I thought at the time that all Tolnedrans spoke the way he did, but I soon found out that I was wrong. I tarried for a couple of weeks in Tol Malin, and it was there that I first encountered the concept of money. Trust the Tolnedrans to invent money. I found the whole idea fascinating. Here was something small enough to be portable and yet of enormous value. Someone whos just stolen a chair or a table or a horse is fairly conspicuous. Money, on the other hand, cant be identified as someone elses property once its in your pocket.
Unfortunately, Tolnedrans are very possessive about their money, and it was in Tol Malin that I first heard someone shout, Stop, thief! I left town rather quickly at that point.
I hope you realize that I wouldnt be making such an issue of some of my boyhood habits except for the fact that my daughter can be very tiresome about my occasional relapses. Id just like for people to see my side of it for a change. Given my circumstances, did I really have any choice?
Oddly enough, I encountered that same humorous old fellow again about five miles outside Tol Malin. Well, boy, he greeted me. I see that youre still moving along westward.
There was a little misunderstanding back in Tol Malin, I replied defensively. I thought it might be best for me to leave.
He laughed knowingly, and for some reason his laughter made my whole day seem brighter. He was a very ordinary-looking old fellow with white hair and beard, but his deep blue eyes seemed strangely out of place in his wrinkled face. They were very wise, but they didnt seem to be the eyes of an old man. They also seemed to see right through all my excuses and lame explanations. Well, hop up again, boy, he told me. We still both seem to be going in the same direction.
We traveled across the lands of the Tolnedrans for the next several weeks, moving steadily westward. This was before those people developed their obsession with straight, well-maintained roads, and what we followed were little more than wagon tracks that meandered along the course of least resistance across the meadows.
Like just about everybody else in the world in those days, the Tolnedrans were farmers. There were very few isolated farmsteads out in the countryside, because for the most part the people lived in villages, went out to work their fields each morning, and returned to the villages each night.
We passed one of those villages one morning about the middle of summer, and I saw those farmers trudging out to work. Wouldnt it be easier if theyd just build their houses out where their fields are? I asked the old man.
Probably so, he agreed, but then theyd be peasants instead of townsmen. A Tolnedran would sooner die than have others think of him as a peasant.
Thats ridiculous, I objected. They spend all day every day grubbing in the dirt, and that means that they are peasants, doesnt it?
Yes, he replied calmly, but they seem to think that if they live in a village, that makes them townsmen.
Is that so important to them?
Very important, boy. A Tolnedran always wants to keep a good opinion of himself.
I think its stupid, myself.
Many of the things people do are stupid. Keep your eyes and ears open the next time we go through one of these villages. If you pay attention, youll see what Im talking about.
I probably wouldnt even have noticed if he hadnt pointed it out. We passed through several of those villages during the next couple of weeks, and I got to know the Tolnedrans. I didnt care too much for them, but I got to know them. A Tolnedran spends just about every waking minute trying to determine his exact rank in his community, and the higher he perceives his rank to be, the more offensive he becomes. He treats his servant badly not out of cruelty, but out of a deep-seated need to establish his superiority. Hell spend hours in front of a mirror practicing a haughty, superior expression. Maybe thats what set my teeth on edge. I dont like having people look down their noses at me, and my status as a vagabond put me at the very bottom of the social ladder, so everybody looked down his nose at me.
The next pompous ass who sneers at me is going to get a punch in the mouth, I muttered darkly as we left one village as summer was winding down.
The old man shrugged. Why bother?
I dont care for people who treat me like dirt.
Do you really care what they think?
Not in the slightest.
Why waste your energy then? Youve got to learn to laugh these things off, boy. Those self-important villagers are silly, arent they?
Of course they are.
Wouldnt hitting one of them in the face make you just as silly or even sillier? As long as you know who you are, does it really matter what other people think about you?
Well, no, but I groped for some kind of explanation, but I didnt find one. I finally laughed a bit sheepishly.
He patted my shoulder affectionately. I thought you might see it that way eventually.
That may have been one of the more important lessons Ive learned over the years. Privately laughing at silly people is much more satisfying in the long run than rolling around in the middle of a dusty street with them trying to knock out all of their teeth. If nothing else, its easier on your clothes.
The old man didnt really seem to have a destination. He had a cart, but he wasnt carrying anything important in it just a few half-full sacks of grain for his stumpy horse, a keg of water, a bit of food and several shabby old blankets which he seemed happy to share with me. The better we grew acquainted, the more I grew to like him. He seemed to see his way straight to the core of things, and he usually found something to laugh about in what he saw. In time, I began to laugh, too, and I realized that he was the closest thing to a friend Id ever had.
He passed the time by telling me about the people who lived on that broad plain. I got the impression that he spent a great deal of his time traveling. Despite his humorous way of talking or maybe because of it I found his perceptions about the various races to be quite acute. Ive spent thousands of years with those people, and Ive never once found those first impressions he gave me to be wrong. He told me that the Alorns were rowdies, the Tolnedrans materialistic, and the Arends not quite bright. The Marags were emotional, flighty, and generous to a fault. The Nyissans were sluggish and devious, and the Angaraks obsessed with religion. He had nothing but pity for the Morindim and the Karands, and, given his earthy nature, a peculiar kind of respect for the mystical Dals. I felt a peculiar wrench and a sense of profound loss when, on another one of those cool, cloudy days, he reined in his horse and said, This is as far as Im going, boy. Hop on down.
It was the abruptness more than anything that upset me. Which way are you heading? I asked him.
What difference does it make, boy? Youre going west, and Im not. Well come across each other again, but for right now were going our separate ways. Youve got more to see, and Ive already seen what lies in that direction. We can talk about it the next time we meet. I hope you find what youre looking for, but for right now, hop down.
I felt more than a little injured by this rather cavalier dismissal, so I wasnt really very gracious as I gathered up my belongings, got out of his cart, and struck off toward the west. I didnt look back, so I couldnt really say which direction he took. By the time I did throw a quick glance over my shoulder, he was out of sight.