Speaker for the Dead (Ender Quintet Book 2)

by Orson Scott Card

“Quem fôde p’ra fazer-me?

The famous version of this story is noteworthy because it is so startlingly rare in our experience. Most communities lurch between decay and rigor mortis, and when they veer too far, they die. Only one rabbi dared to expect of us such a perfect balance that we could preserve the law and still forgive the deviation. So, of course, we killed him.

Both their bodies shook with Mother’s laugh. “Yes.” Then she stopped laughing and pulled away, looked Ela in the eyes. “Will he always come between us?” “Yes,” said Ela. “Like a bridge he’ll come between us, not a wall.”