Chapter 13 Chapter Thirteen Master

Ships are like swallows, and as spring returns to the earth, they begin to shuttle between the islands.The village talked of news from the mouth of the Vale that the Royal Fleet was harassing the Raiders, gradually destroying the pirates who had long been powerful, confiscating their ships and their property.Lord Hanno himself sent three of his best and fastest ships, and at the head of the sea-wolf, Warlock Ruth, feared every merchant between Soria and the Android Isles. The Royal Fleet was ambushed and attacked in the open sea, but in the end the Royal Fleet sailed into the estuary of the Valley River, carrying the chained Lily, and was ordered to take Lord Hanno to the port of Gond, where he was tried for piracy and murder.Hannuo hid in the stone mansion behind the mouth of the valley, preparing to fight for a long time, but the warm spring made him forget to light a fire, so five or six young king's soldiers attacked him from the chimney, and the whole army escorted him tied up in the valley. Hekou paraded through the streets and took him to stand trial.

When Ged heard this, he said with love and pride, "He can do all that a king can do." Hanti and Shag were immediately escorted from the North Road to Gont Port, and as soon as Heck's injuries stabilized, he boarded a ship and was brought on board to stand trial in the royal court for murder.Their verdict of hanging brought great satisfaction and smugness in the Vale, and Tenar and Therru by her side just listened. Other ships came with people sent by the king, but they were not necessarily welcomed by the vulgar townspeople and villagers: the royal inspectors came to inspect the peace patrol and the police system, and listened to the complaints and petitions of the common people; taxpayers; nobles who came to visit the lesser lords of Gont and asked politely if they were loyal to the House of Havnor;

"I suppose they're looking for a new Archmage after all," Tenar said. "Or in search of misuse of art," said Ged. "Deviant spells." Tenar was about to say, "Then send them to the House of the White King of Rhea," but her tongue got stuck on the words.What did I just say?she thinks.Did I tell Ged... how I'm getting forgetful!What was I going to say to Ged?Ah, we'd better fix the low gate in the pasture garden before the cows run out. There was always one thing on her mind, a dozen or so, and it was farm work. "You never think of just one thing," Ogion said once.Even with Ged's help, all her thoughts and time were devoted to farm affairs.Unlike Firestone, he would share the housework with her--but Firestone was a farmer and Ged was not.He is a fast learner, but there are many things waiting for him to learn.The two are working non-stop, and there isn't much time to talk now.At the end of the day, the two would eat together, go to bed, make love, fall asleep, get up in the morning, go to work, and back and forth, full and toppled like a water wheel.The days kept falling like bright water jets.

"Hi, mother," said a lanky man standing at the gate of the farm.She thought it was Lark's eldest son, and said back, "What brings you here, lad?" And she looked back at him, past the clucking chickens and the geese. "Spark!" she yelled, running to him and scattering the chickens and geese. "Well, well," he said, "don't get too excited." He let her hug and stroked her face, then went inside and sat down at the kitchen table. "Have you eaten? Have you seen Apple?" "I can eat something." She rummages through the full cupboard. "Which ship are you on now? Are you still on the 'Seagull'?"

"No." There was a silence. "My ship is broken." She turned back in fear. "Crash and sink?" "No." He smiled without a trace of humor. "The crew dispersed. The king's men captured the 'Seagull'." "But that's not a pirate ship." "no." "Then why?" "Said the captain was carrying something they wanted," he said reluctantly.He was still thin, but he looked older, tanned, with loose hair, and his thin face was still flint, but thinner and firmer. "Where's Dad?" he asked.

Tenar stood still. "You didn't visit your sister first?" "No." He said nonchalantly. "Firestone died three years ago," she said. "Stroke. Died on the farm, on the trail from the little sheep pen. Found by Qingxi. It's been three years." There was a silence.He didn't know what to say, and probably had nothing to say. She sets the food down in front of him.Watching him gobble it up, she immediately brought out more. "When was the last time you ate?" He shrugged and chewed. She sat down across the table facing him, and the late spring sunlight poured into the low window opposite the dining table and reflected on the brass grill.

He finally pushed the plate away. "So who runs the farm now?" he asked. "Son, what does this have to do with you?" She asked him gently but flatly. "It's mine," he said in an approximate tone. After a while Tenar stood up and put away his plate. "Indeed." "Of course you can stay." He said very awkwardly, perhaps trying to make a joke, but he is not a person who knows how to joke. "Is Old Qingxi still there?" "They're all still there. There's a man named Eagle, and a kid I took in, all in the house. You'll sleep in the attic, and I'll put up the ladder." She faced him again. "So you're Do you want to stay?"

"maybe." For twenty years, Flint had answered her questions in this way, with the right to refuse her inquiries noncommittally, maintaining freedom in her ignorance.Poor, narrow freedom, she thought. "Poor boy," she said, "your crew is gone, your father is dead, and there are strangers in the family—all on the same day. You need a little time to recover. Sorry, son, but I'm glad you're here Here. I think of you often in winter in a storm at sea." He didn't say anything.He has nothing to give and nothing to receive.He pushed back in his chair and was about to rise when Therru entered the house.He half stood up and stared at her: "what happened to her?"

"She was burned. This is the son I told you about, Therru, a sailor named Starfire. Starfire, Therru is your sister." "younger sister!" "I adopted her." "Sister!" he said again, looking around the kitchen as if looking for a witness, then staring wide-eyed at his mother. She looks back at him. He stepped out of the gate, far away from Therru, who was motionless, and closed the door behind him. Tenar tried to speak to Therru, but could not. "Don't cry," said the non-crying child, walking up to her and touching her arm lightly. "He hurt you!"

"Therru! Let me hold you!" Sitting at the table, she held Therru on her lap and held her in her arms.Although Therru was too old for her to hold, and had never learned how to be hugged naturally, she still held her and cried.Therru bent his scarred cheek against Tenar's side until it was wet with tears. At dusk Ged and Starfire entered the house from both sides of the farm.Starfire had evidently talked to Clear Brook, and thought over the whole situation at the same time; and Ged was evidently still trying to understand the situation.At dinner, nothing was said except a small, careful conversation.Starfire didn't complain about not being able to sleep in his old room, running at sailor's pace up the ladder to the storage attic.Evidently he was quite satisfied with the bed his mother had made for him, for he slept in it until the next day when he was three poles high before going downstairs.

He wanted breakfast at once, and thought it should be served to him.His father has always been served by his mother, wife, and daughter. Could it be that he is not as good as his father?Should she show this to him?She served him food, took away the plate for him, and went back to the orchard, where Therru and Shandy burned a bunch of tawny canopy caterpillars that threatened new fruit. Xinghuo joins Qingxi and Tifu.As time went by, he spent more and more time with them.The rough work that required labor, and the delicate work that required the crops and the sheep, were done by Ged, Shandy, and Tenar; and the two old men who had lived here all their lives, his father's workmen, took him about and told how , and genuinely believed that they themselves were laboring, shared their belief with him. Tenar became sad when she was in the house.Only when she was outdoors and farming, her anger, and the shame brought about by the existence of Spark, could calm her down. "My turn," she said to Ged in the darkness of their room, lit only by the stars. "It's my turn to lose the thing I'm most proud of." "What have you lost?" "My son. I failed to make him a man. I failed. I failed him." She bit her lip, her dry eyes staring into the darkness. Ged did not argue with her, or persuade her out of her sorrow."Do you think he'll stay?" he asked. "It will. He's terrified of trying to get back to sea again. He didn't tell me the facts about the ship, at least not all the facts. He's second mate, and I think he might be involved in carrying stolen goods. Second-hand pirates. I don't care, Gont sailors are all Half a pirate, but he lied about it. He lied. He was jealous of you. A dishonest, jealous man." "Fear, I suppose," said Ged, "not evil. And it's his farm." "Then he can take it! I hope this place is right for him..." "No, my love," said Ged, restraining her with both hands and voice: "Don't say... don't say that wicked word!" His eager earnestness made her return to her original love with anger, Then she cried, "I will not curse him, nor this place! I did not mean it! Only this makes me so remorseful and ashamed! I am so remorseful, Ged!" "No, no, no. Honey, I don't care what that kid thinks of me. But he's too hard on you." "And Therru. He treated her like...he said, he said to me, 'What did she do to make her like that?' What did she do...!" Ged stroked her long hair as usual, softly, slowly, repeatedly, filling them with a sleepy, intimate joy. "I can go back to herding the sheep," he said at last, "it'll make things easier for you here. Just work..." "I'd rather go with you." He continued to stroke her long hair, seemingly lost in thought. "I suppose it should," he said, "a family or two above Lisu also tend sheep, but when winter comes..." "Maybe a farmer will hire us. I know how to farm and keep sheep, and you can keep goats and learn everything quickly..." "It's good enough with a rake," he murmured, eliciting a small sobbing laugh from her. The next morning, Starfire got up early and had breakfast with them, because he was going fishing with Old Tiff.He rose from the table and said, in a more kindly tone than usual, "I'll bring back a bunch of fish for supper." Tenar made up her mind overnight.She said, "Wait a minute, Spark, clear the table before you go. Put the dishes in the sink with a little water on them and wash them with the dinner dishes at night." "That's a woman's job," he said after staring at it for a while, putting on his hat. "Whoever eats in the kitchen is his job." "Not mine," he said decisively, walking out the door. She followed closely and stood on the steps in front of the door. "Eagle's job, but not yours?" she demanded. He just nodded and walked across the courtyard. "Too late," she said, turning back to the kitchen, "fail, fail." She could feel every stiff line in her face, around her mouth, between her eyes. "Water the stone no matter what," she said, "it won't grow." "You'll start when they're young," said Ged, "like me." This time, she couldn't laugh. When they came home after a hard day's work, they saw someone standing at the front gate, talking to Spark. "That's the one from Reaby, isn't it?" said Ged, who had a sharp eye. "Come, Therru," said Tenar, as the child paused. "What guy?" She was a little nearsighted, so she squinted and looked across the yard. "Oh, what's the name of the sheep buyer? Zhensheng. What is he doing here? Crow's mouth looking for bad luck!" She had been irritable all day, so Ged and Therru wisely said nothing. She walked to the man at the gate. "Zhensheng, are you here to ask about the ewes? You are a year late, but there are still a few of those born this year in the sheep house." "That's what the owner of the farm told me." "Did he say so?" Upon hearing her tone, Xinghuo's face became more and more gloomy. "Then I won't interrupt your conversation with the master." She said, and just as she turned to leave, Zhensheng said, "I have a message for you, Geha." "There are only three things." "Old Witch, you know old Moss, she's not well. She said, since I'm coming down to the Midvale, she said, 'Tell Mrs. Goha I want to see her before I die, if she will come. 』” Crow's mouth, unlucky crow's mouth, Tenar thought, glaring resentfully at the messenger who brought the bad news. "She is sick?" "The patient is terminally ill," Zhensheng said, with a false smile that might express sympathy. "Being ill in winter, she became weak very quickly, so she said she wanted to tell you that she wanted to see you very much before she died." "Thank you for the news," Tenar said solemnly, and turned into the room.Zhensheng and Xinghuo entered the sheep house together. As they prepared their supper, Tenar said to Ged and Therru, "I must go." "Of course," said Ged, "the three of us can go together if you like." "Would you like to?" Finally after a long day, her face lit up and the clouds lifted. "Oh," she said, "it's... well... I don't want to ask... I thought maybe... Therru, would you like to go back to the hut, Ogion's, for a while?" Therru thought quietly. "I can look at my peach tree," she said. "Yes, and heather, and sippy, and moss... Poor moss! How I want, how I want to go back there, but it doesn't feel right. There's a farm to manage, and all ..." She felt as if there was some other reason preventing her from going back, not allowing herself to think about going back, not even knowing that there was such a reason until she longed to go back.But no matter what the reason is, they are like gray shadows, like forgotten words, disappearing in hiding. "I don't know if Moss has anyone to take care of, if anyone has gone to a healer. She's the only healer on the High Ridge, but there must be someone in Gont Port who can help her. Poor Moss! I want to go... It's too late Yes, but tomorrow, early tomorrow morning. Master can take care of breakfast by himself!" "He can learn," said Ged. "No, he won't. He'll find a stupid woman to do it for him. Ah!" She looked around the kitchen, her expression bright and fierce. "I really don't want to leave all my hard work on this table for the past twenty years to her. I hope she knows how to cherish it!" Xinghuo brings Zhensheng into the house for dinner, and according to the general hospitality, he must provide him with accommodation that night, but the buyer of the sheep is unwilling to stay overnight.If he stayed, it would be her bed, and the idea did not appeal to Tenar.In the deep blue twilight of a spring night, she watched with satisfaction as he returned to the hostess' house in the village. "Son, we're leaving early tomorrow morning for Reaby," she said to Starfire. "Eagle and Therru, and me." He looked a little scared. "Just leave like this?" "That's how you went and came back," said his mother. "Now, Starfire, listen carefully: this is your father's cash box, and there are seven pieces of ivory in it, and there is an IOU from Old Bridge, but he still Can't come out, because there is nothing to pay back. These four pieces of Android money are earned by Huo Shi selling sheepskins to the boat repairers at the mouth of the valley for four consecutive years. You were young at that time. The three pieces of Havnor money are cable The money we paid when we bought Gaojian Farm. I let your father buy that farm, and I helped him clean it up and sell it off. So I take these three pieces because I earned them. The rest, There's this farm, and it's yours. You're the master." The tall, thin young man stood there, staring into the cash box. "Take it all, I don't want it," he whispered. "I don't need these, but thank you, son. Keep these four. When you get married, it's my gift to your wife." She put the box back where Flint always stood, behind the large platter on the top shelf of the cupboard. "Therru, go and pack up your things now, we're leaving early tomorrow morning." "When will you come back?" Starfire asked, in a tone that reminded Tenar of restless, weak children in the past, but all she said was, "I don't know, child. I will come when you need me." She was busy getting out her traveling boots and backpack. "Spark," she said, "you can do me a favor." Sitting by the fire, he looked dazed and gloomy. "What's up?" "Find a time to go to Guhekou, meet your sister, and tell her that I'm going back to Gaoling. Tell her, if she needs me, send a letter." He nodded, watching Ged get used to traveling, neatly and quickly put away his few personal effects, put away the dishes, and restore order to the kitchen.Then, sitting across from Starfire, he threaded a rope through the eyelet in the pack to close the opening. "It takes a special kind of knot," said Starfire, "a sailor's knot." Ged silently handed him the knapsack from the other side of the fireplace and watched him silently demonstrate the knot. "Slide like this," he said, and Ged nodded. They left the farm in the dark and cold morning, when the sun did not reach west of Mount Gont until late.Until the sun finally circled the Shuowei South Peak and shone on their backs, they had to walk to keep warm. Therru walked twice as fast as last summer, but the distance still took two days.In the afternoon Tenar asked, "Shall we go to Oak Springs today? There's an inn or something. We had a glass of milk there, remember, Therru?" Ged looked up and looked at the side of the mountain. "I know there's a place..." "Very well," said Tenar. Before the high corner of the road where Gont Harbor could be seen, Ged turned toward a forest that jutted down the steep hillside.The setting sun in the west sent streaks of reddish-gold slanting into the darkness between the trunks and under the branches.The three of them climbed for more than half a mile along a path Tenar did not know, when they suddenly came across a small step, or platform, on the hillside, and the cliff behind it and the big trees around it blocked the strong wind from entering the green grass.From there, one can look straight to the mountains to the north, and the West Sea can be clearly seen from among the giant cedar trees.In the silence, only Lin Tao when the wind hit.A titmouse sang long and sweetly in the sun, and then fell into a nest and hid itself among the green grass where no one was ever seen. They ate bread and cheese and watched the darkness spread from the sea to the mountains, and they slept in a bed made of cloaks, Therru leaning on Tenar, and Tenar leaning on Ged.Tenar woke in the middle of the night to an owl hooting nearby, repeating the sweet note like a bell, and far away on the hills her mate answered like a phantom of bells. "I want to watch the stars fall into the sea." But then she fell into a deep sleep with peace in her heart. She awoke in the gray morning to find Ged sitting beside him, his cloak wrapped tightly around his shoulders, looking west through the woods.His dark face was very calm and completely silent, just like what she saw on the seaside of Etuan long ago.Now, instead of lowering his eyes as they were then, his eyes are looking towards the boundless west.Following his eyes, she saw the rising sun, rose and golden glory, reflecting the entire sky clearly. He turned to face her, and she said, "From the moment I saw you, I fell in love with you." "The Giver of Life," he said, and leaned forward to kiss her breast and lips.She hugged him for a moment.The two stood up, woke Therru, and went on.As they entered the wood, Tenar glanced back at the little meadow, as if commanding it, guarding the joy she had felt there. The goal of the first day of a journey was usually just to move forward; today, as they would reach Riabai, all Tenar could think about was Aunt Moss, wondering what had happened to her, whether she was really on the verge of death.But as the weather and the journey progressed, her mind could not hold on to the Moss thought or anything else.She was tired and didn't like the feeling of dying again.They passed Oak Springs, descended the canyon, and climbed again.By the time she reached the last stretch of the long uphill road to the High Hill, her legs were heavy and her thoughts were dull and chaotic, clinging to a word or image until it was meaningless.The cupboard at Ogion's house, or the words "bone dolphin" that came to mind when they saw Therru's toy straw bag, kept repeating. Ged walked at the easy pace of a traveler, and Therru walked wearily beside him.Less than a year ago, the same Therru was so tired from the long slope that he had to be hugged.But that was because of the longer, full-day trek, and the child was not yet recovering from the punishment she had suffered. She is old, too old to walk so fast.Uphill is so difficult.Old women should be at home by the fire.Bone dolphins, bone dolphins; bones, bundles, bundles; bone men, bone animals... They went ahead, they waited for her.She is slow.She is tired.She struggled to climb the last section of the mountain road, and came to the place where the two stood, on the flat slope of Gaoling.To the left is the roof of Reya White, which slopes down to the edge of the cliff; to the right is the road leading to the mansion. "This way," Tenar said. "No," said the child, pointing to the village to the left. "This way," said Tenar again, and walked to the right.Ged followed her. The two walked between the walnut orchard and the grassland.It was a warm evening in early summer, and birds were singing near or far among the trees in the orchard.The man whose name she could not remember came towards them from the road in front of the mansion. "Welcome!" he said, then stopped and smiled at them. The two stopped. "What a great guest, coming to visit Lord Reya's mansion," he said.Tu Ahe is not his name.Bone dolphins, bone animals, bone kids. "Master Archmage," he bowed low, and Ged returned the same. "And Lady Tenar of Etuan!" He bowed even lower to her, and she knelt on the spot in the road, with her head bowed until her hands were flat against the dust, and she bent so that her mouth was also pressed against the dust of the road. . "Crawl over now," he said, and she began to crawl toward him. "Stop," he said, and she stopped. "Can you talk?" he asked.She said nothing, no words came out of her mouth, but Ged answered in his usual quiet voice, "Yes." "Where is the monster?" "I have no idea." "I thought the witch would bring her servant imp with her. But she brought you, Archmage Sparrowhawk. What a wonderful substitute! I can only cleanse the world of all witches and monsters, but for you, Once you were a person, I can talk. You can at least talk sensibly, and at the same time have the ability to understand the meaning of punishment. I think you think you are safe, you have chosen Wang An to sit on the throne, and my master, our master, Destroyed. You thought everything was going your way and ruined the promise of eternal life, didn't you?" "No," said Ged's voice. She can't see them.She could only see and taste the road ahead of her.She heard Ged speak, and he said, "But to die is to be born again." "Quack, quack, sing hymns, Master Roke, Master School! What an amusing sight, the great Archmage dressed like a shepherd, with no magic in him, no power of a word. Can you spell, Master Mage? Little spells, little phantasms? No? Not a word? My master defeated you. Do you know now? You didn't conquer him. His power is still alive! I might let You live a little longer and see the power, my power. See the old man, I saved him from death, and I can take your life if necessary. And see your troublesome king bring shame on himself , his sissy courtiers, stupid wizards, are looking for a woman! Find a woman to rule us! But the rules are here, the ruler is here, here, in this big house. This year, I have been attracting others Come, men who know the true power. Some come from Roke, and go away from those schoolmasters; To control him, thinking he was safe enough to be known by his true name. Do you know my name, Archmage? Do you remember me? Four years ago, you were the great master of all masters, and I was just an ordinary student of Roke ?” "Your name is Bai Yang." Said a patient voice. "Where is my real name?" "I don't know your real name." "What? You don't know? Can't you find it? Don't mages know all the real names?" "I'm not a mage." "Oh, say it again." "I'm not a mage." "I love hearing you. Say it again." "I'm not a mage." "But I am!" "yes!" "Say!" "You are a mage!" "This is even better than I thought! I was trying to catch small shrimp, but I caught a big fish! Come on, meet my friend. You can use the walking one, and she can use the crawling one." So they went on the road to Lord Rhea's house, and when they entered the house Tenar crawled on all fours, up the marble stairs to the gate, and down the marble corridors of halls and rooms. It was dark in the room.In the darkness, Tenar's mind was also in darkness. She became less and less able to understand other people's speech, and could only hear certain words and sounds clearly.She understood what Ged said, and when he spoke she thought of his name and held it fast in her mind.But he seldom spoke, only answering the man whose name was not Tuahe.The man would occasionally talk to her and call her a bitch. "This is my new pet," he said to the others, several of whom stood in the darkness cast by the shadows cast by the candles. "You see how well I train her? Roll, bitch!" She rolled, and the men laughed. "She had a puppy," he said, "and I was going to finish her punishment because she was only half burnt, but what she brought to me was a bird she caught, a sparrow. Eagle. Tomorrow, we'll teach him how to fly." Other voices spoke words, but she could no longer understand them. Something was tied around her neck, and she was forced to climb more steps into a room full of urine, carrion, and fragrant flowers.There are voices speaking.A stone-like hand tapped feebly on her head, and something laughed "欵,欵,欵", like an old door that creaked back and forth.Someone kicked her and made her crawl down the hall.She couldn't move fast enough, so she was kicked on the chest and lips.Then a door slammed shut, silent, dark.She heard someone cry and thought it was a child, her child.She wants the baby not to cry.Finally, the crying stopped.