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<DIV align="center">The Seed<br>
Ancient Tales of the Dwemer, Part II<br>
By Marobar Sul<br>
<br>
<DIV align="left"><IMG src="Book/fancy_font/t_52x61.dds" width=52 height=61>he hamlet village of Lorikh was a quiet, peaceful Dwemer community nestled in the monochrome grey and tan dunes and boulders of the Dejasyte. No vegetation of any kind grew in Lorikh, though there were blackened vestiges of long dead trees scattered throughout the town. Kamdida arriving by caravan looked at her new home with despair. She was used to the forestland of the north where her father's family had haled. Here there was no shade, little water, and a great open sky. It looked like a dead land.<br>
<br>
Her mother's family took Kamdida and her younger brother Nevith in, and was very kind to the orphans, but she felt lonely in the alien village. It was not until she met an old Argonian woman who worked at the water factory that Kamdida found a friend. Her name was Sigerthe, and she said that her family had lived in Lorikh centuries before the Dwemer arrived, when it was a great and beauteous forest.<br>
<br>
"Why did the trees die?" asked Kamdida.<br>
<br>
"When there were Argonians only in this land, we never cut trees for we had no need for fuel or wooden structures such as you use. When the Dwemer came, we allowed them to use the plants as they needed them, provided they never touched the Hist, which are sacred to us and to the land. For many years, we lived peaceably. No one wanted for anything."<br>
<br>
"What happened?"<br>
<br>
"Some of your scientists discovered that distilling a certain tree sap, molding it and drying it, they could create a resilient kind of armor called resin," said Sigerthe. "Most of the trees that grew here had very thin ichor in their branches, but not the Hist. Many of them fairly glistened with sap, which made the Dwemer merchants greedy. They hired a woodsman named Juhnin to start clearing the sacred arbors for profit."<br>
<br>
The old Argonian woman looked to the dusty ground and sighed, "Of course, we Argonians cried out against it. It was our home, and the Hist, once gone, would never return. The merchants reconsidered, but Juhnin took it on his own to break our spirit. He proved one terrible, bloody day that his prodigious skill with the axe could be used against people as well as trees. Any Argonian who stood in his way was hewn asunder, children as well. The Dwemer people of Lorikh closed their doors and their ears to the cries of murder."<br>
<br>
"Horrible," gasped Kamdida.<br>
<br>
"It is difficult to explain," said Sigerthe. "But the deaths of our living ones was not nearly as horrible to us as the death of our trees. You must understand that to my people, the Hist are where we come from and where we are going. To destroy our bodies is nothing; to destroy our trees is to annihilate us utterly. When Juhnin then turned his axe on the Hist, he killed the land. The water disappeared, the animals died, and all the other life that the trees nourished crumbled and dried to dust."<br>
<br>
"But you are still here?" asked Kamdida. "Why didn't you leave?"<br>
<br>
"For us, we are trapped. I am one of the last of a dying people. Few of us are strong enough to live away from our ancestral groves, and sometimes, even now, there is a perfume in the air of Lorikh that gives us life. It will not be long until we are all gone."<br>
<br>
Kamdida felt tears welling up in her eyes. "Then I will be alone in this horrible place with no trees and no friends."<br>
<br>
'We Argonians have an expression," said Sigerthe with a sad smile, taking Kamdida's hand. "That the best soil for a seed is found in your heart."<br>
<br>
Kamdida looked into the palm of her hand and saw that Sigerthe had given her a small black pellet. It was a seed. "It looks dead."<br>
<br>
"It can only grow in one place in all Lorikh," said the old Argonian. "Outside an old cottage in the hills outside town. I cannot go there, for the owner would kill me on sight and like all my people, I am too frail to defend myself now. But you can go there and plant the seed."<br>
<br>
"What will happen?" asked Kamdida. "Will the Hist return?"<br>
<br>
"No. But some part of their power will."<br>
<br>
That night, Kamdida stole from her house and into the hills. She knew the cottage Sigerthe had spoken of. Her aunt and uncle had told her never to go there. As she approached it, the door opened and an old but powerfully built man appeared, a mighty axe slung over his shoulder.<br>
<br>
"What are you doing here, child?" he demanded. "In the dark, I almost took you to be a lizard man."<br>
<br>
"I've lost my way in the dark," she said quickly. "I'm trying to get back to my home in Lorikh."<br>
<br>
"Be on your way then."<br>
<br>
"Do you have a candle I might have?" she asked piteously. "I've been walking in circles and I'm afraid I'll only return back here without any light."<br>
<br>
The old man grumbled and walked into his house. Quickly, Kamdida dug a hole in the dry dirt and buried the seed as deeply as she could. He returned with a lit candle.<br>
<br>
"See to it you don't come back here," he growled. "Or I'll chop you in half."<br>
<br>
He returned to his house and fire. The next morning when he awoke and opened the door, he found that his cottage was entirely sealed within an enormous tree. He picked up his axe and delivered blow and after blow to the wood, but he could never break through. He tried side chops, but the wood healed itself. He tried an upper chop followed by an under chop to form a wedge, but the wood sealed.<br>
<br>
Much time went by before someone discovered old Juhnin's emaciated body lying in front of his open door, still holding his blunted, broken axe. It was a mystery to all what he had been chopping with it, but the legend began circulating through Lorikh that Hist sap was found on the blade.<br>
<br>
Shortly thereafter, small desert flowers began pushing through the dry dirt in the town. Trees and plants newly sown began to live tolerably well, if not luxuriantly. The Hist did not return, but Kamdida and the people of Lorikh noticed that at a certain time around twilight, long, wide shadows of great, bygone trees would fill the streets and hills.<br>
<br>
<DIV align="center">Publisher's Note<br>
<DIV align="left">"The Seed" is one of Marobar Sul's tales whose origins are well known. This tale originated from the Argonian slaves of southern Morrowind. "Marobar Sul" merely replaced the Dunmer with Dwemer and claimed he found it in a Dwemer ruin. Furthermore, he later claimed that the Argonian version of the tale was merely a retelling of his "original!"<br>
<br>
Lorikh, while clearly not a Dwemer name, simply does not exist, and in fact "Lorikh" was a name commonly used, incorrectly, for Dunmer men in Gor Felim's plays. The Argonian versions of the story usually take place on Vvardenfell, usually in the Telvanni city of Sadrith Mora. Of course the so-called "scholars" of Temple Zero will probably claim this story has something to do with "Lorkhan" simply because the town starts with the letter L.<br>
<br>
<br>
訳文 †
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<DIV align="center">種子<br>
Dwemer_の古代説話、第2巻<br>
Marobar_Sul_著<br>
<br>
<DIV align="left"><IMG src="Book/fancy_font/t_52x61.dds" width=52 height=61>he hamlet village of Lorikh、Lorikh_の_hamlet_村は静かだった。白黒の灰色、日に焼けた砂丘、そして_Dejasyte_の巨石に囲まれた_Dwemer_の平和な村である。しかし村の至る所に、黒く変色した長い枯れ木の名残が散らばっていた。隊商でやって来た_Kamdida_は鬱屈した気持ちで、自分の新居を見つめた。彼女は父方の家族が住んでいた北方の山林に慣れ親しんでいた。それに比べて、ここは日陰がなければ、水もほとんどない。ただ空が大きく口を開けているだけだ。まるで死んだ土地のようだった。<br>
<br>
彼女の母方の親族は_Kamdida_と弟の_Nevith_をこの村に連れてきた。彼らはこの孤児達に非常に親切であったが、当の_Kamdida_はこの見慣れぬ村の中で孤独を感じていた。彼女は水処理工場で働く_Argonian_の老女と出会った。Kamdida_にとって初めての友人だった。老女の名は_Sigerthe_といい、彼女の家族は_Dwemer_が来る何世紀も前から_Lorikhni_に住んでいて、彼女が言うには、その頃は素晴らしく麗しい森林だったという。<br>
<br>
Kamdida_は尋ねた。「なぜ木々は死んだの？」<br>
<br>
「わたし達_Argonian_だけがこの土地にいた頃は、あなた達_Dwemer_が使っているような燃料や木造建築は必要なかったので、決して木々を切らなかった。 でも_Dwemer_が来て、そういったモノを彼らが必要とした際に、わたし達や大地にとって神聖な存在である_Hist_に触れない限りは、木々を使ってもいいことにしました。何年もの間、わたし達は平和を享受しました。それと引き換えに何かを望む人はいませんでした」 <br>
<br>
「何があったの？」<br>
<br>
「あなた達の科学者の一部が、ある樹液を蒸留した後、成型し、乾燥させることで、樹脂と呼ばれる弾力性に優れた武具を作れることを発見したのです」Sigerthe_は続けた。「ここで育った木々のほとんどは_Hist_ではなく、枝にとても薄い膿漿を持っていて、それらの多くは樹液でキラキラと輝いていました。それが_Dwemer_商人を強欲にしたのです。彼らは_Juhnin_という木こりを雇いました。そして利得のために神聖なあずまやを一掃しようとし始めたのです」<br>
<br>
Argonian_の老女は灰色の大地を見て、ため息混じりに言った。「もちろん、わたし達_Argonian_はそれに対して声高に反対しました。元々はわたし達の家であったし、なにより一度失ってしまった_Hist_は二度と返らないのです。商人達は再考しました。しかし、Juhnin_はわたし達の鋭気を打ち砕くために、一人で木々を切りました。彼は恐ろしい形でそれを証明しました。つまり、彼の類まれな斧の技術が、木々と同様に人々に対しても振るわれるという血生臭い日です。彼の邪魔をした_Argonian_は斧でバラバラにされました。子供あろうと容赦なく。Lorikh_の_Dwemer_達は殺人の悲鳴に戸を閉じ、耳を塞ぎました」<br>
<br>
「恐ろしい」と_Kamdida_はあえぐような声を出した。<br>
<br>
「説明するのは難しいわ」Sigerthe_は言った。「でも、わたし達生きているモノの死は、木々の死と比べれば、到底ましと言えるほどでした。わたし達は_Hist_から来て、Hist_へ行くのです。わたし達にとってあれはそういうものだと、あなた達は理解しなければなりません。わたし達の身体を破壊するのは何でもありません、ただ、わたし達の木々を破壊するのはわたし達を完全に、徹底的に、破壊することなのです。Juhnin_が_Hist_に斧を向けた時、彼は大地を殺したのです。水はなくなり、動物達は死に、木々に養われていた他の全ての命が塵のようにボロボロに崩れて乾燥しました」<br>
<br>
「でも、まだあなたはここにいるのね？」Kamdida_は尋ねた。「どうしてここを出なかったの？」<br>
<br>
わたし達については、わたし達は囚われています。わたしは死にゆく民の生き残りの一人です。先祖伝来の土地を離れて生きていけるぐらい強い者はわたし達の中にはほとんどいません。そして時々、今でもわたし達に命を与える_Lorikh_の芳香があるのです。わたし達が全ていなくなるまで、そう長くはないでしょう」<br>
<br>
Kamdida_は自分の目に涙がこみ上げてくるのを感じた。「じゃあ、わたしは木々もなく、友達もいないこのひどい場所で一人ぼっちになるのね」<br>
<br>
「わたし達_Argonian_にはある言い回しがあります」Kamdida_の手をとり、悲しく笑いながら_Sigerthe_は言った。「あなたの心の中にこそ、種にとって最良の土がある」<br>
<br>
Kamdida looked into the palm of her hand and saw that Sigerthe had given her a small black pellet. It was a seed. "It looks dead."<br>
<br>
"It can only grow in one place in all Lorikh," said the old Argonian. "Outside an old cottage in the hills outside town. I cannot go there, for the owner would kill me on sight and like all my people, I am too frail to defend myself now. But you can go there and plant the seed."<br>
<br>
"What will happen?" asked Kamdida. "Will the Hist return?"<br>
<br>
"No. But some part of their power will."<br>
<br>
That night, Kamdida stole from her house and into the hills. She knew the cottage Sigerthe had spoken of. Her aunt and uncle had told her never to go there. As she approached it, the door opened and an old but powerfully built man appeared, a mighty axe slung over his shoulder.<br>
<br>
"What are you doing here, child?" he demanded. "In the dark, I almost took you to be a lizard man."<br>
<br>
"I've lost my way in the dark," she said quickly. "I'm trying to get back to my home in Lorikh."<br>
<br>
"Be on your way then."<br>
<br>
"Do you have a candle I might have?" she asked piteously. "I've been walking in circles and I'm afraid I'll only return back here without any light."<br>
<br>
The old man grumbled and walked into his house. Quickly, Kamdida dug a hole in the dry dirt and buried the seed as deeply as she could. He returned with a lit candle.<br>
<br>
"See to it you don't come back here," he growled. "Or I'll chop you in half."<br>
<br>
He returned to his house and fire. The next morning when he awoke and opened the door, he found that his cottage was entirely sealed within an enormous tree. He picked up his axe and delivered blow and after blow to the wood, but he could never break through. He tried side chops, but the wood healed itself. He tried an upper chop followed by an under chop to form a wedge, but the wood sealed.<br>
<br>
Much time went by before someone discovered old Juhnin's emaciated body lying in front of his open door, still holding his blunted, broken axe. It was a mystery to all what he had been chopping with it, but the legend began circulating through Lorikh that Hist sap was found on the blade.<br>
<br>
Shortly thereafter, small desert flowers began pushing through the dry dirt in the town. Trees and plants newly sown began to live tolerably well, if not luxuriantly. The Hist did not return, but Kamdida and the people of Lorikh noticed that at a certain time around twilight, long, wide shadows of great, bygone trees would fill the streets and hills.<br>
<br>
<DIV align="center">Publisher's Note<br>
<DIV align="left">"The Seed" is one of Marobar Sul's tales whose origins are well known. This tale originated from the Argonian slaves of southern Morrowind. "Marobar Sul" merely replaced the Dunmer with Dwemer and claimed he found it in a Dwemer ruin. Furthermore, he later claimed that the Argonian version of the tale was merely a retelling of his "original!"<br>
<br>
Lorikh, while clearly not a Dwemer name, simply does not exist, and in fact "Lorikh" was a name commonly used, incorrectly, for Dunmer men in Gor Felim's plays. The Argonian versions of the story usually take place on Vvardenfell, usually in the Telvanni city of Sadrith Mora. Of course the so-called "scholars" of Temple Zero will probably claim this story has something to do with "Lorkhan" simply because the town starts with the letter L.<br>
<br>
<br>
