Quetzal's Tree

David_Lebling · 27 Jan 1997, 09:17 · from whorl-v0002.mbox · original

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From: David_Lebling at avid.com
Subject: (whorl) Quetzal's Tree
Date: Mon, 27 Jan 97 09:17:53
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[Posted from Whorl, the mailing list for Gene Wolfe's Book of the Long Sun]

In _Calde_, there is a (to me) pivotal scene in which we first learn
that Quetzal is an inhumu.  This is his meeting with Remora, during
which he throws the Chapter onto Silk's side in the brewing civil war.

In this scene, he relates the story of the "cobra" in Al-lah's Garden
seducing Wo-man into eating the fruit of his tree. Quetzal asks, why did
the cobra do this? Remora suggests malice was the motive.  Quetzal
replies that perhaps the cobra merely wanted to get A-man and Wo-man
into his tree.  He recommends Remora devote a day a week to studying the
Writings.

Later, after Remora has left, Quetzal does whatever he does to become a
winged snake, and slithers out the window into his tamarind tree.  The
tamarind, by the way, is one candidate for what the Tree of Knowledge in
the Garden of Eden "really" was.

By the way, I don't think there is _anything_ supernatural in the books,
unless you consider ESP and related areas supernatural, which for SF
purposes I don't.

     Dave Lebling
     (david_lebling at avid.com)

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