(urth) And Another:

[Tony Ellis]

Paul B wrote:
>It's furthermore not too surprising
>that he mis-identified the old man some years later as he grew more shrunken
>and old

Less than two years have passed. No one changes that much that fast.
And even if they did, a similar amount of time passes between
Severian's seeing another old man, Rudesind, in the citadel and again
at the House Absolute, and yet he has no trouble recognising him.

In fact, let's have a little context here: a few hours before meeting
Dorcas's husband in the Garden, Severian sees Racho, a man he has
previously met once, briefly, over a year ago. He recognises him
instantly. Just after meeting Dorcas's husband, Severian meets
Hildegrin, a man he has previously met once, briefly, and in bad
light, nearly two years ago. He knows at once that he has seen him
before.

And yet when Severian meets the old man in the Garden... nothing. Not
a flicker of recognition, not a hint. Just about any faith I might
have in the boatman-is-the-lake-man theory ends here.


>The strongest evidence is still the man's clear reaction to the name of
>Malrubius. The old man from the lake would have a reason to expect someone
>to see a familiar face below water, but few others would.

I don't see how this is strong evidence for either side of the
argument over the other. A young man has just been pulled from the
river, unconscious and near death. When he wakes up he says he saw
someone he recognised. If the boatman is the old man from the Gardens
then yes, he might assume Severian was talking about seeing a dead
body. But equally, if the boatman is someone who has heard or glimpsed
a mysterious woman in the water, he might assume that this young man
saw the same thing as he was drowning, mistaking it in his duress for
someone he knew.


My undine theory isn't conclusive, and I don't pretend it is. If
someone has a more plausible explanation for why the boatman assumes
Severian has seen a woman under the water, I'm all ears. But "because
he's really the old man from the Gardens, and Severian just doesn't
recognise him" isn't it.