Jump to content
 







Main menu
   


Navigation  



Main page
Contents
Current events
Random article
About Wikipedia
Contact us
Donate
 




Contribute  



Help
Learn to edit
Community portal
Recent changes
Upload file
 








Search  

































Create account

Log in
 









Create account
 Log in
 




Pages for logged out editors learn more  



Contributions
Talk
 



















Contents

   



(Top)
 


1 Plot summary  





2 Notes  





3 See also  





4 References  














The Quest for Saint Aquin






Français
 

Edit links
 









Article
Talk
 

















Read
Edit
View history
 








Tools
   


Actions  



Read
Edit
View history
 




General  



What links here
Related changes
Upload file
Special pages
Permanent link
Page information
Cite this page
Get shortened URL
Download QR code
Wikidata item
 




Print/export  



Download as PDF
Printable version
 
















Appearance
   

 






From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 


"The Quest for Saint Aquin"
Short storybyAnthony Boucher
CountryUSA
LanguageEnglish
Genre(s)Science fiction
Publication
Published inNew Tales of Space and Time
Media typePrint (anthology)
Publication date1951

"The Quest for Saint Aquin" is a science fiction short story by the American writer Anthony Boucher, originally published in 1951 in New Tales of Space and Time. "The Quest for Saint Aquin" was among the stories selected in 1970 by the Science Fiction Writers of America as one of the best science fiction short stories published before the creation of the Nebula Awards. As such, it was published in The Science Fiction Hall of Fame Volume One, 1929-1964.

Plot summary

[edit]

In a post-apocalyptic technocratic future Earth, religion has been banned and the Catholic church has gone underground, relying on secret cells and symbols as in the days of the early church. The central character is a crypto-priest named Thomas who is charged by the secret pope with finding the resting place of a semi-legendary figure called Aquin (a hint to Saint Thomas of Aquin). Aquin had been an evangelist of great power who converted all those who listened to him preach, and his body supposedly never rotted after his death. The Pope believes that this miracle, if true, will be a powerful tool in winning new converts.

Thomas is provided with an intelligent multi-terrain transportation device called a robass ("robotic ass"), to assist him in reaching the area where Aquin's body supposedly rests. To his surprise, the vehicle is theologically literate and tries to persuade him to abandon his quest, arguing for example that he had not been asked to find Aquin, but rather to report that he had so that the pope could begin the process of canonization. Thomas resists the robass' persuasive arguments in the main, though he does succumb to the temptation to drink and carouse with a pretty half-Martian barmaid in a village. The villagers discover he is a priest, beat and rob him, leaving him for dead. He is ignored by all passers-by, but Abraham, an orthodox Jew, rescues him and nurses him back to health. He is able to return to his quest with the help of several secret believers in God. Various episodes from the New Testament are echoed as his quest continues.

Ultimately, Thomas does locate Aquin, only to find that he was a robot, and that therefore the legend of his incorruptibility was true...in a sense: his body could not possibly have decayed as he was never made of flesh.

Stanislaw Lem comments on this religious quagmire as follows: The monk is enraged: you cannot help the victory of the truth with lies! The holy robot during his missionary work did pretend to be a human, and he even died because he decided not to visit a mechanic, so that not to reveal his robotic nature. Therefore the robot served the Truth to the people with the use of a lie.[1]

Notes

[edit]

This story refers to the short story "Reason"byIsaac Asimov, about a robot on a space station that created a new religion and made itself into a prophet of a non-human creator.

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Stanislaw Lem, "Roboter in der Science Fiction" ["Robots in Science Fiction"], Quarber Merkur', 21, November 1969


  • t
  • e

  • Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Quest_for_Saint_Aquin&oldid=1174885425"

    Categories: 
    Post-apocalyptic short stories
    1951 short stories
    Religion in science fiction
    Works by Anthony Boucher
    1950s science fiction short story stubs
    Hidden categories: 
    Articles needing additional references from July 2021
    All articles needing additional references
    Articles with topics of unclear notability from September 2023
    All articles with topics of unclear notability
    Articles with short description
    Short description is different from Wikidata
    All stub articles
     



    This page was last edited on 11 September 2023, at 10:00 (UTC).

    Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 4.0; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.



    Privacy policy

    About Wikipedia

    Disclaimers

    Contact Wikipedia

    Code of Conduct

    Developers

    Statistics

    Cookie statement

    Mobile view



    Wikimedia Foundation
    Powered by MediaWiki