It is so unbelievable that a common primary school teacher, just of that kind who directs the students to read "Xiaobo's spaceship flied away, and he felt lonely because he was alone", could gain the chance to be listed in the interstellar diplomatic history of the Earth as a hero. In the future, she will be described, praised and remembered as following: "Wargangian legend of braveness, solidarity and invincibility was destroyed by the Earth's heroin, Lin Mingmei, with only one word."

The story went like this: Due to the long summer holiday, Lin Mingmei prepared to travel with one year's saving. She hitched a private spaceship without license, mainly because of the cheap price - at that time, a primary school teacher's salary was so poor. The ship owner and driver took care of her so much, and made everything ready. Lin Mingmei felt appreciated and puzzled, so she hid a paperknife in her pocket.

They planned to take a stop at Phoebus port on the Mars, and unload some cargo, then fly straightly to the No. 6 satellite of Jupiter. But there was something wrong. The Mars's police suspected of their cargo, so the two sides communicated with electromagnetic guns and plasma artillery, then the smuggler fled at once. Lin Mingmei grasped the smuggler's collar and cried, "I'll get down right here!" But her suggestion reached no agreement, so the little spaceship flied directly to the dark space outside the solar system. And the Mars police followed closely.

Lin Mingmei accepted her fate. She sat in the anti-shock chair in the cabin, thinking about the several possibilities: The spaceship might be shot down and she would die together with the smuggler like a pearl dies together with a stone; Or the police might catch up and she would have to explain why a good primary school teacher like her could be with a smuggler; Or the smuggler might escaped to his unknown hideout, then, she didn't think he would send her back home - further more, looking at the way he watched her, she has to think about protecting herself. Of course, the first possibility was the least one she wanted.

The smuggler was very self-confident, for he didn't bring Lin Mingmei forth to the police as a hostage. In about an hour, the police turned back suddenly.

"So I have to accept the third possibility," Lin Mingmei leaned against the stern window and thought sadly, watching the police's spaceship fading into a light spot. But the smuggler stared at her with sweat running down his face.

"Now you feel good," Lin Mingmei thought hatefully. But the smuggler said, "we're dying."

"What?"

"We've already flied into Wargangian field. Those policemen run away so fast, but we got no time to return," the smuggler said sorrowfully.

Lin Mingmei knew that Wargang was an alien planet people grew from nomad on. They were very aggressive. Their home planet was still unknown, and their present base was a manmade metal planet.

"Will they attack us without reasons?" asked Lin Mingmei.

"They set up a rule that the space within twenty thousand miles around their warships is their region, and anybody or anything entered into this area will be regarded as invasion. Wargangman's desire to protect their territory is too strong to be normal."

"What shall we do now?" Lin Mingmei felt herself linked to the smuggler by the doom.

"Surrender. If lucky, maybe we could be spared."

The surrender went well. In fact, Wargangman was used to accept surrender, because that will bring them resources and food. A small group of soldiers went through the decompressing door and walked into the smuggler's spaceship. They acted so orderly that it seemed that they were just one. Searching everywhere with the slim detective poles, they finished the check for weapons soon. Watching the deathlike dark heads and mask-hard faces of those Wargangian soldiers, Lin Mingmei almost doubted that she was in nightmare. What especially surprised her was that the dark cuirass on the surface of Wargangman's body was just his skin, which the smuggler said to be a shell of chitin. Wargangian soldiers didn't wear oxygen helmets, though they breathed oxygen, too. Lin Mingmei observed carefully and found that each soldier wore a pair of metal pots, from which a soft pipe stretching to his waist. When the little spaceship was directed into the huge warship, the smuggler said in low voice: "I hope that saying's wrong."

"Which one?"

"It is said that Wargangmen eat captures, and no one came back alive when captured."

Lin Mingmei felt cold all over, and cried in low voice: "Oh, God!" At that time, she saw those dark soldiers opening and closing their mouths to them, and showed an expression like fleer.

The warship ingulfed their little spaceship like a whale swallow a shrimp. They slipped in a long, curved channel that was very like an intestine.

Later on, when Lin Mingmei told this story to her students, they were always especially interested in this segment. They always asked, "How large was the warships? How long was the intestine? Were there lights inside? Were there other spaceship?" Then Lin Mingmei would recall her memory: "The warship was as heavy as mountain, and the channel seemed to have no end. They couldn't see lamps, but there was a kind of blue ghostly light pervading from all around. With the light reflecting on their spaceship, they felt like prowling in water. There were other small ships and machines moving slowly and silently in the "water". Some of the machines must be working there, to clean the trash from the channel.

Then the students would ask more, "What's there at the end of the intestine?"

It was a hall, or a square, or a cave. After all, it was huge and empty, and there were already many spaceships stopped there. The soldiers took Lin Mingmei and the smuggler out, and led them to a cavern at the edge of the square¡­

"What happened then?" the students asked.

Lin Mingmei was regretted that she couldn't answer the question herself. Because as soon as she entered the cavern, a white light flashed, and then she lost her consciousness.

When she awoke, Lin Mingmei found herself and the smuggler staying on a high platform, with Wargangmen all around. "God!" the smuggler said, "we're brought to the homeland of Wargang!"

Lin Mingmei looked up. It was sure that above her head was sky, though it was so dark with cloud, and there were many warships floating in the cloud. They were on the high platform, so they could see around. Lin Mingmei saw that there was no tree, no mountain or stone, no even a bit earth on the ground of Wargang. As it was heard, Wargang was a manmade planet.

"There's something wrong in their eyes," the smuggler whispered, shaking, "Do Wargangmen really eat captures?" he asked Lin Mingmei, "Is your paperknife still with you?"

"You know I hid a knife?"

"Of course I know," the smuggler answered with a temper, "you the big fool. If I really want to do that, even a butcher knife couldn't stop me."

"The most foolish thing I've done is getting on your ship!" Lin Mingmei snapped back.

The smuggler didn't want to quarrel any more: "I tell you, if the thing goes wrong, just cut the throat with your knife! You must be quick. If it goes well, I'll get the time to borrow your knife after you've done it."

Lin Mingmei was frightened, "Is it so serious?"

"Do you want to suicide or to be eaten alive?" the smuggler said, "or give the knife to me."

Lin Mingmei stayed blankly for a while, because she couldn't imagine the feeling when a knife cutting in her throat. But it would be more disgusted to be eaten up by the dark, death-like Wargangmen. She touched the pocket slightly, and found the knife still there. Wargangmen even didn't regard the little piece of iron as a weapon.

There were some others on the platform besides Lin Mingmei and the smuggler. Lin Mingmei rfigured out some were green Titans and some were fat, out-solar merchandises. To be eaten, the fat merchandises were better choices. Clearly, the fat merchandises were captures, too.

"What are they waiting for?" the smuggler murmured uneasily.

The one whom Wargangmen were waiting for came. An officer-like man hurried on, clustered by several soldiers, with a loudspeaker in his hand, which had a wire linking to his head.

"Holotranslator," the smuggler said, "we got hope. They wanna talk to us."

The officer came on the platform, and stood in front of the fat merchandises. The fat merchandises turned green with fear (or may be reflected green by the Titans beside), and they were anxious to talk to the conqueror.

The Wargangian officer's speaker sent out rapid chirm that was the fat merchandises' language. The fat merchandises hurried to blurt, while the translator changed the chirm into low frequency vibrancy that Wargangmen could understand.

"What are they talking about?" asked Lin Mingmei.

"I'm not a translator!"

At that time, several soldiers pushed the fat merchandises down the platform. The smuggler said, "it seems not good."

The officer took a look at the Titans, and also a look at Lin and the smuggler, then walked towards them.

From the speaker spread exact Earth's language though stiff: "Two Earthian, what are you?"

"Drive spaceships! Any spaceships!" The smuggler shouted hurriedly. He realized that maybe Wargangmen didn't eat captures, instead, they kept the skilled as slaves.

"I am a primary school teacher," Ling Mingmei answered calmly and dignifiedly.

"The Male Earthian go to spaceship-repairing department," the officer ordered, then he looked at Lin Mingmei and said, "The Female Earthian's language was very strange. The Female Earthian say it again!" Lin Mingmei spoken one word at one time, "I, am, a primary school teacher."

"Our translator got something wrong," the officer looked at Lin Mingmei puzzled, "we can't understand what the Female Earthian said."

The smuggler whispered to Lin Mingmei, "Be careful when you speak! Don't get me involved!"

Clearly, the translator transferred this sentence to the officer, for he said, "The Earthman's language is also strange."

"We're dead!" the smuggler said, "They'll dissect us. Hurry, give me the knife!"

"Why couldn't you be quiet?"

The officer came up, and lower his death-like face to watch them. Lin Mingmei and the smuggler were both anxious, not knowing what was wrong in their talk. "We can't understand your words," the officer said again.

Lin Mingmei thought, "For me your words got something wrong." As a language teacher, she was allergic to notice something strange in the officer's words. What was it? But now she was too disturbed to get interest in how to correct a wrong sentence.

"Primary school teacher? What do you teach?" asked the officer, and he gave up the researching of the language.

Lin Mingmei answered, "I teach language, culture, history¡­

"The Female Earthian go to translation department," the officer said immediately, "to help improving our translation system."

The smuggler looked at Lin Mingmei and got relieved, "You almost frightened me to death!"

The officer turned back suddenly and stared at the smuggler, and the latter was too frightened to move even a little, with his hair straight up up, and cold sweat on his face.

Quite a while later, the officer said, "You Earthian' language was so strange."

The smuggler was taken to the spaceship-repairing department. Actually, Lin Mingmei felt sorry to be apart with him. After all, he was the only countryman on this alien planet. She couldn't imagine the following life.

Wargang was a huge honeycomb floating in the universe. In the days following, Lin Mingmei found some secrets unknown by the outside. She was ordered to study Wargangian history, and input Earth's language systemically to the database of the translator. But she hadn't found out what on earth in the officer's words drew her attention yet.

One day, with the manager's permission, she walked out of the deep, dark crypt, and stood at the high platform, looking around. The spaceship-repairing department was just near. Wargangmen were lenient to treat their captures. As long as one worked hard, he could enjoy some freedom and comfort. The smuggler had already gained these by his diligence and rich experience. He could drive his low-speed truck here and have a talk with Lin Mingmei everyday. Now they were on the same boat.

But this day, before the smuggler came, Lin Mingmei saw something horrible: At the foot of a high platform in distance, a group of soldiers took many Wargangmen out, whipping them to move as whipping animal. The whipped Wargangmen were very obedient. They got on the truck at the foot of the platform, and filled it up.

Lin Mingmei thought: "The Wargangmen treat their countrymen even worse than treat their captures."

She came back to her department, and told the manager what she saw. Her words were translated to the manager.

These days, a calm and cold trust was built between Lin Mingmei and the manager. The manager took a look at her, and asked, "Do you want to take a look at our true face?"

Lin Mingmei didn't understand. The manager asked again, "You don't want to see?"

Lin Mingmei answered, "Yea¡­ah, but I've seen your face already¡­"

The manager put his hands before his chest, cut into the seams of the chitin suddenly, and broke the shell. Lin Mingmei cried with surprise. She saw the hard cuirass was broken into two parts, and inside was a cavum where huddling a white, slippery demon.

That was the true face of Wargangman.

Those stuffed into the truck were not Wargangmen, but the animals they raised. They were a kind of animals whose social structure was like ants'. Centuries after centuries, Wargangmen and the animals built up the relationship of parasitizing and parasited. Even the Wargangian social structure was after the latter's.

Lin Mingmei stared agape at the white thing inside the shell for a great while. Then the manager closed his cuirass. Now Lin Mingmei knew what she faced was just Wargangman's armor and mask.

The manager said, "Our technique is very high."

"Is this dead or alive?" Lin Mingmei asked, pointing to the dark armor.

"Both dead and alive," the manager answered, "We think for it, and it fight for us."

"Then how does it breathe? How does it eat?"

The manager answered, "The Female Earthian have been with me for so long, but she hadn't seen us eating." He took a soft, thin pipe from the nearby desk, and plugged into the death-like mouth very deep. A kind of red liquid flew inside the shell.

Suddenly, Lin Mingmei got an idea. Then she started to understand the strangeness in Wargangian. She asked, "Now, how many people are there in the room?"

The manager looked at her and answered, "The Female Earthian and us, two. Why do you ask that?"

It was completely clear now! There was no single form of the first person in Wargangian.

Wargangman never said "I".

Lin Mingmei thought: "This language made a logic of ants in which there's only group, but no individual. Wargangmen don't know what's "I", so there's neither private possession, nor individual life. It must be the demon who created this language."

"The Male Earthian comes, and he want to see the Female Earthian," the manager looked at the monitor on the desk and said.

"Might he come in and talk with us?"

The manager answered, "We're very glad." He opened the remote control door.

The smuggler came in, looking around. Lin Mingmei said to him, "I just see why the officer said there was something wrong in my talk the first day we were here."

"What's it?" the smuggler asked, "I don't understand."

The manager listened to them through the translator, and said, "The Earth's language is so strange."

"Look, he feels our language strange, too." Lin Mingmei said, "Only one word, in fact, what he can't understand is just one word."

"What?"

" 'I'." Lin Mingmei turned to the manager, "You never say 'I', right?"

"What does "I" mean?" the manager asked.

Lin Mingmei talked to herself that she had been a primary school language teacher, and had taught all kinds of children, including those from other planets. Now she would give a lesson to the manager.

She answered, " 'I' is what a individual calls himself."

"Just 'we'," the manager followed.

"No. 'I' and 'we' are different." Lin Mingmei continued, "For example, the Male Earthian and the Female Earthian are 'we', but the Female Earthian is 'I'."

"What's the difference?" the manager asked.

It wasn't easy to explain now, then Lin Mingmei got an inspiration. She took the paperknife hid for long from her pocket, and said to the smuggler, "Sorry for a little offending." She scraped slightly the smuggler on the arm, and the smuggler cried, "What are you doing?"

The manager laughed. Wargangmen were always appreciated aggressiveness.

Lin Mingmei asked him, "Does the Male Earthian feel the pain?"

The manager laughed louder, "We think that the Male Earthian feels a sharp pain, and the Male Earthian gets angry."

Lin Mingmei continued, "Does the Female Earthian feel the pain?"

Now the manager began to think her words over, "No, the Female Earthian doesn't feel the pain."

"That's the difference between 'I' and 'we'," Lin Mingmei said, " 'I' feel the pain, but 'we' don't feel the pain."

The manager lowered his head, and murmured, " I, we, I, we¡­"

About an hour later, Lin Mingmei finished the grammar lesson to this special student. She said, "Wargangian language is very poor."

"We're the best!" the manager said.

"But you can't say 'I',' Lin Mingmei teased.

" 'I', I! We can say it now!" the manager was eager to show her, "and soon all of us can say it!"

The main story ended here. The following was easy to be found in the history text. Wargang decayed quickly, and the ironbound empire broke into pieces in one year. Lin Mingmei was taken to one of the dozens of small kingdoms, for they wanted her to teach them 'I' carefully. Before long, Earth's fleet saved her and the smuggler, for Wargangmen were no longer the invincible soldiers.

The last thing needs explanation is why the smuggler was with always .Lin Mingmei: He said his wound on the arm often ached, and only when he saw Lin Mingmei it would be better.

Chinese verion