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.THE HISTORY MONKS HAD TO REBUILD IT PRACTICALLY FROM SCRATCH.Susan did not waste breath saying things like, 'That's impossible,' at a time like this.Only people who believed that they lived in the real world said things like that.'That must have taken some.time,' she said.TIME, OF COURSE, WAS NOT THE ISSUE.THEY USE A FORM OF YEARS BASED ON THE HUMAN PULSE RATE.OF THOSE YEARS, IT TOOK ABOUT FIVE HUNDRED.'But if history was shattered, where did they get-' Death steepled his fingers.THINK TEMPORALLY, SUSAN.I BELIEVE THEY STOLE SOME TIME FROM SOME EARLIER AGE OF THE WORLD, WHERE IT WAS BEING WASTED ON A LOT OF REPTILES.WHAT IS TIME TO A BIG LIZARD, AFTER ALL? HAVE YOU SEEN THOSE PROCRASTINATORS THE MONKS USE? WONDERFUL THINGS.THEY CAN MOVE TIME, STORE IT, STRETCH IT.QUITE INGENIOUS.AS FOR WHEN THIS HAPPENED, THE QUESTION ALSO MAKES NO SENSE.WHEN THE BOTTLE IS BROKEN, DOES IT MATTER WHERE THE GLASS WAS HIT? THE SHARDS OF THE EVENT ITSELF NO LONGER EXIST IN THIS REBUILT HISTORY, IN ANY CASE.'Hold on, hold on.How can you take a piece of, oh, some old century, and stitch it into a modern one? Wouldn't people notice that.' Susan flailed a bit, 'oh, that people have got the wrong armour and the buildings are all wrong and they're still in the middle of wars that happened centuries ago?' IN MY EXPERIENCE, SUSAN, WITHIN THEIR HEADS TOO MANY HUMANS SPEND A LOT OF TIME IN THE MIDDLE OF WARS THAT HAPPENED CENTURIES AGO.'Very insightful, but what I meant was-' YOU MUST NOT CONFUSE THE CONTENT WITH THE CONTAINER.Death sighed.YOU ARE MOSTLY HUMAN.YOU NEED A METAPHOR.AN OBJECT LESSON IS CLEARLY IN ORDER.COME.He stood up and stalked into the dining room across the hall.There were still a few late lunchers frozen in their work, napkins tucked under their chins, in an atmosphere of happy carbohydrates.Death walked up to a table that had been laid for dinner, and gripped a corner of the tablecloth.TIME IS THE CLOTH, he said.THE CUTLERY AND PLATES ARE THE EVENTS THAT TAKE PLACE WITHIN TIME- There was a drum roll.Susan glanced down.The Death of Rats was seated in front of a tiny drum kit.OBSERVE.Death pulled the cloth away.There was a rattle of cutlery and a moment of uncertainty regarding a vase of flowers, but almost all the tableware remained in place.'I see,' said Susan.THE TABLE REMAINS LAID, BUT THE CLOTH CAN NOW BE USED FOR ANOTHER MEAL.'However, you knocked the salt over,' said Susan.THE TECHNIQUE IS NOT PERFECT.'And there are stains on the cloth from the previous meal, Grandfather.' Death beamed.YES, he said.AS METAPHORS GO IT IS RATHER GOOD, DON'T YOU THINK? 'People would notice!' REALLY? HUMANS ARE THE MOST UNOBSERVANT CREATURES IN THE UNIVERSE.OH, THERE ARE LOTS OF ANOMALIES, OF COURSE, A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF SPILLED SALT, BUT HISTORIANS EXPLAIN THEM AWAY.THEY ARE SO VERY USEFUL IN THAT RESPECT.There was something called the Rules, Susan knew.They weren't written down, in the same way that mountains weren't written down.They were far more fundamental to the operation of the universe than mere mechanical things like gravity.The Auditors might hate the untidiness caused by the emergence of life, but the Rules did not allow them to do anything about it.The ascent of mankind must have been a boon to them.At last there was a species that could be persuaded to shoot itself in the foot.'I don't know what you expect me to do about it,' she said.EVERYTHING THAT YOU CAN, said Death.I, BY CUSTOM AND PRACTICE, HAVE OTHER DUTIES AT THIS TIME.'Such as?' IMPORTANT MATTERS.'That you can't tell me about?' THAT I DO NOT INTEND TO TELL YOU ABOUT.BUT THEY ARE IMPORTANT.IN ANY CASE, YOUR INSIGHT IS VALUABLE.YOU HAVE WAYS OF THINKING THAT WILL BE USEFUL.YOU CAN GO WHERE I CANNOT.I HAVE ONLY SEEN THE FUTURE.BUT YOU CAN CHANGE IT.'Where is this clock being rebuilt?' I CANNOT TELL.I HAVE DONE WELL TO DEDUCE WHAT I HAVE.THE ISSUE IS CLOUDED FROM ME.'Why?'BECAUSE THINGS HAVE BEEN HIDDEN.SOMEONE IS INVOLVED.WHO IS NOT SUBJECT TO ME.Death looked awkward.'An immortal?' SOMEONE SUBJECT TO.SOMEONE ELSE.'You're going to have to be a lot clearer than that.' SUSAN.YOU KNOW THAT I ADOPTED AND RAISED YOUR MOTHER, AND FOUND A SUITABLE HUSBAND FOR HER 'Yes, yes,' snapped Susan.'How could I forget? I look in my mirror every day.' THIS IS.DIFFICULT FOR ME.THE TRUTH IS, I WAS NOT THE ONLY ONE TO INVOLVE MYSELF LIKE THAT.WHY LOOK SURPRISED? IS IT NOT WELL KNOWN THAT GODS DO THIS SORT OF THING ALL THE TIME? 'Gods, yes, but people like you-' PEOPLE LIKE US ARE STILL LIKE PEOPLE.Susan did an unusual thing, and listened.That's not an easy task for a teacher.SUSAN, YOU WILL KNOW THAT WE WHO ARE.OUTSIDE HUMANITY.'I'm not outside humanity,' said Susan sharply.'I just have a few.extra talents [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]