Jack Vance Maske Theary

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MASKE:THAERY
A lone Djan (a rare situation in itself) coming upon a lone Thariot, will
seldom (4%) commit an overtly hostile act, but not infrequently (40%) will
commit a covert act ranging from mischief to murder. Two
Djan coming upon a lone Thariot will more often than not (65%) first harass
and eventually attack him, after a peculiar and embarrassing set of
psychological accommodations between the three participants.
Two Djan will never (0%) attack two Thariots; the four become at least
temporarily an uneasy replica of the Djan social atom. Three Djan will rarely
(15%) attack a lone Thariot, almost never (2%) a pair of
Thariots, and never (0%) three Thariots. Four Djan will almost never (1%)
attack a lone Thariot, but are slightly more liable (2%) to attack two
Thariots. They will never (0%) attack parties of three or four
Thariots.
The above conditions apply most rigorously when Skay is gone from the sky.
With Skay visible, the Djan become mercurial, and react to influences beyond
Thariot comprehension.
In passing, it may be noted that, while in Djanad thievery is unknown, the
Djan in Thaery is a constant, confirmed and unregenerate pilferer. Similarly,
the Djan in Djanad is modest and sexually restrained, whereas in Thaery,
Thariot men casually copulate with Djan girls, although Djan men never
copulate with
Thariot women, both through mutual repulsion and physical disconformities.
3. The feluccas of the Long Ocean are manned by the Sea Nationals, who assert
sovereignty across the entire extent of the Long Ocean, and control all trade
and transit routes. Aerial overflights are absolutely proscribed, and each
felucca is armed with a punchern-gun, an automatic finder, and tangs.
The Nationals, numbering scarcely twenty thousand, could hardly enforce their
claims without the tacit support of the Thariots, from whom most of the
Nationals derive; in fact the Sea Nationals are often regarded as a special
Thariot caste.
The feluccas are boats of great intrinsic beauty, crafted by the Waels of
Wellas at Erdstone Pool. They range in length from thirty to seventy feet and
are powered principally by wind. The trade winds blow always westerly; the Sea
National typically sails his felucca downwind, from sea to sea, and port to
port, forever and ever around the world.
4. The Parloury at Wysrod consists of three agencies, with their various
bureaus: the Landmoote, representing the middle and lower castes; the
Convention of Ilks; and the Five Servants. The grand structure on Travan
Square is also known as The Parloury .
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5. The penal system of Thaery proceeds by an archaic and highly complicated
system. The injured, or first party, states his case before a magistrate,
sometimes but not necessarily against the defence of the offending, or second,
party. If the magistrate considers the case reasonable, a warrant is issued,
and the first party may inflict the retribution in person; or he may hire one
of several agencies to the same end.
The first party specifies the exact act he is penalizing and stipulates such
punishment as he chooses. If the second party considers the punishment too
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severe, he takes the case before an arbitrator. If the arbitrator finds for
the first party, the punishment may be increased or punitive costs levied. If
he finds for the second party, an official agent visits the exact penalty upon
the first party. Reasonable retributions are, therefore, encouraged. The
second party may try to evade the penal officials, but he is forbidden to
resist with violence, unless the penalty is death. For this reason penal
officials never inflict death although sometimes the effect is much the same.
6. For the information of tourists: Eisel Musicology.
That our tourists may maximally enjoy their visit to Eiselbar, we are pleased
briefly to analyze the subject of music.
Let us begin with an attack upon the basic mystery: how can a succession of
noises, no matter how pure the vibrations or how exact the harmonies, evoke
emotional reactions within the soul of men? Noise, after all, has no intrinsic
meaning.
We consider, then, two aspects of music: corporeal and natural analogues, and
symbology. We notice immediately that musical tempi correspond to the range of
bodily rhythms, most especially the heart-
pulse. Musics progressing at tempi much faster or much slower than bodily
rhythms are immediately felt to be unnatural and strained. Only on
extraordinary occasions will very slow or very fast tempi accord with a human
tempo. The dirge is a sublimation of slow moans of grief; the jig keeps pace
with vigorous kicking and stamping of the feet.
Similarly, those musical timbres which have been proved to be most appealing
and evocative are those reminiscent of organic processes: the human voice,
bird songs, the lowing of cattle. By the same token, musical augmentations of
tension and their release, as well as the resolution of chord progressions,
find analogues in corporeal stresses and their relief, i.e. the weight of a
toilsome load and its easing;
constipation and discharge; dread of punishment and reprieve; thirst and the
slaking of thirst; hunger and satiation; erotic yearning and fulfillment;
flatulence and the relief of flatulence; hot discomfort and a plunge into cool
water. Eisel musicologists have made exhaustive analyses in these directions,
and are absolutely competent at producing the most effective timbres,
crescendos and diminuendos upon their synthesizers. Eisel music is universal!
And one need not be a witch doctor or a mad poet in order to derive the
meanings. All persons, rich and poor, slow or quick, enjoy the same corporeal
sensations.
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Musical symbology is a more complex matter, involving cerebral and mnemonic
processes. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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