The Giant Clam by David Fischer Copyright (C) 1999 David Fischer A giant clam washed ashore one night. The day before the beach was straight and clear, a thin line of foam between sea and sand. The next morning there was a giant clam. The fishermen were the first to notice it. They saw it on their way out to go fishing for the day in their canoes. They looked at the giant clam, and they looked at their little nets. It was not something they could catch. The continued on their way. Next some people from the village saw the clam as they walked along the shore, admiring the view and the fresh breeze. "A giant clam!" They exclaimed. They stood around it in a cicle, staring in amazement. The giant clam did nothing. The people wondered aloud where it came from, and what it meant. They did not know. Finally someone went to get the village priest. "It is a message from the Gods!" He declared after a quick survey of the situation. "This is the Clam of Peace, come to guide us, as prophesized in the Holy Books!" There was a great murmuring among the villagers. Someone ran to fetch the village elders and the chieftan, and soon there was a large crowd surrounding the giant clam. Great sermons and speaches were made, praising the Clam of Peace, and condemning the ignorant inhabitants of the neighboring village for not appreciating such glorious things. Soon the crowd was so excited about the presence of the great Clam of Peace that they started running down the jungle path towards the neighboring village, brandishing flaming torches and crying out for victory against the infidels. Only a small boy who hadn't been paying attention was left behind. He was too interested in the barnacles attached to the clam's shell to be caught up in their peacefull pillaging and so was the only villager left on the beach when the clam finally spoke. "Hello little boy." It said. "Hello Clam of Peace." Replied the little boy. "I am not the Clam of Peace." It said. "I am the Clam of Math." And the giant clam taught the child many wonderfull things regarding geometry and set theory and combinatorics that night, untill the little boy finally fell asleep there on the beach, under the full moon, his head awhirl with the mysteries of mathematics. When he awoke the next morning, he was alone on the beach, and he could smell smoke from the neighboring village, which had been righteously reduced to ashes overnight. He looked at the gulls diving for fish out beyond the breakers, and wondered if animals were a subset of man, or if man was a subset of animals, and what it would mean if either case were true.