helplessly frustrated by his refusal.
One such time was after the Jaw had pressed her for the secret of the strong tight fire. She’d avoided giving him a straight answer, but soon afterward had consulted the miniature man in the nut. They’d had what sounded like an argument, and afterward Veela had looked unhappy, though her body language was strange and hard to read. The Jaw had asked again for the strong tight fire, and this time she said, “Waiting is being needed.” Impressively, she was able to say this in the People’s tongue already, even though they’d only met her this morning.
Chert said to the Jaw, “That tiny man inside the nut won’t let her give us the fire.” Veela cocked her ear at the two of them, frustrated not to be able to understand what they said.
The Jaw turned to Chert with contempt. “What do you mean? How could that tiny man possibly stop her from doing anything?”
“I have no idea. I’ve given up trying to understand things. But I’m telling you, that’s what he said.”
The Jaw remained dubious, but was too uncertain to argue.
“What are the no-dies?” the Jaw kept asking.
Veela said a word in her own language that neither of them understood. After much pantomiming and retching noises, she communicated to them its meaning: “Disease?” said the Jaw.
Veela repeated the word twice to memorize it, and said, “No-dies, disease. Type of disease. Bite of a no-die grants you disease. Must kill no-die. All things of world will be no-die.”
That last bit didn’t quite make sense, though it did sound ominous. They went back and forth a while, rehashing the sentence, Veela repeating the phrase with variations, till by chance they taught her the word “or.” Then she said, “Must kill no-dies, or all things of world will be no-die.”
“That’s ridiculous,” said Chert. “No disease spreads to every person of the world. There are no spirits that hungry.”
“No-die spirit, hungry,” insisted Veela. “Very, very hungry.”
“Where does the spirit come from?” asked Chert. “Why have we never heard of it before?”
Veela pretended not to know. Being civilized, she was better at lying than anyone Chert and the Jaw had ever met, so they believed in her ignorance.
“In any case,” said Chert, “you can’t kill a spirit. If men could kill spirits, they would have long since killed all the disease spirits and no one would ever get sick. What we must do is learn the proper rites to appease this no-die spirit, so that it will look for its prey elsewhere.”
Their next project was to teach Veela what the word “appease” meant. Once she’d learned it, and grasped the sense of what Chert had said, she grew excited, shaking her head and waving her arms and saying, “No, no, no! No appease! Kill all no-die spirit. Or world is be no-die people, no-die wolf, no-die squirrel, no-die bird....”
“She means all people and all animals everywhere will become undead,” said the Jaw.
“No spirit could ever be that hungry!” repeated Chert, exasperated. “How could a spirit be big enough to eat the world?! For that, it would have to be as big as the world. If it was as big as the world, it would fill all of it, and have no one place to call its home. And who ever heard of a spirit without a home? Where would it take its sacrifice?”
“But what if this particular spirit is that hungry?”
“Then there’s no use worrying about it, because you can’t kill a spirit.”
The Jaw fell silent. He was unhappy, but Chert’s points were unanswerable.
But Veela wouldn’t let it go. “Must help kill no-die,” she said. “Must help. Stranger here, us. Have weapons. Need help, but.”
“‘Us’?” said the Jaw. “There are more of you?”
She looked blankly at the Jaw. From the way her eyes then went to the stone nut, Chert understood that she was wondering why they were surprised, when she’d assumed they knew she meant the little man in the nut. She must
One such time was after the Jaw had pressed her for the secret of the strong tight fire. She’d avoided giving him a straight answer, but soon afterward had consulted the miniature man in the nut. They’d had what sounded like an argument, and afterward Veela had looked unhappy, though her body language was strange and hard to read. The Jaw had asked again for the strong tight fire, and this time she said, “Waiting is being needed.” Impressively, she was able to say this in the People’s tongue already, even though they’d only met her this morning.
Chert said to the Jaw, “That tiny man inside the nut won’t let her give us the fire.” Veela cocked her ear at the two of them, frustrated not to be able to understand what they said.
The Jaw turned to Chert with contempt. “What do you mean? How could that tiny man possibly stop her from doing anything?”
“I have no idea. I’ve given up trying to understand things. But I’m telling you, that’s what he said.”
The Jaw remained dubious, but was too uncertain to argue.
“What are the no-dies?” the Jaw kept asking.
Veela said a word in her own language that neither of them understood. After much pantomiming and retching noises, she communicated to them its meaning: “Disease?” said the Jaw.
Veela repeated the word twice to memorize it, and said, “No-dies, disease. Type of disease. Bite of a no-die grants you disease. Must kill no-die. All things of world will be no-die.”
That last bit didn’t quite make sense, though it did sound ominous. They went back and forth a while, rehashing the sentence, Veela repeating the phrase with variations, till by chance they taught her the word “or.” Then she said, “Must kill no-dies, or all things of world will be no-die.”
“That’s ridiculous,” said Chert. “No disease spreads to every person of the world. There are no spirits that hungry.”
“No-die spirit, hungry,” insisted Veela. “Very, very hungry.”
“Where does the spirit come from?” asked Chert. “Why have we never heard of it before?”
Veela pretended not to know. Being civilized, she was better at lying than anyone Chert and the Jaw had ever met, so they believed in her ignorance.
“In any case,” said Chert, “you can’t kill a spirit. If men could kill spirits, they would have long since killed all the disease spirits and no one would ever get sick. What we must do is learn the proper rites to appease this no-die spirit, so that it will look for its prey elsewhere.”
Their next project was to teach Veela what the word “appease” meant. Once she’d learned it, and grasped the sense of what Chert had said, she grew excited, shaking her head and waving her arms and saying, “No, no, no! No appease! Kill all no-die spirit. Or world is be no-die people, no-die wolf, no-die squirrel, no-die bird....”
“She means all people and all animals everywhere will become undead,” said the Jaw.
“No spirit could ever be that hungry!” repeated Chert, exasperated. “How could a spirit be big enough to eat the world?! For that, it would have to be as big as the world. If it was as big as the world, it would fill all of it, and have no one place to call its home. And who ever heard of a spirit without a home? Where would it take its sacrifice?”
“But what if this particular spirit is that hungry?”
“Then there’s no use worrying about it, because you can’t kill a spirit.”
The Jaw fell silent. He was unhappy, but Chert’s points were unanswerable.
But Veela wouldn’t let it go. “Must help kill no-die,” she said. “Must help. Stranger here, us. Have weapons. Need help, but.”
“‘Us’?” said the Jaw. “There are more of you?”
She looked blankly at the Jaw. From the way her eyes then went to the stone nut, Chert understood that she was wondering why they were surprised, when she’d assumed they knew she meant the little man in the nut. She must
Similar Books
