Sunday, 10 June 2018

Before Columbus

In a North American wood in a summer before Columbus:

gigantic oak, elm and birch mingle;

their fragrance fills the air;

their leaves cast shadows;

the underbrush is nearly solid;

a woodpecker drums;
 
a bluejay scolds;
 
a fire glows;
 
a grouse roasts;

Leonce says:

"'...what a wonderful world this is before machine man screws things up."
-Poul Anderson, There Will Be Time (New York, 1973), XIII, p. 141.

See Before The Settlers.

Leonce agrees with Jack Havig, Manse Everard and Dominic Flandry.

1 comment:

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

I doubt any of these persons, esp. Flandry, would enjoy a wholly primitive world with no machines! And that would mean no FTL interstellar journeys for Flandry.

Sean