Ch 28The Book That Saved the Earth

The Book That Saved the Earth

Author: Claire Boiko (a play from the supplementary reader Footprints without Feet)

Introduction

This humorous science-fiction play is set in the future and looks back at "the historic year 2040", when the Earth faced an invasion from Mars. Strangely, the planet was saved not by armies or weapons but by an old book of nursery rhymes — Mother Goose. Through the comic blunders of the vain Martian ruler Think-Tank, the play shows how dangerous half-knowledge can be, and how books — even the simplest ones — carry unexpected power.

Detailed Summary

The play opens in the twenty-fifth century, in the Museum of Ancient History: Department of the Twentieth Century on planet Earth. The Historian tells the audience that the twentieth century was called the Era of the Book, because books were everywhere — books about everything from anteaters to Zulus; they taught people how-to, when-to, where-to and why-to. She then invites us to watch, on her "historiscope", the strangest event of all: how one book saved the Earth from a Martian invasion in 2040.

The scene shifts to Mars Space Control, ruled by the "great and mighty" Think-Tank, Commander-in-Chief of Mars, whose huge egg-shaped, balloon-like head is supposed to hold matching brainpower. He is comically vain — before beginning work he asks his apprentice Noodle to fetch a mirror and admires his own "handsome" face. Think-Tank plans to invade the Earth, which he contemptuously calls a ridiculous little planet, and adds it to his empire.

A Martian space probe, crewed by Captain Omega, Lieutenant Iota and Sergeant Oop, lands — not in a barn or a hat shop as the crew first guesses — but in the Centerville Public Library. The crew is baffled by the rows of strange objects (books). Think-Tank, watching from Mars, grandly declares that they are sandwiches, the staple food of Earth people, and orders the crew to eat one. Poor Sergeant Oop bites a corner, chews "and chews", and reports that the sandwich is definitely not delicious.

Noodle tactfully offers "a bit of data" — Earth people may use the objects as communication devices. Told to listen to them, the crew hears nothing; Noodle again gently suggests that they may be for eye communication, not ear communication. The crew still cannot decipher the "squiggles" inside, so they swallow the chemical department's vitamins to increase their intelligence — and suddenly Captain Omega can read.

The book in her hands is Mother Goose — a collection of nursery rhymes — but Think-Tank treats every rhyme as top-secret military intelligence. Hearing "Mistress Mary, quite contrary… silver bells and cockle shells", he concludes that Earthlings grow rare metals and explosives in their fields. "Hey diddle diddle… the cow jumped over the moon" convinces him that Earth people have taught their animals music and space travel and may launch an interplanetary attack of millions of cows. The final blow is "Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall… had a great fall", with a picture of a large egg-shaped figure resembling Think-Tank's own head. Terrified that the Earthlings have seen him and plan to capture Mars Space Control and make him fall, Think-Tank orders the invasion fleet dismantled and the entire Martian evacuation to the distant star Alpha Centauri, a hundred million miles away.

The Historian returns to close the story. The invasion was called off — one dusty old book of rhymes had saved the world. In the twenty-fifth century Earthlings and Martians became friends; the wise Noodle, who replaced Think-Tank as ruler, was taught to read by the Earthlings, and a model library was set up in the Martian capital city of Marsopolis. And the one book the Martians could never bring themselves to read? Mother Goose!

Themes

• The power of books: even a humble book of nursery rhymes can change the course of history — knowledge, in any form, is strength.
• Half-knowledge is dangerous: Think-Tank's wild misreadings of simple rhymes show how interpreting things without understanding leads to disaster (for him) and comedy (for us).
• Vanity and false pride: a ruler who values flattery over facts is easily fooled — by others and by himself.
• True wisdom is humble: Noodle, the lowly apprentice, thinks more sensibly than the "mightiest brain in the universe" and offers correct ideas politely.
• Satire on blind obedience: the crew accepts every absurd order — even eating a book — because no one dares question authority.

Character Sketches

Think-Tank

The ruler and Commander-in-Chief of Mars, Think-Tank has a huge balloon-like head and an ego to match. He is vain (admiring himself in a mirror), arrogant (calling Earth a ridiculous little planet) and dictatorial, expecting flattering titles like "Great and Mighty Think-Tank". Yet his "mighty" brain repeatedly blunders — he calls books sandwiches and mistakes nursery rhymes for military secrets. His cowardice completes the picture: one picture of Humpty Dumpty sends him fleeing across the galaxy. He is a comic warning against power without wisdom.

Noodle

Think-Tank's apprentice is his exact opposite — humble, observant and genuinely intelligent. Every time his master goes wrong, Noodle corrects him tactfully, presenting his own sensible ideas as mere "bits of data" that "popped into his head", so that the ruler can adopt them without losing face. His diplomacy, modesty and clear thinking are rewarded at the end when he becomes the ruler of Mars and leads it into friendship with Earth.

Historian

The Historian is the narrator who frames the play. Speaking from the Museum of Ancient History in the twenty-fifth century, she is knowledgeable, witty and proud of the Era of the Book. Through her historiscope she presents the events of 2040 and delivers the play's message — with a final joke about which book the Martians still refuse to read.

Word Meanings