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Chapter Twenty-Two
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"Wake up," a voice said. "Wake up; the sun is high in the sky."
"Oh, hi, Lilianne, can't I sleep more?" Thaddeus said.
"No, we should get moving."
"I like to be well-rested when I drive. My reflexes are faster."
"Speaking of faster, I'd like to congratulate you on the stop you made when you decided you were too tired to drive. I didn't know this van could stop that fast," Lilianne said.
"Could I have just a half-hour more sleep?"
"I'm setting my watch."
After another half-hour of sleep, Thaddeus was indeed alert; they drove along, stopping at an IHOP for breakfast. The conversation consisted mostly of how to rearrange the equipment to be more comfortable, and breakfast was followed by about half an hour of rearrangement. The friends got in, their stiffness reduced, and felt better about sitting down. This time, Ellamae rode shotgun.
"I'm bored," Sarah said as they hit the road.
"How would you like to play riddles?" Jaben asked.
"I would love to!" said Sarah.
Jaben said,
"A man without eyes,
saw plums in a tree.
He neither ate them nor left them.
Now how could this be?"
"That's impossible!" Sarah said. "A cabin on a mountain--"
Sarah paused. "Are the eyes he doesn't have literal eyes, like you and I have?"
"Literal eyes."
"Not like the eye of a storm?"
"Not like the eye of a storm."
"And he literally saw? Did he see in a dream?"
"He literally saw, as I literally see you now."
"Exactly the same?"
Jaben closed his eyes. "There is a slight difference, that is understandable if you know a bit of biology or psychology."
"That's not a fair riddle!" Sarah said. "You know that only Ellamae knows psychology. Don't give me a riddle I can't answer!"
"You do not need to know of biology or psychology to solve this riddle. In fact, I never thought of connecting this riddle with biology or psychology until now."
"I know what the answer is," said Ellamae.
"What is it?" Jaben asked, smiling.
"The man had only one eye. He took some of the plums, but not others."
Sarah sat, silently, and then said, "Ooooooooh."
Jaben said, "Et voila!"
"How did psychology tell you that?" Sarah asked, confused.
"Put one hand over your eye," Ellamae said. "Do you notice anything different in how things look?"
"Yeah, everything looks flat like in a picture."
"Your depth perception (things not looking flat, but having depth) is what happens when your brain takes input from both eyes (which are in slightly different positions, and see something slightly different) and puts them together. A man who had only one eye would see slightly differently from someone with two eyes -- like you did when you covered one eye with your hand."
"Ok, what's the next riddle?"
Jaben chanted in a lyrical voice,
"'Twas whispered in Heaven, 'twas muttered in Hell,
And echo caught faintly the sound as it fell;
On the confines of earth 'twas permitted to rest,
And in the depths of the ocean its presence confes'd;
'Twill be found in the sphere when 'tis riven asunder,
Be seen in the lightning and heard in the thunder;
'Twas allotted to man with his earliest breath,
Attends him at birth and awaits him at death,
Presides o'er his happiness, honor, and health,
Is the prop of his house, and the end of his wealth.
In the heaps of the miser 'tis hoarded with care,
But is sure to be lost on his prodigal heir;
It begins every hope, every wish it must bound,
With the husbandman toils, and with monarchs is crowned;
Without it the soldier and seaman may roam,
But woe to the wretch who expels it from home!
In the whispers of conscience its voice will be found,
Nor e'er in the whirlwind of passion be drowned;
'Twill soften the heart; but though deaf be the ear,
It will make him acutely and instantly hear.
Set in shade, let it rest like a delicate flower;
Ah! Breathe on it softly, it dies in an hour."
The van was silent for a minute, and then Ellamae said, "The letter 'h'."
"You have a sharp mind," Jaben said.
A light of comprehension flashed in Sarah's eyes, as she murmured parts of the riddle to herself, and then she said, "Give us a riddle that will take longer to solve, and that Ellamae won't get."
Jaben closed his eyes, thinking, waiting. Then, as if not a moment had passed, he pulled a duffel bag onto his lap, and said, "What have I got in my pocket?"
"What have I got in my pocket? What have I got in my pocket?" Sarah said, again murmuring to herself, and said, "I know! A pair of pliers!"
"No," Jaben said. "My pliers is on my knife. And it's something very specific, not my wallet."
"A picture of me!" she said, beaming.
"No, I forgot to pack that. But I usually carry a picture of you in my pocket. I like to look at you."
"Ok, I give up. What is it?"
Jaben put the duffel bag back, reached into his pocket, and pulled out an annulus, which had a metallic shimmer and yet was not of metal. He handed it to Ellamae, and said, "Hold it in the sunlight."
Ellamae smiled, and said, "The sunlight is hot, and yet the CD-ROM remains cool. On the inner edge of the central hole I see an inscription, an inscription finer than the finest penstrokes, running along the CD-ROM, above and below: lines of fire. They shine piercingly bright, and yet remote, as out of a great depth: 42 72 65 61 64 20 61 6E 64 20 74 65 6C 65 76 64 73 69 6F 6E 73. I cannot understand the fiery letters and numbers." She looked very elfin.
"No," said Jaben, "but I can. The letters are hexadecimal, of an ancient mode, but the language is that of MicroSoft, which I will not utter here. But this in the English tongue is what is said, close enough:
"One OS to rule them all, One OS to find them,
One OS to bring them all and in the darkness bind them."
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A Cord of Seven Strands >
Chapter Twenty-Two
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