Morning Under Betelgeuse

"His slave roused him in the dawn. Mist, tinged with blood by the red sun, drifted through the high windows of his suite. Someone was blowing a horn somewhere, a wild call in the vague mysterious light, and he heard the growl of engines warming up.
"Sometimes,' he muttered sourly, 'I feel like going to the emperor and telling him where to put our beloved empire."
-Poul Anderson, "Honourable Enemies" IN Anderson, Agent Of The Terran Empire (London, 1977), pp. 57-81 AT II, p.65.

"Dawn here was an alien thing, too. Mist tinged blood-red drifted in dankness through the open windows of his bedroom. It smelled like wet iron. Someone was blowing a horn somewhere, doubtless with intentions of spreading cheer; but to him, local music sounded like a cat in a washing machine. Engines growled. He closed his palms around the warmth of a coffee cup and shivered.
"But somebody has to prop up civilization, at least through my own lifetime, he told himself. Consider the alternative."
-Poul Anderson, "Honorable Enemies" IN Anderson, Captain Flandry: Defender Of The Terran Empire (Riverdale, NY, 2010), pp. 277-302 AT 283.

I recently quoted the later version here so here is the comparison but we can't do this with every altered text. I am sorry to lose the wild call in the mysterious light and get a cat in a washing machine instead.