Article #604-1 | Gutenberg Articles

Excerpt

Excerpt from Gulliver of Mars, by Edwin Lester Arnold

The servitor directed me to the library, and after desolate wanderings
up crumbling steps and down mouldering corridors, sunny and lovely in
decay, I came to the immense lumber-shed of knowledge they had told me
of, a city of dead books, a place of dusty cathedral aisles stored with
forgotten learning. At a table sat Hath the purposeless, enthroned in
leather and vellum, snoring in divine content amongst all that wasted
labour, and nothing I could do was sufficient to shake him into
semblance of intelligence. So perforce I turned away till he should
have come to himself, and wandering round the splendid litter of a
noble library, presently amongst the ruck of volumes on the floor,
amongst those lordly tomes in tattered green and gold, and ivory, my
eye lit upon a volume propped up curiously on end, and going to it
through the confusion I saw by the dried fruit rind upon the sticks
supporting it, that the grave and reverend tome was set to catch a
mouse! It was a splendid book when I looked more closely, bound as a
king might bind his choicest treasure, the sweet-scented leather on it
was no doubt frayed; the golden arabesques upon the covers had long
since shed their eyes of inset gems, the jewelled clasp locking its
learning up from vulgar gaze was bent and open. Yet it was a lordly
tome with an odour of sanctity about it, and lifting it with
difficulty, I noticed on its cover a red stain of mouse's blood. Those
who put it to this quaint use of mouse-trap had already had some sport,
but surely never was a mouse crushed before under so much learning. And
while I stood guessing at what the book might hold within, Heru, the
princess, came tripping in to me, and with the abrupt familiarity of
her kind, laid a velvet hand upon my wrist, conned the title over to
herself.

"What does it say, sweet girl?" I asked. "The matter is learned, by
its feel," and that maid, pursing up her pretty lips, read the title to
me--"The Secret of the Gods."

"The Secret of the Gods," I murmured. "Was it possible other worlds
had struggled hopelessly to come within the barest ken of that great
knowledge, while here the same was set to catch a mouse with?"

Explanation

**Detailed Explanation of the Excerpt from Gulliver of Mars by Edwin Lester Arnold**

Context of the Work

Gulliver of Mars (1905), also published as Lieutenant Gullivar Jones: His Vacation, is a science fantasy novel by Edwin Lester Arnold, a British author known for blending adventure, satire, and speculative fiction. The novel predates Edgar Rice Burroughs’ John Carter of Mars series and shares similarities in its portrayal of a terrestrial protagonist transported to a dying, decadent Martian civilization.

The story follows Lieutenant Gulliver Jones (a play on Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels), who, after a shipwreck, is transported to Mars (referred to as "Heru" in the novel). There, he encounters a once-great but now decaying civilization, where knowledge, art, and culture have been reduced to mere relics of a forgotten past. The excerpt provided takes place in the royal library of Mars, a symbol of the planet’s intellectual decline.

Themes in the Excerpt

Decay of Knowledge and Civilization
- The library is described as a "city of dead books" and a "lumber-shed of knowledge", emphasizing how what was once a center of learning has become a graveyard of forgotten wisdom.
- The "crumbling steps", "mouldering corridors", and "dusty cathedral aisles" reinforce the idea of physical and intellectual decay. The civilization that once valued these books now treats them with indifference—even using a priceless tome as a mouse trap.
- The librarian, Hath the purposeless, is asleep amidst the books, symbolizing intellectual stagnation. His name ("purposeless") suggests that knowledge is no longer actively pursued or preserved.
The Absurdity of Devaluing Wisdom
- The most striking image is the jewelled, sacred book (The Secret of the Gods) being used as a mouse trap, its pages stained with mouse blood.
  - This is a darkly comic moment—what should be a sacred text (possibly containing cosmic or divine truths) is reduced to a mundane, even grotesque, tool.
  - The narrator’s reflection—"Was it possible other worlds had struggled hopelessly to come within the barest ken of that great knowledge, while here the same was set to catch a mouse with?"—highlights the tragic irony of a civilization that once sought enlightenment now wasting its heritage.
The Contrast Between Past Grandeur and Present Neglect
- The book is described in luxurious detail:
  - "Bound as a king might bind his choicest treasure"
  - "Sweet-scented leather", "golden arabesques", "jewelled clasp"
  - "An odour of sanctity"
- Yet, despite its former glory, it is now tattered, broken, and repurposed for a trivial task. This mirrors the broader decline of Martian society.
The Role of the Princess Heru
- The princess’s casual, almost childlike interaction with the book ("pursing up her pretty lips") contrasts with the narrator’s awe and reverence.
- Her ability to read the title ("The Secret of the Gods") suggests that some knowledge remains, but the fact that she treats it so lightly implies that its significance is lost on her culture.
- Her familiarity (laying a hand on the narrator’s wrist) may symbolize the decadence of the ruling class, who are detached from the value of their own heritage.
Existential and Philosophical Undercurrents
- The title "The Secret of the Gods" suggests ultimate knowledge—something humanity (or other civilizations) might yearn for, yet here it is discarded.
- The scene raises questions:
  - What happens when a civilization loses respect for its own wisdom?
  - Is knowledge meaningful if it is not preserved or understood?
  - Does progress inevitably lead to decay?

Literary Devices & Stylistic Choices

Imagery & Sensory Language
- Visual: "crumbling steps", "mouldering corridors", "tattered green and gold", "jewelled clasp"
- Olfactory: "sweet-scented leather", "odour of sanctity"
- Tactile: "lifting it with difficulty" (the book’s weight symbolizing its importance)
- These details immerse the reader in the decaying grandeur of the library.
Irony & Satire
- Situational Irony: A book titled "The Secret of the Gods"—something that should be revered—is used as a mouse trap.
- Dramatic Irony: The narrator (and reader) understands the book’s value, but the Martians (including the princess) do not.
- Satire of Decadence: The scene mockingly critiques a society that has lost touch with its intellectual roots, much like Arnold’s contemporary concerns about British imperial decline.
Symbolism
- The Book as a Mouse Trap:
  - Represents how knowledge is trapped, unused, and even destroyed by a decaying civilization.
  - The mouse’s blood could symbolize the death of curiosity or the violence done to wisdom when it is ignored.
- Hath the Purposeless:
  - His sleep symbolizes intellectual coma.
  - His title ("purposeless") reflects the aimlessness of a dying culture.
Juxtaposition
- Grandeur vs. Decay: The book’s former beauty vs. its current state.
- Sacred vs. Profane: A divine secret vs. a mouse trap.
- The Narrator’s Awe vs. Heru’s Indifference: Highlights the cultural gap between an outsider who values knowledge and a native who takes it for granted.
Foreshadowing & Tone
- The melancholic, elegiac tone ("sunny and lovely in decay") suggests that Mars is a civilization in its twilight.
- The mouse trap may foreshadow further degradation—if this is how they treat their greatest books, what else have they lost?

Significance of the Passage

Critique of Cultural Decline
- Arnold’s Mars is a warning—a once-great civilization that has forgotten its own wisdom.
- This reflects late 19th/early 20th-century anxieties about European decline, industrialization’s cost to culture, and the fragility of knowledge.
Exploration of Knowledge’s Value
- The scene asks: Is knowledge only valuable if it is used?
- The mouse trap is a provocative metaphor—what good is wisdom if it is locked away, ignored, or misused?
Influence on Later Sci-Fi/Fantasy
- The dying Mars trope (later used by Burroughs, Bradbury, and others) owes much to Arnold’s vision of a decadent, forgotten world.
- The library as a tomb of knowledge is a recurring theme in post-apocalyptic and dystopian fiction (e.g., Fahrenheit 451, The Book of the New Sun).
Philosophical Reflection on Humanity’s Fate
- The passage suggests that civilizations rise and fall, and what was once sacred can become trivial.
- It invites readers to consider: Are we, too, in danger of losing our intellectual heritage?

Conclusion: The Excerpt’s Power

This passage is hauntingly poetic in its depiction of a world that has lost its way. The image of the jewelled book, stained with mouse blood, is one of the most vivid and disturbing in early science fiction—a perfect symbol of intellectual decay. Arnold does not just describe a dying Mars; he holds up a mirror to Earth, asking whether our own knowledge might one day be reduced to dust and forgetfulness.

The tragedy is not just that the Martians have forgotten their past, but that they no longer care. And in that indifference lies the true death of a civilization.

Questions

Question 1

The narrator’s observation that the book The Secret of the Gods is used as a mouse-trap most fundamentally serves as:

A. a critique of the Martians’ lack of practical ingenuity in pest control.
B. a metaphor for the degradation of sacred knowledge into mundane utility.
C. an example of the princess’s playful irreverence toward scholarly traditions.
D. a literal illustration of how resource scarcity forces civilizations to repurpose artifacts.
E. a satirical commentary on the futility of preserving books in a post-literate society.

Question 2

The description of Hath the purposeless as "enthroned in leather and vellum, snoring in divine content" primarily functions to:

A. embody the thematic paradox of a custodian of knowledge who is himself intellectually comatose.
B. contrast the physical comfort of the library with the mental discomfort of the narrator.
C. highlight the absurdity of a librarian who is physically present but professionally absent.
D. suggest that the Martians have replaced active scholarship with a cult of passive reverence.
E. imply that the library’s decay is a direct result of Hath’s personal negligence.

Question 3

The princess Heru’s reaction to the book’s title—"pursing up her pretty lips"—is most effectively interpreted as:

A. a subtle indictment of her generation’s superficial engagement with profound ideas.
B. an affectionate gesture meant to bridge the cultural gap between her and the narrator.
C. a performative display of femininity designed to distract from her intellectual limitations.
D. a reflexive expression of skepticism toward the narrator’s outsider perspective.
E. an unconscious mimicry of the Martian elite’s dismissive attitude toward relics.

Question 4

The phrase "sunny and lovely in decay" best captures which of the following tensions in the passage?

A. The conflict between the narrator’s nostalgia for Earth and his fascination with Martian aesthetics.
B. The juxtaposition of beauty and ruin as a commentary on the romanticization of decline.
C. The Martians’ ability to find joy in their civilization’s collapse, unlike the mourning narrator.
D. The ironic harmony between the library’s physical charm and its intellectual desolation.
E. The narrator’s ambivalence about whether decay is a natural or unnatural state for knowledge.

Question 5

The narrator’s question—"Was it possible other worlds had struggled hopelessly to come within the barest ken of that great knowledge, while here the same was set to catch a mouse with?"—primarily serves to:

A. establish the narrator’s superior moral perspective as an outsider.
B. underscore the cosmic irony of a civilization squandering what others covet.
C. suggest that the Martians’ decline is a direct result of their isolation from other worlds.
D. imply that the book’s contents are so profound they defy practical application.
E. critique the futility of interplanetary exploration when knowledge is universally misused.

Solutions and Explanations

1) Correct answer: B

Why B is most correct: The mouse-trap is not merely a literal device but a symbolic act of reduction: a text that should embody transcendent or divine knowledge (The Secret of the Gods) is repurposed for a base, utilitarian function. This encapsulates the passage’s central theme—the degradation of the sacred into the profane, and the collapse of intellectual reverence into indifference. The image forces the reader to confront the tragic irony of a civilization that once pursued wisdom now treating it as disposable.