Once and Future
Terry Pratchett
The copper wire. It was the copper wire that gave me the trouble.
It’s all down to copper wire. The old alchemists used to search for gold. If only they’d known what a man and a girl can do with copper wire . . .
And a tide mill. And a couple of hefty bars of soft iron.
And here I am now, with this ridiculous staff in one hand and the switch under my foot, waiting.
I wish they wouldn’t call me Merlin. It’s Mervin. There was a Merlin, I’ve found out. A mad old guy who lived in Wales and died years ago. But there were legends about him, and they’re being welded onto me now. I reckon that happens all the time. Hall the famous heroes of history are really lots of local guys all rolled into one by the ballad singers. Remember Robin Hood? Technically I suppose I can’t, because none of the rascals who went under that name will be born for several centuries yet, if he even is due to exist in this universe, so using the word remember is probably the wrong, you know, grammar. Can you remember something that hasn’t happened yet? I can. Nearly everything I can remember hasn’t happened yet, but that’s how it goes in the time travel business. Gone today and here tomorrow . . .
. . .
