Stardust

Soon, Tristran feels like it’s summer instead of October. When he grows tired, he lies down, stares at the stars, and begins to dream of Mrs. Cherry. Then, a “small and hairy voice” asks Tristran to dream quieter dreams. In the morning, the small hairy man wakes Tristran up by offering him cooked mushrooms, which the man insists are disgusting but which Tristran loves. The man appreciates Tristran’s manners but remains unconvinced. He goes to relieve himself while Tristran watches his pack, and after Tristran takes his turn, he introduces himself. The man replies with, “Charmed,” and he then hurries off down the path. Tristran follows, thinking of how the man’s pack reminds him of the protagonist’s burden in Pilgrim’s Progress, which Mrs. Cherry read to the class every morning.

The little hairy man finally slows down, and he and Tristran walk side by side. When they stop for lunch, the man asks Tristran what he’s doing. He stops Tristran from describing Victoria’s beauty and asks “what damn-fool silly thing” she convinced him to do. This offends Tristran, but the man says that only lovers, minstrels, and madmen come here, and Tristran is obviously in love. Tristran explains that he promised Victoria a star, and the man suggests he find a girl who will reciprocate his affections without making him do silly things. But Tristran remains firm, and so the man warns him not to mention the star to anyone else here, though he should never lie if anyone asks where he’s going. He should say he’s going forward.

As the path grows more difficult to follow and a cold breeze blows, Tristran asks if the star is far away. In response, the little hairy man replies, “How many miles to Babylon?” Tristran recites the nursery rhyme and says it’s just a nursery rhyme. The man responds incredulously: people here would work for years to hear the rhyme (or any other nursery rhyme). Suddenly, they realize they can’t find the path, and they come across a bird skeleton. The hairy man explains that they’re in a serewood. The trees are going to kill them, and a falling leaf stings Tristran’s hand. Tristran says he still knows where the real path is, and so he guides the hairy man to it, dodging the trees that try to cut them and block their way. Finally, they make it back to the real path, and the serewood shakes angrily.

The small hairy man pulls out a bottle of something, which Tristran unstoppers for him. The man pours himself a cup and then offers one to Tristran. Then, Tristran points the way out of the wood, and a few hours later, the path leads between two stone walls, and the woods behind them disappears. Insisting they must talk, the man asks Tristran where he’s from and who his parents are. The man remembers Dunstan, who let him sleep in his barn once. As far as Tristran knows, though, he has no fairies or enchantresses in his family tree. To test him, the hairy man asks Tristran to point in the direction of various Faerie landmarks, and Tristran confidently does so. He doesn’t know where Paris, France is, though. Still confused, the hairy man suggests they eat. He promises to help Tristran find his star.

Meanwhile, Primus, Tertius, and Septimus ride down Mount Huon in a carriage. At nightfall, they stop at an inn—and one of the pot-girls can clearly see seven gentlemen. After supper, they go to their rooms and lock themselves in. Just before midnight, the chambermaid Letitia knocks on Tertius’s door. He inspects her body, kisses her, and then they have sex. She asks if he’d like to have sex again and offers him wine. He drinks, but before they can proceed, Tertius writhes and asks where the wine came from. Just as she says that Septimus gave it to her, Tertius dies. Tertius’s ghost discusses the poisoning with his dead brothers. Septimus escapes on one of the carriage horses, while Primus sends Letitia back to Stormhold with Tertius’s body and another of the horses. Then, Primus leaves in the carriage in a terrible mood.

A boy named Brevis has been sent by his mother to sell their ill-tempered goat at the market, as they have no food. When he reaches a crossroads near the wood, a gorgeous woman (Morwanneg) is there with a small cart but nothing to pull it. The woman asks Brevis to sell her the goat, offering a higher price than Brevis could’ve hoped. He hands over the rope, and the woman touches the goat between the eyes. To Brevis’s surprise, the goat—which would normally run—stays put. Then, the woman says a matched pair would be nice, so she touches Brevis’s forehead. When she snaps her fingers, Brevis and the goat stand between the cart’s shafts—Brevis is a goat. The goats pull the woman’s cart down the road.

Tristran sits wrapped in a blanket. The little hairy man has taken his ripped clothes to the village. Now, Tristran sees flickering lights in the bushes, and little folk appear and begin to sing embarrassing songs about his quest and his state of undress. Tristran throws his hat at them and cries to the hairy man that they took his hat when the hairy man returns. But the hairy man lays out clothes, which are brightly colored—not like the drab colors Wall’s residents wear. Tristran grudgingly dresses, and he’s almost a new man: he’s confident and jaunty. After sharing a meal, the little hairy man asks how far away the star is. Without thinking, Tristran says it might take six months. Nodding, the hairy man reminds Tristran of the nursery rhyme about Babylon and hands Tristran a small wax candle.

The little hairy man then hands Tristran a thin silver chain made of “Cat’s breath and fish-scales and moonlight on a mill-pond.” He’ll need it to bring his star back. Tristran wraps the chain around his wrist and finds a buttonhole in which to put the glass snowdrop. Then, the hairy man tells Tristran to stand up, he’ll light the candle, and Tristran will walk to his star quickly, as the candle’s wick is almost gone. The man lights the candle. Tristran walks, each step bringing him a new place. He passes through mountains, passes a woman (Morwanneg) driving two goats, and then steps into a glen.

Tristran looks for the star, figuring he’s looking for a rock. He can hear someone trying not to cry, and he asks if they can help him find a fallen star. The person throws clods of mud at him, and Tristran approaches to find a girl, who says only that she broke her leg when she fell. Tristran realizes that she is the star. He fastens the chain around her wrist and the other end around his own, announcing that he’s bringing her home with him because he swore an oath. Just then, the candle goes out. The star says coldly that she won’t help Tristran get home. Unperturbed, Tristran lies down to sleep, wondering what the little hairy man will think when he doesn’t come back. He also wonders what Victoria Forester is doing. The star continues to insult Tristran, but she finally sleeps.