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CHAPTER X SUMMARY*
CHAPTER X SUMMARY*
Severian falls for Thecla. Womp womp.
TERMINOLOGY
TERMINOLOGY
anacreontic (67.3/3) convivial and amatory, after the manner of the Greek poet Anacreon
Vatic Fountain (68.3/8) an oracular device in the House Absolute, which is activated by the tossing of a coin into its water.
Thalaeus the Great (68.7/12) A perfect master of philosophy mentioning in the brown book. While there is no real world analog in philosophy (not Thales), there were a couple Saint Thalaeus.
Yrierix the Sage (68.7/12) Another perfect master of philosophy from the brown book. No real philosopher analog, but there was a saint!
Father Inire (68.9/14) the Autarch's vizier, and probably the vizier to many Autarchs before. It is likely he served the Autarchs all the way back to Ymar the Almost Just. Inire is responsible for many of the marvelous creations on Urth, such as the specula and the botanical gardens of Nessus.
"inire" is the infinitive form of "to begin, to enter" in Latin.
pelagic (68.9/14) a term used as a code word among the Vodalarii as an allusion to Abaia. The fact that Thecla uses it points to her own divided loyalties.
peccary (69.9/23) a wild pig that is small but very aggressive. It can be found in herds as many twenty or thirty members.
pardine limers (69.9/23) leopard-spotted hounds hunted on the leash so that they will not overtake the peccaries before the hunters do.
kafias (70.14/44) a body of travelers who have banded together for protection.
Lake Diuturna (71.0/45) the northernmost part of the Commonwealth, forty leagues (as the bird flies) from Thrax.
Pancreator (72.8/64) Creator of All, a title or aspect of the Increate.
POST READING THOUGHTS
POST READING THOUGHTS
67.2/2 Before leaving the House Azure, the white-haired man caught Severian's eye and withdrew a golden, phallus shaped vial from the front of his robe. Severian notes that, "He had smiled, and because there had been nothing but friendship in his smile it had frightened me."
That's fucked up.
I note this for my own scholarship as much s for yours.
67.4/4 Severian thinks kindly of Thecla and her influence on him. He goes so far as to say, "... the Thecla who lives in me..."
That Severian. He is such a romantic ... or is he?
68.3/8 Thecla mournfully muses how her mother received a prophecy that she would sit on the throne.
69.11/25 "Flowers are better theology than folios ..." I thought this was enchanting. There is a story of how the monk Kashyapa became enlightened. The Buddha gathered his followers for a sermon, but instead of speaking he held up a single flower. At that moment, he saw in Kashyapa's eye that it was the moment of his satori.
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