyes, there was still a desert in front of me: the yellow sand was blown by the wind, as if curry powder was flying all over the sky.Shadows stretched from the base of the dunes like the claws of the night that had just passed.They are the links between night and day, they link time.He remembered the way Stilgar fidgeted last night when he squatted here.The old man was worried by his silence.Stilgar must have had many a night like this with his beloved Muad'di.He was walking around now, scanning every direction.Stilgar dislikes exposure to sunlight.Typical old Freeman.Leto sympathized with Stilgar's daytime phobia.Darkness means simplicity, even if there may be murderous intentions hidden in the darkness.Light can have many appearances.The night can hide the smell and figure of fear, only the slightest sound can be heard.The night splits three-dimensional space, and everything is magnified—horns are louder, daggers are sharper.But the horrors of the day are actually more terrifying.

Stilgar cleared his throat. Leto said without looking back, "I have a very serious problem, Steve." "I guess so." Stilgar's voice sounded beside Leto, low and alert.The child's voice was so similar to his father's that it was frightening.It was like a forbidden magic, and Stilgar couldn't help feeling disgusted.The Fremen know the horrors of demonic possession.All those possessed were killed immediately, and their water was sprinkled over the desert to prevent contamination of the tribe's cisterns.The dead should die.It is perfectly normal to rely on children to carry on the family line in perpetuity.But a child has no right to behave exactly like an ancestor.

"My problem is that my father left too many unanswered questions," Leto said, "especially the purpose we are pursuing. The Empire can't go on like this, Steven, the current Empire is too indifferent to people. It should Value people, human life, you understand? Life, not death." "A vision of your father disturbed him once, and he said the same thing to me," Stilgar said. There was a fear in the voice.Leto was tempted to ignore this fear and dismiss the matter with an insignificant suggestion, such as suggesting to go to breakfast first.He realized he was hungry.Their last meal had been yesterday at noon, and Leto insisted on fasting all night.But it wasn't physical hunger that gripped him now.

"Seriously, there's no substitute for precognitive visions," Leto said. "Maybe I should risk the spices..." "And then be destroyed like your father?" "It's a dilemma," Leto said. "Your father once admitted to me that controlling the future too perfectly means locking yourself in the future and lacking the freedom to change." "That's the paradox we're dealing with," Leto said. "There's something subtle and powerful about seeing the future. The future becomes the present. But seeing is dangerous in a land of the blind. If you want to Explain to a blind man what you see, and you just forget that blind men have their inherent behavior, brought about by their blindness. They are like a giant machine going along its own path, with its own inertia, with Position yourself. I'm afraid of the blind, Steve. I'm afraid of them. On the way, they can crush anything that dares to get in the way."

Stilgar stared at the desert.The orange dawn had turned into broad daylight.He said, "Why are we here?" "Because I want you to see where I might be buried." Stilgar tensed up.He said: "So, you still see the future!" "Maybe it's not a vision, it's just a dream." "Why come to such a dangerous place?" Stilgar stared at his master, "We should go back immediately." "I will not die today, Steve." "No? What did you foresee?" "I see three paths," Leto said, lost in memory so his voice sounded a little languid, "and one of the futures asked me to kill my grandmother."

Stilgar glanced warily in the direction of Teb's cave, as if worried that Lady Jessica might hear their conversation across the desert. "why?" "Prevent loss of spice monopoly." "I do not understand." "Me neither. But that's what I think in my dreams, when I use a knife." "Oh," Stilgar understood what it meant to use a knife.He took a deep breath, "What about the second way?" "Gani and I combine to secure the blood of the Atreides." "Hey!" Stilgar exhaled in disgust. "In ancient times, it was common for a king or queen to do that," Leto said, "but Gany and I have decided not to."

"I warn you, it's best to keep your decision!" Stilgar's voice carried a threat of death.Under Freeman's law, incest was a capital offense and offenders could be hanged on a tripod.He cleared his throat and asked, "What about the third one?" "I invite my father down from the altar." "He is my friend, Muad'di," Stilgar said softly. "He is your god! I must mortal him." Stilgar turned his back on the desert, looking at the oasis next to his lovely Teb den.Such conversation made him very uneasy. Leto smelled the sweat on Stilgar.How he wanted to stop here, no longer mentioning these topics that must be explained here.They could have talked for most of the day, from the concrete to the abstract, away from the real decision, away from the "must" he was facing now.You can also talk about the Corino family.The family was undoubtedly a great threat, a mortal danger to his life and that of Ghanima.Stilgar had offered to assassinate Falakon, poisoning his drink.Farakon is said to have a preference for sweet wines.That approach is of course inappropriate.

"If I die here, Sty," Leto said, "you must beware of Alia. She is no longer your friend." "What do you say all this is for? It's death for a while, and your aunt for a while?" Stilgar really got angry.Kill Mrs. Jessica!Watch out for Alia!die here! "Little people keep changing their ways to suit her," Leto said. "A ruler doesn't have to be a prophet, Stein, much less a god. A ruler just has to be sensitive. I'm taking you here. To illustrate what our empire needs. It needs good governance. And to do this, not by law or precedent, but by the quality of the rulers themselves."

"The Empress Regent manages the Empire well," said Stilgar, "and when you grow up—" "I've grown up! I'm the oldest man here! You're a babbling baby next to me. I can recall things that happened over fifty centuries ago. Ha! I even remember Freeman before the people emigrated to Arrakis." "Why do you have such wild thoughts?" Stilgar asked sharply. Leto nodded to himself.Yeah, what's the use of saying this?Why narrate the memory of other centuries?His primary problem was the Freemen of today, most of whom were half-savages, savages who laughed at the misfortunes of others. "After the master dies, the Screaming Blade will also disintegrate," Leto said. "Now, Muad'di has disintegrated. Why are the Fremen still alive?" This kind of jumping thinking made Stilgar completely dizzy.He didn't know what to say.There was something in Leto's words, but he couldn't understand them. "I was expected to be an emperor, but first I had to learn to be a servant," Leto said, turning his head to look at Stilgar. "My grandfather who gave me my name came to Dune when he 'Here I came, and here I will stay' was inscribed on his shield." "He had no choice," Stilgar said. "Very well, Steve. Neither have I. I was born to be Emperor, because of my superior perception, and because I am everything to me. I also know what this empire needs: good government." "The word Neb has an ancient meaning," said Stilgar, "servant of the cave." "I still remember the training you gave me, Steve." Leto said, "In order to achieve good governance, the tribe must be able to select appropriate leaders. From the attitude of these leaders themselves, we can see that the leader he leads What kind of government is that?" Stilgar, steeped in Fremen tradition, said, "Yes. You will inherit the throne if it is appropriate. But first, you must prove that you can act as a leader." Leto laughed suddenly, and then said, "Do you doubt my character, Steve?" "of course not." "My natural rights?" "You have a right." "I can only act according to people's expectations and show my sincerity in this way, is that right?" "This is the rule of the Freemen." "Then, can't my behavior follow the guidance of my heart?" "I do not understand--" "I have to always behave well, no matter how much it takes to suppress my inner self. Is that what I'm measured against?" "That's self-control, young man." "Young man!" Leto shook his head. "Ah, Shidi, what you said is exactly the rationality and morality that a ruler must have. I must be consistent, and every action is in line with traditional norms." "That's right." "But my past is much older than yours!" "What's the difference--" "I don't have a single self, Steve. I'm a composite of people, and I remember traditions far earlier than you can imagine. That's my burden, Steve. I'm driven. I'm born full of They are full of knowledge, almost overflowing. They refuse new things, refuse to change. But Muad'di changed all this." He pointed to the desert, and made a semicircle with his arm to include the shielding wall mountain behind him . Stilgar turned to look at the Shield Wall Mountain.During the time of Muad'di, a village was built at the foot of the mountain as a shelter for the task force who maintained the vegetation in the desert.Stilgar watched man's invasion of the natural world.Variety?Yes.The real village offended him.He stood there silently, ignoring the itching from the grit in his distillation suit.The village is an affront to the original state of the planet.Suddenly, Stilgar hoped that a whirlwind would bring the dunes and completely flood the place.This feeling made him tremble all over. Leto said: "Have you noticed, Steve, the new distilling suit is of poor quality? We're losing too much water." Stilgar almost blurted out and asked: Didn't I already say that?He changed his tune: "Our people are becoming more and more dependent on drugs." Leto nodded.The drug changes the body's temperature, reducing water loss.They are less expensive than still suits and easier to use.But they have side effects for users, one of which is slower reaction times and occasional visual disturbances. "Is this what we're here for?" Stilgar asked, "To discuss the craftsmanship of the still suit?" "Why not?" Leto asked, "since you don't want to face what I said to you." "Why should I be wary of your aunt?" There was anger in his voice. "Because she took advantage of the old Fremen's resistance to change, and brought about more and more terrible changes than you can imagine." "You made it out of nothing! She's a true Freemen." "Ha, true Freemen are loyal to the past, and I have an ancient past. If I let my fondness for the past be fully exploited, Steve, I will create a closed society that will never destroy the sanctity of the past I will control immigration because immigration brings new ideas and threatens the entire social fabric. Under this rule, each city-state on the planet will develop independently and become what it is, and finally cause huge difference, and that difference will create a weight that will tear the empire apart." Stilgar swallowed in vain, trying to moisten his throat.There was a shadow of Muad'di in his words.He noticed.Leto's description was horrific, but if allowed to change, even a little bit... He shook his head. "The past may indeed guide you on the right path, if you live in the past, Steve. But circumstances have changed." Stilgar fully agrees, the environment has really changed.What should people do?He looked behind Leto and cast his eyes on the desert, lost in thought.Muad'di used to walk there.The sun has risen, the entire desert is golden, and the sandy river is full of heat waves.From here, he could see the dust cloud floating on the Habaya ridge in the distance. In the desert in front of his eyes, the sand dunes were gradually shrinking.During the heat wave, he saw vegetation crawling along the edge of the desert.Muad'di allowed life to take root in this barren place.Copper, gold, red flowers, yellow flowers, and rust red and red flowers, gray green leaves, shadows under the bushes, the heat of the day makes the shadows seem to shake and dance in the air . Stilgar said, "I am only a Freeman leader, and you are the duke's son." "You don't even know what you're talking about," Leto said. Stilgar frowned.Muad'di had said the same about him. "You remember, don't you, Sty?" Leto asked. "We were at the foot of Habaya Ridge, and that Captain Saduka—remember him, Arasham? He killed him to save himself." Your companion. You warned many times that day that it would be very dangerous to leave that Sadhuka alive, saying that he had seen our secrets. Finally you said that he would surely reveal what he saw and that he must be killed. I "You don't know what you're talking about. You feel wronged. You tell him you're only the leader of the Fremen, and the Duke must know more important things." Stilgar stared at Leto.We are at the foot of Habaya Ridge!us!This... this child, who hadn't even been conceived that day, knew all the details of what happened, details that only those who lived through it could possibly remember.This is yet another proof that the Atreides twins are not to be judged by the standards of ordinary children. "Now you listen to me," Leto said, "if I die or get lost in the desert, you must escape Teb's Cave. This is an order. You will take Ghani, and—" "You're not my duke yet! You're still a... child!" "I am an adult in the body of a child," Leto said, pointing to a crack in the rock below them. "If I die here, that crack will be where I am buried. You will see blood. Then you will Got it. Take my sister, and—” "I'll double the number of your guards," Stilgar said, "you can't come out: we're going back now, you—" "Steel! You can't stop me. Think about what happened at the Habaya Ridge. Remember? The spice locomotive was working in the desert, and a big sandworm came. There was no way to save the locomotive from the sandworm. I Father was pissed off that he couldn't save the locomotive, but Gurney was thinking only of the men he lost in the desert. Remember what he said? 'Your father will be more upset than me for not saving anyone.' Steve, I order you to save the people. They are more important than riches. Ganni is the most precious one. After I die, she is Atreides' only hope." "I don't want to hear any more," Stilgar said. He turned and began to walk down the rock towards the oasis in the desert.He heard Leto coming up behind him. After a while, Leto passed him, looked back at him and said, "Did you notice, Steve, this year's girls are so beautiful."