From: "Andrew Bollen" 
Subject: Re: (urth) Sign from the fish's belly
Date: Tue, 28 Jan 2003 12:38:42 +1100


Nutria writes:
>
>          Jonah did not want to go to Nineveh, because of the prophecy in
> Deuteronomy that if God's people provoke Him with "no-gods" (idols), He
> will provoke them by going over to another people ("no-people"). God
> announcement to Jonah was an announcement that He was fed up with Israel,
> and was going to go over to these gentiles. Jonah, as one who loved his
own
> people, did not want to see this happen.
[snippety]
 > So careful
> expositors don't usually say that Jonah hated the Assyrians, but that he
> understood that his call to go there was a judgment on his own people.

Thanks, Nutria - I now undertand Jonah's rather odd testiness over God
sparing the Ninevites.

>          Perhaps closer to the actual events: Horn dies and is
resurrected,
> and then goes not to anywhere on Blue but to Green. What does he do on
> Green, but clean out the city there (Nineveh, a gentile city - ?). Does
> this correspond in Lupine thought to evangelism of the city, cleansing it?
> Who benefits from it? (A good question: Who does? I'm not sure I know.)

I think the whole of Green, and Blue also, benefit from cleansing the city
on Green. Just as a practical matter, it's the inhumi's main center. From
there, they launch their raids on human settlements, using human slaves
bound by the hostage lives of their children etc (as was the case for Auk
and Chenille.) I'd suspect, also, that it may contain technology useul to
humans. (See SilkHorn's comments about the possible rewards from digging in
places like Inclito's house etc.)

Perhaps more importantly, the cleansing is a demonstration of what can be
achieved when humans work together, rather than remaining fragmented.

>          Now, in the gospels, the sign of Jonah is a sign to the Jews.
That
> is, that the reception of the resurrected Jesus by gentiles is a sign to
> the Jews that they'd better get on board. In what way is Horn's work on
> Green (Nineveh Gentiles) a sign to people on Blue (Jews)? Maybe that if
> they don't shape up,  if they don't learn the wisdom that the
> double-resurrected Silkhorn brings them, they'll wind up like the city on
> Green? Or something else?

This may indeed be the case, but my reading is a little more general &
positive. I think it speaks of a very fast, very comprehensive turn to
righteousness, even by those not of the Vironese faith, all over Blue (and
Green). SilkHorn does indeed achieve this in Gaon (if we believe the
description of Gaon given to Inclito by an ex-mercenary of the Rajan's -
nice place, nobody steals etc etc), in Blanko, in Dorp, and I believe in New
Viron as well. As the conclusion of RTTW, BlazingStar, the best of the New
Vironese oligarchy, is calde. Daisy looks at the departing Whorl through a
telescope, which indicates either a growth in local manufacture (at the
beginning of OBW, New Viron mines lead, but does not grind lenses) and/or
trade (Dorp grinds lenses).

I don't think this last point should be dismissed lightly; I think in
Wolfe's mind, righteousness is congruent with good order, which in turn is
congruent with things like ease of trade & travel. Witness many comments to
this effect throughout SS, and especially the practical significance of the
Dorp "cleansing".

Of course, it would be impossible for a mere unaided human to achieve all
this in a couple of years, and SilkHorn's success is surely due to divine
aid & inspiration. So I would read the Marble's prophecy as foretelling
success, and not so much as a warning. The divine intervention will be in
the form to a hero/judge/prophet divinely inspired with the charisma, wisdom
& efficacy to cause righteousness & inspire the people to its pursuit, and
not in the form of Pas-ish epiphanies, or Mother magic.




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