Down in The Bottomlands by L. Sprague de Camp, Harry Turtledove Page B

would be if it were Eltsac vez instead. But he hasn't a brain in his head or anywhere else about his person."
    "Are you sure?" Peggol had been thinking along the same lines as Radnal. He'd probably started well before Radnal had, too. That was part of his job.
    But Radnal came back strong: "If he had brains, would he have married Nocso zev?" That won a laugh which didn't sound dusty. He added, "Besides, all he knows about thornbushes is not to ride into them, and he's not certain of that."
    "Malice agrees with you, Radnal vez."
    By the time the lodge neared, Golobol was complaining along with Moblay. "Take away the Night Demons' Retreat, oh yes, and take away the cave cat we saw there, and what have you? Take away those two things and it is a nothing of a day."
    "Freeman, if you insist on ignoring everything interesting that happens, you can turn any day dull," Toglo observed.
    "Well said!" Being a tour guide kept Radnal from speaking his mind to the people he led. This time, Toglo had done it for him.
    She smiled. "Why come see what the Bottomlands are like if he isn't happy with what he finds?"
    "Toglo zev, some are like that in every group. It makes no sense to me, but there you are. If I had the money to see the Nine Iron Towers of Mashyak, I wouldn't whine because they aren't gold."
    "That is a practical attitude," Toglo said. "We'd be better off if more people felt as you do."
    "We'd be better off if—" Radnal shut up. If we didn't fear a starbomb was buried somewhere around here was how he'd been about to end the sentence. That wasn't smart. Not only would it frighten Toglo (or worry her; she didn't seem to frighten easily), but Peggol vez Menk would come down on him like he didn't know what for breaching security.
    All at once, he knew how Peggol would come down on him: like the Western Ocean, pouring into the Bottomlands over the broken mountains. He tried to laugh at himself; he didn't usually come up with such literary comparisons. Laughter failed. The simile was literary, but it might be literal as well.
    "We'd be better off if what, Radnal vez?" Toglo asked. "What did you start to say?"
    He couldn't tell her what he'd started to say. He wasn't glib enough to invent something smooth. To his dismay, what came out of his mouth was, "We'd be better off if more people were like you, Toglo zev, and didn't have fits at what they saw other people doing."
    "Oh, that. Radnal vez, I didn't think anyone who was doing that was hurting anyone else. You all seemed to be enjoying yourselves. It's not something I'd care to do where other people might see, but I don't see I have any business getting upset about it."
    "Oh." Radnal wasn't sure how to take Toglo's answer. He had, however, already pushed his luck past the point where it had any business going, so he kept quiet.
    Something small skittered between spurges. Something larger bounded along in hot pursuit. The pursuit ended in a cloud of dust. Forestalling the inevitable chorus of What's that? , Radnal said, "Looks like a bladetooth just made a kill." The carnivorous rodent crouched over its prey; the tour guide pulled out a monocular for a closer look. "It's caught a fat sand rat."
    "One of the animals you study?" Moblay said. "Are you going to blast it with your handcannon to take revenge?"
    " I think you should," Nocso zev Martois declared. "What a vicious brute, to harm a defenseless furry beast."
    Radnal wondered if he should ask how she'd enjoyed her mutton last night, but doubted she would understand. He said, "Either carnivores eat meat or they starve. A bladetooth isn't as cuddly as a fat sand rat, but it has its place in the web of life, too."
    The bladetooth was smaller than a fox, tan above and cream below. At first glance, it looked like any other jerboa, with hind legs adapted for jumping, big ears, and a long, tufted tail. But its muzzle was also long, and smeared with blood. The fat sand rat squirmed feebly. The bladetooth bit into its belly and started