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Chapter 24 — The Natural History of the Selenites
Theycameintothis“hexagonalcell”inwhichCavorwasconfined,andbeganimitatingeverysoundhemade,beginningwithacough.Heseemstohavegraspedtheirintentionwithgreatquickness,andtohavebegunrepeatingwordstothemandpointingtoindicatetheapplication.Theprocedurewasprobablyalwaysthesame.Phi-oowouldattendtoCavorforaspace,thenpointalsoandsaythewordhehadheard.
Thefirstwordhemasteredwas“man,”andthesecond“Mooney”—whichCavoronthespurofthemomentseemstohaveusedinsteadof“Selenite”forthemoonrace.AssoonasPhi-oowasassuredofthemeaningofawordherepeatedittoTsi-puff,whoremembereditinfallibly.TheymasteredoveronehundredEnglishnounsattheirfirstsession.
Subsequentlyitseemstheybroughtanartistwiththemtoassisttheworkofexplanationwithsketchesanddiagrams—Cavor’sdrawingsbeingrathercrude.“Hewas,”saysCavor,“abeingwithanactivearmandanarrestingeye,”andheseemedtodrawwithincredibleswiftness.
Theeleventhmessageisundoubtedlyonlyafragmentofalongercommunication.Aftersomebrokensentences,therecordofwhichisunintelligible,itgoeson:—
“Butitwillinterestonlylinguists,anddelaymetoolong,togivethedetailsoftheseriesofintentparleysofwhichthesewerethebeginning,and,indeed,IverymuchdoubtifIcouldgiveinanythingliketheproperorderallthetwistingsandturningsthatwemadeinourpursuitofmutualcomprehension.
