Friedrich Mader Distant Worlds

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As they looked at her, our friends asked themselves if it would be possible to
find still greater beauty and more delicate loveliness; for they had thought
before, that the lady of the house represented the height of all possible
allurements; while now they found these attractions far surpassed by those of
the daughter.
Only Schulze knew that on this planet there was an even more fascinating
loveliness than that which Glessiblora revealed.
The name of this enchanting maiden, Glessiblora, was translated by Hank as
"Shining Flower."
Only a quarter of an hour later was the younger daughter, Heliastra, called
into the room.
"She is but seventeen and a little rogue, a mischievous imp," explained her
father before she entered, and Hank rendered her name as "Bright Star."
From afar they could already hear the silvery laughter of the approaching
girl; for there was nothing with which the sound of this clear voice could be
compared save the tinkling of silvery bells.
And now Heliastra appeared in the opening which took the place of a door; for
real doors which could be closed at will were not to be found anywhere in
Eden.
In the entrance, she halted her floating movements and as she stood there, her
gleaming golden hair framed by the opening, truly she resembled a bright and
glittering star.
Our friends looked up at the seventeen-year-old maiden:
such a marvellously sweet face, such adorably merry blue eyes, such a
translucent, petal-white skin tinged with a roseate gleam, in short, such a
blending of beauty, gracefulness, and youth had not only never been seen by
them, but they could not in their wildest dreams have painted such a
fascinating picture.
Again, it was Schulze alone who had ever seen any one like her, and not merely
like her; he instantly recognized in
Heliastra the sprightly vision which had greeted him on his morning watch,
while he was dozing off and did not rightly know whether he were asleep or
awake.
The little one had recognized him too. After she had inspected the strange
guests without embarrassment and responded particularly to Hank Frieding's
admiring gaze with a bewitching smile and a friendly nod, she floated straight
to the Professor and dropped him a deep curtsey;
then she laughed musically into his face.
The others looked on enviously while Schulze was being thus favored, and he
himself was proud of it. He beamed upon the charming creature through his
spectacles.
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To her mother, however, Heliastra's laughter seemed unbecoming. "Heliastra!"
cried Bleodila to her youngest, in tones of soft reprimand.
"O Ma," replied the little one, "we already know each other. When I
accompanied Pa and Fliorot to the smithy this morning, I flew around a little
and found the camp of
the strangers; this honorable gentleman was keeping watch;
I thought he was sleeping and wanted to come closer. But he stared at me with
such startled eyes that I took fright and fled. Only I think he was more
frightened than I." And again she laughed her refreshing laughter.
When Heliastra saw that Hank understood her language, she began a lively
conversation with him and asked him eagerly about the world from which the
strangers had come. When the young man would jumble up a word now and then,
she laughed until the others were irresistibly infected with her gaiety.
"I cannot help myself," she said to Hank apologetically, "I get so amused by
the unusual words you use or the way you sometimes pronounce and alter them.
It is really astonishing that you can talk our language, which you have heard
today for the first time. We haven't anybody among us who is so clever. But I
beg you not to learn to speak it perfectly or you will deprive me of a lot of
fun."
Upon Gabokol's request, Hank now had to explain how he had succeeded in being
able to make himself understood
among the Edenites.
Even the girls followed his talk on the laws of the origin of human speech
with eager interest and thorough understanding.
At the end, Gabokol expressed his greatest admiration and begged him to
deliver a lecture on the subject in the principal city. "You will become a
famous man among us; for while our scholars have discovered that all the
tongues of our planet were originally related, they have racked their brains
in vain over the beginnings of speech and have concluded it is a riddle human
understanding cannot solve.
"Just think what light this new knowledge will cast, what a service you will
render our science, the impetus you will [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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