FANTASTIC PLANET v2.0 Read Free

even stranger words:
    'Klud city
is continent South A's largest town, Torm the largest in the North A continent,
nent, nent... The Traag's original element is water; in the past, Traags could
not breathe in air... air... air! Nowadays they are amphibious thanks to the
mutations created by the scientist Zarek, Zarek, rek, rek !... '
    Praw could
not believe his eardrums. He went to find his wife.
    'Wami', he
said, 'something amazing is happening!'
    'And what
could that be?'
    'You know
the little Om... it's unbelievable... the little Om knows Tiwa's infos by
heart!'
    Wami
shrugged.
    'You're
always so dramatic. Tiwa may well have taught him to pronounce a few words,
but...' Praw did not reply and took his wife towards the omhouse. Behind the
closed door a juvenile voice was humming:
    '... That is
why, that is why... ceps' spores do not germinate in acidic soil, soil... Tiwa,
Tiwa, naughty... ty, do your infos... A thir... a third of the planet Sird's
atmosphere is composed of strong elements and two thirds of weak elements!'
    Praw opened
the door suddenly and found Terr seated on his cushion swinging back and forth
in rhythm with his nonsensical song.
    Terr had
become a handsome little boy, with curly shoulder length hair. He bounced up
and ran to Praw's legs asking: 'Treat!'
    Wami began
to sing in order to coax the creature: 'Tiwa, you naughty gir... girl, go and
learning now!'
    But Terr
just burst out laughing and tried to wriggle out of Praw's hand, keeping his
eye on the nature room's green space where Tiwa was romping about. The Traag
let him go, and Terr ran to the swimming pool where he dived, chuckling.
    Puzzled, the
Traag couple looked at each other.
    'After all',
said Wami, 'we own a little Om who speaks better than the others; let's not
make a meal out of it. He doesn't understand a word he is saying.'
    'Of course',
said Praw. 'He mixes everything up, botanic with cosmography, ygamography with
biology...'
    In turn they
entered the nature room to see Tiwa who was coming out of the water.
    'Do you know
your little Om can talk?'
    'Of course',
said Tiwa. 'I am trying to teach him to talk like a Traag, but it is difficult.
Some words he just cannot pronounce.'
    'Really?'
said Wami. 'Your father and I have just heard him reciting your infos by
heart.'
    Surprised,
the Traag child shook her membranes to dry them a little.
    She said: ' That's impossible; Terr only speaks like a baby Traag and...
I've never taught him my lessons, he couldn't have..."
    'We heard
him!' asserted her father.
    The little
girl shook her head.
    'Well then',
she said, i don't know... perhaps... perhaps I repeated them aloud without
realizing...'
    Praw turned
to his wife:
    'I thought
the Oms couldn't pronounce certain words due to their mouths' particular shape,
but that's not the reason!'
    'What do you
mean?'
    Praw smiled.
    'Imagine',
he said, 'a particularly dumb Traag on an alien planet. He would be able to
know a good hundred useful words: treat, go out, hunger, thirst. But he would
be incapable of forming sentences.'
    'And?'
    'He could
well "recite" phrases he heard by heart, without understanding their
meaning. That's exactly what's happening with Terr.'
    Wami
shrugged once again.
    'So many words for such an insignificant matter! This Om is very attached to Tiwa and he follows her everywhere. He must
have heard her reciting her infos aloud and he learnt them mechanically without
knowing what he was doing. The matter is closed, let's leave it at that.'
    She turned
to Tiwa.
    'Which
reminds me: you haven't done any instruction today. Hurry and put on your
headset.'
    Tiwa
obediently went to take down her headset. She stopped on her track. The hook
was on the wall but the headset had disappeared. Praw saw his daughter's
unease.
    'Where have
you left them now?' he said snapping his membranes.
    'I don't
know, Father.'
    'Look for
them. You usually sit under the palm leaves by the swimming pool.'
    They
searched the grass but did not find anything. Tiwa even