When the doors to the lower water level are open, the ones to the higher automatically close; and vice versa. The two sets of doors are connnected by a complex of subterrranean cogs and pulleys and neither can be opened or closed simultaneously. In terms of its primary function, this makes sense. However, because the movement of the doors is dependent on on another, it takes great effort to shift them, resulting in the build-up of an elastic momentum that causes them to snap forward suddenly with great force. Because the two sets of doors are separated by a fair distance and because, when they are closed, they also function as bridges from one side of the canal to the other, it is not unusual for someone to start closing one set of doors while someon else is walking across the other one. People are constantly being pitched off the doors into the canal and several have even been killed in this way.
This is, I must admit, largely irrelevant, except that it sets off a chain of associations in Pierre's mind. Even when the wind is down and the water is still, he feels that the entire surface of the lake is trembling with violence. |
