From: m.driussi@genie.com
Subject: (urth) Time Spans
Date: Wed, 16 Dec 98 20:54:00 GMT

Vizcacha,

Re: Agia's off-the-cuff time span, my favorite answer so far is that
this is a number she heard from Hethor--not necessarily the time of
the Conciliator, but the time of Hethor (and Jonas, but I've mounted
this hobby-horse before, so I'll be quiet about it <g>).

It could be the correct date for the time of Jesus.  That is
certainly easier to imagine as a specific coordinate than whatever we
are supposed to make of Gabriel's line re: "50 million years too late
for that creation" (in the play).  (Aside from the fun of having
Bible figures quoting big round evolutionary time scales!)

Re: lessons learned in Thecla's cell.  Well, as you say, there is no
guarantee that Canog's BOTNS had a nifty timeline in it--plus, while
Severian is said to be an excellent student, it is plain that the
subject of his study in Thecla's cell was, er, more carnal than
spiritual.  He wasn't paying attention to =that= when he had =this=.
And yet, perhaps it crept in anyway, just not at the conscious level.

In another example, he glanced at the papers the old man handed to
him, papers which told info about "Cas"; he glanced without reading
and perhaps without "mind photoing" for later reading (but he still
=can= count the soldiers marching by at Saltus).

=mantis=

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