The Voice of the Dolphins and Other Stories
Page 10
I cannot of course describe to you here all the puzzling discoveries which we made within the confines of the “Grand Central Terminal,” but I want to tell you at least about the most puzzling one, particularly since Xram is basing his war theory on it.
This discovery arose out of the investigation of an insignificant detail. In the vast expanse of the “Grand Central Terminal” we came upon two smaller halls located in a rather hidden position. Each of these two halls (labeled “Men” or “Women”) contains a number of small cubicles which served as temporary shelter for earth-dwellers while they were depositing their excrements. The first question was, How did the earth-dwellers locate these hidden depositories within the confines of “Grand Central Terminal”?
An earth-dweller moving about at random within this large building would have taken about one hour (on the average) to stumble upon one of them. It is, however, possible that the earth-dwellers located the depositories with the aid of olfactory guidance, and we have determined that if their sense of smell had been about thirty to forty times more sensitive than the rudimentary sense of smell of our own Species, the average time required would be reduced from one hour to about five or ten minutes. This shows there is no real difficulty connected with this problem.
Another point, however, was much harder to understand. This problem arose because we found that the door of each and every cubicle in the depository was locked by a rather complicated gadget. Upon investigation of these gadgets it was found that they contained a number of round metal disks. By now we know that these ingenious gadgets barred entrance to the cubicle until an additional disk was introduced into them through a slot; at that very moment the door became unlocked,permitting access to the cubicle.
These disks bear different images and also different inscriptions which, however, all have in common the word “Liberty.” What is the significance of these gadgets, the disks in the gadgets and the word “Liberty” on the disks?
Though a number of hypotheses have been put forward in explanation, consensus seems to veer toward the view that we have to deal here with a ceremonial act accompanying the act of deposition, similar perhaps to some of the curious ceremonial acts reported from the planets Sigma 25 and Sigma 43. According to this View, the word “Liberty” must designate some virtue which was held in high esteem by the earth-dwellers or else their ancestors. In this manner we arrive at a quite satisfactory explanation for the sacrificing of disks immediately preceding the act of deposition.
But Why was it necessary to make sure (or, as Xram says, to enforce), by means of a special gadget, that such a disk was in fact sacrificed in each and every case? This too can be explained if we assume that the earth-dwellers who approached. the cubicles were perhaps driven by a certain sense of urgency, that in the absence of the gadgets they might have occasionally forgotten to make the disk sacrifice and would have consequently suffered pangs of remorse afterward. Such pangs of remorse are not unknown as a consequence of omissions of prescribed ceremonial performances among the inhabitants of the planets Sigma 25 and Sigma 43.
I think that this is on the whole as good an explanation as can be given at the present, and it is likely that further research will confirm this view. Xram, as I mentioned before, has a theory of his own which he thinks can explain everything, the disks in the gadgets as well as the uranium explosions which extinguished life.
He believes that these disks were given out to earth-dwellers as rewards for services. He says that the earth-dwellers were not rational beings and that they would not have collaborated in cooperative enterprises without some special incentive.
He says that, by barring earth-dwellers from depositing their excrements unless they sacrificed a disk on each occasion, they were made eager to acquire such disks, and that the desire to acquire such disks made it possible for them to collaborate in co-operative efforts which were necessary for the functioning of their society.
He thinks that the disks found in the depositories represent only a special case of a more general principle and that the earth-dwellers probably had to deliver such disks not only prior to being given access to the depository but also prior to being given access to food, etc.
He came to talk to me about all this a couple of days ago; I am not sure that I understood all that he said, for he talked very fast, as he often does when he gets excited about one of his theories. I got the general gist of it, though, and what he says makes very little sense to me.
Apparently,he had made some elaborate calculations which show that a system of production and distribution of goods based on a system of exchanging disks cannot be stable, but is necessarily subject to great fluctuations vaguely reminiscent of the manic-depressive cycles of the insane. He goes so far as to say that in such a depressive phase war becomes psychologically possible even within the same species.
No one is more ready than I to admit that Xram is brilliant. His theories have invariably been proved to be wrong, but so far all of them had contained at least a grain of truth. In the case of his present theory the grain must be a very small grain indeed, and, moreover, this once I can prove that he is wrong.
In the last few days we made a spot check of ten different lodging houses of the city, selected at random. We found a number of depositories but not a single one that was equipped with a gadget containing disks-not in any of the houses which we checked so far. In View of this evidence, Xram’s theory collapses.
It seems now certain that the disks found in the depositories at “Grand Central Terminal” had been placed there as a ceremonial act. Apparently such ceremonial acts were connected with the act of deposition in public places and in public places only.
I am glad that we were able to clear this up in time, for I should have been sorry to see Xram make a fool of himself by including his theory in the report. He is a gifted young man, and in spite of all the nonsensical ideas he can put forward at the drop of a hat, I am quite fond of him.
[1948]
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Dr. Leo Szilard was among the first to conceive of the possibility of an atomic chain reaction and to recognize what it would mean to the world. The first patent issued in America in the field of atomic energy was issued jointly in his name and the name of the late Enrico Fermi. With Professor E. P. Wigner he shared the Atoms for Peace Award for 1959.
In 1939 Szilard took the initiative in inducing the US. Government to assume responsibility for the development of atomic energy. The historic letter which Albert Einstein wrote on August 2, 1939, to President Roosevelt was based on the work of Fermi and Szilard. In 1945 Szilard assumed the leadership of those of his colleagues who were opposed to dropping atomic bombs on the cities of Japan. In 1946 he led the successful fight of his colleagues against the May-Johnson Bill, which would have placed the development of atomic energy in the US. in the hands of an agency not under the direct “civilian” control of the President. At present Dr. Szilard is professor of biophysics at the University of Chicago.
Table of Contents
The Voice of the Dolphins
Nightmare for Future Reference
(Untitled)
The Voice of the Dolphins
My Trial as a War Criminal
The Marla Gable Foundation
Calling All Stars
Report on “Grand Central Terminal”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR