The idea was that if the Tarchiki listened to this teacher, he'd make them the most important people in the whole world; in the universe, in fact, from the way the thing sounded. Just how, wasn't specified. But if they should let him be killed, they would know who he had been because of his last words, forgiving them. Naturally, they fitted Duncan right in; forgiving anybody would be the least likely idea in any Tarchik's mind if he were being speared. So the Tarchiki think they've made a terrible mistake, and they seem bent on spending the rest of time making up for it. It's the leading religion now, and it's the biggest joke I've ever come across. Poor Duncan, wrong-headed as he was about nearly everything else, had a bit of sense in that department; he never had any religious nonsense in him. Anyway, it shows you, doesn't it? I've always said you can learn a little from practically anything. You keep Duncan in mind, any time you get to feeling too soft on these natives. He might be a god to these Tarchiki, but I'll tell you the real test of whether a man's got any sense; he's dead, I'm alive, and you're alive. That's enough proof for me.