Act V — First Fire

Page 38 — The Map Begins

The mappers of the guild put the first marks on the first map, and the first map was the back of a sheet of hide, stretched flat on the stone by the hearth, and the stretching was the whole of the first cartography.

I will tell you the making, because the making is the record. The hide was Smackage's — the first hide the new world had given us, and the giving was the one the ground owed, and the owing was the whole of the material. We stretched it on the stone by the hearth, and the stone was the one the coast had broken off, and the breaking was the one the ground owed the stone, and the stone owed the breaking to the camp. The front of the hide was owed to the camp, and the front was the one the camp owed the guild. The back was owed to the guild, and the back was the one the guild owed the map, and the map owed the back to the guild, and the two owedings were the whole of the back-of, and the back-of was the first of the guild's keeping.

Three marks.

Wreckreate made them, because the reading is the one that has to be owed a record. I will keep the three in the order Wreckreate made them, because the order is the one the map owes the reading. The first mark, the second mark, and the third mark, and the three were the ones the map owed the camp.

The first mark: the coast.

I will keep the coast in the record, because the record is owed the coast: the broken line, the scar in it, and the scar's color, which he gave in words, because the words were the only part of it that was true. I have the practice of the difference — the difference between a color that can be drawn and a color that can be said, and the difference is the one the record keeps: the color of the seam is the one you do not talk about, and the words were the not-talking, and the not-talking was the one the mark was made of. The broken line was the coast, and the coast was the one the world owed the camp since the first night; the scar was the crossing, and the crossing was the one the white did to the camp; and the color was the one the world does not owe the camp, and the not-owing was the one the word kept for the mark. Wreckreate drew the broken line the way the water-reader draws the thing he has read — with the hand, and the hand was the one the reading owed the mark.

The second mark: Hollowmere.

I will keep the lake in the record, because the record is owed the lake: the lake, the flat silver light, and the lid under it — the lid he drew as a line that does not end, because the reading is the one the lid owed the mark, and the lid owes the not-ending to the guild. The flat silver light was the one the water owed the lake, and the lake owed the light to the camp; the lid was the one the sleep owed the lake, and the sleep owed the lid to the guild. The distance was marked, and the distance was the one the camp owed the lake since the first night on the broken coast — the distance the camp keeps, and the keeping is the one the camp owes the guild, and the guild owes the keeping to the map. Wreckreate drew the lake a little to the east of the coast, and the to-the-east was the one the bones owed the lake, and the lake owed the east to the camp, and the camp owed the east to the guild, and the three owedings were the whole of the second mark.

The third mark: the fire.

I will keep the fire in the record, because the record is owed the fire: the fire in the center, and the center was the one the camp owed the fire. Wreckreate drew the fire the way the water-reader draws the thing that is — as a point, and the point was the one the mark owed the fire. The fire does not have a color that can be drawn, and the not-drawing was the one the fire owed the mark, and the mark owed the not-drawing to the camp. The fire is the one the guild keeps, and the keeping is the one the guild owes the fire, and the fire owes the keeping to the camp, and the camp owes the keeping to the guild, and the three keepings were the whole of the third mark.

The three marks were the whole of the first map, and the whole was the one the map owed the guild.

I will keep the whole in the record, because the record is owed the whole: the map had three marks, and the three were the ones the map owed the camp; the map had a back-of, and the back-of was the one the hide owed the guild; the map had a keeping, and the keeping was the one the guild owed the map. The map did not have the world, and the not-having was the one the map owed the world, and the world owed the not-having to the guild. The map is not the world, and the not-being was the one the map owed the record: the map is the thing the camp makes of the world, and the making is the one the camp owes the guild, and the guild owes the making to the map, and the map owes the making to the kept place, and the kept place owes the making to the one who is not here. The five owedings were the whole of the first map, and the first map was the one the guild has kept since the fortieth day, and the keeping is the one the guild owes the map.

The map is the guild's, and the guild's is the one the guild does not give the world.

I want the record to be careful about that, because the careful is the whole of the page: the map is the thing the camp makes of the world, and the making is the one the camp owes the guild. The world does not owe the camp the map, and the not-owing is the one the world keeps for the camp. The camp owes the guild the making, and the guild owes the making to the map, and the map owes the making to the kept place. The map is the guild's part in the world, and the part is the one the guild does not give the world. The guild will make more maps, and the more was the one the guild owed the making: the guild will mark the coast as it goes, and the going was the one the guild owed the coast; the guild will mark the lake as it reads it, and the reading was the one the water owed the guild; and the guild will mark the fire as it keeps it, and the keeping was the one the guild owed the fire. The maps will be the guild's part in the world, and the part is the one the guild does not give the world, and the not-giving is the whole of the map's part in the guild.

The first map was the back of a sheet of hide, stretched flat on the stone by the hearth.

I will keep the stretching in the record, because the record is owed the stretching: the hide was stretched, and the stretching was the one the hide owed the stone; the stone was the one the coast had broken off, and the breaking was the one the ground owed the stone; and the stone was by the hearth, and the by-the-hearth was the one the stone owed the fire. The three marks were on the back of the hide, and the back was the one the guild owed the map. The fire burned in the center of the camp, and the burning was the one the fire owed the guild. The lake was to the east, and the to-the-east was the one the bones owed the lake. The coast was the broken line, and the broken was the one the crossing owed the coast. And the map, with its three marks, was the first map the guild had made, and the first was the one the guild owed the making, and the making was the one the guild does not give the world, and the not-giving is the one the guild has kept since the fortieth day, and the keeping is the whole of the page, and the page is the one the story has kept since the first page of it.