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'Bigjobs!'

'Dere c'n onlie be whin t'ousand!'

'Nac le wha hae!'

'Wha hae yersel, ya boggin!'

The little cup of valleys, glowing in the last shreds of evening sunlight, was the kingdom of Lancre

Frohest points, people said, you could see all the way to the rim of the world

It was also said, although not by the people who lived in Lancre, that below the rie, their hoe elephants that in turn stood on the shell of a turtle that was as big as the world

The people of Lancre had heard of this They thought it sounded about right The world was obviously flat, although in Lancre itself the only truly flat places were tables and the top of some people's heads, and certainly turtles could shift a fair load Elephants, by all accounts, were pretty strong too There didn't seeaps in the thesis, so Lancrastians left it at that

It wasn't that they didn't take an interest in the world around them On the contrary, they had a deep, personal and passionate involve, 'Why are we here?' they asked, 'Is it going to rain before the harvest?'

A philosopher ht have deplored this lack of mental ambition, but only if he was really certain about where his nextfrom

In fact Lancre's position and clihtforward people who often excelled in the world down below It had supplied the plains with ain, the philosopher ive the world soquite unaware that only those with their feet on rock can build castles in the air

And so the sons and daughters of Lancre went off into the world, carved out careers, climbed the various ladders of achievement, and always remembered to send money home

Apart fro the return addresses on the envelope, those who stayed didn't think much about the world outside

The world outside thought about theh

The big flat-topped rock was deserted now, but on thetowards the lowlands