"In addition to the visual response, the distortions gave me definite feelings. Not mixtures of feelings, but one definite emotional experience."
"How do you mean?"
"One character when viewed through the globe gave me a visual image and, at the same time, a strong feeling of light hilarity."
"I take it then that these distortions seemed to connote meanings, rather than denote them. You might say that their meaning was conveyed through a Gestalt experience on the part of the observer."
"Yes, each character gave a definite Gestalt. But, the Gestalt was the same for each observer. Or at least for thirty-five observers there was an eighty per cent correlation."
I whistled softly. "And the translation?"
"Doctor, what would you say if I told you the translation was unbelievable; that it couldn't be seriously entertained by any man? What if I said that it would take the sanity of any man who believed it?"
"I would say that it might well be incorrect."
He took some papers from his pocket and laughed excitedly, slumping down in the chair. "This is the complete translation in idiomatic English. I'm going to let you read it, but first I want you to consider a few things."
He hid the papers behind the back of his chair; his face became even more boyish, almost as if he were deciding on where to put the tipped over outhouse.