What do you think?
Rate this book
Do Unto Others
My Aunt Mattie, Matthewa H. Tombs, is President of the Daughters of Terra. I am her nephew, the one who didn’t turn out well. Christened Hapland Graves, after Earth President Hapland, a cousin by marriage, the fellows at school naturally called me Happy Graves.
“Haphazard Graves, it should be,” Aunt Mattie commented acidly the first time she heard it. It was her not very subtle way of reminding me of the way I lived my life and did things, or didn’t do them. She shuddered at anything disorderly, which of course included me, and it was her beholden duty to right anything which to her appeared wrong.
“There won’t be any evil to march on after you get through, Aunt Mattie,” I once said when I was a child. I like now to think that even at the age of six I must have mastered the straight face, but I’m afraid I was so awed by her that I was sincere.
“That will do, Hapland!” she said sternly. But I think she knew I meant it—then—and I think that was the day I became her favorite nephew. For some reason, never quite clear to me, she was my favorite aunt. I think she liked me most because I was the cross she had to bear. I liked her most, I’m sure, because it was such a comfortable ride.
A few billions spent around the house can make things quite comfortable.
She had need of her billions to carry out her hobbies, or, as she called it, her “life’s work.” Aunt Mattie always spoke in clichés because people could understand what you meant. One of these hobbies was her collection of flora of the universe. It was begun by her maternal grandfather, one of the wealthier Plots, and increased as the family fortunes were increased by her father, one of the more ruthless Tombs, but it was under Aunt Mattie’s supervision that it came, so to speak, into full flower...
“Haphazard Graves, it should be,” Aunt Mattie commented acidly the first time she heard it. It was her not very subtle way of reminding me of the way I lived my life and did things, or didn’t do them. She shuddered at anything disorderly, which of course included me, and it was her beholden duty to right anything which to her appeared wrong.
“There won’t be any evil to march on after you get through, Aunt Mattie,” I once said when I was a child. I like now to think that even at the age of six I must have mastered the straight face, but I’m afraid I was so awed by her that I was sincere.
“That will do, Hapland!” she said sternly. But I think she knew I meant it—then—and I think that was the day I became her favorite nephew. For some reason, never quite clear to me, she was my favorite aunt. I think she liked me most because I was the cross she had to bear. I liked her most, I’m sure, because it was such a comfortable ride.
A few billions spent around the house can make things quite comfortable.
She had need of her billions to carry out her hobbies, or, as she called it, her “life’s work.” Aunt Mattie always spoke in clichés because people could understand what you meant. One of these hobbies was her collection of flora of the universe. It was begun by her maternal grandfather, one of the wealthier Plots, and increased as the family fortunes were increased by her father, one of the more ruthless Tombs, but it was under Aunt Mattie’s supervision that it came, so to speak, into full flower...
29 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 30, 2011
1 person is currently reading
5 people want to read
About the author
Mark Clifton
95 books10 followersMark Irwin Clifton (1906 - Nov. 1963) was an American science fiction writer. Clifton began publishing in May of 1952 with the often anthologized story "What Have I Done?".
Most of his work fits into one of two series. The "Bossy" sequence was written alone, and in collaboration with both Alex Apostolides and Frank Riley. The "Ralph Kennedy" series, which is lighter in tone, was mostly written solo, including the novel "When They Come From Space", although there was one collaboration with Apostolides.
Clifton gained his greatest success with his novel They'd Rather Be Right (a.k.a. The Forever Machine), co-written with Riley, which was serialized in Astounding in 1954 and went on to win the Hugo Award, perhaps the most contentious novel ever to win the award.
Clifton is also known today for his short story "Star, Bright", his first of three appearances in Horace Gold's Galaxy (July 1952), about a super-intelligent toddler with psi abilities. From Clifton's correspondence we know that Gold "editorially savaged" the story, which appeared in severely truncated or altered form. The story has been compared favorably to Kuttner and Moore's "Mimsy Were the Borogoves", which was published in Astounding nine years earlier.
Clifton worked as a personnel manager during his life and interviewed close to 100,000 people. This experience formed much of Clifton's attitude about the delusions people entertain of themselves, but also the greatness of which they are capable.
Most of his work fits into one of two series. The "Bossy" sequence was written alone, and in collaboration with both Alex Apostolides and Frank Riley. The "Ralph Kennedy" series, which is lighter in tone, was mostly written solo, including the novel "When They Come From Space", although there was one collaboration with Apostolides.
Clifton gained his greatest success with his novel They'd Rather Be Right (a.k.a. The Forever Machine), co-written with Riley, which was serialized in Astounding in 1954 and went on to win the Hugo Award, perhaps the most contentious novel ever to win the award.
Clifton is also known today for his short story "Star, Bright", his first of three appearances in Horace Gold's Galaxy (July 1952), about a super-intelligent toddler with psi abilities. From Clifton's correspondence we know that Gold "editorially savaged" the story, which appeared in severely truncated or altered form. The story has been compared favorably to Kuttner and Moore's "Mimsy Were the Borogoves", which was published in Astounding nine years earlier.
Clifton worked as a personnel manager during his life and interviewed close to 100,000 people. This experience formed much of Clifton's attitude about the delusions people entertain of themselves, but also the greatness of which they are capable.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
March 31, 2018
Part of LibriVox Short Science Fiction Collection 048
About a guy whose powerful philanthropic Aunt uses her formidable influence as a do-gooder to civilise the natives on an extraterrestrial planet. Her arrogance in assuming that they are primitives living in “sin” is hilariously exposed as ignorant behaviour when her alien charges return the “favour”.
Although it was obvious and puerile there definitely was a missed opportunity to end the story by having everyone on Earth clothed from head to toe in a red “Mother Hubbard” garment that exposed only the eyes and the offending “naughty bits”!
I suspect the author was trying to explore the hypocrisy of certain disseminators of the Christian message and the dangers of evangelism in general, but, having not been religiously indoctrinated myself, I just enjoyed it as an amusing story about misplaced morality and consigned the religious elements to my trashcan for obsolete memes.
.
About a guy whose powerful philanthropic Aunt uses her formidable influence as a do-gooder to civilise the natives on an extraterrestrial planet. Her arrogance in assuming that they are primitives living in “sin” is hilariously exposed as ignorant behaviour when her alien charges return the “favour”.
Although it was obvious and puerile there definitely was a missed opportunity to end the story by having everyone on Earth clothed from head to toe in a red “Mother Hubbard” garment that exposed only the eyes and the offending “naughty bits”!
I suspect the author was trying to explore the hypocrisy of certain disseminators of the Christian message and the dangers of evangelism in general, but, having not been religiously indoctrinated myself, I just enjoyed it as an amusing story about misplaced morality and consigned the religious elements to my trashcan for obsolete memes.
.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 20, 2024
Clifton's on safer ground here than in some of his other works ('a woman's place', for example) and this short tale has weathered the changes in the political winds well. Dealing with culture clash and our tendency to impose our own values on others, sometimes forcibly, this story shows what happens when this logic is applied both ways. A well constructed tale with well drawn characters who all serve the plot well, leading to a satisfying comeuppance/moment of realisation for one character in particular. One of his better works, I would say.
June 3, 2022
Entertaining space listening 🎶🔰
Another will written space fantasy adventure thriller short story by Mark Clifton about an aunt that wants to help the aliens but does not understand them so when they reciprocate it's not what she expected. I would recommend this novella to readers of space fantasy novels 👍🔰. Enjoy the adventure of reading 👓 or listening 🎶 to Alexa as I do because of health issues. 2022 👒😊
Another will written space fantasy adventure thriller short story by Mark Clifton about an aunt that wants to help the aliens but does not understand them so when they reciprocate it's not what she expected. I would recommend this novella to readers of space fantasy novels 👍🔰. Enjoy the adventure of reading 👓 or listening 🎶 to Alexa as I do because of health issues. 2022 👒😊
March 23, 2025
"There couldn't be anything right or wrong, good or bad; that nothing could happen, nothing at all, excepting through the working of the law of nature." Oh, really? Naturalism is the most pernicious of the puerile religions that man in his idiocy has ever proposed.
May 30, 2023
I learned from the wisest of my kin, very young, that the golden rule is very dangerous as usually formulated. Far better to live by "Do not do unto another what you would not wish done unto you."
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews