neighbor.
She looked up.
‘When I was a youngster, running in the streets of this city, I used to hear the women from the south talking the southern language together. The word that again and again fell out of those lingering, liquid sentences was
nivu
. When I first began to learn a few words of the tongue from your men, it never came from their mouths. Yet even today, walking in our streets, one hears you southern women talking of
nivu
this and
nivu
that. Tell me; what does it mean? I know enough of your language to ask for food and lodging and to tell when a man is saying he’s full-fed and content or when he’s saying he’s sick and hungry. But I still don’t know the significance of this word.’
The woman’s rough yellow hair, tied behind her neck, clearly bespoke barbaric origins. ‘My Liberator,’ she called out in a friendly enough voice, but with the thickest barbarian accent Pryn had ever heard, ‘if you knewanything of our life and language, you would know that
nivu
is not a man’s word.’
Gorgik laughed. ‘So I was told once before. But we are all friends here, men and women, with a common cause that will benefit us both. We work for justice; and justice should have no secrets. Tell me the meaning of the word.’
‘Very well, my Liberator.
Nivu
is an old barbarian term that means – ’
‘FOOLS – !’
Later Pryn realized she had seen the man – squatting on the rough stone balcony by the falling water – some minutes before he stood up, arms out from his sides, belly jerking visibly with the breath he heaved into each word:
‘YOU FOOLS – the
lot
of you!’
Of Fate, Fortune, Mayhem, and Mystery
… the psychoanalytic notion of sexuality, says Freud, comprises both more and less than the literal sex act. But how are we to understand an extension of meaning which includes not only
more
but also
less
than the literal meaning? This apparent paradox, indeed, points to the specific complication which, in Freud’s view, is inherent in human sexuality as such. The question here is less that of the meaning
of
sexuality than that of a complex
relationship between sexuality and meaning
; a relationship which is not a simple deviation from literal meaning, but rather, a
problematization of literality as such
.
– S HOSHANA F ELMAN
Turning the
Screw of Interpretation
‘Every one of you – duped
fools!
’
Pryn heard the barbarian accent across the echoing hall, saw his yellow hair, his close-set eyes. He grasped the rope that ran toward the ceiling beam, jerked it loose from where it was tied to the balcony’s rim, and went on shouting:
‘You think you have a Liberator before you? Can’t you hear the voice of a tyrant in the making? Before you sits a man whose every word and act is impelled by lusts as depraved as any in the nation, who would make a slave of all and anyone to satisfy them, calling such satisfaction freedom! If you can’t see what’s in front of you, then look behind you! Look at Small Sarg – Sarg the barbarian! A prince in my land, I came to yours a slave! The man you call “Liberator” bought me as a slave – and, true, he told me I was free; and, true, for three years we foughttogether against slavery throughout Nevèrÿon. But when he was finished with me, he
sold
me! Sold me as a slave! To traders on their way to the western desert – thinking that he would never see me again! But I have escaped! I have returned from slavery! And as I love my freedom, so I have sworn his death!’ Gripping the rope, wrapping it about one forearm and again about one leg, the barbarian was over the rail, in the air, swinging down. As he passed above the brazier, his sword, high in his free hand, flared with light.
Above Pryn, on the fur-covered seat, Gorgik pushed himself up, flung out a hand. Pryn saw the big foot slide on fur and threw herself to the hide as the barbarian on the rope hurtled – so slowly, it seemed. Was it the size of the hall …?
Then, so
She looked up.
‘When I was a youngster, running in the streets of this city, I used to hear the women from the south talking the southern language together. The word that again and again fell out of those lingering, liquid sentences was
nivu
. When I first began to learn a few words of the tongue from your men, it never came from their mouths. Yet even today, walking in our streets, one hears you southern women talking of
nivu
this and
nivu
that. Tell me; what does it mean? I know enough of your language to ask for food and lodging and to tell when a man is saying he’s full-fed and content or when he’s saying he’s sick and hungry. But I still don’t know the significance of this word.’
The woman’s rough yellow hair, tied behind her neck, clearly bespoke barbaric origins. ‘My Liberator,’ she called out in a friendly enough voice, but with the thickest barbarian accent Pryn had ever heard, ‘if you knewanything of our life and language, you would know that
nivu
is not a man’s word.’
Gorgik laughed. ‘So I was told once before. But we are all friends here, men and women, with a common cause that will benefit us both. We work for justice; and justice should have no secrets. Tell me the meaning of the word.’
‘Very well, my Liberator.
Nivu
is an old barbarian term that means – ’
‘FOOLS – !’
Later Pryn realized she had seen the man – squatting on the rough stone balcony by the falling water – some minutes before he stood up, arms out from his sides, belly jerking visibly with the breath he heaved into each word:
‘YOU FOOLS – the
lot
of you!’
Of Fate, Fortune, Mayhem, and Mystery
… the psychoanalytic notion of sexuality, says Freud, comprises both more and less than the literal sex act. But how are we to understand an extension of meaning which includes not only
more
but also
less
than the literal meaning? This apparent paradox, indeed, points to the specific complication which, in Freud’s view, is inherent in human sexuality as such. The question here is less that of the meaning
of
sexuality than that of a complex
relationship between sexuality and meaning
; a relationship which is not a simple deviation from literal meaning, but rather, a
problematization of literality as such
.
– S HOSHANA F ELMAN
Turning the
Screw of Interpretation
‘Every one of you – duped
fools!
’
Pryn heard the barbarian accent across the echoing hall, saw his yellow hair, his close-set eyes. He grasped the rope that ran toward the ceiling beam, jerked it loose from where it was tied to the balcony’s rim, and went on shouting:
‘You think you have a Liberator before you? Can’t you hear the voice of a tyrant in the making? Before you sits a man whose every word and act is impelled by lusts as depraved as any in the nation, who would make a slave of all and anyone to satisfy them, calling such satisfaction freedom! If you can’t see what’s in front of you, then look behind you! Look at Small Sarg – Sarg the barbarian! A prince in my land, I came to yours a slave! The man you call “Liberator” bought me as a slave – and, true, he told me I was free; and, true, for three years we foughttogether against slavery throughout Nevèrÿon. But when he was finished with me, he
sold
me! Sold me as a slave! To traders on their way to the western desert – thinking that he would never see me again! But I have escaped! I have returned from slavery! And as I love my freedom, so I have sworn his death!’ Gripping the rope, wrapping it about one forearm and again about one leg, the barbarian was over the rail, in the air, swinging down. As he passed above the brazier, his sword, high in his free hand, flared with light.
Above Pryn, on the fur-covered seat, Gorgik pushed himself up, flung out a hand. Pryn saw the big foot slide on fur and threw herself to the hide as the barbarian on the rope hurtled – so slowly, it seemed. Was it the size of the hall …?
Then, so
Similar Books
