Project Gutenberg 2020-11-14 Public domain in the USA. 110 Grimes, Millard Mimsy's Joke Reading ease score: 85.6 (6th grade). Easy to read. Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net "Mimsy's Joke" by Millard Grimes is a science fiction short story published in the early 1950s. The narrative centers around Oscar Nance, a prominent archaeologist who embarks on a historic expedition to Mars, led by a stern military commander. The story delves into themes of discovery and the unexpected nature of exploration, focusing on the fate of the Martian civilization and their ironic relationship with Earth. As Nance and his team explore Mars, they encounter Staang, a Martian who reveals that Earth has been unknowingly inhabited by the descendants of ancient Martians—dogs, which have become the lazy remnants of a once-great civilization. The story unfolds as Staang narrates the history of the Martians and their secretive invasion of Earth, leading to a humorous yet thought-provoking realization for the explorers. By the end, the expedition is left with the ironic understanding that they have been the subjects of an age-old joke, forced to confront their ideas about intelligence and servitude as they plan their return to Earth to share this startling revelation. (This is an automatically generated summary.) en Science fiction Short stories Dogs -- Fiction Martians -- Fiction Mars (Planet) -- Fiction PS Text Browsing: Literature Browsing: Science-Fiction & Fantasy Browsing: Fiction 43708 43527 2025-02-25T08:56:09.180287 2023-09-27T08:40:55.927496 text/html text/html 40073 2020-11-13T16:13:36 text/html; charset=us-ascii 313984 2025-02-25T08:56:10.933297 application/epub+zip 312820 2025-02-25T08:56:09.592275 application/epub+zip 81222 2025-02-25T08:56:09.353276 application/epub+zip 346334 2025-02-25T08:56:12.125255 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 339521 2025-02-25T08:56:10.729378 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 108159 2022-09-28T18:25:05.601882 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 37675 2023-09-27T08:40:55.837482 text/plain 16521 2025-02-25T08:56:12.245256 application/rdf+xml 28798 2025-02-25T08:56:09.451280 image/jpeg 5072 2025-02-25T08:56:09.401309 image/jpeg 477576 2025-02-25T08:56:09.192363 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