"The vehicle ground to a halt and the driver of the ten-cartruck leaned out." (p. 59)
In later editions, that becomes:
"The vehicle ground to a halt: a ten-car truck. The driver leaned out."
-Poul Anderson, "Hunters of the Sky Cave" IN Anderson, Agent Of The Terran Empire (Sevenoaks, Kent, 1977), pp. 83-187 AT IX, p. 130;
-Poul Anderson, "Hunters of the Sky Cave" IN Anderson, Sir Dominic Flandry, The Last Knight Of Terra (Riverdale, NY, 2012), pp. 149-301 AT IX, p. 218.
I am not sure what a "ten-car truck" is. The driver says:
"'...I'm just drivin' my truck an' drawin' my pay an' feedin' my family. Shorter rations every week, it seems.'" (p. 61)
A new regime - in this case, the Ardazirho occupation of Vixen - can move in either of two opposite directions. Either it makes life generally unpleasant for everyone or, maybe, it allow much of life to continue as before. I was surprised when, in one sf novel, some characters expected their life and work to remain unchanged even in the event of alien conquest of Earth but that is one possible scenario. In this case, the man is able to continue driving his truck but rations get shorter.
"Flandry glanced out. The stars flashed impersonally, not caring that a few motes of flesh named them provinces for a few centuries." (ibid.)
That is a wider perspective. Alien conquests do not matter to the stars but they are unconscious in any case.
8 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
I assume a ten car truck is a vehicle massive and powerful enough to haul ten, not just one cargo carrier behind it.
Life was becoming harder for Vixenites because the occupying Ardazirho were reorganizing the planetary economy from producing goods for civilian uses and redirecting Vixenite resources to manufacturing military products.
Ad astra! Sean
Sean,
OK. Not the use of the word, "car," that I am used to.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
But we have to expect languages to change as centuries pass.
Ad astra! Sean
Sean,
US and UK usages differ as well.
Paul.
Well, there's "truck" and "lorry" for starters... 8-).
Kaor, Paul and Mr. Stirling!
They certainly can and do! Including difference in spelling as well as word usage. Winston Churchill said something to the effect that the UK and US were DIVIDED by a common language!
Ad astra! Sean
And different uses of "car."
Kaor, Paul!
That too! It seemed natural to me to think that truck driver was hauling ten cargo CARRIERS, which had become shortened to "car."
Ad astra! Sean
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