A Shrill Wind On Ikrananka

"The Trouble Twisters."

The Ikranankan, Gujgengi, standing outside the landed spaceship, Muddlin' Through, converses with the ship's computer, Muddlehead. When he learns that Muddlehead will not tell him anything disadvantageous to the ship's crew, he asks:

"'Would you advise me about harmless matters, then?'
"The wind blew shrill, casting whirls of grit and tossing the bushes, while the hidden one considered. Finally:..." (p. 170)

The shrill wind, a pathetic fallacy, indicates that Muddlehead's answer will not be entirely pleasing to Gujgengi. Nevertheless, both entities, the computer and the Ikranankan, will benefit from their dialogue. The computer of a Polesotechnic League ship has learned how to bargain and trade...