Chapter 5 Chapter 5 Getting Better

He lay dead, but still alive.Where did he go?What have you been through?That night, in the firelight, Tenar took off his stained, tattered, sweat-soaked clothes.She wiped him and laid him naked on the linen sheets, between the soft and heavy goat-hair quilt.Although he is not tall and slender, he was once strong and energetic; now he is skinny, exhausted, and extremely fragile. Even the scar that cut his shoulder, left face, and extends from the temple to the jaw has become thinner and lighter. , the hair is already gray. I am tired of mourning, Tenar thought, I am tired of mourning, tired of mourning.I will not mourn for him!Didn't he come back to me on a dragon?

I was going to kill him, she thought, and now, if I can, I'm going to keep him alive.She looked at him provocatively, without any pity. "Who rescued whom from the Great Labyrinth, Ged?" He fell asleep soundlessly.She is very tired.She took a bath with the hot water he had wiped his body with, and then slipped into bed, next to Therru, who was sleeping peacefully, that small, warm, silky silence.She fell asleep, and the dream unfolded into a huge space with strong winds, filled with pink and golden light.Her voice called: "Kerasin!" A voice answered, calling out from the chasm of light.

When she awoke, the birds were singing in the fields and on the roofs.She sat up and saw the morning light through the low, dim window to the west.There was a new thing in her mind, like a seed or a point of light, too small to see or think.Therru was still fast asleep.Tenar sat beside her, looking out the window at the clouds and the sun, thinking of her own daughter, and trying to remember her as a baby.There is only the faintest scene, which disappears as soon as she concentrates—the small fat body trembles with laughter, the light and flying hair... There is also the second child, who was named Xinghuo jokingly because it was ignited by flint.She didn't know his real name, he was as weak as Ai Ping was, premature and petite, almost died of laryngitis when he was two months old, and the next two years were like raising a baby sparrow, I don't know if I can live to the next day.But he held on, the spark refusing to go out.Grows bigger and grows into a skinny boy, always full of energy and drive, can't help on the farm, has no patience with animals, plants or people, speaks only for himself, never for pleasure , or the exchange of love and knowledge.

When Apple was thirteen and Starfire eleven, Ogion visited from his wanderings.In the spring water at the source of the Kaheda River in the valley, Ogion named Aiping. She was so beautiful walking in the green spring water, growing up as a virgin, and then he gave her her real name: Hayouhai.After a day or two at Oak Grange, he had asked the boy if he would go for a walk in the forest with him.Starfire just shook his head. "What is your wish to do?" the mage asked him, and the child confided to him what he could not say to his parents: "Go to sea." So, three years later, shortly after Bi Teng gave him his real name, he became a sailor on a merchant ship , Sailing back and forth between the mouth of the valley, Aurenia and North Havnor.Occasionally he would return to the farm, but only rarely and for long, although it would become his property after his father's death.He was fair-skinned like Tenar, but tall and strong as flint, with a long, narrow face.He didn't tell his parents his real name, and maybe he never told anyone.Tenar hadn't seen him for three years, and he might or might not have known his father was dead; he might be dead too, drowned.But Tenar thought it impossible. He would carry the spark of his life across the sea and through the storm.

Like a little spark in her now, like the physical certainty of pregnancy, a change, a new thing.She won't ask what it is.Can't ask.A real name is not asked, it may or may not be given. She stood up and washed her clothes.Although it was still early in the day, it was already warm, so she did not light a fire, sat at the door, drank a glass of milk, and watched the shadow of Gont Mountain recede slowly from the sea.On the rocky cliff where the sea breeze blows all the year round, today's wind is very gentle, like midsummer, soft and rich, full of grassland fragrance.There was a sweetness, a change in the air.

"Everything has changed!" said the old man, whispering joyously on his way to death.His hand covered hers, gave her a gift, sent his name. "Ahar!" she whispered.Two goats, hiding behind the milking shed, bleated back, waiting for Heather to arrive. "Meaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa then more than than', the other's voice was deeper and metallic.Although Flint is a shepherd, he doesn't like sheep.And Sparrowhawk was a shepherd on this mountain when he was a child.

She walked into the house and found Therru had got up, looking at the sleeping man.She wrapped her arms around the child, and though Therru often dodged a touch or a caress, or felt nothing at all, this time she accepted Tenar, and even seemed to lean a little towards her. Exhausted, Ged remained asleep.His face was turned upwards, revealing four white scars. "Is he burned?" Therru whispered. Tenar did not answer at once. She did not know the origin of the scars.A long time ago, in the painted room of Etuan Great Labyrinth, she once asked him tauntingly, "Is it a dragon?" He replied seriously, "It's not a dragon. It's a distant relative of the Unknown One, and I know its real name... ..." That's all she knew, but she understood what "burn" meant to a child.

"Yes," she said. Therru continued to look at him, head tilted a little so that the good eyes could look at him, like a bird, like a sparrow or a sparrow. "Come on, little sparrow, little bird, he needs sleep and you need peaches. Any ripe peaches this morning?" Therru trotted out, Tenar following. The child eats the peaches and studies the place where she planted the peach pits yesterday.She was visibly disappointed to find that no young trees had sprouted, but said nothing. "Water it," said Tenar. Aunt Moss arrived around noon.She was witch and craftsman, and she was good at weaving baskets from Gollonmoor rushes, and Tenar had asked her to teach her a trade.Growing up in Otuan, Tenar had learned how to learn; as an outsider in Gont, she had found that people liked to teach, so she had learned how to be taught, so that she could be accepted and forgiven for being an outsider.

Ogion gave her his knowledge, and so did Firestone.Learning was her habit, for there was always more to learn than she could have ever imagined as a novice priestess or mage-student. The rushes have been soaking for some time, and this morning they are going to divide the rushes into strips.This little job is not too complicated, and it doesn't take too much attention. "Auntie," Tenar began.The two sat on the doorstep with rushes soaked in a bowl in the center and strips of cut grass spread out on a mat in front. "How do you tell if a person is a wizard or not?" Moss's answer was very tortuous, and her usual aphorisms were used at the beginning of her mouth, and the words were ambiguous. "Knowing eyes know each other," she said deeply: "Talent is not hidden." Then she told a story: An ant picked up a small strand of hair in a palace and brought it back to the ant nest. At night, the ant nest in the ground looked like a star glows like the hair of the great mage Brost.But only a wise man can see the shining ant nest, and mortal eyes see only night.

"So it needs training," Tenar said. Moss replied ambiguously, to the effect that it was not necessarily true. "Some are innate. Even if I don't know it, it still exists, just like the hair of a mage hidden in the crypt will glow." "Yes," said Tenar, "I have." She cut a rush sharply and laid the two halves on the cushion. "Then how do you know a person is not a wizard?" "No," said Moss, "my dear, the power is not there. Listen, if I have eyes, I can see that you have eyes, too, right? If you're blind, I can see too. If you Only one eye, like that child, or you have three, and I can see, can't I? But if I don't have eyes to see, then I won't know if you have eyes unless you tell me. Yet I can, I can see, I know. The third eye!" She patted her forehead and laughed dryly, like the crowing of a hen just laying an egg.She was glad to finally find the words to say what she meant.Tenar saw at last that her many cryptic and cryptic words were but signs that she was not good at words.No one taught her how to think coherently, no one listened to what she had to say.Everyone's expectations of her are vague, mysterious, and muttering to herself.She's a witch and doesn't need to be articulate.

"I see," said Tenar. "Well, maybe you don't want to answer the question, but when you look at a person with your power with your third eye, you can see their power, or you can't, right?" "It's more like 'knowing,'" said Moss, "'seeing' is just a way of saying it. It's not the same as seeing you, seeing the rushes, or seeing that mountain. It should be 'knowing.' I know. What have you, poor empty-headed heather has nothing; I know what the dear boy has, and that man over there has nothing; I know..." She broke off, and spat under a murmur. "Anyone who is a witch knows another witch!" she finally said clearly and impatiently. "You know each other." Moss nodded. "Oh, that's right. That's the way it is said. I know it." "Then the wizard will recognize your strength and know that you are a sorceress..." But Moss grinned at her, the dimples buried in wrinkles. "My dear," she said, "do you mean men, men of witchcraft? What have we to do with men of power?" "But Ogion..." "Master Ogion is very kind." Moss replied without sarcasm. They mowed the rushes in silence for a while. "Be careful not to cut your thumb, dear," said Moss. "Ogion taught me not to think of me as a girl, but as his apprentice, like Sparrowhawk. Moss, he taught me the Language of Creation, and he told me anything I asked him." "He's unique." "I didn't want to learn. I left him. What would I want his books for? What good would they do me? I wanted life, I wanted a man, I wanted children, I wanted my life. " She cut the rushes neatly with her fingernails. "And then I get what I want," she said. "Hold it with the right hand and throw it away with the left hand." The witch said: "Hey, dear madam, who can say for sure? Who can say for sure? The matter of wanting a man once made me ashamed. But getting married is absolutely impossible! No, no, I don't want it." "Why not?" Tenar demanded. Moss was taken aback, and answered bluntly: "Who would marry a witch?" Her jaw moved like a sheep chewing its cud. "What kind of witch would marry?" They cut the rushes. "What about men?" Tenar asked cautiously. Moss replied, equally carefully, in a low voice: "My dear, I don't know, I've thought about it for a long time. I've thought about it a lot. All I can say is that a man is in his skin like a nut in its shell." ’” She held up her slender, curved, wet fingers as if holding a walnut. "The shell is hard and hard, and the flesh is full. The flesh of the great man, the man himself. There is only this. All is only this, and there is nothing in it but himself." Tenar thought carefully for a while, and finally asked, "But if he's a wizard . . . " "That's all his power in there. A man's power is himself, you know? It's wrapped in like that. That's all. Once his power is gone, he's gone, empty." She crushed the invisible walnut , Throw away the empty shell. "Nothing at all." "What about the woman?" "Oh, dear, women are totally different. Who knows where women come and go? Listen, madam, I have roots. I have roots deeper than this island, deeper than the sea, deeper than the land My rise is farther back. I originate from darkness." Moss's red eyes shone with a strange light, and her voice sang like a musical instrument. "I am from darkness! I am older than the moon! No one knows, no one knows, no one can describe what I am, what a woman is. A woman with power. A woman's power, deeper than the roots of trees, deeper than the roots of islands ;Older than creation, older than the moon. Who dares to question the darkness? Who will question the true name of the darkness?" The old woman swayed and chanted, lost in her own chants, but Tenar sat up straight and split a rush through it with her thumbnail. "I will," she said. She cut another rush. "I've lived in the dark long enough," she said. Every once in a while, she poked her head in to see the still-sleeping Sparrowhawk, and now she did it again.When she sat back beside Moss, she didn't want to bring up the topic again, because the old woman looked unhappy and gloomy, so she said: "When I woke up this morning, it felt like a new wind blowing and a change. Maybe it was just climate change. Right. Do you feel it?" But Moss was noncommittal. "There are many winds blowing here in Gaoling, some good, some bad; some bring clouds, some bring good weather; some bring news to those who know how to listen, but not to those who will not. I just What do I know, an old woman who has never learned spells or books? All my knowledge is in the earth, in the dark earth, trampled underfoot by the proud, by proud lords and wizards feet. Why should those who are rich in knowledge look down? What can an old witch know?" She would be a formidable enemy, Tenar thought, and a difficult friend. "Auntie," she said, picking up a rush. "I was raised among women, and only women. Far to the east, in the land of Karg, in a place called Atuan. I was taken away from home as a child, and raised in the desert as a priestess. I don't know the name of it, in our language it's just called "the place". That's the only place I know. There are a few soldiers guarding the wall, but they can't go inside and we can't go outside .We are a group, all women and girls, and eunuchs guard us and prevent men from entering." "Who are you talking about?" "Eunuch?" Tenar said unconsciously in Kargish. "Castrated man." The witch stared blankly, then said: "Go!" and made a gesture of avoiding evil, sucking her lips.Surprise broke her dissatisfaction. "One of them was the closest thing to a mother to me...but you know now, Auntie, I never saw a man until I grew up, only girls and women. But I don't know what a woman is, because All I know are women. Like men among men, like sailors, soldiers, and mages on Roke—do they know what a man is? How can they know what a man is if they've never spoken to a woman what?" "Should they be cut like rams and goats," asked Moss, "with a spatula?" Horror, gore, and a little pleasure of revenge, overriding anger and reason, Moss only wanted to discuss the topic of eunuchs. Tenar had nothing to tell her, and she found herself never thinking about it.She was a little girl, and when she lived in Etuan, there were already eunuchs around, and one of them loved her tenderly, and so did she, but she killed him to escape from him.Then she came to the islands where there were no eunuchs, and forgot about them, letting her and Manan's body sink into the darkness. "I thought," she said, trying to satisfy Moss's hunger for detail, "that they'd get young boys and then..." But she stopped.Her hands stopped. "Like Therru," she said after a long pause, "what are children for? That's how they treat children in dark places. When I came here, I thought I had entered the light. I learned the real language, and I had my own man, and I had children, and I was fine. In broad daylight. But They still do this to a child in broad daylight. On the meadows by the river - it is at the source of the river that Ogion gave my daughter her real name, also in the sun. Moss, I want to find a place where I can live .Do you understand me? Do you understand what I'm trying to say?" "I see," said the old woman, and then continued, "My dear, you don't have to look for it. There is enough misery in the world." Trembling, she said again: "Don't cut your thumb, honey." Ged did not wake up until the next day.Although Moss was a horribly dirty nurse, he still managed to feed him a few spoonfuls of broth with skill. "He's starving," she said, "and thirsty. There's nothing to eat or drink where he was." Looking at him again, she added: "I don't think there's anything he can do. He's too weak, Even if I desperately want to drink water, I can’t swallow half a drop. I have seen a very strong person die like this. It only takes a few days, and it dries up like a shadow.” But because of her unrelenting patience, she managed to tuck in spoonfuls of meat and herb broth. "Just wait and see now," she said. "I guess it's too late. He's dying." There was no regret in her words, and maybe a little mirth.The man meant nothing to her, and death was a big deal.Maybe she can bury this mage, and others won't let her bury the old mage. Ged woke up the next day as Tenar was anointing his hands.He must have been riding on Kailasim's back for a long time, for he held on to the iron scales so desperately that the skin on his palms was worn away and the insides of his fingers were repeatedly cut.In his sleep, he still clenched his hands tightly, as if unwilling to let go of the departed dragon.She had to gently spread his fingers apart to clean and apply medicine to the wound, but when she did he would yell and tremble and stretch out his hands as if he felt he was falling.He opened his eyes and she whispered to him.He looks at her. "Tenar," he said, without a smile, pure recognition beyond emotion.It gave her a pure satisfaction, like a hint of sweetness, or a flower, that there was one living person who knew her real name, and it was him. She leaned forward and kissed his cheek. "Lie down," she said, "let me get this over with." He was obedient, and soon fell asleep again, this time with his hands spread out and relaxed. Later, as she lay falling asleep beside Therru, she thought that I had never kissed him.The thought shook her.At first she couldn't believe it, it couldn't be, all these years...not in the Tomb, but then, traveling together in the mountains...on the "Looking", sailing together to Havnor...he took her to Gont... … No.Not even Ogion had ever kissed her, nor had she kissed him.He called her daughter, loved her, but never touched her; and she, raised up as a solitary, untouchable priestess, holy relic, never sought another's touch, or Know that you are seeking.She would rest her forehead or her cheek against Ogion's open palm for a moment, and he might stroke her hair very lightly once. Ged didn't even do that. Haven't I even thought about it?She asked herself with an awe she couldn't even believe. she does not know.As she tried to conjure up the thought, a sense of fear, of aggression swept over her violently, then faded away meaninglessly.Her lips knew the slightly rough, dry, cool skin on his right cheek near his lips, and that alone had importance and weight. She fell asleep and dreamed that a voice called to her: "Tenar! Tenar!" and she answered, singing like a seabird, a light flying over the sea.But she didn't know whose name she was calling. Sparrowhawk disappoints Aunt Moss by surviving.After a day or two, she finally gave up and admitted that he had been brought back to life.She would come and feed him a soup of mutton, grass roots, and herbs, let him lean against her body, surround him with strong body odor, feed life by the spoonful, and complain at the same time.Although he recognized her and called her by her nickname, and she couldn't deny that this was indeed the man known as Sparrowhawk, she still wanted to deny it.She didn't like him and said something was wrong with him.Tenar trusted the witch's wisdom so much that it disturbed her, but she could find no equal doubt in herself, only joy in his presence and in his healing. "You'll understand when he's all right again," she said to Moss. "Normal!" said Moss, and made a gesture with her fingers to crush and discard the nutshell. Soon he was asking about Ogion's whereabouts.Tenar had been worrying about this very much.She told herself, almost persuaded herself, that he would not ask, would know like a mage, as even the wizards of Gont and Riaby knew when Ogion died.But on the fourth morning, when she came to him, he awoke, looked up at her, and said, "This is Ogion's house." "Ahal's house," she answered as easily as possible.It is still not easy for her to tell the mage's real name.She wondered if Ged knew the name.He must know.Ogion would tell him, or he would not have to. He didn't respond for a while, and when he finally spoke, his voice was expressionless. "Then he died." "Ten days ago." He was lying on his back, looking straight ahead, as if he was thinking, trying to understand something. "When did I come?" She had to be close to him to hear him clearly. "Four days ago, in the evening." "There's no one else in the mountains," he said, and shrank a little, shivering slightly, as if in pain, or recalling unbearable pain.He closed his eyes, frowned, and took a deep breath. His strength was coming back bit by bit, and the frown, the held breath, and the clasped hands were familiar sights to Tenar.Strength returned to him, but it brought no comfort or health. He sat in front of the door, basking in the summer afternoon sun, the furthest he had walked since he got out of bed.He sat on the threshold, looking skyward, and Tenar, who was walking from the bean field to the house, watched him.He still has an ash-like, phantom-like aura, not only because of his gray hair, but also because of a certain quality of skin and bones, and there is not much left of his body except for skin and bones.His eyes were dull.But this shadow, this ashes-like man, was the same man as the face she had seen bathed in the light of her own power—a handsome man with a firm face, a hooked nose, and a delicate mouth.He had always been a proud, handsome man. She walked up to him. "Sunshine is what you need," she told him, and he nodded, but even as he sat in the pouring summer warmth, his hands clasped. The silence when facing her made her think that perhaps her presence upset him.Maybe he couldn't take her as easy as he used to.He was the Archmage now, after all—she kept forgetting that.Moreover, twenty-five years have passed since they climbed the Etuan Mountains and sailed across the East China Sea together in "Zhanyuan". With a thought in her mind, she suddenly asked, "Where is 'Zhan Yuan'?" Then she thought, how stupid I am!After all this time, he has become an archmage, and of course he will not own this small boat. "In Celadon," he answered, his expression congealed in lingering, incomprehensible grief. As long ago as "forever", as far away as the island of Celedon... "The furthest island," she said, half a question. "West End," he said. They were sitting at the table, and Therru had just finished their supper when Therru went out to play. "So you came from Keledo on Kailasim's back?" When she spoke the dragon's name, it molded her mouth itself again, taking its own shape and sound, speaking itself, causing her to breathe soft fire. When he heard the name, he looked up at her, his eyes piercing, and made her realize that he usually didn't look her directly in the eyes at all.He nodded, then corrected the answer for precision: "From Keledo to Roke, and from Roke to Gont." a thousand miles?Ten thousand miles?She has no idea.She had seen the large map in the Havnor treasury, but no one had taught her numbers or distance.As far away as the Isle of Celedon... Can dragons fly in miles? "Ged," she called him by his real name, for they were alone now. "I know you've been through a lot of pain and distress. If you don't want to—maybe you can't—maybe you shouldn't tell me, but if I knew, if I knew the gist, I might be able to help you better. I hope You, and they'll come for you from Roke soon, send a ship for the Archmage, maybe a dragon! Then you'll go away again, and we haven't talked much yet," she said, in words or Clenches her hands when the tone is wrong, like when she laughed at the dragon, when she whined like a scolding wife. He stared down at the table, sullen and patient, like a farmer facing a family quarrel after a hard day in the fields. "I don't think anyone comes from Roke," he said, and the words took so much effort that he paused a moment before continuing, "Give me a moment." She thought he had finished, so she replied: "Yes, it should be so. I'm sorry." When he was standing up to clear the table, he spoke again, still with his head down and his voice inarticulate: "Now, I have time." Then he stood up too, carried the dishes to the sink, and continued to clear the table.He did the dishes and Tenar cleaned up the mess.This intrigued her.She kept comparing him to Firestone, but Firestone had never washed a single dish in his life.This is a woman's job.But Ged and Ogion lived here alone, and had no wives.There were no women anywhere Ged lived, so he did "women's work" and didn't think much of it.It would be a pity, she thought, if he cared, if he began to fear that his dignity was equal to that of a dishcloth. No one came to him from Roke.No ship could be there when they were talking about it, unless it was blown all the way with spellwind.However, as the days passed, there was still no message or sign to find him.She found it strange that people had left the Archmage alone for so long.He must have prevented people from looking for him, or concealed his whereabouts by witchcraft, so that no one could find him, so that he could not be recognized, because the villagers still paid little attention to his presence, unexpectedly. It is not too surprising that Lord Ruiyabai didn't send anyone.The relationship between the clan lord and Ogion has never been good.Rumors in the village say that the women of this tribe are good at dark techniques.Villagers say that a man married a northern lord and was buried alive under a rock, another woman tried to modify the unborn child in her womb to try to give him power, and he did speak certain words at birth, but he No bones. "Like a little bag of skin," the midwives whispered in the village, "a little bag with eyes and a voice, completely unsucked, but speaking some strange language, and dying..." Whether the stories were true or not , Lord Rui Yabai has always lived in isolation.As the traveling companion of the mage Sparrowhawk, the adopted daughter of the mage Ogion, and the one who had brought the Ring of Ereabhai to Havnor, it was generally expected that Tenar would have been invited to live in the great mansion when she first arrived in Reabai, but she Not invited.Instead, she happily lives alone in a small farmhouse owned by a weaver Ashan in the village. She rarely sees people in the mansion, and she always only watches from afar.Moss told her that there was no mistress at the Great House now, only the old lord, very old, and his grandson and a young wizard named Poplar, hired from Roke. Tenar had not seen Poplar since Ogion was buried under the ash tree beside the path, holding Aunt Moss's charm in his hand.The strange thing is that he didn't know that Master Earthsea was in his village, or even if he knew, he avoided seeing him for some reason.The wizards of Gont who came to bury Ogion never came again.Even if he didn't know Ged was here, at least he knew who she was—the Snow White Lady, who had worn the Ring of Eriabah around her wrist to make the Peace Rune whole again.And how many years ago was all this?old woman!she said to herself.Are you dizzy? After all, she was the one who told them Ogion's real name, and some courtesy was necessary. But wizards being wizards paid no heed to etiquette—they were children of power and only dealt with power, and what power did she have now?Did she really have power?When she was a girl, a priestess, she was a vessel: the power of the dark land passed through her and used her, leaving no trace in her body; when she was a young woman, a powerful man taught her great knowledge, But she ignored it and refused to touch it; as a woman, she had chosen and received the power of a woman at that time, and that time has passed, and the responsibility as a wife and mother is over.She no longer has anything, any power, to be recognized by others. But a dragon had spoken to her. "I am Kailashin," it said. "I am Tenar," she answered. "What is the 'Dragon Lord'?" She had asked Ged in the Great Labyrinth, the dark place, trying to deny his power, trying to make him admit her power.And he was honest and honest, so that she would never let her guard down against him. "It's the man Long is willing to talk to." Therefore, she is the woman Long is willing to talk to.Could this be the new product, curled up knowledge, and light seed she felt inside when she woke up in front of the small window facing west that day? A few days after the brief conversation at the dinner table, she was weeding Ogion's vegetable garden, saving the onion seeds he planted in the spring from the summer weeds.Ged himself opened the high fence gate that kept the goats out, and began weeding at the other end.He worked for a while, then sat back and looked down at his hands. "Let them heal slowly," Tenar said softly. He nodded. A row of tall bean flowers has begun to bloom, and the fragrance is very sweet.With his thin arms resting on his knees, he gazed at a clump of vines, flowers, drooping pods in the sun.She worked as she spoke: "When Ahal died, he said, 'Everything has changed...' I have mourned for him, mourned for him since he passed away, but something eased my grief, something Something is being born...is being liberated. I know something has changed between my sleep and my first awakening." "Yes," he said, "an evil ended, and . . . " After a long silence, he spoke again without looking at her, but for the first time his voice sounded like the voice she remembered, soft, quiet, with a flat Gont accent. "Tenar, do you remember when we first came to Havnor?" Did I forget?She responded inwardly, but kept her mouth shut, afraid that words would drive him back into silence. "We'll drive into the harbor with the "Zhanyuan" and walk up to the pier—the steps are made of marble, and those people are all people—and then you raise your hand so they can see the ring..." ...and hold your hand.The fear I had then was more than fear: the face, the voice, the color, the towers, the banners, the gold, the silver, the sound, the music, the only thing I knew was you—the only thing I knew in the whole world was you , stand by my side, and walk forward together... "The royal steward led us to the bottom of Eriah, through the streets full of people, and then, just the two of us, up the high steps alone. Do you remember?" She nodded and put her hands flat on the freshly weeded dirt, feeling its rough coolness. "I opened the door, it was heavy, it stuck at first, and then we went into the room. Do you remember?" He seemed to be looking for reassurance: Did it really happen?do i really remember "It's a big, high hall," she said. "It reminds me of my hall, where I was devoured, but only because it's also high. Light streams from the windows at the top of the tower, like Swords criss-cross." "And the throne," he said. "The throne, yes, it's golden and crimson, but it's empty. It's like the throne in the hall of Etuan." "It's not anymore." He said, looking at her over a piece of green onion seedlings, his expression was blunt and full of nostalgia, as if naming a joy that he could not grasp. "Havnor has a king, right in the center of the world. The prophecy has been fulfilled: runes are healed, worlds are healed, and the day of peace has come. He..." He looked down at the ground and clasped his hands. "He brought me back from the dead. Arren of Enlad, Lebanon whose songs will be sung in the future. He took his real name, Lebanon, Lord of Earthsea." "Because of this," she asked, kneeling to look at him, "that's why there's this joy, this feeling of stepping into the light?" He didn't answer. Havnor has a king, she thought, and cried, "Havnor has a king!" The image of that beautiful city was always in her mind: the wide streets, the marble towers, the paved copper tiles, the ships in the harbor with white sails, the sun like a sword in the beautiful palace, all the abundance, dignity and harmony, Order remains.From that center of light, she watched order spread out in every direction like perfect ripples, rise like avenues, or sail like ships sailing to the wind, bringing peace where it should go. "My dear friend, you are doing well," she said. His hand moved slightly, as if to stop her words, then he turned his back to her and covered his mouth with his hand.She couldn't bear to see his tears, so she bent down and continued to work.She pulled up the weeds one by one, but the stems broke off from the roots.She dug with both hands, trying to find the grass roots buried in the black earth and deep into the soil. “葛哈。”瑟鲁脆弱、崩裂的声音在栅门口响起，恬娜转身。孩子的半脸，看得见与看不见的眼睛直望着她。恬娜想，我要不要告诉她，黑弗诺有王了？ 她起身走到栅门，好让瑟鲁毋须大喊。毕椈说，那孩子失神躺在火中时，吸进了火焰。“她的声音被烧光了。”他解释。 “我正看着西皮，”瑟鲁悄声道：“但它从金雀花牧地逃走了。我找不到它。” 这是她说过最长的话，她因跑步与试图忍住眼泪而全身颤抖。不能让大家哭成一团，恬娜对自己说，这实在太愚蠢了，绝对不行！“雀鹰！”她转身说：“有只山羊跑掉了。” 他立即起身，走到栅门。 “去泉屋找找看。”他说道。 他看着瑟鲁，仿佛看不到她丑陋的疮疤，仿佛几乎看不到她，一个丢失山羊的孩子，必须找回山羊的孩子；他看到的是山羊。“或许它跑去找村里的羊群了。”他说。 瑟鲁已跑向泉屋。 “她是你女儿吗？”他问恬娜。他之前对这孩子只字不提，恬娜这瞬间满脑子都想着：男人多奇怪。 “不，也不是我孙女。但她是我的孩子。”她说。是什么原因让她又开始对他冷嘲热讽？ 正当他开栅门往外走，西皮朝两人冲了过来，黄褐色一闪而逝，瑟鲁在后远远追赶。 “喝！”格得突然大喊，纵身挡住山羊去路，将它直接推往大开的栅门与恬娜怀里，她差点抓不住西皮松脱的皮项圈。山羊立刻静止不动，像羔羊般乖巧，用一只黄眼睛觑着恬娜，另一只盯着排排洋葱苗。 “出去。”恬娜说，将它拉出山羊乐园，带回属于它的贫瘠牧地。 格得坐倒在地，像瑟鲁般气喘嘘嘘，也可能更累，因为他喘息连连，而且显然头晕目眩，但至少不再掉泪。羊只会坏事。 “石南不该叫你看着西皮，”恬娜对瑟鲁说：“没人看得住西皮。如果它又跑掉，告诉石南，别担心。好吗？” 瑟鲁点点头，她正瞧着格得。她看人很少超过一瞥，男人尤是，但她正直直盯着他，头像麻雀般半偏。英雄诞生了吗？