- 5 months ago
The next installment of my reading for this audiobook. If you enjoy my readings and would like to support the channel, you can buy me a cup of coffee : https://buymeacoffee.com/lorigomez_apoetrychannel Blood Meridian defies its genre. Cormac McCarthy is a fevered architect drafting a world whose moral compass points directly at the reader while the foundations of civilization as we know it crumble to dust beneath us. Everything is savage here, conspiring to destroy itself- the landscape, the people... there are no real sides... no true adversaries... no one to root for or against... nature's non-duality is revealed... we are all one under a savage sun. Life and death cycle on, irrevocably intertwined... nature stops just long enough to bury its dead, and then moves on... history is the dried blood in a handful of dust... not since Jack London's The Sea Wolf has a book's philosophical implications snuck up and socked my noggin from behind... great stuff.
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00:00Blood Meridian, Chapter 17, by Cormac McCarthy, Leaving Tucson, a new cooperage, an exchange,
00:16saguaro forests, clanton at the fire, Garcia's command, the parasolene, the godfire, the
00:27ex-priest on astronomy, the judge on the extraterrestrial, on order, on teleology in the universe, a coin
00:37trick, Glanton's dog, dead animals, the sands, a crucifixion, the judge on war, the priest
00:48does not say, Tierras Quebreras, Tierras Desamparadas, the Tinajas Atlas, Un Hueso de Piedra, the
01:02Colorado, Argonauts, Yumas, the ferrymen, to the Yuma camp.
01:10They rode out at dusk.
01:13The corporal in the gatehouse above the portal came out and called to them to halt, but they
01:18did not.
01:20They rode twenty-one men and a dog and a little flatbed cart aboard, which the idiot and his
01:25cage had been lashed, as if for a sea journey.
01:31Lashed on behind the cage rode the whiskey cake they'd drained the night before.
01:36The cage had been dismantled and rebound by a man Glanton had appointed, Cooper Pro Dern,
01:43to the expedition, and it now contained within it a flask made from a common sheep's stomach,
01:51and holding perhaps three quarts of whiskey.
01:54This flask was fitted to the bung at the inside, and the rest of the cage was filled with water.
02:01So provisioned, they passed out through the gates and beyond the walls, onto the prairie,
02:08where it lay pulsing in the banded twilight.
02:12The little cart jostled and creaked, and the idiot clutched at the bars of his cage and
02:17croaked hoarsely after the sun.
02:20Glanton rode at the fore of the column.
02:23In a new-wing gold saddle, iron-bound, that he'd traded for, and he wore a new hat, which
02:31was black, and became him.
02:34The recruits now, five in number, grinned at one another and looked back at the sentry.
02:40David Brown rode at the rear, and he was leaving his brother here for what would prove forever,
02:45and his mood was foul enough for him to have shot the sentry with no provocation at all.
02:53When the sentry called again, he swung about with his rifle, and the man had the sense to
02:59duck under the parapet, and they heard no more from him.
03:03In the long dusk, the savages rode out to meet them, and the whiskey was exchanged for,
03:10upon a little saltillo blanket spread on the ground.
03:15Glanton paid little attention to the proceedings.
03:18When the savages had counted out gold and silver, to the judge's satisfaction,
03:24Glanton stepped onto the blanket and kicked the coins together with his boot heel,
03:29and then stepped away and directed Brown to take up the blanket.
03:34Mangus and his lieutenants exchanged dark looks, but the Americans mounted up and rode out,
03:39and none looked back, save the recruits.
03:43They'd become privy to the details of the business,
03:46and one of them fell in alongside Brown and asked if the Apaches would not follow them.
03:53They won't ride at night, said Brown.
03:58The recruit looked back at the figures, gathered about the keg in that scoured and darkening waste.
04:05Why won't they?
04:06Well, he said, Brown spat.
04:10Because it's dark, he said.
04:15They rode west from the town, across the base of a small mountain through a dog town,
04:21strewn with old broken earthenware, from a crockery furnace that once had been there.
04:26The keeper of the idiot rode downside of the trestled cage,
04:31and the idiot clutched the poles and watched the land pass, in silence.
04:38They rode that night through forests of Saguaro, up into the hills to the west.
04:44The sky was all overcast, and those fluted columns passing in the dark were like the ruins of
04:49vast temples ordered and grave and silent, save for the soft cries of elf-owls among them.
04:58The terrain was thick with chola, and clumps of it clung to the horses,
05:03with spikes that would drive through a boot-sole to the bones within,
05:07and a wind came up through the hills, and all night it sang with a wild viper sound,
05:16through that countless reach of spines.
05:19They rode on, and the land grew more spare, and they reached the first of a series of
05:26jornadas, where there would be no water at all, and there they camped.
05:32That night, Glanton stared long into the embers of the fire.
05:37All about him, his men were sleeping, but much was changed.
05:42So many gone, defected, or dead.
05:47The Delawares all slain.
05:50He watched the fire, and if he saw portents there, it was much the same to him.
05:55He would live to look upon the western sea, and he was equal to whatever might follow.
06:00For he was complete at every hour.
06:03Whether his history should run, concomitant with men and nations, whether it should cease.
06:08Yes, he'd long for sworn all weighing of consequence, and allowing as he did that man's destiny
06:15are given yet, he usurped to contain within him all that he would ever be in the world,
06:23and all that the world would be to him, and be his charter written in the earthstone itself.
06:30He claimed agency, and said so.
06:33And he'd drive the remorseless sun on to its final endarkenment.
06:37As if he'd ordered it all ages since.
06:42Before there were paths anywhere.
06:45Before there were men, or sons, to go down upon them.
06:52Across from him sat the vast abhorrence of the judge.
06:58Half naked, scribbling in his ledger.
07:00In the thorned forest through which they'd passed, the little desert wolves yapped.
07:06And on the dry plain before them, others answered.
07:10And the wind found the coals that he watched.
07:13The bones of choya that glowed there in their incandescent basketry,
07:20pulsed like burning holothurians in the phosphorus dark of the sea's deeps.
07:27The idiot in his cage had been drawn close to the fire, and he watched it, tirelessly.
07:35When Glanton raised his head, he saw the kid across the fire from him,
07:39squatting in his blanket, watching the judge.
07:43Two days later, they encountered a ragged legion,
07:46under the command of Colonel Garcia.
07:48They were troops from Sonora, seeking a band of Apaches under Pablo,
07:54and they numbered close to a hundred riders.
07:57Of these, some were without hats, some without pantaloons,
08:03and some were naked under their coats.
08:06And they were armed with derelict weapons,
08:09old fusels and tower muskets,
08:12some with bows and arrows or nothing more than ropes,
08:16with which to garrote the enemy.
08:20Glanton and his men reviewed this company with stony amazement.
08:25The Mexicans pressed about with their hands outheld for tobacco,
08:30and Glanton and the colonel exchanged rudimentary civilities.
08:34And then Glanton pushed on through that importunate horde.
08:37They were of another nation, those riders,
08:41and all that land to the south of which they'd originated,
08:45and whatever lands to the east toward which they were bound,
08:48were dead to him and both the ground and any sojourners upon it,
08:54remote and arguable of substance.
08:57This feeling communicated itself through the company,
09:01before Glanton had moved entirely clear of them,
09:04and each man turned his horse.
09:07And each man followed,
09:11and not even the judge spoke to excuse himself
09:14from out of that encounter.
09:17They rode on into the darkness,
09:20and the moon-blanched waste lay before them cold and pale,
09:24and the moon sat in a ring overhead,
09:27and in that ring lay a mock moon
09:29with its own cold grey and knacker seas.
09:33They made camp on a low bench of land,
09:39where walls of dry aggregate marked an old river course,
09:43and they struck up a fire,
09:45about which they sat in silence.
09:47The eyes of the dog and of the idiot and certain other men,
09:53glowing red as coals in their heads, where they turned.
09:56The flames sawed in the wind,
09:59and the embers paled and deepened and paled and deepened,
10:03like the blood-beat of some living thing,
10:06eviscerate upon the ground before them.
10:08And they watched the fire,
10:10which does contain within it something of men themselves,
10:15inasmuch as they are less without it,
10:18and are divided from their origins,
10:20and are exiles.
10:22For each fire is all fires.
10:27The first fire and the last ever to be.
10:31By and by, the judge rose and moved away on some obscure mission,
10:36and after a while,
10:38someone asked the ex-priest if it were true
10:40that at one time there had been two moons in the sky,
10:44and the ex-priest eyed the false moon above them
10:47and said that it may well have been so.
10:49But certainly,
10:53the wise high god in his dismay
10:55at the proliferation of lunacy on this earth
10:58must have waited a thumb
11:01and leaned down out of the abyss
11:04and pinched it, hissing, into extinction.
11:11And could he find some alter means
11:14by which the birds could mend their paths in the darkness?
11:17He might have done,
11:19with this one too.
11:22The question was then put as to whether
11:24there were on Mars or other planets in the void
11:28men or creatures like them,
11:30and at this,
11:31the judge who had returned to the fire
11:33and stood half-naked and sweating,
11:36spoke,
11:37and said that there were not,
11:40and that there were no men anywhere in the universe,
11:43save those upon the earth.
11:44all listened as he spoke,
11:48those who had turned to watch him
11:50and those who would not.
11:52The truth about the world,
11:57he said,
11:58is that anything is possible.
12:02Had you not seen it all from birth
12:04and thereby bled of its strangeness,
12:06it would appear to you
12:07for what it is,
12:09a hat-trick in a medicine show,
12:12a fevered dream,
12:15a trance be-populate with
12:17chimeras having neither analog nor precedent,
12:22an itinerant carnival,
12:24a migratory tent show
12:26whose ultimate destination,
12:28after many a pitch in many a muddied field,
12:31is unspeakable
12:32and calamitous beyond reckoning.
12:36The universe is no narrow thing,
12:40and the order within it
12:41is not constrained by any latitude
12:43in its conception
12:44to repeat what exists in one part
12:47in any other part.
12:50Even in this world,
12:51more things exist without our knowledge
12:53than with it,
12:55and the order in creation
12:56which you see is that
12:59which you have put there,
13:02like a string in a maze,
13:04so that you shall not lose your way.
13:07For existence has its own order,
13:11and that no man's mind can compass
13:14that mind itself
13:17being but a fact among others.
13:23Brown spat into the fire.
13:26Now some more of your craziness,
13:29he said.
13:31The judge smiled.
13:32He placed the palms of his hand
13:35upon his chest
13:36and breathed the night air,
13:38and he stepped closer
13:39and squatted
13:40and held up one hand.
13:43He turned that hand,
13:45and there was a gold coin
13:46between his fingers.
13:49Where is the coin, Davy?
13:54I'll notify you where to put the coin.
13:57The judge swung his hand,
14:01and the coin winked overhead
14:03in the firelight.
14:05It must have been fastened
14:06to some subtle lead,
14:07horsehair perhaps,
14:09for it circled the fire
14:10and returned to the judge,
14:11and he caught it in his hand
14:13and smiled.
14:15The arc of circling bodies
14:18is determined by the length
14:20of their tether,
14:21said the judge.
14:24Moons.
14:25Coins.
14:27Men.
14:28His hands moved
14:29as if he were pulling something
14:30from one fist
14:32in a series of elongations.
14:35Watch the coin, Davy,
14:37he said.
14:39He flung it,
14:41and it cut an arc
14:42through the firelight
14:43and was gone
14:45in the darkness beyond.
14:46They watched the night
14:49where it had vanished,
14:51and they watched the judge,
14:53and in their watching,
14:55some the one,
14:56some the other,
14:58they were a common witness.
15:00The coin, Davy.
15:03The coin,
15:05whispered the judge.
15:07He sat erect
15:08and raised his hand
15:10and smiled around.
15:12The coin returned back
15:13out of the night
15:14and crossed the fire
15:15with a faint high droning,
15:17and the judge's raised hand
15:19was empty,
15:20and then
15:21it held the coin.
15:23There was a light slap,
15:25and it held the coin.
15:27Even so,
15:28some claimed that
15:29he had thrown the coin away
15:30and pumped another like it,
15:32and made the sound
15:33with his tongue,
15:34for he himself
15:34was a cunning old
15:35malabarista,
15:37and he said himself
15:39as he put the coin away,
15:41but all men knew
15:42that there are coins.
15:44And there are false coins.
15:47In the morning,
15:49some did walk over the ground
15:50where the coin had gone,
15:52but if any man found it,
15:54he kept it to himself,
15:56and with sunrise
15:57they were mounted
15:58and riding again.
16:01The cart with the idiot
16:02in his cage
16:03trundled along at the rear,
16:06and now Glanton's dog
16:07fell back to trot alongside.
16:09Perhaps out of some
16:10custodial instinct,
16:12such as children,
16:12will evoke in animals.
16:15But Glanton
16:15called the dog to him,
16:17and when it did not come,
16:20he dropped back
16:21along the little column
16:22and leaned down,
16:25and corded it viciously
16:26with his hobble rope,
16:28and drove it out
16:29before him.
16:31They began to come upon
16:32chains and pack saddles,
16:34single trees,
16:35dead mules,
16:35wagons,
16:36saddle trees
16:37eaten bare of,
16:38their rawhide coverings,
16:40and weathered white as bone,
16:42a light chamfering
16:44of mice-teeth
16:44along the edges
16:46of the wood.
16:48They rode through a region
16:49where iron will not rust
16:50nor tin tarnish.
16:52The ribbed frames
16:54of dead cattle
16:54under their patches
16:55of dried hide,
16:58like the ruins
16:59of primitive boats
17:00upturned
17:01upon that shoreless void,
17:03and they passed lurid
17:05and austere
17:06the black
17:07and desiccated shapes
17:09of horses
17:10and mules
17:11that travelers
17:12had stood afoot.
17:14These parched beasts
17:15had died
17:16with their necks
17:17stretched in agony
17:18in the sand,
17:19and now upright
17:20and blind
17:21and lurching askew
17:22with scraps
17:23of blackened leather
17:24hanging from the fetwork
17:26of their ribs,
17:28they leaned
17:29with their long mouths,
17:31howling
17:32after the endless
17:34tandem suns
17:35that passed above them.
17:38The riders rode on.
17:40They crossed
17:41a vast dry lake
17:42with rows
17:43of dead volcanoes,
17:44ranged beyond it,
17:46like the works
17:47of enormous insects.
17:50To the south
17:50lay broken shapes
17:52of scoria
17:52in a lava bed
17:53as far as the eye
17:54could see.
17:56Under the hooves
17:57of the horses,
17:58the alabaster sand
17:59shaped itself
18:00in whorls,
18:02strangely symmetrical
18:03like iron filings
18:04in a field,
18:06and these shapes
18:06flared
18:07and drew back again,
18:10resonating upon
18:11that harmonic ground,
18:14and then
18:14turning
18:15to swirl away
18:17over the plaga,
18:19as if the very
18:20sediment of things
18:21contained yet
18:22some residue
18:22of sentience,
18:24as if,
18:25in the transit
18:26of those riders,
18:27were a thing
18:29so profoundly
18:30terrible
18:31as to register
18:32even to the
18:33uttermost
18:33granulation
18:34of reality.
18:37On a rise
18:37at the western edge
18:38of the playa,
18:39they passed
18:40a crude wooden cross
18:41where maricopas
18:43had crucified
18:43an Apache.
18:45The mummied course
18:46hung from the cross tree,
18:49with its mouth
18:49gaped in a raw hole,
18:51a thing of leather
18:54and bone,
18:56scoured by the
18:57pumice winds
18:58off the lake,
18:59and the pale tree
19:00of the rib
19:00showing through
19:01the scraps of hide
19:02that hung
19:03from the breast.
19:05They rode on.
19:07The horses
19:07trudged
19:08sullenly.
19:10The alien ground
19:11and the round earth
19:13rolled beneath them,
19:15silently milling
19:16the greater void
19:17wherein they were
19:17contained.
19:18In the neuter austerity
19:21of that terrain,
19:22all phenomena
19:23were bequeathed
19:24a strange equality,
19:27and no one thing,
19:28nor spider,
19:29nor stone,
19:30nor blade of grass
19:31could put forth
19:32claim to precedence.
19:34The very clarity
19:36of these articles
19:37belied their familiarity,
19:39for the eye
19:40predicates the whole
19:41on some feature
19:42or part,
19:43and here
19:44was nothing more
19:45luminous than another,
19:47and nothing more
19:48unshadowed,
19:50and in the optical
19:50democracy
19:51of such landscapes,
19:53all preference
19:54is made whimsical,
19:56and a man
19:57and a rock
19:58become endowed
20:00with unguessed
20:01kinships.
20:03They grew
20:04gaunted
20:04and lank
20:05under the white suns
20:07of those days,
20:09and their hollow
20:10burned-out eyes
20:11were like those
20:12of noctabulance
20:13surprised by day.
20:15Crouched
20:16under their hats
20:17they seemed
20:18fugitives
20:18on some
20:19grander scale,
20:21like beings
20:21for whom
20:22the sun hungered.
20:24Even the judge
20:25grew silent
20:25and speculative.
20:28He'd spoke
20:28of purging oneself
20:29of those things
20:30that lay
20:30claimed to a man,
20:32but that body
20:33receiving his remarks
20:34counted themselves
20:35well done
20:36with any claims
20:37at all.
20:38They rode on,
20:40and the wind
20:40drove the fine
20:41grey dust
20:42before them,
20:42and they rode
20:44an army
20:44of grey beards,
20:46grey men,
20:47grey horses.
20:49The mountains
20:50to the north
20:51lay sunwise
20:51in corrugated folds,
20:53and the days
20:54were cool,
20:56and the nights
20:56were cold,
20:57and they sat
20:58about the fire
20:59each in his round
21:00of darkness,
21:02in that round
21:03of dark,
21:04while the idiot
21:05watched from his cage
21:07at the edge
21:09of the light.
21:09The judge
21:11cracked
21:11with the back
21:12of an axe
21:13the shinbone
21:14on an antelope,
21:16and the hot marrow
21:17dripped smoking
21:18on the stones.
21:20They watched him.
21:23The subject
21:23was war.
21:27The good book
21:28says that
21:29he that lives
21:30by the sword
21:31shall perish
21:32by the sword,
21:33said the black.
21:35The judge
21:36smiled,
21:37his face
21:37shining with grease.
21:39What right man
21:41would have it
21:41any other way,
21:43he said.
21:45The good book
21:46does indeed
21:47count war
21:48on evil,
21:50said Irving.
21:51Yet there's
21:52many a bloody
21:53tale of war
21:53inside it.
21:56It makes no difference
21:57what men
21:58think of war,
21:59said the judge.
22:00War
22:01endures.
22:03As well
22:04ask men
22:04what they think
22:05of stone.
22:06War was always
22:07here,
22:08before man
22:08was.
22:10War
22:10waited for him.
22:12The ultimate trade
22:14awaiting its ultimate
22:15practitioner.
22:17That is the way
22:18it was
22:19and will be.
22:21That way
22:22and not
22:24some other way.
22:26He turned to Brown,
22:28from whom he'd heard
22:29some
22:29whispered slur
22:31or demur.
22:32Ah,
22:34Davy,
22:35he said.
22:37It's your own
22:37trade we honor
22:38here.
22:40Why not rather
22:41take a small
22:41bow?
22:43Let each
22:44acknowledge each.
22:45my trade?
22:49Certainly.
22:50What is my
22:52trade?
22:54War.
22:56War is your
22:57trade,
22:57is it not?
22:59And it
22:59ain't yours?
23:01Mine too.
23:03Very much
23:04so.
23:05What about
23:06all them
23:06notebooks
23:07and bones
23:08and stuff?
23:09All other
23:11trades are
23:12contained
23:12in that
23:13of war.
23:15Is that
23:15why
23:16war
23:16endures?
23:19No.
23:20It endures
23:21because young
23:21men
23:22love it
23:23and old
23:24men love
23:24it in
23:25them.
23:26Those that
23:26fought,
23:27those that
23:27did not.
23:29That's
23:30your
23:30notion.
23:32The judge
23:33smiled.
23:34Men
23:36are born
23:37for games.
23:39Nothing
23:39else.
23:41Every
23:41child knows
23:42that play
23:42is nobler
23:43than work.
23:44He knows
23:45too that
23:46the worth
23:46or merit
23:47of a game
23:47is not
23:48inherent in
23:49the game
23:49itself,
23:50but rather
23:50the value
23:52of that
23:52which is
23:53put at
23:53hazard.
23:55Games
23:55of chance
23:56require a
23:57wager to
23:58have meaning
23:58at all.
24:00Games
24:00of sport
24:01involve
24:02the skill
24:03and strength
24:03of the
24:03opponent,
24:04and the
24:05humiliation
24:06of defeat
24:07and the
24:08pride of
24:08victory
24:09are in
24:09themselves
24:10sufficient
24:10stake
24:11because
24:12they
24:12inhere
24:13in the
24:13worth
24:13of the
24:14principles
24:14and
24:15define
24:16them.
24:17But
24:18trial of
24:18chance
24:19or trial
24:19of worth
24:20all games
24:21aspire to
24:22the condition
24:22of war
24:23for here
24:24that which
24:25is wagered
24:27swallows
24:27up game
24:28player
24:29all.
24:32Suppose
24:33two men
24:33had cards
24:34with nothing
24:34to wager
24:35save their
24:35lives.
24:36Who has
24:37not heard
24:37such a
24:38tale?
24:40A turn
24:41of the
24:41card.
24:42The whole
24:42universe
24:43for such
24:43a player
24:44has labored
24:44clanking
24:45to this
24:46moment
24:46which will
24:47tell you
24:48if he is
24:48to die
24:49at that
24:49man's
24:50hand
24:50or that
24:52man
24:52at his.
24:54What
24:54war
24:54validation
24:55of a
24:55man's
24:55worth
24:56could
24:56there
24:56be?
24:57This
24:57enhancement
24:58of the
24:59game
24:59to its
25:00ultimate
25:01state
25:02admits
25:02no
25:02argument
25:03concerning
25:04the
25:04notion
25:05of fate.
25:06The
25:07selection
25:07of one
25:08man
25:08over
25:09another
25:09is a
25:11preference
25:11absolute
25:12and
25:12irrevocable.
25:13And it
25:15is a
25:16dull
25:16man
25:16indeed
25:17who
25:17could
25:18reckon
25:18so
25:18profound
25:19a
25:19decision
25:19without
25:20agency
25:21or
25:22significance
25:23either
25:24one.
25:25In
25:26such
25:26games
25:26as
25:27have
25:27for
25:27their
25:28stake
25:28the
25:28annihilation
25:29of the
25:30defeated
25:30the
25:31decisions
25:32are quite
25:32clear.
25:33This
25:34man
25:34holding
25:35this
25:35particular
25:35arrangement
25:36of
25:36guards
25:37in his
25:37hand
25:38is
25:38thereby
25:38removed
25:39from
25:40existence.
25:42This
25:42is the
25:42nature
25:42of war
25:43whose
25:43stake
25:44is at
25:44once
25:44the
25:45game
25:45and
25:45the
25:45authority
25:46and
25:46the
25:46justification.
25:49Seen
25:49so,
25:50war
25:50is the
25:51truest
25:51form
25:52of
25:52divination.
25:54It
25:54is the
25:54testing
25:55of
25:55one's
25:55will
25:55and
25:56the
25:56will
25:56of
25:56another
25:57within
25:57that
25:57larger
25:58will,
25:59which,
25:59because
25:59it
26:00binds
26:00them,
26:01is
26:01therefore
26:02forced
26:02to
26:03select.
26:04War
26:05is the
26:06ultimate
26:06game,
26:07because
26:07war
26:08is at
26:08last
26:09a
26:09forcing
26:10of
26:10the
26:10unity
26:11of
26:11existence.
26:13war
26:14is
26:15gone.
26:18Brown
26:18studied
26:19the
26:19judge.
26:22You're
26:22crazy,
26:23Holden,
26:24crazy
26:25at
26:25last.
26:28The
26:28judge
26:28smiled.
26:31Might
26:31does not
26:32make
26:32right,
26:34said
26:34living.
26:36The man
26:37that wins
26:37in some
26:38combat
26:38is not
26:39vindicated
26:40morally.
26:42Moral
26:43law
26:43is an
26:43invention
26:44of
26:44mankind
26:45for the
26:46disenfranchisement
26:47of the
26:47powerful
26:48in favor
26:49of the
26:50weak.
26:51Historical
26:52law
26:52subverts
26:53it at
26:53every
26:53turn.
26:55A
26:56moral
26:56view
26:56can never
26:57be
26:57proven
26:58right or
26:59wrong
26:59by any
27:00ultimate
27:00test.
27:02A
27:02man
27:03falling
27:03dead
27:03in a
27:04duel
27:04is not
27:05thought
27:06thereby
27:06to be
27:06proven
27:07in error
27:07as to
27:08his
27:08views.
27:10His
27:10very
27:10involvement
27:11in such
27:11a trial
27:12gives
27:12evidence
27:13of a
27:13new
27:14and
27:15broader
27:15view.
27:16The
27:17willingness
27:17of the
27:18principles
27:18to forego
27:19further
27:20argument
27:20as the
27:21triviality
27:22which
27:23it
27:23in fact
27:24is
27:25and to
27:26petition
27:26directly
27:27the
27:27chambers
27:28of the
27:28historical
27:28absolute
27:29clearly
27:30indicates
27:31of how
27:32little
27:32moment
27:32are the
27:33opinions
27:34and of
27:35what
27:35great
27:36moment
27:36the
27:37divergences
27:38thereof.
27:40For
27:41argument
27:41is
27:42indeed
27:43trivial
27:44but
27:46not so
27:46the
27:47separate
27:47wills
27:48thereby
27:48made
27:48manifest.
27:50Man's
27:51vanity
27:51may well
27:52approach
27:52the
27:53infinite
27:53incapacity
27:55but his
27:56knowledge
27:56remains
27:57imperfect
27:57and
27:59however
27:59much
27:59he
27:59comes
28:00to
28:00value
28:00his
28:00judgments
28:01ultimately
28:01he
28:02must
28:03submit
28:03them
28:03before
28:04a
28:04higher
28:04court.
28:05Here
28:07there
28:07can
28:07be
28:07no
28:07special
28:08pleading
28:08here
28:10are
28:11considerations
28:11of equity
28:12and rectitude
28:13and moral
28:14right rendered
28:15void and
28:16without warrant
28:17and here
28:18are the
28:18views of
28:19litigants
28:19despised
28:20decisions
28:22of life
28:23and death
28:25of what
28:26shall be
28:26and what
28:27shall not
28:28beg
28:29our
28:29old
28:30question
28:30of
28:30right
28:31in
28:32elections
28:32in elections
28:32of these
28:33magnitudes
28:34all
28:35are lesser
28:36ones
28:36subsumed
28:37moral
28:38spiritual
28:39natural.
28:41The judge
28:42searched
28:42out the
28:43circle
28:43for
28:43disputants.
28:46But what
28:47says the
28:47priest
28:47he said.
28:51Tobin
28:51looked up.
28:53The
28:54priest
28:55does not
28:55say.
28:57The
28:57priest
28:58does not
28:58say
28:59said
28:59the
28:59judge.
29:00Neil
29:01disse
29:01it.
29:04But the
29:04priest
29:05has
29:05said.
29:06For the
29:06priest
29:07has put
29:07by the
29:08robes
29:08of his
29:08craft
29:09and taken
29:09up the
29:09tools
29:10of that
29:10higher
29:11calling
29:11which
29:11all
29:12men
29:12honor.
29:14The
29:14priest
29:14also
29:15would
29:15be
29:15no
29:15god
29:16server
29:16but
29:16a
29:17god
29:17himself.
29:19Tobin
29:20shook
29:20his
29:20head.
29:22You've
29:23a
29:23blasphemous
29:23tongue
29:24hold
29:24and in
29:25truth
29:25I was
29:25never
29:26a
29:26priest
29:26but
29:26only
29:27a
29:27novitiate
29:28to
29:28the
29:29order.
29:31Journeyman
29:31priest
29:32or
29:32apprentice
29:32priest
29:33said
29:34the
29:34judge
29:34men
29:35of
29:35god
29:36and
29:36men
29:36of
29:36war
29:37have
29:38strange
29:38affinities.
29:42I'll
29:42not
29:43second
29:43see you
29:44in
29:44your
29:44notions
29:45said
29:46Tobin
29:46don't
29:47ask
29:48it.
29:49Ah
29:50priest
29:51said
29:52the
29:52judge
29:53what
29:54could
29:54I
29:54ask
29:54of
29:54you
29:55that
29:55you've
29:55not
29:56already
29:56given.
29:58On
29:59the
29:59day
29:59following
29:59they
30:00crossed
30:00the
30:00malpais
30:01afoot
30:02leading
30:03the
30:04horses
30:04upon
30:04a
30:04lake
30:05bed
30:05of
30:05lava
30:05all
30:06cracked
30:06and
30:06reddish
30:07black
30:07like
30:08a
30:09pan
30:09of
30:09dried
30:09blood
30:10threading
30:11those
30:11badlands
30:12of
30:12dark
30:13amber
30:13glass
30:14like
30:15the
30:15remnants
30:15of
30:16some
30:16dim
30:16legion
30:17scrabbling
30:18up
30:18out
30:19of a
30:19land
30:19accursed
30:20shouldering
30:22the
30:22little
30:22cart
30:23over
30:23the
30:23rifts
30:23and
30:24ledges
30:24the
30:26idiot
30:26clinging
30:27to
30:27the
30:27bars
30:28and
30:29calling
30:29hoarsely
30:30after
30:30the
30:30sun
30:30like
30:31some
30:31queer
30:32unruly
30:32god
30:33abducted
30:34from
30:34a race
30:35of
30:35degenerates
30:37they
30:38crossed
30:38a
30:39cinderland
30:39of
30:39caked
30:40slurry
30:40and
30:40volcanic
30:41ash
30:42imponderable
30:43as the
30:44burnt-out
30:44floor
30:44of
30:44hell
30:45and
30:46they
30:46climbed
30:47up
30:47through
30:47a
30:47low
30:48range
30:48of
30:48barren
30:49granite
30:49hills
30:50to
30:51a
30:51stark
30:51promontory
30:52where
30:53the
30:53judge
30:53triangulating
30:54from
30:54known
30:55points
30:55of
30:55landscape
30:56reckoned
30:57anew
30:57their
30:57course
30:58a
30:59gravel
30:59flat
30:59stretched
31:00away
31:00to
31:00the
31:01horizon
31:01far
31:02to
31:02the
31:02south
31:03beyond
31:04the
31:04black
31:04volcanic
31:04hills
31:05lay
31:06alone
31:06albino
31:07ridge
31:08sand
31:08or
31:09gypsum
31:09like
31:10the
31:10back
31:10of
31:10some
31:11pale
31:11sea
31:11beast
31:12surfaced
31:13among
31:13the
31:13dark
31:14archipelagos
31:15they
31:16went
31:16on
31:16in
31:17a
31:17day's
31:17ride
31:18they
31:19reached
31:19the
31:19stone
31:19tanks
31:20and
31:20the
31:20water
31:20they
31:21sought
31:21and
31:22they
31:22drank
31:22and
31:22baled
31:23water
31:23down
31:23from
31:24the
31:24higher
31:24tanks
31:24to
31:25the
31:25dry
31:25ones
31:25below
31:26for
31:27the
31:27horses
31:28at
31:30all
31:30desert
31:30watering
31:31places
31:31there
31:31are
31:31bones
31:32but
31:33the
31:33judge
31:33that
31:33evening
31:34carried
31:34to
31:34the
31:34fire
31:35one
31:36such
31:36as
31:36none
31:37there
31:37had
31:37ever
31:38seen
31:38before
31:39a
31:40great
31:40femur
31:41from
31:41some
31:42beast
31:42long
31:44extinct
31:44that
31:45he'd
31:45found
31:45weathered
31:46out
31:46of
31:46a
31:46bluff
31:47and
31:48that
31:48he
31:48now
31:49sat
31:49measuring
31:50with
31:51the
31:51tailor's
31:51tape
31:52he
31:52carried
31:53and
31:54sketching
31:55into
31:55his
31:55log
31:55all
31:57in
31:57that
31:57company
31:58had
31:58heard
31:58the
31:58judge
31:58on
31:59paleontology
31:59save
32:00for
32:00the
32:00new
32:00recruits
32:01and
32:02they
32:02sat
32:02watching
32:03and
32:03putting
32:03to him
32:03such
32:04queries
32:04as
32:05they
32:05could
32:05conceive
32:06of
32:06he
32:07answered
32:07them
32:07with
32:08care
32:08amplifying
32:09their
32:09own
32:09questions
32:09for
32:10them
32:10as
32:11if
32:11they
32:11might
32:11be
32:11apprentice
32:12scholars
32:13they
32:14nodded
32:14dully
32:15and
32:15reached
32:15to touch
32:16that
32:16pillar
32:16of
32:17stained
32:17and
32:17petrified
32:18bone
32:19perhaps
32:20a sense
32:20with
32:20their
32:20fingers
32:21the
32:22temporal
32:22immensities
32:23of which
32:24the
32:24judge
32:24spoke
32:25the
32:26keeper
32:26led
32:27the
32:27imbecile
32:27down
32:28from
32:28its
32:28cage
32:28and
32:29tethered
32:29it
32:29by
32:30the
32:30fire
32:30with
32:30a
32:30braided
32:31horsehair
32:31rope
32:32that
32:32it
32:32could
32:32not
32:33chew
32:33through
32:33and
32:34it
32:34stood
32:34leaning
32:35in
32:35its
32:35collar
32:37with
32:37its
32:37hands
32:38outheld
32:39as if
32:40it
32:40yearned
32:40for
32:40the
32:41flames
32:41glanton's
32:43dog
32:43rose
32:44and
32:45sat
32:45watching
32:45it
32:45and
32:46the
32:46idiot
32:47swayed
32:47and
32:47drooled
32:47with
32:48its
32:48dull
32:48eyes
32:49falsely
32:49brightened
32:49by
32:50the
32:50fire
32:50the
32:51judge
32:52had
32:52been
32:52holding
32:53the
32:53femur
32:53upright
32:54in
32:55order
32:55to
32:55better
32:55illustrate
32:56its
32:57analogies
32:58to
32:58the
32:59prevalent
32:59bones
32:59of
33:00the
33:00country
33:00about
33:01and
33:02he
33:02let
33:02it
33:02fall
33:02in
33:02the
33:03sand
33:03and
33:04closed
33:04his
33:04book
33:05there
33:07is
33:07no
33:07mystery
33:07to
33:08it
33:08he
33:09said
33:09the
33:10recruits
33:11blinked
33:12dully
33:13your
33:14hot
33:15desire
33:15is
33:16to
33:16be
33:17told
33:17some
33:18mystery
33:18the
33:19mystery
33:20is
33:21that
33:21there
33:21is
33:21no
33:21mystery
33:22he
33:23rose
33:24and
33:24moved
33:24away
33:24into
33:25the
33:25darkness
33:25beyond
33:26the
33:26fire
33:27ah
33:29said
33:31the
33:31ex-priest
33:32watching
33:32his
33:33pipe
33:33cold
33:34in
33:34his
33:34teeth
33:34and
33:37no
33:37mystery
33:37as
33:39if
33:39he
33:39were
33:39no
33:39mystery
33:40himself
33:40the
33:41bloody
33:42old
33:42hoodwinker
33:43three
33:44days
33:45later
33:45they
33:45reached
33:46the
33:46Colorado
33:46they
33:48stood
33:48at
33:48the
33:48edge
33:48of
33:49the
33:49river
33:49watching
33:50the
33:50roiled
33:51and
33:51clay
33:51colored
33:52waters
33:52coming
33:53down
33:54in
33:54a
33:54flat
33:55and
33:56steady
33:56seething
33:57out
33:57of
33:57the
33:58desert
33:58two
33:59cranes
34:00rose
34:00from
34:00the
34:01shore
34:01and
34:01flapped
34:02away
34:02and
34:03the
34:03horses
34:04and
34:04mules
34:04led
34:05down
34:05the
34:05bank
34:06ventured
34:07uncertainly
34:08into
34:10the
34:10edding
34:11shoals
34:11and
34:12stood
34:12drinking
34:13and
34:13looking
34:13up
34:14with
34:15their
34:15muzzles
34:15dripping
34:16at
34:16the
34:16passing
34:17current
34:17and
34:18the
34:18shore
34:18beyond
34:19upriver
34:21they
34:21encountered
34:21in
34:22camp
34:22the
34:23remnants
34:23of
34:23a
34:24wagon
34:24train
34:24laid
34:25waste
34:25by
34:25cholera
34:26the
34:27survivors
34:28moved
34:28among
34:29their
34:29noonday
34:30cook
34:30fires
34:31or
34:32stared
34:32hollowly
34:33at
34:34the
34:34ragged
34:35dragoons
34:36riding up
34:37out of
34:38the
34:38willows
34:38their
34:39chattels
34:40were scattered
34:40about
34:41over the
34:41sand
34:42and
34:43the
34:43wretched
34:43estates
34:43of
34:44the
34:44deceased
34:44stood
34:45separate
34:45to be
34:46parceled
34:46out
34:46among
34:47them
34:47there
34:49were
34:49in
34:50the
34:50camp
34:50a
34:50number
34:50of
34:51yuma
34:51indians
34:52the
34:53men
34:53wore
34:54their
34:54hair
34:54hacked
34:54to
34:55length
34:55with
34:56knives
34:56or
34:56plastered
34:57up
34:57in
34:57wigs
34:57of
34:58mud
34:58and
34:59they
34:59shambled
34:59about
35:00with
35:00heavy
35:00clubs
35:01dangling
35:01in
35:01their
35:02hands
35:02both
35:03they
35:04and
35:04the
35:04women
35:04were
35:05tattooed
35:06of
35:06face
35:06and
35:06the
35:07women
35:07were
35:07naked
35:07save
35:09for
35:09skirts
35:10of
35:10willow
35:10bark
35:11woven
35:11into
35:12string
35:12and
35:13many
35:14of
35:14them
35:14were
35:14lovely
35:14and
35:15many
35:15more
35:16were
35:17the
35:17marks
35:17of
35:17syphilis
35:18glanton
35:19moved
35:20through
35:20this
35:21balesome
35:22depot
35:22with
35:22his
35:23dog
35:23at
35:24heel
35:24and
35:25his
35:25rifle
35:25in
35:26his
35:26hand
35:26the
35:27humus
35:27were
35:28swimming
35:28the
35:28few
35:28sorry
35:29mules
35:29left
35:29to
35:30the
35:30party
35:30across
35:31the
35:31river
35:32and
35:33he
35:33stood
35:33on
35:33the
35:33bank
35:34and
35:34watched
35:34them
35:34down
35:35river
35:35they
35:36drowned
35:37one
35:37of
35:37the
35:37animals
35:38and
35:38towed
35:38ashore
35:38to
35:39be
35:39butchered
35:39an
35:40old
35:41man
35:41in
35:41a
35:41shack
35:41doe
35:42coat
35:42and
35:42a
35:42long
35:43beard
35:43sat
35:44with
35:44his
35:44boots
35:45at
35:45his
35:45side
35:45and
35:45his
35:46feet
35:46in
35:46the
35:46river
35:46where's
35:50all
35:50y'all's
35:51horses
35:51said
35:54glanton
35:55we
35:57ate
35:57them
35:57glanton
35:59studied
36:00the
36:00river
36:00how
36:02do
36:02you
36:03aim
36:03to
36:03cross
36:03on
36:06the
36:06ferry
36:06he
36:08looked
36:09cross
36:09river
36:09to
36:10where
36:10the
36:10old
36:11man
36:11gestured
36:12what
36:15does
36:15he
36:15get
36:15to
36:15cross
36:16he
36:16he
36:17said
36:17dollar
36:19head
36:19glanton
36:21turned
36:22and studied
36:22the
36:23pilgrims
36:23on
36:23the
36:23beach
36:24the
36:25dog
36:25was
36:25drinking
36:26from
36:26the
36:26river
36:26and
36:27he
36:27said
36:27something
36:28to
36:28it
36:28and
36:29it
36:29came
36:29up
36:30and
36:30sat
36:30by
36:31his
36:31knee
36:31the
36:32ferry
36:33boat
36:33put
36:33out
36:34from
36:34the
36:34far
36:34bank
36:35and
36:35crossed
36:35to
36:35landing
36:36upstream
36:36where
36:37there
36:37was
36:37a
36:38dead
36:38man
36:38built
36:39of
36:39drift
36:40logs
36:40the
36:42boat
36:42was
36:42contrived
36:43from
36:43a
36:43pair
36:43of
36:43old
36:44wagon
36:44boxes
36:45fitted
36:46together
36:46and
36:46caulked
36:47with
36:47pitch
36:47a
36:49group
36:49of
36:49people
36:50had
36:50shouldered
36:50up
36:51their
36:51dunnage
36:52and
36:52stood
36:53waiting
36:54glanton
36:55turned
36:55and went
36:57up the
36:57bank
36:58to get
36:58his
36:58horse
36:59the
37:00ferryman
37:00was a
37:01doctor
37:01from
37:01new
37:01york
37:01state
37:02named
37:02lincoln
37:03he
37:04was
37:04supervising
37:04the
37:05loading
37:05the
37:06travelers
37:06stepping
37:07aboard
37:07and
37:07squatting
37:08along
37:08the
37:08rails
37:09of
37:09the
37:09scow
37:09with
37:10their
37:10parcels
37:11and
37:11looking
37:12out
37:12uncertainly
37:13at the
37:14broad water
37:14a half
37:16mastiff
37:16dog
37:17sat on
37:18the
37:18bank
37:18watching
37:19at
37:20glanton's
37:21approach
37:22it stood
37:22bristling
37:23the doctor
37:25turned
37:25and shaded
37:26his eyes
37:26with his
37:27hand
37:27and glanton
37:29introduced
37:29himself
37:30they
37:31shook
37:31hands
37:32a
37:36pleasure
37:36captain
37:37glanton
37:37i am
37:38at
37:38your
37:38service
37:39glanton
37:40nodded
37:41the doctor
37:42gave
37:42instructions
37:43to the
37:43two men
37:44working
37:44for him
37:44and he
37:45and glanton
37:46walked out
37:47along the
37:47down river
37:48path
37:48glanton
37:50leading the
37:50horse
37:50and the
37:51doctor's
37:51dog
37:51following
37:52some
37:52ten
37:53paces
37:53behind
37:54glanton's
37:55party
37:56was camped
37:56on a
37:56bench
37:57of
37:57sand
37:57partially
37:58shaded
37:58by
37:59river
37:59willows
38:00as he
38:01and the
38:01doctor
38:02approached
38:02the
38:02idiot
38:02rose
38:03in his
38:03cage
38:04and seized
38:05the bars
38:05and commenced
38:06hooting
38:06as if he'd
38:07warned the
38:08doctor
38:08back
38:09the doctor
38:10went wide
38:11of the
38:11thing
38:11glancing
38:12at his
38:12host
38:13but
38:13glanton's
38:14lieutenants
38:14had come
38:15forward
38:15and soon
38:16the doctor
38:17and judge
38:18were in
38:18deep
38:19discourse
38:19to the
38:21exclusion
38:21of anyone
38:22else
38:22in the
38:25evening
38:25glanton
38:26and the
38:26judge
38:27and a
38:27detail
38:27of five
38:28men
38:28rode
38:28down
38:29river
38:29into
38:29the
38:30Yuma
38:30encampment
38:31they rode
38:32through a
38:32pale wood
38:33of willow
38:33and sycamore
38:34flaked
38:35with clay
38:36from the
38:36high water
38:37and they
38:38rode past
38:38old
38:39acequias
38:40and small
38:41winter
38:41fields
38:42where the
38:43dry husks
38:44of corn
38:44rattled
38:45lightly
38:45in the
38:45wind
38:46and they
38:47crossed
38:47the river
38:48at the
38:49Algodones
38:49ford
38:50when the
38:51dogs
38:52announced
38:52them
38:52the sun
38:53was already
38:54down
38:54and the
38:55western
38:55land
38:56red
38:56and
38:57smoking
38:57and they
38:59rode
38:59single
38:59file
39:00and
39:00cameo
39:00detailed
39:01by
39:01the
39:02whiny
39:02light
39:02with
39:03their
39:03dark
39:03sides
39:04to the
39:05river
39:05cook
39:06fires
39:07from the
39:07camps
39:07molded
39:08among
39:08the
39:08trees
39:09and a
39:10delegation
39:11of
39:11mounted
39:11savages
39:12rode out
39:13to meet
39:13them
39:14they
39:15halted
39:15and sat
39:16their
39:16horses
39:17the party
39:19approaching
39:19were clad
39:20in such
39:20fool's
39:21regalia
39:21and with
39:23all bore
39:23themselves
39:23with such
39:24aplomb
39:24that the
39:25pale riders
39:26were hard
39:26put
39:26to keep
39:27their
39:27composure
39:28the leader
39:30was a man
39:30named
39:30caballo
39:31en pelo
39:31and this
39:33old
39:33mogul
39:34wore a
39:34belted
39:35wool
39:35overcoat
39:36that would
39:36have served
39:37a far
39:37colder
39:38climate
39:38and beneath
39:40it a
39:40woman's
39:41blouse
39:41of
39:41embroidered
39:42silk
39:42and a
39:43pair
39:43of
39:43pantaloons
39:44of
39:44grey
39:44casanet
39:45he
39:46was
39:46small
39:47and
39:47wiry
39:47and
39:48he
39:49had
39:49lost
39:49an
39:49eye
39:49to
39:50the
39:50maricopas
39:51and
39:52he
39:52presented
39:53the
39:53americans
39:53with
39:54a
39:54strange
39:54priapic
39:56leer
39:56that
39:57may
39:57have
39:57at
39:57one
39:58time
39:58been
39:59a
39:59smile
39:59at
40:00his
40:01right
40:01rode
40:02a
40:02lesser
40:02chieftain
40:03named
40:03pasquale
40:04in a
40:05frowned
40:05coat
40:06out
40:06at
40:07the
40:07elbows
40:07and
40:09who
40:09wore
40:09in
40:10his
40:10nose
40:11a
40:11bone
40:12hung
40:12with
40:13small
40:13pendants
40:14the
40:15third
40:15man
40:16was
40:16pablo
40:16and
40:17he
40:17was
40:17clad
40:18in
40:18a
40:18scarlet
40:19coat
40:19with
40:21tarnished
40:22braiding
40:23and
40:23tarnished
40:24epaulettes
40:25of
40:25silver
40:25wire
40:26he
40:27was
40:27barefooted
40:28and
40:28bare
40:29of
40:29leg
40:29and
40:31he
40:31wore
40:32on
40:32his
40:32face
40:32a
40:33pair
40:33of
40:33round
40:34green
40:34goggles
40:35in
40:36this
40:36attire
40:37they
40:37arranged
40:37themselves
40:38before
40:38the
40:39americans
40:39and
40:41nodded
40:41austerely
40:42brown
40:44spat
40:44on
40:44the
40:45ground
40:45in
40:45disgust
40:46and
40:47glanton
40:47shook
40:48his
40:48head
40:48ain't
40:51you
40:51a
40:51crazy
40:52looking
40:53bunch
40:53of
40:54niggas
40:54he
40:55said
40:56only
40:57the
40:57judge
40:58seemed
40:58to
40:58weigh
40:58them
40:58up
40:59at
40:59all
40:59and
41:00he
41:00was
41:01sober
41:01in
41:01the
41:01doing
41:02judging
41:03as
41:03perhaps
41:04he
41:04did
41:04that
41:05things
41:05are
41:05seldom
41:06what
41:06they
41:06seem
41:07buenas
41:09tardes
41:10he
41:11said
41:11the
41:13mogul
41:14tossed
41:15his
41:15chin
41:15a
41:17small
41:17gesture
41:18darkened
41:19with a
41:19certain
41:19ambiguity
41:20buenas
41:22tardes
41:22he
41:23said
41:24de
41:25donde
41:25viene
41:25he
41:26and
41:26before
41:27him
41:28he
41:29has
41:29been
41:30a
41:30little
41:30that
41:31he
41:32had
41:32a
41:35to
41:36the
41:37getting
41:39to
41:39the
41:40other
41:40in
41:40the
41:41the
41:41way
41:44and
41:44in
41:46the
41:46way
41:47said
41:48to
41:48him
41:48he
41:49and
41:49he
41:50can
41:50I
41:52do
41:52you
41:53I
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