“Politics, n. For the Elder Races, this generally involves bloodshed of some sort and a spate of funerals.”

“Beside him a tiny elderly woman was leaning on a cane, studying him with curiosity. Since good manners seemed to require that he speak to her, Jon cast about for some sort of polite conversation pertinent to the occasion. “I hate funerals, don’t you?” He said.“I rather like them,” she said smugly. “At my age, I regard each funeral I attend as a personal triumph, because I was not the guest of honor.”

“The rain's been racing earthwards as if with some religious or political fanaticism. The clouds have the look of dark internal bleeding. Surely you lot look up from Cosmo while this sort of thing's going on? Surely you take a Playstation break?”

“I could tell you a tale about something,' Miach offered, rubbing her hand absently. 'If you like.'She frowned thoughtfully. 'What sort of something?''Something that would soothe you,' he promised. 'I'm sure there would be swords involved. Bloodshed. Peril. That kind of thing.”

“Why is it that we rejoice at a birth and grieve at a funeral? It is because we are not the person involved. ”

“Travel, in the younger sort, is a part of education; in the elder, a part of experience. He that travelleth into a country before he hath some entrance into the language, goeth to school, and not to travel.”