FOREWORD

IN MAKING this translation I have used the Sirus University text I I of A.L. Otofit and N.O. Tanuf (2nd edition, 400), and have tried to follow the readings faithfully except in very few cases, viz.: In T1:111 have taken BRONTE to mean bridge rather than the more usual command station. I have also included Tablet VIII which is not in the Sirus text. My source here was the Col C Study Papers by L.T. Snyde (first edition,451).

Further, I have, in the interests of clarity and Comspeck usage, occasionally given common names instead of the elongated forms given in the text, ie, meat rather than sacred-red-life = men-chew-hot or fish rather than creature-eaten-from-under-ice.

I wish to thank the editors and staff of the Isaac Asimov Science Press for their sympathy and their support in this project; Dr. D.H. Hyde for reading the translation and offering his brutal criticism, and, mostly, Merium Cots for her devoted moral support.

INTRODUCTION

In this introduction I have tried to give the reader information which will help him to a more comprehensive understanding of the translation. “Information” concerning Hylom is mostly conjecture and arguement: so I present solid facts and, in a few cases, my own ideas on the subject. I feel justified in doing such, in an introduction to a translation, because the reader should be aware of a translator’s bias.

COL C

Col C is now recognized as the fifth planet in the Lorian system and is inhabitable without planet engineering. Scholars agree much of the life now found there is of Terran origin but certain species, alive and extinct, are considered native to the planet. Present Homo Sapiens population is estimated at fifty million, approximately ten times the number of Hylom’s time.

If is not certain if Col C was founded by a direct expedition from the Sol region or by another colony. The latter theory has gained much support in recent years but evidence is inconclusive for either side of the argument. Even the direct reference to the period of first colonization found in The Hylom Texts has proven only able to add to the confusion of the issue, due to the popularity of the name in that period of history. This argument may never be resolved until extensive archaeological work is done on Col C and its neighboring planets.

Col C is now the officially recognized name of the planet but in actuality it could be anything from Col VC to Col CV. Again, the records of this period are so sketchy to preclude any definitive answer to this question.

Rediscovery occurred during a mapping expedition by the independent ship, Free Sauant, in the year 320. The subsequent expeditions, the bloodshed, and condition of the population at that time are such common knowledge, we will forgo these matters due to the limited space available for this introduction.

HYLOM

Hylom may be the only poet in history ever to gain popularity via official religious/political tracts. The Hylom Texts is the only work, so far discovered, which is not an officially sanctioned and directed piece. It also is the only work we have that does not limit itself to the dogmatic poetic structures of that period. We have no complete work of Hylom’s but The Hylom Texts contain the largest coherent passages known to exist by the author.

The samples of Hylom’s poetry we have are so fragmentary I find it sad to see them used in the Sensogram recordings for the purpose of humor. These were undoubtedly serious works intended to glorify the rulers and religions of the period and should not be used as baubles for the public’s entertainment. Fortunately, The Hylom Texts is complete enough that the Sensogram companies have not been able to use it for their.humorous recordings.

We are not certain exactly when Hylom lived, although it is certain it was several generations after first colonization. The Col C historian, Kramus, places Hylom four generations before his time which would place Hylom around 500 BSC. Most authorities believe this to be a very conservative estimate. My research would indicate between 800 BSC and 500 BSC would be possible.

We know Hylom was a poet but most people don’t realize he was

also a scientist. Notes taken by his students are credited as the primary basis of empirical science on Col C until Rediscovery. As to the man himself we only have The Hylom Texts to guide us. This work also gives us a valuable look at the society of one period of mid-colonial Col C and a better understanding of why Col C is the only Col, so far rediscovered, that didn’t productively grow or at least remain on a sophisticated .level of civilization.

Though the copies we have of The Hylom Texts are in a poetic form, they are not similar in meter or style to any of his known works. Many scholars, I among them, believe the original version was in prose and subsequent generations attempted to change it into poetry. For this reason and for greater clarity to the modern reader I have written this translation in prose.

TRANSLATION OF THE HYLOM TEXTS

I am Hylom, a scribe for the royal treasury and temple of the city-state of Damus. I stole this tablet to write a message to those who shall follow me in the search for understanding. I dared to do this because at the beginning of the period there was light in the sky.

My world is one of darkness, bitter cold, and the magic of the Dots in the sky. We are a people of hunters which dare to fight the giant Tyranus. Our city-state is ruled by a royal bridge of five, the mystical number of the heavens. The other hand of power rests with the priests of the Dots. At the beginning of this period the Dots on the horizon of Dela began to disappear in the purple and crimson which ate up the darkness.

Already the bridge tells the people not to panic and the priests sing wtee words without meaning. The people look to the sky, chant to the Dots, and wonder why the bridge asked them not to panic.

I remember stories from my youth about a time when there was a light in the sky. I was reared by my maternal grandfather, Hismus. He was a very old man when my parents fell before the giant Tyranus, which swallows men in glee. He told of a time when water flowed on the surface, of plants growing elsewhere than the tunnels, and of men sleeping above the ground. He told about strange animals which ate plants instead of meat and men. He was one of the ten, a group of elders which guided the young into service. From his stories, I believe, they were the ten that survived the change. He told no stories to others and only told me when he was old beyond measure.

A time of change is coming and the bridge and priests unite in fear. A change so tremendous that little of what we know shall survive. In place

of the Dots there will be a great circle of light, if my grandfather’s stories are true. The ice will turn to water! (Praise to the wonder of the Dots.) Snow will leave the ground and it shall be naked for the eyes of men to see! Men won’t fear every animal sound as a call to mortal combat. Maybe the change will be so drastic the priests and bridge will aground their power.

I, Hylom, do not fear the light in the sky. Hylom fears his fellow men. I now know there is a time of darkness and a time of light. I do not fear the change in the heavens but men who deny its possibilities.

To my posterity, I, Hylom say — watch not only the heavens but also watch those men in power.

TABLET II

The change is coming but much slower than I expected. The light grows brighter each period. At the beginning of this period the top of what my grandfather called ‘a great circle of light’ appeared over the Argo Mountains. It has been six hundred periods since the light first appeared on the horizon.

The light has eaten many Dots but trouble swells from the priests and the bridge. I have kept silent concerning the light in the sky and have avoided charges of heresy which have cost many of the educated their lives.

The people grow restless. Their ire is directed toward the bridge. I think they should be screaming at the priests, but then I have to work with the priests every period.

Janus was sentenced this period. He was sent naked to the surface for saying he believed the light in the sky was a Dot moving closer to the world. We know the Dots move, therefore I do not see his proposition as unreasonable. Janus gave me some of his studies on the Dots which indicate, mathematically, it is even possible to say our world may also move. May the priests never hear of my heresy.

Since my grandfather told me the light in the sky has come before, there may be a pattern to it. It must be a pattern taking many lifetimes to complete, but one that men with written records should be able to discern.

I, Hylom, fear the magic of writing may be lost if the change is too drastic. I have seen some of the sacred texts that the priests use in their chanting. These texts contain symbols from a time before men’s collective memory and they may have been an earlier form of writing. Such symbols as (dE/dS)V= (dH/dS)P= T and & E=mc^2 must’ve had more significance than the simple magic the priests use them for. We recognize the letters and symbols but are unable to put them into a meaningful relationship with one another. Is it possible that these symbols are a message to us from our past?

My grandfather was right about the animal movements. Already the hunters report the animals are moving away from the light. New ice holes have been started to increase the supply of fish. (Praise the Dots that water expands when it changes to ice.) Reports come in that hunters fight over kills, several have died. Hunters never have long arguments, just violent ones.

I heard one hunter say the light in the sky was dimmer further from the Argo Mountains. I kept quiet. Hunters also don’t like discussions.

TABLET VI (TEXT INCOMPLETE)

The circle is complete! We are no longer sure of time, since the dots have left the sky, but I believe it has been 950 periods since the light first appeared in the sky.

We now have a Captain instead of a bridge ruling the city-state of Damus. The priests now chant to the light in the sky and believe the heresy of Janus.

I have found the tablets of the old priests. They contain many more symbols which no one now understands and stories which my father’s generation must have based their religion. They are nothing like the stories my grandfather told. Many of the priests’ stories tell of a Captain and a Crew. They say Captain was the leader of the mighty communities of Ship and Argo. Crew must have been a multi-talented man which followed Captain through all of his wonderings. They travel through a mysterious land called Space. (From the sound of it, the place was one still in darkness.) They found a new city-state called Col.

The stories also talk about their dreams — flying, talking over long distances, travelling at tremendous speeds, seeing through the ice to fish, and moving the clouds. Things that all men dream but these seem different. The wonder of magic fills the stories with awe and the everyday acceptance of the magic makes them believable. The stories say little of the light in the sky but do mention the dots. They tell about one dot …

TABLET VIII (TEXT INCOMPLETE)

There has been less carnage than in my grandfather’s time but that was to be expected. His was the beginning of the darkness, ours the end. The warmth of the air and my grandfather’s stories seem to calm the fears of men. However, the animals are gone. There still is violence.

The light has moved half its diameter in the sky. Our eyes hurt if we spend much time outside but…

… somehow she survived, even with that cavern she calls a mouth. Fortunately, for me, not many listen to the prattle of my wife or else I would have joined Janus on the surface.

I find I spend more time out of the family tunnel than ever before.

She’s always blaming me for all the mouths to feed and keeps telling me to go back to the hunters. I don’t think she even cares about the light in the sky or my studies. She either wants me in the cot or hunting. She even threw one of my tablets at me! I’ve moved to a lower tunnel in order to write in peace.

TABLET X

The circle of fire is one diameter above the horizon.

Hunters brought in fresh meat from the passes of the Argo Mountains. They say the herds follow the growth of the surface plants. My grandfather was mistaken about all the new animals being plant eaters. Hunters report blood was given to carnivores following the herd.

The meat tastes different from the flesh eater’s meat but in time we shall grow used to it.

I have already seen some of the strange plant life. It is green! I have placed some of the tunnels’ plants in the light. One plant lived and is changing color. It even started to grow faster. I believe the plants died of the cold and not of the light as some say. Is is possible our tunnel plants have not always grown just in the tunnels?

The water flowing in the canyon is refreshing to the eyes and mind. I am glad I am now a teacher, instead of a scribe, because I have more freedom to explore the wonders coming alive on the surface.

TABLET XVI

I am in my tunnel waiting for the water to find me.

The ice melted and water began to trickle down into the lower tunnels. We paid little attention to it. We were too busy caring for the burns caused by the light in the sky.

Much water flowed into the canyon, breaking up the remaining ice and moving the rocks. The sound was mightier than the roar of a Tyranus in heat.

A short while ago the tunnels flooded. The entrance to my tunnel is blocked by rock.

I hear the agony from below.

There is water on the floor … _