she did n't answer , just smiled , a long , thin smile like a knife blade ; then she started to talk about the temple in velzna , a long , funny story about the priest who kept showing her fantastic treasures of the temple - the gilt bronze tripod given by a charioteer who had won fifteen races on the trot , the statuettes given by some new city in the northland fens `` where all the people have webbed feet and they only eat fish and fowl , because the pigs die of rot and the cows drown in the mud '' , the way both combatants in a small war had vowed a bronze-sheathed chariot if the other was destroyed , and both were destroyed , so in the end the temple got two chariots , though it took ten years for the ruined cities to raise the funds ( `` which teaches you to be careful what you ask for , '' ramtha commented ) - showing her all these treasures , and then telling her the price .