Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!floyd!cmcl2!seismo!hao!hplabs!sri-unix!hester@uci-750a From: hester%uci-750a@sri-unix.UUCP Newsgroups: net.sf-lovers Subject: Re: Does anybody remember these ? Message-ID: <1001@sri-arpa.UUCP> Date: Tue, 19-Jun-84 00:31:19 EDT Article-I.D.: sri-arpa.1001 Posted: Tue Jun 19 00:31:19 1984 Date-Received: Thu, 21-Jun-84 01:46:04 EDT Lines: 112 From: "Jim Hester"> To Jim Hester: I think your theories are all wrong, if you take into > account the original story mentioned by Keiran Carroll. In this > story, the human has just helped Gort to revivify (actually, > reconstruct) the dead Klaatu, and as Gort is carrying Klaatu to the > ship to leave, the dialog goes something like this... (note, Gort > could speak in this story) > Human: "Gort, when your master awakens, please tell him it was an > accident." > Gort: "You don't understand. *I* am the master." > Obviously, things were changed around a bit for the movie! Still > one of the all-time SF classics. If you take the short story into account, the question of the translation is meaningless, since it did not exist in the story. I am well aware of the story: you might remember I commented on the bboard that although I considered the plot of the movie better, the story was worth reading, since it was entirely different. The ONLY similarity between the two is a spaceship, a robot, and a man with the same name that gets shot by Earthlings. That's exactly the problem: the story is NO authority, since it has nothing to do with the plot of the movie. I have a copy of the story. If it was any help, I would have used it. My guesses were based only on the movie. First, there have been enough people sending in "something like this"s: let's set the record straight. The short story was called "Farewell to the Master", written by Harry Bates. It was printed by Street & Smith, Inc., publishers of "Astounding Stories". The issue(s) are not given, but S & S has copywrites for the story dated 1939, 1940, 1942, and 1943. My copy is in the anthology "Adventures in Time and Space," edited by Healy and McComas and printed (as of my copy) 8 times between 1946 and 1954. I was wrong about the robot's name, it was Gnut. The end passage mentioned by so many is as follows (I have no cumpunctions about spoilers since the beans have already been spilled): Of all the things Cliff had wanted to say to Klaatu, one remained imperatively present in his mind. Now, as the green metal robot stood framed in the great green ship, (e siezed his chance. "Gnut," he said earnestly, holding carefully to the limp body in his arms, "you must do one thing for me. Listen carefully. I want you to tell your master - the master yet to come - that what happened to the first Klaatu was an accident, for which all Earth is immeasurably sorry. Will you do that?" "I have known it," the robot answered gently. But will you promise to tell your master - just those words - as soon as he is arrived?" "You misunderstand," said Gnut, still gently, and quietly spoke four more words. As Cliff heard them a mist passed over his eyes and his body went numb. As he recovered and his eyes came back to focus he saw the great ship disappear. It just suddenly was not there any more. He fell back a step or two. In his ears, like great bells, rang Gnut's last words. Never, never was he to disclose them till the day he came to die. "You misunderstand," the mighty robot had said. "I am the master." So much for the story, back to the movie. The only thing that most people agree on is that Gort consulted the screen in the ship in response to the message. Most also agree that he was about to destroy the planet before he received the message. Therefore the message was something that (at least temporarily) overrode Gort's first reflex (Klaatu told the girl that the robots AUTOMATICALLY act against any and all aggressors). The two standard guesses concerning the message are that it was a plea for help or a suggestion (not order, the Robot Police Force might listen to suggestions, but Klaatu specifically said that in matters of aggression they were all-powerful and under no direction but their own) to consult others (or the ship's computer?) before acting. My only addition was that unless Klaatu's language packed a LOT into a small space, I thought it possible that the message was something short, just to get the robot thinking and interrupt it's attack reflex long enough for it to recognize alternatives. This message might have been a quote of some sort of prime directive of peace before war or some other short message that might be meaningless to Earthlings who don't know the complete history and relationship between the Robots and Galactics. My 'theory' as you call it contradicts the standard assumptions only in the literal translation of the message. The spirit (and effect) of the message is the same in either case, and it's unlikely that the writers had a much better idea of the literal translation. Since I don't believe there is any 'correct' (and thus any 'incorrect') answer, I speculate freely on possibilities. That theory appeals to me, since it explains the terseness of the message in light of the assumed intentions of the robot. I would never insist that I am right or that any theory that does not contradict the known facts is wrong. I was merely repeating common assumptions and adding a comment of my own. If anyone gets a real interview with someone in the know, PASS IT ON! All I know offhand is that Klaatu was Michael Renne and Gort was the (then) bellboy of Grauman's Chinese Restaurant. The people in charge of casting were having a hard time finding somebody right for Gort, and went out for lunch. They hired him on the spot.