ON MARS THE LITTLE HUMAN ADVANCE GUARD were building halfburiedpressure domes1 for the larger male & female party that would arriveby next ship. This work went much faster than originally scheduled as theMartians were uncritically helpful. Part of the time saved was spent inpreparing a preliminary estimate on a very long-distance plan to free thebound oxygen in the sands of Mars to make the planet more friendly to futurehuman generations.
The Old Ones neither helped nor hindered these long-distance human plans;time was not yet. Their own meditations2 were approaching a violent cusp thatwould control the shape of Martian art for many millennia3. On Earth electionscontinued as usual and a very advanced poet published a limited edition ofverse consisting entirely4 of punctuation5 marks and spaces; Time magazinereviewed it and suggested that the Federation6 Assembly Daily Record couldprofitably be translated into the same medium. The poet was invited tolecture at the University of Chicago, which he did, clad in full formal eveningdress lacking only trousers and shoes.
A colossal7 advertising8 campaign opened to sell more sexual organs of plantsfor human use and Mrs. Joseph (.Shadow of Greatness“) Douglas wasquoted as saying: .I would no more think of sitting down to eat withoutflowers on my table than without serviettes.“ A Tibetan swami from Palermo,Sicily, announced in Beverly Hills a newly discovered, ancient yoga disciplinefor ripple9 breathing which greatly increased both pranha and the cosmicattraction between the sexes. His chelas were required to assume thematsyendra posture10 dressed in hand-woven diapers while he read aloud fromthe Rig-Veda and an assistant guru checked through their purses in anotherroom-nothing was ever stolen from the purses; the purpose was lessimmediate.
The President of the United States, by proclamation, named the first Sundayin November as .National Grandmothers’ Day“ and urged the grandchildrenof America to say it with flowers. A funeral parlor11 chain was indicted12 for pricecutting.
The Fosterite bishops13, after secret conclave15, announced theChurch’s second Major Miracle: Supreme16 Bishop14 Digby had been translatedbodily to Heaven and spot-promoted to Archangel, ranking with-but-afterArchangel Foster. The glorious news had been held up pending17 Heavenlyconfirmation of the elevation18 of a new Supreme Bishop, Huey Short-acompromise candidate accepted by the Boone faction19 after the lots had beencast repeatedly.
L .Unita and Hoy published identical doctrinaire20 denunciations of Short’selevation, L .Osservatore Romano and the Christian21 Science Monitor ignoredit, Times of India snickered at it editorially, and the Manchester Guardianreported it without comment-the Fbsterite congregation in England was smallbut extremely militant22.
Digby was not pleased with his promotion23. The Man from Mars hadinterrupted him with his work half finished-and that stupid jackass Short wascertain to louse it up. Foster listened to him with angelic patience until Digbyran down, then said, .Listen, junior, you’re an angel now-so forget it. Eternityis no time for recriminations. You too were a stupid jackass until youpoisoned me. Afterwards you did well enough. Now that Short is SupremeBishop he’ll do all right, too; he can’t help it. Same as with the Popes. Someof them were warts24 until they got promoted. Check with one of them, goahead-there’s no professional jealousy25 here.“Digby calmed down a little, but made one request.
Foster shook his halo in negation26. .You can’t touch him. You shouldn’t havetried to touch him in the first place. Oh, you can submit a requisition for amiracle if you want to make a bloody27 fool of yourself. But, I’m telling you, it’llbe turned down-you simply don’t understand the System yet. The Martianshave their own setup, different from ours, and as long as they need him, wecan’t touch him. They run theft own show their own way-the Universe hasvariety, something for everybody-a fact you field workers often miss.“.You mean this punk can brush me aside and I’ve got to hold still for it?“.I held still for the same thing, didn’t I? I’m helping28 you now, am I not? Nowlook, there’s work to be done and lots of it-before you can expect to bepromoted again. The Boss wants performance, not gripes- If you need a Dayoff to get your nerve back, duck over to the Muslim Paradise and take it.
Otherwise, straighten your halo, square your wings, and dig in. The sooneryou start acting29 like an angel the quicker you’ll start feeling angelic. GetHappy, junior!“Digby heaved a deep ethereal sigh. .Okay, I’m Happy. Where do I start?“Jubal was not disturbed by Digby’s disappearance30 because he did not hearof it even as soon as it was announced, and, when he did hear, while he hada fleeting31 suspicion as to who had performed the miracle, he dismissed itfrom his mind; if Mike had had a finger in it, he had gotten away with it-andwhat happened to supreme bishops worried Jubal not at all as long as hedidn’t have to be bothered with it.
More important, his own household had gone through a considerable upset.
In this case Jubal knew what had happened but did not care to inquire. Thatis to say, Jubal guessed what had happened but did not know with whomanddidn’t want to know. A slight case of rape32. Was .rape“ the word? Well,.statutory rape.“ No, not that, either; Mike was of legal age and presumed tobe able to defend himself in the clinches33. Anyhow, it was high time the boywas salted, no matter how it had happened.
Jubal couldn’t even reconstruct the crime from the way the girls behavedbecause their patterns kept shifting-sometimes ABC vs D, then BCD vs A . . .
or AB vs CD, or AD vs CB, through all possible ways that four women cangang up on each other.
This continued for most of the week following that ill-starred trip to church,during which period Mike stayed in his room in a withdrawal34 trance so deepthat Jubal would have pronounced him dead had he not seen it before. Jubalwould not have minded it if the service around the place had not gone to hellin a bucket. The girls seemed to spend half their time tiptoeing in~“to see ifMike was all right“ and they were too preoccupied35 to cook properly, muchless to be decent secretaries. Even rock-steady Anne-Hell, Anne was theworst of the lot! Absent-minded and subject to unexplained tears . . . andJubal would have bet his life that if Anne were to witness the SecondComing, she would simply have memorized date, time, personae, events,and barometric36 pressure without batting her calm blue eyes.
Then late Thursday afternoon Mike woke himself up and suddenly it wasABCD in the service of Mike, .less than the dust beneath his chariot wheels.“Inasmuch as the girls now found time to give Jubal perfect service too, Jubalcounted his blessings37 and let it lie - except for a wry38 and very private thoughtthat, if he had demanded a showdown, Mike could easily quintuple theirsalaries simply by dropping a post card to Douglas-but that the girls wouldjust as readily have supported Mike.
Once domestic tranquility was restored Jubal did not mind that his kingdomwas now ruled by a mayor of the palace. Meals were on time and (if possible)better than ever; when he shouted .Front!“ the girl who appeared was brighteyed,happy, and efficient-such being the case, Jubal did not give a hoot39 whorated the most side boys. Or girls.
Besides, the change in Mike was as interesting to Jubal as the restoration ofpeace was pleasant. Before that week Mike had been docile40 in a fashion thatJubal classed as pathological; now he was so self-confident that Jubal wouldhave described it as cocky had it not been that Mike continued to beunfailingly polite and considerate.
But he accepted homage41 from the girls as if a natural right, he seemed olderthan his calendar age rather than younger, his voice had deepened, hespoke with disciplined forcefulness rather than timidly. Jubal decided42 thatMike had joined the human race; he could, in his mind, discharge this patientas cured.
Except (Jubal reminded himself) on one point: Mike still did not laugh. Hecould smile at a joke and sometimes did not ask to have them explained tohim. Mike was cheerful, even merry-but he never laughed.
Jubal decided that it was not important. This patient was sane43, healthy . . .
and human. Short weeks earlier Jubal would have given odds44 against thecure taking place. He was honest and humble45 enough as a physician not toclaim credit; the girls had had more to do with it. Or should he say .girl?“From the first week of his stay Jubal had told Mike almost daily that he waswelcome to stay . . . but that he should stir out and see the world as soon ashe felt able. In view of this Jubal should not have been surprised when Mikeannounced one breakfast that he was leaving. But he was both surprisedand, to his greater surprise, hurt.
He covered it by using his napkin unnecessarily before answering, .So?
When?“.We’re leaving today.“.Um- Plural46.’t Jubal looked around the table. .Are Larry and Duke and I goingto have to put up with our own cooking until I can dig up more help?“.We’ve talked that over,“ Mike answered. .Jill is going with me- nobody else. Ido need somebody with me, Jubal; I know quite well that I don’t know, as yet,how people do things out in the world. I still make mistakes; I need a guide,for a time. I think it ought to be Jill, because she wants to go on learningMartian-and the others think so, too. But if you want Jill to stay, then it couldbe someone else. Duke and Larry are each willing to help me, if you can’tspare one of the girls.“.You mean I get a vote?“.What? Jubal, it has to be your decision. We all know that.“(Son, you’re a gent-and you’ve probably just told your first lie- I doubt if Icould hold even Duke if you set your mind against it.) .I guess it ought to beJill. But look, kids- This is still your home. The latch47 string is out.“.We know that-and we’ll be back. Again we will share water.“.We will, son.“.Yes, Father.“.Huh?“.Jubal, there is no Martian word for .father.’ But lately I have grokked that youare my father. And Jill’s father.“Jubal glanced at Jill. .Mmm, I grok. Take care of yourselves.“.Yes. Come, Jill.“ They were gone before he left the table.
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domes
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| n.圆屋顶( dome的名词复数 )；像圆屋顶一样的东西；圆顶体育场 | |
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meditations
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| 默想( meditation的名词复数 )； 默念； 沉思； 冥想 | |
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millennia
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| n.一千年，千禧年 | |
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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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punctuation
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| n.标点符号，标点法 | |
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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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colossal
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| adj.异常的，庞大的 | |
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advertising
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| n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的 | |
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ripple
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| n.涟波，涟漪，波纹，粗钢梳；vt.使...起涟漪，使起波纹； vi.呈波浪状，起伏前进 | |
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posture
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| n.姿势，姿态，心态，态度；v.作出某种姿势 | |
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parlor
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| n.店铺，营业室；会客室，客厅 | |
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indicted
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| 控告，起诉( indict的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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bishops
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| （基督教某些教派管辖大教区的）主教( bishop的名词复数 )； （国际象棋的）象 | |
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bishop
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| n.主教，（国际象棋）象 | |
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conclave
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| n.秘密会议，红衣主教团 | |
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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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pending
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| prep.直到，等待…期间；adj.待定的；迫近的 | |
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elevation
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| n.高度；海拔；高地；上升；提高 | |
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faction
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| n.宗派，小集团；派别；派系斗争 | |
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doctrinaire
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| adj.空论的 | |
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Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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militant
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| adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士 | |
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promotion
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| n.提升，晋级；促销，宣传 | |
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warts
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| n.疣( wart的名词复数 )；肉赘；树瘤；缺点 | |
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jealousy
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| n.妒忌，嫉妒，猜忌 | |
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negation
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| n.否定；否认 | |
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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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helping
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| n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的 | |
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acting
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| n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的 | |
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disappearance
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| n.消失，消散，失踪 | |
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fleeting
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| adj.短暂的，飞逝的 | |
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rape
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| n.抢夺，掠夺，强奸；vt.掠夺，抢夺，强奸 | |
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clinches
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| n.（尤指两人）互相紧紧抱[扭]住( clinch的名词复数 )；解决（争端、交易），达成（协议）v.（尤指两人）互相紧紧抱[扭]住( clinch的第三人称单数 )；解决（争端、交易），达成（协议） | |
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withdrawal
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| n.取回，提款；撤退，撤军；收回，撤销 | |
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preoccupied
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| adj.全神贯注的，入神的；被抢先占有的；心事重重的v.占据（某人）思想，使对…全神贯注，使专心于( preoccupy的过去式) | |
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barometric
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| 大气压力 | |
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blessings
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| n.（上帝的）祝福( blessing的名词复数 )；好事；福分；因祸得福 | |
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wry
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| adj.讽刺的；扭曲的 | |
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hoot
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| n.鸟叫声，汽车的喇叭声； v.使汽车鸣喇叭 | |
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docile
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| adj.驯服的，易控制的，容易教的 | |
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homage
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| n.尊敬，敬意，崇敬 | |
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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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sane
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| adj.心智健全的，神志清醒的，明智的，稳健的 | |
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odds
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| n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别 | |
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humble
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| adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低 | |
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plural
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| n.复数；复数形式；adj.复数的 | |
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latch
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| n.门闩，窗闩；弹簧锁 | |
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