(urth) And Another:

[Paul B]

The old boatman on the Lake of Birds?  But how does he hear about Severian's
story before Severian meets him?  Or is he referring to some other event
when he asks about seeing a woman beneath the water?

On 7/19/07, Dan'l Danehy-Oakes <danldo at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Yes. The old man is ... I'm forgetting his name, but Dorcas' husband,
> and Sev's own grandfather, whom he meets again in the Gardens.
>
> On 7/19/07, Paul B <pb.stuff at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > Thank you for clearing up the previous one, I'm heartened enough by that
> to
> > try my luck again with another question:  In Shadow, end of Ch. 2, when
> > Severian describes his drowning vision, he says he saw
> Malrubius.  However,
> > at that point he's questioned by "An old man, a boatman from his
> tar-stained
> > clothes" about it, the man asks whether he actually saw a woman.  Of
> course
> > Severian does see the undine, and hears Thecla, but doesn't answer.
> The
> > puzzling thing is the identity of the man, and how he knows what he
> does.
> > Let me know what you think!
> >
> > My own speculations are thus:
> > Judging by his familiarity with the situation - he's confident enough to
> ask
> > a clarification of something as ephemeral as a vision, so he must know
> what
> > he's talking about - he's familiar with a version of Severian's story
> told
> > at another time.  However, the odd thing is that Severian doesn't appear
> in
> > any time so close to his starting point.  In fact, the closest
> documented
> > time preceding his birth is the age of Typhon, when he travels down
> Gyoll,
> > isn't it?  He does encounter a lot of boatmen then, some of whom become
> his
> > disciples as the Conciliator, but that is so far removed that it seems
> > unlikely that they preserved that minor a part of his tale.
> > The first Severian's time traveling is undocumented as best I know,
> though
> > apparently both S1 and S2 are Apu Punchau at some time, and since his
> tomb
> > is in the necropolis it's possible that he has in fact visited some time
> > period much closer to his birth and that's where the story diffuses
> from.
> >
> > However, these are very vague.  Even though Severian often bumps into
> echoes
> > of himself, they are usually much more defined ones, that's why I'm
> curious
> > if there's a better explanation.
> >
> > Paul
> >
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>
>
> --
> Dan'l Danehy-Oakes, writer, trainer, bon vivant
> -----
> http://www.livejournal.com/users/sturgeonslawyer
> http://www.danehyoakes.com
> Soon, where Toon Town once stood will be a string of gas stations,
> inexpensive motels, restaurants that serve rapidly prepared food. Tire
> salons, automobile dealerships and wonderful, wonderful billboards
> reaching as far as the eye can see. My God, it'll be beautiful.
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