April 5: A Depth of Understanding Read Online Free PDF Page A

making mats called tapas, of the inner bark of the mulberry, dyed and patterned beautifully. That April could see in her new home. There were smaller ones, no bigger than a place mat, some with bright colors she suspected were for the tourist trade. The bigger ones tended to black and white and shades of brown.
    One old man had a variety, but behind him was a mat standing rolled up vertically, only the one edge pulled open to show the pattern. It was a checkerboard of squares, three patterns repeating in a sequence April couldn't quite figure out. One a swirl inside a border, one a pattern that reminded April of a Navaho rug she'd seen and the last a solid pattern of dark and light parallelograms. It was of very thin fibers tightly woven and very fine.
    April stood looking at it quite a long time, thinking. The old fellow could see where her eyes were going but pretended indifference, sipping on a cup of something. "Sir, is that rolled up tapa for sale, or do you just display it as an example of the art?" she finally asked.
    He couldn't hide the fact that pleased him. "It is lovely isn't it? There aren't many ladies who can do this level of work now and there are a lot of hours invested in it. There are bigger tapas in the royal residence and in the museums, here and on Samoa, but few commercially available even this big these days."
    "May one ask what you'd consider a fair exchange for it?"
    "Let me think on that," he countered, like he didn't know to the centum. "You are a spacer aren't you? You'd pay a lot just to lift it to your home."
    "I am. I already considered that. Some of my friends and I have been down to relax and enjoy the open spaces and the sun. We spent some days on an unpopulated atoll and swam and dove. We're from Home."
    "Ah, your country has a special relationship with Tonga. I understand most of the freight lifting from here goes to Home. That's why we have so many Japanese lately, though I have to say we seem to get along with them better than the Chinese. We kicked most of them out in my grandfather's time."
    "The Japanese built our habitat," April told him. "My father manages the physical structure for them. But I am also a resident of Central on the moon and if we can only get it sorted out to your King's satisfaction, we'll have Tongan residents there too."
    "Are you a subject of the new Queen that we hear about on the moon? I was shocked to hear of a new monarchy. Earth seems to be discarding their royalty, which we Tongans are not ready to do. They may not be perfect, but we see them as stable, unlike the mob rule some places."
    "She hasn't used the word queen in my hearing, but the young lady in the teal shirt is the sovereign of whom you're speaking. The young man with her and I and are close friends, business associates and by her word, her peers." She laid it on thick, hoping it helped the price if he was fond of royalty. She didn't mention she was upset Heather didn't drop the sovereignty after she felt it had served its purpose and still had a hard time accepting she was Dame Lewis. She still found occasion to give Heather a hard time about the concept of royalty and titles..
    "That's good. Most of the mats of this quality are owned by the royal family. I am happier knowing it would be preserved and not allowed to deteriorate like it could in a common house."
    "I had in mind to put it on  my wall, with other fine art."
    "You might seek help from a museum archivist, to hang it so it doesn't get bent and distorted over time."
    That was good that he was talking like she already owned it.
    "My home is in half gravity, it will only weigh half as much as usual here, so that helps to preserve it too."
    He got the oddest amused look. "Don't you fairly bounce off the ground if you weigh so little? I'm trying to imagine it, but it seems odd."
    "You do step differently and dancing has a much wider range, but you learn to shuffle along quickly and sleeping is much easier when it feels like you are