"Those large plants...?"
"Redwood trees."
"And the green ones are...?"
"Grass."
"Yes, it is as I thought. Why have we come here?"
"Because it is a place which once delighted Man."
"In what ways?"
"It is scenic, beautiful..."
"Oh."
A humming sound began within Frost, followed by a series of sharp clicks.
"What are you doing?"
Frost dilated an opening, and two great eyes regarded Mordel fromwithin it.
"What are those?"
"Eyes," said Frost. "I have constructed analogues of the human sensoryequipment, so that I may see and smell and taste and hear like a Man.Now direct my attention to an object or objects of beauty."
"As I understant it, it is all around you here," said Mordel.
The purring noise increased within Frost, followed by more clickings.
"What do you see, hear, taste, smell?" asked Mordel.
"Everything I did before," replied Frost, "but within a more limitedrange."
"You do not perceive any beauty?"
"Perhaps none remains after so long a time," said Frost.
"It is not supposed to be the sort of things which gets used up," saidMordel.
"Perhaps we have come to the wrong place to test the new equipment.Perhaps there is only a little beauty and I am overlooking it somehow.The first emotions may be too weak to detect."
"How do you- feel?"
"I test out at a normal level of function."
"Here comes a sunset," said Mordel. "Try that."
Frost shifted his bulk so that his eyes faced the setting sun. Hecaused them to blink against the brightness.
After it was finished, Mordel asked, "What was it like?"
"Like a sunrise, in reverse."
"Nothing special?"
"No."
"Oh," said Mordel. "We could move to another part of the Earth andwatch it again - or watch it in the rising."