Books In English "City Of Illusions" Ursula K. Le Guin | Page 40

but I seek
the milk of the Mother
the Way…"
"Ha ha ha!" said the old man. "Do you, Yellow-eyes? Come on, sit
down, here by the hearth. Outlandish, yes yes, yes indeed. You are
outlandish. How far out the land?—who knows? How long since you
washed in hot water? Who knows? Where's the damned kettle? Cold
tonight in the wide world, isn't it, cold as a traitor's kiss. Here we are; fill
that from the pail there by the door, will you, then I'll put it on the fire, so.
I'm a Thurro-dowist, you know what that is I see, so you won't get much
comfort here. But a hot bath's hot, whether the kettle's boiled with
hydrogen fusion or pine-knots, eh? Yes, you really are outlandish, lad, and
your clothes could use a bath too, weatherproof though they may be.
What's that?—rabbits? Good. We'll stew 'em tomorrow with a vegetable or
two. Vegetables are one thing you can't hunt down with a lasergun. And
you can't store cabbages in a backpack. I live alone here, my lad, alone and
all alonio. Because I am a great, a very great, the greatest Listener, I live
alone, and talk too much. I wasn't born here, like a mushroom in the
woods; but with other men I never could shut out the minds, all the buzz
and grief and babble and worry and all the different ways they went, as if I
had to find my way through forty different forests all at once. So I came to
live alone in the real forest with only the beasts around me, whose minds
are brief and still. No death lies in their thoughts. And no lies lie in their
thoughts. Sit down; you've been a long time coming here and your legs are
tired."
Falk sat down on the wooden hearth-bench. "I thank you for your
hospitality," he said, and was about to name himself when the old man
spoke: "Never mind. I can give you plenty of good names, good enough
for this part of the world. Yellow Eyes, Outlander, Guest, anything will do.
Remember I'm a Listener, not a paraverbalist. I get no words or names. I
don't want them. That there was a lonely soul out there in the dark, I knew,
and I know how my lighted window shone into your eyes. Isn't that
enough, more than enough? I don't need names. And my name is
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