Bane shook his head slowly, making his voice sound uninterested again. “You were yawning and looked a little sleepy, that’s all. I thought maybe you hadn’t slept real well.”
“Slept fine.” Ashes got back on his horse and rode on without a backward glance. Bane kicked his mount, as did Dyre, and they followed after.
“You were right,” whispered Dyre. “He looked funny. Like somebody melted him.”
“Like I said,” muttered Bane. “I think we’d better be careful not to stand too close.”
57—Quaggima And The Chasm
When Questioner and the women came to the shores of the Fauxi-dizalonz, they saw Questioner’s entourage disconsolately huddled in the mouth of a nearby cave. Simon and Calvy were with the four young people, all concentrated upon the Corojum, who was tightly pressed against what appeared to be a curved rock wall. The new arrivals joined the others in time to hear the Corojum say loudly, “Bofusdiaga says your people won’t help, so probably none of you will help.”
“What people?” demanded Mouche.
“Your people. Bofusdiaga wanted to talk to them, but they became frightened and silly. Bofusdiaga is annoyed.”
Questioner stepped forward and pulled the Corojum gently away from his attachment, earning a scowl from the Corojum and a tremor in the ground beneath them.
“Corojum, what’s going on? We haven’t killed any of you, like the settlers did. Bao and Ellin and I have only been here a few days, along with the members of my entourage. Why would Bofusdiaga be annoyed with us?”
“Because they won’t be sensible. All they will do is talk about how they have been wronged. Those jongau, they were also wronged. Bofusdiaga says creatures who think only of how they are wronged cannot help with the dance and everything is lost.”
Questioner rubbed her head. “If you had asked me, Corojum, I could have told you that those people in the cave would be of no help. They are young, rebellious, and not at all useful. At that age, many young people spend a great deal of time thinking they have been wronged.”
Corojum snorted. “So. Bofusdiaga says past wrongs cannot be righted because past wrongs are past and time only runs one way. Bofusdiaga says all you independent creatures suffer great wrongs sometime in past, which is normal, but you stay always living in past so you can continue wronged forever! Forever miserable, forever tragical! Bofusdiaga says so long as you go on chewing yesterday’s pains, you cannot eat today’s pleasures, so it is no help!”
“This is Bofusdiaga, not Kaorugi?” Questioner persisted.
Corojum leaned against the stone, faced the group, held up his hands for silence, and said with an attitude of sorely tried patience: “Before Quaggima, in this place was only Kaorugi and this world that Kaorugi came into and made Kaorugi’s own. Kaorugi, only! Itself! Solo! One living thing and its parts! You are also living things with parts. You say fingers to do work; Kaorugi says Timmys. You say arms; Kaorugi says Joggiwagga, You say eyes; Kaorugi says Eiger. You say conscious activity; Kaorugi says Bofusdiaga. You say creativity; Kaorugi says Corojumi. You understand?”
Questioner nodded, intrigued, as the Corojum went on: “Only difference is, Kaorugi’s parts know themselves and act by themselves. Well! After Kaorugi heard Quaggima calling, here was this world and Kaorugi and its parts, but also there was Quaggima coming toward it, Quaggima who evoked many new ideas: stars and galaxies and sex and other peoples, outside. Kaorugi had never thought of other people, and now Kaorugi had to think about that and other new things, and it was very difficult! So, Kaorugi takes a part of itself, the Bofusdiaga part, and Kaorugi says to itself, Bofusdiaga, ‘You do this work here, you, Bofusdiaga, you go on being part that builds, alloys, puts together and takes apart! You take charge of the Fauxi-dizalonz, for I am going down deep to think!’ And since then, Kaorugi has gone down deep all over, under cities, under oceans, under mountains, and Kaorugi is thinking, all the time thinking deep thoughts, and Kaorugi is not finished thinking yet.”
The ten visitors looked at one another for support, at the sky, as though for inspiration, up at the ledge, as though for direction, finding no help.