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Tainaron - Mail from another city { 1 }
by Leena Krohn { 2 }
Their mother's tears - the fourth letter { 69 }
{ 69 } |
'If you wish,' said Longhorn; but he did not look particularly keen. | { 72 } |
'Show respect for the queen,' hissed my guide, and knelt down. Unaccustomed to such gestures, I felt embarrassed, but I followed his example. | { 76 } |
The straw fell from her lip, and new croaks followed. With difficulty, I made out the following words: 'I know what you're thinking, you little smidgeon.' | { 79 } |
{ 80 } |
'You think, don't you, that I am some kind of individual, a person, admit it!' | { 81 } |
As she went on speaking, her voice grew deeper, and it was as if it began to buzz. It was a most extraordinary voice, for it seemed to be made up of the murmur of hundreds of voices. | { 82 } |
'Yes, indeed, I mean....' I grew completely confused for a moment and sat down on my heels, as kneeling on the hard floor was too tiring. | { 83 } |
{ 84 } |
Suddenly complete silence followed, and she said, pointing at me with her long proboscis, 'So tell me, who am I?' | { 86 } |
'You are the mother of them all, your majesty,' I replied, humbly. | { 89 } |
'But what is a mother?' she squealed, and suddenly her voice rose to a piercing height, as one of her antennae lashed through the air above my head like a whip. | { 90 } |
I retreated and pressed myself to the wall, although I understood that she would not be able to come any nearer. | { 91 } |
'She from whom everything flows is not a someone,' the queen hissed through her wide jaws, like a snake. I gazed at her, bewitched. | { 92 } |
'You came to see me, admit it!' she growled, more deeply than I dared think. 'But you will be disappointed! You are already disappointed! Admit it!' | { 93 } |
{ 94 } |
But suddenly I saw something gush from her eyes; it splashed on to the floor and the walls and wetted all my clothes. | { 97 } |
She was no longer looking at me, and I rose and left the room, wet with the queen's tears. | { 98 } |
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