The Cream of the Jest · Chapter
XVI: They Come to a High Place explained
Kennaston dreams of meeting Ettarre on a high place overlooking a fantastical city.
What happens
Kennaston dreams of meeting Ettarre on a high place overlooking a fantastical city. He encounters a repulsive old woman knitting who speaks of paying upon leaving. Ettarre awaits him by a stone balustrade, and they share a moment of transcendent connection, though Kennaston finds he cannot touch her. He reflects on the dreamlike nature of their meeting and the sigil's magic.
Themes in this chapter
Dream vs. Reality
Kennaston is acutely aware that his exultant experience is part of an unstable dream, and he cannot physically touch Ettarre.
Love and Idealization
Kennaston's adoration of Ettarre is described in idealized, almost worshipful terms, and he feels she belongs to him.
The Limitations of the Flesh
Kennaston's inability to touch Ettarre highlights the boundary between the dream world and physical reality.
Characters to notice
- Felix Kennaston
Dreams of meeting Ettarre on a high place, feels exultant and powerful, but cannot touch her.
- La Beale Ettarre
Awaits Kennaston by a stone balustrade, speaks of waiting long, and is puzzled by his inability to touch her.
- Horvendile
Mentioned as having stood with Ettarre at Storisende, and Kennaston is addressed as Horvendile by Ettarre.
Key passages
“But one does not pay on entering. One pays as one goes out. It is the rule.”
The old woman tells Kennaston that the cost of the journey is incurred at the end, not the beginning.
This cryptic statement suggests a moral or existential reckoning to come.
“I only know it is forbidden me to stop.”
The old woman says she is compelled to keep knitting until some unknown end.
Her knitting may symbolize the relentless weaving of fate or destiny.
“But now I wonder where on the face of—or, rather, so far above the face of what especial planet we may happen to be?”
Kennaston marvels at the impossible geography of the dream, questioning which world they are in.
Highlights the surreal and disorienting nature of the dream realm.
“What really and greatly matters, is that when I try to touch you everything vanishes.”
Kennaston tells Ettarre that the most significant thing is his inability to make physical contact with her.
Emphasizes the dream's fragility and the barrier between desire and fulfillment.