For it was in this pool that the Hermit looked when he wanted to know what was going on in the world outside the green walls of his hermitage. There， as in a mirror， he could see， at certain times， what was going on in the streets of cities far further south than Tashbaan， or what ships were putting into Redhaven in the remote Seven Isles， or what robbers or wild beasts stirred in the great Western forests between Lantern Waste and Telmar. And all this day he had hardly left his pool， even to eat or drink， for he knew that great events were afoot in Archenland. Aravis and the Horses gazed into it too. They could see it was a magic pool： instead of reflecting the tree and the sky it revealed cloudy and coloured shapes moving， always moving， in its depths. But they could see nothing clearly. The Hermit could and from time to time he told them what he saw. A little while before Shasta rode into his first battle， the Hermit had begun speaking like this：
