![]() The city displays one face to the traveler arriving overland and a different one to him who arrives by sea. “Despina can be reached in two ways: by ship or by camel. They know the net will only last so long.” Suspended over the abyss, the life of Octavia's inhabitants is less uncertain than in other cities. All the rest, instead of rising up, is hung below: rope ladders, hammocks, houses made like sacks, clothes hangers, terraces like gondolas, skins of water, gas jets, spits, baskets on strings, dumb-waiters, showers, trapezes and rings for children's games, cable cars, chandeliers, pots with trailing plants. This is the foundation of the city: a net which serves as passage and as support. Below there is nothing for hundreds and hundreds of feet: a few clouds glide past farther down you can glimpse the chasm's bed. You walk on the little wooden ties, careful not to set your foot in the open spaces, or you cling to the hempen strands. There is a precipice between two steep mountains: the city is over the void, bound to the two crests with ropes and chains and catwalks. Now I will tell you how Octavia, the spider-web city, is made. ![]()
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