2001: A Space Odyssey Page #4

After several minutes of intense thought, he arrives at a

brilliant explanation. It is a rock, of course, and it

must have grown during the night. There are many plants

that do this - white, pulpy things shaped like pebbles, that

seem to shoot up in the hours of darkness. It is true that

they are small and round, whereas this is large and square;

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A10

CONTINUED:

but greater and later philosophers than Moonwatcher would be

prepared to overlook equally striking exceptions to their laws.

This really superb piece of abstract thinking leads Moonwatcher

to a deduction which he immediately puts to the test. The white,

round pebble-plants are very tasty (though there were a few

that made one violently sick); perhaps this square one...?

A few licks and attempted nibbles quickly disillusion him.

There is no nourishment here; so like a sensible hominid, he

continues on his way to the river and forgets all about the Cube.

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A11

EXT CUBE - FIRST LESSON

They are still a hundred yards from the New Rock when the

sound begins.

It is quite soft, and it stops them in their tracks, so that they

stand paralyzed on the trail with their jaws hanging. A simple,

maddeningly repetitious rhythm pulses out of the crystal cube

and hypnotises all who come within its spell. For the first

time - and the last, for two million year - the sound of

drumming is heard in Africa.

The throbbing grows louder, more insistent. Presently the

hominids begin to move forward like sleep-walkers, towards

the source of that magnetic sound. Sometimes they take little

dancing steps, as their blood responds to the rhythms that

their descendants will not create for ages yet.

Totally entranced, they gather around the Cube, forgetting

the hardships of the day, the perils of the approaching dusk,

and the hunger in their bellies.

Now, spinning wheels of light begin to merge, and the spokes

fuse into luminous bars that slowly recede into the distance,

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A11

CONTINUED:

rotating on their axes as they do; and the hominids watch, wide-

eyed, mesmerized captives of the Crystal Cube.

Then by some magic - though it was no more magical than all

that had gone on before - a perfectly normal scene appears. It

is as if a cubical block had been carved out of the day and

shifted into the night. Inside that block is a group of four

hominids, who might have been members of Moonwatcher's

own tribe, eating chunks of meat. The carcass of a wart-hog

lies near them.

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