The survey-ship _Tethys_ made the first landing on the forgotten planet,
and the _Orana_ followed, and some centuries later the _Ludred_. Then
the planet was forgotten until the _Wapiti_ arrived. The arrival of the
_Wapiti_ was as much an accident as the loss of the punched card which
caused the planet to be overlooked for some thousands of years.
Somebody had noticed that the sun around which it circled was of a type
which usually has useful planets, but there was no record that it had
ever been visited. So a request to the sportsmen on the _Wapiti_ had
caused them to turn aside. They considered, anyhow, that it would be
interesting to land on a brand-new world or two. They considered it
fascinating to find human beings there before them. But they could not
understand the use of such primitive weapons or garments of such
barbaric splendor. They had trouble, too, because in forty-odd
generations the speech of the universe had changed, while Burl and Saya
spoke a very archaic language indeed.
But there was an educator on the _Wapiti_. It was quite standard
apparatus,--simply basic-education for a human child, so that one's
school-years could be begun with a backlog of correct speech, and
reading, with the practical facts of mathematics, sanitation, and the
general information that any human being anywhere needs to know.
Children use it before they start school, and they absorb its
information quite painlessly. It is rare that an adult needs it. But
Burl and Saya did.
Burl was politely invited to wear the head-set, and he politely obliged.
He found himself equipped with a new language and what seemed to him an
astonishing amount of information. Among the information was the item
that he was going to have--as an adult--a severe headache. Which he did.
Also included was the fact that the making of records for such educators
was so laborious a process that it took generations to compile one
master-record for the instruments.
Burl, with a splitting headache, nevertheless urged Saya to join him in
getting an education. And she did. And thereafter they were able to
converse with the sportsmen on the _Wapiti_ comfortably enough,--except
for their headaches.
And all this led to extremely satisfactory arrangements. Sportsmen
could not but be enthusiastic about the hunting of giant insects with
dogs and spears. The sportsmen on the _Wapiti_ wanted some of that kind
of sport. Burl's fellow-tribesmen were delighted to oblige,--though they
had not quite the zest of Burl. They had to acquire educations in their
turn, so they could talk to their new hunting-companions. But the
hunting was magnificent. The _Wapiti_ abandoned its original plans and
settled down for a stay.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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