Chapter 11 Chapter Eleven Home

When they heard that the new king was in the ship, the king of the new song, most of the inhabitants of the mouth of the valley came to the harbor to see the ships of Havnor.They hadn't heard the new songs yet, but they had all heard the old ones, so old Rayleigh came with his harp, and sang a fragment of "Morred's Friendship," because the King of Earthsea must be the descendant of Morred.Presently Wang himself came on deck, young, tall, and handsome.Beside him was a mage of Roke, and a woman and child, cloaked in rags like a beggar's, but the king was as courteous as a queen and princess—so they might be. "Maybe it's his mother's queen." Xin Ni said, trying to look over the head of the man in the front row to get a closer look.Suddenly, her friend Ai Ping grabbed her hand tightly and screamed softly, "Yes...it's Mom!"

"Whose mother?" Sunny asked, and Apple said, "My mother. There's Therru next to her." But she didn't make it to the front of the crowd, even when a sea officer came ashore and invited old Raleigh aboard to play for the king. She still waits with others.She saw the king receive the local gentry at the mouth of the valley, and heard Raleigh sing for the king; she watched the king say goodbye to the guests-some people said, because the ship was going out to sea before sunset, and returned to Havnor.Therru and Tenar were the last to cross the bridge, and the king sent them off with a formal hug, cheek to cheek, and knelt to hug Therru. "Ah!" the crowd on the pier sighed.The two of them got off the boat while holding onto the bridge railing. The sun was sinking into a golden mist, casting a golden road on the bay.Tenar was lugging a heavy knapsack and bag, and Therru's face was drooped and covered with hair.The bridge deck was pulled up, and the sailors pulled up the rigging one after another, and the ship "Dolphin" turned back to sail amidst the officer's order.At this time, Ai Ping finally passed through the crowd.

"Hi, mother!" she said, and Tenar said, "Hi, daughter." They kissed each other, and Aapping took Therru up in her arms, and said, "You've grown so tall! Twice as tall as ever! Come on , go home with me." That night, in the cozy house of her young businessman husband, Apple was a little shy about her mother.Several times she gazed at her mother with a thoughtful, even wary expression. "Mother, you know, those things never meant much to me," she said from Tenar's bedroom door. "Those things about the Peace Rune . Just like a ballad, like something that happened a thousand years ago! But that's really you, isn't it?"

"It was the girl from Etuan," Tenar said. "It was all a thousand years ago. I think I could sleep a thousand years now." "Then go to bed." Ai Ping turned and left, then raised the oil lamp and turned back. "My dear king," she said. "Go to bed now," Tenar said. Apping stayed two days with her husband, Lyutina, but she insisted on going back to the farm, so Apping, she, and Therru walked together along the smooth, silvery Kaheda.The season is slowly turning to autumn, the sun is still hot, but the wind has cooled, the branches and leaves of the trees are tired and gray, and the fields have been harvested or are being harvested.

Appin spoke of Therru being much stronger and more sure-footed. "I wish you could see her in Riabeth," Tenar said, "in him..." She fell silent.She has decided not to worry her daughter about these things. "What's going on?" asked Apple, insisting she wanted to know, and Tenar gave in, answering in a low voice, "One of those people." Therru walked a few feet ahead, her long legs sticking out of her short skirts, looking for blackberries among the roadside bushes. "Her father?" Ai Ping asked, feeling sick just thinking about it. "Skylark said her father seemed to be a man who called himself Heck. He was younger, and he went to Lark, and his name was Henty. He was hanging around Riya Bai, and we met him in Gont Port. Bad luck, but the king drove him away. Anyway, I'm here, he's there, and it's all settled."

"But Therru was frightened," said Apple, slightly harshly. Tenar nodded. "Why did you go to Gont Port?" "Well, this Hanti is working for someone...for the wizard of Lord Reia White, who hates me..." She tried to remember the wizard's common name, but couldn't, and the only thing that came to her mind was Tuahe, a Karge word for some kind of tree, but she couldn't remember which. "so what?" "Well, so it seems better to go home." "Then why do wizards hate you?" "Mainly because I'm a woman." "Pfft," said Ai Ping, "Smelly old man."

"This is a brat." "That would be worse. Well, no one I know around here has ever met her parents—if they're worthy of the title. But if they stay around here, I don't like you on the farm alone." It doesn't feel bad to be reminded by my daughter like a mother, and to act like a baby to my daughter like a child.Tenar said impatiently, "I'm all right!" "You should at least have a dog." "I've thought about it. Someone in the village may have a puppy. You can ask Skylark when you pass by later." "Mom, it's not a puppy, it's a dog."

"But you must be younger to play with Therru," she demanded. "A good puppy who can kiss a thief," the plump, gray-eyed Ai Ping said as she walked, teasing her mother. The three of them came to the village at noon.Lark welcomed Tenar and Therru with a stream of hugs, kisses, questions, and food.Lark's taciturn husband and the rest of the village stopped by to say hello to Tenar, and she felt happy to be home. Skylark and the youngest of her seven children, a boy and a girl, accompanied them to the farm.The boy had known Therru since Lark first brought her home, and was used to her, though the separation of two months had made them a little shy at first.In front of them, even in front of Lark, Therru was still withdrawn and withdrawn, passive, just like that bad past.

"She's tired and dazed from all the running around. She'll be all right, she's improved a lot," Tenar said to Skylark, but Aapple wouldn't let her avoid the subject so lightly. "One of them showed up and terrified her and mom," Apple said.So that afternoon, under the persuasion of her daughter and her friend in turn, Tenar told everything, and the three of them opened the cold, dreary, dusty house, tidied the surroundings, cleaned the sheets, shook their heads and sighed at the sprouting onions, and sat in the cupboard. Put some food in it, and cook a big pot of soup for dinner.What they heard was a story pieced together word by word.Tenar couldn't seem to tell them what the wizard had done, she said roughly it was a spell, maybe he had sent Handy after them.But when she spoke of the king, words poured out.

"And then he appeared... the king came! Like a sword... Handy shrank from him. I thought he was Starfire! I really, really thought for a moment, and my At that time... I was really panicked at that time..." "That's good," Ai Ping said, "because when we stood on the pier and saw you arriving at the harbor, Xin Ni thought you were Wang's mother. Aunt Skylark, you know, she just kissed him like that, Kissed the king... I thought she was going to kiss the mage next, but she didn't." "I don't think so, what kind of idea is this, what kind of mage?" Skylark poked his head into the cupboard and asked, "Geha, where is your flour bucket?"

"That's what you touched. He's the mage Roke, coming to find the new archmage." "come here?" "Why not?" said Aappin. "The last one went from Gont, didn't they? But it didn't take long for them to go away. They returned to Havnor as soon as they had driven Mother away." "What are you talking about?" "He said he was looking for a woman," Tenar told them, "'a woman from Gont,' but he didn't look very happy." "Wizards looking for women? This is the first time." Lark said, "I thought it would get wet, but it's all right. Shall I bake some thick pancakes? Where's the oil?" "I've got to get some out of the oil bottle in the cold room. Shandy, here you come! How are you? How's Qingxi? Is everything all right? Did you sell the ram?" The nine sat down to dinner together.In the flagstone kitchen, sitting at the farm table under the soft yellow light at night, Therru began to raise her head slightly, and said something to the other children a few times, but she still showed a wince.As it was getting dark outside, she sat sideways, letting her visible eyes watch out the window. She did not ask how Ged was doing until Lark and the child went away in the twilight, and Aiapping sang Therru to sleep, leaving Tenar alone with Shandy to wash the dishes.For no reason, she didn't want Skylark and Apple to hear it, because it required too much explanation.She completely forgot to mention him in Riya Bai, and she didn't want to talk about Riya Bai anymore.Every time she thought about it, her mind began to gloomy. "Did anyone say last month that I called him here to help with things?" "Oh, I totally forgot!" Shandy exclaimed. "You mean Eagle, the one with the scar on his face?" "Yes," said Tenar, "an eagle." "Oh, um, well, I think he's on Hot Spring Hill, a little higher than Lisu, tending sheep. He's been here and said you asked him to come, but there's really no work for him here. Do, you know, Qingxi and I look after these sheep, and I also do dairy, and old Tiff and Siss come to help when necessary, so I racked my brains. Qingxi said, "Ask the people in Siri, Farmer Seri is the foreman at Kahdanen, and the alpine pastures need shepherds." The eagle did as he said, and they hired him, and left the next day. "Ask Sai Rui's people,' Qingxi told him at that time, and he followed suit and hired him immediately. I think he will come down the mountain with his flock in autumn. Now he should be in the high mountain pasture, on the long hill above Lisu , I remember they seemed to ask him to look at the goats. Very polite guy. I can't remember if it was the goats or the sheep. Goha, I hope you don't mind if we don't keep him here because there's really no work for him, There are me, Qingxi, and old Tiff here, and Siss has harvested the flax again. And he said that he used to be a shepherd on the mountain over there, at the mouth of the Aer River, but he said he didn't Sheep. Maybe they let him watch goats up there." "Perhaps," Tenar said.She was really relieved, but also very disappointed.She wondered if he was all right, but also hoped to find him here. That's enough, she told herself, just to go home; maybe it would be better if he wasn't here, and nothing was here, and all of Raby's sorrows, dreams, witchcraft, and fears remained there, forever.Here she was now, home, here with the stone floors and walls, these little windows, with the oak outside standing dark in the starlight, these quiet clean rooms.For a long time that night Tenar lay in bed with her eyes open.The daughter slept with Therru in the next room, in the children's room, and she lay in her own bed, in her husband's, alone. she goes to sleep.She woke up with no memory of any dreams. After a few days at the farm, she seldom thought of her summer in Gaoling.That was a long, long time ago.Though Shandy insisted that there was nothing left to do on the farm, she found plenty to do: all the unfinished business of the summer, and all the work to be done in the fields and in the dairy at harvest time.She worked from dawn till sundown, and when she had an hour and a half to sit down, she spun, or sewed new garments for Therru.The red dress was finally finished, and it was indeed a beautiful dress, with a white apron for special occasions and a maroon apron for ordinary times. "You look pretty now!" said Tenar, with the pride of a tailor, as Therrue tried it on for the first time. Therru looked away. "You are beautiful," said Tenar, in a very different tone. "Look at me, Therru. You will have scars, ugly scars, because ugly and evil things have happened to you. People will See the scars, but they also see you, and you are not these scars. You are not ugly, you are not evil. You are Therru, and you are beautiful. You are wearing a red dress, and you will do a good job, walk, run, Dancing Therru." The child listened, the soft and intact half of the face was equally expressionless as the stiff, scar-covered half of the face. She looked down at Tenar's hands, and in a moment touched them with her own little hands. "It's a beautiful dress," she said in a weak, hoarse voice. Tears stung Tenar's eyes as she folded the rags of red cloth alone.She feels reprimanded.Making a red dress is the right choice, and everything I tell my children is the truth. However, being correct and being true are not enough.Beyond what is right and true, there is a gap, a crack, a chasm.Though her love for Therru and Therru for her bridged the gap, a bridge woven of spider's silk, love could not fill or close the gap.Nothing can do this, and the child understands this better than she does. On the day of the autumnal equinox, the bright autumn day burns through the mist, and the leaves of the oak trees take on a nascent gold and copper.Tenar opened the windows and doors of the milkhouse to let in the sweet air, and as she scrubbed the cheese pot, she thought: The young king is being crowned at Havnor today; princes and ladies will wear blue, green, or red, but the king will In white; he will climb the steps to the sword tower, the same steps she and Ged climbed, and he will wear the Morad crown; at the sound of the trumpet, he will turn, and sit in the vacant place for many years From his throne, he watched his kingdom with dark eyes that knew pain and fear. "Long peace be with you," she thought, "poor boy!" She added, "Ged should crown him, and he should go." But Ged was now pasturing the rich man's sheep, perhaps goats, in the high pastures.It was a beautiful, dry, golden autumn day, and they would not drive the sheep down until the first snow fell on the peaks. Tenar entered the village, walking deliberately towards Ivy's cottage at the end of Mill Lane.Knowing Moss in Reyabai made her want to have a deep friendship with Yawei, but she must first overcome the witch's suspicion and jealousy.Though there were larks here, she still missed Moss, from whom she had learned and loved, and who had given her and Therru what they needed.Here she hopes to find the same kind of assistance.Although Yawei is much cleaner and more reliable than Moss, she does not intend to give up her distaste for Tenar at all. She responds to Tenar's extended hand of friendship with contempt, and Tenar admits that perhaps she deserves it.The witch only said clearly, "You go your way, I'll go over my bridge." Tenar also complied with her, but she still treated each other with courtesy when they met.She thought that she had always underestimated Yawei for a long time, so she needed to make up for it.The Witch evidently agreed with this, and accepted with determined rage the treatment she thought she deserved. In mid-autumn, at the request of a rich farmer, the magician Bi Zhen came to the valley to cure him of gout.Bi Tan stayed in Midvale Village for a period of time as usual, and went to Oak Farm one afternoon to check Therru's health and talk to Tenar.He wanted to hear her account of Ogion's deathbed—a student of one of Ogion's pupils and one of Gont's most devoted mage admirers.Tenar found it easier to talk about Ogion than about the rest of the white men of Reia, and she knew everything.After she finished speaking, he asked a little cautiously: "The archmage...has he arrived?" "Yes," said Tenar. Bi Tan has smooth skin and a kind expression. He is in his early forties and is a bit fat. The semi-dark circles under his eyes obscure his ordinary face. He glanced at her without saying a word. "He came after Ogion died, and left," she said, and continued a moment later, "he's not the Archmage now. Do you know that?" Bi Qing nodded. "Is there any news about the selection of a new archmage?" The warlock shook his head. "A ship came from the Enlads not long ago, but the crew did not bring any news except the coronation. They talked a lot about it! It sounds like all the omens and events were very lucky. If the mage Goodwill is a kind of wealth, so our young king is really a rich man, and it seems that he will do a lot... Not long before I left the mouth of the valley, an order came from the mainland from Gont Port, requiring nobles, merchants, The mayor and the council held a meeting to check whether the patrol officers in the area are upright and law-abiding, because they are now the king's subordinates and must enforce his will and enforce his laws. You can imagine how Lord Hannuo will react!" Hannuo He is known to support pirates and has long been in cahoots with Nangong Patrolmen and Marine Patrolmen. "But with the support of the king, some people are now willing to rebel against Hannuo. They dismissed a group of old patrolmen on the spot, and elected 15 new patrolmen with outstanding personalities, and the mayor paid their salaries. Destroy everything and leave. A new era is here! It won't happen overnight, but it's just around the corner. I wish Lord Ogion was still alive to see it." "He saw it," said Tenar. "He smiled as he died, and said, 'Everything has changed...'" Bi Zhen listened with his usual calmness and nodded slowly. "Everything has changed," he repeated. After a while of silence, he said, "The child is doing well." "It's okay...but sometimes I feel like it's not enough." "Mrs. Gerhardt," said the sorcerer, "even if I, or other sorcerers or witches, or even wizards, adopted her and poured all the medical power of magical arts into her during the months after her injury, it would not have been the case. Better than now. More likely than not. You've done your best, you've worked miracles." His sincere praise moved her, but it also made her sad.She told him why, "It's not enough, I can't cure her. What can she... what can she do? What will happen to her?" She pulled the thread from the spindle and said, "I'm worried." "For her?" Bi Zhenban asked. "I worry because her fears call upon the source of her fears. Worry because..." She didn't know how to describe it. "If she lives in fear, it will do harm," she finally said. "That's what worries me." The warlock pondered for a moment. "I thought," he said at last sheepishly, "that if, she had the talent—I think she did—she might be able to get a little training in the arts of magic. As a witch, her...appearance wouldn't be like that to her. Bad, maybe." He cleared his throat, "Some witches are good at it," he said. Tenar rubbed a short length of freshly spun wool between her fingertips, testing for thickness and tenacity. "Ogion told me to teach her. 'Teach her everything,' he said then, and then: 'Don't go to Roke.' I don't understand him." Bi Zhen thinks it is not difficult to understand. "He meant that Roke's lore—those high arts—wasn't for a girl," he explained, "not to mention she was so handicapped. But if he said give her all knowledge, he probably thought , her future is the career of a witch." He pondered again, feeling more inspired because Ogion's weighty opinion agreed with his own. "In a year or two, when she's stronger and a bit older, you might consider asking Yawei to start teaching her some things. Of course, even if it's something like this, it can't be too much until she gets her real name." Tenar immediately and vehemently rejected the suggestion.She didn't say a word, but she felt delicate after all. "Avi is indeed gloomy," he said, "but her knowledge is true. Not all witches are like that, you know, 'incompetent as a woman's magic, vicious as a woman's magic'! I know a certain Some witches have real healing abilities. Healing is suitable for women, it is a woman's innate ability. The child may have this tendency because she has been so hurt herself." His kindness, Tenar thought, was innocent. She thanked him and said she would think carefully about what he said.And she did think. Before the end of the month, all the villagers in Zhonggu gathered in the round barn in Sudaiwa, appointed security patrols and police officers in each village, and set up taxes to pay the salaries of the patrols.Everyone hastened to implement it, because the road was still full of stubborn beggars and thieves, and the villagers and farmers were looking forward to order and safety.Ugly rumors spread, for example: Lord Hanno formed a council of villains, hired all the local ruffians in the vicinity, and formed a party to attack the patrolmen under the king's command.But most people responded: "They will try it if they dare!" Then go home, congratulate each other that the good people can finally sit back and relax, and that the king will correct all evil deeds-however, the tax is really unreasonable, and the tax alone can make them A lifetime of poverty. Tenar was glad to hear this news from Lark, but she did not pay much attention to it.She worked very hard, and when she got home she insisted, almost unconsciously, not to let the problems of Handy or any of the other punks dominate her or Therru's life.Leaving a child around at all times will only rekindle fears, or constant reminders of things that keep a child from functioning just by thinking about them.Children must be free, and they must understand that they are free and grow up leisurely. Gradually Therru gave up his timid and fearful attitude, and was able to walk around the farm alone, in the nearby roads, and even enter the village alone.Tenar told Therru nothing, even though the admonition had to be swallowed sometimes.Therru was safe on the farm, safe in the village, no one could hurt her--that must be an unquestionable fact.Tenar seldom questioned that, indeed, with her and Shandy and Clear Creek around at all times; Siss and Tiff in the house down the slope; What could hurt that child? If there is a dog she wants, she will have one.One of those big gray Gont collies, smart and curly. Occasionally she would think, as she did in Reyabeth: I should teach this child!Ogion said so.But Therru could learn nothing but farming and evening stories—and as the evenings came earlier, it became a habit for the two of them to sit by the kitchen fire and tell stories after meals and before bed.Perhaps Beth was right, and Therru should have learned from a witch what a witch knew, and it was a better choice for her to learn from a weaver than Tenar had thought.But not much better.She was still rather small, and since she hadn't learned anything before coming to Oak Grange, she was also very ignorant.She used to be like a small animal, with little knowledge of human language and no human skills, but she learned quickly, and she was more obedient and hardworking than Lark's recalcitrant daughter or lazy laughing son.She can sweep, serve tea, spin, cook a little, sew a little, take care of poultry, tend cows, and is especially good at dairy work.Old Tiff said she was a real farm girl, a little flatteringly, but Tenar had seen him surreptitiously sign to ward off evil as Therru walked by.Like most people, Tiff believes that people are equal to their own experiences: the strong and rich must have virtues; those who experience evil experiences must also be vicious and deserve to be punished. Therefore, even if Therru became the most standard farm girl in the whole world, the situation would not change much.Even wealth can't reduce the scars left by the past, so Bi Tan thought of making her a witch to accept and use the scars.Was that what Ogion meant when he said "Don't go to Roke" and "They'll be afraid of her"?Is that all? One day, by a deliberate coincidence, Tenar and Ivy met in the village street.She said to Yawei: "Ms. Yawei, I have a question to ask you. It is related to your profession." The witch looked at her with sharp eyes. "My profession, isn't it?" Tenar nodded steadily. "Then come with me." Yawei shrugged and said, leading her across Mill Lane to her hut. Unlike Moss's notorious poultry-infested lair, it was also a witch's house: Herbs, dried or to be dried, hung from the beams; Blinking; a plump, plump black cat with a white beard sleeping peacefully on a shelf; scattered around are small boxes, basins, jugs, trays, and vials with stoppers, full of aromatic, fetid, sweet, or strange smells. "What can I do for you, Mrs. Gerha?" After the two entered the room, Yawei asked extremely coldly. "Please tell me, do you think my adopted daughter Therru has any gift in your arts? Does she have power?" "Her? Of course!" said the witch. The immediate, scornful answer left Tenar speechless for a moment. "This..." she said, "Bi Teng seems to think so." "Even the blind bats in the cave can see it." Yawei said, "That's it?" "No. I want your advice. I'll ask the question first, and you'll tell me the price of the answer. Is it fair?" "fair." "Should I not make Therru an apprentice to a witch when she is a little older?" Yawei was silent for a while.She was considering the price, Tenar thought.But she replied: "I won't take her." "why?" "I shall be afraid," replied the Witch, casting a sharp, sudden look at Tenar. "Afraid? What are you afraid of?" "Afraid of her! What is she?" "A child, a child victimized by evil deeds!" "She's more than that." Deep anger entered Tenar, and she said, "So the Apprentice Witch must be a virgin, eh?" Yawei stared at her, and said after a while, "That's not what I meant." "Then what do you mean?" "I mean, I don't know what she is, meaning, I don't know what she sees when she looks at me with one eye that's visible and one that's blind. I watch you take her like a normal kid, heart Think: "What kind of people are they? She is not stupid, but what woman has the power to hold fire in her hands and spin thread with a tornado?" Ma'am, some people say that when you were a child, you and the ancient ones—the dark ones, the underground Those who live together, you are the queen and servant of those powers, and perhaps you are not afraid of her. What kind of power she is, I don’t know, I can’t say, but it is beyond my or Bi’s ability, or even any of us. Witch or wizard known! Ma'am, let me give you free advice: Be careful. Be careful of her, and be careful of the day she discovers her powers. That's all." "I thank you, Mrs. Ivy." Tenar said with the icy courtesy of a priestess of Etuan, leaving the warm room and walking into the thin and biting cold wind of late autumn. She is still angry.Nobody wants to help her, she thought.She knew the job was beyond her abilities, and they didn't have to tell her that - but no one wanted to help her.Ogion died, old Moss babbled, Ivy gave her warnings, Pitt stayed out of it, and Ged, the only one who could really help her, ran away, like a stray dog, without sending her a word, completely No thought of her or Therru, only his own precious shame, which was his child, his babe, all he cared about.He never cared or thought about her, only about power: her power, his power, how he could use it, how he could create more power out of it—healing broken rings, creating runes, enthroning kings.And when his power was gone, he could only think about it: it was gone, gone, leaving himself to himself, his shame, his emptiness. You are not fair, Goha said to Tenar. fair!said Tenar, did he do justice to each other? Yes, Geha said, he did.Or try. Well, he can do justice to the goats he drives, and I have nothing to do with it, Tenar said, shambling home in the cold wind and the first few, icy raindrops. "Maybe it will snow tonight," said Tiff, her tenant, as they met on the road beside the meadows by the Kaheda River. "Snow so early? Hope not." "At least there will definitely be frost." After the sun goes down, everything freezes, and a film appears on the surface of the puddles and tanks, and then freezes into a thick layer of white ice; the reeds by the Kaheda River are still, locked in ice; Frozen and unable to blow. After cleaning up the remnants of supper, Tenar and Therru sat spinning and talking by the sweeter fire at Biavier's, with old apple trees felled in the orchard last spring. "Tales about cat ghosts," said Therru in a hoarse voice, spinning the spinning wheel, weaving a pile of goat hair as black as silk into fine wool. "That's the story of summer." Therru tilted his head to look at her. "Winter is the season for telling long stories. In winter, you have to learn "Oia Creation Song" so that you can sing at the Long Dance Festival in summer; or learn "Winter Ode" and "Young King's Friendship", and then wait for the sun to return to the north, When you bring back the spring festival, you can sing." "I can't sing." The girl whispered. Tenar was taking the yarn off the reel and coiling it into a ball, with quick, rhythmic movements of her hands. "Sing not only with the voice," she said, "sing with the head. If you don't know the songs in your head, it's useless to have the most beautiful singing voice in the world." She untied the last piece of yarn, which was the first finished piece. "You have power, Therru, but ignorant power is dangerous." "Like they don't want to learn," said Therruw. "The savage ones." Tenar looked at her questioningly, not understanding what she meant. "The ones left in the West," Therrue said. "Ah... the ballad of the Witch of Kayme...the dragons. Yes, that's it. So, where shall we begin? How the island rises from the sea, or how King Morad drives the black ships?" "Island," Therru whispered.Tenar had hoped that she would have chosen The Young King's Walk, because she overlapped Lebannen's face with Morred's, but the child was right. "Okay." She raised her head and peeked at Oji Anshuowei's wisdom book on the fireplace, motivating herself, if she forgot the fragment, she could find it from it.She took a deep breath and began to speak. When it was time for Therru to go to bed, she knew how Xigoyi had raised the first island from the abyss of time.After Tenar had tucked the quilt for her, she sat on the edge of the bed, and instead of singing to her that night, the two of them whispered the first stanza of the Genesis Song together. Tenar carried the little oil lamp back to the kitchen and listened intently to the absolute silence.Frost binds the whole world, locks it up.There were no stars, and darkness oppressed the only window in the kitchen.Cold on the flagstone floor. She went back to the fire without sleep.The beautiful words of the ballad moved her heart, but the anger and anxiety caused by the conversation with Yawei still remained in her body.She picked up the pokers and roused a small flame from the bottom log in the hearth.There was an echo from the back of the house as she touched the firewood. She straightened up and listened intently. Again: light, muffled knocks or thuds...outside the house...at the milkhouse window? Tenar poker in hand, walked down the dark corridor to the door that opened on to the rear cool room.After the cool room is the milk room - the main body of the house is built against the hill, and these two rooms are embedded in the hill like a cellar, but at the same height as the rest of the house.The cool room had only vents, the milk house had a door, and a window, low and wide like the kitchen window, on the only outer wall.Standing in the cool room, she could hear the window being picked up and pried open, and the man whispering. Firestone is the master of step-by-step.Throughout the house, except for one door which was not fitted with a long sliding cast-iron latch on either side, every latch was kept clean, oiled, and never locked. She fastened the coolroom door latch, and the iron bar slid silently, fitting firmly into the heavy iron latch slot on the door frame. She heard the outer door of the milkhouse open.Someone finally thought of trying the door before breaking the window, only to find it unlocked.She heard the murmur again, and then there was a dead silence, so long that she could only hear her own beating heartbeat, so loud that she was afraid that it would drown out all the sounds.She felt her legs tremble again and again, and the coldness of the floor climbed up from the bottom of her skirt like a hand. "It's on." A man's voice whispered near her, making her heart beat wildly in agony.She put her hand on the latch, thinking it was open—thought she had opened it and not locked it—and was about to pull it back when she heard the door between the cool room and the milkhouse creak open.She recognized the cracking of hinges, and she recognized voices, but for very different reasons. "It's the storage room," said Handy.The door she was leaning on rattled and struck the latch. "This door is locked." The door rattled again.A sharp ray of light flashed in from between the door leaf and the door frame like a blade, touching her chest, causing her to shrink back, as if she had been cut. The door rattled again, but less violently.The door was well fitted, and the bolts were immovable. They gathered on the other side of the door to discuss in low voices.She knew they were going to go around and try to open the front door.She found herself at the front door, locked, not knowing how she got there.Maybe it was a nightmare, she had a dream in which they tried to break into the house and stab the door with thin knives.The door... what other door could they enter?The windows... the shutters of the bedroom windows... Her breath was so short that she thought she couldn't make it to Therru's room, but she did, holding the heavy wooden shutters across the glass.The hinges stiffened, and the plank slammed shut.They know.They are coming here.They would go to the window of the next room, her room.They'll be here before she closes the shutters.Here they are. She saw the face, a blur moving in the darkness outside, and she tried to release the hasp of the left window panel, but it stuck, and she couldn't move an inch.A hand slammed on the window, clinging to it dead white. "There she is." "Let's go in. We won't hurt you." "We just want to talk to you." "He just wants to see his little girl." She let go of the shutter and dragged the window shut.但如果他们打碎玻璃，就能从屋外推开窗板。扣环只是一个锁在木头里的勾子，用力一推便能扯落。 “请我们进去，我们就不会伤害你。”其中一个声音说道。 她听到他们的脚步声踏在冰冻地上，踩得落叶沙沙作响。瑟鲁醒了吗？窗板关上的巨响可能吵醒她，但她没发出半点声音。恬娜站在她与瑟鲁房间之间的门口。一片漆黑，无声无息。她不敢碰触孩子唤醒她。她必须与孩子留在同一个房间。她必须为她而战。她手中本来拿把火钳，放哪儿去了？之前她放下它，好关上窗板。她找不到。她在无边的漆黑房间中，茫然摸索。 通往厨房的正门喀喀作响，撞击门框。 如果她找得到火钳，她就会留在这里，与他们对抗。 “这里！”其中一人喊道，而她知道他们发现了什么。他正抬头看厨房窗户，够宽、没有窗板遮挡，伸手可及。 她摸黑走，行动非常迟缓，走到房门前。瑟鲁的房间曾是她孩子的房间，育儿室，因此房间内侧没有门锁，让小孩无法将自己反锁，也不会因门闩卡住受惊。 山后，穿过果园，清溪及香迪熟睡在村屋里。如果她大喊，也许香迪会听到。如果她打开卧室窗户大喊……如果她叫醒瑟鲁，两人爬出窗外，跑过果园……但那些人正在那里，就在那里，等着。 她终于无法忍受。束缚着她的冰寒恐惧立时粉碎，凭着一股怒气，她红着眼冲入厨房，从砧木上抓起长而锋利的屠刀，扯开门闩，立定门口。“你们来啊！”她说道。 她刚开口，便传来一声哀嚎与倒抽的喘息，有人大喊：“小心！”又有一人惊叫：“这里！这里！” 然后是一片寂静。 从洞开门口射出光线，照映在水洼的黑色冰面，晶亮亮闪在橡树黑枝与银白落叶上，她恢复视力后，看到有东西从小径向她爬来，深暗的一团或一堆东西向她爬来，发出尖锐、啜泣的哀鸣。在光线后，一个黑色形体奔跑纵跃，长刀锋银亮。 “恬娜！” “站住。”她说道，举起了长刀。 “恬娜！是我……鹰，雀鹰！” “别动。”她说道。 纵跃身影立定在歪躺小径上的黑色堆团旁。门口射出的光线微弱地映照出一个身体、一张脸，还有一把直立的长铁草耙。像巫师的巫杖一样，她想。“是你吗？”她说道。 此刻他正跪在径上黑色物体旁边。 “我想我杀死他了。”他说。他越过肩头回望，起身。没有动静，亦无声响。 "Where are they?" “跑了。恬娜，帮个忙。” 她将刀子握于一手，另一手抓住蜷缩在门径上的男人手臂。格得将他自腋下扶起，两人将他拖上台阶，进屋。他躺在厨房石板地上，血从胸膛跟肚腹上的洞口像倾倒水壶般汩汩流出。他上唇后掀，露出牙齿，眼睛只剩眼白。 “锁上门。”格得说，她锁上了门。 “柜子里有布。”她说。他取出一条床单，撕裂成绷带，让她一圈圈绑在男人肚腹与胸膛上，草耙四根铁叉全力戳出三个洞。格得撑起那男人上半身，好让她缠绕绷带时，血浆泉涌而出，四处喷洒滴落。 “你在这里做什么？你跟他们一起来的吗？” “对，但他们不知道。你能做的大概也只有这些了，恬娜。”他任凭男人的身体滑落，往后仰坐，沉重呼吸，用沾满鲜血的手背抹脸。“我想我杀死他了。”他重复道。 “也许吧。”恬娜看着鲜红点缓慢扩散在男人瘦弱毛茸胸膛及肚腹缠绕的绷带上。她站起身，晕眩摇晃。“快去炉火边，”她说：“你一定快累垮了。” 她不知道自己如何在外面的黑暗中认出他。也许是他的声音吧。他穿着一件厚重冬季牧羊人外套，用一片片羊毛皮缝制而成，皮外毛里；戴一顶牧人毛织帽，压得低低的；脸上刻画线条与风霜，发长而铁灰；全身气味像木烟、霜雪，混合绵羊味。他在颤抖，全身震动。“快去炉火边，”她又说：“加点木柴。” 他照办。恬娜装满水壶，勾住铁手把，让它一摇一晃垂挂在烈焰上。 她将布单一角浸泡在冷水中，擦拭衬衣上沾染的血迹。她将布块交给格得，让他抹去手上鲜血。“这是什么意思？”她问：“你说跟他们一起来，他们却不知道？” “我下山，在从卡赫达泉来的路上。”他以平板语调说着，仿佛上气不接下气，颤抖混浊了语音。“听到后面有人，我就靠边。到树林里。不想说话。不知道。他们给人的感觉。我怕他们。” 她迫不及待点头，隔着壁炉在他对面坐下，前倾专注聆听，双手紧握腿上。她潮湿的裙子靠着双腿，一片冰冷。 “我听到他们其中一人走过我身旁时提到『橡木农庄』。之后我尾随他们，其中一人不断说着，说那孩子。” "what did he say?" He said nothing.良久，他说道：“他要把她带回去。处罚她，他说。然后向你报复，因为你偷走她，他说。他说……”他住口。 “他也要惩罚我。” “他们都在说。关于……关于那件事。” “那人不是悍提。”她朝地上男人颔首。“是不是……” “他说她是他的。”格得也看向那男人，然后转头回望火焰。“他快死了。我们应该找人来帮忙。” “他不会死的，”恬娜说：“我明天一大早就找亚薇过来。还有人在外面……还有几个？” "two." “如果他死了就死了，他活着就活着。我们都不能出门。”她自一阵恐惧的哆嗦中跳起。“格得，你把草耙拿进来了没？” 他指着它，倚靠在门旁墙壁，四支铁叉发出亮光。 她再次坐回壁炉边，但现在轮到她像他方才一般震动，浑身发颤。他伸出手，碰触她的手臂。“没事了。”他说道。 “如果他们还在外面怎么办？” “他们逃跑了。” “他们可能再回来。” “两人对两人吗？而且我们还有草耙。” 她将声音压低到最微弱的悄语，充满恐惧地说：“钩刀跟镰刀都放在旁边的谷仓里。” He shook his head. “他们逃跑了。他们看到……他……还有你站在门口。” "what have you done?" “他朝我冲来。我就朝他冲去。” “我是说，之前，在路上。” “他们愈走愈冷。开始下雨后，他们就更冷，然后开始讨论来这里。之前只有这人讲着那小孩还有你，说要教……教训……”他的声音干哑了。“我口渴。”他说道。 “我也是。水还没烧沸。继续说。” 他深吸一口气，试图清晰叙述整件事。“另外两人不太专心听，大概以前就听过了。他们急着赶路，赶到谷河口。好像在逃避某人的追赶，正在逃亡。但愈来愈冷，然后他不断提到橡木农庄。戴帽子那人就说：『我们干脆去那里，然后过上一夜，跟……』” “跟那个寡妇，我懂。” 格得将脸埋入手中。she waits. 他望着火焰，继续沉稳说道：“我跟丢了他们一阵子。路到山谷间变得平坦，我不能像之前一样在树林中尾随。我必须走到路边，穿过田野，以免他们发现。我对这边的乡间不熟，只认得道路，我担心如果穿越农田，会迷路，错过房子。天色愈来愈暗，我以为已经错过房子，走过头。我回到路上，结果差点与他们打了照面——就在那边的转弯口。他们看到个老头走过，便决定等到天黑，确定不会再有人来。他们在谷仓中等着，我留在外面，跟他们只隔一堵墙。” “你一定冻僵了。”她呆滞地说道。 “当时很冷。”他将手伸向炉火，仿佛当时情景又重新冻僵他。“我在棚舍门旁发现这柄草耙。他们出来后绕到房屋后头。我当时有机会到正门口去警告你，我该这么做，但我那时只想出其不意攻击他们……我以为这是我唯一的优势、机会……我以为房门会锁上，他们得破门而入。但后来我听到他们从后面进屋。我跟随他们进去，到牛奶房里。他们来到锁上的门前时，我才出来。”他发出笑声般的声音。“他们就在黑暗中从我身边走过，我可以绊倒他们……其中一人有打火刀跟火石，他们想看锁的时候，他就会点起一点火绒。他们绕到前门，我听到你关上窗板，知道你听到他们。他们讨论是否要打碎看到你的那扇窗，然后戴帽子的人看到窗户……那扇窗……”他朝有着宽长窗台的厨房窗户点点头，“他说：『给我块石头，我来砸开。』他们走到他身边，打算将他抬起到窗台。我大喊一声，他立刻松手，其中一人，这人，就朝我跑来。” “啊，啊。”躺在地上的男人喘息，仿佛正为格得的故事接述。格得起身，弯腰看他。 “我想他快死了。” “不会，他不会死的。”恬娜说道。她无法完全抑止颤抖，但如今只余体内一股微颤。水壶高唱。她泡了壶茶，双手覆在厚重陶壶边，等茶叶苏绽。她倒出两杯，然后倒了第三杯，注入些冷水。“还太烫，”她告诉格得，“先拿着一会儿。我看看他喝不喝得下。”她坐在地板上，用一手扶起他的头，将冷却的茶放在他嘴前，把杯缘推进外露的牙齿间。温热液体流入他口中，他吞咽了一口。“他不会死的，”她说道：“地板冷得像冰块。帮我把他抬到靠壁炉的地方。” 格得正要从沿烟囱到大厅墙壁放置的长椅上拾起一条毛毯。“别用那条，那是件好料子，”恬娜说，然后走向橱柜，拿出一件破旧毛毡披风，铺在地上，当作那男人的床铺。两人将毫无动静的身体拖上毛毡，折起一角为他盖上。绷带上湿濡红点不再扩散。 恬娜站起身，突然全身僵直。 “瑟鲁。”她说道。 格得环顾四周，但孩子不在房内。恬娜匆匆走出房间。 孩子的房间，那孩子的房间，全然黑暗寂静。她摸黑走到床边，棉被覆盖着瑟鲁肩膀，她轻手碰触那温热弧弯。 “瑟鲁？” 孩子呼吸十分平静，没惊醒。恬娜可以感到她的体温，在冰冷房间中像道灿烂光芒。 走出房间时，恬娜的手顺扶着有抽屉的橱柜，碰到冰冷铁器——是她关上窗板时放下的火钳。她将它提回厨房，跨越男人身体，挂回烟囱上的勾子。她直立，低头望着炉火。 “我什么都做不到，”她说：“我当时该怎么办？立刻……跑出去……大叫，然后跑去找清溪和香迪。他们应该来不及伤害瑟鲁。” “那他们就会跟她在同一间房子里，你却跟个老人、女人在外面。或者他们可能把她一把抱起，带着她逃跑。你尽力了。你做对了，时机也抓得对。房子里的光线、你拿着刀出来、我在外面，他们那时候看到了草耙，还有他倒在地上，所以他们逃跑了。” “能跑的都跑了。”恬娜说道。她转身用鞋尖动了动男人的腿，仿佛他是件让她有点好奇、有点厌恶的东西，如死掉的毒蛇。“你才做得对。”她说道。 “我想他根本没看到。他正好冲过来，就像……”他没说像什么，只说：“把茶喝了。”从壁炉砖头上暖着的茶壶里为自己倒更多茶。“茶很好，坐下吧。”他说道，她依言照办。 “我还是个男孩时，”他一会儿后说道：“卡耳格人袭击我的村庄。他们手握长枪，那种长柄上缀有羽毛……” She nodded. “双神战士。”她说道。 “我施了个……造雾咒语，他们不知所措。但有一部分人还是冲来了。我看到其中一个正好跑向草耙，像他一样。只不过那柄草耙穿透了他。从腰部以下。” “你戳到肋骨。”恬娜说道。 He nodded. “这是你唯一犯下的错误。”她说。她牙关开始打颤，她喝口茶。“格得，如果他们回来怎么办？” "Will not." “他们可能会纵火烧屋。” “这间屋子？”他环视着四周石墙。 “稻草谷仓……” “他们不会回来。”他坚持。 "Won't." 两人小心翼翼捧着茶杯，温暖双手。 “她一直睡着。” “这样很好。” “但早上……她会看到他……在这里……” The two looked at each other. “如果我当初杀了他……如果他死了，”格得愤怒说道：“我就可以把他拖出去埋了！” “就这么办吧。” 他仅气愤地摇摇头。 “这有什么关系？为什么？为什么我们做不到！”恬娜质问。 "I have no idea." “一旦天亮……” “我会把他移出屋子。用推车。老人可以帮我的忙。” “他已抬不动重物了。我来帮你。” “不管如何，我会把他载去村子里。那边有治疗师一类的人吗？” “有个女巫，亚薇。” 她瞬间感到极度无边疲累。连手中茶杯都几乎难以握持。 “茶还有。”她口齿不清地说道。 他为自己又倒了满满一杯。 火光在她眼前跃舞。火焰游驰、飞腾、落陷，再次燃起，映照沾满煤灰的石头，映照黑暗天空，映照苍茫天色、夜晚鸿沟、世界彼方的空气与光芒。黄色、橘色、橘红色、红色的火焰，火焰的火舌、焰语，她无法诉说的字词。 “恬娜。” “我们叫那颗星『恬哈弩』。” “恬娜，亲爱的。来吧，跟我来。” 他们不在炉火边，他们在幽暗里——在幽暗的大厅、幽暗的地道。他们曾到那里，相互引领，相互跟随，在地底幽暗中。 “往这儿走。”她说道。