"John Norman - Telnarian histories 02 - The Captain" - читать интересную книгу автора (Norman John)

norman, john - telnarian histories 02 - the captain v2.0.rtf

etext v3.0 based on the 1st paperback edition, 1992, ISBN 0-446-36254-9

**********************
Revision History:

v 1.0 spell-checked scan; saved as RTF because of extensive italics use.
v 3.0 proofread against DT, complies w/ ABEB versioning standard 3.0
***********************

The Captain

John Norman

***

This book is dedicated
to all who disapprove of censorship.

***

PROLOGUE

"And then the ships departed, leaving behind them ashes."
-The Annals.

Again I have chosen to begin with an excerpt from the Annals.

It is an excerpt not untypical of the dark and troubled times.

One who has lived in, or knows only, times of sheep will find it difficult to understand
times of wolves.

In this account is continued a story, drawn from the dark and troubled times.

The dark and troubled times were times of wolves.

Again, it must be clearly kept in mind that I do not write to edify or instruct, nor to praise
or blame, nor even, really, to explain, or understand. I am not sure, you see, what are the
criteria for understanding, how I might, so to speak, know if I understood, or only
thought I understood, and perhaps did not really understand. Who can understand
himself, or others, truly? Surely, at least, it is hard for the heart, as for the eye, to look
upon itself. It is always, so to speak, behind its own back. Too, perhaps, in the end, there
is no understanding, no more for us than for the tree, or rock, only that we think that we
understand, that we have that illusion, that natural, comforting illusion, much as sap
might flow in the tree or molecules sleep in the rock.

In short, know, dear reader, whoever you may be, that you are loved, but know, too, that I
strike no bargains with you. It is not my business to tell you what you want to hear, nor to