Books In English "City Of Illusions" Ursula K. Le Guin | Page 39

"I mindheard you. I'm a Listener. Come on. Nothing to fear here. Do
you speak this tongue?"
Silence.
"I hope you do, because I'm not going to use mind-speech. There's
nobody here but me, and you," said the quiet voice. "I hear without trying,
as you hear with your ears, and I still hear you out there in the dark. Come
and knock if you want to get under a roof for a while."
The door closed.
Falk stood still for some while. Then he crossed the few dark yards to
the door of the little cabin, and knocked.
"Come in!"
He opened the door and entered into warmth and light.
An old man, gray hair braided long down his back, knelt at the hearth
building up the fire. He did not turn to look at the stranger, but laid his
firewood methodically. After a while he said aloud in a slow chant,
"I alone am confused
confused
desolate
Oh, like the sea
adrift
Oh, with no harbor
to anchor in…"
The gray head turned at last. The old man was smiling; his narrow,
bright eyes looked sidelong at Falk.
In a voice that was hoarse and hesitant because he had not spoken any
words for a long time, Falk replied with the next verse of the Old Canon:
"Everyone is useful
only I alone
am inept
outlandish.
I alone differ from others
~ 37 ~