And so she talked on and on, even going into her feeling about omens. She stopped abruptly, looked at him a little fearfully, and laughed. But he was very serious; he seemed to understand her very well. ‘Yes, yes,’ he said, stroking his beardless chin meditatively. ‘You are right about that.’
Logically she should not have found such a statement reassuring, but the fact that he agreed with her she found deliciously comforting. However, he continued: ‘The mistake you make is being afraid. That is the great mistake. The signs are given us for our good, not for our harm. But when you are afraid you read them wrong and make bad things where good ones were meant to be.’
‘But I am afraid,’ protested Kit. ‘How can I change that? It’s impossible.’
He looked at her and shook his head. ‘That’s not the way to live’, he said.
Logically she should not have found such a statement reassuring, but the fact that he agreed with her she found deliciously comforting. However, he continued: ‘The mistake you make is being afraid. That is the great mistake. The signs are given us for our good, not for our harm. But when you are afraid you read them wrong and make bad things where good ones were meant to be.’
‘But I am afraid,’ protested Kit. ‘How can I change that? It’s impossible.’
He looked at her and shook his head. ‘That’s not the way to live’, he said.
