Hallo all,
Just finished reading "The Mote in God's Eye," and I have sort of an odd question on the question, "Did you say something?" which appears twice in the book.
The first time is in Chapter 36 (Judgment). An excerpt:
Thank you,
Gabriel
Just finished reading "The Mote in God's Eye," and I have sort of an odd question on the question, "Did you say something?" which appears twice in the book.
The first time is in Chapter 36 (Judgment). An excerpt:
"And you?" Whitbread asked. "How do you see the situation?"
"As you do," the Motie said carefully. "I am qualified to judge my species dispassionately. I am not a traitor." There was a plea in the alien voice. "I am a judge. I judge that association between our species could only result in mutual envy, you for your birth control pills, us for our superior intelligence. Did you say something?"
"No."
"I judge that spreading my species across space would involve ridiculous risks and would not end the pattern of the Cycles. It would only make each collapse more terrible. We would breed faster than we could spread, until collapse came for hundreds of planets at a stroke, routinely..."
The second time is in Chapter 42 (A Bag of Broken Glass). An excerpt:"As you do," the Motie said carefully. "I am qualified to judge my species dispassionately. I am not a traitor." There was a plea in the alien voice. "I am a judge. I judge that association between our species could only result in mutual envy, you for your birth control pills, us for our superior intelligence. Did you say something?"
"No."
"I judge that spreading my species across space would involve ridiculous risks and would not end the pattern of the Cycles. It would only make each collapse more terrible. We would breed faster than we could spread, until collapse came for hundreds of planets at a stroke, routinely..."
There was a knock at her stateroom door. She opened it quickly. "Yes- Oh. Hello, Mr. Renner."
"Expecting someone else?" Renner asked slyly. "Your face fell a full klick when you saw it was me. Not very flattering."
"I'm sorry. No, I wasn't expecting anyone else. Did you say something?"
"No."
"I thought-Mr. Renner, I thought you said 'extinct.'"
"Getting any work done?" Renner asked. He glanced around her cabin. Her desk, usually orderly, was a litter of paper, diagrams, and computer printouts. One of Horvath's reports lay on the steel deck near a bulkhead. Renner twisted his lips into what might have been a half-smile.
Sally followed his gaze and blushed. "Not much," she admitted. Renner had told her he was going to visit Rod's cabin, and she waited for him to say something. And waited. Finally she gave up. "All right. I'm not getting anything done, and how is he?"
"He's a bag of broken glass."
"Oh." She was taken aback.
"Lost his ship. Of course he's in bad shape. Listen, don't let anyone tell you that losing a ship is like losing your wife. It isn't. It's a lot more like seeing your home planet destroyed."
"Is- Do you think I can do anything?"
Renner stared at her. "Extinct, I tell you. Of course there's something you can do. You can go hold his hand, for God's sake. Or just sit with him. If he can go on staring at the bulkhead with you in the room, he must have got hit in the fire fight."
"Hit? He wasn't wounded -- "
Can anyone explain these to me? No idea why this struck me so hard, but it has to mean something and as far as I could tell, these phrases and strange occurrences (e.g., the word "extinct") are not explained anywhere in the book... unless they're explained in The Gripping Hand. Something fnordy is going on here..."Expecting someone else?" Renner asked slyly. "Your face fell a full klick when you saw it was me. Not very flattering."
"I'm sorry. No, I wasn't expecting anyone else. Did you say something?"
"No."
"I thought-Mr. Renner, I thought you said 'extinct.'"
"Getting any work done?" Renner asked. He glanced around her cabin. Her desk, usually orderly, was a litter of paper, diagrams, and computer printouts. One of Horvath's reports lay on the steel deck near a bulkhead. Renner twisted his lips into what might have been a half-smile.
Sally followed his gaze and blushed. "Not much," she admitted. Renner had told her he was going to visit Rod's cabin, and she waited for him to say something. And waited. Finally she gave up. "All right. I'm not getting anything done, and how is he?"
"He's a bag of broken glass."
"Oh." She was taken aback.
"Lost his ship. Of course he's in bad shape. Listen, don't let anyone tell you that losing a ship is like losing your wife. It isn't. It's a lot more like seeing your home planet destroyed."
"Is- Do you think I can do anything?"
Renner stared at her. "Extinct, I tell you. Of course there's something you can do. You can go hold his hand, for God's sake. Or just sit with him. If he can go on staring at the bulkhead with you in the room, he must have got hit in the fire fight."
"Hit? He wasn't wounded -- "
Thank you,
Gabriel
