Prelude to Foundation - Isaac Asimov [70]
Seldon said, "Very well, then, Sunmaster-but tell me. Since you are born with cephalic hair, as all of us are and as you all retain it visibly till puberty, why is it so necessary to remove it? Is it just a matter of custom or is there some rationale behind it?"
And the old Mycogenian said proudly, "By depilation, we demonstrate to the youngster that he or she has become an adult and through depilation adults will always remember who they are and never forget that all others are but tribesmen."
He waited for no response (and, in truth, Seldon could think of none) but brought out from some hidden compartment in his robe a handful of thin bits of plastic of varying color, stared keenly at the two faces before him, holding first one strip, then another, against each face.
"The colors must thatch reasonably," he said. "No one will be fooled into thinking you are not wearing a skincap, but it must not be repulsively obvious."
Finally, Sunmaster gave a particular strip to Seldon and showed him how it could be pulled out into a cap.
"Please put it on, Tribesman Seldom" he said. "You will find the process clumsy at first, but you will grow accustomed to it."
Seldon put it on, but the first two times it slipped off when he tried to pull it backward over his hair.
"Begin just above your eyebrows," said Sunmaster. His fingers seemed to twitch, as though eager to help.
Seldon said, suppressing a smile, "Would you do it for me?"
And Sunmaster drew back, saying, almost in agitation, "I couldn't. I would be touching your hair."
Seldon managed to hook it on and followed Sunmaster s advice, in pulling it here and there until all his hair was covered. The eyebrow patches fitted on easily. Dors, who had watched carefully, put hers on without trouble.
"How does it come off?" asked Seldon.
"You have but to find an end and it will peel off without trouble. You will find it easier both to put on and take off if you cut your hair shorter."
"I'd rather struggle a bit," said Seldon. Then, turning to Dors, he said in a low voice, "You're still pretty, Dors, but it does tend to remove some of the character from your face."
"The character is there underneath just the same," she answered. "And I dare say you'll grow accustomed to the hairless me."
In a still lower whisper, Seldon said, "I don't want to stay here long enough to get accustomed to this."
Sunmaster, who ignored, with visible haughtiness, the mumblings among mere tribesmen, said, "If you will enter my ground-car, I will now take you into Mycogen."
37.
"Frankly," whispered Dors, "I can scarcely believe I'm on Trantor."
"I take it, then, you've never seen anything like this before?" said Seldon.
"I've only been on Trantor for two years and I've spent much of my time at the University, so I'm not exactly a world traveler. Still, I've been here and there and I've heard of this and that, but I've never seen or heard of anything like this. The sameness. "
Sunmaster drove along methodically and without undue haste. There were other wagonlike vehicles in the roadway, all with hairless men at the controls, their bald pates gleaming in the light.
On either side there were three-story structures, unornamented, all lines meeting at right angles, everything gray in color.
"Dreary," mouthed Dors. "So dreary."
"Egalitarian," whispered Seldon. "I suspect no Brother can lay claim to precedence of any obvious kind over any other."
There were many pedestrians on the walkways as they passed. There were no signs of any moving corridors and no sound of any nearby Expressway.
Don said, "I'm guessing the grays are women."
"Its hard m tell," said Seldon. "The gowns hide everything and one hairless head is like another."
"The grays are always in pairs or with a white. The whines tart walk alone and Sunmaster is a white."
"You may be right." Seldon raised his voice. "Sunmaster, I am curious"
"If you are, then ask what you wish, although I am by no means required to answer."
..We seem to be passing