Rolla did not understand
all that he told her; but the people on the earth gathered, in one
way or another, that civilization had proceeded about as far as that
of the year 1915 in Europe. All this, while fellow humans only a few
thousand miles away, not only failed to make any progress at all,
but lived on, century after century, the absolute slave of a race of
bees!
But it was a fact. The ancient city in which Rolla found herself had
been, only a generation before, a flourishing metropolis, the
capital of a powerful nation. There had been two such nations on
that side of the planet, and the most violent rivalry had existed
between them.
"However," Somat told Rolla, "'twas not this rivalry which wrought
their downfall, except indirectly. The last great war between them
was terrible, but not disastrous. Either could have survived that.
"But know you that the ruler of one of the nations, in order to
carry on this war--which was a war of commerce (never mind what that
means)--in order to carry it on was obliged to make great
concessions to his people.
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