Flatland: A Romance of Many DimensionsAbbott, Edwin Abbott
Science
Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions
Abbott, Edwin Abbott
Fourth dimension
Imagine a woman duly decorated, according to the new Code; with the front
half (_i.e._ the half containing eye and mouth) red, and with the hinder
half green. Look at her from one side. Obviously you will see a straight
line, _half red_, _half green_.
[Illustration: ]
Now imagine a Priest, whose mouth is at M, and whose front semicircle
(AMB) is consequently coloured red, while his hinder semicircle is green;
so that the diameter AB divides the green from the red. If you
contemplate the Great Man so as to have your eye in the same straight
line as his dividing diameter (AB), what you will see will be a straight
line (CBD), of which _one half_ (CB) _will be red, and the other_ (BD)
_green_. The whole line (CD) will be rather shorter perhaps than that of
a full-sized Woman, and will shade off more rapidly towards its
extremities; but the identity of the colours would give you an immediate
impression of identity if not Class, making you neglectful of other
details. Bear in mind the decay of Sight Recognition which threatened
society at the time of the Colour Revolt; add too the certainty that
Women would speedily learn to shade off their extremities so as to
imitate the Circles; it must then be surely obvious to you, my dear
Reader, that the Colour Bill placed us under a great danger of
confounding a Priest with a young Woman.
How attractive this prospect must have been to the Frail Sex may readily
be imagined. They anticipated with delight the confusion that would
ensue. At home they might hear political and ecclesiastical secrets
intended not for them but for their husbands and brothers, and might even
issue commands in the name of a priestly Circle; out of doors the
striking combination of red and green, without addition of any other
colours, would be sure to lead the common people into endless mistakes,
and the Women would gain whatever the Circles lost, in the deference of
the passers by. As for the scandal that would befall the Circular Class
if the frivolous and unseemly conduct of the Women were imputed to them,
and as to the consequent subversion of the Constitution, the Female Sex
could not be expected to give a thought to these considerations. Even in
the households of the Circles, the Women were all in favour of the
Universal Colour Bill.
The second object aimed at by the Bill was the gradual demoralization of
the Circles themselves. In the general intellectual decay they still
preserved their pristine clearness and strength of understanding. From
their earliest childhood, familiarized in their Circular households with
the total absence of Colour, the Nobles alone preserved the Sacred Art of
Sight Recognition, with all the advantages that result from that
admirable training of the intellect. Hence, up to the date of the
introduction of the Universal Colour Bill, the Circles had not only held
their own, but even increased their lead of other classes by abstinence
from the popular fashion.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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