and be perseverant, but not blindly so, and courageous, but not rash, and assiduous, but never foolhardy. Follow these simple maxims and you will have no difficulty. Good luck, boys!'
Marvin and his fellow workers were then formed into ranks and marched into the forest on the double.
Within an hour they reached their search area. Marvin Flynn took this opportunity to ask the foreman for instructions.
'Instructions?' the foreman asked. 'What kind of type instructions?' (He was an Orinathian deportee with no language aptitude.)
'I mean,' Flynn said, 'what am I supposed to do?'
The foreman pondered the question and at length responded: 'You supposed pick eggs of ganzer.' (Amusingly enough, he pronounced it 'guntser'.)
'I understand that,' Flynn said. 'But I mean to say, I don't even know what a ganzer eggs looks like.'
'Not to worry,' the foreman replied. 'You know when see no mistake, yes.'
'Yes, sir,' Marvin said. 'And when I find a ganzer egg, are there any special rules for handling it? I mean to say, is breakage a problem, or-'
'To handle,' the foreman said, 'you pick up egg, put in bag. You understand this thing yes no?'
'Of course I do,' Marvin said. 'But also, I would like to know about daily quota expectations. I mean to say, is there some sort of a quota system, or perhaps an hourly breakdown? I mean, how does one know when one has fulfilled his norm?'
'Ah!' said the foreman, a look of comprehension finally crossing his broad, good-natured face. 'Of finish is like this. You pick ganzer egg, put in bag, check?'
'Check,' Marvin said instantly.
'You do so time after time
until bag is full
. Catch?'
'I believe I do,' Marvin said. 'The full bag represents the actual or ideal quota. Let me just go over the steps again to make absolutely sure I've got it. First, I locate the ganzer eggs, applying Terran associations to the concept, and presumably having no difficulty in identification. Second, having located and identified the desired object, I proceed to "put it in my basket", by which I assume that I lift it manually to initiate the transaction, and then proceed with actions consonant with that beginning. Third, repeating this strategy
S
for an
x
number of times, I perform the equation
Sx=B!
, when
B
represents the capacity of the bag and
!
represents the sum of
x
transactions necessary to fulfill
B
. Finally, the sum of all strategies completed, I return to the camp, where I turn in the contents of my bag. Do I have it straight, sir?'
The foreman tapped his teeth with his tail and said, 'You put me on, huh, kid?'
'Well, sir, I merely wished to ascertain-'
'You make big joke on old-planet Orinathian yokel, yah, sure, huh. You think you so smart, but you ain't so smart. Remember – nobody likes wise guy.'
'I'm sorry,' Flynn said, swishing his tail deferentially. (But he wasn't sorry. It was his first show of spirit since this downward-trending series of events had begun for him, and he was glad to find himself capable of some show of spirit, no matter how ill-timed or badly considered.)
'Anyhow, me I tink you catch elementary rudiments of job all right so you go now perform work-labour
big
, and keep nose clean or I break six or more of your limbs, dig?'
'Dig,' said Flynn, wheeled and cantered into the forest and there began his search for ganzer eggs.
Chapter 10
Marvin Flynn wondered as he wandered just what a ganzer egg looked like. He also would have enjoyed knowing what he was supposed to use his equipment for; the sunglasses were useless in the dim recesses of the forest, and the heavy tripod was incomprehensible.
He slid silently through the forest, his nostrils flared wide, his eyes extended and swivelling, their blink-rate reduced. His golden hide, scented faintly with appisthyme, twitched sensitively as his great muscles moved beneath it, apparently relaxed yet poised for instant action.
The forest was a symphony of greens and greys, cut through with the occasional scarlet theme of a
Marvin and his fellow workers were then formed into ranks and marched into the forest on the double.
Within an hour they reached their search area. Marvin Flynn took this opportunity to ask the foreman for instructions.
'Instructions?' the foreman asked. 'What kind of type instructions?' (He was an Orinathian deportee with no language aptitude.)
'I mean,' Flynn said, 'what am I supposed to do?'
The foreman pondered the question and at length responded: 'You supposed pick eggs of ganzer.' (Amusingly enough, he pronounced it 'guntser'.)
'I understand that,' Flynn said. 'But I mean to say, I don't even know what a ganzer eggs looks like.'
'Not to worry,' the foreman replied. 'You know when see no mistake, yes.'
'Yes, sir,' Marvin said. 'And when I find a ganzer egg, are there any special rules for handling it? I mean to say, is breakage a problem, or-'
'To handle,' the foreman said, 'you pick up egg, put in bag. You understand this thing yes no?'
'Of course I do,' Marvin said. 'But also, I would like to know about daily quota expectations. I mean to say, is there some sort of a quota system, or perhaps an hourly breakdown? I mean, how does one know when one has fulfilled his norm?'
'Ah!' said the foreman, a look of comprehension finally crossing his broad, good-natured face. 'Of finish is like this. You pick ganzer egg, put in bag, check?'
'Check,' Marvin said instantly.
'You do so time after time
until bag is full
. Catch?'
'I believe I do,' Marvin said. 'The full bag represents the actual or ideal quota. Let me just go over the steps again to make absolutely sure I've got it. First, I locate the ganzer eggs, applying Terran associations to the concept, and presumably having no difficulty in identification. Second, having located and identified the desired object, I proceed to "put it in my basket", by which I assume that I lift it manually to initiate the transaction, and then proceed with actions consonant with that beginning. Third, repeating this strategy
S
for an
x
number of times, I perform the equation
Sx=B!
, when
B
represents the capacity of the bag and
!
represents the sum of
x
transactions necessary to fulfill
B
. Finally, the sum of all strategies completed, I return to the camp, where I turn in the contents of my bag. Do I have it straight, sir?'
The foreman tapped his teeth with his tail and said, 'You put me on, huh, kid?'
'Well, sir, I merely wished to ascertain-'
'You make big joke on old-planet Orinathian yokel, yah, sure, huh. You think you so smart, but you ain't so smart. Remember – nobody likes wise guy.'
'I'm sorry,' Flynn said, swishing his tail deferentially. (But he wasn't sorry. It was his first show of spirit since this downward-trending series of events had begun for him, and he was glad to find himself capable of some show of spirit, no matter how ill-timed or badly considered.)
'Anyhow, me I tink you catch elementary rudiments of job all right so you go now perform work-labour
big
, and keep nose clean or I break six or more of your limbs, dig?'
'Dig,' said Flynn, wheeled and cantered into the forest and there began his search for ganzer eggs.
Chapter 10
Marvin Flynn wondered as he wandered just what a ganzer egg looked like. He also would have enjoyed knowing what he was supposed to use his equipment for; the sunglasses were useless in the dim recesses of the forest, and the heavy tripod was incomprehensible.
He slid silently through the forest, his nostrils flared wide, his eyes extended and swivelling, their blink-rate reduced. His golden hide, scented faintly with appisthyme, twitched sensitively as his great muscles moved beneath it, apparently relaxed yet poised for instant action.
The forest was a symphony of greens and greys, cut through with the occasional scarlet theme of a
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