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and when they fully decide to become partners they shall wed. They will not vow loyalty lightly such as your people on earth do. One will merely say to the other, ‘In the presence of all goodness, seen and unseen, I am yours.’ That is our wedding ceremony, be it performed in the presence of witnesses or not. Their it performed in the presence of witnesses or not. Their announced word of it is sufficient, and it is then recorded. Wedding festivities, if any, are a spontaneous expression from among their close friends. “Both of them are teachers of our children. Yes, we have schools right here on Andromeda. The pupils are given the semester schedules, which are reviewed by the peers, and from there on the teachers have full sway. Results are what matter, and we find this plan works very well. The latitude of our teachers is equaled by the freedom of the pupils. If a teacher shows signs of slipping back into retrogression, she or he is then retired from public teaching for life. Children who are faster in learning than others are given more to assimilate, within their limits and needs, of course.” They continued dining. After a few moments’ pause, Adam asked his neighbor, “What is the secret of such health and physical beauty in your people?” “That is only in your perspective, Adam. We regard our peers somewhat in the same way as you regard us. You should behold our chief, ‘Saturn.’ Such stature, such understanding.’ He is friend, physician, and patriarch all in one. All mortals must feel a sovereign orientation to some degree. We must be able to look down from where we have climbed, and up to where we are going. Saturn assures us that he also looks up to a stretch of stairway which extends beyond his own vision,” he said, noticing that Adam’s expression had changed to one of perplexity. Something just said had caused him to reach back toward memory. A word echoed throbbingly in his mind, the mention of which had catapulted him from this hall. Physician! Physician! Yes, Saturn was even physician .. . He was breathing heavily, trying hard to think. The word came laboriously from his lips . . . “physician, physician.” A hard The word to was 84 SON OF THE SUN . “physician, physician.”