Shevek went on reading the papers. He read that he was a towering giant of a man, that he was unshaven and possessed a 'mane,' whatever that was, of greying hair, that he was thirty-seven, forty-three-and fifty-six; that he had written a great work of physics called (the spelling depended on the paper) Principals of Simultaneity or Principles of Simiultany, that he was a goodwill ambassador from the Odonian government, that he was a vegetarian, and that, like all Anarresti, he did not drink. At this he broke down and laughed till his ribs hurt. "By damn, they do have imagination! Do they think we live on water vapor, like the rockmoss?"
"They mean you don't drink alcoholic liquors," said Pae, also laughing. "The one thing everybody knows about Odonians, I suppose, is that you don't drink alcohol. Is it true, by the way?"
"Some people distill alcohol from fermented holum root, for drinking. They say it gives the unconscious free play, like brainwave training. Most people prefer that, it's very easy and doesn't cause a disease. Is that common here?"
"Drinking is. I don't know about this disease. What's it called?"
"Alcoholism, I think."
"Oh, I see… But what do working people do on Anarres for a bit of jollity, to escape the woes of the world together for a night?"
Shevek looked blank. "Well, we… I don't know. Perhaps our woes are inescapable?"
— Ursula Le Guin, The Dispossessed
Acho que agora entendo por que as pessoas bebem.
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Shared Parenting relapse mother, 2017-06-29 05:59:31 -0300 #
Wow, cara! Reli agora o post e lembrei que demorei, mas li :-) One to go!