Escape Artists
PodCastle => Episode Comments => Topic started by: Heradel on September 23, 2008, 03:33:18 PM
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PodCastle Miniature 012: The Fable of the Tyrannosaurus Rex (http://podcastle.org/2008/09/22/podcastle-miniature-013-the-fable-of-the-tyrannosaurus-rex/)
By Peter S. Beagle (http://www.peterbeagle.com/)
Read by Stephen Eley (of Escape Pod (http://www.escapepod.org/))
The Tyrannosaurus — an innocent in many ways — had never had a personal message in her life, and the notion was an exciting one. Her forearms were small and weak, compared to her immense hind legs, but she was able to grip the nondescript little animal and lift him fifteen feet up, where she held him nose to nose, his beady red-brown eyes meeting her huge yellow ones with their long slit pupils. “Be quick,” she advised him, “for I am hungry, and where there’s one of you, there’s usually a whole lot, like zucchini. What was the message you wanted to give me?”
The creature, if somewhat slow of action, atoned for this failing by thinking far faster than any dinosaur. “A large asteroid is about to crash into the earth,” it chirped brightly back at the Tyrannosaurus. “So if you happen to be nursing any unacted desires, now would be the time. To act them out, I mean,” it added, realizing that the Tyrannosaurus was blinking in puzzlement at him. “It’ll happen next Thursday.”
Rated G. Contains controversial theories on climate change and evolution. (I.e., that they exist.)
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This was such a fun little piece. I loved all the quirky dinosaur details, and the perkiness of the shrew as he pronounced "Annihalation!" Eley's narration was perfect for this one.
Hmm
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"This must be Thursday," said Arthur to himself, sinking low over his beer, "I never could get the hang of Thursdays." I liked the story. especially the tribute to Douglas Adams.
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This was a lot of fun. A bit long, perhaps, in the middle, but a lot of fun regardless.
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What a fun flash! I'm really enjoying the fable theme as well, though I think in this story's case the moral should have been a part of the intro.
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Another week, another Peter S. Beagle fable that shouldn't have explained itself. This time around I thought the story was great and the moral should have been cut. It is inexplicable how the shrew knew so much about the future, but I was able to suspend disbelief enough to enjoy it.
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The shrew didn't actually know that much about the future. Not only did he get the whole thursday thing wrong, but also thought he was going to evolve into a human. Actually he got eaten. :-)
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Fun cute story, i liked it
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Another week, another Peter S. Beagle fable that shouldn't have explained itself. This time around I thought the story was great and the moral should have been cut.
I was under the impression that by definition, there's always a stated moral at the end of a fable.
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I LOVE these Peter Beagle fables! The first time I listened to this one, I was laughing hysterically. The second and third time, I didn't laugh as hard because the element of suprise was gone, but I still loved it!
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I LOVE these Peter Beagle fables! The first time I listened to this one, I was laughing hysterically.
I think these are like Aesop's Fables for the MTV generation. Short, silly, fun and really entertaining.
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Who needs to read Origin of Species? This minature has it all. I loved the upbeat forecast of the near destruction of life on earth. If only Al Gore were a shrew.
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This one was fun. I couldn't take it seriously when the shrew started to predict the meteor and explain evolution, but that's okay, it was made quite clear that it wasn't supposed to be taken seriously. Beagle hung a lantern on it, especially with the mention of Thursday, and it worked.