Van Rijn insists on distorting Anglic even when corrected. He aims to learn what the Shenna want in their bottom. When Adzel suggests that van Rijn wishes to discuss what the Shenna "'...basically want...'" (XXV, p. 588), van Rijn calls him a "'...damn peddagoggle!'" (ibid.) but agrees that he wants to know "'...the base desires of the Shenna...'" (ibid.) He struggles through "'...a tantivvy...'" and "'...a tentacle...'" to articulate "'...a tentative program...'" (ibid.) But then the discussion gets serious. He classifies three intelligent species before addressing the nature of the Shenna:
Cynthians, small carnivores, are tough and aggressive within reason;
Wodenites, big omnivores, are peaceful and independent;
human beings are omnivores descended from pack hunters and with a year-round sex drive.
Thus, different motivations.
Also, Wodenites carry neither chips nor fish on their shoulders. Right.
(That phrase, "chip on the shoulder," gets me down. A couple of white people have told me over the years that black people have chips on their shoulders. Some black people express resentment for the racism that they have experienced from some white people. Yes, indeed.)
9 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
Yes, but the new Shenna of Dathyna were HERBIVORES who became capable of eating meat (after some kind of processing). As part of the mutation which changed some of the old Shenna into a new race. How did this change from herbivorous to at least omnivorous affect their psychology and hence ways of organizing their society natural to them?
Sean
Sean,
Yes. Van Rijn summarized three known species before going on to analyze this new species.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
And one characteristic of the New Shenna was their penchant for attacking rashly and then stampeding in mass RETREAT if defeated. Because to not do so could risk the survival of their race.
I think, with training and education, by becoming TRULY civilized, this instinct for mass attacks and mass retreats could be redirected. They would come to understand for discipline and coordination, etc.
Sean
Sean,
Just as the Puppeteers tamed the kzinti by pitting them against human beings.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
An analogy I missed! So, instead of a Kzin screaming and leaping, repeated defeats would finally get it INTO their heads the need to THINK (and not scream) before leaping.
Sean
Sean,
That is why the Puppeteers engineered the Wars Against Men.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
True! Not that the Kzin needed much encouraging, as warlike and aggressive as they naturally were. I should reread soon Anderson's Man/Kzin wars story "Pele."
Sean
Sean,
Or, rather, the Puppeteers did not start the Wars because those were already happening but they made sure that Men got the hyperdrive and thus defeated the kzinti.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
I agree, with the qualifier that gaining the hyperdrive gave mankind one of the means needed to help defeat the Kzinti.
I recall, with some amusement, from "Pele" how one Kzinti leader had to use, with disgust, the human word for "peace." The Kzin language had no word for that concept!
Sean
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