But there was no sign of sandpeople. Slowly he raised his body to a sitting position.
"Ben Kenobi…am I glad to see you!" Rising, the old man surveyed the canyon floor and rolling rimwall above. One foot played with the sand. "The Jundland wastes are not to be traveled lightly. It’s the misguided traveler who tempts the Tusken’s hospitality." His gaze went back to his patient. "Tell me, young man, what brings you out this far into nowhere?" Luke indicated Artoo Detoo. "This little ’droid. For a while I thought he’d gone crazy, claiming he was searching for a former master. Now I don’t think so.
I’ve never seen such devotion in a ’droid—misguided or otherwise. There seems to be no stopping him; he even resorted to tricking me." Luke’s gaze shifted upward. "He claims to be the property of someone called Obi-wan Kenobi." Luke watched closely, but the man showed no reaction. "Is that a relative of yours? My uncle thinks he was a real person. Or is it just some unimportant bit of scrambled information that got shifted into his primary performance bank?" An introspective frown did remarkable things to that sandlbasted face. Kenobi appeared to ponder the question, scratching absently at his scruffy beard. "Obi-wan Kenobi!," he recited. "Obi-wan…now, that’s a name I haven’t heard in a long time.
A long time. Most curious." "My uncle said he was dead," Luke supplied helpfully.
"Oh, he’s not dead," Kenobi corrected him easily. "Not yet, not yet." Luke climbed excitedly to his feet, all thoughts of Tusken Raiders forgotten now.
"You know him, then?" A smile of perverse youthfulness split that collage of wrinkled skin and beard.
"Of course I know him; he’s me. Just as you probably suspected, Luke. I haven’t gone by the name Obi-wan, though, since before you were born." "Then," Luke essayed, gesturing at Artoo Detoo, "this ’droid does belong to you, as he claims." "Now, that’s the peculiar part," an openly puzzled Kenobi confessed, regarding the silent robot. "I can’t seem to remember owning a ’droid, least of all a modern Artoo unit. Most interesting, most interesting." Something drew the old man’s gaze suddenly to the brow of nearby cliffs. "I think it’s best we make use of your landspeeder some. The sandpeople are easily startled, but they’ll soon return in greater numbers. A landspeeder’s not a prize readily conceded, and after all, jawas they’re not." Placing both hands over his mouth in a peculiar fashion, Kenobi inhaled deeply and let out an unearthly howl that made Luke jump. "That ought to keep any laggards running for a while yet," the old man concluded with satisfaction.
"That’s a krayt dragon call!" Luke gaped in astonishment "How did you do that?"
责任编辑：mman
