From: William Ansley <wansley@warwick.net>
Subject: Re: (whorl) Babbie and Horn: In A Pig's Eye
Date: Wed, 23 Aug 2000 23:23:25 

At 2:35 PM -0500 8/23/00, Robert Borski wrote:
>
>Secondly, as Mucor says her goodbye to Horn from the cliff, there is this
>passage:
>
>"At the top of the cliff, I saw a small dark figure that seemed almost a
>cluster of boys, or two men upon their hands and knees. It vanished, then
>reappeared as it made a flying leap from the top of the cliff. For the
>moment I thought its target was the sloop, and that it would strike it and
>die. It sent up a waterspout five cubits from the tip of the bowsprit,
>however, and vanished as if it had sunk like a stone." (OBW, 105)
>

[...]

>Almost certainly the "cluster of boys, or two men on their hands and knees"
>is a Neighbor. Given that "it" jumps into the water, and Babbie suddenly
>appears, I don't think it's unreasonable to conclude they're one and the
>same.

Almost certainly, it will surprise no long-time readers of this 
discussion list, least of all you Robert, that I disagree strongly 
with this interpretation. It is just so *unnecessary*!

It is *completely* certain to me that an eight-legged creature 
one-third(?) the height of a man will look more like a cluster of 
(shorter than a man) boys or two men on their hands and knees (short 
- because doubled over - and with eight leg-like - because of 
position - limbs) than a Neighbor, who is as tall as or taller than a 
man and has only four leg-like limbs (and, of course, four arm-like 
ones).

Perhaps the point Wolfe is trying to make here is that, even after 
being on Blue so many years, Horn (and, presumably, most over people 
born on the Whorl) still are not used to the fact that almost all the 
native wildlife has at least twice as many limbs as is "natural." (I 
am sticking with my belief that the leatherskin may have 12 legs, 
which I stated in a message months ago.)


-- 
William Ansley

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