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Beyond Lies the Wub
Beyond Lies the Wub
The slovenly wub might well have said: Many men talk like philosophers and live like fools.
Book Excerpt
the long-legged Martian go-birds, into the ship. Franco watched him disappear. He was just starting up after him, up the plank toward the port, when he saw it.
"My God!" He stood staring, his hands on his hips. Peterson was walking along the path, his face red, leading it by a string.
"I'm sorry, Captain," he said, tugging at the string. Franco walked toward him.
"What is it?"
The wub stood sagging, its great body settling slowly. It was sitting down, its eyes half shut. A few flies buzzed about its flank, and it switched its tail.
It sat. There was silence.
"It's a wub," Peterson said. "I got it from a native for fifty cents. He said it was a very unusual animal. Very respected."
"This?" Franco poked the great sloping side of the wub. "It's a pig! A huge dirty pig!"
"Yes sir, it's a pig. The natives call it a wub."
"A huge pig. It must weigh four hundred pounds." Franco grabbed a tuft of the rough hai
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An interesting short story, well worth the couple of minutes it will take you to read this.
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A playful little Phil Dick story, lighter than most of his. The space ship is short on food and finds an animal that looks like a good source of meat. The problem is, it turns out to be highly intelligent. Still, the captain is sick of ship's rations. . . .
The story raises the interesting question, "when you kill a creature, are you killing its body, or its mind?"
The story raises the interesting question, "when you kill a creature, are you killing its body, or its mind?"
12/02/2013
Excellent short, highly recommend.
09/02/2011
I liked this story very much. Hope you do, too.
10/06/2010
The spacers have had food spoilage so they go hunting on a planet landfall and capture a "wub"; a sloppy appearing piglike animal that should be good for a pork loin dinner or 2. Here's the wub (sorry). It's intelligent and likes to talk philosophy. Not what the hungry crewmembers really want. So who gets the upper hand? Can the wub talk it's way out of the pot? What other talents might it have? You'll see...
06/25/2009