"Llibio had worn a fish carved from a tooth about his neck; and when I asked him what it was he had said it was Oannes, and covered it with his hand so that I my eyes could not profane it, for he knew that I did not believe in Oannes, who must surely be the fish-god of these people. I did not, yet I felt I knew everything about Oannes that mattered. I knew that he must live in the darkest deeps of the lake, but that he was seen leaping among the waves in storms. I knew he was the shepherd of the deep, who filled nets of the islanders, and that murderers could not go on the water without fear, lest Oannes appear alongside, with his eyes as big as moons, and overturn the boat. I did not believe in Oannes or fear him. But I knew, I thought, whence he came - I knew that there is an all-pervasive power in the universe of which every other is the shadow. I knew that in the last analysis my conception of that power was as laughable (and as serious) as Oannes."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Severian, Chapter 31: The People of the Lake
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Book_of_the_New_Sun
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
The Book of the New Sun
88 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by The Book of the New Sun →
Related Quotes
"I am not clever—I am too strong for cleverness, as you well understand."
"[T]he very existence of such powers argues a counterforce. We call powers of the first kind dark, though they may use…"
"Just as the room of the Inquisitor in Dr. Talos's play, with its high judicial bench, lurked somewhere at the lowest …"
"That was the brightest day I've ever seen. The sun had new life in him, the way a man will when he was sick yesterday…"
"An angel is often only a demon who stands between us and our enemy."
"The progress of science depends much less upon theoretical considerations or systematic investigation than is commonl…"
"The brown book I carry says there is nothing stranger than to explore a city wholly different from all those one know…"
"I found I could not say what it was I understood; that it was in fact on the level of meaning above language, a level…"
"How strange it is that the sky, which by day is a stationary ground on which the clouds are seen to move, by night be…"
"I realized that what disturbed me was the memory of the lies I had told the magicians, pretending, as they did, to co…"