The Woman Who Vowed (The Demetrian)Harding, Ellison
Science
The Woman Who Vowed (The Demetrian)
Harding, Ellison
Science fiction; Utopias -- Fiction
Cleon kept talking all the way, interrupted occasionally by Lydia. He
explained all the buildings to me and their respective uses. As we
approached the Hall we met several other young men and women who joined
us, for all were going in the same direction. Each expressed the same
surprise and amusement on beholding me; they joined Lydia, who with an
air of importance repeated her story to every one. I felt more
comfortable between Lydia and Cleon and had therefore joined the brother
and sister, so as to have the protection of one of them on either side.
When we reached the Hall, Cleon suggested that I must feel uncomfortable
in my damp clothes and took me to the men's quarters. He provided me
with all that was necessary for a complete toilet. A large swimming tank
occupied the basement of the building, and into it I was glad to plunge.
After I had shaved--for a razor was provided--I assumed the simple
garment of my neighbors and for the first time felt ashamed of the
whiteness of my skin. By the side of the swarthy limbs about me my arms
and legs looked naked and pitiful. I was extremely hungry, however, and
my appetite overcame my reluctance at facing the crowd that I felt was
awaiting me at the Hall. As we approached it we heard echoes of song
and laughter.
"They have finished breakfast," said Cleon, pushing me through the open
doorway.
Our entrance was unobserved, for they were all engaged in singing; the
words I heard in chorus were "The Lightning Calculator!" They all
stamped at each alternate syllable and I noticed that Lydia was the
centre of observation. She was flushed, half with vexation and half with
merriment, and was being held by a crowd of girls who prevented her from
interfering with the soloist, who, standing on a chair with a guitar,
was improvising.
I could not hear the words distinctly from where I stood but caught
something about a certain Chairo, at the mention of whose name there was
a laugh, and the stanza closed, as had the last, with "The Lightning
Calculator," whereupon all laughed again and stamped as they repeated in
chorus "The Light-ning Cal-cu-la-tor."
"That's my sister," said Cleon to me in a whisper. "She's the Lightning
Calculator."
In the next stanza, which was quite unintelligible to me, I noticed an
allusion to Demeter, at which the women looked shocked and the men
delighted. I was wondering at the significance of this when Lydia
discovered me, and, delighted to divert attention from herself by
directing it toward me, she said to the tormentors who were holding her:
"There he is!"--and she nodded in my direction.
Immediately all eyes were turned toward me and I became painfully
conscious of my bare white legs. The young man with the guitar stepped
down from his chair and came to me.
"Welcome to Tyringham," said he. "We don't know how you got here or
where you come from, but we are ready to answer questions and willing to
ask none."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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