A Rose for Ecclesiastes

"A Rose for Ecclesiastes" is one of Roger Zelazny's early stories, first published in the November 1963 issue of "The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction" with a special wraparound cover painting by Hannes Bok. It was nominated for the 1964 Hugo Award for Short Fiction. [ [http://www.locusmag.com/SFAwards/Db/Hugo1964.html The LOCUS Index to SF Awards] ]

Plot summary

The story is narrated by a gifted human linguist and poet named Gallinger, who is part of a mission studying Mars. He becomes the first human to learn the "high language" of the intelligent Martians, and to be allowed to read their sacred texts. He comes to believe that Martian culture is essentially fatalistic, following an event in the distant past that left the long-lived Martians sterile.

The Martian high priestess regards Gallinger highly, and over the course of months, his theological and poetical discussion elevate him to a status something like a prophet. Ultimately, he is seduced by a Martian temple dancer and impregnates her, the first such pregnancy on the planet in hundreds of years. The Martians appear not to take this well, as it contradicts their religion's expectation of extinction.

In anger at Martian religious fatalism and impassioned by his love for the dancer and his child-to-be, Gallinger breaks into the temple during a closed service and reads to the Martians from the Biblical book of "Ecclesiastes," which he finds thematically similar to their religious texts. He mocks it as he reads it, stating:

"he was right! It is vanity it ts pride! It is the hubris of rationalism to always attack the prophet, the mystic, the god. It is our blasphemy which has made us great, and will sustain us, and which the gods secretly admire in us.--All the truly sacred names of God are blasphemous things to speak!"

He discovers that the Martian religion is more complicated than he had originally realized, as is his role in fulfilling prophecy. The story ends well for the Martians, though perhaps less so for Gallinger, who discovers his dancer was only fulfilling her religious duty by seducing him, and he attempts suicide before being evacuated back to Earth.

Reception and Reprinting

"A Rose for Ecclesiastes" was reprinted in the "The Doors of His Face, The Lamps of His Mouth, and Other Stories" collection. It is regarded as one of Zelazny's best early stories and as such was included in "The Science Fiction Hall of Fame Volume One, 1929-1964", an anthology of the greatest science fiction short stories prior to 1965, as judged by the Science Fiction Writers of America.

References

External links

* [http://bestsciencefictionstories.com/2008/02/26/a-rose-for-ecclesiastes-by-roger-zelazny/ A Rose for Ecclesiastes at BestScienceFictionStories.com] - A review of the novelette.