"It's a beautiful planet—just like Earth was supposed to be once. You know, sometimes I think civilization is a disease."
"That's a great idea! So we're microbes infesting the universe!"
That night Kuru returned to his family, which consisted of his father, his mother, his father's three other wives, his two sisters, his five younger brothers, half-sisters, half-brothers, and dozens of uncles and aunts and scores of cousins numbering one hundred and twenty-two males and females. Council members from three neighboring "families" had already gathered on Council Rock, because some had seen the shining thing descend out of the sky. But only Kuru could tell them facts about it, which added tremendously to his prestige.
"It is a flying cave they have built," he concluded. "They are gods from the country of the sky."
"This must be true," said Bortu, his father. "You say they killed a murder-beast with lightning?"
"As though it were a crawly-bug under their feet."
The elder members of the council and the younger hunters all looked at Kuru in silent admiration. But admiration was mixed with fear. The stars above them were big with mystery and wonder. Why had the gods come down to visit their world?
"What do they want?" asked Gurgo, the father-chief of the Snake Lake family.
"I do not know. I heard them talking among each other, but it is some strange twist of tongue that makes no meaning."