Project Gutenberg 2009-12-02 Public domain in the USA. 86 Garrett, Randall 1927 1987 Garrett, Gordon Randall Garret, Randall Barretton, Grandall Mitchell, Clyde Burke, Ralph Schoenherr, John 1935 2010 Schoenherr, Jack Schoenherr, John (John Carl) The Asses of Balaam Reading ease score: 83.0 (6th grade). Easy to read. Produced by Sankar Viswanathan, Greg Weeks, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net "The Asses of Balaam" by Randall Garrett is a science fiction novella written in the early 1960s. The story explores themes of ecological balance and the responsibilities of intelligent species toward their environment, all set against a backdrop of an alien world inhabited by unique creatures. The novella employs a blend of humor and philosophical musings to delve into the complexities of evolution and survival in a managed ecosystem. The narrative follows Dodeth Pell, an official in charge of predator control on his planet, who discovers a new species dubbed the “wygorex.” Initially, concerns arise about this species disrupting the ecological balance, as they pose a threat to a native herbivore known as the hurkle. As Dodeth investigates further, he learns that these creatures exhibit behaviors suggesting intelligence, compelling him to rethink his initial assumptions. Eventually, the arrival of an alien ship suggests a deeper connection to the wider universe, challenging the notion of what constitutes intelligence and reinforcing the need for communication and understanding between species. The story concludes with the possibility of new beginnings as they confront their misconceptions and anticipate collaboration with the newcomers. (This is an automatically generated summary.) en Science fiction Short stories PS Text Science Fiction Browsing: Literature Browsing: Science-Fiction & Fantasy Browsing: Fiction 77012 77004 2024-10-13T06:22:10.056545 2023-09-13T10:53:03.753336 text/html text/html 73855 2009-12-02T12:29:52 text/html; charset=iso-8859-1 188988 2009-12-02T12:29:52 text/html; charset=iso-8859-1 application/zip 262606 2024-10-13T06:22:14.475038 application/epub+zip 261493 2024-10-13T06:22:11.887053 application/epub+zip 94406 2024-10-13T06:22:10.751534 application/epub+zip 356613 2024-10-13T06:22:16.349005 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 349218 2024-10-13T06:22:13.770062 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 158118 2022-09-14T07:06:55.880299 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 69421 69318 2024-10-13T06:22:09.716549 2023-09-13T10:53:03.509341 text/plain; charset=us-ascii text/plain 69266 2009-12-02T12:29:52 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 26687 2009-12-02T12:29:52 text/plain; charset=us-ascii application/zip 21436 2024-10-13T06:22:16.491007 application/rdf+xml 12794 2024-10-13T06:22:11.281519 image/jpeg 3437 2024-10-13T06:22:11.013555 image/jpeg 256451 2024-10-13T06:22:10.075555 application/octet-stream application/zip Archives containing the RDF files for *all* our books can be downloaded at https://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Gutenberg:Feeds#The_Complete_Project_Gutenberg_Catalog en.wikipedia More titles under Jorgensen, Ivar en.wikipedia