Ruddy Apes And Cannibals Read online

  So you do understand, said the Ruddy Apes together, that humans are refined beings bound by a sense of love and duty? The Cannibals looked at them askance. But of course we do, they responded. We love our respective individual selves very much; because we are rational creatures we are duty bound to respect the self-loves of humans, birds and beasts equally. The Ruddy Apes’ eyes gleamed with triumph. They had got them at last. So, they thundered, do you think that eating fellow humans is an act inspired by love and respect for others?

  Certainly, said The Cannibals, a little put out that they should be asked at all. Completely and absolutely, they emphasized. You see, the human body, like everything else on earth is physical matter, and essentially the same; just break them into their base elements and you’ll know. Look, they said, warming to the subject. Your bodies are matter. Our bodies are matter. When we die the bodies return to earth. But the real you remains, your hopes and dreams, your ideas and deeds, your loves and your passions. They all remain; sometimes like a mountain that is visible from afar and sometimes like ripples spreading and spreading in a lake. Don’t you see?

  The Ruddy Apes did not see. They were astonished at the poetry of their speech, but then, tribal and other savage sort played rudimentary forms of music on their drums and conches, so perhaps The Cannibals, being a little more advanced had progressed to the basics of poetry. They retired for the day and conferred among themselves again. When they returned to the trial again, they had no questions. They just wanted to tell the Cannibals, warn them in fact, that they had observed severe discrepancies in their society. Mainly that although they looked alike and ate similar things etc., some of them liked walking towards the west and some preferred the east; some loved climbing up while others liked to hunker down.

  You are not united at all, the Ruddy Apes told The Cannibals. There are great differences among you, and we can foresee dark days ahead. Pay heed and let us take charge of your lives. We will show you the light.

  The Cannibals laughed uproariously. Then they became quiet. One among them stepped up to the platform and spoke, with a kind of deadly earnest that frightened the Ruddy Apes, even though they could see no weapons in their opponents’ hands, nor any great danger from the person of the speaking Cannibal.

  Leave now, said The Cannibal on the platform. You have over stayed your welcome. And the rest, standing below him, nodded sagely.

  The Ruddy Apes sensing the change in weather, left without another word, pulling out in their trucks and loading it all into their boats and ships. When they were a safe distance away, they detonated the bombs that they had secretly planted beforehand. Powerful bombs that splintered the island into two or three parts. The power of the bombs devoured some of the Ruddy Apes’ ships, and the ones who died were commemorated as war heroes. Enough ships escaped to proclaim victory though. And the world of apes saluted them as victors. Especially since they had seen the mushroom cloud that had shot heavenwards, covering blue sky with black noxious fumes for miles and miles around. The Ruddy Apes, when they returned to their world, of course denied having had any hand in it.

  Those were smoke signals sent out by the brutes, and they used a special kind of gum tree for fuel that made the clouds so extreme, they said.

  So the honor of having detonated the first atomic bombs went elsewhere, to a country that had just begun to savor its apish powers. The Ruddy Apes retired to their smoke rooms, content to be smug in private rather than have the world know of their dastardly ways.

  Scores among The Cannibals perished of course. But a good number escaped as well, in their space dinghies, flying out to their orbiting spaceships. They could not take much with them, as they were caught unawares. But their ships were fully furbished, hovering around the Kuiper belt and ready for any adventure. Pieces of their broken land bobbed about in the sea, rolling in the waves again and again, until they finally settled down on a patch of elevated ocean floor. On an auspicious day in the future, divers and adventurers from the Ruddy ape clan discovered the remains of a civilization they claimed was the mythical El Dorado. Or the lost continent of Atlantis.

  Life returned meanwhile to the portions that didn’t sink. Flora and fauna, and after them apes and humans. But nothing was as it were before. Nevertheless, in patches of shade and in the whispers of leaves, the stories of The Cannibals meandered about until willing ears took them in. The new people who populated the land were just beginning the long march towards self-realization, and they were eager for myths, legends and fables.

  So it goes. Some legends proclaim that the Cannibals are still among us, a few who stayed back out of a sense of duty towards primitive humanity. They are of course in touch with their brethren out there in space. These are the sages, scientists and the odd social worker. As for the ones who fled, they hope to find a nice cozy planet someday, or so it is whispered. They hope that the natives of that planet, if any, will let them live their lives, uninterrupted and unmolested. And they hope that their erstwhile home planet will believe its fables and stories and ultimately become a better place. They hope on as their ships swim through the universe. Hope is a good thing to have.

  Discussion Questions

  What does the opening paragraph of the story mean, in the context of the story? “Does rain remember vapor? Does vapor remember rain? Yet both were the other in their past lives. If you told their stories to each other, would they even comprehend? And, does that mean their stories are unnecessary, unimportant and implausible?”

  The islanders are cannibals. They do so because they like the way human meat tastes. Is that a good enough reason to eat human meat? Is that a good enough reason to eat meat in general?

  Is there any indication in the story that those that are eaten are done so against their will, or as a form of violence? Is it possible to kill (or eat) another person (or animal) with their consent? Can consent only be given by an intelligent animal, like a human being? Does that mean human meat is the only meat that can be contentiously consumed?

  If you were visiting the islanders, would you eat the human meat they gave you to eat? Why, or why not?

  Were the “Rudy Apes” correct in killing off most of the islanders because of their practice of cannibalism? Is there a societal obligation to destroy (or change/fix) that which society generally finds immoral?

  What other universally offensive action could the author have substituted with cannibalism in this story? Is there a substitute action you can think of that would change your evaluation of the Ruby Apes’ response?

  LISTEN TO THESE AND other questions discussed on the “After Dinner Conversation” podcast.

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  From the Publisher

  After Din
ner Conversation is a growing series of short stories and supporting podcasts across genres to draw out deeper discussions with friends and family. Each story is an accessible example of an abstract ethical or philosophical idea and is accompanied by suggested discussion questions.

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  About the Author

  SHIKHANDIN is the nom de plume of an Indian writer who writes for adults and children. Her published books, as Shikhandin, include "Immoderate Men" (Speaking Tiger), and "Vibhuti Cat" (Duckbill Books), with another forthcoming in 2020. A novel and a short story collection were published previously. Shikhandin's accolades include, pushcart nominee by Aeolian Harp (USA) 2019, winner 2017 Children First Contest curated by Duckbill in association with Parag an initiative of Tata Trust, first prize Brilliant Flash Fiction Contest 2019 (USA), runner up Half and One Short Story Competition (India), S
hortlist Erbacce Poetry Prize (UK), 35th Moon Prize (Writing in a Woman's Voice: USA), first runner up The DNA-OoP Short Story Contest 2016 (India), second Prize India Currents Katha Short Story Contest 2016 (USA), first prize Anam Cara Short Fiction Competition 2012 (Ireland), long list Bridport Poetry Prize 2006 (UK), finalist Aesthetica Poetry Contest 2010 (UK), Pushcart nominee by Cha: An Asian Literary Journal 2011 (Hong Kong). Shikhandin's work has been published worldwide. Notably in HuffPost India, Scroll.in, Asia Literary Review (Hong Kong), Eclectica (USA), Per Contra (USA), Markings (Scotland), Himmal Magazine (Kathmandu), Flash: The International Short-Short Story Magazine (UK), The Nth Position (UK), Mascara Literary Review (Australia), Cha: An Asian Literary Journal (Hong Kong), Stony Thursday (Ireland), The Little Magazine (India), Out of Print (India), Sybil's Garage (USA), Pushing Out the Boat (Scotland), South: A Journal of Poetry (UK), Off the Coast (USA), Etchings (Australia), Going Down Swinging (Australia), Scoundrel Time (USA).and her overused coffee machines.

  You can read more from Shikhandin on Amazon.

 

 

  Shikhandin, Ruddy Apes And Cannibals

 

 

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