Meda: a Tale of the Future. Kenneth Folingsby
which was placed bread, fruit, and two glasses of water. He invited me to partake of the bread and fruit, while he sipped the water. I began to eat, although I did not feel the least hungry, and I also sipped a little water. I did not like the idea of eating alone, and asked my friend why he did not keep me company. He said—"You see I am a modern man, and have no need of food; I simply take a little water to moisten my lips and maintain the moisture of the body, but, otherwise, all mankind now live by breathing a pure and nourishing atmosphere." Placing his hands on his stomach, or where it should be, he continued, "I did not speak quite correctly, when I said I have no digestive organs, but I was not far off the truth, because the advancement of science and intelligence has proved that by generations of training, along with a change of atmosphere that took place, these organs could be almost entirely dispensed with. We have worked in this direction for thousands of years, and the result has been that we now live purely by respiration, and have reduced their functions to that of supplying moisture to the body. You will notice that our chests are very large, because we require greater lung power, now that we have dispensed with solid food. This organ of respiration has been increased by nature to meet the requirements of the new conditions under which we live. In the present age it is only the lower animal creation that eat, and need the power of digestion, but how this came about requires much explanation, which I shall give you later on. You must not be too anxious, my Specimen, to know everything at once. Only think that your day is more than three thousand years past, and remember, that even in your short life you saw great changes made, such as the introduction of steam, the telegraph, the telephone, and the electric light. Bear in mind that through all those ages science has been at work, and that intelligence and brain power have been advancing in an increasing degree with every year. When your mind enlarges, which I hope it will, under my instruction, you will see and appreciate with clearer eye and understanding, what has taken place through these many generations. I have, owing to the nature of my office in the state, an intimate knowledge of ancient history and ancient tongues, and when I have time, I shall instruct you further. Now, if you have appeased your appetite, I shall take you over this branch of our state offices. You must walk quietly with me. Express astonishment with nothing you see, but notice everything. Do not ask me questions, even outside the buildings, if you can possibly avoid doing so. Where opportunity occurs I shall volunteer explanations. Just let me arrange your costume before we go out, as you have not quite managed to adjust it according to our custom. You will find that your strange features, figure, and complexion will draw quite enough curiosity towards you without having an ill-arranged costume. Oh! by the way, I notice that you have not put on your 'leg-weights' as you call them; you will require them, I assure you. Allow me to fetch them, later on I shall explain their use."
I stooped and put them on, as I had seen them on the guides, and I noticed that the recorder also wore his. I then walked about to accustom myself to their use. At first I went clink, clink, knocking one against the other, but in a short time I managed to keep my legs far enough apart to keep clear of striking them against one another as I walked. They certainly looked to me but a poor outcome of the intelligence of this boasted modern race. If they really required weights, they might have made them of such a shape as would have allowed one to walk without carrying his legs like the letter A.
The Recorder said, "Now we shall start. From the outside, this building must have looked to you very small." I remarked that it did. "Now," he said, "how soon you forget my instructions. I told you I would do all the speaking while we were inside. Don't forget that again. You speak so loudly that you would startle numbers of our people, many of whom belong to a lower type of intelligence, and are therefore incapable of allowing for the difference of customs that existed in past ages. This building that we are in is the seat of the Nor-West Provincial Grand Council of Britain, and the Executive sit here regularly to administer the business of the district. We are now going into the hall of despatch. All messages on matters relating to the State are despatched from this hall." We entered a large hall where there were at least one hundred figures sitting in rows along low benches formed of stone. Opposite each figure was a message stool exactly similar to those I had noticed before. Each stool bore a letter and a number. On coming closer to the figures, I saw that they were all women. They were dressed in the same light sort of silky material, and appeared intent on their work. They were of various ages, some had dark, others light hair, but the majority had grey. One stately personage sat on an elevated stool, and directed the entire operations in this department. The younger girls were many of them pretty, but the large heads, big chests and long small bodies gave them a curious uncouth look. There was, however, one thing that impressed me greatly, the brilliancy of their eyes. The expression of their faces struck me as sad, but when the Recorder spoke to them their faces brightened up, and their smile was most fascinating. That they were intelligent beyond any women that I had had experience of, there could be no doubt. Intelligence was depicted in every line of their features. The Recorder spoke to them in an unknown tongue, so I did not understand what he said, but from the sly and inquisitive glances that were cast at me from time to time, I could plainly discover that the "Specimen" was the subject of conversation. The remarks of the Recorder, however, consisted of very few words, so we passed through the despatch rooms very quickly, considering the number of operators he spoke to in passing. The quantity of despatches that came in and went out was something prodigious, one line of stools seemed to be receiving while the other was delivering. All the messages came on little metal plates, the same as those I previously described. I was most anxious to ask the Recorder how these despatches were transmitted, but his injunctions about speaking were so strong, that I refrained.
We now entered what he explained to me was the Court of Justice, a very small chamber, not more than twenty feet square. There were three venerable looking judges sitting on the bench, and one clerk sitting at the end of a table facing the judges. In front of him were a number of metal plates on which he was busy writing. There was a man on each side of the table, one of whom was answering questions put to him by one of the judges. After we came out, the Recorder informed me that these two men had some dispute, which the judges, after hearing the case, would settle. "In your day," he went on to say, "this pleading used to be done by lawyers or advocates, but intelligence has put an end to that business, and a good thing it is too. Many lawyers in your day, as far as I can judge from records of the past, lived on the poor, mystifying justice, leading even judges astray; but all were not bad.
"I am now going to take you to the legislative assembly hall. We have an outer and an inner house. The outer house consists of thirty members, fifteen men and fifteen women. The inner house consists of ten members who have the right to elect three of their number to sit in the Grand National Council that assembles near the capital. Women are not allowed to sit in the inner house." On entering, we found the whole thirty members present, and four clerks sat at the central table. One fine looking man was addressing them evidently with great and powerful arguments. His face was a perfect picture of energy and force. Although I could not understand one word he said, I could imagine I did, because of his earnest voice and expressive features, and yet he never raised his voice much above a loud whisper. It was evidently the rule to speak in whispers in modern society. After this orator had finished, a lady rose to address the house. She was really a splendid looking creature. There was a dignity and solemnity about her bearing that was something grand to contemplate. She was tall as compared with the rest of this curious race, but the intensity and winning force of her expression made a deep impression on me. I said to myself: "Truly if this is a specimen of our race as now developed, intelligence has improved it, beyond all conception, except in the matter of form."
Other men and women got up and spoke while we were there; and the Recorder lingered a long time. He was evidently interested in the arguments that he heard, at which I do not wonder, because I, who understood them not, was fascinated by what I saw and heard. All the men and women were dressed in the same material, and the costumes were cut in the same way, the only difference being that the females wore the kilted portion of the costume reaching down nearly to their feet. All, however, wore the leg weights that I was so curious about.
After we got out the Recorder said—"The first two that spoke are two of our most profound thinkers and best orators." We now entered the inner house, where we found the ten members were sitting. There were only two clerks at the central table in this house. The members of the inner house, I noticed, were