▁B ok . ▁ ▁It ▁was ▁nominated ▁for ▁the ▁ 1 9 6 4 ▁Hugo ▁Award ▁for ▁Short ▁F iction . ▁ ▁Plot ▁summary ▁▁ ▁The ▁story ▁is ▁narr ated ▁by ▁a ▁gift ed ▁human ▁lingu ist ▁and ▁poet ▁named ▁Gall inger , ▁who ▁is ▁part ▁of ▁a ▁mission ▁studying ▁Mars . ▁ ▁He ▁becomes ▁the ▁first ▁human ▁to ▁learn ▁the ▁" high ▁language " ▁of ▁the ▁intellig ent ▁Mart ians , ▁and ▁to ▁be ▁allowed ▁to ▁read ▁their ▁sacred ▁texts . ▁He ▁comes ▁to ▁believe ▁that ▁Mart ian ▁culture ▁is ▁essentially ▁fatal istic , ▁following ▁an ▁event ▁in ▁the ▁distant ▁past ▁that ▁left ▁the ▁long - l ived ▁Mart ians ▁ster ile . ▁ ▁The ▁Mart ian ▁high ▁priest ess ▁regards ▁Gall inger ▁highly , ▁and ▁over ▁the ▁course ▁of ▁months , ▁his ▁the ological ▁and ▁poet ical ▁discussion ▁elev ate ▁him ▁to ▁a ▁status ▁something ▁like ▁a ▁proph et . ▁Ult imately , ▁he ▁is ▁s edu ced ▁by ▁a ▁Mart ian ▁temple ▁dan cer ▁and ▁im pre gn ates ▁her , ▁the ▁first ▁such ▁pre gn ancy ▁on ▁the ▁planet ▁in ▁hundreds ▁of ▁years . ▁The ▁Mart ians ▁appear ▁not ▁to ▁take ▁this ▁well , ▁as ▁it ▁contradict s ▁their ▁religion ' s ▁expectation ▁of ▁ext inction . ▁ ▁Gall inger ▁sets ▁out ▁to ▁do ▁two ▁things : ▁he ▁transl ates ▁the ▁Bib lic al ▁book ▁of ▁E cc les iast es , ▁which ▁he ▁finds ▁them atically ▁similar ▁to ▁their ▁religious ▁texts , ▁into ▁the ▁High ▁T ong ue