Robert F. Young 11 min read

A ship's captain files a report to the Interstellar Nurseries at Frimm 4, one that unexpectedly parallels a very old and familiar tale.

Robert F. Young's 1963 story is framed as an archival document proving that Community Commerce reached Earth long before official contact, its narrative echoing a story of 'an altogether different nature.' Playful, literary fantasy with a clever double structure. Read it for an inventive golden-age tale that lays a science-fiction frame over an ancient story.

In its time

Published in 1963, during the 1960s, new wave revolutionizes the genre.

Reading it

11 min read (a short story, a single idea, delivered and gone).

Illustrated by

Virgil Finlay