Farmer, Philip Jose Time's Last Gift

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far more detail than they would ever be able to do with their limited time. And they were looking for me,
too. I suppose they were looking for me because of this message. But they failed. I won't tell you why, of
course, because then the expedition would be able to identify me. Ever if, in a sense, the expedition has
already occurred. Well, I said I'd not get into the paradoxes.
'You'll find, Robert, that your pre-Indo-Hittite speech of 8000 B.C. arose from the very last place
you would have, suspected.
'Our two tribes, the Wota'shaimg and the Shluwg, eventually abandoned their original tongues and
adopted the pidgin. The result was a simple analytical system. But over the course of six millennia, it
became a polysyllabled synthetic speech which eventually developed into the pre-Indo-Hittite the second
expedition studied. And this, of course, became the Germanic, Balto-Slavic, Indo-Iranian, Greek, Italic,
Celtic, and a dozen other language families which were not recorded or even heard of by civilized
peoples. Until now.'
Gribardsun chuckled and said, 'So if it hadn't been for time travel, Robert, Indo-Hittite, and hence,
German, Yiddish, English, French, and all those other related tongues would never have existed.
'Yes, I know you're going to say that our tribes had different blood groups than the Indo-Hittite
speakers. But many invasions - migrations, rather - occurred from the East, and our tribe, which had
become rather large between 12,000 B.C. and 8000 B.C., absorbed so many of the newcomers, and
imposed their language on so many, that the original blood group was largely lost.'
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Von Billmann had turned pale shortly after Gribardsun started talking. He sat down. He seemed to
be having trouble getting his breath. Rachel brought him a drink of water, and he sat up and looked
around as if he hoped someone had strength to give him.
'Do you realize what he's saying? I won't be on the 8000 B.C. expedition! But why? Was I dead
before it could be launched? Or - why?'
Anderson, the project head, turned on the recorder again, since no one could give an answer and
they did not want to dwell on the subject.
'There was one other expedition, that which was sent in 3500 B.C. to the Mesopotamian area. The
others that had been planned were not realized. I waited for them, but they did not show. I wonder why.
Something catastrophic prevented them? I don't know, and you, of course, won't know why until it
happens.
'Be that as it may, here are the collections I made. The expedition would never have been made if it
had not been for me, as you now know. But I still feel a sense of obligation to the people who gave me
this chance to live when the world was fresh. And I have had so much scientific training that I do
appreciate what this collection will mean. So, throughout the millennia, I have cached artifacts and
specimens and made notes. There are at least a hundred thousand photographs here, since I kept back
some of the balls for this purpose. You will find photographs, surreptitiously taken, of course, of the
original historical Hercules - myself - Nebuchadnezzar, the historical Moses - not myself - Julius Caesar,
Shakespeare, Eric the Red, whom I took from behind a bush, having been waiting for six months for him
to land, the historical Odysseus, the real city of Troy, the first Pharaoh, several of the first emperors of
China and Kublai Khan and Marco Polo. There are also photos of the historical Jesus, Gautama, and
Mohammed, Charlemagne, Saladin, the historical Beowulf, a group photograph of the actual founders of
the city of Rome. No Romulus and Remus existed, I am sorry to say. 'I could go on, but you'll find
everything catalogued. 'I was a merchant-ship captain supplying the Achaean army, and I am mentioned
in Homer, though not exactly in the role of a merchant. But I stayed away from the fighting there, as I
stayed away from most fighting. As I stayed away from most centers of civilization. I decided that if I was
going to survive for a long time, I would have to live a backwoods, backcountry life. I spent altogether a
thousand years in the wilds of Africa and another in Asia and the pre-Columbian Americas, though not in
a continuous stretch, of course.
'Still, I got hungry for city life now and then, and I did want to keep watch on the rise of civilizations. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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