Page 21 - Big Idea

The Big Idea – Act 1

women if he was going to slug it out; he hasn’t got the nerve to ask
them to throw rocks at us.

RIVAL 2: So why didn’t he just say what he wants to say down there,
where we’re camping?

RIVAL 1: Oh, I’m sure he has a reason, but it’s probably some little
trick to make us feel inferior to him. If it’s any good, we’ll use it
ourselves.

RIVAL 2: But what if he’s found a way to get all the power for
himself? What good will it do us after the chief has been defeated and
we’ve been kicked out of the camp?

RIVAL 1: Stop worrying, you coward! He doesn’t know what we’re
up to. As far as he knows, we’re just another couple of guys he told
about this meeting. If he hadn’t mentioned that the topic would be
social reorganization, I wouldn’t even consider attending.

RIVAL 2: Why not?

RIVAL 1: Because he’s always got some crazy idea he’s trying to
convince everybody else to believe. Remember the umbrellas he came
up with? Stick a bunch of leaves together with sap and put them on a
stick to keep the rain off. Well, all that did was attract a lot of ants,
and those of us foolish enough to use the damned things were bitten
viciously until we threw them away and got shelter elsewhere.

RIVAL 2: Hee-hee! And I was feeling bad because I couldn’t figure
out how to put one together! Hee-hee!

RIVAL 1: Ah, shut up. And what about that ridiculous calendar he
came up with? He spent years measuring shadows and counting days,
and what did he discover?

RIVAL 2: Beats me.

RIVAL 1: He found out that the number of new moons in a year is
not always the same. Totally useless information. I don’t know why he
thought it would come out evenly. He’s always looking for some kind
of hidden order in things, and everybody knows there isn’t any.

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