not-real
things which must be chased out of your minds, otherwise they would
spoil your understanding."

That was verbatim what they told adolescents before giving them the
Manhood Secret. Some of them huffed a little; most of them laughed. Then
one called out: "Speak on, Grandfather of Grandfathers," and they all
laughed. That was fine, it had been about time for teacher to crack his
little joke. Now he became serious again.

"The first of these not-real things you must chase from your mind is
this which you believe about the home of the Terrans. It is not real
that they come from the Dark Place under the World. There is no Dark
Place under the World."

Bedlam for a few seconds; that was a pretty stiff jolt. No Dark Place;
who ever heard of such a thing? The eldest shoonoo rose, cradling his
graven image in his arms, and the noise quieted.

"Mailsh Heelbare, if there is no Dark Place where do the Sky Fire and
the Always-Same go when they are not in the sky?"

"They never leave the sky; the World is round, and there is sky
everywhere around it."

They knew that, or had at least heard it, since the Terrans had come.
They just couldn't believe it. It was against common sense. The oldest
shoonoo said as much, and more:

"These young ones who have gone to the Terran schools have come to the
villages with such tales, but who listens to them? They show disrespect
for the chiefs and the elders, and even for the shoonoon. They mock at
the Grandfather-stories. They say men should do women's work and women
do no work at all. They break taboos, and cause trouble. They are
fools."

"Am I a fool, Grandfather? Do I mock at the old stories, or show
disrespect to elders and shoonoon? Yet I, Mailsh Heelbare, tell you
this. The World is indeed round, and I will show you."

The shoonoo looked contemptuously at the globe. "I have seen those
things," he said. "That is not the World; that is only a make-like." He
held up his phallic wood-carving. "I could say that this is a make-like
of the World, but that would not make it so."

"I will show you for real. We will all go in a ship." He looked at his
watch. "The Sky Fire is about to set. We will follow it all around the
world to the west, and come back here from the east, and the Sky Fire
will still be setting when we return. If I show you that, will you
believe me?"

"If you show us for real, and it is not a trick, we will have to believe
you."

When they emerged from the