Inferno: A Chronicle of a Distant World (The Galactic Comedy) Read Online Free PDF Page B

museum dedicated to works of human art, and a publishing house committed to translating the oral traditions of the Enkoti into Terran.
    He took too many human stimulants, and drove too many fast human vehicles, and looked just a little bit silly wearing formal human clothing, but Emperor Bobby, as the human populace dubbed him, was both popular with his people and a willing co-developer of his world with its human contingent.
    He broke with many Enkoti traditions: he no longer held court in the presence of his ancestors, but now presided over the business of his people in an impressive white building he had built for that purpose. He renounced the religion of his people and converted, in quick order, to Christianity, Islam, and was currently a practitioner of the Hindu faith. Though nicotine had no effect whatsoever upon his metabolism, he became a heavy smoker, importing his cigars and cigarettes from distant Antarres.
    He staged elaborate entertainments for his retainers and his human friends. One month he would sponsor an imported symphony orchestra, another month there would be a tripodal alien magician from the Hesporite III. Once he flew his entire party out to watch the capture of a small herd of Thunderbulls for the zoo world of Serengeti.
    The evening that he dropped his bombshell was at another of his many entertainments, this the first boxing match between a jason and a human. He had imported Billy Wycynski, the heavyweight champion of Sirius V, to fight Gama Labu, the huge Rizzali warrior who had thus far beaten all comers.
    Susan Beddoes wasn't especially interested in boxing, but one didn't refuse an invitation from Emperor Bobby, so she dressed in what she hoped was an appropriate semi-formal outfit and showed up at the designated time.
    About two hundred Men and jasons were there, including Arthur Cartright, who was on a business trip to Faligor, and Beddoes noted with approval that some fifteen or twenty red-skinned moles were also in attendance. Bobby had torn down his brother's former domicile, and erected an impressive human-style palace in its place. His three hundred and one ancestors were discreetly hidden from view, as if he considered them an embarrassment. A boxing ring had been constructed in the middle of his newly-grown and meticulously-cropped lawn, surrounded by perhaps fifty tables, with more than one hundred uniformed jasons serving as waiters and ushers. Off to the left were extensive formal gardens, and just beyond them Beddoes could see some dwellings that had existed when she first arrived among the Enkoti: they were no more squalid or primitive now than then, but they seemed moreso because of their proximity to the sitate's new residence.
    "Susan!" said Emperor Bobby when he saw her. "I'm so glad you could come!"
    Beddoes was taken aback by his greeting, as she hadn't exchanged twenty sentences with him since he ascended the throne, but he greeted her as if they were close personal friends and rattled on for a few minutes about insects, until his gaze fell upon some other newcomer and he went off to greet him.
    She heard a low chuckle behind her, and turned to find herself facing Cartright.
    "If he wasn't already the emperor, I'd swear our Bobby was running for office," he said.
    "He does tend to overdo it," agreed Susan.
    "That's the politician in him," said Cartright, an amused smile on his face. "He's quite something, isn't he?"
    "Quite."
    Cartright looked over the tables. "There don't seem to be any place cards or seating designations," he noted. "I suspect Bobby must have attended a garden party when he was offworld, and totally forgot how he knew where to sit. Shall we appropriate a table for ourselves?"
    Beddoes nodded, and Cartright led her to an empty table.
    "I have no idea why I'm here," she said as she sat down. "I don't know anything about boxing," she said.
    "You're here because Bobby likes to impress his human visitors," answered Cartright. "As for boxing, it's really very