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Robert A. Heinlein’s
Glory Road (1963):
“I have many names. What would you like to call me?”
“Is one of them ‘Helen’?”
She smiled like sunshine and I learned that she had dimples. She looked sixteen and in her first party dress. “You are very gracious. No, she’s not even a relative. That was many, many years ago.” Her face turned thoughtful. “Would you like to call me ‘Ettarre’?”
“Is that one of your names?”
“It is much like one of them, allowing for different spelling and accent. Or it could be ‘Esther’ just as closely. Or ‘Aster.’ Or even ‘Estrellita.’ ”
” ‘Aster,’ ” I repeated. “Star. Lucky Star!”
“I hope that I will be your lucky star,” she said earnestly. “As you will. But what shall I call you?”
I thought about it….
The name I had picked up in the hospital ward would do. I shrugged. “Oh, Scar is a good enough name.”
” ‘Oscar,’ ” she repeated, broadening the “O” into “Aw,”and stressing both syllables. “A noble name. A hero’s name. Oscar.” She caressed it with her voice.
“No, no! Not ‘Oscar’– ‘Scar.’ ‘Scarface.’ For this.”
“Oscar is your name,” she said firmly. “Oscar and Aster. Scar and Star.” |
