"I reflected. 'Love. Because we will accept our loved one's share
of pain.'

"'But what is greater than Love?' he persisted.

"'Nothing, Slofork.'

"'And what is Nothing?'

"'That you must tell me.'

"'Tell you I will. This is Shaping's world. He that is a good child
here, knows pleasure, pain, and love, and gets his rewards. But
there's another world--not Shaping's and there all this is unknown,
and another order of things reigns. That world we call Nothing--but
it is not Nothing, but Something.'

"There was a pause.

"'I have heard,' said I, 'that you are good at growing and ungrowing
organs?'

"'That's not enough for me. Every organ tells me the same story. I
want to hear different stories.'

"'Is it true, what men say, that your wisdom flows and ebbs in
pulses?'

"'Quite true,' replied Slofork. 'But those you had it from did not
add that they have always mistaken the flow for the ebb.'