THE MARTIAN DIPLOMATIC DELEGATION1 & Inside Straight Sodality,Unlimited, as organized by Jubal HarshaW, landed on the flat of theExecutive Palace shortly before ten o’clock the next morning. Theunpretentious pretender to the Martian throne, Mike Smith, had not worriedabout the purpose of the trip; he had simply enjoyed every minute of theshort flight south, with utter and innocent delight.
The trip was made in a chartered Flying Greyhound, and Mike sat up in theastrodome above the driver, with Jill on one side and Dorcas on his other,and stared and stared in awed3 wonderment as the girls pointed4 out sights tohim and chattered5 in his ears. The seat, being intended for two people, wasvery crowded, but Mike did not mind, as a warming degree of growing closernecessarilY resulted. He sat with an arm around each, and looked andlistened and tried to grok and could not have been happier if he had been tenfeet under water.
It was, in fact, his first view of Terran civilization He had seen nothing at all inbeing removed from the Champion to suite6 K-12 at Bethesda Center; he hadindeed spent a few minutes in a taxi ten days earlier going from the hospitalto Ben’s apartment but at the time he had grokked none of it. Since that timehis world had been bounded by a house and a swimming pool, plus5urroundiflg garden and grass and trees-he had not been as far as Jubal’sgate.
But now he was enormously more sophisticated than he had been ten daysago. He understood windows, realized that the bubble surrounding him was awindow and meant for looking out of and that the changing sights he sawwere indeed the cities of these people. He understood maps and could pickout, with the help of the girls, where they were and what they were seeing onthe map flowing across the lap board in front of them. But of course he hadalways known about maps; he simply had not known until recently thathumans knew about maps. It had given him a twinge of happy homesicknessthe first time he had grokked a human map. Sure, it was static and deadcompared with the maps used by his people-but it was a map. Mike was notdisposed by nature and certainly not by training to invidious comparisonseven human maps were very Martian in essence -he liked them.
Now he saw almost two hundred miles of countryside, much of it sprawlingworld metropolis7, and savored8 every inch of it, tried to grok it. He was startledby the enormous size of human cities and by their bustling9 activity visibleeven from the air, so very different from the slow motion, monestary-gardenpace of cities of his own people. It seemed to him that a human city mustwear out almost at once, becoming so choked with living experience that onlythe strongest of the Old Ones could bear to visit its deserted10 streets and grokin contemplation the events and emotions piled layer on endless Layer in it.
He himself had visited abandoned cities at home only on a few wonderful anddreadful occasionS, and then his teachers had stopped having him do so,grokking that he was not strong enough for such experience.
Careful questions to Jill and Dorcas, the answers of which he then related towhat he had read, enabled him to grok in part enough to relieve his mindsotnewbat the city was very young; it had been founded only a little over twoEarth centuries ago. Since Earth time units had no real flavor for him, heconverted to Martian years and Martian numbers years (3^4 + 3^3 = 108Martian years).
Terrifying and beautiful! Why, these people must even now be preparing toabandon the city to its thoughts before it shattered under the strain andbecame not. And yet, by mere11 time, the city was only an egg.
Mike looked forward to returning to Washington in a century or two to walk itsempty streets and try to grow close to its endless pain and beauty, grokkingthirstily until he was Washington and the city was himself-if he were strongenough by then. Then he firmly filed the thought away as he knew that hemust grow and grow and grow before he would be able to praise and cherishthe city’s mighty12 anguish13.
The Greyhound driver swung far east at one point in response to a temporaryrerouting of unscheduled traffic (caused, unknown to Mike, by Mike’s ownpresence)~ and Mike, for the first time, saw the sea.
Jill had to point it out to him and tell him that it was water, and Dorcas addedthat it was the Atlantic Ocean and traced the shore line on the map. Mike wasnot ignorant: he had known since he was a nestling that the planet nextnearer the Sun was almost covered with the water of life and lately he hadlearned that these people accepted this lavish14 richness casually15. He hadeven taken, unassisted, the much more difficult hurdle16 of grokking at last theMartian orthodoxy that the water ceremony did not require water, that waterwas merely symbol for the essence beautiful but not indispensable.
But, like many a human still virgin17 toward some major human experience,Mike discovered that knowing a fact in the abstract was not at all the samething as experiencing its physical reality; the sight of the Atlantic Ocean filledhim with such awe2 that Jill squeezed him and said sharply, .Stop it, Mike!
Don’t you dare!“Mike chopped off his emotion and stored it away for later use. Then he staredat the ocean, stretching out to an unimaginably distant horizon, and tried tomeasure its size in his mind until his head was buzzing with threes andpowers of threes and superpowers of powers.
As they landed Jubal called out, .Now remember, girls, form a square aroundhim and don’t be at all backward about planting a heel in an instep or jabbingan elbow into some oaf’s solar plexus. Anne, I realize you’ll be wearing yourcloak but that’s no reason not to step on a foot if you’re crowded. Or is it?“.Quit fretting18, Boss; nobody crowds a Witness-but I’m wearing spike19 heelsand I weigh more than you do.“.Okay. Duke, you know what to do-but get Larry back here with the bus assoon as possible. I don’t know when I’ll need it.“.I grok it, Boss. Quit jittering20.“.I’ll jitter21 as I please. Let’s go.“ Harshaw, the four girls with Mike, and Caxtongot out; the bus took off at once. To Harshaw’s mixed relief andapprehension the landing flat was not crowded with newsmen.
But it was far from empty. A man picked him out at once, stepped brisklyforward and said heartily22, .Dr. Harshaw? I’m Tom Bradley, senior executiveassistant to the Secretary General. You are to go directly to Mr. Douglas’
private office. He will see you for a few moments before the conferencestarts.“.No.“Bradley blinked. .I don’t think you understood me. These are instructionsfrom the Secretary General. Oh, he said that it was all right for Mr. Smith tocome with you-the Man from Mars, I mean-.
.No. This party stays together, even to go to the washroom. Right now we’regoing to that conference room. Have somebody lead the way. And have allthese people stand back; they’re crowding us. In the meantime, I have anerrand for you. Miriam, that letter.“.But, Dr. Harshaw-.
.I said, .No!’ Can’t you understand plain English? But you are to deliver thisletter to Mr. Douglas at once and to him ersonal1Ya1~ fetch back his receiptto me.“ Harshaw paused to write his signature across the flap of the envelopeMiriam had handed to him, pressed his thumb print over the signature, andhanded it to Bradley. .Tell him that it is most urgent that he read this at oncebeforethe meeting.“.But the Secretary General specifically desires-.
.The Secretary desires to see that letter. Young man, I am endowed withsecond sight . . . and I predict that you won’t be working here later today ifyou waste any time getting it to him.“Bradley locked eyes with Jubal, then said, .Jim, take over,“ and left, with theletter. Jubal sighed inwardly. He had sweated over that letter; Anne and hehad been up most of the night preparing draft after draft. Jubal had everyintention of arriving at an open settlement, in full view of the world’s newscameras and microphones-but he bad no intention of letting Douglas betaken by surprise by any proposal.
Another man stepped forward in answer to Bradley’s order; Jubal sized himup as a prime specimen23 of the clever, conscienceless young-men-on-theway-up who gravitate to those in power and do their dirty work; he dislikedhim on sight. The man smiled heartily and said smoothly24, .The name’s JimSanforth, Doctor-I’m the Chief’s press secretary. I’ll be buffering26 for you fromnow on-arranging your press interviews and so forth25. I’m sorry to say that theconference room is not quite ready; there have been last minute changesand we’ve had to move to a larger room. Now it’s my thought that-.
.It’s my thought that we’ll go to that conference room right now. We’ll standup until chairs are fetched for us.“.Doctor, I’m sure you don’t understand the situation. They are still stringingwires and things, and that room is swarming27 with reporters andcommentators.“.Very well. We’ll chat with .em till you’re ready.“.No, Doctor. I have instructions“.Youngster, you can take your instructions, fold them until they are all cornersand shove them in your oubliette. We are not at your beck and call. You willnot arrange press interviews for us. We are here for just one purpose: apublic conference. If the conference is not ready to meet, we’ll see the pressnow-in the conference room.“.But-.
.And that’s not all. You’re keeping the Man from Mars standing28 on a windyroof“ Harshaw raised his voice. .Is there anyone here smart enough to leadus straight to this conference room without getting lost?“Sanforth swallowed and said, .Follow me, Doctor.“The conference room was indeed crowded with newsmen and techniciansbut there was a big oval table, plenty of chairs, and several smaller tables.
Mike was spotted29 at once and Sanforth’s protests did not keep them fromcrowding in on him. But Mike’s flying wedge of amateur Amazons got him asfar as the big table; Jubal sat him against it with Dorcas and Jill in chairsflanking him and the Fair Witness and Miriam seated behind him. Once thiswas done, Jubal made no attempt to fend30 oft questions or pictures. Mike hadbeen warned that he would meet lots of people and that many of them woulddo strange things and Jubal had most particularly warned him to take nosudden actions (such as causing persons or things to go away, or to stop)unless Jill told him to.
Mike took the confusion gravely, without apparent upset; Jill was holding hishand and her touch reassured31 him.
Jubal wanted news pictures taken, the more the better; as for questions putdirectly to Mike, Jubal did not fear them and made no attempt to field them. Aweek of trying to talk with Mike had convinced him that no reporter couldpossibly get anything of importance out of Mike in only a few minutes-withoutexpert help. Mike’s habit of answering a question as asked, answering itliterally and stopping, would be enough to nullify most attempts to pump him.
And so it proved. Most questions Mike answered with a polite: .I do notknow,“ or an even less committal; .Beg pardon?“But one question backfired on the questioner. A Reuters correspondent,anticipating a monumental fight over Mike’s status as an heir, tried to sneakin his own test of Mike’s competence32: .Mr. Smith? What do you know aboutthe laws of inheritance here?“Mike was aware that he was having trouble grokking in fullness the humanconcept of property and, in particular, the ideas of bequest33 and inheritance.
So he most carefully avoided inserting his own ideas and stuck to the book-abook which Jubal recognized shortly as Ely on Inheritance and Bequest,chapter one.
Mike related what he had read, with precision and careful lack of expression,like a boring but exact law professor, for page after tedious page, while theroom gradually settled into stunned35 silence and his interrogator36 gulped37.
Jubal let it go on until every newsman there knew more than he wanted toknow about dower and curtesy, consanguinean and uterine, per stirpes andper capita, and related mysteries. At last Jubal touched his shoulder, .That’senough, Mike.“Mike looked puzzled. .There is much more.“.Yes, but later. Does someone have a question on some other subject?“A reporter for a London Sunday paper of enormous circulation jumped in witha question closer to his employer’s pocketbook: .Mr. Smith, we understandyou like the girls here on Earth. But have you ever kissed a girl?“.Yes.“.Did you like it?“.Yes.“.How did you like it?“Mike barely hesitated over his answer. .Kissing girls is a goodness,“ heexplained very seriously. .It is a growing-closer. It beats the hell out of cardgames.“Their applause frightened him. But he could feel that Jill and Dorcas were notfrightened, that indeed they were both trying to restrain thatincomprehensible noisy expression of pleasure which he himself could notlearn. So he calmed his fright and waited gravely for whatever might happennext.
By what did happen next he was saved from further questions, answerable ornot, and was granted a great joy; he saw a familiar face and figure justentering by a side door, .My brother Dr. Mahmoud!“ Mike went on talking inoverpowering excitement-but in Martian.
The Champion’s staff semanticist waved and smiled and answered in thesame jarring language while hurrying to Mike’s side. The two continuedtalking in unhuman symbols, Mike in an eager torrent38, Mahmoud not quite asrapidly, with sound effects like a rhinoceros39 ramming40 an ironmonger’s lorry.
The newsmen stood it for some time, those who operated by sound recordingit and the writers noting it as local color. But at last one interrupted. .Dr.
Mahmoud! What are you saying? Clue us!“Mahmoud turned, smiled briefly41 and said in clipped Oxonian speech, .For themost part, I’ve been saying, .Slow down, my dear boy-do, please.’
.And what does he say?“.The rest of our conversation is personal, private, of no possible intrest toothers, I assure you. Greetings, y’know. Old friends.“ He turned back to Mikeand continued to chat-in Martian.
In fact, Mike was telling his brother Malimoud all that had happened to him inthe fortnight since he had last seen him, so that they might grok closer-butMike’s abstraction of what to tell was purely42 Martian in concept, it beingconcerned primarily with new water brothers and the unique flavor of each . .
. the gentle water that was Jill . . . the depth of Anne . . . the strange not-yetfully-grokked fact that Jubal tasted now like an egg, then like an Old One, butwas neither-the ungrokkable vastness of ocean-Mahmoud had less to tell Mike since less had happened in the interim43 to him,by Martian standards-one Dionysian excess quite unMartian and of which hewas not proud, one long day spent lying face down in Washington’s SuleimanMosque, the results of which he had not yet grokked and was not ready todiscuss. No new water brothers.
He stopped Mike presently and offered his hand to Jubal. .You’re Dr.
Harshaw, I know. Valentine Michael thinks he has introduced me to all ofyou-and he has, by his rules.“Harshaw looked him over as he shook hands with him. Chap looked andsounded like a huntin’, shootin’, sportin’ Britisher, from his tweedy,expensively casual clothes to a clipped grey moustache . . . but his skin wasnaturally swarthy rather than ruddy tan and the genes44 for that nose camefrom somewhere close to the Levant. Harshaw did not like fake anything andwould choose to eat cold compone over the most perfect syntho .sirloin.“But Mike treated him as a friend, so .friend“ he was, until proved otherwise.
To Mahmoud, Harshaw looked like a museum exhibit of what he thought ofas a .Yank“-vulgar, dressed too informally for the occasion, loud, probablyignorant and almost certainly provincial45. A professional man, too, which madeit worse, as in Dr. Mahmoud’s experience most American professional menwere under-educated and narrow, mere technicians. He held a vast butcarefully concealed46 distaste for all things American. Their incrediblepolytheistic babel of religions, of course, although they were hardly to beblamed for that . . . their cooking (cooking/Il), their manners, their bastardarchitecture and sickly arts . . . and their blind, pathetic, arrogant47 belief intheir superiority long after their sun had set. Their women. Their women mostof all, their immodest, assertive48 women, with their gaunt, starved bodieswhich nevertheless reminded him disturbingly of houris. Four of them here,crowded around Valentine Michael-at a meeting which certainly should be allmale- But Valentine Michael had offered him all these people-including theseubiquitous female creatures-offered them proudly and eagerly as his waterbrothers, thereby49 laying on Mahmoud a family obligation closer and morebinding than that owed to the sons of one’s father’s brother-since Mahmoudunderstood the Martian term for such accretive50 relationships from directobservation of what it meant to Martians and did not need to translate itclumsily and inadequately51 as .catenative assemblage,“ nor even as .thingsequal to the same thing are equal to each other.“ He had seen Martians athome; he knew their extreme poverty (by Earth standards); he had dippedinto-and had guessed at far more-of their cultural extreme wealth; and hadgrokked quite accurately52 the supreme53 value that Martians place oninterpersonal relationships.
Well, there was nothing else for it-he had shared water with ValentineMichael and now he must justify54 his friend’s faith in him . . . he simply hopedthat these Yanks were not complete bounders.
So he smiled warmly and shook hands firmly. .Yes. Valentine Michael hasexplained to me-most proudly-that you are all in-. (Mahmoud used one wordof Martian.) .-to him.“.Eh?“.Water brotherhood55. You understand?“.I grok it.“Mahmoud strongly doubted if Harshaw did, but he went on smoothly, .Since Imyself am already in that relationship to him, I must ask to be considered amember of the family. I know your name, and I have guessed that this mustbe Mr. Caxton-in fact I have seen your face pictured at the head of yourcolumn, Mr. Caxton; I read it when I have opportunity-but let me see if I havethe young ladies straight. This must be Anne.“.Yes. But she’s cloaked at the moment.“.Yes, of course. I’ll pay my respects to her when she is not busyprofessionally.“Harshaw introduced him to the other three . . . and Jill startled him byaddressing him with the correct honorific for a water brother, pronouncing itabout three octaves higher than any adult Martian would talk but with sorethroatpurity of accent. It was one of the scant56 dozen Martian words shecould speak out of the hundred-odd that she was beginning to understandbutthis one she had down pat because it was used to her and by her manytimes each day.
Dr. Mahmoud’s eyes widened slightly-perhaps these people would turn outnot to be mere uncircumcised barbarians57 after all . . . and his young friend didhave strong intuitions. Instantly he offered Jill the correct honorific inresponse and bowed over her hand.
Jill saw that Mike was obviously delighted; she managed, slurringly butpassably, to croak58 the shortest of the nine forms by which a water brothermay return the response-although she did not grok it fully34 and would not haveconsidered suggesting (in English) the nearest human biological equivalent .
. . certainly not to a man she had Just met!
However, Mahmoud, who did understand it, took it in its symbolic59 meaningrather than its (humanly impossible) literal meaning, and spoke60 rightly inresponse. But Jill had passed the limit of her linguistic61 ability; she did notunderstand his answer at all and could not reply, even in pedestrian English.
But she got a sudden inspiration. At intervals62 around the huge table wereplaced the age-old furniture of human palavers-water pitchers64 each with itsclump of glasses. She stretched and got a pitcher63 and a tumbler, filled thelatter.
She looked Mahmoud in the eye, said earnestly, .Water. Our nest is yours.“She touched it to her lips and handed it to Mahmoud.
He answered her in Martian, saw that she did not understand him andtranslated, .Who shares water shares all.“ He took a sip65 and started to handthe glass back to Jill-checked himself, looked at Harshaw and offered him theglass.
Jubal said, .I can’t speak Martian, son-but thanks for water. May you neverbe thirsty.“ He took a sip, then drank about a third of it. .Ak!“ He passed theglass to Ben.
Caxton looked at Mahmoud and said very soberly, .Grow closer. With thewater of life we grow closer.“ He wet his lips with it and passed it to Dorcas.
In spite of the precedents66 already set, Dorcas hesitated. .Dr. Mahmoud? Youdo know how serious this is to Mike?“.I do, Miss.“.Well ...it’s just as serious to us. You understand? You grok?“.I grok its fullness ... or I would have refused to drink.“.All right. May you always drink deep. May our eggs share a nest.“ Tearsstarted down her cheeks: she drank and passed the glass hastily to Miriam.
Miriam whispered, .Pull yourself together, kid,“ then spoke to Mike, .Withwater we welcome our brother,“-then added to Mahmoud, .Nest, water, life.“She drank. .Our brother.“ She offered him the glass.
Mahmoud finished what was left in it and spoke, neither in Martian norEnglish, but Arabic: .’And if ye mingle68 your affairs with theirs, then they areyour brothers.’“.Amen,“ Jubal agreed.
Dr. Mahmoud looked quickly at him, decided69 not to enquire70 just then whetherHarshaw had understood him, or was simply being polite; this was neither thetime nor the place to say anything which might lead to unbottling his owntroubles, his own doubts. Nevertheless he felt warmed in his soul-as alwaysbywater ritual . . . even though it smelled of heresy71.
His thoughts were cut short by the assistant chief of protocol72 bustling up tothem. .You’re Dr. Mahmoud. You belong over on the far side of the table,Doctor. Follow me.“Mahmoud looked at him, then looked at Mike and smiled. .No, I belong here,with my friends. Dorcas, may I pull a chair in here and sit between you andValentine Michael?“.Certainly, Doctor. Here, I’ll scrunch73 over.“The a.c. of p. was almost tapping his foot in impatience74. .Dr. Mahmoud,please! The chart places you over on the other side of the room! TheSecretary General will be here any moment-and the place is still simplyswarming with reporters and goodness knows who else who doesn’t belonghere . . . and I don’t know what I’m going to do!“.Then go do it someplace else, bub,“ Jubal suggested.
.What? Who are you? Are you on the list?“ He worriedly consulted theseating chart he carried.
.Who are you?“ Jubal answered. .The head waiter? I’m Jubal Harshaw. If myname is not on that list, you can tear it up and start over. And look, buster, ifthe Man from Mars wants his friend Dr. Mahmoud to sit by him, that settlesit.“.But he can’t sit here! Seats at the main conference table are reserved forHigh Ministers, Chiefs of Delegations75, High Court Justices, and equal ranksandI don’t know how I can squeeze them all in if any more show up-and theMan from Mars, of course.“.’Of course,’“ Jubal agreed dryly.
.And of course Dr. Mahmoud has to be near the Secretary General- just backof him, so that he’ll be ready to interpret as needed. I must say you’re notbeing helpful.“.I’ll help.“ Jubal plucked the paper out of the official’s hand, sat down at thetable and studied it. .Mmm ... lemme see now. The Man from Mars will sitdirectly opposite the Secretary General, just about where he happens to besitting. Then-. Jubal got out a heavy soft pencil and attacked the seatingchart. .-this entire half of the main table, from here clear over to here,belongs to the Man from Mars.“ Jubal scratched two big black cross marks toshow the limits and joined them with a thick black arc, then began scratchingout names assigned to seats on that side of the table. .That takes care of halfof your work ... because I’ll seat anybody who sits on our side of the table.“The protocol officer was too shocked to talk. His mouth worked but nomeaningful noises came out. Jubal looked at him mildly. .Something thematter? Oh-I forgot to make it official.“ He scrawled76 under his amendments77:
.J. Harshaw for V At Smith.“ .Now trot78 back to your top sergeant79, son, andshow him that. Tell him to check his rule book on official visits from heads offriendly planets.“The man looked at it, opened his mouth-then left very rapidly withoutstopping to close it. But he was back very quickly on the heels of another,older man. The newcomer said in a firm, no-nonsense manner, .Dr. Harshaw,I’m LaRue, Chief of Protocol. Do you actually need half the main table? Iunderstood that your delegation was quite small.“.That’s beside the point.“LaRue smiled briefly. .I’m afraid it’s not beside the point to me, sir. I’m at mywit’s end for space. Almost every official of first rank in the Federation80 haselected to be present today. If you are expecting more people-though I dowish you had notified me-I’ll have a table placed behind these two seatsreserved for Mr. Smith and yourself.“.No.“.I’m afraid that’s the way it must be. I’m sorry.“.So am I-for you. Because if half the main table is not reserved for the Marsdelegation, we are leaving right now. Just tell the Secretary General that youbusted up his conference by being rude to the Man from Mars.“.Surely you don’t mean that?“.Didn’t you get my message?“.Uh ... well, I took it as a jest. A rather clever one, I admit.“.Son, I can’t afford to joke at these prices. Smith is either top man fromanother planet paying an official visit to the top man of this planet- in whichcase he is entitled to all the side boys and dancing girls you can dig up-or heis just a simple tourist and gets no official courtesies of any sort. You can’thave it both ways. But I suggest that you look around you, count the .officialsof first rank’ as you called them, and make a quick guess as to whether theywould have bothered to show up if, in their minds, Smith is just a tourist.“LaRue said slowly, .There’s no precedent67.“Jubal snorted. .I saw the Chief of Delegation from the Lunar Republic comein a moment ago-go tell him there’s no precedent. Then duck!- I hear he’s gota quick temper.“ He sighed. .But, son, I’m an old man and I had a short nightand it’s none of my business to teach you your job. Just tell Mr. Douglas thatwe’ll see him another day . . . when he’s ready to receive us properly. Comeon, Mike.“ He started to roust himself painfully out of his chair.
LaRue said hastily, .No, no, Dr. Harshaw! We’ll clear this side of the table. I’ll-Well, I’ll do something. It’s yours.“.That’s better.“ But Harshaw remained poised81 to get up. .But where’s theFlag of Mars? And how about honors?“.I’m afraid I don’t understand you.“.Never seen a day when I had so much trouble with plain English. Look- Seethat Federation Banner back of where the Secretary is going to sit? Where’sthe one like it over here, for Mars?“LaRue blinked. .I must admit you’ve taken me by surprise. I didn’t know theMartians used flags.“.They don’t. But you couldn’t possibly whop up what they use for high stateoccasions.“ (And neither could I, boy, but that’s beside the point.) .So we’ll letyou off easy and take an attempt for the deed. Piece of paper, Miriam-now,like this.“ Harshaw drew a rectangle, sketched82 in it the traditional humansymbol for Mars, a circle with an arrow leading out from it to the upper right.Make the field in white and the sigil of Mars in red-should be sewed inbunting of course, but with a clean sheet and a bucket of paint any Boy Scoutcould improvise84 one in ten minutes. Were you a Scout83?“.Uh, some time ago.“.Good. Then you know the Scout’s motto. Now about honors- maybe you’recaught unprepared there, too, eh? You expect to play .Hail to SovereignPeace’ as the Secretary comes in?“.Oh, we must. It’s obligatory85.“.Then you’ll want to follow it with the anthem86 for Mars.“.I don’t see how I can. Even if there were one ... we don’t have it. Dr.
Harshaw, be reasonable!“.Look, son, I am being reasonable. We came here for a quiet, small, informalmeeting-strictly business. We find you’ve turned it into a circus. Well, if you’regoing to have a circus, you’ve got to have elephants and there’s no two waysabout it. Now we realize you can’t play Martian music, any more than a boywith a tin whistle can play a symphony. But you can play a symphony-.TheTen Planets Symphony.’ Grok it? I mean, .Do you catch on?’ Have the tapecut in at the beginning of the Mars movement; play that . . . or enough bars tolet the theme be recognized.“LaRue looked thoughtful. .Yes, I suppose we could-but, Dr. Harshaw, Ipromised you half the table . . . but I don’t see how I can promise sovereignhonors-the flag and the music-even on this improvised87, merely symbolicscale. I- I don’t think I have the authority.“.Nor the guts,“ Harshaw said bitterly. .Well, we didn’t want a circus -so tellMr. Douglas that we’ll be back when he’s not so busy . . . and not so manyvisitors. Been nice chatting with you, son. Be sure to stop by the Secretary’soffice and say hello when we come back-if you’re still here.“ He again wentthrough the slow, apparently88 painful act of being a man too old and feeble toget out of a chair easily.
LaRue said, .Dr. Harshaw, please don’t leave! Uh ... the Secretary won’tcome in until I send word that we are ready for him-so let me see what I cando. Yes?“Harshaw relaxed with a grunt89. .Suit yourself. But one more thing, while you’rehere. I heard a ruckus at the main door a moment ago-what I could catch,one of the crew members of the Champion wanted to come in. They’re allfriends of Smith, so let .em in. We’ll accommodate .em. Help to fill up this sideof the table.“ Harshaw sighed and rubbed a kidney.
.Very well, sir,“ LaRue agreed stiffly and left.
Miriam said out of the corner of her mouth: .Boss-did you sprain90 your backdoing hand stands night before last?“.Quiet, girl, or I’ll paddle you.“ With grim satisfaction Jubal surveyed theroom, which was continuing to fill with high officials. He had told Douglas thathe wanted a .small, informal“ talk-no formality while knowing with uttercertainty that the mere announcement of such talks would fetch all thepowerful and power-hungry as surely as light attracts moths91. And now (he feltsure) Mike was about to be treated as a sovereign by each and every one ofthose nabobs-with the whole world watching. Just let .em try to roust the boyaround after this!
Sanforth was still trying mightily92 to shoo out the remaining newsmen, and theunfortunate assistant chief of protocol, deserted by his boss, was jittering likea nervous baby-sitter in his attempt to play musical chairs with too few chairsand too many notables, They continued to come in and Jubal concluded thatDouglas had never intended to convene93 this public meeting earlier thaneleven o’clock, and that everyone else had been so informed-the earlier hourgiven Jubal was to permit the private preconference that Douglas haddemanded and that Jubal had refused. Well, the delay suited Jubal’s plans.
The leader of the Eastern Coalition94 came in. Since Mr. King was not, by hisown choice, the nominal95 Chief of Delegation for his nation, his status understrict protocol was merely that of Assemblyman-but Jubal was not even mildlysurprised to see the harried96 assistant chief of protocol drop what he wasdoing and rush to seat Douglas’ chief political enemy at the main table andnear the seat reserved for the Secretary General; it simply reinforced Jubal’sopinion that Douglas was no fool.
Dr. Nelson, surgeon of the Champion, and Captain van Tromp, her skipper,came in together, and were greeted with delight by Mike. Jubal was pleased,too, as it gave the boy something to do, under the cameras, instead of justsitting still like a dummy97. Jubal made use of the disturbance98 to rearrange theseating since there was now no longer any need to surround the Man fromMars with a bodyguard99. He placed Mike precisely100 opposite the SecretaryGeneral’s chair and himself took the chair on Mike’s left-not only to be closeto him as his counsel but to be where he could actually touch Mikeinconspicuously. Since Mike had only the foggiest notions of humancustomary manners, Jubal had arranged with him signals as imperceptible asthose used by a rider in putting a high-schooled horse through dressagemaneuvers-.stand up,“ .sit down,“ .bow,“ .shake hands“-with the differencethat Mike was not a horse and his training had required only five minutes toachieve utterly101 dependable perfection.
Mahmoud broke away from the reunion of shipmates, came around, andspoke to Jubal privately102. .Doctor, I must explain that the Skipper and theSurgeon are also water brothers of our brother-and Michael Valentine wantedto confirm it at once by again using the ritual, all of us. I told him to wait. Doyou approve?“.Eh? Yes. Yes, certainly. Not in this mob.“ Jubal worried it for a moment.
Damn it, how many water brothers did Mike have? How long was this daisychain? .Maybe you three can come with us when we leave? And have a biteand a talk in private.“.I shall be honored. And I feel sure the other two will come also, ifpossible.“.Good. Dr. Mahmoud, do you know of any other brothers of our youngbrother who are likely to show up?“.No. Not from the company of the Champion, at least; there are no more.“Mahmoud hesitated, then decided not to ask the obvious complementaryquestion, as it would hint at how disconcerted he had been-at first-to discoverthe extent of his own conjugational commitments. .I’ll tell Sven and the OldMan.“ He went back to them.
Harshaw saw the Papal Nuncio come in, saw him seated at the main table,and smiled inwardly-if that long-eared debit103, LaRue, had any lingering doubtsabout the official nature of this meeting, he would do well to forget them!
A man came up behind Harshaw, tapped him on the shoulder. .Is this wherethe Man from Mars hangs out?“.Yes,“ agreed Jubal.
.Which one is he? I’m Tom Boone-Senator Boone, that is-and I’ve got amessage for him from Supreme Bishop104 Digby.“Jubal suppressed his personal feelings and let his cortex go into emergencyhigh speed. .I’m Jubal Harshaw, Senator-. He signalled Mike to stand up andoffer to shake hands. .-and this is Mr. Smith. Mike, this is Senator Boone.“.How do you do, Senator Boone,“ Mike said in perfect dancingschool form.
He looked at Boone with interest. He had already had it straightened out forhim that .Senator“ did not mean .Old One“ as the words seemed to shape;nevertheless he was interested in seeing just what a .Senator“ was. Hedecided that he did not yet grok it.
.Pretty well, thank you, Mr. Smith. But I won’t take up your time; they seem tobe about to get this shindig started. Mr. Smith, Supreme Bishop Digby sentme to give you a personal invite to attend services at the Archangel FosterTabernacle of the New Revelation.“.Beg pardon?“Jubal moved in on it. .Senator, as you know, many things here- everything-isnew to the Man from Mars. But it so happens that Mr. Smith has alreadyseen one of your church services by stereovision-.
.Not the same thing.“.I know. But he expressed great interest in it and asked many questionsabout it-many of which I could not answer.“Boone looked keenly at him. .You’re not one of the faithful?“.I must admit that I am not.“.Come along yourself. Always hope for a sinner.“.Thank you, I will.“ (You’re right, I will, friend!-for I certainly won’t let Mike gointo your trap alone!).Next Sunday then-I’ll tell Bishop Digby.“.Next Sunday if possible,“ Jubal corrected. .We might be in jail by then.“Boone grinned. .There’s always that, ain’t th’r? But send word around to meor the Supreme Bishop and you won’t stay in long.“ He looked around thecrowded room. .Seem to be kind o’ short on chairs in here. Not much chancefor a plain senator with all those muckamucks elbowing each other.“.Perhaps you would honor us by joining us, Senator,“ Jubal answeredsmoothly, .at this table?“.Eh? Why, thank you, sir! Don’t mind if I do-ringside seat.“.That is,“ Harshaw added, .if you don’t mind the political implications of beingseen seated with the official Mars delegation. We aren’t trying to crowd youinto an embarrassing situation.“Boone barely hesitated. .Not at all! Who cares what people think? Matter offact, between you and I, the Bishop is very, very interested in this youngman.“.Fine. There’s a vacant chair there by Captain van Tromp-that man there . . .
but probably you know him.“.Van Tromp? Sure, sure, old friends, know him well-met him at thereception.“ Senator Boone nodded at Smith, swaggered down and seatedhimself.
Most of those present were seated now and fewer were getting past theguards at the doors. Jubal watched one argument over seating and thelonger he watched it the more it made him fidget. At last he felt that he simplycould not stand it; he could not sit still and watch this indecency go on. So heleaned over and spoke very privately with Mike, made sure that, if Mike didnot understand why, at least he understood what Jubal wanted him to do.
Mike listened. .Jubal, I will do.“.Thanks, son.“ Jubal got up and approached a group of three: the assistantchief of protocol, the Chief of the Uruguayan Delegation, and a third man whoseemed angry but baffled. The Uruguayan was saying forcefully: .-seat him,then you must find seats for any and all other local chiefs of state-eighty ormore. You’ve admitted that you can’t do that. This is Federation soil we standon . . . and no chief of state has precedence over any other chief of state. Ifany exceptions are made-.
Jubal interrupted by addressing the third man, .Sir-. He waited just longenough to gain his attention, plunged105 on. .-the Man from Mars has instructedme to ask you to do him the great honor of sitting with him if your presence isnot required elsewhere.“The man looked startled, then smiled broadly. .Why, yes, that would besatisfactory.“The other two, both the palace official and the Uruguayan dignitary, started toobject. Jubal turned his back on them. .Let’s hurry, sir-I think we have verylittle time.“ He had seen two men coming in with what appeared to be a standfor a Christmas tree and a bloody106 sheet-but what was almost certainly the.Martian Flag.“ As they hurried to where he was, Mike got up and wasstanding, waiting for them.
Jubal said, .Sir, permit me to present Valentine Michael Smith. Michael-thePresident of the United States!“Mike bowed very low.
There was barely time to seat him on Mike’s right, as the improvised flag waseven then being set up behind them. Music started to play, everyone stood,and a voice proclaimed:
.The Secretary General!“
收听单词发音 |
1
delegation
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| n.代表团；派遣 | |
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awe
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| n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧 | |
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awed
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| adj.充满敬畏的，表示敬畏的v.使敬畏，使惊惧( awe的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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chattered
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| （人）喋喋不休( chatter的过去式 )； 唠叨； （牙齿）打战； （机器）震颤 | |
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suite
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| n.一套(家具)；套房；随从人员 | |
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metropolis
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| n.首府；大城市 | |
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savored
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| v.意味，带有…的性质( savor的过去式和过去分词 )；给…加调味品；使有风味；品尝 | |
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bustling
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| adj.喧闹的 | |
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deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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anguish
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| n.(尤指心灵上的)极度痛苦，烦恼 | |
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lavish
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| adj.无节制的；浪费的；vt.慷慨地给予，挥霍 | |
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casually
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| adv.漠不关心地，无动于衷地，不负责任地 | |
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hurdle
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| n.跳栏，栏架；障碍，困难；vi.进行跨栏赛 | |
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virgin
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| n.处女，未婚女子；adj.未经使用的；未经开发的 | |
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fretting
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| n. 微振磨损 adj. 烦躁的, 焦虑的 | |
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spike
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| n.长钉，钉鞋；v.以大钉钉牢，使...失效 | |
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jittering
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| v.紧张不安，战战兢兢( jitter的现在分词 ) | |
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jitter
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| v.神经过敏，战战兢兢 | |
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heartily
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| adv.衷心地，诚恳地，十分，很 | |
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specimen
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| n.样本，标本 | |
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smoothly
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| adv.平滑地，顺利地，流利地，流畅地 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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buffering
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| 缓冲（作用）； 减震； 阻尼； 隔离 | |
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swarming
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| 密集( swarm的现在分词 )； 云集； 成群地移动； 蜜蜂或其他飞行昆虫成群地飞来飞去 | |
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standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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spotted
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| adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的 | |
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fend
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| v.照料（自己），（自己）谋生，挡开，避开 | |
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reassured
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| adj.使消除疑虑的；使放心的v.再保证，恢复信心( reassure的过去式和过去分词) | |
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competence
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| n.能力，胜任，称职 | |
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bequest
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| n.遗赠；遗产，遗物 | |
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fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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stunned
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| adj. 震惊的，惊讶的 动词stun的过去式和过去分词 | |
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interrogator
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| n.讯问者；审问者；质问者；询问器 | |
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gulped
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| v.狼吞虎咽地吃，吞咽( gulp的过去式和过去分词 )；大口地吸（气）；哽住 | |
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torrent
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| n.激流，洪流；爆发，(话语等的)连发 | |
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rhinoceros
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| n.犀牛 | |
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ramming
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| n.打结炉底v.夯实（土等）( ram的现在分词 )；猛撞；猛压；反复灌输 | |
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briefly
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| adv.简单地，简短地 | |
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purely
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| adv.纯粹地，完全地 | |
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interim
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| adj.暂时的，临时的；n.间歇，过渡期间 | |
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genes
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| n.基因( gene的名词复数 ) | |
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provincial
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| adj.省的，地方的；n．外省人，乡下人 | |
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concealed
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| a.隐藏的，隐蔽的 | |
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arrogant
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| adj.傲慢的，自大的 | |
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assertive
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| adj.果断的，自信的，有冲劲的 | |
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thereby
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| adv.因此，从而 | |
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accretive
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| [医] 增积的，粘连的 | |
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51
inadequately
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| ad.不够地；不够好地 | |
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52
accurately
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| adv.准确地，精确地 | |
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supreme
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| adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的 | |
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54
justify
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| vt.证明…正当(或有理)，为…辩护 | |
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brotherhood
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| n.兄弟般的关系，手中情谊 | |
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56
scant
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| adj.不充分的，不足的；v.减缩，限制，忽略 | |
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barbarians
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| n.野蛮人( barbarian的名词复数 )；外国人；粗野的人；无教养的人 | |
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58
croak
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| vi.嘎嘎叫，发牢骚 | |
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symbolic
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| adj.象征性的，符号的，象征主义的 | |
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60
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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linguistic
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| adj.语言的，语言学的 | |
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intervals
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| n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息 | |
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pitcher
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| n.(有嘴和柄的)大水罐；(棒球)投手 | |
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pitchers
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| 大水罐( pitcher的名词复数 ) | |
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sip
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| v.小口地喝，抿，呷；n.一小口的量 | |
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precedents
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| 引用单元； 范例( precedent的名词复数 )； 先前出现的事例； 前例； 先例 | |
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precedent
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| n.先例，前例；惯例；adj.在前的，在先的 | |
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mingle
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| vt.使混合，使相混；vi.混合起来；相交往 | |
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decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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70
enquire
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| v.打听，询问；调查，查问 | |
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71
heresy
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| n.异端邪说；异教 | |
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protocol
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| n.议定书，草约，会谈记录，外交礼节 | |
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scrunch
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| v.压，挤压；扭曲（面部） | |
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impatience
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| n.不耐烦，急躁 | |
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delegations
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| n.代表团( delegation的名词复数 )；委托，委派 | |
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scrawled
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| 乱涂，潦草地写( scrawl的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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77
amendments
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| （法律、文件的）改动( amendment的名词复数 )； 修正案； 修改； （美国宪法的）修正案 | |
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trot
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| n.疾走，慢跑；n.老太婆；现成译本；(复数）trots:腹泻（与the 连用）；v.小跑，快步走，赶紧 | |
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sergeant
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| n.警官，中士 | |
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federation
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| n.同盟，联邦，联合，联盟，联合会 | |
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poised
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| a.摆好姿势不动的 | |
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82
sketched
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| v.草拟（sketch的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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scout
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| n.童子军，侦察员；v.侦察，搜索 | |
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84
improvise
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| v.即兴创作；临时准备，临时凑成 | |
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obligatory
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| adj.强制性的，义务的，必须的 | |
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anthem
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| n.圣歌，赞美诗，颂歌 | |
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improvised
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| a.即席而作的,即兴的 | |
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apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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grunt
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| v.嘟哝；作呼噜声；n.呼噜声，嘟哝 | |
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sprain
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| n.扭伤,扭筋 | |
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moths
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| n.蛾( moth的名词复数 ) | |
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mightily
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| ad.强烈地；非常地 | |
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convene
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| v.集合，召集，召唤，聚集，集合 | |
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coalition
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| n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合 | |
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nominal
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| adj.名义上的；(金额、租金)微不足道的 | |
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harried
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| v.使苦恼( harry的过去式和过去分词 )；不断烦扰；一再袭击；侵扰 | |
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97
dummy
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| n.假的东西；(哄婴儿的)橡皮奶头 | |
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98
disturbance
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| n.动乱，骚动；打扰，干扰；(身心)失调 | |
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99
bodyguard
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| n.护卫，保镖 | |
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100
precisely
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| adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地 | |
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101
utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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102
privately
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| adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地 | |
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103
debit
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| n.借方，借项，记人借方的款项 | |
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104
bishop
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| n.主教，（国际象棋）象 | |
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105
plunged
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| v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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106
bloody
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| adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染 | |
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