THE WORLD OF ARUVAN

Aruvan, in the north of Earth, had established a way of life and a system of knowledge unlike those of the surrounding countries. People outside knew little about this closed country. They did not understand how its people had advanced, nor did they know why the country remained closed. The Aruvans did not answer these questions about themselves.

They were not human. They were descendants of a species of reptilian origin that had come to Earth in ancient times. Over a long period, they had formed their own society and separated the region where they lived from the outside world. Most humans had never learned the origins of this people living in the north.

Their longer lives also affected how they accumulated and used knowledge. They observed natural cycles, studied the causes of disease, and recorded movements in the sky. By comparing periods longer than a human could use, they could track long-term changes in the heavens. In their knowledge of nature, health, and the sky, they had long since surpassed the human societies around them.

Most of humanity, however, was only at the beginning of its decline. Some knowledge inherited from the past was being lost, and societies could no longer preserve some of the resources available to them. During the same period, the Aruvans continued to use their own records and methods. They compared what humans had lost with what they themselves had preserved.

This comparison shaped their attitude toward humans. They considered themselves more advanced and superior, and saw the decline outside as evidence of that belief. They did not try to use their knowledge to change human conditions. They kept Aruvan’s advances as a privilege belonging only to their own people.

They applied their health practices within the country. They used their knowledge of nature in their own lives. They did not make their records of movements in the sky available outside, either. As human societies lost knowledge, they kept their country closed and continued to use their technology only for their own benefit.

The knowledge available to the two societies living on the same Earth thus became increasingly different. By their own decisions, the Aruvans restricted both their geographical borders and access to knowledge and technology. As the decline outside continued, the gap between the order they preserved and human life grew.