Severian's family tree

Roy C. Lackey · 23 Aug 2006, 17:38 · from 2006-August.txt.gz

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From: rclackey at stic.net (Roy C. Lackey)
Date: Wed, 23 Aug 2006 12:38:31 -0500
Subject: (urth) Severian's family tree
Message-ID: <000c01c6c6da$f681a6e0$443ec6d8 at rclackey.stic.net>

b sharp wrote:
>(I spent an hour last night trying to re-find that plural childhood
>statement in Urth but couldn't. Am I delusional? Help!)

The passage you refer to is on page 284, chapter XL, of URTH. It is one of
those that can be, evidently, interpreted more than one way.

"When I spoke to Tzadkiel beside the brook, I strove to be
as brief as I could; but she would not allow it, urging me
down this byway and that one until I had told her of the
small angel (of whom I had read in my brown book) who
had met Gabriel, and of my childhoods in the Citadel, at
my father's villa, and in the village called Famulorum near
the House Absolute."

I  read it this way: "Childhoods" refers to the set of memories Severian
retains. They are, respectively, his own in the Citadel, Thecla's at the
villa, and Appian's in the village.

-Roy

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