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all facts were not known, and that the Lustral
Rites at the Black Obelisk might clarify the situation.
The next morning a great weir was noted ahead: a line of stout poles
obstructing navigation of the river. At one area only was passage possible,
and even this gap was closed by a heavy iron chain.
The pilgrims allowed the raft to float close to this gap, then dropped the
stone which served as an anchor. From a nearby but appeared a zealot, long of
hair and gaunt of limb, wearing tattered black robes and flourishing an iron
staff. He sprang out along the weir to gaze threateningly down at those aboard
the raft. "Go back, go back!" he shouted. "The passage of the river is under
my control; I permit none to go by!"
Garstang stepped forward. "I beg your indulgence! We are a group of pilgrims,
bound for the
Lustral Rites at Erze Damath. If necessary we will pay a fee to pass the weir,
though we trust that in your generosity you will remit the toll."
The zealot gave a cry of harsh laughter and waved his iron staff. "My fee may
not be remitted! I
demand the life of the most evil in your company unless one among you can to
my satisfaction demonstrate his virtue!" And legs astraddle, black robe
flapping in the wind, he stood glaring down at the raft.
Among the pilgrims was a stir of uneasiness, and all looked furtively at one
another. There was a mutter, which presently became a confusion of assertions
and claims. Casmyre's strident tones at last rang forth. "It cannot be I who
am most evil! My life has been clement and austere and during the gambling I
ignored an ignoble advantage."
Another called out, "I am even more virtuous, who eat only dry pulses for fear
of taking life."
Another: "I am even of greater nicety, for I subsist solely upon the discarded
husks of these same pulses, and bark which has fallen from trees, for fear of
destroying even vegetative vitality."
Another: "My stomach refuses vegetable matter, but I uphold the same exalted
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ideals and allow only carrion to pass my lips."
Another: "I once swam on a lake of fire to notify an
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that the calamity she dreaded was unlikely to occur."
Cugel declared: "My life is incessant humility, and I am unswerving in my
dedication to justice and equivalence, even though I fare the worse for my
pains."
Voynod was no less staunch: "I am a wizard, true, but I devote my skill only
to the amelioration of public woe."
Now it was Garstang's turn: "My virtue is of the quintessential sort, being
distilled from the erudition of the ages. How can I be other than virtuous? I
am dispassionate to the ordinary motives of mankind."
Finally all had spoken save Lodermulch, who stood to the side, a sour grin on
his face. Voynod pointed a finger. "Speak, Lodermulch! Prove your virtue, or
else be judged most evil, with the consequent forfeit of your life!"
Lodermulch laughed. He turned and made a great jump which carried him to an
outlying member of the weir. He scrampled to the parapet, drew his sword and
threatened the zealot "We are all evil together, you as well as we, for
enforcing this absurd condition. Relax the chain, or prepare to face my
sword."
The zealot flung high his arms. "My condition is fulfilled; you, Lodermulch,
have demonstrated your virtue. The raft may proceed. In addition, since you
employ your sword in the defense of honor, I now bestow upon you this salve
which when applied to your blade enables it to slice steel or rock as easily
as butter. Away, then, and may all profit by the lustral devotions!"
Lodermulch accepted the salve and returned to the raft. The chain was relaxed
and the raft slid without hindrance past the weir.
Garstang approached Lodermulch to voice measured approval for his act. He
added a caution: "In this case an impulsive, indeed almost insubordinate, act
redounded to the general benefit. If a similar circumstance arises in the
future, it would be well to take counsel with others of proved sagacity:
myself, Casmyre, Voynod or Subu-cule."
Lodermulch grunted indifferently. "As you wish, so long as the delay involves
me in no personal inconvenience." And Garstang was forced to be content with
this. The other pilgrims eyed
Lodermulch with dissatis-
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The Eyes of the Overwork!
faction, and drew themselves apart, so that Lodermulch sat by himself at the
forward part of the raft.
Afternoon came, then sunset, evening and night; when morning arrived it was
seen that Lodermulch had disappeared.
There was general puzzlement. Garstand made inquiries, but none could throw
light upon the mystery, and there was no general consensus as to what in fact
had occasioned the disappearance.
Strangely enough, the departure of the unpopular Lodermulch failed to restore
the original cheer and fellowship to the group. Thereafter each of the
pilgrims sat dourly silent, casting glances to left and right; there were no
further games, nor philosophical discussions, and Gar-stang's announcement
that Erze Damath lay a single day's journey ahead aroused no great enthusiasm.
5: Erze Damath
On the last night aboard the raft a semblance of the old camaraderie returned.
Vitz the locutor performed a number of vocal exercises and Cugel demonstrated
a high-kneed capering dance typical of the lobster fishermen of Kauchique,
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where he had passed his youth. Voy-nod in his turn performed a few simple
metamorphoses, and then displayed a small silver ring. He signaled Haxt.
"Touch this with your tongue, press it to your forehead, then look through."
"I see a procession!" exclaimed Haxt. "Men and women by the hundreds, and
thousands, marching past. My mother and my father walk before, then my
grandparents but who are the others?"
"Your ancestors," declared Voynod, "each in his characteristic costume, back
to the primordial homuncule from which all of us are derived." He retrieved
the ring, and reaching into his pouch brought forth a dull blue and green gem.
"Watch now, as I fling this jewel into the Scamander!" And he tossed the gem
off to the side. It flickered through the air and splashed into the dark
water. "Now, I merely fold forth my palm, and the gem returns!" And indeed, as
the company watched there was a wet sparkle
132
The Eyes of the Overworld across the firelight and upon Voynod's palm rested
the gem. "With this gem a man need never fear penury. True, it is of no great
value, but he can sell it repeatedly. . ..
"What else shall I show you? This small amulet perhaps. Frankly an erotic
appurtenance, it arouses intense emotion in that person toward whom the
potency is directed. One must be cautious in its use; and indeed, I have here
an indispensable ancillary: a periapt in the shape of a ram's head,
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