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31_days2005-09-12 10:58 pm
of-carabas.livejournal.com) wrote in 31_days2005-09-12 10:58 pm
[September 12] [Near Dark] A Thousand Miles (8/26)
Title: A Thousand Miles (8/26)
Day/Theme: September 12th/Dear Confucius
Series: Near Dark
Character: Severen, Jesse, Diamondback
Rating: PG
Generally they tried to take their cars from dealers. If you stole a man's car from his driveway, he tended to notice pretty damn quick; with dealers, you had a few more hours before the cops started looking for you, before you had to dump the car and find a new one.
Every once in a while, though, they didn't have much choice. The bright side to stealing a car that a person was using was that it had a little more personality to it. While Jesse drove, Severen amused himself poking through the odds and ends the owner left behind - a briefcase full of papers, a child's doll. Books, sometimes, and those he'd leaf through, read aloud for Jesse and Diamondback when they were interesting enough, keeping them occupied until the sun started to rise.
(Years later, Caleb would feign shock at the idea that Severen could read; he was rewarded with a headlock.)
In 1939 he found a dogeared copy of The Analects in the backseat; flipping through it revealed a discussion on how a man ought to act. Some of it was all right - talked about family, Jesse liked that part; talked about leading by example instead of just lecturing a guy, and he liked that too. Other parts were for mocking: the attention to ceremony didn't impress any of them much, and Confucius's statement that he knew 'the will of the heavens' by fifty was met with ringing laughter from both of the men. And other parts...
"...'The determined scholar and the man of virtue will not seek to live at the expense of humanity. They will even sacrifice their lives to preserve their humanity.'"
Severen's voice paused for a moment. And then he kept reading.
Those other parts, they didn't talk about at all.
Day/Theme: September 12th/Dear Confucius
Series: Near Dark
Character: Severen, Jesse, Diamondback
Rating: PG
Generally they tried to take their cars from dealers. If you stole a man's car from his driveway, he tended to notice pretty damn quick; with dealers, you had a few more hours before the cops started looking for you, before you had to dump the car and find a new one.
Every once in a while, though, they didn't have much choice. The bright side to stealing a car that a person was using was that it had a little more personality to it. While Jesse drove, Severen amused himself poking through the odds and ends the owner left behind - a briefcase full of papers, a child's doll. Books, sometimes, and those he'd leaf through, read aloud for Jesse and Diamondback when they were interesting enough, keeping them occupied until the sun started to rise.
(Years later, Caleb would feign shock at the idea that Severen could read; he was rewarded with a headlock.)
In 1939 he found a dogeared copy of The Analects in the backseat; flipping through it revealed a discussion on how a man ought to act. Some of it was all right - talked about family, Jesse liked that part; talked about leading by example instead of just lecturing a guy, and he liked that too. Other parts were for mocking: the attention to ceremony didn't impress any of them much, and Confucius's statement that he knew 'the will of the heavens' by fifty was met with ringing laughter from both of the men. And other parts...
"...'The determined scholar and the man of virtue will not seek to live at the expense of humanity. They will even sacrifice their lives to preserve their humanity.'"
Severen's voice paused for a moment. And then he kept reading.
Those other parts, they didn't talk about at all.