Marble on Urth

Gerry Quinn · 02 Jun 2011, 13:56 · from 2011-June.txt.gz

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From: gerryq at indigo.ie (Gerry Quinn)
Date: Thu, 2 Jun 2011 14:56:33 +0100
Subject: (urth) Marble on Urth
References: <BANLkTinXcJr6aK+XjMj4v8WwjDzWhm8EtA at mail.gmail.com>	<4DE57004.5080703 at gmail.com>	<006401cc2090$e0468840$d8cd4a0c@rclackey>	<4DE6B587.8060700 at gmail.com><183166.20392.qm at smtp817.mail.ird.yahoo.com>
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Message-ID: <F5BE2AF6D31240149DA9BD729F98C0C3@jill>

From: "James Wynn" <crushtv at gmail.com>

>>  "Enormous darkness high overhead, blotting the sun-drenched field, the 
>> straggling line of servants in which she had stood, and the soldiers' 
>> precise column. She had seen it descend from the sky, at first a fleck of 
>> black that had seemed no bigger than a flake of soot; [...](CALDE, 285)
>>
>> Mo Holkar:
>> the "it" that descends from the sky is the "enormous darkness", the 
>> subject of the previous sentence (ie. a ship above them, which first 
>> appeared high up as a fleck of black but is now enormous), not the line. 
>> A line of which she was herself an element couldn't appear to her like a 
>> fleck. Also, if talking of a line of chems of which she and the soldier 
>> are elements, they wouldn't say "it" was dirty.
>
> One other thing...the "enormous darkness" is not the subject of this 
> sentence. In fact it is not a sentence at all, but a sentence fragment. 
> The enormous darkness carries no more weight than the "straggling line of 
> servants" and "the soldier's precise column".
>
> But at the least the line and the column are closer to the pronoun "it" 
> than the the darkness. The lines are "descending" from the skylands until 
> it disappears into a little dot. Possibly that dot was the opening from 
> which they entired the cargo area. Perhaps not.

I agree with Roy and Mo.  They are on Urth watching a transport descend from 
the Whorl to pick them up.

The sentence in the paragraph about the darkness may be imperfectly formed, 
but I think it is natural to read the transport ship as a growing black 
presence in the sky, and when it comes relatively close to the ground its 
darkness also darkens (blots) the field in which Marble and her cohorts are 
waiting.  (Note that they are standing, not walking - so why does the dark 
fleck grow?  It most be in motion relative to the ground on which they 
stand.)

Further evidence comes from the circumstances in which Marble recalls this 
event.  She is standing on the roof as the "vast dark bulk" of Saba's 
airship passes overhead.  Just like the lander that came for her on Urth. 
That's why she remembers it at that moment.

I don't know why the transport looks dirty, though.  Maybe simply because it 
is so dark, and seems dirty to the inexperienced chem maid.

- Gerry Quinn

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