From: "James Wynn" 
Subject: RE: (urth) The cenoby files
Date: Tue, 24 Sep 2002 13:07:47 -0500

It's too complex to explain here, but for now I'll give the answer and toss
out a few of the dots for you to connect.

Marble lied about posing for the picture. It was Molybdenum who posed for
it. Marble lied about posing, ostensibly (the sheerest of facades) to
protect Betel. She, of course told Betel during shriving that she did it to
hide the fact that Molydenum had been dismantled and her parts given to
Betel. If Marble was at the cenoby at the time, she was already too worn out
for her parts to be appealing

The description of Marble becoming a teacher is pied with the story of Moly
agreeing to sacrifice herself for Betel. It is told in the presence of
Hammerstone and Marble pies the story to fool him and Silk simultaneously.
Silk sees the story doesn't add up as he always does eventually. Notice how
carefully she selects her words at the end of LS4, 11:
"...and so Maytera called - called upon..."
Hammerstone explained, 'She drafted Moly'.
'Upon me...I put my hand on the Writings and promised, and Maytera and
Maytera Rose witnessed it and kissed me, and--and I got new clothes."

Extracted like this it is obvious that she finds it difficult to call Betel
by name. Moly's identity is greatly merged with Betel's.

But Marble continued to vindictively bring up her lie during shriving before
Betel - reminding Betel that there used to be a pretty maid at the cenoby.
Later, Rose inherited the parts from Betel - and she treated Marble with
contempt to "de-humanize" her, because otherwise it she would be a party to
murder. Finally the parts came to Marble. Marble's reference to the ivory
(animal) beads on a silver (metal) chain she inherited from Betel (LS4, 11)
was a hint that she had inherited much more from her.

The chems had no need to enter the attic very often since it seems to have
only been used to store the unwanted belongings of deceased sibyls. Perhaps
chem maids weren't ordinarily admitted there for that reason. The attic also
kept the belongings of poor Moly. The trunk belonged to Moly. She didn't
recognize it because it had rusted in the attic after all those years. But
Marble/Moly is certain that it NEVER belonged to any sibyl at the cenoby,
because it had belonged to a maid there. Marble's opening of the trunk is
not recorded but she certainly did. And she read the diary and
re-familiarized herself with her "former" life.

Still a mystery to me is whether Betel had the parts only for a short while
before dying and so the parts did not have time to absorb Betel's
personality before she died, OR was the crotchety bitter crone that Rose
became, her inheritance from Betel? Do Betel's memories surface in Marble as
do Rose's and Moly's?

Whatever, Marble contained within herself Magnesia, Rose, and Molydenum and
her memories after Rose's death are a mixture of those.

Crush





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