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more than a scullery boy who sits by sheerest accident on the throne at Riva.
I know that Belgarath is a charlatan or a madman or worse. And I know
that Polgara, that impossible woman, is no better than she should be.
But now to the documents in hand. When this mass of disorganized
material was delivered to me by the ape-like Barak, I laughed at what was so
obviously a fraud. The rambling, self-congratulatory preface by Belgarath
provides an immediate clue as to how seriously one should take this entire
thing. If we are to believe this absurd testimony, Belgarath is somewhat over
seven thousand years old, consorts freely with Gods, converses with beasts
and performs miracles with the wave of a hand. I am amazed that even the
feeble intelligence of my former pupil accepted so ludicrous a story,. for,
though she has the typical Borune pig-headedness, she at least had the
benefit of my tutelage during her formative years.
The next collection in this welter of documents consists of a series of
extracts from the sacred writings of the various peoples of the known world.
The manuscripts (all stolen, I'm sure) are hardly subject to verification. 'The
Proverbs of Nedra, for example, are from the list approved by the priests in
the great Temple at Tol Honeth. The Lament of Mara presented here differs
only marginally from a copy in my own library The Book of Alorn is in
keeping with the spirit of that barbaric race. The Book of Torak, however, is
a translation from old Angarak (a language with which I am unfamiliar) and
is subject to all the woeful errors common in translations. And the so-called
Book of Ulgo is a patent absurdity I have always been of the opinion that
Ulgos are nothing more than a race of fanatical heretics who should have
been forcibly converted to a proper religion centuries ago.
The section dealing with the history of the twelve kingdoms of the West,
by contrast, is a solid and respectable piece of work - as well it should be.
The document was stolen from (and still bears the seal oO the Imperial
Library at Tol Honeth. My only quarrel with the manuscript is the fact that
it is the official version prepared with all that toadying flattery of the House
of Borune of which our present Dynasty is so fond.
The final section, the Arendish fairy-tale account of the Battle of Vo
Mimbre, is a fitting conclusion to this entire work, since it is filled from
beginning to end with utter nonsense.
And now my task is complete. I wish Her Imperial Highness all the joy
in it she so richly deserves.
I leave behind me one wish before I depart for Mar Terin. With all my
heart I pray to great Nedra that the Borune Dynasty which has so blighted
the Empire be succeeded by the Honethites - a family with a proper respect
for tradition, and one which knows how to suitably reward those who have
served them.
And now, farewell.
JEEbERS
Fellow of the Imperial Society
Tutor to the Imperial Household
Done and scaled at Tol Honeth
in the year 5378.
INTERMISSION
Are you still there? What an amazing thing! If you've read the
Belgariad, I'm sure you can see now where most of it originated. (If
you haven't read the Belgariad, why are you reading this?) The
studies you've just so bravely endured gave us the story Our