An Earthman on Venus (Originally titled "The Radio Man")Farley, Ralph Milne
Science
An Earthman on Venus (Originally titled "The Radio Man")
Farley, Ralph Milne
Life on other planets -- Fiction; Science fiction; Venus (Planet) -- Fiction
While waiting for the decision of the Council of Twelve, time would have
hung heavy on my hands if Doggo had not thoughtfully procured for me a
book entitled “Electricity for the Newly Hatched.” Of course I needed no
instruction in elementary electricity, nor even in _advanced_
electricity, but I _did_ need an introduction to the technical terms and
electrical symbols of the ant language. And this the book gave me.
The council were a long time in deciding, for many important matters
were pending, and my petition had to await its regular turn. At last,
however, Doggo brought me the joyful news that my transfer to the
University of Mooni had been approved, and that he was to be permitted
to accompany me.
I saw the beautiful girl only once more before my departure. She came to
my courtyard to pick flowers, as she had regularly done before the fatal
day of our meeting. But this time she noticed my presence at the window,
and hastily left the garden with her head tossed high and a disdainful
sneer on her lips.
This made me more determined than ever to make good in my new venture.
The day of departure finally arrived, and Doggo and I prepared to make
the trip. I took Tabby, while Doggo took a strange animal of a sort I
had never seen before. I had never known that Doggo had a pet, but have
since learned that an excess of pets is one of the worst vices of the
Formians. In fact, one of their professors who has devoted his life to
the subject, reports that the Formians possess some fifteen hundred
species of domesticated animals, many of which do not exist at all in a
wild state, and most of which have absolutely no practical use.
Doggo’s little beast was a mathlab, closely resembling a rabbit in size
and appearance, except that it had antennae instead of ears, and had
brick-red fur. These creatures are very docile and affectionate, but
breed rapidly, and thus are not so expensive nor so much esteemed as
some of the rarer varieties of beetle such as Tabby.
A closely related animal, slightly larger, black in color, and not so
tame, is kept for its flesh, and also for its eggs, which are a staple
article of Porovian diet. In their wild state both species are preyed
upon by a fierce carnivore named the woofus, so that their great
fecundity is all that saves them from absolute extinction.
Mooni lies about one hundred stads east of Wautoosa, the city where I
had been residing. The journey was made in a kerkool, a two-wheeled
automobile, whose balance is maintained by a pair of rapidly rotating
gyroscopes, driven by the same motor which propels the vehicle. The
fuel, as I later learned, is a synthetic liquid resembling alcohol, and
supposed to be extremely poisonous.
There were no seats, for ant-men do not sit down, but a chair for me had
thoughtfully been added to the equipment. The chauffeur, or kerko as
they call him, wore goggles very much like those used on the earth, and
similar pairs were provided for Doggo and me.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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