“The centaurs are weak, and so they hate us. Civilization makes you weak. The centaurs have been civilized for long and long. If we had found you first, your time in the Hooflands would have been a very different thing.” “Yes, because you would have ripped me to pieces and devoured my liver.” “Perhaps,” allowed the kelpie. “But not until the time had come for you to play at salvation. We aren’t civilized, but we aren’t stupid.”
