Osabei Tower
Landomist
In which Scholar tay’Nordif acquires a robe, an account, a grad student, and a cat.
Scholar tay’Nordif seems to have a fondness for quoting the philosopher bin’Arli, to the disconcertion of those around her.
Twenty-four qwint make one flan. I very much doubt that this is a piece of information that will prove useful in future, but it’s there, so I figured I might as well make a note of it.
There’s something oddly familiar about the business of ser’Dinther’s cat, but I can’t quite put my finger on it…
(I remember thinking the first time I read this that whereas ser’Dinther’s experiment was based on the assumption that he was located in the line of causality the cat would escape from, the grudent’s account of the cat’s progress sounds very much like what one would expect to see from the viewpoint of the line of causality the cat was escaping to.)
(What I’m thinking this time around is that the description of the what the cat is supposedly able to do by instinct reminds me of what Rool Tiazan is able to do deliberately, and in particular that the description of a creature in peril for its life shifting to a situation in which the peril is non-existent is, on a different scale, pretty much what the Great Migration will turn out to be like.)
(Also that the casual way these people discount their servitors is really unpleasant.)
Since I don’t like clothes or shoe shopping, I would shops here to have a “fitter” such as the tailor has. It is so quick that even impatient Scholar tay’Nordif has no time to get upset.
The scholars all treat their slaves cruelly.
Though I do like Scholar tay’Nordif’s comment that “we need not assault the sensibilities of the scholarly community” by dressing Jela like the Small, when did Jela suddenly become ugly? Cantra appreciated Jela’s form!
It is quick, yes, but it does require one to remove all one’s clothing so one’s body shape can be scanned properly.
(Well, all one’s clothing except “the so-called ‘discipline bracelet'” — which is an interesting turn of phrase; I’m not sure whether that’s a hint that the bracelet has a secret purpose (that wouldn’t surprise me, given how careful she’s been not to let it be removed or examined) or just Jela expressing disapproval of its purpose being dignified as “discipline”.)
Cantra appreciated Jela’s form with eyes accustomed to the variety of forms that might be encountered out on the Arm. This community is attuned to the upper-class Inside ideal of beauty, and probably accustomed to thinking that different is always inferior.
What, you don’t immediately think of Schroedinger’s Cat, that, inside the box, is both alive and dead, all possibilities existing together?
I have a certain habit of discursion that perhaps doesn’t survive well when not supported by tone of voice and facial expression: when I said that I was reminded of something but couldn’t quite think what, what I actually meant was that I thought the reference to Schrodinger’s Cat was so obvious that merely pointing it out would be too boring.
It was interesting to read about the Schrödinger’s cat problem from a different angle. As far as I know, it was never postulated that the cat might continue to live in some other “dimension” of causality?
I would almost say that this chapter exists primarily to show us exactly how stupid Jela must pretend to be, and how much more difficult this must be for him, who must make conscious decisions about how to avoid revealing himself, than for Cantra while she is in this state.
RE: what the cat is supposedly able to do by instinct reminds me of what Rool Tiazan is able to do deliberately, and in particular that the description of a creature in peril for its life shifting to a situation in which the peril is non-existent
Even after reading the OP 2 or 3 times before, this analogy did not register as firmly as it does now. And yes, they all make this migration from one “state” to another, yet it is Rool (and his fellow dramliza) who have been moving effortlessly from one plane to another for some time now.
Speaking of “planes”: how many different ones are mentioned in this book? And of those, how many are actually referred to more than once? Yes, there is the physical plane, but in addition there seem to be many metaphysical planes or planes consisting of other energy states. And then at the end, the Tree’s energy comes “from underspace itself, and from planes no zaliata nor Iloheen had ever glimpsed” to hold off the implacable perfection for one priceless moment, allowing all who are in transition to escape. (oops, getting just a bit ahead of myself here)
The cat experiment also reminds me of the beginning of The Stars My Destination, where a man is induced to teleport by being locked in an unbreakable tank filling with water.