The Picture-Cleaner and Others

CHAPTER V SUMMARY

Severian becomes captain of the apprentices. On an errand, he meets Rudesind the curator. The picture he is cleaning shows an astronaut on the Moon. Rudesind gives Severian directions to the Library.

sabretache (35.3/3) what a badass name for a leather satchel or messenger bag!

matross (35.4/4) a soldier next in rank below artillery.

pinakotheken (36.4/9) Greek, a place for keeping and exhibiting pictures and art

vitiate (36.7/12) to make less effective.

sieur (37.3/17) a term of address applied to men of the armiger rank or higher

Racho (37.6/20) a variant on the name Horace, which may be related to time (hora = hour)

Rudesind (38.2/39) a Spanish saint of noble birth in the 10th century.

Ultan (38.2/39) a saint whose name means "ravine," this character seems to be based on the Argentinian author Jorge Luis Borges.

Fechin (38.4/41) an Irish saint whose name means "young raven." You have got to love a language that has a specific word for a young raven. How much congress must a people have with the newly hatched members of an avian species in order for there to be specific word? I wonder.

Quartillosa (38.4/41) an artist named for a saint.

Branwallader (38.6/43) another random dude named after a random saint.

Nilammon (38.8/45) an Egyptian saint

watch (39.2/51) a unit of time measurement, equal to 72 minutes

Post Reading Thoughts

Forests of Lune (39.0/49) as the setting is in the far flung future, the moon has been terraformed. It is lush and verdant, casting a green light at night. This is referenced in the first chapter, Resurrection and Death, at 12.11/49, "the fog swirled and parted to let a beam of green moonlight fall."