Read Online The Ultimate Stonemage: A Modest Autobiography by Duncan McKenzie - Free Book Online
Authors: Duncan McKenzie
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place a high value on custom, and so I asked him: “To which customs do you refer.”
“Oh,” he said, “it is the usual practice, for any great building such as this is, that the many stonemages of the area be summoned together and given the chance to submit designs of their own. Then a competition is held, and the winner’s design is used for the construction in question.”
“Well then,” I said, after some thought, “if that is the custom, let us abide by it.”
“No no,” he said, “I could not allow it. What if some other stonemage’s work were chosen? No, the Grief must be built.”
“Is the competition a fair one, unsullied by corruption or by prejudice towards the local stonemages?” I asked.
“Why certainly,” he said. “The submissions are judged solely on their integral beauty, with no thought for the background of the works’ creators.”
“And are its judges such people as would appreciate greatness in a building?”
“The judges are the members of the town’s council,” he replied. “None are stonemages, but I have shown sketches of your proposal to them all, and they were unanimous in declaring the Grief a work without equal in this land.”
“Well, then, there is nothing to be feared by this course of action,” I said. “I am confident no stonemage might create so lovely a structure as my own. And if, by some miracle, one should create a work still more marvellous, why then, let that person take the commission, for he or she will certainly have earned it.”
“I see you are a man of the most perfect integrity,” he said. “And perfect judgement too! Very well, then—we shall have the competition as you suggest. And I shall sleep soundly in the secure knowledge your mighty Grief will win the contest and be built.” And at this we both raised our glasses and drank a toast to my Grief .
So the competition was announced, and several score stonemages of East America were summoned toRamport for the purpose. On the assigned day, which was eight weeks after the conversation I have just recounted, exact models of the various designs, cast in plaster or lead, were placed in the Great Hall of theRound Fortress, which houses the administrative chambers of Ramport. Each model was placed upon a separate table, and the stonemage responsible for the design remained in front of its table in order to answer questions from the many people who had come to view the proposals.
Truly there were some attractive designs—although it is one thing to create a pretty model, and quite another to execute the plan on a grand scale—and I watched carefully as the townspeople wandered past the tables, nodding or smiling at the miniatures, for they were pleased by them. But as they reached the Grief , which I had sculpted in platinum and gold and then painted in lifelike flesh tones, and which stood more than twelve feet high, all were astounded and impressed beyond measure.
There were many high officials of the region present, and I spoke to some of them. A powerful merchant by the name ofIldreth told me he thought the design remarkable. The governor ofNorth Pocern was there, and he nodded at me in such a way as to convey, without any possibility of doubt, that he thought my Grief to be one of the new wonders of the world. Also, I spoke with theBishopa of Quebec, who had toured the hall with an entourage of several bishops and some thirty huge myrmidons. We talked very pleasantly, and she expressed her admiration for my daring model, saying that, in her opinion, it was certainly the finest design in the room, and she added that, if I ever sought work, I might presume upon her patronage.
Some hours later, before a large assembly, the winner of the competition was announced by the magistrate-in-chief. You will be astonished to hear that the council had selected not my design, but the design of a local architect. The work was a gaudy pastiche of the Far Western school, incorporating a fat central
“Oh,” he said, “it is the usual practice, for any great building such as this is, that the many stonemages of the area be summoned together and given the chance to submit designs of their own. Then a competition is held, and the winner’s design is used for the construction in question.”
“Well then,” I said, after some thought, “if that is the custom, let us abide by it.”
“No no,” he said, “I could not allow it. What if some other stonemage’s work were chosen? No, the Grief must be built.”
“Is the competition a fair one, unsullied by corruption or by prejudice towards the local stonemages?” I asked.
“Why certainly,” he said. “The submissions are judged solely on their integral beauty, with no thought for the background of the works’ creators.”
“And are its judges such people as would appreciate greatness in a building?”
“The judges are the members of the town’s council,” he replied. “None are stonemages, but I have shown sketches of your proposal to them all, and they were unanimous in declaring the Grief a work without equal in this land.”
“Well, then, there is nothing to be feared by this course of action,” I said. “I am confident no stonemage might create so lovely a structure as my own. And if, by some miracle, one should create a work still more marvellous, why then, let that person take the commission, for he or she will certainly have earned it.”
“I see you are a man of the most perfect integrity,” he said. “And perfect judgement too! Very well, then—we shall have the competition as you suggest. And I shall sleep soundly in the secure knowledge your mighty Grief will win the contest and be built.” And at this we both raised our glasses and drank a toast to my Grief .
So the competition was announced, and several score stonemages of East America were summoned toRamport for the purpose. On the assigned day, which was eight weeks after the conversation I have just recounted, exact models of the various designs, cast in plaster or lead, were placed in the Great Hall of theRound Fortress, which houses the administrative chambers of Ramport. Each model was placed upon a separate table, and the stonemage responsible for the design remained in front of its table in order to answer questions from the many people who had come to view the proposals.
Truly there were some attractive designs—although it is one thing to create a pretty model, and quite another to execute the plan on a grand scale—and I watched carefully as the townspeople wandered past the tables, nodding or smiling at the miniatures, for they were pleased by them. But as they reached the Grief , which I had sculpted in platinum and gold and then painted in lifelike flesh tones, and which stood more than twelve feet high, all were astounded and impressed beyond measure.
There were many high officials of the region present, and I spoke to some of them. A powerful merchant by the name ofIldreth told me he thought the design remarkable. The governor ofNorth Pocern was there, and he nodded at me in such a way as to convey, without any possibility of doubt, that he thought my Grief to be one of the new wonders of the world. Also, I spoke with theBishopa of Quebec, who had toured the hall with an entourage of several bishops and some thirty huge myrmidons. We talked very pleasantly, and she expressed her admiration for my daring model, saying that, in her opinion, it was certainly the finest design in the room, and she added that, if I ever sought work, I might presume upon her patronage.
Some hours later, before a large assembly, the winner of the competition was announced by the magistrate-in-chief. You will be astonished to hear that the council had selected not my design, but the design of a local architect. The work was a gaudy pastiche of the Far Western school, incorporating a fat central
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