Life in a Thousand WorldsHarris, W. S. (William Shuler)
Science
Life in a Thousand Worlds
Harris, W. S. (William Shuler)
Utopias
I soon learned the secret of all this scintillation. I had come to a
world that seemed to be covered with diamonds and precious stones. The
mountains were barren of all vegetation and glistened with all the glory
of a hundred rainbows.
I presumed that I had come to immense beds of quartz, but the rare
brilliancy of the whole scene set me to work to ascertain the value of
these stones. To my astonishment, I found that the shining mountains and
valleys were filled with genuine diamonds and precious stones, some of
which are very rare according to our classification. I was dazed at the
sight, first because of its brilliancy and beauty, and next because of
the fabulous fortunes that were lying at my feet.
Then I transported myself to another part of the planet that I might get
a view of its living fields of vegetation. Alas, I again met the shining
of countless gems, set by nature in ledges of rock and massed in
confused heaps all around me.
"What a rich world!" I inwardly murmured. "How can people live on
diamonds?"
As I was thus musing I sped onward to one of the soil centers of this
world. Here I found a small city built of diamonds and choice stones of
which the people thought no more than we do of the stones brought down
from our quarries.
The soil was almost worshiped. Only the wealthiest could afford to have
it in their homes for the growth of flowers. Fortunately, the soil is
very productive and, by reason of its scarcity, it has received such
careful attention that all worthless weeds have been actually choked out
several thousand years ago.
Thus, the soil being so desirable and staple an article, it was eagerly
sought after by all who lived on this shining world. Yea, some
sacrificed their all that they might obtain a goodly portion of the
soil. This desire was so great that it became the ruling passion of many
people to accumulate soil all the days of their life, and many died of
grief because they could not succeed in satisfying their ambitions.
Now when the speculators saw that the soil was so indispensable and much
desired by the people, and that out of it were the issues of life, the
wealthier and more crafty of them said among themselves:
"Come, let us buy all the soil, we and our brethren in all the soil
centers, and let us call ourselves a Trust, signifying that we will
trust one another to the secrets of our enterprise."
And behold this saying seemed good in the eyes of these wise men, and
they labored diligently until, in the passing of a few years, they had
secured unto themselves full possession of all the soil of the Diamond
World.
And it was so in the course of time that these corporations held a great
meeting and they said:
"Barns we will build to store products of the soil, and behold we will
sell from these storehouses to our workmen for the labor that they may
render unto us."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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