[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
Foster Mother was waiting for them in the shade of the stone gazebo.
The lacy shadows cast by the intricate stonework looked very pretty on Alara's
shining scales. Shana was glad Foster Mother had made the gazebo big enough
for them all to sit in. She slid onto her own little bench. It had been fun
watching her use magic to work the stone. Shana hoped she could do
stone-shaping that pretty when she was bigger. She'd hate to be like Ahshlea;
all he could make were ugly flat blocks.Ugh. No wonder he lives on a ledge .
Keman flopped down onto the cool floor beside her, panting. She
nudged him with her foot, and he mock-snapped at it, grinning, before turning
his attention to his mother.
"So," Alara said gravely, as she fixed her enormous golden eyes on
Shana until the girl stopped squirming in her seat. "What was it that you
saw?"
"The squirrel was very careful," Shana replied promptly. "He didn't
come out until he was absolutely sure he was safe."
"Yes," Alara said, nodding. "And what did he do to make sure he was
safe?"
"He checked for scent first," Keman answered, the end of his tail
twitching a little. "Even when he was down in the burrow, he was checking for
scent. He didn't even start to look around until after he thought there was
nothing close to him."
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"Then he stuck just his head out and looked all around," Shana
continued. "Anything that was new he sat and watched to see if it was going to
move at all. That was us; we didn't move, so he must have figured we weren't
going to." She thought for a moment, watching the bright spots of sunlight on
the white stone of the gazebo making negative-lace patterns. "Probably a
hunter would have gotten tired of waiting and taken a chance on jumping on him
once he got his whole head out of the burrow."
"But if wehad moved, he could have been right down the burrow before
we could blink," Keman finished, lifting his head from his foreclaws.
"Do you see why he is so hard to catch?" Alara asked. "Even though he
is not a terribly intelligent beast?"
Keman nodded; Shana pursed her lips in thought.
"He's not very smart," she said at last, "but he's really careful and
he's fast. That makes up for smart, I guess."
"It can," Alara acknowledged. "And the adult ground squirrel you've
seen is a survivor for every adult, there are ten little ones who never
learned to be careful enough and became prey for other animals. You should
both watch this particular squirrel, and see how he uses his speed and agility
to protect himself and try to think of ways in which his behavior could become
a trap. Keman, you must learn how to imitate that behavior and avoid the
traps; Shana, you must learn how he thinks so that you will be able to sense
his tiny thoughts and become one with him."
This time both Keman and Shana nodded. In order to learn to hear the
squirrel's mind, she was going to have to learn to think like him. She hadn't
known that.
"Now, you've had your lessons in languages, and you've had your
lesson with the ground squirrel," Alara said, smiling indulgently on both of
them. "Can either of you think of any questions for me, before I go scry for
storms?"
Shana recalled, belatedly, the elven children's book she was supposed
to have read. "Why aren't there any human books?" Shana asked. "I know as much
human as elven, so why aren't there any books?"
A shadow passed behind her foster mother's eyes. "It is said that the
elven lords did not want their slaves to learn to read or write," Alara told
her, her smile fading. "They felt that if their slaves could only pass things
on by word of mouth, there was less chance of rebellion. So there are no books
written in the human tongue, and in fact, it is also said that tongue died
out. Most humans spoke a mixture of elven and human, and many spoke only pure
elven."
"Are there books from the Kin?" Keman wanted to know. "I've seen the
carvings, but do we have real books?"
"Yes," Alara told him. "A few, and all handwritten, done when the
writers were in other forms. And most of them were written by shamans. I'll
show you the written language later, when you've mastered written elven."
Spoken human, elven-human, elven and Kin. Shana sighed. It seemed
like an awful lot to learn. But if she was going to go out into the world like
Foster Mother did, she'd need to know all of them. Keman was learning all of
them too, and he was older than she was. She wondered what a human looked
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like, or an elven lord were they like the Kin, only smaller, or maybe
different colored?
She looked up from her musing to see that Alara was watching her
thoughtfully. With a start of guilt, she wondered if Alara knew she hadn't
done her reading lesson yet. Shana nodded, trying to hide her guilt.I'd better
think of an excuse before she asks me &
But Alara did not ask if Shana had finished her lessons. Instead, she
said, "That will be all for today. We'll concentrate more on languages
tomorrow. But in the meantime, both of you study the little ground squirrel,
and bring what you learn to me tonight after dinner." [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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Foster Mother was waiting for them in the shade of the stone gazebo.
The lacy shadows cast by the intricate stonework looked very pretty on Alara's
shining scales. Shana was glad Foster Mother had made the gazebo big enough
for them all to sit in. She slid onto her own little bench. It had been fun
watching her use magic to work the stone. Shana hoped she could do
stone-shaping that pretty when she was bigger. She'd hate to be like Ahshlea;
all he could make were ugly flat blocks.Ugh. No wonder he lives on a ledge .
Keman flopped down onto the cool floor beside her, panting. She
nudged him with her foot, and he mock-snapped at it, grinning, before turning
his attention to his mother.
"So," Alara said gravely, as she fixed her enormous golden eyes on
Shana until the girl stopped squirming in her seat. "What was it that you
saw?"
"The squirrel was very careful," Shana replied promptly. "He didn't
come out until he was absolutely sure he was safe."
"Yes," Alara said, nodding. "And what did he do to make sure he was
safe?"
"He checked for scent first," Keman answered, the end of his tail
twitching a little. "Even when he was down in the burrow, he was checking for
scent. He didn't even start to look around until after he thought there was
nothing close to him."
Page 75
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
"Then he stuck just his head out and looked all around," Shana
continued. "Anything that was new he sat and watched to see if it was going to
move at all. That was us; we didn't move, so he must have figured we weren't
going to." She thought for a moment, watching the bright spots of sunlight on
the white stone of the gazebo making negative-lace patterns. "Probably a
hunter would have gotten tired of waiting and taken a chance on jumping on him
once he got his whole head out of the burrow."
"But if wehad moved, he could have been right down the burrow before
we could blink," Keman finished, lifting his head from his foreclaws.
"Do you see why he is so hard to catch?" Alara asked. "Even though he
is not a terribly intelligent beast?"
Keman nodded; Shana pursed her lips in thought.
"He's not very smart," she said at last, "but he's really careful and
he's fast. That makes up for smart, I guess."
"It can," Alara acknowledged. "And the adult ground squirrel you've
seen is a survivor for every adult, there are ten little ones who never
learned to be careful enough and became prey for other animals. You should
both watch this particular squirrel, and see how he uses his speed and agility
to protect himself and try to think of ways in which his behavior could become
a trap. Keman, you must learn how to imitate that behavior and avoid the
traps; Shana, you must learn how he thinks so that you will be able to sense
his tiny thoughts and become one with him."
This time both Keman and Shana nodded. In order to learn to hear the
squirrel's mind, she was going to have to learn to think like him. She hadn't
known that.
"Now, you've had your lessons in languages, and you've had your
lesson with the ground squirrel," Alara said, smiling indulgently on both of
them. "Can either of you think of any questions for me, before I go scry for
storms?"
Shana recalled, belatedly, the elven children's book she was supposed
to have read. "Why aren't there any human books?" Shana asked. "I know as much
human as elven, so why aren't there any books?"
A shadow passed behind her foster mother's eyes. "It is said that the
elven lords did not want their slaves to learn to read or write," Alara told
her, her smile fading. "They felt that if their slaves could only pass things
on by word of mouth, there was less chance of rebellion. So there are no books
written in the human tongue, and in fact, it is also said that tongue died
out. Most humans spoke a mixture of elven and human, and many spoke only pure
elven."
"Are there books from the Kin?" Keman wanted to know. "I've seen the
carvings, but do we have real books?"
"Yes," Alara told him. "A few, and all handwritten, done when the
writers were in other forms. And most of them were written by shamans. I'll
show you the written language later, when you've mastered written elven."
Spoken human, elven-human, elven and Kin. Shana sighed. It seemed
like an awful lot to learn. But if she was going to go out into the world like
Foster Mother did, she'd need to know all of them. Keman was learning all of
them too, and he was older than she was. She wondered what a human looked
Page 76
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
like, or an elven lord were they like the Kin, only smaller, or maybe
different colored?
She looked up from her musing to see that Alara was watching her
thoughtfully. With a start of guilt, she wondered if Alara knew she hadn't
done her reading lesson yet. Shana nodded, trying to hide her guilt.I'd better
think of an excuse before she asks me &
But Alara did not ask if Shana had finished her lessons. Instead, she
said, "That will be all for today. We'll concentrate more on languages
tomorrow. But in the meantime, both of you study the little ground squirrel,
and bring what you learn to me tonight after dinner." [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]