Two Men In The Lowlands

"My Own, My Native Land."

Jack O'Malley says:

"'God never promised man a free ride.'" (p. 38)

Is that another way of saying, "There ain't no such thing as a free lunch"? It can be either a literal or a metaphorical use of the word, "God." In one theistic narrative, God goes further and says that we will earn our living by the sweat of our brow. 

Danny Coffin follows O'Malley's remark by reflecting:

"And Father always says, The laborer is worthy of his hire..." (ibid.)

- but we have already spotted that as a Biblical reference.

Poul Anderson presents many Rustumite plants and animals as he does for planets like Avalon in the Technic History, e.g., on Rustum:

"...a flock of tarzans went by, leaping from branch to branch, chattering and posturing..." (p. 32)

The two men laugh. "Tarzan" is the kind of name that colonists would bestow on appropriate organisms. There are "draculas" on Avalon and "flashers" in Larry Niven's Smokering.