Chapter 10 Chapter 10 Dolphins

She will not let go of the child, will not give the child to them.The boat was full of men, and it was a long time before she began to appreciate what they were saying to her, what had been done, what was happening.When she realized the identity of the young man she had mistaken for her son, she felt as if she had always known this, but she couldn't think about it.She just couldn't think about anything. He had walked back to the ship from the pier and was standing by the bridge, talking to a gray-haired man who looked like the captain.He glanced at Tenar, who was still crouching in the corner of the deck made by the railing and the wheels, still holding Therru.The weariness of a long day overwhelmed the fear, and Therru was fast asleep next to Tenar, using her little knapsack as a pillow and her cloak as a blanket.

Tenar stood up slowly, and the young man was beside her in an instant.She straightened her skirt and tried to smooth her hair. "I am Tenar of Atuan," she said.He stopped. "I think you are the king." He is very young, younger than his son Xinghuo, probably less than twenty years old, but a certain temperament makes people feel that he is not young at all, and a certain look reminds her: He has passed the test of fire. "Madame, I am Lebanon of Enlard," he said, and was about to bow to her, even kneel.She grabbed his hand and they stood facing each other. "Don't bow and kneel to me," she said, "and neither will I to you!"

He smiles in surprise, then shakes her hand, staring at her frankly. "How do you know I'm looking for you? Are you here to look for me? That person...?" "No, no. I'm running...he's...running...from some thugs...I'm going home, that's all." "Back to Etuan?" "Oh no! To my farm. Midvale. Here at Gont." She laughed, too, with tears in her eyes.Tears can be shed now, and they will begin to be shed.She let go of Wang's hand to wipe her eyes. "Where's Nakatani?" he asked. "Go southeast, around the headland over there. The port is at the mouth of the valley."

"We'll take you there," he said, glad to be at her service. She wiped her eyes with a smile and nodded in acceptance. "Drink a glass of wine, eat something, and rest for a while." He said: "There is still a bed for your child." The captain who was waiting quietly gave the order.It was as if the bald sailor whom he had seen a long time ago stepped forward and wanted to hug Therru.Tenar blocked him. She could not allow him to touch Therru. "I'll hug her." Her voice was sharp. "Ma'am, there's a step there, I'll do it," said the sailor.She knew it was a good intention, but she just couldn't allow him to touch Therru.

"Let me do it." The young man—Wang—said, glanced at her questioningly, then knelt down, picked up the sleeping child, hugged the cabin door, and carefully walked down the ladder.Tenar followed. He placed her on the bed in a small cabin with a strange but gentle way, covered with a cloak and tucked tightly around the edges.Tenar let him do it. In one of the larger cabins spanning the stern, with a long window overlooking the twilight bay, he seated her at the oak table, took the tray from the young sailor, and filled a heavy glass with Red wine, invite her to taste fresh fruit and cakes.

She tastes the wine. "Good wine, but unfortunately it's not the Year of the Dragon." She said. Like a normal boy, he showed surprise without defense. "This wine is from Enlad, not from the Androids," he said timidly. "It's a good wine," she assured him, taking another sip.She picked up a piece of pastry, a shortbread, rich but not greasy; green and amber grapes were sweet and sour; the bright taste of food and red wine was like the ropes of a mooring ship, tethering her to the world again , Reply rationally. "I was terribly scared," she apologized, "I think I'll come to my senses soon. Yesterday... no, today, this morning... there was a... spell..." The words barely came out of her mouth, and she stuttered Spit out, "I think, someone cast a...curse...curse on me, took away my words, my mind. So we ran away, but just happened to meet the man, it was him..." She looked up desperately The man who listened intently, his calm eyes made her say what she had to say. "He was one of the people who disabled that child. He and her parents. They raped her, whipped her, and burned her. Your Majesty, there is such a thing in the world! This thing happened to a child. And then he followed She, to take her away. Then..."

She stopped, took a sip of the wine, and forced herself to savor the taste. "To get away from him, I ran to you. To the shelter." She looked around, at the low chiseled beams, the smooth table tops, the silver trays, the thin, quiet face of the young man.His hair was black and soft, his skin was the color of clear copper, and his clothes were elegant but simple, wearing no chains, rings, or ornaments of power.But he looks like a king, she thought. "I'm sorry I let him go," he said, "but he can be found again. Who cast a spell on you?" "A wizard." She would not name.She doesn't want to think about it all.She wanted to leave everything behind, without revenge, without pursuit.Let them all remain in your own grudges, put them behind you, forget about them.

Lebannin did not press the question, but asked: "Are you safe from them in your farm?" "I suppose so. I wouldn't be afraid of Hanty if I wasn't so tired and disturbed... disturbed by...consciousness that I couldn't think. What can he do? On a street full of people? I shouldn't Flee from him. But I only feel her fear, she's so young, only afraid. She has to learn not to be afraid of him, I have to teach her that..." Karg's thoughts drifted into her head as her mind wandered.Did she speak Karg just now?He'd think she was crazy, a mad old woman talking to herself.She secretly looked up at him, his dark eyes did not look at her, but stared at the flame in a low-hanging glass oil lamp, a cluster of small, still, clear flames.His face was too sad for a young man.

"You came for him," she said. "To the Archmage. Sparrowhawk." "Ged," he said, looking at her with a faint smile. "You, him, and me, show people by their real names." "You and me, yes. But he, only to you and me." He nodded. "People who are jealous and malicious are dangerous to him, and now he has no... no ability to resist. Do you know?" She could not force herself to speak more clearly, but Lebanon said: "He told me that his power as a mage was gone. It was used to save me and all. But it is hard to believe. I don't want to believe him."

"Me too. But it is. So, so he..." She hesitated again, "He wants to be alone until the wound is completely healed." She finally said cautiously. Lebanon said: "He was with me in the land of darkness, in the dry land. We died together, and we crossed the mountains together. One can also cross the mountains and return to the world. There is a way. He knows. But the mountains are called misery. Those stones... stones cut, and wounds don't heal." He looked down at his hands.She thought of Ged's lacerated hands, clutching the wounds on their palms, forcing the cuts to close together.

Her own hand holds the small stone in her pocket, the real word she picked up on that steep slope. "Why can't he avoid me?" cried the young man, and then said quietly, "I do hope to see him. But if he doesn't want to, he must let it go." She saw as the emissary of Havnor showed Courtesy, politeness, and dignity, she admired them, she knew their value.But she loved him for his sorrow. "He's bound to come to you, you just have to give him time. He's hurt so badly, he's been stripped of everything. But every time he mentions you, says your name, oh, I see him in that moment , is also the way he will reply again: full of arrogance!" "Arrogance?" Lebannin repeated in astonishment. "Yes. Of course it's arrogance. Besides him, who else has the right to be proud?" "I've always thought of him...he was too patient," said Lebanin, laughing at his meager description. "He's impatient now," she said, "and too hard on himself. I guess there's nothing we can do but let him find his way, and then, as they say in Gont, until he's exhausted..." Suddenly, she also stretched to the limit, tired and unwell. "I think I'll have to rest now," she said. He got up immediately. "Lady Tenar, you say you run from one enemy and find another; but I come looking for a friend and find another." His wit and kindness made her smile.What a good boy, she thought. When she came to, the ship was full of noise: the creaking of blocks, the thumping of feet running overhead, the shaking of the sails, the shouting of sailors.Therru was slow to wake, and looked dull. She might have had a little fever, but her temperature was so hot that it was hard for Tenar to tell if it was normal.After walking fifteen miles with such a frail child in tow, and with all that had happened yesterday, Tenar tried to lift Therru's spirits with guilt, and began to tell of the two of them being on a ship with a real king on board, where they were. The small room in the house was the king's room, and the boat would take them back home on the farm, where Aunt Lark would be waiting for them, and Sparrowhawk might be there too.But not even the last bit interested Therru.She was utterly dull, sluggish, and dead. On her thin arm Tenar saw a mark—four finger marks, red as a brand, as if bruised from a pinched scratch.But Handy didn't grab, just touched her.Tenar had told her, promised her, that he would never touch her again.The promise was broken and her words meant nothing.In the face of violence that pretends to be deaf and dumb, what words can make sense? She bent down and kissed the mark on Therru's arm. "If only I had finished your red dress sooner!" she said. "The king might like to see it. But then again, I don't think even the king wears the best clothes on board." Therru sat on the bed, bowed his head, and did not answer.Tenar brushed back her thick, finally grown hair, the black strands flowing out to hide the burnt scalp. "Are you hungry, little bird? You didn't eat last night. Maybe the king will let us have some breakfast. He bought me pastries and grapes yesterday." no respond. When Tenar said it was time to leave the cabin, she obeyed.On deck, she stands sideways.She did not look up at the white sails laden with the morning wind, nor at the shining sea, nor back at Gont, the great forest, the cliffs, and the peaks that rose to the sky.She did not look up when Lebanin spoke to her. "Therru," said Tenar softly, kneeling beside her, "when the king speaks to you, answer." She is silent. Lebannen looked at Therrou with an unfathomable expression.Maybe it was a mask, a polite mask to hide disgust and shock, but he looked straight into his dark eyes, touched the child's arm very gently, and said, "You must feel very strange to wake up and find yourself in the middle of the sea." Therru would eat only a little fruit.She nodded when Tenar asked if she wanted to go back to her cabin.Reluctantly, Tenar let her curl up on the bed and went back to the deck. The ship is passing the majestic double cliffs, and the two rows of towering and solemn rock walls seem to be leaning on the sails.The guarding archers looked down at the people on the deck from the small fort on the rock wall as high as a swallow's nest, and the sailors shouted excitedly at them. "Open the way for my king!" they shouted, and the answer from the uploader was like a swallow from a high place: "My king!" Lebannen, the captain, and an elderly, thin, thin-eyed man in the gray cloak of the mage Roke stood erect at the prow.On the day Ged and she brought the Ring of Eriabah to the Sword Tower, he wore such a clean and delicate cloak; An old cloak, stained, dirty and torn, was his only bedding.As she thought, she watched foam splash from the side of the boat and the tall cliffs recede. As the boat passed the last reef and turned eastward, three men approached her.Lebanon said: "Ma'am, this is Master Wind Key from Roke Island." The mage bowed and looked at her with approval and curiosity in his keen eyes.A man who wonders where the wind is blowing, she thought. "Now I don't have to look forward to it, but I can believe that the weather will continue to be sunny," she said to him. "In this kind of weather, I just need to be a passenger," said the mage. "Besides, with a sailor like Captain Sairazen in charge of the ship, how can I use a weather master?" We're all so polite, she thought, talking madame, lord, master, captain, bowing and admiring.She glanced at the young king.He was looking at her, smiling but reserved. She felt as if she was in Havnor back then, she was still a girl, among the smoothness of everyone, rough as a savage.But now that she is no longer a girl, she doesn't feel awe and cowardice, but wonders how men adjust their world to dance in masks, and how easy it is for women to learn how to dance to music. They told her it would only take a day to sail to the mouth of the valley.With the help of such a wind, it can be reached this evening. She was still tired from the long days of worry and tension, so she sat contentedly on the seat that the bald sailor made for her with a straw mattress and a piece of canvas, watching the waves, the seagulls, and the outline of Mount Gont blue in the midday sun. And hazy, the ship relies on the steep coast, and sails meandering only one or two miles away from the land, making the mountain scenery change endlessly.She brought Therru up into the sun, and the boy lay beside her, half asleep. A very swarthy, toothless sailor, with hooved heels and hideous tangled fingers, came barefoot and laid something on the canvas beside Therru. "For the little girl," he said hoarsely, and walked away at once, but not far.From time to time he turned expectantly from his work to see if she liked his gift, and pretended he didn't look back.Therru would not touch the little cloth bag, so Tenar had to open it for her.Inside was a dolphin carved from bone or ivory, about the length of her thumb. "It can live in your little straw bag," Tenar said. "With the other Bone Folk." Hearing this, Therru regained consciousness a little, took out the straw bag, and put it in the dolphin.But Therru would not look at him or speak, and Tenar had to go and thank the humble giver.After a while Therru asked to go back to the cabin, and Tenar let her stay there with the skeleton men and the skeleton animals and the dolphins. So easy, she thought angrily, how easily Hantee had taken the sun, the ship, the king, and her childhood, but how easy it was!I've spent a year trying to give these back to her, but he can take them away and throw them away with just one touch.How does it benefit him?As his prize or power?Is power nothing but nothing? She went to the railing of the boat and stood with the king and the mage.The setting sun is about to sink, and the ship is sailing through a bright light, which reminds her of her dream of flying with the dragon. "Lady Tenar," said the King, "I have no message for you to pass on to our friend. I think it would be a burden to you and a violation of his liberty, neither of which I would have liked. The coronation will be held within the month, and if he holds the crown, it will begin as I wish. But whether he is present or not, he led me to my kingdom, he made me king. I will not forget this point." "I know you won't forget." She said softly.He is so agitated, so earnest, armed in the armor of class, but his honesty and purity of mind also make him vulnerable.Her heart pitied him, he thought he knew the pain, but he would experience it again and again, throughout his life, never to forget it. And therefore, he will not make careless choices like Hantee. "I'd like to carry a message," she said. "It's not a burden to me. It's up to him whether to listen or not." Master Fengkey grinned. "Always. Everything he does is up to him." "Have you known him long?" "Even longer than you, madame. I taught him as best I could..." said the mage. "He came to Roke as a boy, and brought with him a letter from Ogion, saying that he had great Great power. And the first time I took him out on a boat to learn how to speak to the wind, can you believe it, he summoned a waterspout. I saw the future right then. I thought, If he hadn't been sixteen Drowning before, or becoming an archmage before the age of forty... At least I would rather think that I thought so." "Is he still the Archmage?" Tenar asked.The question sounded blatantly ignorant, and a moment of silence ensued, and she feared it was more serious than ignorance. "There is no more Archmage Roke," said the mage at last, with the utmost care and precision. She dared not ask what he meant. "I think," said the king, "that the person who healed the peace rune should be able to attend any meeting in the kingdom, do you agree, sir?" After another silence and an obvious little struggle, the mage said, "Of course." The king waited, but he said nothing more. Lebannen looked out over the bright sea, and said as if telling a story, "When he and I rode a dragon from the farthest west to Roke..." He slowed down, and the dragon's name spoke in Tenar's mind, "" Kailasim," sounded like a gong. "The dragon left me there and flew away with him. The gatekeeper of Roke Hong Heen House said then, 'He has fulfilled his vow and is going home.' Before that—on the beach of Keledor— —He instructed me to keep his wand, saying he was no longer a mage. So Master Roke held a meeting to elect a new Archmage. "They allowed me to participate in the discussion, on the one hand, so that I could learn what the king should know about the council of wise men, and also in order to let me replace one of them-summoner Thorion, the evil that Lord Sparrowhawk discovered and ended. Thurion's skill was eroded. When we were in the drylands, between the walls and the mountains, I saw Thorion. My lord spoke to him, and told him to cross the wall and return to the world, but he did not take the road. way, he didn't come back." The strong and healthy hands of the young man gripped the railing of the ship.He was still looking at the sea, and after a minute of silence, he continued to tell the story. "I gathered the required number of people, nine, to elect the new Archmage." "They are . . . they are very wise people," he said, casting a glance at Tenar. "Not only in terms of skills, but also in knowledge. As I have seen before, they use each other's characteristics to make the most powerful decisions. But this time..." "The truth is," Master Fengkey continued, noticing that Lebannen was reluctant to express his criticism of Roke's masters, "we have only disagreements, not fixed opinions. We cannot reach an agreement. Because the Archmage is not dead—he is still alive, But he is no longer a mage—and he is still a dragon master...Moreover, the transformation master is still anxious because of the erosion of his skills, still believes that the summoner will come back from the dead, and begs us to wait for him...and the Xingyi master refuses Speak—he is a Karg, madam, like you. Do you know? He is from Karigol." He watched her with keen eyes: know where the wind blows? "So we faced a difficult problem. When the gatekeeper asked who to choose, he couldn't find anyone. Everyone looked at each other..." "And I stare at the ground," said Lebanin. "In the end, we looked at the person who knew the name—Master Name, and he was looking at Master Xingyi. Master Xingyi sat like a stump among the trees without saying a word. We had a meeting in the Xincheng Forest, where Among the trees whose roots are deeper than the island. It was evening, sometimes there was light in the woods, but that night there was no. It was dark, starless, and the sky was cloudy. Then, Master Xingyi stood up and began to speak in his native language, which was neither ancient nor ancient. Not Hittish, but Kargic. Few of us know or even know what that is, and we don't know what to make of it. But the Master of Names tells us that the Master of Shapes and Meanings said What. He said, 'The woman of Gont'." He stopped talking and didn't look at her.After a while, she asked, "Is there anything else?" "Not a single word. We asked, but he stared at us, unable to answer, because he was in a hallucination at the time, and what he saw was the configuration of things—form and meaning, which can rarely be described in words, let alone ideas. How to understand He knows no more words than we do. But that's all we have." Master Roke was a teacher after all, and Windkey was a very good teacher, so he couldn't help explaining the story clearly, perhaps more clearly than he expected.He glanced at Tenar again, and then looked away. "So, do you understand? Obviously we should come to Gont. But what? To whom? The 'woman' . . . no clues! Apparently the lady is going to guide us in some way, and tell us how to find the Archmage. And the lady, As you may have thought, we thought of you immediately, for we heard of no other woman in Gont. Gont was small, but famous. One of us said, 'She'll take us to Ogion.' But We all know that Ogion rejected the Archmage a long time ago, and he certainly wouldn't accept it when he was old and sick. In fact, I think Ogion was very ill when we discussed it. Another said: "But she'll lead us to Sparrowhawk too!" We've been really in the dark ever since." "That's true," said Lebannin, "because it began to rain in the woods." He smiled. "I thought I would never hear the rain again, so I was very happy at that time." "Nine of us got wet," Feng Yao said, "Only one is happy." Tenar smiled.She couldn't help feeling fond of the man.If he was so wary of her, she should be wary back, but to Lebannin and in front of Lebannin, there was nothing but frankness. "The 'Woman of Gont' can't be me, because I won't lead you to Sparrowhawk." "Personally, I think," said the mage, apparently frankly, perhaps with sincerity, "that it couldn't be you, lady. First of all, he's in a hallucination, and he'd say your real name. Very few people ever show their real name! But Rou The Council of Ke sent me to ask you, do you know if there is any woman on this island who we are looking for? It may be the sister or mother of the Son of Power, or even his master, because some witches are indeed in some ways Very wise. Perhaps Ogion knew such a lady? It is said that though he lived alone, and often roamed the wilds, he knew every man on the island. I wish he were still alive to help us!" She had thought of the fisherwoman in Ogion's tale.But the woman had been very old when Ogion had known her, many years ago, and must be dead by now.Still, she thought, dragons are said to live a long time. She didn't say anything for a moment, then just said, "I don't know anyone like that at all." She could feel the mage suppressing his impatience with her.Why is she reluctant to speak?what does she wantNo doubt he thought so.And she also thought, why couldn't she tell him?His assertiveness silenced her, and she couldn't even tell him that he didn't listen to other people's opinions. "So," she said at last, "Earthsea has no archmages. But there are kings." "And he fulfilled our hopes and trusts," said the mage, with a fervor befitting his status.Lebannen watched, listened, and smiled. "Over the past few years," Tenar said, a little hesitantly, "a lot of trouble, a lot of tragedy. It's become all too common for me...the little girl...and I've heard the children of hearing speak of their weakening , or change." "The Kabu that the Archmage defeated in the dry land caused unprecedented damage and destruction. It will take us a long time to restore the skills and heal wizards and witchcraft." The mage said decisively. "I thought, maybe there's more to it than restoration," she said. The world has changed...? It means some kind of change, great change, constantly happening, already happening? And it is because of this change that Earthsea has a king again. Maybe that's why there is a king, not an archmage?" Master Fengkey looked at her, as if seeing a very distant storm cloud in the far end of the sky.He even raised his hand, vaguely gestured the first stroke of the Shufeng Curse, then put down his hand again and smiled. "Fear not, lady," he said, "Roke and the arts of magic last forever. Our treasures are guarded!" "That should be said to Kelassin," she said, suddenly unable to bear his utterly involuntary contempt any longer.The words startled him.He heard the dragon's name, but that didn't make him listen to her either.How could he, who had never listened to a woman since his mother sang the last lullaby, listen to her? "Indeed," said Lebanon, "Kerathine came to Roke—a place that is said to be quite inaccessible to dragons, but not through any spell of my lord, who had no spells at that time...but Windkey, I think Lady Tenar is not concerned for her own safety." The mage made a serious effort to atone for his offense. "Ma'am," he said, "I'm being rude to treat you like an ordinary woman." She almost laughed out loud, wishing she could shake him awake, but only lightly said, "My fears are just little people's fears." It didn't work, he couldn't hear her. But the young king was silent and was listening. Climbing on top of the dizzying and swaying world of masts, sails, and rigging, the young sailor shouted in a clear and sweet voice: "There is a town behind the headland!" Soon, the people on the deck saw the crowd The dense brick and tile roof, the blue smoke that spirals upward, the glass windows that reflect the setting sun in the west, and the valley estuary port and wharf sitting on the satin blue bay. "Should I steer in, or should you, my lord?" asked the calm captain, and the Windkeymaster replied, "You take it into port, Captain. I don't want to face those little pieces!" He waved his hand , pointing to dozens of small fishing boats scattered in the bay.Therefore, the royal ship is like a swan among ducklings, slowly sailing against the wind, accepting the cheers of all passing ships. Tenar searched the docks, but there were no other seafarers in sight. "I have a son who is a sailor," she said to Lebanin. "I thought his ship might be in port." "Which ship is he on?" "He was the second mate of the 'Eske Seagull', but that was more than two years ago, he may have changed ships. He can't sit still." She smiled. "When I first saw you , thought you were my son. You are not alike, except that both of you are tall, thin, and young. And I was confused and scared... the fear of little people." The mage had already taken the captain's place in the bow, so she and Lebanin were alone. "The little people have too much fear," he said. It was her only chance to speak to him alone, and her words came rushing and indefinitely: "I want to say—although it may be useless to say: Is it possible that there is a woman in Gont—I don't know Who, I can't think of—but will there be, or there will be, there may be some woman, and people will be looking for... people will need her? Is it not possible?" He listens.He wasn't deaf, but his brow was furrowed and focused, as if trying to understand some foreign language.Then, he only whispered, "It's possible." A fishwife on a small sampan shouted: "Where did you come from?" The young sailor clinging between the rigging shouted back like a crowing rooster: "From Wangcheng!" "What's the name of this ship?" Tenar asked. "My son will ask me which ship I'm on." "'Dolphins,'" replied Lebannin, smiling at her.My son, my king, my dear child, she thought, how I would like to keep you by my side! "I have to pick up the baby," she said. "How are you going to get home?" "Walking, it's only a few miles away from the valley." She pointed to the land-facing end of the town, where the mid-valley stretches broadly and brilliantly between the two mountain arms, like a chest. "The village is on the river, and my farm is half a mile away. It's a pretty corner of your kingdom." "But will you be safe?" "Of course I will. I will spend the night with my daughter who lives at Guhekou, and the villagers are very reliable. I will not be left alone." The two looked at each other for a while, but neither of them said the name they were thinking at the same time. "Will they come from Roke again?" she asked. "To the 'Woman of Gont,' or to him?" "I will not come to him. If they propose again, I will forbid it," said Lebanin, not realizing how much he had told her in these few words. "But as for them looking for the new Archmage, or the woman that Master Xingyi saw in his vision, yes, they may come for that. Maybe they will come to you." "I welcome them to Oak Grange," she said, "but you are more welcome." "I'll go when I can." He said, a little serious, and then said happily: "If I can."