Devil on Salvation Bluff, The-Jack Vance short story

Devil on Salvation Bluff, The-Jack Vance short story

The Devil on Salvation Bluff, a short story of 21/23 pages (7,200 words), was published initially in 1955 in the  book anthology Star Science Fiction Stories #3.  Two missionaries, a married couple, live outside the main city on a planet called "Glory" where their ancestors from Earth crash landed 500 years ago. They maintain a huge clock (which is very symbolic) and adhere to Earth time (and customs) even though it does not apply to this planet which has a number of suns that seem to rise unpredictably. The two missionaries are responsible for "civilizing" the local natives, who live in the wild, by teaching them about manners, social behavior, adherence to schedules, and the importance of time and clocks.  The locals raise goats, run around half naked, live in filthy conditions, refuse to live in the houses that the missionaries built for them, copulate in public and destroy the canals the missionaries make. The chief of the tribe is the only one who speaks their language, but he won't cooperate and calls the giant clock the devil, threatening to roll boulders down on it. The couple are concerned how an upcoming inspection will reflect on them and think the chief must be mentally ill to be so uncivilized, so they decide to take him to one of their hospitals for mental health treatment. Things do not work out as they expect, however.  This is very enjoyable to read and fairly interesting.  I’ve read this four times so far and rate it a 4 “Really liked it.”

Included in the Jack Vance collection titled The World Between and Other Stories (1965)

Included in the Jack Vance collection titled The Worlds of Jack Vance (1973)

Included in the Jack Vance collection titled Moon Moth and Other Stories (1976 British issue)

Included in the Jack Vance collection titled When the Five Moons Rise (1992)

Included in the Jack Vance collection titled Hard-Luck Diggings: The Early Works of Jack Vance, volume 1 (2010)

Included in the Jack Vance collection titled World-Thinker and Other Stories (2017)

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