"I will hear the Candidate's master."
A light cloud was filtering the sunlight, and the old man seemed cool and calm. He took a step to a little mound of good grass as if he were climbing to a rostrum.
"Wise one! Neither the holy one nor our own Grandmaster—both devoted patriots with their minds on the welfare of the City—thought to bring one very important fact to your attention. My apprentice's demonstration is not an original experiment; it is a reconstructed experiment. By Acknowledged Custom, reconstructed experiments are permitted regardless of mysteries and ideas so long as the experimenter does not comprehend any impious theory but merely follows the practical directions of old texts.
"I declare that my apprentice is ignorant of the theory of his demonstration—and who is in a better position to know than his master?"
Snubnose rejoiced. He was ready to forgive even the bread and water. In a few sentences Crookback had excused the Grandmaster's rashness, had made good the Grandmaster's oversight, and had set forth a strong case for Bump-arch.
"I will hear the holy one."
"Let him prove that!" the godsman shouted.
"I will hear the Candidate's master."
"I regret that I cannot prove it absolutely. Negatives are difficult of proof. I suggest that the Candidate swear to his ignorance by the God Mother-Father."
"You should know that apprentices are not eligible to take oaths," the High Arbiter said impatiently, dropping the formal manner as if in a hurry to finish the proceedings—and finish Bump-arch.