Smithson ran past the woman before she could recover and quickly lost himself in the crowd. Unfortunately, Ruach said, very few understood what was going on because they couldn’t speak English.
“Sir Robert Smithson,” Burton said “If I remember correctly, he owned cotton mills and steelworks in Manchester. He was noted for his philanthropies and his good works among the heathens. Died in 1870 or thereabouts at the age of eighty.”
“And probably convinced that he would be rewarded in Heaven,” Lev Ruach said. “Of course, it would never have occurred to him that he was a murderer many times over.”
“If he hadn’t exploited the poor, someone else would have done so.”
“That is an excuse used by many throughout men’s history,” Lev said “Besides, there were industrialists in your country who saw to it that wages and conditions in their factories were improved. Robert Owen was one, I believe.”
10
“I don’t see much sense in arguing about what went on in the past,” Frigate said. “I think we should do something about our present situation.”
Burton stood up. “You’re right, Yank! We need roofs over our heads, tools, God knows what else! But first, I think we should take a look at the cities of the plains and see what the citizens are doing there.” At that moment, Alice came through the trees on the hill above them. Frigate saw her first. He burst out laughing. “The latest in ladies” wear!” She had cut lengths of the grass with her scissors and plaited them into a two-piece garment. One was a sort of poncho which covered her breasts and the other a skirt which fell to her calves.
The effect was strange, though one that she should have expected. When she was naked, the hairless head still did not detract too much from her femaleness and her beauty. But with the green, bulky, and shapeless garments, her face suddenly became masculine and ugly.
The other women crowded around her and examined the weaving of the grass lengths and the grass belt that secured the skirt.
“It’s very itchy, very uncomfortable,” Alice said. “But it’s decent. That’s all I can say for it”
“Apparently you did not mean what you said about your unconcern with nudity in a land where all are nude,” Burton said.
Alice stared coolly and said, “I expect that everybody will be wearing these. Every decent man and woman, that is.” “I supposed that Mrs. Grundy would rear her ugly head here,” Burton replied.
“It was a shock to be among so many naked people,” Frigate said. “Even though nudity on the beach and in the private home became commonplace in the late “80’s. But it didn’t take long for everyone to get used to it. Everyone except the hopelessly neurotic, I suppose.”
Burton swung around and spoke to the other women. “What about you ladies? Are you going to wear these ugly and scratchy haycocks because one of your sex suddenly decides that she has private parts again? Can something that has bean so public become private?” Loghu, Tanya, and Alice did not understand him because he spoke in Italian. He repeated in English for the benefit of the last two.
Alice flushed and said, “What I wear is my business. If anybody else cares to go naked when I’m decently covered, well . . .!” Loghu had not understood a word, but she understood what was going on. She laughed and turned away. The other women seemed to be trying to guess what each one intended to do. The ugliness and the uncomfortable-ness of the clothing were not the issues.
“While you females are trying to make up your minds,” Burton said, “it would be nice if you would take a bamboo pail and go with us to the river. We can bathe, fill the pails with water, find out the situation in the plains, and then return here. We may be able to build several houses – or temporary shelters before nightfall.” They started down the hills, pushing through the grass and carrying their grails, chert weapons, bamboo spears and buckets. They had not gone far before they encountered a number of people. Apparently, many plains dwellers had decided to move out. Not only that, some had also found chert and had made tools and weapons. These had learned the technique of working with stone from somebody, possibly from other primitives in the area. So far, Burton had seen only two specimens of non-Homo sapiens, and these were with him. But wherever the techniques had been learned, they had been put to good use. They passed two half-completed bamboo huts. These were round, one-roomed, and would have conical roofs thatched with the huge triangular leaves from the irontrees and with the long hill grass. One man, using a chert adze and axe, was building a short-legged bamboo bed.
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