The Apu-Punchau Eclipse

Roy C. Lackey · 10 Jun 2008, 19:23 · from 2008-June.txt.gz

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From: rclackey at stic.net (Roy C. Lackey)
Date: Tue, 10 Jun 2008 14:23:03 -0500
Subject: (urth) The Apu-Punchau Eclipse
Message-ID: <000a01c8cb2f$6b520d20$58cf4a0c at rclackey.stic.net>

Eric Ortlund wrote:

>I hope I'm not going to put my foot in my mouth here . . . but if I'm
>thinking of the correct scene, my understanding has been that Severian
>himself causes the eclipse - since he is, in his own body and person,
>the new sun, his own body is what causes the shadow to fall, since he is
>standing between the sun and the natives.  That's why they bow down to
>him.

Even the most ignorant savages can tell the difference between an eclipse
and a man's shadow. Dawn had been delayed by an eclipse. The natives knew
that the sun should have been up, so they feared that what they had regarded
as a boast by Severian -- that he was somehow connected with the sun and its
daily comings and goings -- might be true. That is the point at which they
bowed to him, *then* the sun came out and cast his shadow over them. (URTH,
XLIX, 350)

In a natural eclipse, the sun doesn't come back that quickly. It was a
staged event. The Ship can move out of the way much faster than the moon,
and it did.

-Roy

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