He shakes his head. "Then that's not important, and something you should not explain to such a farmer. Important to you or perhaps even your entire kind doesn't mean important to the average person, or even most people of your star." The cup is balanced carefully on his knee. "I could say to you 'Mitron is the source of all things in the sea, and rewrote the rules of aquatic shaping with each new appointment', but if you do not know Mitron, or why he is relevant, or what he is capable of, then the name means nothing to you .. even though to us it would be rather like saying the sun is in the sky."

Finally, FINALLY the brick of glittering black rock seems complete to his satisfaction, and it's examined very carefully, end over end, for any signs of imperfection. "Thus, we start with the obvious, that anyone could see and touch. No history required. No myths, no legends, and explanation of what a thing is, not simply the single word it is named. You may say 'web'.. but perhaps my word for it would be 'fjarnskag', and we would never know it is the same."