From cowan@ccil.org Thu Feb 27 04:18:24 2003 Return-Path: X-Sender: cowan@mercury.ccil.org X-Apparently-To: lojban@yahoogroups.com Received: (EGP: mail-8_2_3_4); 27 Feb 2003 12:18:24 -0000 Received: (qmail 21162 invoked from network); 27 Feb 2003 12:18:24 -0000 Received: from unknown (66.218.66.218) by m7.grp.scd.yahoo.com with QMQP; 27 Feb 2003 12:18:24 -0000 Received: from unknown (HELO mercury.ccil.org) (192.190.237.100) by mta3.grp.scd.yahoo.com with SMTP; 27 Feb 2003 12:18:24 -0000 Received: from cowan by mercury.ccil.org with local (Exim 3.35 #1 (Debian)) id 18oMzY-0007Ek-00; Thu, 27 Feb 2003 07:18:24 -0500 Subject: CHAT: Strange Powers To: conlang@listserv.brown.edu, conculture@yahoogroups.com, langdev@yahoogroups.com, lojban@yahoogroups.com Date: Thu, 27 Feb 2003 07:18:24 -0500 (EST) X-Mailer: ELM [version 2.4ME+ PL66 (25)] MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Message-Id: X-eGroups-From: John Cowan From: John Cowan X-Yahoo-Group-Post: member; u=212516 X-Yahoo-Profile: johnwcowan Apologies for the self-indulgent crosspost. I finally nailed down the correct text of the Strange Powers quotation I've been mangling all these years. Kudos to ibooks.net for reprinting Cordwainer Smith's _Norstrilia_. The Lord Redlady leaped to the middle of his own floor. He was no prancing Earthman putting on a show. He was the old Instrumentality itself, surviving with raw weapons and raw brains. In his hand he held a *something* which none of them could see clearly. "Murder," he said, "will be done this moment if anybody moves. I will commit it. I will, people. Move, and try me. And if I do commit murder, I will arrest myself, hold a trial, and acquit myself. I have strange powers, people. Don't make me use them. Don't even make me show them." The shimmering thing in his hand disappeared. -- John Cowan http://www.ccil.org/~cowan cowan@ccil.org To say that Bilbo's breath was taken away is no description at all. There are no words left to express his staggerment, since Men changed the language that they learned of elves in the days when all the world was wonderful. --_The Hobbit_