
Transcriber's Note:
A clever retelling of the ancient Balaam saga opens with a talking donkey that sees an unseen angel, forcing its impatient master to confront a truth he has long ignored. The narrative frames this miracle as a study in perception, hinting that even the most seasoned prophet can be outwitted by a humble creature. As the donkey finally speaks, the story pivots from biblical wonder to a modern, bureaucratic setting where the enigmatic Dodeth Pell and his subordinate Wygor Bedis examine a newly discovered, six‑limbed beast.
In the second act, the pair—members of a shadowy Predator Council—debate how to handle the alien specimen, weighing its bizarre anatomy against the secrecy of the Universal Motivator that may have birthed it. Their dialogue reveals a world of interstellar politics and scientific curiosity, where sarcasm masks genuine concern. Listeners are drawn into a blend of myth, humor, and speculative science that asks whether wisdom truly comes from the expected source.
Language
en
Duration
~48 minutes (46K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Credits
Produced by Sankar Viswanathan, Greg Weeks, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
Release date
2009-12-02
Rights
Public domain in the USA.
Subjects

1927–1987
A prolific mid-century science fiction and fantasy writer, he became especially well known for the Lord Darcy stories, where detective fiction meets an alternate world shaped by magic. He also wrote heavily for the pulp magazines of the 1950s and 1960s and collaborated with other major SF writers.
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