(urth) The eyes of a clone

[thalassocrat at nym.hush.com]

On Sun, 31 Jul 2005 19:44:41 -0700 mournings glory 
<mourningsglory at hotmail.com> wrote:
>But not only is there a ship on the door, there's a rose and a 
>fountain--and 
>if ever two symbols clashed with what we know of Ymar, it's these. 

>Remember 
>his nickname? As we learn in _Urth_ it's Reechy, because as the 
>future first 
>autarch tells Severian (and grinning no less, as if he's proud of 
>the fact), 
>"It's because I stink." (p 268). So please tell me how a symbol 
>connected 
>with water, cleanliness and purity, as well as a flower known for 
>its lovely 
>smell, comes to be associated with someone who, because he's 
>foresworn 
>bathing of any kind, is anything but roselike.

Well, I don't think he's actually "foresworn bathing of any kind". 
In winter it's hard for a servant boy of the proto-torturers to 
wash. I doubt that he'll still be known as "Reechy" once he becomes 
the first Autarch. 

The rose & fountain are symbols of renewal, which on this story of 
course would have come to Ymar from Sev's brief mission in the 
proto-Matachin Tower.