Project Gutenberg 2022-02-25 Public domain in the USA. 152 Mason, David 1924 1974 The Fool $aUnited States :$bRoyal Publications, Inc,$c1956. Produced from Infinity Science Fiction, August 1956 Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net "The Fool" by David Mason is a science fiction short story written in the mid-20th century. The narrative revolves around Duncan, an inept human teacher on a distant alien planet inhabited by the Tarchiki, a species known for their violent tendencies and brutal customs. The story explores themes of cultural misunderstanding, the folly of idealism, and the unintended consequences of one individual’s actions within a foreign society. In this tale, Duncan, despite his failures and foolishness, attempts to instill Earthly morals and ethics into the Tarchiki, who find humor and absurdity in his teachings. His misguided efforts culminate tragically when he destroys their deity, Kachan, leading to his own death at the hands of a Tarchik high priest. In the aftermath, the Tarchiki, misinterpreting his last words as messages of forgiveness, erect a statue in his honor and adopt him as a new god, creating a religion around his silly antics and misguided ideals. This ironic twist highlights the disparity between Duncan’s intentions and the realities of the Tarchiki's culture, illustrating the complexities and humorous absurdity of cross-cultural encounters. (This is an automatically generated summary.) 20220212101758mason 1956 US Reading ease score: 81.5 (6th grade). Easy to read. en Science fiction Short stories Human-alien encounters -- Fiction Life on other planets -- Fiction Religion -- Fiction PS Text Category: Short Stories Category: Science-Fiction & Fantasy 38428 2025-07-26T14:08:53.958842 text/html 14476 2024-10-18T19:35:55 text/html 341572 2025-07-26T14:08:55.868906 application/epub+zip 340417 2025-07-26T14:08:54.432932 application/epub+zip 79023 2025-07-26T14:08:54.145833 application/epub+zip 373354 2025-07-26T14:08:57.103843 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 365941 2025-07-26T14:08:55.569845 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 104527 2022-09-30T11:04:25.180668 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 32448 2025-07-26T14:08:53.862884 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 12633 2024-10-18T19:35:55 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 17024 2025-07-26T14:08:57.273815 application/rdf+xml 28688 2025-07-26T14:08:54.293836 image/jpeg 5224 2025-07-26T14:08:54.222830 image/jpeg 384069 2025-07-26T14:08:53.971861 application/octet-stream application/zip Archives containing the RDF files for *all* our books can be downloaded at https://book.klll.cc/wiki/Gutenberg:Feeds#The_Complete_Project_Gutenberg_Catalog