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'Yes?'

'Sounds a bit odd, but it's happened once or twice, believe it or not' A tiny green shoot rose from the blackened branches of hope 'And what's the tradition?' said Rincewind 'It's on account of it being heartless to have athat at any second his--'

'Yes, yes--'

'--and then all his--'

'Yes--'

'--and the worst part to my mind is where your--'

'Yes, I understand! And soafter the third time?'

'He's allowed back into his cell while we get a carpenter in to repair the trapdoor,' said the warder 'We even give hi time'

'And?'

'Well, when the carpenter's given it a good test, then we take hi him' He saw Rincewind's expression 'No need to look like that, 's better than having to stand around in the cold all one, Rincewind sat and stared at the wall 'Baa!'

'Shut up' So it was down to this, then One brief night left, and then, if these clowns had anything to do with it, happy people would be wandering the streets to see where his head had come down There was no justice! G'DAY, MATE 'Oh, no Please' I JUST THOUGHT I SHOULD ENTER INTO THE SPIRIT OF THE THING A VERY CONVIVIAL PEOPLE, AREN'T THEY? said Death He was sitting beside Rincewind 'You just can't wait, can you?' said Rincewind bitterly NO WORRIES 'So this is really it, then I was supposed to have saved this country, you know And I' to really die' OH, YES THIS IS CERTAIN, I'M AFRAID 'It's the stupidity of it that gets me I mean, think of all the times I've nearly died in the past I could've been flas with tentacles Or even had every single particle of my body fly off in a different direction' YOU HAVE CERTAINLY HAD AN INTERESTING LIFE 'Is it true that your life passes before your eyes before you die?' YES 'Ghastly thought, really,' Rincewind shuddered 'Oh, gods, I've just had another one Suppose I a in front of my eyes?' I THINK PERHAPS YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND PEOPLE'S WHOLE LIVES DO PASS IN FRONT OF THEIR EYES BEFORE THEY DIE THE PROCESS IS CALLED 'LIVING' WOULD YOU LIKE A PRAWN? Rincewind looked down at the bucket on Death's lap 'No, thank you I really don't think so They can be pretty deadly And I loat and eat prawns athanged in the , I mean' ARE YOU? THEN I SHALL LOOK FORWARD TO HEARING HOW YOU ESCAPED I'M DUE TO MEET A MAN ININDeath's eyesockets glowed as he interrogated his memory AH, YESINSIDE A CROCODILE SEVERAL HUNDRED MILES AWAY, I BELIEVE 'What? Then why are you here?' OH, I THOUGHT YOU MIGHT LIKE TO SEE A FRIENDLY FACE AND NOW I THINK I HAD BETTER BE GOING Death stood up VERY PLEASANT CITY IN MANY RESPECTS TRY TO SEE THE OPERA HOUSE WHILE YOU'RE HERE 'Hang onIto die!' EVERYONE IS EVENTUALLY The wall opened and closed around Death as if it wasn't there, which was, frothy perspective, quite true 'But how? I can't walk through--' Rincewind began He sat down again The sheep cowered in the corner Rincewind looked at the untouched ave the pie a prod It sank slowly beneath the vivid green soup The sounds of the city filtered in After a while the pie rose again like a forgotten continent, sending a very se of the bowl Rincewind lay back on the thin blanket and stared at the ceiling So on that, too In factGdy Mat Look at the hinjis Ned Slowly, as if being raised by invisible strings, Rincewind turned and looked at the door The hinges were massive They weren't screwed into the doorfraht unscrew thee iron hooks, has welded on to the door could drop right down on the about? He walked over and exae metal rod into the frame on its side and looked quite unpickable

Rincewind stared at the door for so his teeth, tried to lift the door on the hinge side Yes, there was just enough playIt was possible to lift the rings off the spikes Then, if you pulled slightly and took a knee-wobbling step this way, you could yank the lock's rod out of its hole and the entire door into the cell And then a ain and quietly wander away And that, Rincewind thought as he carefully es, was exactly what a stupid person would do At moments like this cowardice was an exact science There were times that called for mindless, terror-filled panic, and tihtful panic Right noas in a place of safety It was, admittedly, the death cell, but the point was that it was perhaps the one place in this country where nothing bad was going to happen for a little while The Ecksians didn't look like the kind of people ent in for torture, although it was always possible they ht make him eat some more of their food So, for the moment, he had time Time to plan ahead, to consider his next move, to apply his intellect to the problem at hand He stared at the wall for a ht That seereen deck of the melon boat had been divided into a male and female section, for the sake of decency This meant that most of the deck was occupied by Mrs Whitloho spent a lot of the ti behind a screen Her privacy was assured by the wizards themselves, since at least three of them would probably kill any of the others who ventured within ten feet of the palm leaves There was definitely what Ponder's aunt, who'd raised hiht to cli torn, eh?' snarled the Senior Wrangler 'No, I just think it would be a good idea to see where the boat is going,' said Ponder There're so black clouds ahead'

'Good, we could do with the rain,' snapped the Chair of Indefinite Studies 'In which case, I shall be honoured to make Mrs Whitlow a suitable shelter,' said the Dean Ponder walked back to the stern, where the Archchancellor was gloo