Professor Baum eister, because o u r village lies m idw ay between the

  University and Furstenw ald, and it is here that he spends the n ig h t

  whenever he journeys from one to the other, m uch to the enrichm ent

  of Scheer the innkeeper. T h e fact of the m atter is th at Professor

  Baum eister has become one of o u r celebrities him self, only by

  spending the n ight here so often. W ith his broad brow n beard and

  fine coat and tall bat and leather rid in g breeches, he gives the parlo r

  of o u r inn the air of a g entlem en’s club.

  I have heard th at it is often the case that the b eg in n in g of the

  greatest dram a is as casual as any com m onplace event. So it was that

  night. T h e inn was full of off-duty soldiers d rin k in g beer, and

  because of the heat all the w indow s were throw n open, though a

  dozen candles were burn in g . Professor Baum eister was deep in

  conversation w ith D octor Eckardt; som ething about the war. H err

  H eitzm ann the m ountebank — though I did not know w hat to call

  him then — had already gotten his half liter w hen I came in, an d was

  standing at the bar.

  At last, w hen Professor Baum eister paused to em phasize some

  point, H err H eitzm ann leaned over to them , and in the most

  offhand way asked a question. It was peculiar, but the w hole room

  seemed to grow silent as he spoke, so that he could be heard

  everywhere, th o u g h it was no m ore than a w hisper. He said: “ I

  w onder if I m ig h t venture to ask you g en tlem en —you both app ear to

  be learned men — if, to the best of your knowledge, there still exists

  even one of those great co m p u tatio n al m achines w hich were perhaps

  the most ex trao rd in ary — I trust you will agree w ith me?—creations

  of the age now p ast.”

  Professor Baum eister said at once: “ No, sir. Not one rem ains.”

  “ You feel certain of this?”

  “ My dear sir,” said Professor B aum eister, “you m ust understand

  that those devices were dependent u p o n a supply of replacem ent parts

  consisting of the most delicate subm in iatu re electronic com ponents.

  59

  Plan[e]t Engineering

  These have no t been produced now for over a hundred years — indeed,

  some of them have been unavailable longer.”

  “A h ,” H err H eitzm ann said (mostly to him self, it seemed, but you

  could hear him in the kitchen). “T h e n I have the only o n e.”

  Professor B aum eister attem pted to ignore this am azing rem ark, as

  n o t having been addressed to him self; but Doctor Eckardt, w ho is of

  an inquisitive disposition, said boldly; “ You have such a m achine,

  H e r r ... ?”

  “ H eitzm ann. O riginally of Berlin, now come from Zurich. And

  you, my good sir?”

  Doctor Eckardt introduced him self, and Professor Baum eister

  too, and H err H eitzm ann clasped them by the hand. T h e n the doctor

  said to Professor Baumeister: “ You are certain that no com puters

  rem ain in existence, my friend?”

  T h e professor said: “ I am referring to w orking com puters —

  m achines in o p erating condition. T h ere are plenty of old hulks in

  m useum s, of course.”

  H err H eitzm ann sighed, and pulled ou t a chair and sat dow n at

  the table w ith them , b rin g in g his beer. “ Would it not be sad,” he

  said, “ if those w o rld-ruling m achines were lost to m a n k in d

  forever?”

  Professor Baum eister said dryly: “T hey based their ex tra p o latio n s

  on num bers. T h a t worked well eno u g h as long as m oney, w hich is

  easily m easured num erically, was the p rin cip al m otivating force in

  h u m an affairs. But as time progressed, h u m an actions became

  responsive instead to a m u ltitu d e of incom m ensurable vectors; the

  com puters’ predictions failed, the civilization they had shaped

  collapsed, an d parts for the m achines were no longer o b tain ab le or

  desired.”

  “ H ow fascinating!” H en H eitzm ann exclaim ed. “ Do you know , I

  have never heard it explained in qu ite that way. You have provided

  me, for the first time, w ith an ex p lan atio n for the survival of my

  ow n m achine.”

  D octor Eckardt said, “ You have a w orking com puter, then?”

  60

  The Marvelous Brass Chessplaying Automaton

  “ I do. You see, m ine is a specialized device. It was not designed, like

  the com puters the learned professor spoke of ju st now, to predict

  h u m an actions. It plays chess.”

  “And where do you keep this w onderful m achine?” By this time

  everyone else in the room had fallen silent. Even Scheer took care not

  to allow the glasses he was drying to clink; and G retchen, the fat

  blond serving girl w ho usually cracked jokes w ith the soldiers and

  banged dow n their plates, moved th ro u g h the pipe sm oke am o n g the

  tables as quietly as the m oon moves in a cloudy sky.

  “ O utside,” H err H eitzm ann replied. “ In my conveyance. I am

  taking it to D resden.”

  “And it plays chess.”

  “ It has never been defeated.”

  “ Are you aw are,” Professor Baum eister in q u ired sardonically,

  “ that to program a com puter to play chess — to play w e ll—was

  considered one of the m ost difficult problems? T h a t m any judged

  that it was never actually solved, and that those m achines w hich

  m ost closely ap p roached acceptable solutions were never so sm all as

  to be portable?”

  “ Nevertheless,” H err H eitzm ann declared, “I have such a m achine.”

  “ My friend, I do no t believe you.”

  “ I take it you are a player yourself,” H err H eitzm ann said. “Such a

  learned m an could hardly be otherw ise. Very well. As I said a

  m om ent ago, my m achine is outside.” His h an d touched the table

  between Professor B aum eister’s glass and his ow n, and w hen it came

  away five gold kilom arks stood there in a neat stack. “I w ill lay these

  on the outcom e of the gam e, if you will play my m achine to n ig h t.”

  “ D one,” said Professor Baumeister.

  “ I m ust see your m oney.”

  “ You will accept a draft on Streicher’s, in Furstenw ald?”

  And so it was settled. D octor Eckardt held the stakes, and six m en

  volunteered to carry the m achine into the in n p arlo r under H err

  H eitzm ann's direction.

  61

  Plan[e]t Engineering

  Six were no t too m any, th o u g h the m achine was no t as large as

  m ig h t have been expected — not m ore than a hundred an d twenty

  centim eters high, w ith a base, as it m ig h t be, a m eter o n a side. T h e

  sides and top were all of brass, set w ith m any dials and other devices

  no one understood.

  W hen it was at last in place, Professor B aum eister viewed it from

  all sides an d smiled. “T h is is no t a co m p u ter,’’ he said.

  “ My dear friend,” said H err H eitzm ann, “you are m istak en .”

  “ It is several com puters. T here are two keyboards an d a p o rtio n of

  a third. T here are even two nam eplates, and one of these dials once

  belonged to a ra d io .”

  H err H eitzm ann nodded. “ It was assembled at the very close of the

  period, for one purpose o n ly — to play chess.”

  “ You still contend that this m achine can play?”

  “ I contend more. T h a t it will w in .”

  “ Very well. B ring a b o ard .”

  “T h a t is not necessary,” H err H eitzm ann said. He pulled

  a knob at the front of the m achine, and a w hole section sw ung

  forward, as the door of a vegetable bin does in a scullery.

  But the top of this bin was not open as th o u g h to receive the

  vegetables; it was instead a chessboard, w ith the w hite squares of

  brass, and the black of smoky glass, an d on the board, stan d in g in

  form ation and ready to play, were two arm ies of chessm en such as

  no one in o u r village had ever seen, tall m etal figures so stately they

  m ight have been sculptured apostles in a church, one arm y

  of brass and the other of some dark m etal. “ You may play

  w h ite,” H err H eitzm ann said. “T h a t is generally considered an

  advantage.”

  Professor Baum eister nodded, advanced the w hite k in g ’s paw n two

  squares, and drew a chair up to the board. By the tim e he had seated

  him self the m achine had replied, m oving so swiftly that no one saw

  by w hat m echanism the piece had been shifted.

  T h e next tim e Professor Baum eister acted m ore slowly, and

  everyone watched, eager to see the m ach in e’s counterm ove. It cam e the

  62

  The Marvelous Brass Chessplaying Automaton

  m om ent the professor had set his piece in its new position — the black

  queen slid forward silently, w ith n o th in g to propel it.

  After ten moves Professor B aum eister said, “T here is a m an

  inside.’’

  H err H eitzm ann sm iled. “ I see why you say that, my friend. Your

  positio n on the board is precarious.”

  “ I insist that the m achine be opened for my ex a m in a tio n .”

  “ I suppose you w ould say th at if a m an were concealed inside, the

  bet w ould be canceled.” H err H eitzm ann had ordered a second glass

  of beer, and was lean in g against the bar w atching the game.

  “ O f course. My bet was that a m achine could not defeat me. I am

  well aw are that certain h u m an players c a n .”

  “ But conversely, if there is no m an in the m achine, the bet stands?”

  “ C ertainly.”

  “ Very w ell.” H err H eitzm ann walked to the m achine, twisted four

  catches on one side, an d w ith the help of some onlookers removed the

  entire panel. It was of brass, like the rest of the m achine but, because

  the m etal was th in , n o t so heavy as it appeared.

  T here was m ore room inside th an m ig h t have been thought, yet

  w ithal a considerable a m o u n t of m echanism : things like shingles the

  size of little tabletops, all covered w ith patterns like w ritin g (Lame

  H ans has told me since that these are called circuit cards). And gears

  and m otors and the like.

  W hen Professor Baum eister had poked am o n g all these m echanical parts for half a m inute, H err H eitzm ann asked: “Are you satisfied?”

  “ Yes,” answered Professor B aum eister, straig h ten in g up. “T here is

  no one in there.”

  “ But I am n o t,” said H err H eitzm ann, an d he walked w ith long

  strides to the other side of the m achine. Everyone crowded around

  him as he released the catches on th at side, lifted away the panel, and

  stood it against the wall. “ N ow ,” he said, “you can see com pletely

  th ro u g h my m ach in e— isn ’t that right? Look, do you see Doctor

  Eckardt? Do you see me? Wave to u s.”

  63

  Plan[e]t Engineering

  “I am satisfied,” Professor Baum eister said. ‘‘Let us go on w ith

  the g am e.”

  “T h e m achine has already taken its move. You m ay th in k about

  your next one w hile these gentlem en help me replace the p an els.”

  Professor Baum eister was beaten in twenty-two moves. A lbricht

  the m oneylender then asked if he could play w ith o u t betting, and

  w hen this was refused by H err H eitzm ann, bet a kilom ark and was

  beaten in fourteen moves. H err H eitzm ann asked then if anyone else

  w ould play, an d w hen no one replied, requested that the same m en

  w ho had carried the m achine in to the in n assist him in p u ttin g it

  away again.

  “W ait,” said Professor Baum eister.

  H err H eitzm ann sm iled. “ You m ean to play ag ain ?”

  “ No. I w ant to buy your m achine. O n behalf of the U niversity.”

  H err H eitzm ann sat dow n and looked serious. “ I do u b t th at I

  could sell it to you. I had hoped to m ake a good sum in Dresden

  before selling it there.”

  “ Five h undred k ilom arks.”

  H err H eitzm ann shook his head. “T h a t is a fair p ro p o sitio n ,” he

  said, “and I than k you for m ak in g it. But I cannot accept.”

  “ Seven hundred and fifty,” Professor Baum eister said. “T h a t is my

  final offer.”

  “ In gold?”

  “ In a draft on an account the U niversity m ain tain s in Fursten-

  w ald —you can present it there for gold the first th in g in the

  m o rn in g .”

  “ You m ust u n d erstan d ,” said H err H eitzm ann, “ that the m achine

  requires a certain am o u n t of care, or it w ill not perform p ro p erly .”

  “ I am buying it as is,” said Professor Baum eister. “As it stands

  here before us.”

  “Done, th en ,” said H err H eitzm ann, and he p u t ou t his hand.

  T h e board was folded away, and six stout fellows carried the

  m achine into the professor’s room for safekeeping, where he

  rem ained w ith it for an h o u r or more. W hen he returned to the in n

  64

  The Marvelous Brass Chessplaying Automaton

  p arlo r at last, D octor Eckardt asked if he had been p laying chess

  again.

  Professor Baum eister nodded. “T hree gam es.”

  “ Did you w in?”

  “ No, I lost them all. W here is the show m an?”

  “ G o n e,” said Father Karl, w ho was sittin g near them . “ H e left as

  soon as you took the m achine to your ro o m .”

  D octor Eckardt said, “ I th o u g h t he p lanned to stay the n ig h t

  here.”

  “ So did I,” said Father Karl. “ And I confess I believed the m achine

  w ould not function w ithout him . I was surprised to hear that our

  friend the professor had been p lay in g in private.”

  Ju st then a sm all, twisted m an, w ith a large head crow ned w ith

  wild black hair, lim ped into the in n parlor. It was Lam e H ans, but

  no one knew that then. He asked Scheer the innkeeper for a room .

  Scheer sm iled. “S ittin g room s on the first floor are a hundred

  m arks,” he said. H e could see by Lam e H a n s’s w orn clothes that he

  could not afford a sitting room .

  “ S om ething cheaper.”

  “ My regular room s are thirty marks. O r I can let you have a garret

  for te n .”

  H ans rented a garret room , and ordered a m eal of beer, tripe, and

  kraut. T h a t was the last tim e anyone except G retchen noticed Lam e

  H an s th at night.

  And now I m ust leave off re co u n tin g w hat I myself saw, and tell

  m any things that rest solely on the testim ony of Lam e H ans, given to

  me w hile he ate his p otato soup in his cell. But I believe Lam e H ans

  to be an honest fellow; and as he no longer, as he says, cares m uch to

  live, he has no reason to lie.

  O ne th in g is certain. Lam e H ans and G retchen the serving girl fell

  in love th at night. Ju st how it hap p en ed I cannot say— I doubt that

  Lam e H ans him self knows. She was sent to prepare the cot in his

  garret. Doubtless she was tired after draw ing beer in the p arlo r all

  65

  Plan[e]t Engineering

  day, and was happy to sit for a few m om ents an d talk w ith him .

  Perhaps she sm iled— she was alw'ays a girl w'ho sm iled a great

  deal —and laughed at some bitter joke he m ade. And as for Lam e

  H ans, how m any blue-eyed girls could ever have sm iled at him , w ith

  his big head and twisted leg?

  In the m o rn in g the m achine w ould not play chess.

  Professor Baum eister sat before it for a long time, a rra n g in g the

  pieces and m aking first one o p en in g and then another, and tinkering

  w ith the m echanism ; but n o th in g happened.

  And then, w hen the m o rn in g was half gone, Lam e H ans came into

  his room . “You paid a great deal of m oney for this m ach in e,” he

  said, and sat dow n in the best chair.

  “ Were you in the in n p arlo r last n ig h t? ” asked Professor

  Baumeister. “ Yes, I paid a great deal; seven h undred and fifty

  k ilom arks.”

  “I was there,” said Lam e H ans. “ You m ust be a very rich m an to

  be able to afford such a su m .”

  “It was the U niversity’s m oney,” explained Professor Baum eister.

  “A h,” said Lam e H ans. “T h en it w ill be em barrassing for you if

  the m achine does not p lay .”

  It does play, said the professor. “ I played three gam es w ith it last

  n ig h t after it was brought here.”

  “ You m ust learn to m ake better use of your k n ig h ts,” Lam e H ans

 

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20