calm him, to press him back down to his cushions, but he shook off my hand. “Without our women we are only half of ourselves! If our women are unclean, we are half-unclean! Teky! Read!”
I stood, trembling, the book open and heavy in my hands. Never had I read before so many men. Never had I seen so many angry pairs of eyes, all burning me where I stood. Who was I? Would someone here betray me when the Council of Priests sent a new man here?
Then I remembered my words just that morning to Fadal. Under the black veil that covered my mouth, I smiled. Who could identify me? I was another set of black veils among a town full of them. Away from my father, I was simply another pair of eyes, another pair of feet.
As for those men’s eyes burning me, they touched only my veils. I was safe inside them, looking out. They could no more know what was in my heart than they could know my face.
I began to read the Oracle’s words. “ ‘If you look at the god and see only the sun, you see only half the god,’ ” I read. My voice shook, then steadied. I had been reading these words all my life. “ ‘If you look at humanity and see only man, you see only half of your soul. Attend to women as you attend to men, with heart and mind intent.’ ” From the corner of my eye I could see my father nod as, coughing softly, he drank the rest of his medicine.
I read until he raised his hand, then closed the book. As he leaned forward to question the men on what they had heard, I retired with the book in my hands, as I often did. I went no farther than my aunt’s kitchen. She was the only one there. “Come,” she said, and took me to a stable down the street. There I found women and girls, the families of the men who talked now with my father. They, too, had come for learning, summoned by my aunt and cousins, who had preparedthem for me. They, too, were shaken by the events in the temple. While I had read to the men, they had listened in the shadows and outside the windows. Now my aunt and my cousins gave out slates and chalk or worn copies of The Book of the Sword: The Lessons of the Law.
“The Book of the Sword?” asked one newcomer, frightened. “Are you mad? It is forbidden to us!”
I opened the book to the Lesson of Family and read, “ ‘Only by reading will the word of the God in the Flame blaze clearly in the eyes of all. If your wife does not read, you must teach her. It is your sacred duty, and the sacred duty of your wife, to teach your children to read. Without reading, we are all without light in the dark, without fire in the cold.’ ” I closed the book and said to the newcomer, “This is the beginning to the most important lesson in The Book of the Sword: the lesson of The Rights of Women Under the Law of the God. How many of you can read?”
They raised their hands. My aunt and cousins had been busy: half of them could. Now, without my telling them, those who could moved to share books with those who could not as I read the first lesson for all to hear. From the letters that made it up, the others would begin to learn to read, but they would also hear their rights as set out by the Oracle. Even temple priests would have to acknowledge them if these women petitioned the courts for their rights under The Book of the Sword.
“ ‘If a woman shall bear a man’s children and he divorces her, he is forbidden to turn her out of his house penniless. If he does so, she may appeal to the court of the temple,’ ” I read. I heard chalk squeak as the women wrotethat down. “All men know this. The god did not wish us to be without power. The god did not tell the Oracle to make us powerless,” I explained. Father did not know I used the Lessons of the Law. I was supposed only to teach them to read. But he had never said what I was to use, and he could hardly quarrel with how I taught when he was not there to hear me.
I did not say more than that. I had to be careful. I had to let them think about the words,
I stood, trembling, the book open and heavy in my hands. Never had I read before so many men. Never had I seen so many angry pairs of eyes, all burning me where I stood. Who was I? Would someone here betray me when the Council of Priests sent a new man here?
Then I remembered my words just that morning to Fadal. Under the black veil that covered my mouth, I smiled. Who could identify me? I was another set of black veils among a town full of them. Away from my father, I was simply another pair of eyes, another pair of feet.
As for those men’s eyes burning me, they touched only my veils. I was safe inside them, looking out. They could no more know what was in my heart than they could know my face.
I began to read the Oracle’s words. “ ‘If you look at the god and see only the sun, you see only half the god,’ ” I read. My voice shook, then steadied. I had been reading these words all my life. “ ‘If you look at humanity and see only man, you see only half of your soul. Attend to women as you attend to men, with heart and mind intent.’ ” From the corner of my eye I could see my father nod as, coughing softly, he drank the rest of his medicine.
I read until he raised his hand, then closed the book. As he leaned forward to question the men on what they had heard, I retired with the book in my hands, as I often did. I went no farther than my aunt’s kitchen. She was the only one there. “Come,” she said, and took me to a stable down the street. There I found women and girls, the families of the men who talked now with my father. They, too, had come for learning, summoned by my aunt and cousins, who had preparedthem for me. They, too, were shaken by the events in the temple. While I had read to the men, they had listened in the shadows and outside the windows. Now my aunt and my cousins gave out slates and chalk or worn copies of The Book of the Sword: The Lessons of the Law.
“The Book of the Sword?” asked one newcomer, frightened. “Are you mad? It is forbidden to us!”
I opened the book to the Lesson of Family and read, “ ‘Only by reading will the word of the God in the Flame blaze clearly in the eyes of all. If your wife does not read, you must teach her. It is your sacred duty, and the sacred duty of your wife, to teach your children to read. Without reading, we are all without light in the dark, without fire in the cold.’ ” I closed the book and said to the newcomer, “This is the beginning to the most important lesson in The Book of the Sword: the lesson of The Rights of Women Under the Law of the God. How many of you can read?”
They raised their hands. My aunt and cousins had been busy: half of them could. Now, without my telling them, those who could moved to share books with those who could not as I read the first lesson for all to hear. From the letters that made it up, the others would begin to learn to read, but they would also hear their rights as set out by the Oracle. Even temple priests would have to acknowledge them if these women petitioned the courts for their rights under The Book of the Sword.
“ ‘If a woman shall bear a man’s children and he divorces her, he is forbidden to turn her out of his house penniless. If he does so, she may appeal to the court of the temple,’ ” I read. I heard chalk squeak as the women wrotethat down. “All men know this. The god did not wish us to be without power. The god did not tell the Oracle to make us powerless,” I explained. Father did not know I used the Lessons of the Law. I was supposed only to teach them to read. But he had never said what I was to use, and he could hardly quarrel with how I taught when he was not there to hear me.
I did not say more than that. I had to be careful. I had to let them think about the words,
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