(urth) The Lochage's Rant...

[Cliff Judge]

Here's a picture of a Hong Kong street that might serve as an imagination
aid:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/move_lachine/3511703292/in/set-72157594318161277/

On Tue, Aug 31, 2010 at 12:28 AM, Gwern Branwen <gwern0 at gmail.com> wrote:

> On Mon, Aug 30, 2010 at 10:31 PM, Ryan Dunn <ryan at liftingfaces.com> wrote:
> > Hello All,
> >
> > I have had a hard time with a passage from Shadow... the rant the lochage
> gives to Severian in the bartizan. He is telling Severian how vast Nessus
> is, how all attempts to count them have failed, and so forth.
> >
> > But he describes the city in this passage, as follows:
> >
> > "The city grows and changes every night, like writing chalked on a wall.
> Houses are built in the streets by clever people who take up the cobbles in
> the dark and claim the ground - did you know that?"
> >
> > I think I understand the second part. I'm not sure what taking up the
> cobbles in the dark means exactly, but this has something to do with clever
> people claiming land as their own by stealing it in the dark? Anyhow...
>
> He's referring to the practice of extending houses out into the street
> (just plop your timbers on top of the cobblestones, or remove the
> stones first, and build upwards), or just brazenly building an entire
> house in the street. Once the building is *there*, who's going to
> object? He's being pretty literal there.
>
> --
> gwern
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