"But I think Sonny's the village half-wit."
Anna de Jong agreed. "Even if we don't understand Svant psychology,
that's evident; he's definitely subnormal. The way he clings to his
mother for guidance is absolutely pathetic. He's a mature adult,
but mentally he's still a little child."
"That may explain it!" Dorver cried. "A mental defective, in a
community of telepaths, constantly invading the minds of others
with irrational and disgusting thoughts; no wonder he is rejected
and persecuted. And in a community on this culture level, the mother
of an abnormal child is often regarded with superstitious
detestation--"
[Illustration]
"Yes, of course!" Anna de Jong instantly agreed, and began to go
into the villagers' hostility to both mother and son; both of them
were now taking the telepathy hypothesis for granted.
Well, maybe so. He turned to Lillian.
"What did you find out?"
"Well, there is a common characteristic in all four sounds. A
little patch on the screen at seventeen-twenty cycles. The odd
thing is that when I try to repeat the sound, it isn't there.
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