English
Thechildrencamewillingly.Withoneofthemoneachsideofme,Iapproachedthecorneroccupiedby“MeinHerr”.“Youdon’tobjecttochildren,Ihope?”Ibegan.
“Crabbedageandyouthcannotlivetogether!”theoldmancheerfullyreplied,withamostgenialsmile.“Nowtakeagoodlookatme,mychildren!Youwouldguessmetobeanoldman,wouldn’tyou?”
Atfirstsight,thoughhisfacehadremindedmesomysteriouslyof“theProfessor”,hehadseemedtobedecidedlyayoungerman:but,whenIcametolookintothewonderfuldepthofthoselargedreamyeyes,Ifelt,withastrangesenseofawe,thathewasincalculablyolder:heseemedtogazeatusoutofsomeby-goneage,centuriesaway.
“Idon’tknowifoo’reanoldman,”Brunoanswered,asthechildren,wonoverbythegentlevoice,creptalittleclosertohim.“Ithinksoo’reeighty-three.”
“Heisveryexact!”saidMeinHerr.
“Isheanythinglikeright?”Isaid.
“Therearereasons,”MeinHerrgentlyreplied,“reasonswhichIamnotatlibertytoexplain,fornotmentioningdefinitelyanyPersons,Places,orDates.
OneremarkonlyIwillpermitmyselftomake—thattheperiodoflife,betweentheagesofahundred-and-sixty-fiveandahundred-and-seventy-five,isaspeciallysafeone.”
“Howdoyoumakethatout?”Isaid.
“Thus.Youwouldconsiderswimmingtobeaverysafeamusement,ifyouscarcelyeverheardofanyonedyingofit.
AmInotrightinthinkingthatyouneverheardofanyonedyingbetweenthosetwoages?”
“Iseewhatyoumean,”Isaid:“butI’mafraidyouca’n’tproveswimmingtobesafe,onthesameprinciple.Itisnouncommonthingtohearofsomeonebeingdrowned.”
“Inmycountry,”saidMeinHerr.“nooneiseverdrowned.”
“Istherenowaterdeepenough?”
“Plenty!Butweca’n’tsink.Wearealllighterthanwater.
Letmeexplain,”headded,seeingmylookofsurprise.
“Supposeyoudesirearaceofpigeonsofaparticularshapeorcolour,doyounotselect,fromyeartoyear,thosethatarenearesttotheshapeorcolouryouwant,andkeepthose,andpartwiththeothers?”
“Wedo,”Ireplied.“Wecallit‘ArtificialSelection’.”
“Exactlyso,”saidMeinHerr.“Well,wehavepractisedthatforsomecenturies—constantlyselectingthelightestpeople:sothat,now,everybodyislighterthanwater.”
“Thenyounevercanbedrownedatsea?”
“Never!Itisonlyontheland—forinstance,whenattendingaplayinatheatre—thatweareinsuchadanger.”
“Howcanthathappenatatheatre?”
“Ourtheatresareallunderground.Largetanksofwaterareplacedabove.
Ifafirebreaksout,thetapsareturned,andinoneminutethetheatreisflooded,uptotheveryroof!Thusthefireisextinguished.”
“Andtheaudience,Ipresume?”
“Thatisaminormatter,”MeinHerrcarelesslyreplied.
“Buttheyhavethecomfortofknowingthat,whetherdrownedornot,theyarealllighterthanwater.
Wehavenotyetreachedthestandardofmakingpeoplelighterthanair:butweareaimingatit;and,inanotherthousandyearsorso—”
“Whatcoosoodowizthepeoplesthat’stooheavy?”Brunosolemnlyenquired.
“Wehaveappliedthesameprocess,”MeinHerrcontinued,notnoticingBruno’squestion,“tomanyotherpurposes.
Wehavegoneonselectingwalking-sticks—alwayskeepingthosethatwalkedbest—tillwehaveobtainedsome,thatcanwalkbythemselves!
Wehavegoneonselectingcotton-wool,tillwehavegotsomelighterthanair!
You’venoideawhatausefulmaterialitis!Wecallit‘Imponderal’.”
“Whatdoyouuseitfor?”
“Well,chieflyforpackingarticles,togobyParcel-Post.Itmakesthemweighlessthannothing,youknow.”
“AndhowdothePostOfficepeopleknowwhatyouhavetopay?”
“That’sthebeautyofthenewsystem!”MeinHerrcriedexultingly.“Theypayus:wedon’tpaythem!I’veoftengotasmuchasfiveshillingsforsendingaparcel.”
“Butdoesn’tyourGovernmentobject?”
“Well,theydoobjectalittle.Theysayitcomessoexpensive,inthelongrun.
Butthething’sasclearasdaylight,bytheirownrules.
IfIsendaparcel,thatweighsapoundmorethannothing,Ipaythree-pence:so,ofcourse,ifitweighsapoundlessthannothing,Ioughttoreceivethree-pence.”
“Itisindeedausefularticle!”Isaid.
“Yeteven‘Imponderal’hasitsdisadvantages,”heresumed.“Iboughtsome,afewdaysago,andputitintomyhat,tocarryithome,andthehatsimplyfloatedaway!’
“Hadoosomeofthatfunnystuffinoorhatto-day?”Brunoenquired.“Sylvieandmesawoointheroad,andoorhatwereeversohighup!Weren’tit,Sylvie?”
“No,thatwasquiteanotherthing,”saidMeinHerr.
“Therewasadroportwoofrainfalling:soIputmyhatonthetopofmystick—asanumbrella,youknow.
AsIcamealongtheroad”,hecontinued,turningtome,“Iwasovertakenby—”
“—ashowerofrain?”saidBruno.
“Well,itlookedmorelikethetailofadog,”MeinHerrreplied.“Itwasthemostcuriousthing!
Somethingrubbedaffectionatelyagainstmyknee.AndIlookeddown.AndIcouldseenothing!
Only,aboutayardoff,therewasadog’stail,wagging,allbyitself!”
“Oh,Sylvie!”Brunomurmuredreproachfully.“Oodidn’tfinishmakinghimvisible!”
“I’msosorry!”Sylviesaid,lookingverypenitent.
“Imeanttorubitalonghisback,butwewereinsuchahurry.We’llgoandfinishhimto-morrow.Poorthing!Perhapshe’llgetnosupperto-night!”
“Coursehewon’t!”saidBruno.“Nobodynevergivesbonestoadog’stail!”
MeinHerrlookedfromonetotheotherinblankastonishment.“Idonotunderstandyou,”hesaid.
“Ihadlostmyway,andIwasconsultingapocket-map,andsomehowIhaddroppedoneofmygloves,andthisinvisibleSomething,thathadrubbedagainstmyknee,actuallybroughtitbacktome!”
“Coursehedid!”saidBruno.“He’swellyfondoffetchingthings.”
MeinHerrlookedsothoroughlybewilderedthatIthoughtitbesttochangethesubject.“Whatausefulthingapocket-mapis!”Iremarked.
“That’sanotherthingwe’velearnedfromyourNation,”saidMeinHerr,“map-making.Butwe’vecarrieditmuchfurtherthanyou.Whatdoyouconsiderthelargestmapthatwouldbereallyuseful?”
“Aboutsixinchestothemile.”
“Onlysixinches!”exclaimedMeinHerr.
“Weverysoongottosixyardstothemile.
Thenwetriedahundredyardstothemile.Andthencamethegrandestideaofall!
Weactuallymadeamapofthecountry,onthescaleofamiletothemile!”
“Haveyouuseditmuch?”Ienquired.
“Ithasneverbeenspreadout,yet,”saidMeinHerr:“thefarmersobjected:theysaiditwouldcoverthewholecountry,andshutoutthesunlight!
Sowenowusethecountryitself,asitsownmap,andIassureyouitdoesnearlyaswell.Nowletmeaskyouanotherquestion.
Whatisthesmallestworldyouwouldcaretoinhabit?”
“Iknow!”criedBruno,whowaslisteningintently.‘I’dlikealittleteeny-tinyworld,justbigenoughforSylvieandme!”
“Thenyouwouldhavetostandonoppositesideofit,”saidMeinHerr.“Andsoyouwouldneverseeyoursisteratall!”
“AndI’dhavenolessons,”saidBruno.
“Youdon’tmeantosayyou’vebeentryingexperimentsinthatdirection!”Isaid.
“Well,notexperimentsexactly.Wedonotprofesstoconstructplanets.
Butascientificfriendofmine,whohasmadeseveralballoon-voyages,assuresmehehasvisitedaplanetsosmallthathecouldwalkrightrounditintwentyminutes!
Therehadbeenagreatbattle,justbeforehisvisit,whichhadendedratheroddly:thevanquishedarmyranawayatfullspeed,andinaveryfewminutesfoundthemselvesface-to-facewiththevictoriousarmy,whoweremarchinghomeagain,andwhoweresofrightenedatfindingthemselvesbetweentwoarmies,thattheysurrenderedatonce!
Ofcoursethatlostthemthebattle,though,asamatteroffact,theyhadkilledallthesoldiersontheotherside.”
“Killedsoldiersca’n’trunaway,”Brunothoughtfullyremarked.
“‘Killed’isatechnicalword,”repliedMeinHerr.
“InthelittleplanetIspeakof,thebulletsweremadeofsoftblackstuff,whichmarkedeverythingittouched.
So,afterabattle,allyouhadtodowastocounthowmanysoldiersoneachsidewere‘killed’—thatmeans‘markedontheback’,formarksinfrontdidn’tcount.”
“Thenyoucouldn’t‘kill’any,unlesstheyranaway?”Isaid.
“Myscientificfriendfoundoutabetterplanthanthat.
Hepointedoutthat,ifonlythebulletsweresenttheotherwayroundtheworld,theywouldhittheenemyintheback.
Afterthat,theworstmarksmenwereconsideredthebestsoldiers;andtheveryworstofallalwaysgotFirstPrize.”
“Andhowdidyoudecidewhichwastheveryworstofall?”
“Easily.Thebestpossibleshootingis,youknow,tohitwhatisexactlyinfrontofyou:soofcoursetheworstpossibleistohitwhatisexactlybehindyou.”
“Theywerestrangepeopleinthatlittleplanet!”Isaid.
“Theywereindeed!Perhapstheirmethodofgovernmentwasthestrangestofall.
Inthisplanet,Iamtold,aNationconsistsofanumberofSubjects,andoneKing:but,inthelittleplanetIspeakof,itconsistedofanumberofKings,andoneSubject!”
“Yousayyouare‘told’whathappensinthisplanet,”Isaid.“MayIventuretoguessthatyouyourselfareavisitorfromsomeotherplanet?”
Brunoclappedhishandsinhisexcitement.“IsootheMan-in-the-Moon?”hecried.
MeinHerrlookeduneasy.“IamnotintheMoon,mychild,”hesaidevasively.“ToreturntowhatIwassaying.
Ithinkthatmethodofgovernmentoughttoanswerwell.
Yousee,theKingswouldbesuretomakeLawscontradictingeachother:sotheSubjectcouldneverbepunished,because,whateverhedidhe’dbeobeyingsomeLaw.”
“And,whateverhedid,he’dbedisobeyingsomeLaw!”criedBruno.“Sohe’dalwaysbepunished!”
LadyMurielwaspassingatthemoment,andcaughtthelastword.“Nobody’sgoingtobepunishedhere!”shesaid,takingBrunoinherarms.“ThisisLiberty-Hall!
Wouldyoulendmethechildrenforaminute?”
“Thechildrendesertus,yousee,”IsaidtoMeinHerr,asshecarriedthemoff:“soweoldfolkmustkeepeachothercompany!”
Theoldmansighed.“Ah,well!We’reoldfolknowandyetIwasachildmyself,once—atleastIfancyso.”
Itdidseemaratherunlikelyfancy,Icouldnothelpowningtomyself—lookingattheshaggywhitehair,andthelongbeard—thathecouldeverhavebeenachild.Youarefondofyoungpeople?”Isaid.
“Youngmen,”hereplied.“Notofchildrenexactly.Iusedtoteachyoungmen—manyayearago—inmydearoldUniversity!”
“Ididn’tquitecatchitsname?”Ihinted
“Ididnotnameit,”theoldmanrepliedmildly.“NorwouldyouknowthenameifIdid.StrangetalesIcouldtellyouofallthechangesIhavewitnessedthere!Butitwouldwearyyou,Ifear.”
“No,indeed!”Isaid.“Praygoon.Whatkindofchanges?”
Buttheoldmanseemedtobemoreinahumourforquestionsthanforanswers.
“Tellme,”hesaid,layinghishandimpressivelyonmyarm,“tellmesomething.
ForIamastrangerinyourland,andIknowlittleofyourmodesofeducation:yetsomethingtellsmewearefurtheronthanyouintheeternalcycleofchange—andthatmanyatheorywehavetriedandfoundtofail,youalsowilltry,withawilderenthusiasm:youalsowillfindtofail,withabittererdespair!”
Itwasstrangetoseehow,ashetalked,andhiswordsflowedmoreandmorefreely,withacertainrhythmiceloquence,hisfeaturesseemedtoglowwithaninnerlight,andthewholemanseemedtobetransformed,asifhehadgrownfiftyyearsyoungerinamomentoftime.
Share this article to
FINISH