‘But, my lord, you could have sorted it out diplomatically! Instead he went around upsetting things and making a lot of people very angry and afraid’
‘Yes. Dear me. Tsk, tsk.’
‘Ah,’ said Drumknott.
‘Quite so,’ said the Patrician.
‘Do you wish me to have the table in the Rats Chamber repaired?’
‘No, Drumknott, leave the axe where it is. It will make a good . . . conversation piece, I think.’
‘May I make an observation, my lord?’
‘Of course you may,’ said Vetinari, watching Vimes walk through the palace gates.
‘The thought occurs, sir, that if Commander Vimes did not exist you would have had to invent him.’
‘You know, Drumknott, I rather think I did.’
‘Atheism Is Also A Religious Position,’ Dorfl rumbled.
‘No it’s not!’ said Constable Visit. ‘Atheism is a denial of a god.’
‘Therefore It Is A Religious Position,’ said Dorfl. ‘Indeed, A True Atheist Thinks Of The Gods Constantly, Albeit In Terms of Denial. Therefore, Atheism Is A Form Of Belief. If The Atheist Truly Did Not Believe, He Or She Would Not Bother To Deny.’
‘Did you read those pamphlets I gave you?’ said Visit suspiciously.
‘Yes. Many Of Them Did Not Make Sense. But I Should Like To Read Some More.’
‘Really?’ said Visit. His eyes gleamed. ‘You really want more pamphlets?’
‘Yes. There Is Much In Them That I Would Like To Discuss. If You Know Some Priests, I Would Enjoy Disputation.’
‘All right, all right,’ said Sergeant Colon. ‘So are you going to take the sodding oath or not, Dorfl?’
Dorfl held up a hand the size of a shovel. ‘I, Dorfl, Pending The Discovery Of A Deity Whose Existence Withstands Rational Debate, Swear By The Temporary Precepts of A Self-Derived Moral System’
‘You really want more pamphlets?’ said Constable Visit.
Sergeant Colon rolled his eyes.
‘Yes,’ said Dorfl.
‘Oh, my god!’ said Constable Visit, and burst into tears. ‘No one’s ever asked for more pamphlets before!’
Colon turned when he realized Vimes was watching. ‘It’s no good, sir,’ he said. ‘I’ve been trying to swear him in for half an hour, sir, and we keep ending up arguing about oaths and things.’
‘You willing to be a Watchman, Dorfl?’ said Vimes.
‘Yes.’
‘Right. That’s as good as a swear to me. Give him his badge, Fred. And this is for you, Dorfl. It’s a chit to say you’re officially alive, just in case you run into any trouble. You know . . . with people.’
Thank You,’ said Dorfl solemnly. ‘If Ever I Feel I Am Not Alive, I Will Take This Out And Read It.’
‘What are your duties?’ said Vimes.
‘To Serve The Public Trust, Protect The Innocent, And Seriously Prod Buttock, Sir,’ said Dorfl.
‘He learns fast, doesn’t he?’ said Colon. ‘I didn’t even tell him the last one.’
‘People won’t like it,’ said Nobby. “S not going to be popular, a golem as a watchman.’
‘What Better Work For One Who Loves Freedom Than The Job of Watchman. Law Is The Servant of Freedom. Freedom Without Limits Is Just A Word,’ said Dorfl ponderously.
‘Y’know,’ said Colon, ‘if it doesn’t work out, you could always get ajob making fortune cookies.’
‘Funny thing, that,’ said Nobby. ‘You never get bad fortunes in cookies, ever noticed that? They never say stuff like: “Oh dear, things’re going to be really bad.” I mean, they’re never misfortune cookies.’
Vimes lit a cigar and shook the match to put it out. ‘That, Corporal, is because of one of the fundamental driving forces of the universe.’
‘What? Like, people who read fortune cookies are the lucky ones?’ said Nobby.
‘No. Because people who sell fortune cookies want to go on selling them. Come on, Constable Dorfl. We’re going for a walk.’
‘There’s a lot of paperwork, sir,’ said Sergeant Colon.
‘Tell Captain Carrot I said he should look at it,’ said Vimes, from the doorway.
‘He hasn’t been in yet, sir.’
‘It’ll keep.’
‘Right, sir.’
Colon went and sat behind his desk. It was a good place to be, he’d decided. There was absolutely no chance of finding any Nature there. He’d had a rare conversation with Mrs Colon this morning and made it clear that he was no longer interested in getting close to the soil because he’d been as close to the soil as it was possible to get and the soil, it turned out, was just dirt. A good thick layer of cobblestones was, he decided, about as close as he wanted to get to Nature. Also, Nature tended to be squishy.
‘I’ve got to go on duty,’ said Nobby. ‘Captain Carrot wants me to do crime prevention in Peach Pie Street.’
‘How d’you do that, then?’ said Colon.
‘Keep away, he said.’
“Ere, Nobby, woss this about you not being a lord after all?’ said Colon cautiously.
‘I think I got the sack,’ said Nobby. ‘Bit of a relief, really. That nobby grub isn’t much, and the drink is frankly piss.’
‘Lucky escape for you, then,’ said Colon. ‘I mean, you won’t have to go giving your clothes away to gardeners and so on.’
‘Yeah. Wish I’d never told them about the damn ring, really.’
‘Would’ve saved you a lot of trouble, certainly,’ said Colon.
Nobby spat on his badge and buffed it industriously with his sleeve. ‘S a good job I never told them about the tiara, the coronet and the three gold lockets, he said to himself.
‘Where Are We Going?’ said Dorfl, as Vimes strolled across the Brass Bridge.
‘I thought I might break you in gently with some guard duty at the palace,’ said Vimes.
‘Ah. This Is Where My New Friend Constable Visit Is Also On Guard,’ said Dorfl.
‘Splendid!’
‘I Wish To Ask You A Question,’ said the golem.
‘Yes?’
‘I Smashed The Treadmill But The Golems Repaired It. Why? And I Let The Animals Go But They Just Milled Around Stupidly. Some of Them Even Went Back To The Slaughter Pens. Why?’
‘Welcome to the world, Constable Dorfl.’
‘Is It Frightening To Be Free?’
‘You said it.’
‘You Say To People “Throw Off Your Chains” And They Make New Chains For Themselves?’
‘Seems to be a major human activity, yes.’
Dorfl rumbled as he thought about this. ‘Yes,’ he said eventually. ‘I Can See Why. Freedom Is Like Having The Top Of Your Head Opened Up.’
‘I’ll have to take your word for that, Constable.’
‘And You Will Pay Me Twice As Much As Other Watchmen/ said Dorfl.
‘Will I?’
‘Yes. I Do Not Sleep. I Can Work Constantly. I Am A Bargain. I Do Not Need Days Off To Bury My Granny.’
How soon they learn, thought Vimes. He said: ‘But you have holy days off, don’t you?’
‘Either All Days Are Holy Or None Are. I Have Not Decided Yet.’
‘Er . . . what do you need money for, Dorfl?’
‘I Shall Save Up And Purchase The Golem Klutz Who Labours In The Pickle Factory, And Give Him To Himself; Then Together We Will Earn And Save For The Golem Bobkes Of The Coal Merchant; The Three Of Us Will Labour And Buy The Golem Shmata Who Toils At The Seven-Dollar Tailor’s In Peach Pie Street; Then The Four of Us Will’
‘Some people might decide to free their comrades by force and bloody revolution,’ said Vimes. ‘Not that I’m suggesting that in any way, of course.’
‘No. That Would Be Theft. We Are Bought And Sold, So We Will Buy Ourselves Free. By Our Labour. No One Else To Do It For Us. We Will Do It By Ourselves.’
Vimes smiled to himself. Probably no other species in the world would demand a receipt with their freedom. Some things you just couldn’t change.
‘Ah,’ he said. ‘It seems some people want to talk to us . . .’
A crowd was approaching over the bridge, in a mass of grey, black and saffron robes. It was made up of priests. They looked angry. As they pushed and shoved their way through the other citizens, several haloes became interlocked.
At their head was Hughnon Ridcully, Chief Priest of Blind lo and the closest thing Ankh-Morpork had to a spokesman on religious issues. He spotted Vimes and hurried towards him, admonitory finger upraised.
‘Now, see here, Vimes . . .’ he began, and stopped. He glared at Dorfl.
‘Is this if?’ he said.
‘If you mean the golem, this is /ii’m,’ said Vimes. ‘Constable Dorfl, your reverence.’
Dorfl touched his helmet respectfully. ‘How May We Be Of Service?’ he said.
‘You’ve done it this time, Vimes!’ said Ridcully, ignoring him. ‘You’ve gone altogether too far by . half. You made this thing speak and it isn’t even alive!’ ‘
‘We want it smashed!’
‘Blasphemy!’
‘People won’t stand for it!’
Ridcully looked around at the other priests. ‘I’m talking,’ he said. He turned back to Vimes. ‘This comes under the heading of gross profanity and the worship of idols’