# Typo in _Starwater Strains_? *The Urth list — 3 messages, 3 voices, 24 Aug 2005* > Exported from an unofficial mirror of a public mailing list. Copyright > in each message remains with the person who wrote it. > Email addresses are obscured as `user at host`, the form the original > archive published. This file was rebuilt from parsed fields rather than > retained headers, so it is faithful in content but not byte-exact. --- ### Dan Rabin *24 Aug 2005, 21:34* On p. 217 of _Starwater Strains_ (U.S. hardbound), in "The Boy Who Hooked the Sun", the phrase "pelted him with the shining stones of Atlantis" is a recurring motif, except at what would be its third occurrence, where it is printed as "pelted him with the shining stories of Atlantis". Given the similar appearance of "stories" and "stones", I think this is likely to be a mis-transcription somewhere along the line, not some encoding of "the story that is a stone" or "the story among the stones" or "third 'stone' from the Sun" or anything. If anyone reading this has access to the Cheap Street chapbook, could you tell us how the word appears in that edition? -- Dan Rabin --- ### mournings glory *24 Aug 2005, 22:43 · in reply to Dan Rabin* > On p. 217 of _Starwater Strains_ (U.S. hardbound), in "The Boy Who Hooked > the Sun", the phrase "pelted him with the shining stones of Atlantis" is a > recurring motif, except at what would be its third occurrence, where it is > printed as "pelted him with the shining stories of Atlantis". > If anyone reading this has access to the Cheap Street chapbook, could you > tell us how the word appears in that edition? "But the boy only laughed at her and pelted her with the shining stones of Atlantis, with agates and alexandrites, moonstones and onyxes, rubies, sardonyxes, and sapphires..." Is this the third instance? If so it reads as written, with "stones, not "stories." --- ### Mark Millman *24 Aug 2005, 23:12 · in reply to mournings glory* Dear list members, Mr. Rabin is correct. The word in _Starwater Strains_ (on page 217, paragraph 5, line 1) is misprinted as "stories". The Cheap Street chapbook (it's the press' solstice greeting for 1985) has "stones" in that sen- tence (page 7, paragraph 2, line 2). The opposition that Wolfe employs is between "shining stones of At- lantis" for most of the story, and "shining stones of Uranus" in the final instance. He does not appear ex- plicitly to contrast "stones" with "stories". I'm afraid that mournings glory refers to the fourth instance, in which the boy chases away the magic woman from the hills, the sorceress. It occurs in paragraph 7 on page 217. The instance to which Mr. Rabin refers is the third, in which the boy drives away the clever- est man in the village, its mayor. Nice catch, Mr. Rabin. Best, Mark Millman > On Wed, 24 Aug 2005, Dan Rabin wrote: > On p. 217 of _Starwater Strains_ > (U.S. hardbound), in "The Boy Who > Hooked the Sun", the phrase "pelt- > ed him with the shining stones of > Atlantis" is a recurring motif, > except at what would be its third > occurrence, where it is printed > as "pelted him with the shining > stories of Atlantis". > > Given the similar appearance of > "stories" and "stones", I think > this is likely to be a mis-tran- > scription somewhere along the > line, not some encoding of "the > story that is a stone" or "the > story among the stones" or "third > 'stone' from the Sun" or anything. > > If anyone reading this has access > to the Cheap Street chapbook, > could you tell us how the word > appears in that edition? > > -- Dan Rabin And on Thu, 25 Aug 2005, mournings glory replied: > "But the boy only laughed at her > and pelted her with the shining > stones of Atlantis, with agates > and alexandrites, moonstones and > onyxes, rubies, sardonyxes, and > sapphires..." > > Is this the third instance? If > so it reads as written, with > "stones, not "stories." ---