Chapter 7 Chapter 7 Mice

Zhensheng, the sheep buyer who brought Ogian's message to Zhonggu Farm, came to the mage's house one afternoon. "Master Ogion is gone, will you sell his sheep?" "Maybe." Tenar was noncommittal.She has already started to think about how to live if she stays in Rui Yabai.Ogion, like the rest of the wizards, was supported by those who depended on his skills, and that included everyone on Gont.As long as he opens his mouth, someone will gratefully send him what he needs. It is indeed a good deal to win the favor of the mage with such a small gift.But he never asked for anything. Instead, he had to give away surplus food, clothing, tools, livestock, various necessities and decorations provided by others or left at the door. "What do I want these for?" he'd ask, bewildered, with his arms full of angry rowdy chickens, or a bundle of brocade, or jars of pickled beets.

But Tenar left her livelihood in Midvale.When she left in a hurry, she didn't think how long she would stay.She didn't carry the seven pieces of ivory money hidden by Flint with her, but in the village, the money was used except for buying land and livestock, and selling Pashwe furs and Lobanari silk to rich peasants and small lords in Gont Harbor. Outside of business transactions, it is not very useful.Firestone's farm provided for her and Therru's daily needs, but Ogion's six goats, bean vines, and onions were for pleasure, not necessity.She had been living off his food reserves, some gifts from the villagers as a favor to her, and the generosity of Aunt Moss.Yesterday the witch said: "Honey, my ring-necked chickens have just hatched a brood of chicks. When they start to eat by themselves, I will bring you two or three. The mage refused to raise them, thinking they were stupid and noisy. But how can there be no chickens running around the door in front of the house?"

Moss's own chickens did come in and out of her gate at will, and slept in her bed, impossibly adding a stronger smell to the dark, smoky, stinking house. "There's a yearling ewe, brown and white, that milks well," Tenar said to the lean-faced man. "I'd like to buy a whole bunch if possible," he said. "There's only five or six in total, right?" "Six. They're all up in the pasture, if you want to see." "I'll check it out." But he didn't move.Neither side is of course too eager. "See that big ship coming in?" he said.

Ogion's house faced north-west, so that he could see only the rocky headland and the mighty cliffs of the bay, but in some places in the village, along the steep road to the port of Gont, the docks and the whole of the harbor could be seen.Watching boats is a common pastime in Reyabai. Usually one or two old men sit on the bench behind the blacksmith’s house, occupying the best spots, although they may never have walked the fifteen miles to Gont Port in their life. At the bend, they still watched the boats coming and going, taking the strange but familiar sight as entertainment. "The blacksmith's son said it was from Havnor. He was in the port buying iron. He came in very late yesterday. He said the big ship came from the great port of Havnor."

He might speak just to keep her from thinking about the price of the flock, and the sly look might just be the natural shape of the eyes.But Gont, a poor country, a small island known only for wizards, pirates, and goats, was not a frequent trader in the great port of Havnor, and the word "big ship" made her panic, maybe upset. "He said Havnor has a king now." The goat-buyer gave her a sideways glance and continued. "It might be a good thing," Tenar said. Zhensheng nodded. "Maybe we can drive away those bastards from other places." Tenar nodded her stranger's head kindly.

"But in the port, some people might not be very happy." He was referring to the pirate captains of Gont. In recent years, their complete control of the northeast seas has disrupted the voyages of many merchant ships that have long connected the central islands of the islets. Or discarded, thus fattening the pirates and thinning the Gont Islanders.Even so, pirates are heroes to most Gontites.God knows, maybe Tenar's son was a sailor on a pirate ship, and maybe he was safer than a stable merchant ship.As the saying goes, "it is better to be a shark than to tame herring".

"Anyway, there will always be dissatisfaction." Tenar followed the line reflexively, but feeling very impatient, she got up and continued, "I'll show you the sheep, and you can see for yourself. We don't know if it will be alone." Sell ​​it all or sell it all." Then she took the man to the pasture and left him alone.She didn't like him, though it wasn't his fault he brought bad news once or twice, but his eyes wandered; she didn't like his presence, and she wouldn't sell him Ogion's goat, not even Sippy. After he left with nothing, she felt restless.She said to him, "We don't know if we'll sell or not." It's a fool to say we and not me, because he didn't ask to talk to Sparrowhawk, didn't even mention him, which is what men bargaining with women do all the time, especially in When she rejected his offer.

She wondered how the villagers viewed the presence or absence of Sparrowhawk.Ogion, though distant, silent, and in some ways frightening, was still their mage, their villager.They may be proud of the name of Sparrowhawk, because he lived in Ri Yabai, and he has done great things, such as outsmarting the dragon in Ninety Isles, bringing back the Ring of Eriabah from unknown places, etc. But they don't know each other.He has never entered the village since he came, only to the forest and wild land.She never gave it much thought, but he was as determined to avoid the village as Therru. They must have talked about him.It was a village, and the villagers were talkative, but gossip about wizards and wizards didn't go far.Things are too weird, and the life of the Son of Power is too strange and different compared to theirs. "Forget it," she'd heard villagers say, in Mid Valley, whenever someone over-speculated about some lingering weatherman or their own wizard, Bi Teng, "forget it. He's going his way, we're ours single-plank bridge."

As for herself, she stayed to take care of and serve such a child of strength, which was nothing to them, and it was another kind of "forget it".She didn't go to the village very often herself, and they were neither friendly nor unfriendly to her.She had lived in the weaver fan's hut, and she was the adopted daughter of the old mage, and he sent the town boy down the mountain to find her, and it was all right; but she brought the child with such an ugly face.Who would voluntarily walk with such a child in broad daylight?What kind of woman is a wizard's student, wizard's caretaker?Definitely something to do with witchcraft, and witchcraft from out of town.But then again, she had been the wife of a rich peasant in Zhonggu, even though he had passed away, and she was a widow.But who can understand the behavior of those wizards?Forget it, better forget it...

She met the Archmage of Earthsea who was passing by the garden fence, and said, "It is said that a ship is coming from Havnor." He stopped, moved, stopped quickly, but seemed to turn and flee, fleeing like a mouse from a falcon. "Ged!" she said, "what's the matter?" "I can't," he said, "I can't face them." "Who?" "He sent him. The king sent him." His face suddenly turned pale, just like when he first came, and at the same time looked around the hiding place. His fear was so anxious and defenseless that all she could think about was how to free him. "You don't have to see them. If anyone comes, I'll drive them away. Come inside, you haven't eaten all day."

"Someone just came," he said. "It's Zhensheng. He came to buy sheep. I sent him away. Come on!" He followed her, and they both entered the house, and she closed the door. "Ged, they would never hurt you. No reason for them to?" He sat down at the table and shook his head dully. "no no." "Do they know you're here?" "I have no idea." "What are you afraid of?" she asked, not impatiently, but with a touch of intellectual authority. He raised his hands to cover his face, rubbed his temples and forehead, and lowered his head. "I was..." he said, "I am not..." He stopped abruptly. She stopped him and said, "It's okay, it's okay." She didn't dare to touch him, lest any gesture of pity would deepen his shame.She was angry with him and angry for him. "No matter where you are, what status you have, what you choose to do or not to do has nothing to do with them! If they come to peep, they can only leave with curiosity." This is what Skylark often says With a word beside her, Tenar longed for a woman who was ordinary but clear-headed by her side. "Then again, the ship may not have been your business. They may have driven the pirates home, and it would be nice if the king finally did it... I found some bottles of wine in the back of the cupboard, God knows what Ogion put How long have they been hiding, I think we both need a drink and some bread and cheese. The little one has eaten, and Heather and I went to catch frogs, there may be frog legs for dinner today, but now let's get some bread , cheese, and wine. Don't know where it came from, who gave it to Ogion, or how long." She rambled on like this, absolving him of responsibility for answering or the embarrassment of misunderstanding the silence until he felt ashamed. The seizure crisis was resolved, I ate something, and drank a glass of aged warm red wine. "Tenar, I'd better get out of here," he said, "until I learn how to be what I am." "Where?" "Go up the mountain." "Wandering like Ogion?" She looked at him.She remembers walking with him on the Etuan Road, asking him sarcastically, "Do mages often beg?" and he replied, "Yes, but I will try my best to repay." She asked him cautiously: "Can you survive as a weatherman or searcher for a while?" She filled his glass. He shook his head, took a sip of his wine, and stopped talking. "No," he said, "neither, nor of that kind." She doesn't believe it.She wanted to fight, to deny, to say to him: How is that possible, how can you say that... as if you forgot everything you knew, everything you learned from Ogion, from Roke, and on the journey !It is impossible for you to forget those mantras, true names, and how to manipulate your skills!Your strength is what you have learned and what you have worked hard for!She swallowed these words, but murmured: "I don't understand, how could it be all..." "A glass of water," he said, tipping the glass gently as if to drain it.After a while of silence, he said: "What I don't understand is why he brought me back. The kindness of young people is actually a kind of cruelty... So I'm still here, and I have to keep going until I can go back." She didn't quite understand what he meant, but she heard something blaming or complaining, and it shocked and angered her that he said it.She replied sternly, "Kerasin brought you here." After the door is closed, the house looks very dark, only the small window facing west invites the afternoon light into the room.She couldn't see his expression clearly, but he finally raised his wine glass to greet her with a faint smile. "This bottle must have been given to Ogion by some great merchant or pirate captain," he said. "I never drank such a fine wine, not even in Havnor." He played with the thick glass , looking down at it. "I'll make a name for myself, and then walk through the mountains, towards the mouth of the Aer River and the East Forest, my hometown. They should be drying the straw now, and they always need hands when drying the straw and harvesting." She didn't know how to answer.He was so frail and emaciated that he would be hired by people who would hire him out of sympathy or cruelty, and if he got a job he couldn't do it. "The roads aren't as quiet as they used to be," she said. "The last few years, there's been thieves and gangs everywhere. The townsman called them 'out-of-town bastards,' but anyway, it's not safe to travel alone anymore. gone." She watched his reaction through the twilight, and suddenly realized: How does it feel to never have to be afraid of others?What's it like to need to learn how to be afraid? "Ogion is everywhere too..." he began, and then closed his mouth, remembering that Ogion was a mage. "On the south side of the island," Tenar said, "many people herd. Sheep, goats, and cattle. They take their animals up the hills before the Long Dance to graze until the rains. They often need herders." She drank. Wine that tastes like the name of a dragon. "But why can't you stay here?" "Can't stay with Ogion, they must come here first to find me." "So what if they come? What will they want you to do?" "Be the person I was." The desolation in her voice made her shiver. She was silent, trying to remember what it was like to hold the power, to be the Eater, the First Priestess of the Tomb of Atuan, and then to lose everything, to abandon everything, to be just Tenar, just herself; , have a husband and son, then lose everything, grow old, become a widow, powerless.But even so, she felt she didn't understand his shame, or the pain it caused.Perhaps only men feel this way, and women are used to shame. Maybe Auntie Moss was right, and when the core was gone, the shell was empty too. A witch's word, she thought.In order to distract him and herself, and because the warm and hot wine made her thoughts and tongue more irritable, she said: "You know what? I thought Ogion was willing to teach me at that time, but I refused to continue and marry a farmer, and I thought when I did that—I still thought about it the day I was married—that Ged would be furious!” she said, laughing. "Indeed," he said. she waits. "I'm disappointed," he said. "Angry?" she said. "Angry," he said. He pours her wine. "I still had power back then, and I could recognize power." He said, "And you...you were in that terrible place, that great labyrinth, glowing in that darkness..." "Well, then, what shall I do with my power and the knowledge that Ogion is trying to teach me?" "use." "how to use?" "Like the use of magical arts." "Who uses it?" "Mage." He said with a little pain. "Magic means the techniques and skills of wizards and mages?" "What's the point?" "Is this the only thing that can ever mean?" He thought, raised his head and glanced at her once or twice. "When Ogion taught me the words of the Old Tongue over the fire," she said, "they were as hard and as easy in my mouth as in his, as if learning the language I spoke before I was born. Power runes, spells, rules, and summoning power are all dead to me, and they are other people's languages. I used to think that you can give me battle uniforms, let me hold spears, long swords, and feathers, etc., Armed, but that doesn't suit me, does it? What am I supposed to do with a sword? Does that make me a hero? I'll just be me in clothes that don't fit me, and I can't even walk.” She takes a sip of her wine. "So I took off everything," she said, "and put on my own clothes." "What did he say when you left Ogion?" "What does Ogion usually say?" This sentence elicited a shallow shadow-like smile again, and he didn't speak. She nodded. After a while, she said softly: "He took me in because you entrusted me to him. After you, he didn't want to accept any apprentices, but for you and at your request, he would accept a woman. But he loves me and respects me, and I love and respect him. Only he can't give me what I want, and I can't take what he gives, and he knows that. But, Ged, he saw Therru quite differently , the day before he died. Strength knows strength—you say it, and Moss says it. I don't know what Ogion saw, but he said, 'Teach her!' And he said..." Ged waited. "He said, 'People will be afraid of her.' Then he said, 'Teach her everything! Don't go to Roke.' I didn't understand him. How could I have known? If I had stayed with him, I might have understood, I might teach her. But I think Ged will come, and he will know. My wronged child, he will know what to teach her, what she needs to know." "I don't know," he said in a very low voice. "I see—in that child I see only—iniquity at its best." He drained his glass of wine. "I have nothing to give her," he said. There was a knock on the door.Immediately he turned helplessly to his feet, looking for a place to hide. Tenar went to the door, opened it, and smelt Aunt Moss before she saw it. "Men have come to the village." The old woman whispered exaggeratedly: "Several handsome men came from the port, aboard a big ship that was said to be from Havnor City. Some said they were looking for the Archmage." "He doesn't want to see them," Tenar said weakly.She doesn't know what to do. "I think so," said the Witch.Then, after an expectant silence, "Where is he then?" "Here," said Sparrowhawk, going to the door and opening it a little.Moss glanced at him, but said nothing. "Do they know where I am?" "I didn't say anything," said Moss. "If they come," Tenar said, "you just have to tell them to go . . . you are the Archmage, after all . . . " Neither he nor Moss listened to her. "They won't come to my house," said Moss, "you can come if you want." He followed the witch away, looking at Tenar but saying nothing. "So what should I tell them?" she demanded. "Don't say anything, dear," said the Witch. Heather and Therru came back from the swamp with seven dead frogs in a net bag, and Tenar busily cut off the legs and skinned the frogs for the hunter's supper.As soon as she finished her work, she heard voices outside, raised her head, and saw someone standing outside the wide open door: a man in a hat, a flash of gold, a flash of light... "Ms. Geha?" A Binbin asked the polite voice. "Come in!" she said. Five men entered the house, and there seemed to be more than twice the number in the low house, all tall and handsome.They looked around, and she saw what their eyes saw. They saw a woman standing before a table with a long pointed knife, on which stood a cutting board with a small pile of naked green and white frog legs on one side and a fat, bloody pile of dead frogs on the other. frog.There was something hiding in the shadows behind the door, a child, but twisted and deformed, with only half a face and clawed hands.On a bed in an alcove under the only window sat a tall, thin young woman, staring at them with her mouth open.Her hands were covered with blood and mud, and her wet skirt smelled of swamp mud.She noticed that when they saw her, they tried to cover their faces with their skirts and show their thighs. They avoided looking at her or at the child, only the woman holding the dead frog. "Ms. Geha," one of them repeated. "I am," she replied. "We come from Havnor, sent by the king," said the courteous voice.Against the light, she couldn't see their faces clearly. "I want to find the Archmage, the sparrowhawk of Gongtu. King Lebainan will be crowned at the autumnal equinox. I also hope that the Archmage, the king's lord and best friend, will accompany him to prepare for the coronation. If you agree, please also crown the king." The man spoke calmly and politely, as if facing a lady in the palace.He wore plain leather trousers and a linen shirt, dusty from the climb up the hills from Gond Harbor, but of recognizable quality, embroidered with gold thread at the throat. "He's not here," Tenar said. The boys in the village poked in from the door, flinched, poked in the house again, and ran away yelling. "Perhaps you would like to tell us about his whereabouts, Ms. Geha," said the man. "I can't tell." She looked at their group with fear at first, perhaps infected by the sparrowhawk's panic, or the foolish uneasiness of seeing a stranger, but gradually it subsided.Standing in Ogion's house, she could see why Ogion had never been afraid of the great. "You must be very tired from coming all the way," she said, "Would you like to sit down for a while? I have some wine, let me wash up the glasses first." She took the chopping board to the closet, put the frog's legs in the closet, poured the leftovers into the bucket of rancid water (Heather would carry it to the weaver fan to feed the pigs), washed her hands, arms and knives in the sink, poured Clean water to rinse the two glasses she and Sparrowhawk just used.There was also a glass and two clay cups without handles in the cabinet.She put the glass on the table and poured out for the visitors, there was just enough wine in the bottle for them to enjoy a round.They looked at each other and didn't sit down. The lack of chairs was just an excuse, but the way they were guests made them have to accept the wine she offered.Each murmured their thanks politely, and took the glass or earthenware cup from her hand.After toasting her, they took a sip. "Oh my god!" one person praised. "Android Islands, late harvest year." Another person said with rounded eyes. The second person shook his head. "Android Islands, Year of the Dragon." He said solemnly. The fourth nodded, then took another reverent sip. The fifth man, who spoke first, raised his clay cup to Tenar again, and said, "Madam, you serve the royal wine." "This is Ogion's," she said. "This was Ogion's house, and now it is Ahar's. Do your lords know?" "Yes, madam. The king sent me here, because he thought the archmage would come here, and when news of the owner's death reached Roke and Havnor, the king was more convinced. But the dragon general The mage was taken away from Roke. Since then, neither word nor despatches have been sent to Roke or the king. The king's intention is to know whether the archmage is here and all is well. ; this is what I and others wish for. Madam, has he been here?" "I can't tell," she said, but it was a poorly repeated lie, and she could see that these people believed it.She straightened her back and walked behind the table. "I mean, I don't want to say. I think if the Archmage wants to come, he will; Appear." The oldest and tallest man among them said, "The king's will is our will." The first speaker said reassuringly: "We are just messengers. We have no right to intervene in matters between the king and the archmages of the islands. We only want to bring the message to us and get an answer at the same time." "If possible, I will be responsible for conveying your message to him." "Where's Echo?" asked the oldest man. She said nothing.The first speaker said: "Lord Rhiabai heard that our ship arrived, and he did his kindness as a landlord, so we will stay in the lord's mansion for a few days." Inexplicably, she felt as if she had been set in a trap, or tightened with a twisted rope.Sparrowhawk's fragility, his feelings about his own vulnerability affected her.Distraught, she takes advantage of her appearance - the appearance of being a law-abiding woman, a middle-aged housewife.But is this really just the surface?This is also true, even more subtle than the wizard's disguised transformation.She bowed her head and said: "This is more suitable for adults. Our life here is very simple, just like the old mage back then." "And drinking wine from the Andro Islands." The person who recognized the origin of the wine, with bright eyes and a handsome appearance, said with a charming smile.She continues to play her role with her head and neck down.But as they bid her farewell and filed out, she knew that whatever she looked or was, if they didn't know she was Tenar of the Rings now, they would soon know, and therefore would know her. The Archmage himself was known; and if they were determined to find out his whereabouts, she would be their guide. After they left, she let out a big breath.Shinan did the same, and finally closed his mouth that had been gaping open. "It's rare," she said in deep, utterly contented tones, and went out to see where the goats went. Therru ran out from the corner behind the door, where she had just made a little barrier for herself with Ogion's wand, Tenar's alder staff, and her own hazel stick, completely shutting herself off from strangers.Since they came here, the tense, dodging and sideways walking, not daring to raise their heads, and the burned half of their faces were hidden on their shoulders, and those gestures that she had discarded long ago reappeared. Tenar knelt beside her and took her in her arms. "They will not hurt you, Therru. They mean no harm." The child refused to look at her.She held her like a log in Tenar's arms. "If you don't want to, I won't let them in the house anymore." After a while, the baby moved in her arms, and asked her in a hoarse voice, "What are they going to do to Sparrowhawk?" "Won't do anything," Tenar said. "Won't hurt him! They... they came to honor him." But she had seen the damage they could do when they tried to glorify him—denying his loss, denying his grief over it, forcing him to act as he was no longer. She let the child go, and Therru went to the closet, took out Ogion's broom, and swept with great difficulty where the men of Havnor walked, sweeping away their footprints, sweeping the dust of their footprints out the door, down the steps . Watching her, Tenar made up her mind. She went to the bookcase where Ogion's three large volumes were kept and rummaged, and found a few quills, a bottle of half-dried ink, but not even half a sheet of paper or parchment.She gritted her teeth, unwilling to treat such a precious object as a book—she scratched lightly on the blank last page of the rune book and tore off a piece of paper.She sat at the table, wet the tip of her pen, and began to write.Insufficient ink and words made it difficult for her to write.She had hardly written anything in the twenty-five years since she sat at the same table, with Ogion watching behind her, teaching her the runes of the Hittite and the runes of wizardry.She wrote: From the Middle Ages to Qingxi's Oak Farm Said Goha sent to look after the garden and the sheep Writing and rereading took her almost the same amount of time.By this time Therru had finished sweeping the floor, and was watching intently. She added two words: tonight "Where's the heather?" she asked the child, folding and refolding the paper. "I want her to take this to Aunt Moss's house." She longed to go herself, to meet Sparrowhawk, but she dared not let others see her, in case they were staring at her, waiting for her to lead them to him. "I'll go," whispered Therru. Tenar gave her a sharp look. "You must go yourself, Therru, through the village." The child nods. "You can only give it to him!" She nodded again. Tenar stuffed the paper into the baby's pocket, hugged her, kissed her, and let her go.Therru went, no longer squatting and walking sideways, but running and leaping freely.Leap like a bird, like a dragon, like a child, Tenar thought as she watched her disappear into the twilight beyond the dim door.free.