[分享] 地海奇风——English

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1^# 大中小发表于 2008-6-1 16:48 只看该作者

地海奇风——English

THE OTHER WIND2 G: L1 ]/ E2 k. m& x
Ursula K. LeGuin

The Earthsea 05
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EBook Design Group digital back-up edition v1 HTML; y: r- \0 d9 K- P& p" M
December 13, 2002

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Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5

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CHAPTER ONE
^ ?
MENDING THE GREEN PITCHER

9 |1 r/ o( v4 T7 W+ t' w; G
7 u7 }) S0 ?: v6 M4 R( h. p  w# N6 F6 v
Sails long and white as swan's wings carried the ship Farflyer through summer
air down the bay from the Armed Cliffs toward Gont Port. She glided into the
still water landward of the jetty, so sure and graceful a creature of the+ T6 j3 M# X1 y, R/ w
wind that a couple of
townsmen fishing off the old quay cheered her in, waving to the crewmen and
the one passenger standing in the prow.6 ^6 V4 d+ |* i7 V. z& U+ j- {

He was a thin man with a thin pack and an old black cloak, probably a1 H7 ?1 R$ @% w5 Z; ^
sorcerer or small tradesman, nobody important. The two fishermen watched the2 v, l5 ?5 [0 L: k5 ?1 [
bustle on the dock and the ship's deck as she made ready to unload her cargo,
and only glanced at the
passenger with a bit of curiosity when as he left the ship one of the sailors, x5 T* ]1 S( x( }% `: q
made a gesture behind his back, thumb and first and last finger of the left; b) k/ a0 Y) ]- p
hand all pointed at him: May you never come back!
* o3 z4 }3 s& P& H2 n
He hesitated on the pier, shouldered his pack, and set off into the streets; F: W$ h% W" s% J
of Gont Port. They were busy streets, and he got at once into the Fish
Market, abrawl with hawkers and hagglers, paving stones glittering with fish$ U6 V! x' U1 E0 Z0 I4 w9 w0 r
scales and brine. If he had
a way, he soon lost it among the carts and stalls and crowds and the cold
stares of dead fish.

A tall old woman turned from the stall where she had been insulting the
freshness of the herring and the veracity of the fishwife. Seeing her glaring5 y& W3 N- m9 x5 @- z! m
at him, the stranger said unwisely, "Would you have the kindness to tell me
the way I should go for Re  |7 q9 D; S& x/ H; V/ P
Albi?"

"Why, go drown yourself in pig slop for a start," said the tall woman and
strode off, leaving the stranger wilted and dismayed. But the fishwife,* l: j0 A: |; t  T; }0 S4 _8 j
seeing a chance to seize the high moral ground, blared out, "Re Albi is it?, t4 u* m$ S* {% ]: g- i
Re Albi you want, man? Speak! R$ Q/ q! }1 J% f2 ~) B+ z7 C
up then! The Old Mage's house, that would be what you'd want at Re Albi. Yes
it would. So you go out by the corner there, and up Elvers Lane there, see,- W7 U. S8 e3 s3 Y. @8 u8 v/ L
till you reach the tower…"+ d# {  w) ]) u
+ h0 F7 ]! k' Z$ b
Once he was out of the market, broad streets led him uphill and past the
massive watchtower to a town gate. Two stone dragons large as life guarded* S7 \& }4 _  L' \4 b) V/ G
it, teeth the length of his forearm, stone eyes glaring blindly out over the
town and the bay. A8 J9 ]% S8 ]3 h, L: d$ e
lounging guard told him just turn left at the top of the road and he'd be in
Re Albi. "And keep on through the village for the Old Mage's house," the
guard said., j& T0 W- E( F3 ?
; g  d' X- b2 W) S7 k% A" j+ m
So he went trudging up the road, which was pretty steep, looking up as he
went to the steeper slopes and far peak of Gont Mountain that overhung its  s$ z4 b9 r: s: t" ?/ d
island like a cloud.3 R6 J: B' S7 p8 h! p" _

It was a long road and a hot day. He soon had his black cloak off and went on
bareheaded in his shirtsleeves, but he had not thought to find water or buy
food in the town, or had been too shy to, maybe, for he was not a man
familiar with cities or at4 H. ?! [  V3 a# @* ]: P% s! q3 P
ease with strangers.
( A' i. @! R' o0 q( O
After several long miles he caught up to a cart which he had seen far up the
dusty way for a long time as a dark blot in a white blot of dust. It creaked1 c% L; G7 `: @
and streaked along at the pace of a pair of small oxen that looked as old,
wrinkled, and unhopeful
as tortoises. He greeted the carter, who resembled the oxen. The carter said+ g5 T5 H4 z: w. w& Y3 K
nothing, but blinked.

"Might there be a spring of water up the road?" the stranger asked.  }7 m( s+ X$ U, x0 G& K3 f3 j: P# B

The carter slowly shook his head. After a long time he said, "No." A while! E+ G! r$ V8 J, e  G; w9 [
later he said, "There ain't."
9 S/ |4 j- B, Y& r% V
They all plodded along. Discouraged, the stranger found it hard to go any% V( l% f1 v1 ?$ |8 \
faster than the oxen, about a mile an hour, maybe.
' {5 P# S/ z3 m$ [4 U* u
He became aware that the carter was wordlessly reaching something out to him:
a big clay jug wrapped round with wicker. He took it, and finding it very/ m. h7 k  A6 a; |  g6 x
heavy, drank his fill of the water, leaving it scarcely lighter when he% I3 F( d; u; X. [8 m5 p$ f
passed it back with his6 w; \( d9 H7 z2 q8 j
thanks." Y6 R( B4 ^7 L

"Climb on," said the carter after a while.

"Thanks. I'll walk. How far might it be to Re Albi?"

The wheels creaked. The oxen heaved deep sighs, first one, then the other.: h( s3 w$ j5 F" {( r8 I0 i2 l, T
Their dusty hides smelled sweet in the hot sunlight.
& G) ?; A) ?) v" D2 }5 Z0 a6 d
"Ten mile," the carter said. He thought, and said, "Or twelve." After a while
he said, "No less."
, Z7 h( D- D; S# e/ p5 [: ~7 ]# V
"I'd better walk on, then," said the stranger.8 J2 y6 O7 d8 {; E. i6 G

Refreshed by the water, he was able to get ahead of the oxen, and they and5 p" T& v( @9 R6 z1 g
the cart and the carter were a good way behind him when he heard the carter
speak again. "Going to the Old Mages house," he said. If it was a question,
it seemed to need no! Z& Q  E! \' Z3 U, p0 F
answer. The traveler walked on.3 C- @9 c" G7 K0 z

When he started up the road it had still lain in the vast shadow of the
mountain, but when he turned left to the little village he took to be Re
Albi, the sun was blazing in the western sky and under it the sea lay white
as steel.

There were scattered small houses, a small dusty square, a fountain with one* P$ r* @7 z1 {/ g5 X* O3 @
thin stream of water falling. He made for that, drank from his hands again
and again, put his head under the stream, rubbed cool water through his hair$ A. f3 P) _- d. T9 t8 w9 p9 D
and let it run down his
arms, and sat for a while on the stone rim of the fountain, observed in
attentive silence by two dirty little boys and a dirty little girl.. _( Q9 a- S  q9 n0 @9 S, e
) S% p2 r$ w0 r2 b; H4 j
"He ain't the farrier," one of the boys said.4 l2 F9 r) s: I* E# c  ], G* j6 b0 e

The traveler combed his wet hair back with his ringers.

"He'll be going to the Old Mage's house," said the girl, "stupid."

"Yerraghh!" said the boy, drawing his face into a horrible lopsided grimace0 B* {+ {7 X7 [3 s9 ?
by pulling at it with one hand while he clawed the air with the other.& z& D: J5 L# t
; v- g1 l2 M- _* O5 h4 N5 d7 z- p
"You watch it, Stony," said the other boy.$ `7 ^$ b3 V8 P; S3 L
  d% a% O5 E' i) m
"Take you there," said the girl to the traveler.
! s1 t3 ]( R5 h1 r( m) U
"Thanks," he said, and stood up wearily.- ^4 ^9 H) s, E

"Got no staff, see," said one boy, and the other said, "Never said he did."
Both watched with sullen eyes as the stranger followed the girl out of the+ d5 D) Z( N9 S6 k
village to a path that led north through rocky pastures that dropped down$ ~7 Z5 l! z1 f$ J; ]" N
steep to the left.
! r% G9 y& F  _& _
The sun glared on the sea. His eyes dazzled, and the high horizon and the
blowing wind made him dizzy. The child was a little hopping shadow ahead of
him. He stopped.( |5 D3 b0 m3 y3 l/ ?* ~
$ @6 d+ Y% ~) m
"Come on," she said, but she too stopped. He came up to her on the path.
"There," she said. He saw a wooden house near the cliff's edge, still some/ G$ _. F+ d, A* j
way ahead.

"I ain't afraid," the girl said. "I fetch their eggs lots of times for
Stony's dad to carry to market. Once she gave me peaches. The old lady. Stony
says I stole 'em but I never. Go on. She ain't there. Neither of em is."7 m9 N( |9 ~: l% }

She stood still, pointing to the house.
2 w$ g7 M' n; P- f" x
"Nobody's there?"9 z( O/ Q: \  u; w
3 W, p# z3 W3 W: v/ W$ X/ ]
"The old man is. Old Hawk, he is."! a$ z) [5 g( o+ \' I5 P5 w! o- e
# J- ]: u' U. }* N# v- I& s
The traveler went on. The child stood watching him till he went round the
corner of the house.. ^1 k+ e. k2 D! ~

Two goats stared down at the stranger from a steep fenced field. A scatter of8 R% i) N8 S5 x4 S% {
hens and half-grown chicks pecked and conversed softly in long grass under
peach and plum trees. A man was standing on a short ladder against the trunk/ D% t. J( v& I: a; q: l1 [$ C8 A
of one of the trees;- P) F* k9 C0 W
his head was in the leaves, and the traveler could see only his bare brown
legs.

"Hello," the traveler said, and after a while said it again a bit louder.

The leaves shook and the man came briskly down the ladder. He carried a$ k* V% e$ s( H9 |% a/ B
handful of plums, and when he got off the ladder he batted away a couple of
bees drawn by the juice. He came forward, a short, straight-backed man, grey. t" O' y$ b1 [+ F& Y, d7 _
hair tied back from a- o6 ~3 Y7 d( X6 C# D9 K$ S
handsome, timeworn face. He looked to be seventy or so. Old scars, four white( h, F4 h! J0 W) _( t3 x
seams, ran from his left cheekbone down to the jaw. His gaze was clear,5 n8 T; m& ~9 Z
direct, intense. "They're ripe," he said, "though they'll be even better
tomorrow." He held out his: }( O) K8 S& `2 y3 g
handful of little yellow plums." ~6 v) i) W$ G$ S2 y
+ W" t9 U* l; m; [: C' y
"Lord Sparrowhawk," the stranger said huskily. "Arch-mage."
/ _, [4 i4 Y2 G% l% i9 w% |
The old man gave a curt nod of acknowledgment. "Come into the shade," he said.

The stranger followed him, and did what he was told: he sat down on a wooden
bench in the shade of the gnarled tree nearest the house; he accepted the
plums, now rinsed and served in a wicker basket; he ate one, then another,1 w0 {9 P  Y, ^/ z* J! t. }
then a third. Questioned,6 L0 t  q' i9 C4 Z: d2 K9 S
he admitted that he had eaten nothing that day. He sat while the master of- x( D) ~# a+ L" C" ?+ h
the house went into it, coming out presently with bread and cheese and half! R; H% b1 ~8 [  B7 T! h' @
an onion. The guest ate the bread and cheese and onion and drank the cup of5 o' ?: F8 Q7 B  {
cold water his host
brought him. The host ate plums to keep him company.

"You look tired. How far have you come?"

"From Roke.": s3 e! Y$ x/ P: ]2 ]
2 t9 F9 G$ c2 T5 w+ L4 I- M
The old man's expression was hard to read. He said only, "I wouldn't have
guessed that."9 F' n" n& Y  N9 Z  v; J
6 {! g/ W3 L8 U( P3 a6 T
"I'm from Taon, lord. I went from Taon to Roke. And there the Lord Patterner" ^- L# P  w$ z8 a
told me I should come here. To you."7 Q! m  ]; z% m6 z; I& B. A+ R- J9 i& P

"Why?"
( G# \  i7 t3 r8 c7 ?. g
It was a formidable gaze.
. i6 J. f  m6 |4 A
"Because you walked across the dark land living…" The stranger's husky voice% c' V: t. c3 h
died away.
" c1 V! K! M7 T/ D! G" y
The old man picked up the words: "And came to the far shores of the day. Yes.4 N6 j* o8 k  J6 T, q" i5 ]/ y9 m+ }- `% v
But that was spoken in prophecy of the coming of our King, Lebannen."; g: k2 _7 w  k

"You were with him, lord."0 o$ Y8 N1 C( E8 Y

"I was. And he gained his kingdom there. But I left mine there. So don't call
me by any title. Hawk, or Sparrowhawk, as you please. And how shall I call$ `* t$ x0 [/ T+ {1 f' S$ `4 _
you?"

The man murmured his use-name: "Alder."

Food and drink and shade and sitting down had clearly eased him, but he still) y* W3 J7 O+ T; N3 ]% w0 K
looked exhausted. He had a weary sadness in him; his face was full of it.6 H' T1 l% L0 m

The old man had spoken to him with a hard edge in his voice, but that was# D5 |6 }2 i9 k
gone when he said, "Let's put off talking for a bit. You've sailed near a( `' Y4 o; C# ^; I3 ~) z0 h
thousand miles and walked fifteen uphill. And I've got to water the beans and
the lettuce id all, since* A( _1 W1 [" S. [) X* C8 a# w# \
my wife and daughter left the garden in my charge. So rest a while. We can: @( \: o7 @' n* k! o
talk in the cool of the evening. Or the cool of the morning. There's seldom4 s# [9 t+ C8 ~, n8 C9 E- u6 U, k
as much hurry as I used to think there was."
# _" @6 ?, R' N: Y1 }
When he came back by half an hour later his guest was flat on his back asleep8 H, b# E# ]' F5 r1 B& G& l6 T( w
in the cool grass under the peach trees.

The man who had been Archmage of Earthsea stopped with a bucket in one hand& R5 w( [( a: g6 t8 E6 j& f
and a hoe in the other and looked down at the sleeping stranger." B* H! H2 X2 U
- R7 t( U& }+ O( j1 u
"Alder," he said under his breath. "What's the trouble you bring with you,7 x7 t/ h7 {3 N1 `
Alder?"

It seemed to him that if he wanted to know the man's true name he would know
it only by thinking, by putting his mind to it, as he might have done when he
was a mage.
5 u2 j# \5 d! T
But he did not know it, and thinking would not give it to him, and he was not
a mage.
; g$ U7 N! O5 v5 A& z' E+ n, l
He knew nothing about this Alder and must wait to be told. "Never trouble3 }" I$ i7 m6 j- ^9 z) }  K
trouble," he told himself, and went on to water the beans.& q" ^$ N+ j5 l! r
& L$ K" _, q% x: W2 o" w5 R
As soon as the sun's light was cut offby a low rock wall that ran along the3 M2 A! V* x$ U5 b/ \
top of the cliff near the house, the cool of the shadow roused the sleeper.7 b4 |2 F$ j4 x" L* i9 [8 U7 B
He sat up with a shiver, then stood up, a bit stiff and bewildered, with
grass seed in his hair.
Seeing his host filling buckets at the well and lugging them to the garden,: s! i* S& ~4 z( O3 p( {
he went to help him.# v8 P4 @: a+ g/ H% `

"Three or four more ought to do it," said the ex-Archmage, doling out water
to the roots of a row of young cabbages. The smell of wet dirt was pleasant$ [/ m* _% F, V2 k8 o; q& f; M
in the dry, warm air. The westering light came golden and broken over the# Q, q8 T& {7 H1 ~' K* U4 r5 o
ground.
; A! h! F. d) n: c$ |. o$ Y& x
They sat on a long bench beside the house door to see the sun go down.
Sparrowhawk had brought out a bottle and two squat, thick cups of greenish" b( T1 R/ D6 i( f$ @
glass. "My wife's son's wine," he said. "From Oak Farm, in Middle Valley. A) {$ J+ _5 B, K( J
good year, seven years back."
It was a flinty red wine that warmed Alder right through. The sun set in calm
clarity. The wind was down. Birds in the orchard trees made a few closing
remarks.
; F" h6 W1 T5 f* d1 G$ h
Alder had been amazed when he learned from the Master Patterner of Roke that
the Archmage Sparrowhawk, that man of legend, who had brought the king home
from the realm of death and then flown off on a dragon's back, was still
alive. Alive, said the
Patterner, and living on his home island, Gont. "I tell you what not many
know," the Patterner had said, "for I think you need to know it. And I think
you will keep his secret."
( }' o+ F9 e3 l+ h$ M8 ?
"But then he is still Archmage!" Alder had said, with a kind of joy: for it  u; M0 K- ^* }/ J, B
had been a puzzle and concern to all men of the art that the wise men of Roke
Island, the school and center of magery in the Archipelago, had not in all
the years of King
Lebannen's rule named an Archmage to replace Sparrowhawk.% {$ X' b+ D' W' K4 s

"No," the Patterner had said. "He is not a mage at all."

The Patterner had told him a little of how Sparrowhawk had lost his power,
and why; and Alder had had time to ponder it all. But still, here, in the0 ^/ E2 U9 F. m. l! Z* H0 \" P
presence of this man who had spoken with dragons, and brought back the Ring% J  f0 H5 q5 o
of Erreth-Akbe, and crossed4 i$ q3 Y4 l/ r
the kingdom of the dead, and ruled the Archipelago before the king, all those
stories and songs were in his mind. Even as he saw him old, content with his
garden, with no power in him or about him but that of a soul made by a long! R  a& z" k4 A3 _' z  R/ y
life of thought and: f+ }% a2 L1 x' \' F
action, he still saw a great mage. And so it troubled him considerably that
Sparrow-hawk had a wife.  F$ b& M6 Y% ]
* r  D" Z7 ?4 A2 y$ Z* C& }3 [
A wife, a daughter, a stepson… Mages had no family. A common sorcerer like8 Q. s& W/ `$ G, s; o& f
Alder might marry or might not, but the men of true power were celibate.3 o2 A" O/ h, W$ v9 N& ~5 m' x
Alder could imagine this man riding a dragon, that was easy enough, but to
think of him as a husband
and father was another matter. He couldn't manage it. He tried. He asked,# ]1 h$ M4 J1 m( X: G' C$ G
"Your—wife—She's with her son, then?"
& w. K0 z% V, z4 Q: A
Sparrowhawk came back from far away. His eyes had been on the western gulfs./ y# O# E+ y1 k8 r
"No," he said. "She's in Havnor. With the king."0 a% `9 y) y' i1 Q8 s* N( ^0 u

After a while, coming all the way back, he added, "She went there with our0 G2 w: K: r. n; q' g" j# W2 b
daughter just after the Long Dance. Lebannen sent for them, to take counsel.1 N+ j$ f' X( V% A, e
Maybe on the same matter that brings you here to me. We'll see… But the4 }3 e- f! E* N1 \
truth is, I'm tired this
evening, and not much disposed to weighing heavy matters. And you look tired
too. So a bowl of soup, maybe, and another glass of wine, and sleep? And6 a+ L* X( x9 z- B0 l
we'll talk in the morning."
5 }. ^3 {, L) W$ X  Y
"All with pleasure, lord," Alder said, "but for the sleep. That's what I
fear."7 i0 I; C9 D4 c, Z

It took the old man a while to register this, but then he said, "You fear to
sleep?": O% G4 m: Q9 J' v. @
$ s2 R6 `" y: P. e$ s; w  P0 L
"Dreams."
4 g; G/ D1 h* b- R- a8 y
"Ah." A keen glance from the dark eyes under eyebrows grown tangled and half
grey. "You had a good nap there in the grass, I think."! x% G0 B+ a# a; H( q; i% Y
2 F9 a+ E0 h: n8 E$ F
"The sweetest sleep I've had since I left Roke Island. I'm grateful to you
for that boon, lord. Maybe it will return tonight. But if not, I struggle
with my dream, and cry out, and wake, and am a burden to anyone near me. I'll
sleep outside, if you' J; n- A+ B4 V9 ]& a  u
permit."; M5 s. ^8 V0 g5 g" D' J' R- Z

Sparrowhawk nodded. "It'll be a pleasant night," he said.

It was a pleasant night, cool, the sea wind mild from the south, the stars of
summer whitening all the sky except where the broad, dark summit of the
mountain loomed. Alder put down the pallet and sheepskin his host gave him,
in the grass where he had, N$ [8 [4 t- q& O7 }
slept before.$ v% X6 r5 N" Q& n- C$ c
# L+ }0 d, v6 |$ Z2 x
Sparrowhawk lay in the little western alcove of the house. He had slept there
as a boy, when it was Ogion's house and he was Ogion's prentice in wizardry.
Tehanu had slept there these last fifteen years, since she had been his6 ]- o) Y7 b& @# z) p0 {
daughter. With her and
Tenar gone, when he lay in his and Tenar's bed in the dark back corner of the1 E# q) W( Z5 ^7 X7 L& S) Z* w6 l
single room he felt his solitude, so he had taken to sleeping in the alcove.
He liked the narrow cot built out from the thick house wall of timbers, right% m8 p4 J  ^! i) G' E  ^/ f* v
under the window.
He slept well there. But this night he did not.0 T: q- {' c3 |/ R
. D6 K5 z: R6 j) _$ C
Before midnight, wakened by a cry, voices outside, he leapt up and went to
the door. It was only Alder struggling with nightmare, amid sleepy protests
from the henhouse. Alder shouted in the thick voice of dream and then woke,
starting up in panic and& W5 O) ~7 t* F
distress. He begged his host's pardon and said he would sit up a while under
the stars. Sparrowhawk went back to bed. He was not wakened again by Alder,
but he had a bad dream of his own.
  W/ f! r& a' I. M
He was standing by a wall of stone near the top of a long hillside of dry
grey grass that ran down from dimness into the dark. He knew he had been+ i7 N6 D; j4 o0 \: v& p' R5 ^$ B
there before, had stood there before, but he did not know when, or what place
it was. Someone was+ u3 x3 j2 Y) Q& y) }
standing on the other side of the wall, the downhill side, not far away. He
could not see the face, only that it was a tall man, cloaked. He knew that he
knew him. The man spoke to him, using his true name. He said, "You will soon4 ~' M) f" ~2 N; d
be here, Ged."
% W. P5 |7 w) `0 t  w+ @
Cold to the bone, he sat up, staring to see the space of the house about him,- A1 D/ q3 k' E2 D# T
to draw its reality around him like a blanket. He looked out the window at. v6 I7 c3 H$ Q
the stars. The cold came into his heart then. They were not the stars of
summer, beloved, familiar,& U0 `' A7 c5 D; [7 J3 f
the Cart, the Falcon, the Dancers, the Heart of the Swan. They were other
stars, the small, still stars of the dry land, that never rise or set. He had8 i1 q( ~# E2 {7 u
known their names, once, when he knew the names of things.
* A; r& O6 }$ L1 O8 N6 _
"Avert!" he said aloud and made the gesture to turn away misfortune that he
had learned when he was ten years old. His gaze went to the open doorway of
the house, the corner behind the door, where he thought to see darkness0 O5 Y$ T8 K7 y6 E( ^1 q$ i1 }
taking shape, clotting7 c( U, P9 B1 {  t0 \/ k: A  }  G
together and rising up.

But his gesture, though it had no power, woke him. The shadows behind the9 f. d8 ^- V4 S# a5 m
door were only shadows. The stars out the window were the stars of Earthsea,
paling in the first reflection of the dawn.
  q; R% i. o3 x: m4 C7 X. p; d
He sat holding his sheepskin up round his shoulders, watching those stars
fade as they dropped west, watching the growing brightness, the colors of
light, the play and change of coming day. There was a grief in him, he did
not know why, a pain and; e6 u, c, r' }$ ?# a4 k
yearning as for something dear and lost, forever lost. He was used to that;0 p2 i: O2 b) t+ r" B! U
he had held much dear, and lost much; but this sadness was so great it did
not seem to be his own. He felt a sadness at the very heart of things, a# f7 V$ I! f. q
grief even in the coming of
the light. It clung to him from his dream, and stayed with him when he got up.
& ]. f5 L4 c8 G. A7 o/ ?. U. T6 U
He lit a little fire in the big hearth and went to the peach trees and the
henhouse to gather breakfast. Alder came in from the path that ran north) o# o' r4 y) g; R3 U& f
along the cliff top; he had gone for a walk at first light, he said. He
looked jaded, and Sparrowhawk
was struck again by the sadness in his face, which echoed the deep aftermood
of his own dream.. ?7 s: e! ^% }$ s
' b& \! Z# C+ O1 Q' F3 ^  s
They had a cup of the warmed barley gruel the country people of Gont drink, a4 ~. w  R. ?8 g1 S3 J
boiled egg, a peach; they ate by the hearth, for the morning air in the
shadow of the mountain was too cold for sitting outdoors. Sparrowhawk looked
after his livestock: fed; F0 z$ ?7 o) F
the chickens, scattered grain for doves, let the goats into the pasture. When! |9 h# L+ g0 {
he came back they sat again on the bench in the dooryard. The sun was not
over the mountain yet, but the air had grown dry and warm.

"Now tell me what brings you here, Alder. But since you came by Roke, tell me" i# m& v; I9 p0 Y. w) X% K
first if things are well in the Great House."1 K; x/ [0 }3 s9 ^

"I did not enter it, my lord.") M' h0 v) A6 f0 b# e3 e6 U
7 ^4 M3 F5 k# T+ O( l! f! u
"Ah." A neutral tone but a sharp glance.

"I was only in the Immanent Grove."$ Z" F* z9 F& ^! g; j3 U& s

"Ah." A neutral tone, a neutral glance. "Is the Patterner well?"  [$ R) s+ O# @7 k# v& N

"He told me, 'Carry my love and honor to my lord and say to him: I wish we0 n+ @& q1 @2 M9 h( ^- X' H# @4 S
walked in the Grove together as we used to do.'"

Sparrowhawk smiled a little sadly. After a while he said, "So. But he sent6 R( F: e$ Q+ X& w4 {7 u" N
you to me with more to say than that, I think."

"I will try to be brief."

"Man, we have all day before us. And I like a story told from the beginning."

So Alder told him his story from the beginning.4 a: `* W8 r/ h. Q+ G, V1 C- B
, b7 B; M8 |0 |. e
He was a witch's son, born in the town of Elini on Taon, the Isle of the
Harpers.: U2 t  ~9 T: O9 v, {8 d2 j7 b/ j

Taon is at the southern end of the Sea of Ea, not far from where Solea lay
before the sea whelmed it. That was the ancient heart of Earthsea. All those
islands had states and cities, kings and wizards, when Havnor was a land of
feuding tribesmen and  I& j, _( f6 D5 I+ [# S
Gont a wilderness ruled by bears. People born on Ea or Ebea, Enlad or Taon,
though they may be a ditchdigger's daughter or a witch's son, consider# l7 i8 A8 d3 w! r9 |
themselves to be descendants of the Elder Mages, sharing the lineage of the# |4 J2 x$ i9 E4 Q  P$ R
warriors who died in the dark5 q3 u5 b: K# Y8 p+ J
years for Queen Elfarran. Therefore they often have a fine courtesy of1 B( t; n) t7 y* C, H# U
manner, though sometimes an undue haughtiness, and a generous, uncalculating; a/ A8 O- u$ h6 [* k9 `
turn of mind and speech, a way of soaring above mere fact and prose, which
those whose minds stay close
to merchandise distrust. "Kites without strings," say the rich men of Havnor$ z. }+ f) k& C# \
of such people. But they do not say it in the hearing of the king, Lebannen* z5 t, Y  S2 Y) a1 h
of the House of Enlad.2 N) `5 m: R( I- G( D" G
5 J3 D& y' T8 p9 @/ f+ V  y9 d! {: z
The best harps in Earthsea are made on Taon, and there are schools of music2 U; m2 k4 Z* V! W9 s3 D
there, and many famous singers of the Lays and Deeds were born or learned9 T4 i  P. U6 c* r6 q6 W% ~" w
their art there. Elini, however, is just a market town in the hills, with no
music about it, Alder
said; and his mother was a poor woman, though not, as he put it, hungry poor.
She had a birthmark, a red stain from the right eyebrow and ear clear down4 x# _$ `+ T2 C  ?
over her shoulder. Many women and men with such a blemish or difference about3 F- G1 [4 ~- y) X0 ^
them become witches
or sorcerers perforce, "marked for it," people say. Blackberry learned spells  t5 C8 M9 G6 r3 Q# ]8 O8 W
and could do the most ordinary kind of witchery; she had no real gift for it,
but she had a way about her that was almost as good as the gift itself. She# V9 j/ l- I& x4 B+ U: m7 V$ x
made a living, and% n* ?+ |/ |1 r  h2 [- `
trained her son as well as she could, and saved enough to prentice him to the% V( \3 n! K) S9 M' Q
sorcerer who gave him his true name.  G/ Y) A1 F/ Z' G3 s: P' X9 Z2 W

Of his father Alder said nothing. He knew nothing. Blackberry had never, d/ }6 l+ |8 m
spoken of him. Though seldom celibate, witches seldom kept company more than- f) x5 C' Y6 I, W6 N5 o
a night or two with any man, and it was a rare thing for a witch to marry a8 H+ z7 A  g$ D
man. Far more often two of$ {, P0 C4 y  z3 j/ h0 y
them lived their lives together, and that was called witch marriage or
she-troth. A witch's child, then, had a mother or two mothers, but no father.
That went without saying, and Sparrowhawk asked nothing on that score; but he8 ?' u" v5 J* u# t0 A3 i" g
asked about Alder's
training.
3 o: a  m  ]* k( V7 H. r) I
The sorcerer Gannet had taught Alder the few words he knew of the True
Speech, and some spells of finding and illusion, at which Alder had shown, he- P+ G' o, [% W
said, no talent at all. But Gannet took enough interest in the boy to
discover his true gift. Alder was
a mender. He could rejoin. He could make whole. A broken tool, a knife blade
or an axle snapped, a pottery bowl shattered: he could bring the fragments( Z) q. l# w, M: w" C6 B& B
back together without joint or seam or weakness. So his master sent him about
seeking various spells
of mending, which he found mostly among witches of the island, and he worked3 M% ]7 f( `+ e3 G. D0 m
with them and by himself to learn to mend.( c( @" Z' N' C. A! ]
3 {9 u* r, |$ s# g/ ^* G
"That is a kind of healing," Sparrowhawk said. "No small gift, nor easy
craft."

"It was a joy to me," Alder said, with a shadow of a smile in his face.
"Working out the spells, and finding sometimes how to use one of the True1 p/ `7 s4 x  e( m2 y' o
Words in the work… To put back together a barrel that's dried, the staves6 P0 Q0 C" y6 W+ |1 |  g* F
all fallen in from the; ^6 o- ~5 g2 K7 B, u$ M8 x( V8 j3 T
hoops—that's a real pleasure, seeing it build up again, and swell out in the
right curve, and stand there on its bottom ready for the wine…There was a
harper from Meoni, a great harper, oh, he played like a storm on the high
hills, like a tempest on8 `) G5 V: ~8 o; j8 D! ?
the sea. He was hard on the harp strings, twanging and pulling them in the* y, l7 b5 i$ U. H' k4 k0 q
passion of his art, so they'd break at the very height and flight of the( Z. k+ {. Q/ ?( C8 p1 U7 o2 W
music. And so he hired me to be there near him when he played, and when he3 z/ q9 r7 N3 s  i
broke a string I'd mend it
quick as the note itself, and he'd play on."

Sparrowhawk nodded with the warmth of a fellow professional talking shop.
"Have you mended glass?" he asked.
) |* s$ k: j# R* n3 ]/ S' q
"I have, but it's a long, nasty job," Alder said, "with all the tiny little
bits and speckles glass goes to."
3 B0 h- I7 c0 l  C4 T( z: ?
"But a big hole in the heel of a stocking can be worse," Sparrowhawk said,9 X8 y; B- e! Q; h# m7 H
and they discussed mending for a while longer, before Alder returned to his
story.

He had become a mender, then, a sorcerer with a modest practice and a local. m" U5 Y- {' O3 j0 ^7 z" ?
reputation for his gift. When he was about thirty, he went to the principal
city of the island, Meoni, with the harper, who was playing for a wedding
there. A woman sought him
out in their lodging, a young woman, not trained as a witch; but she had a
gift, she said, the same as his, and wanted him to teach her. And indeed she
had a greater gift than his. Though she knew not a word of the Old Speech,* q$ f1 G# C$ f) M
she could put a smashed; Q6 r% g1 Q3 O1 f# ]
jug back together or mend a frayed-out rope just with the movements of her
hands and a wordless song she sang under her breath, and she had healed
broken limbs of animals and people, which Alder had never dared try to do.
# a9 K: J8 k) ]! |/ ~$ r# ?# B
So rather than his teaching her, they put their skills together and taught
each other more than either had ever known. She came back to Elini and lived
with Alder's mother Blackberry, who taught her various useful appearances and
effects and ways of- O* W( X1 d/ [
impressing customers, if not much actual witch knowledge. Lily was her name;
and Lily and Alder worked together there and in all the hill towns nearby, as7 K, p# y8 b; H$ J' G# V* y  d6 ^5 N
their reputation grew.

"And I came to love her," Alder said. His voice had changed when he began to
speak of her, losing its hesitancy, growing urgent and musical.
7 o4 }# J/ b0 _5 }
"Her hair was dark, but with a shining of red gold in it," he said.' k0 l- e" D& e$ I( [

There was no way he could hide his love from her, and she knew it and5 ?7 e: ?  Y/ q2 y
returned it. Whether she was a witch now or not, she said she did not care;( F' g+ y) e- [6 |$ X# o) h+ r' Z
she said the two of them were born to be together, in their work and in their- \) _! I# K8 s
life; she loved him and
would be married to him.4 @% M* E5 D+ A! \% Q( h

So they were married, and lived in very great happiness for a year, and half
a second year.
' ^% [/ p$ {5 `4 b) h) [
"Nothing was wrong at all until the time came for the child to be born,"3 \5 n) z  t( y% E, ]- \* f
Alder said. "But it was late, and then very late. The midwives tried to bring3 V& P  ^$ ]7 |2 j1 R7 |! n
on the birth with herbs and spells, but it was as if the child would not let
her bear it. It would- w. ?( C1 `) A$ y% y3 i) J
not be separated from her. It would not be born. And it was not born. It took
her with it."
; y# T+ N- H+ e; ]+ k% H
After a while he said, "We had great joy."

"I see that."7 \5 ~5 l- J' m+ G9 H/ C+ s6 Q

"And my sorrow was in that degree."
3 Z3 N9 ~9 u- O( F5 J7 i% {3 `* D1 Q
2 m" }( `# |, f
The old man nodded.& G4 s3 ?% c4 z2 W" T

"I could bear it," Alder said. "You know how it is. There was not much reason
to be living that I could see, but I could bear it."
5 Z# W* I$ p. A& y
"Yes."

"But in the winter. Two months after her death. There was a dream came to me.
She was in the dream."$ ^- @. @. w# b0 d. q7 G

‘Tell it.% {/ _- F7 m6 G) A" M

"I stood on a hillside. Along the top of the hill and running down the slope# U; {. K, u; Q6 Z* A
was a wall, low, like a boundary wall between sheep pastures. She was
standing across the wall from me, below it. It was darker there."
1 F9 W. V% L6 g, B: _. Z
Sparrowhawk nodded once. His face had gone rock hard.6 n/ B( e* T5 L; k2 F9 K

"She was calling to me. I heard her voice saying my name, and I went to her.7 r2 P, \% I- v" u2 d" _; W
I knew she was dead, I knew it in the dream, but I was glad to go. I couldn't! L5 C* E. B5 ?3 t! A; c
see her clear, and I went to her to see her, to be with her. And she reached
out across the wall.3 X0 T4 V& @7 o* J9 b
It was no higher than my heart. I had thought she might have the child with2 H7 A# }9 A/ ?0 K3 D7 d3 B# w
her, but she did not. She was reaching her hands out to me, and so I reached% U& a. a9 P5 B: U+ v
out to her, and we took each others hands."1 P  J0 f1 l9 z- b* A- B( h  Q4 W1 Q
1 S' |/ _4 c4 V# C/ l! Z- @' ?
"You touched?"

"I wanted to go to her, but I could not cross the wall. My legs would not1 D3 t% J0 N% A# k/ D6 a! u2 v7 ~
move. I tried to draw her to me, and she wanted to come, it seemed as if she
could, but the wall was there between us. We couldn't get over it. So she& d1 u! E3 F% l& t
leaned across to me and1 M2 G+ `* f5 {6 ?/ N
kissed my mouth and said my name. And she said, 'Set me free!'% V  S& g1 P. N3 |7 I; F( }

"I thought if I called her by her true name maybe I could free her, bring her- c! r! _0 ]1 |2 n, e& a! G
across that wall, and I said, 'Come with me, Mevre!' But she said, 'That's  ?8 D: d3 l/ {! d: I" ~
not my name, Hara, that's not my name any more.' And she let go my hands,3 h5 I4 V, y4 O% \! e2 v  P, i, n
though I tried to hold" b( l* k6 P0 p  D% {
her. She cried, 'Set me free, Hara!' But she was going down into the dark. It
was all dark down that hillside below the wall. I called her name and her
use-name and all the dear names I had had for her, but she went on away. So
then I woke.", z( B; I1 I7 c8 z1 P
% k7 U' h5 T3 ]( h1 B* o' a1 l
Sparrowhawk gazed long and keenly at his visitor. "You gave me your name,, E  n) J7 J- v% }
Hara," he said.

Alder looked a little stunned, and took a couple of long breaths, but he3 l) P3 I8 L: m8 S* ?
looked up with desolate courage. "Who could I better trust it with?" he said.% W8 b7 @: w/ }" g6 N

Sparrowhawk thanked him gravely. "I will try to deserve your trust," he said.
"Tell me, do you know what that place is—that wall?"7 f" d. {. \8 O) T" r# {
) c) ^7 |" M- q. z. [
"I did not know it then. Now I know you have crossed it."/ n$ L2 A! ?7 ^5 P9 o; ^8 B. u  ?
8 D# E9 O1 ^, K" a( \
"Yes. I've been on that hill. And crossed the wall, by the power and art I2 G4 Z4 A6 O1 b# s$ |8 B# q2 D
used to have. And I've gone down to the cities of the dead, and spoken to men6 Y8 [7 A$ r! h: N* I  j( ^) [
I had known living, and sometimes they answered me. But Hara, you are the# B% X; W6 w2 o. h" |$ Q
first man I ever knew or
heard of, among all the great mages in the lore of Roke or Paln or the1 I4 U4 \  N+ I+ ]: C
Enlades, who ever touched, ho ever kissed his love across that wall."

Alder sat with his head bowed and his hands clenched.

"Will you tell me: what was her touch like? Were her hands warm? Was she cold, O& n/ s! E) u$ i" _& W; U
air and shadow, or like a living woman? Forgive my questions."

"I wish I could answer them, my lord. On Roke the summoner asked the same.
But I can't answer truly. My longing for her was so great, I wished so much—8 j- L% [" `! q
it could be I wished her to be as she was in life. But I don't know. In dream( [& \) y0 ?# A* _+ E7 w
not all things are
clear."

"In dream, no. But I never heard of any man coming to the wall in dream. It
is a place a wizard may seek to come to, if he must, if he's learned the way
and has the power. But without the knowledge and the power, only the dying can
—"

And then he broke off, remembering his dream of the night before.6 L3 u) r" Z6 }

"I took it for a dream," Alder said. "It troubled me, but I cherished it. It7 ]1 Q) N& z: |9 M
was like a harrow on my heart's ground to think of it, and yet I held to that; S& a. N/ A0 L' }  u
pain, held it close to me. I wanted it. I hoped to dream again."

"Did you?". F. N" f/ y% g- G6 x: Z! N0 c
2 ^  M1 S+ |- x! |: m7 i
"Yes. I dreamed again."! a: q7 F) M5 U
1 m0 D7 V/ D  ?# ~7 Z7 l! z
7 M; X" X* j" s% H! J% W2 _4 g
He looked unseeing into the blue gulf of air and ocean west of where they
sat. Low and faint across the tranquil sea lay the sunlit hills of Kameber.
Behind them the sun was breaking bright over the mountains northern shoulder.
  ?, _, G' D' A% O1 w! v
"It was nine days after the first dream. I was in that same place, but high( O+ i- A. b7 {0 X9 @1 o: v
up on the hill. I saw the wall below me across the slope. And I ran down the1 Z( I, c$ ?# G: o& F! a8 ?6 d3 `
hill, calling out her name, sure of seeing her. There was someone there. But6 g6 u9 W) B1 V  `( ?# B* ?) Q
when I came close, I, j$ m- X6 U4 K# o
saw it wasn't Lily. It was a man, and he was stooping at the wall, as if he
was repairing it. I said to him, 'Where is she, where is Lily?' He didn't* l6 n- j0 G$ X5 E( L6 }% I
answer or look up. I saw what he was doing. He wasn't working to mend the
wall but to unbuild it,/ G, x* F, R* M! M
prying with his fingers at a great stone. The stone never moved, and he said,. M6 f6 O! S( r# {+ x; h
'Help me, Hara!' Then I saw that it was my teacher, Gannet, who named me. He5 H1 C) D) f8 h5 l, S
has been dead these five years. He kept prying and straining at the stone
with his fingers, and
said my name again—'Help me, set me free.' And he stood up and reached out- H# E5 [) b# _* S
to me across the wall, as she had done, and caught my hand. But his hand
burned, with fire or with cold, I don't know, but the touch of it burned me) e% D) O7 b, K. Z) K6 W
so that I pulled away, and
the pain and fear of it woke me from the dream."

He held his hand out as he spoke, showing a darkness on the back and palm& k" p: E+ z$ E. F  C% E0 p
like an old bruise." e% o8 A$ w. q: V% ?0 O
' j' J! B. O& I  L
"I've learned not to let them touch me," he said in a low voice.
# O7 {# S0 v' N2 ?# y
Ged looked at Alder's mouth. There was a darkening across his lips too.) A9 I1 _( s3 ~
4 i& Y& v0 }8 O0 u
"Hara, you've been in mortal danger," he said, also softly.

"There is more."3 @, b/ x) @! M6 K2 ^! d7 x, K6 b% j
2 U, |- N: {9 ^5 C4 R
Forcing his voice against silence, Alder went on with his story.

The next night when he slept again he found himself on that dim hill and saw6 V, ]! Y/ S7 N: f3 v
the wall that dropped down from the hilltop across the slope. He went down
towards it, hoping to find his wife there. "I didn't care if she couldn't
cross it, if I couldn't,
so long as I could see her and talk to her," he said. But if she was there he
never saw her among all the others: for as he came closer to the wall he saw
a crowd of shadowy people on the other side, some clear and some dim, some he* T* A% S9 C+ q
seemed to know and
others he did not know, and all of them reached out their hands to him as he
approached and called him by his name: "Hara! let us come with you! Hara, set, e" v2 D* z# M2 {. H, M( E6 \  f
us free!"
5 }; ]1 u9 N1 e( b  w8 L
"It's a terrible thing to hear one's true name called by strangers," Alder' j) B! _0 ]1 {* X- S
said, "and it's a terrible thing to be called by the dead."' `* b8 P" |" k" y
# T' N7 V6 k* [
He tried to turn and climb back up the hill, away from the wall; but his legs# H7 y9 V. v. h: Z9 ]3 W
had the awful weakness of dream and would not carry him. He fell to his knees
to keep himself from being drawn down to the wall, and called out for help,
though there was no% n! y( q7 L! u, A1 U  p& q
one to help him; and so he woke in terror.

Since then, every night that he slept deeply, he found himself standing on
the hill in the dry grey grass above the wall, and the dead would crowd thick4 I6 [" D( E3 k7 r& w
and shadowy below it, pleading and crying to him, calling his name.: H# Z2 B( J" _1 e( U

"I wake," he said, "and I'm in my own room. I'm not there, on that hillside.8 x& j8 m/ }" l
But I know they are. And I have to sleep. I try to wake often, and to sleep' U+ y5 X4 D% b% x' W4 {! f
in daylight when I can, but I have to sleep at last. And then I am there, and
they are there. And I( f" b1 }; Z! l/ }
can't go up the hill. If I move it's always downhill, towards the wall.
Sometimes I can turn my back to them, but then I think I hear Lily among$ [* T; C/ O# Z* J
them, crying to me. And I turn to look for her. And they reach out to me."
* ]! D- o! I0 R8 J
He looked down at his hands gripping each other.8 E+ W) j& ?: ]% {( T) k* K

"What am I to do?" he said.& z8 M; S2 l' p; L0 K6 p8 E
, @1 }9 q" ^6 K' c* X2 R$ \0 C
Sparrowhawk said nothing.

After a long time Alder said, "The harper I told you of was a good friend to
me. After a while he saw there was something amiss, and when I told him that! d, A; j0 M  x1 b
I couldn't sleep for fear of my dreams of the dead, he urged me arid helped8 I. }& \7 {, ~  E( I3 S; k; a6 G
me to take ship's/ u7 @9 w- M5 z. ^( |$ l* X
passage to Ea, to speak to a grey wizard there." He meant a man trained in; {9 n1 I( t4 O) H
the School on Roke. "As soon as that wizard heard what my dreams were he said
I must go to Roke.": t' g. F  r1 [' E8 w; _* M7 k
5 s+ `4 ]5 }$ q+ H* t6 L
"What is his name?"! E4 C! n- s" x( \" s
( d3 r* d8 w/ q5 d
"Beryl. He serves the Prince of Ea, who is Lord of the Isle of Taon."

The old man nodded.

"He had no help to give me, he said, but his word was as good as gold to the
ship's master. So I went on the water again. That was a long journey,
coasting clear round Havnor and down the Inmost Sea. I thought maybe being on
the water, far from Taon,
always farther, I might leave the dream behind me. The wizard on Ea called
that place in my dream the dry land, and I thought maybe I'd be going away
from it, going on the sea. But every night I was there on the hillside. And- i1 H  f# S: K' S( _! ]- Q
more than once in the5 I$ e8 w# l5 h0 L
night, as time went on. Twice, or three times, or every time my eyes close,* X+ w; F8 ~0 k5 G! W# j
I'm on the hill, and the wall below me, and the voices calling me. So I'm6 M1 Q0 w+ {- o; {: I
like a man crazy with the pain of a wound who can find peace only in sleep,
but the sleep is my/ s1 `# _- W2 ?+ W5 `" _
torment, with the pain and anguish of the wretched dead all crowding at the( b  x; J/ M7 ~* M# H
wall, and my fear of them."
4 ~- P" }/ {1 |5 {7 |# n+ ~
The sailors soon began to shun him, he said, at night because he cried out8 F. O/ J& t3 m
and woke them with his miserable wakenings, and in daylight because they4 S- l/ B5 ]9 B2 \
thought there was a curse on him or a gebbeth in him.
, V6 P3 y! }  y- e( }5 d
"And no relief for you on Roke?"' {) j+ \$ t7 Z# `  Y
4 {% a: s& g9 ^9 G3 o7 G
"In the Grove," Alder said, and his face changed entirely when he said the: q0 ?" o, R$ P& {0 v
word.4 p0 J5 b' F$ s& C% s

Sparrowhawk's face had the same look for a moment.1 e& @) `' I" ]0 K- h( ^$ i$ T
6 M( o# r7 h8 U% N$ F. j
"The Master Patterner took me there, under those trees, and I could sleep.
Even at night I could sleep. In daylight, if the sun's on me—it was like4 Q; R& K& H; T* n$ i2 J# [
that in the afternoon, yesterday, here—if the warmth of the sun's on me and
the red of the sun shines% @1 I/ k0 @& @7 v& U
through my eyelids, I don't fear to dream. But in the Grove there was no fear: |1 x) B0 w$ B; h" i
at all, and I could love the night again."" `# ?0 o8 n0 l* H) s
) R4 p2 }7 E; f" |1 C& O
"Tell me how it was when you came to Roke."- C' D. K  K* e6 v3 e% \
( w/ w) w  y0 k8 Q1 V- q' }8 c" L3 J) V
Though hampered by weariness, anguish, and awe, Alder had the silver tongue5 X. |! u2 G* C) V* k& a! O
of his island; and what he left out for fear of going on too long or telling
the Archmage what he already knew, his listener could well imagine,0 g- {; x, d# M
remembering when he himself/ J" W% T5 |; z$ t) P* m$ v
first came to the Isle of the Wise as a boy of fifteen.
8 n" ^6 C+ W: j
When Alder left the ship at the docks at Thwil Town, one of the sailors had3 ?+ ^, e2 k$ M. G' q
drawn the rune of the Closed Door on the top of the gangplank to prevent his
ever coming back aboard. Alder noticed it, but he thought the sailor had good
cause. He felt
himself ill-omened; he felt he bore darkness in him. That made him shyer than/ |/ i; O5 M) p1 P! Q1 M: v, k
he would have been in any case in a strange town. And Thwil was a very9 j; H5 I- i4 K# o
strange town.: _7 [9 u" \! C% c
& O7 Y* D$ ]2 H2 \6 i' [; ?
"The streets lead you awry," Sparrowhawk said.9 f: `6 P" A6 ?8 Z6 K
" L  o# ]  ?# H3 \( U% V
"They do that, my lord!—I'm sorry, my tongue will obey my heart, and not you& m! V2 f! C3 G8 c0 ^2 k  p
—"5 Z& h# x, P# q, {9 T& f3 b, R
: h4 i" I9 y. @5 C8 Q! Z
"Never mind. I was used to it once. I can be Lord Goatherd again, if it eases% c( \- O( q% ^4 y0 q0 T
your speech. Go on."4 a% C2 u) b* d  W1 F! b* j- c
- z/ e' o6 T: [) U! i6 _/ \7 t
Misdirected by those he asked, or misunderstanding the directions, Alder
wandered about the hilly little labyrinth of Thwil Town with the School
always in sight and never able to get to it, until, having reached despair,& r/ r; N- S7 v& I7 l4 e# Y- U
he came to a plain door in a
bare wall on a dull square. After staring at it a while he recognised the
wall was the one he had been trying to get to. He knocked, and a man with a
quiet face and quiet eyes opened the door.

Alder was ready to say that he had been sent by the wizard Beryl of Ea with a+ x) v  w8 G/ r* i
message for the Master Summoner, but he didn't have a chance to speak. The- M6 T. d: J3 h9 c0 d' O/ g1 ~; r; f' b- \
Doorkeeper gazed at him a moment and said mildly, "You cannot bring them into- t7 e+ b# y* O; z
this house, friend."
3 O3 n( H2 H) w; n+ f% R
Alder did not ask who it was he could not bring with him. He knew. He had
slept scarcely at all the past nights, snatching fragments of sleep and
waking in terror, dozing off in the daylight, seeing the dry grass sloping
down through the sunlit deck of
the ship, the wall of stones across the waves of the sea. And waking, the
dream was in him, with him, around him, veiled, and he could hear, always,
faintly, through all the noises of wind and sea, the voices that cried his, {3 }! G* \% g$ O
name. He did not know if he
was awake now or asleep. He was crazy with pain and fear and weariness.8 O, {1 p, D' ]" s6 J- R
: V' @# R3 F" ]5 D
"Keep them out," he said, "and let me in, for pity's sake let me in!"
! G% O; s% m5 D% j) Z$ t% w) }
"Wait here," the man said, as gently as before. "There's a bench," pointing.
And he closed the door.9 B6 t. b% J2 U" I

Alder went and sat down on the stone bench. He remembered that, and he' x; M. o. h* Q: j5 h/ g
remembered some boys of fifteen or so looking curiously at him as they went
by and entered that door, but what happened for some while after he could
recall only in fragments.1 c! _" A) Y& D4 E2 d5 P, Q

The Doorkeeper came back with a young man with the staff and cloak of a Roke
wizard. Then Alder was in a room, which he understood was in a lodging house.. `9 O8 _# o; o9 @6 I  Z9 k2 I
There the Master Summoner came and tried to talk with him. But Alder by then* q; D* c7 U* z( o
was not able to
talk. Between sleep and waking, between the sunlit room and the dim grey
hill, between the Summoner's voice speaking to him and the voices calling him' G  M9 p2 Q2 _% ^5 U1 W$ \) F7 ?
across the wall, he could not think and he could not move, in the living
world. But in the dim world
where the voices called, he thought it would be easy to walk on down those
few steps to the wall and let the reaching hands take him and hold him. If he% K, E% v2 D7 g& {1 F
was one of them they would let him be, he thought.
9 Q4 x/ x/ ]( s
Then, as he remembered, the sunlit room was altogether gone, and he was on
the grey hill. But with him stood the Summoner of Roke: a big, broad," N; Q1 F8 W* y
dark-skinned man, with a great staff of yew wood that shimmered in the dim
place.

The voices had ceased calling. The people, the crowding figures at the wall,
were gone. He could hear a distant rustle and a kind of sobbing as they went
down into the darkness, went away.

The Summoner stepped to the wall and put his hands on it.

The stones had been loosened here and there. A few had fallen and lay on the
dry grass. Alder felt that he should pick them up and replace them, mend the1 @: ^9 ?, j$ t9 j4 E1 e9 J) z
wall, but he did not.- G: ]  _, b' k* Q& I

The Summoner turned to him and asked, "Who brought you here?"
6 |% I' c* D" s! e. r  ?! v' K8 A
"My wife, Mevre."

"Summon her here."
6 m2 s4 I) g" L, P
Alder stood dumb. At last he opened his mouth, but it was not his wife's true/ [* t2 J- J. O. v+ H
name that he spoke but her use-name, the name he had called her in life. He5 p9 Q( w, z+ t
said it aloud, "Lily…" The sound of it was not like a white flower, but like
a pebble dropping on; c# ]' q/ u9 |0 J
dust.

No sound. Stars shone small and steady in the black sky. Alder had never
looked up at the sky in this place before. He did not recognise the stars.

"Mevre!" said the Summoner, and in his deep voice spoke some words in the Old
Speech., b1 X% E3 }: q
  B- A  {& k9 f' H& B5 X
Alder felt the breath go out of him and could barely stand. But nothing
stirred on the long slope that led down to formless dark.

Then there was some movement, something lighter, coming up the hill, coming
slowly nearer. Alder shook with fear and yearning, and whispered, "Oh my dear9 ?4 H0 D( G0 O0 j! |. p7 x) z% z
love."- f4 z$ g' [0 B1 h6 V% t

But the figure as it came closer was too small to be Lily. He saw it was a  D) S2 P! ~3 j
child of twelve or so, girl or boy he could not tell. It paid no heed to him
or the Summoner and never looked across the wall, but settled down just under
it. When Alder came
closer and looked down he saw the child was prying and pulling at the stones,
trying to loosen one, then another.5 P1 o' Q- E6 T) g) o
( g1 N1 h0 p7 z4 t1 [
The Summoner was whispering in the Old Speech. The child glanced up once0 t1 q$ }7 B& u! T( o% p2 f
indifferently and went on tugging at the stones with its thin fingers that: R2 p5 F$ R3 z. J+ |" `
seemed to have no strength in them.0 Z( M8 d; _! Q' @" O5 a
# J- i4 L& N  \, u
This was so horrible to Alder that his head spun; he tried to turn away, and
beyond that he could remember nothing till he woke in the sunny room, lying
in bed, weak and sick and cold.
* B7 {* a5 h+ D6 @  V
People looked after him: the aloof, smiling woman who kept the lodging house,; a1 o3 @: [. b2 o0 d' M% ]
and a brown-skinned, stocky old man who came with the Doorkeeper. Alder took
him for a physician-sorcerer. Only after he had seen him with his staff of
olive wood did he
understand that he was the Herbal, the master of healing of the School on/ v; h# [) s" H8 |, o9 x
Roke.& }6 K; K. y; Y6 n+ R! f

His presence brought solace, and he was able to give Alder sleep. He brewed
up a tea and had Alder drink it, and lighted some herb that burned slowly, c# }# R. K. }# g
with a smell like the dark earth under pine woods, and sitting nearby began a
long, soft chant. "But I
must not sleep," Alder protested, feeling sleep coming into him like a great$ v2 }+ K: p8 v. p6 n7 }( I
dark tide. The healer laid his warm hand on Alder's hand. Then peace came
into Alder, and he slipped into sleep without fear. So long as the healer's
hand was on his, or on' Z( H, _2 a( o, S3 h
his shoulder, it kept him from the dark hillside and the wall of stones.2 J& N+ r$ a& Y
/ b6 T2 F/ H5 Y, Z9 ~" u
He woke to eat a little, and soon the Master Herbal was there again with the
tepid, insipid tea and the earth-smelling smoke and the dull untuneful chant
and the touch of his hand; and Alder could have rest.0 {! l# C& X, \8 _

The healer had all his duties at the School, so could be there only some: h9 }1 f7 V, y0 c% \
hours of the night. Alder got enough rest in three nights that he could eat: h9 N* Q1 r8 O8 N- j7 ?
and walk about the town a little in the day and think and talk coherently. On$ s) |) f8 z; U+ f
the fourth morning the" s. A2 F1 i) x; E+ r6 U8 O
three masters, the Herbal, the Doorkeeper, and the Summoner, came to his room.
1 j% \% \4 ~* |8 S
Alder bowed to the Summoner with dread, almost distrust, in his heart. The
Herbal was also a great mage, but his art was not altogether different from7 r" Q2 _( h# _
Alder's own craft, so they had a kind of understanding; and there was the
great kindness of his hand.
The Summoner, though, dealt not with bodily things but with the spirit, with7 B# Q9 ?$ U" c& g
the minds and wills of men, with ghosts, with meanings. His art was arcane,) c$ I0 E) X3 I) f- t2 `! Q: E5 u
dangerous, full of risk and threat. And he had stood beside Alder there, not; `8 s- k) y& l2 L9 e/ o1 B7 |+ r0 s
in the body, on the2 W6 p1 W! i% m+ Z
boundary, at the wall. With him the darkness and the fear returned.

None of the three mages said anything at first. If they had one thing in
common, it was a great capacity for silence.
( @3 A$ A8 y+ f( p- U# I
So Alder spoke, trying to say what was in his heart, for nothing less would1 Z& V7 ~' u% Y2 U0 |. q% f% V0 W
do.( n5 @4 N- p3 S: ~& P9 D
2 m# [3 Z, L5 S: |0 v
"If I did some wrong that brought me to that place, or brought my wife to me
there, or the other souls, if I can mend or undo what I did, I will. But I
don't know what it is I did."

"Or what you are," the Summoner said.& d8 V. T5 R# D( y2 |

Alder was mute.% |+ Y2 E! b" m8 C
& e1 Z4 _. e/ f! C5 |
"Not many of us know who or what we are," said the Doorkeeper. "A glimpse is7 ^4 V7 g# o( Z
all we get."" [4 v( [% L/ j; y# d( ?3 c. |& _

"Tell us how you first went to the wall of stones," the Summoner said.1 y/ Y$ i7 x( u3 d' g

And Alder told them.
8 ~" x7 S- C6 O+ `. F- b  E
The mages listened in silence and said nothing for a while after he was done.' B/ f3 G" I  g, W) R, J
Then the Summoner asked, "Have you thought what it means to cross that wall?"! v* C6 S8 X( Q; [1 e

"I know I could not come back."
( M3 _4 \4 P2 X: c
"Only mages can cross the wall living, and only at utmost need. The Herbal+ v& d( ]3 @$ D9 f2 h4 L- L& t  `
may go with a sufferer all the way to that wall, but if the sick man crosses# H2 }+ H/ V; o
it, he does not follow.". C0 Q" J3 V6 I% B4 G4 |1 }0 ~

The Summoner was so tall and broad-bodied and dark that, looking at him,
Alder thought of a bear.8 f( q4 U( P4 L' n, r. s8 n

"My art of Summoning empowers us to call the dead back across the wall for a' c# J7 T, W8 M& L
brief time, a moment, if there is need to do so. I myself question if any* K( r& |. v$ F* g# X- _
need could justify so great a breach in the law and balance of the world. I
have never made that) ?9 U! ]& d+ k4 q# W) a1 {
spell. Nor have I crossed the wall. The Archmage did, and the King with him,& x4 c" k2 o& C2 A% B
to heal the wound in the world the wizard called Cob made."" A7 D8 t3 a  B5 a

"And when the Archmage did not return, Thorion, who was our Summoner then,
went down into the dry land to seek him," the Herbal said. "He came back, but" {. }: X3 p6 A" a+ _2 v( N
changed."  O: C/ Z. z  C1 S, t; J
7 b, l9 \& E7 I( K5 ~' Z/ }' a, b
"There is no need to speak of that," the big man said.
# k' O! Y& ^; F  l
"Maybe there is," said the Herbal. "Maybe Alder needs to know it. Thorion  c# @! G8 i0 S& ?( h& x4 S( ?; V" ~
trusted his strength too far, I think. He stayed there too long. He thought
he could summon himself back into life, but what came back was only his+ g4 y! \) k0 z9 s8 W% [9 P
skill, his power, his
ambition—the will to live that gives no life. Yet we trusted him, because we
had loved him. So he devoured us. Until Irian destroyed him."