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+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 59556 ***
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+ communication
+
+ BY CHARLES FONTENAY
+
+ _Everyone knows that Earth's
+ the third planet from the sun.
+ But how about looking at it
+ from an alien point of view?_
+
+ [Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from
+ Worlds of If Science Fiction, October 1956.
+ Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that
+ the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]
+
+
+The first terrestrial expedition to Mars didn't find any Martians.
+Neither did the second. Since there are so few Martians left, those
+facts are less surprising than that the third did.
+
+For many years before space flight was accomplished, there had been
+discussions and theories about how to communicate with Martians, if any
+existed. But, of course, nobody was ready when the time came.
+
+They fell back on that antiquated gimmick.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+Von Frisch, Riley and Smith watched the half dozen Martians approach,
+and their watching was not without some trepidation. Except that they
+were about twenty miles away from their G-boat--the planetary landing
+craft--they probably would have fled. Except that they had their
+orders, they probably would have shot first and asked questions later.
+
+"Sir, this is Von Frisch," said the engineer into the microphone of his
+helmet. He was a little breathless about it. "We're being approached by
+Martians!"
+
+"How do they act?" asked Captains Powers back at the G-boat,
+immediately.
+
+"They don't act hostile, sir."
+
+"Stand by, then, but don't take any chances. What do they look like?"
+
+"They're quite a bit taller than we are, but their bodies are round
+and not much bigger than a child's. They've got real long legs and
+arms, and big heads with big eyes and ears."
+
+"Are they intelligent? Are they civilized? How do they breathe?"
+
+"Wait a minute, Captain," protested Von Frisch. "You're going a little
+too fast, sir. They've just come up to us. I don't know whether that's
+fur on them or whether they're wearing clothes."
+
+"Well, try to communicate with them, man!" exclaimed Powers excitedly.
+
+Von Frisch did his best. The Martians appeared friendly enough, and
+interested. Von Frisch tried to communicate in the only method he had
+heard about.
+
+While his companions watched curiously, he shut his ears to the running
+fire of questions from Powers, squatted and drew a right angled
+triangle in the red desert sand. By one of the sides he drew three
+marks, by another four.
+
+Then he stepped back and looked questioningly at the Martians.
+
+One of the Martians squatted in a tangle of pipestem arms and legs, and
+with a long finger drew five lines beside the triangle's hypotenuse.
+
+"They understand the Pythagorean theorem, sir!" exclaimed Von Frisch.
+
+"Good! They undoubtedly know some astronomy, then. Go on."
+
+Von Frisch hesitated a moment, then erased the triangle. He drew a
+small circle with rays from it, for the sun. He drew four larger
+concentric circles around it, with small circles for planets on the
+rim of each one.
+
+He pointed to the third planet, then at himself, then at his
+companions, one by one. Then he pointed at the fourth planet and at the
+Martians, one by one. To complete the matter, he pointed at the sky.
+
+"We are Earthmen," he said. "You are Martians."
+
+The trouble was that the Earthmen didn't realize the things the
+Martians had were weapons until they used them. They didn't realize it
+then, as a matter of fact, because the Earthmen were dead, all three of
+them.
+
+_The Martian hunting party came back from the desert with word of the
+strange creatures who came, apparently, from another world._
+
+_"Whether they have weapons, we do not know," said the leader of the
+hunting party. "But they wished to harm our people, so we killed them
+all."_
+
+_"That is desperate action," said the patriarch of the village. "In
+what way were they dangerous to us?"_
+
+_"Foolishly they disclosed their intention to us," replied the leader
+of the hunting party. "They informed us they planned to take over our
+world and to drive our people farther from the sun, to the great planet
+Jupiter."_
+
+_"Then you did right," said the patriarch, blinking his big eyes._
+
+Biggs and Golden were working near the G-boat. Their helmet radios were
+set to a different channel from that used by the exploring party, so
+they were unable to hear Captain Powers shouting frantically into his
+microphone and getting no answer. It was just after sunset, and Biggs
+was looking into the west.
+
+"We ought to see it now, but it ain't there," commented Biggs.
+
+"What ain't there?" demanded Golden.
+
+"Mercury," said Biggs, who prided himself on being an amateur
+astronomer. "I reckon you can't see it from Mars without a telescope.
+Too close to the sun."
+
+He chuckled.
+
+"If there are any Martians," he added, "I reckon they think _they_ live
+on the third planet. That's funny, ain't it?"
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Communication, by Charles Fontenay
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 59556 ***
diff --git a/59556-h/59556-h.htm b/59556-h/59556-h.htm
index 1d314f0..8513867 100644
--- a/59556-h/59556-h.htm
+++ b/59556-h/59556-h.htm
@@ -74,41 +74,7 @@ div.titlepage p {
<body>
-<pre>
-
-The Project Gutenberg EBook of Communication, by Charles Fontenay
-
-This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most
-other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
-whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of
-the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at
-www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have
-to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook.
-
-Title: Communication
-
-Author: Charles Fontenay
-
-Release Date: May 19, 2019 [EBook #59556]
-
-Language: English
-
-Character set encoding: ASCII
-
-*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK COMMUNICATION ***
-
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-
-Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online
-Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
-
-
-
-
-
-
-</pre>
+<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 59556 ***</div>
<div class="figcenter">
@@ -255,379 +221,7 @@ on the third planet. That's funny, ain't it?"</p>
-<pre>
-
-
-
-
-
-End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Communication, by Charles Fontenay
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+<div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 59556 ***</div>
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diff --git a/59556.txt b/59556.txt
deleted file mode 100644
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--- a/59556.txt
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,529 +0,0 @@
-The Project Gutenberg EBook of Communication, by Charles Fontenay
-
-This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most
-other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
-whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of
-the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at
-www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have
-to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook.
-
-Title: Communication
-
-Author: Charles Fontenay
-
-Release Date: May 19, 2019 [EBook #59556]
-
-Language: English
-
-Character set encoding: ASCII
-
-*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK COMMUNICATION ***
-
-
-
-
-Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online
-Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
- communication
-
- BY CHARLES FONTENAY
-
- _Everyone knows that Earth's
- the third planet from the sun.
- But how about looking at it
- from an alien point of view?_
-
- [Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from
- Worlds of If Science Fiction, October 1956.
- Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that
- the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]
-
-
-The first terrestrial expedition to Mars didn't find any Martians.
-Neither did the second. Since there are so few Martians left, those
-facts are less surprising than that the third did.
-
-For many years before space flight was accomplished, there had been
-discussions and theories about how to communicate with Martians, if any
-existed. But, of course, nobody was ready when the time came.
-
-They fell back on that antiquated gimmick.
-
- * * * * *
-
-Von Frisch, Riley and Smith watched the half dozen Martians approach,
-and their watching was not without some trepidation. Except that they
-were about twenty miles away from their G-boat--the planetary landing
-craft--they probably would have fled. Except that they had their
-orders, they probably would have shot first and asked questions later.
-
-"Sir, this is Von Frisch," said the engineer into the microphone of his
-helmet. He was a little breathless about it. "We're being approached by
-Martians!"
-
-"How do they act?" asked Captains Powers back at the G-boat,
-immediately.
-
-"They don't act hostile, sir."
-
-"Stand by, then, but don't take any chances. What do they look like?"
-
-"They're quite a bit taller than we are, but their bodies are round
-and not much bigger than a child's. They've got real long legs and
-arms, and big heads with big eyes and ears."
-
-"Are they intelligent? Are they civilized? How do they breathe?"
-
-"Wait a minute, Captain," protested Von Frisch. "You're going a little
-too fast, sir. They've just come up to us. I don't know whether that's
-fur on them or whether they're wearing clothes."
-
-"Well, try to communicate with them, man!" exclaimed Powers excitedly.
-
-Von Frisch did his best. The Martians appeared friendly enough, and
-interested. Von Frisch tried to communicate in the only method he had
-heard about.
-
-While his companions watched curiously, he shut his ears to the running
-fire of questions from Powers, squatted and drew a right angled
-triangle in the red desert sand. By one of the sides he drew three
-marks, by another four.
-
-Then he stepped back and looked questioningly at the Martians.
-
-One of the Martians squatted in a tangle of pipestem arms and legs, and
-with a long finger drew five lines beside the triangle's hypotenuse.
-
-"They understand the Pythagorean theorem, sir!" exclaimed Von Frisch.
-
-"Good! They undoubtedly know some astronomy, then. Go on."
-
-Von Frisch hesitated a moment, then erased the triangle. He drew a
-small circle with rays from it, for the sun. He drew four larger
-concentric circles around it, with small circles for planets on the
-rim of each one.
-
-He pointed to the third planet, then at himself, then at his
-companions, one by one. Then he pointed at the fourth planet and at the
-Martians, one by one. To complete the matter, he pointed at the sky.
-
-"We are Earthmen," he said. "You are Martians."
-
-The trouble was that the Earthmen didn't realize the things the
-Martians had were weapons until they used them. They didn't realize it
-then, as a matter of fact, because the Earthmen were dead, all three of
-them.
-
-_The Martian hunting party came back from the desert with word of the
-strange creatures who came, apparently, from another world._
-
-_"Whether they have weapons, we do not know," said the leader of the
-hunting party. "But they wished to harm our people, so we killed them
-all."_
-
-_"That is desperate action," said the patriarch of the village. "In
-what way were they dangerous to us?"_
-
-_"Foolishly they disclosed their intention to us," replied the leader
-of the hunting party. "They informed us they planned to take over our
-world and to drive our people farther from the sun, to the great planet
-Jupiter."_
-
-_"Then you did right," said the patriarch, blinking his big eyes._
-
-Biggs and Golden were working near the G-boat. Their helmet radios were
-set to a different channel from that used by the exploring party, so
-they were unable to hear Captain Powers shouting frantically into his
-microphone and getting no answer. It was just after sunset, and Biggs
-was looking into the west.
-
-"We ought to see it now, but it ain't there," commented Biggs.
-
-"What ain't there?" demanded Golden.
-
-"Mercury," said Biggs, who prided himself on being an amateur
-astronomer. "I reckon you can't see it from Mars without a telescope.
-Too close to the sun."
-
-He chuckled.
-
-"If there are any Martians," he added, "I reckon they think _they_ live
-on the third planet. That's funny, ain't it?"
-
-
-
-
-
-End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Communication, by Charles Fontenay
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