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Might not the ravings of a lunatic, the occurrence of an eclipse, the conjunction of planets, a monstrous birth, change the courses of states, launch armies, even delay retreats until retreat was no longer possible? I now, suddenly, as I had not before, began to suspect an explanation for dalliance and hesitation, for vacillation, for inexplicable, anomalous tactics, for a sessile strategy of timidity, immobility, restraint, and defense. - (Rebels of Gor, Chapter 12, Sentence #238)

"I trust," I said, glancing at the debris to the side, "you have had your own reader, Daichi san, either confirm or disconfirm that reading". I do not think I had hitherto understood, or taken with sufficient seriousness, the possibility that the shogun might credit the distribution of small objects spilled on a hardwood floor with such portent. To be sure, I knew there was much precedent for such views. Might not the ravings of a lunatic, the occurrence of an eclipse, the conjunction of planets, a monstrous birth, change the courses of states, launch armies, even delay retreats until retreat was no longer possible? I now, suddenly, as I had not before, began to suspect an explanation for dalliance and hesitation, for vacillation, for inexplicable, anomalous tactics, for a sessile strategy of timidity, immobility, restraint, and defense. Such a strategy I had often thought might have been designed by Lord Yamada himself, and now, for the first time, it struck me, like a fist, that it may well have been designed by Lord Yamada himself. Small objects lie about mute, planets go about their business, birds fly where they wish, but such things are interpreted. What are the babblings of an entranced sibyl, moaning and swaying on her tripod, drunk with fumes, without the enlightening interpretations of astute priests? I then understood better why Sumomo was present. - (Rebels of Gor)