Difference between revisions of "Chapter 17"

Revision as of 21:45, 24 November 2013

• (Walker & Orfing; Weaping gate)
• Riddley finds Orfing hiding out in Cambry after his venture with the Ardship got out of hand. There is no end in sight to the political chaos, so they decide to hit the road with their unaffiliated "new show," Punch, with Riddley as the main showman. Their first stop is the walled settlement at Weaping, near where Goodparley died. Unfortunately Riddley's story has preceded him there.

• (198:30) "if you put 1 figger on your right han and a nother on your lef the 1 wil go agenst the other some how some time"

The oldest or at least best-known tradition of religious puppetry is the Hindu, in particular the Balinese shadow plays. Epic clashes between "good" and "evil" are enacted by a single puppeteer, with the understanding (inherent in the myths themselves) that both sides are necessary and recurring figures who must act out their destinies. EB

This also recalls the battle between right and left hands in The Night of the Hunter. RG

• (199:34) "o the nertial and the navigation of it"

Inertial. Navigation in space must take into account the inertia of objects, which keeps them moving in the same direction unless acted upon by a force.

• (200:15) "they packt it in a iron pot"

An iron crucible that explodes due to impure magic also figures in the story of Bran.

• (200:32) "I realy had to voat no kynd of fents in that lot"

"Vote of no confidence." Since a fents is a settlement, this also reads as "those wouldn't be good people to live with."

• (201:8) "a farring seakert tryer from other side"

This phrase contains some obvious references: farring = far-off, journey, seakert = sea, secret, tryer = attempt... but also a pun on Foreign Secretary (the British equivalent of the U.S. Secretary of State). SLK

• (202:30) "regenneril guvner men from the Ram"

Regional government. Guvner men is also a pun on "Big Man," since guv'ner is British slang for boss or big.

• (202:32) "strapping the lates from what littl datter weve got"

Extrapolating from little data.

• (206:12) "the 2 1/2s of him come to gether ... I wunner if Goodparley ever thought of a bang when he heard that"

The fission explosion of a nuclear weapon starts when separate pieces of radioactive material are sharply forced together.

• (207:29) "Fathers Ham which roun there its hard line Eusa country ... Some say Mr Clevver use to live in Fathers Ham"

Faversham's history prominently features industry and gunpowder; see Places.

• (210:15) "hold the bailey ... pour the ounts of judgd men"

Old Bailey (the central criminal court of London); pronounce judgement.

"Ounce of judgement" is also an expression in itself. Samuel Butler's Erewhon Revisited has the epigram "An ounce of judgement is worth a pound of discovery", which is very relevant to the disastrous rediscovery that takes place in RW. RG