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The Isolinguals
"The Isolinguals" is a science fiction story, addressing the concept of ancestral memory, by American writer L. Sprague de Camp. It was his first published story. It was first published in the magazine Astounding Stories for September, 1937, and first appeared in book form in the anthology First Flight: Maiden Voyages in Space and Time (Lancer Books, Aug. 1963; reprinted Nov. 1966 and Nov. 1969 (as Now Begins Tomorrow). It later appeared in the anthologies First Voyages (Avon Books, May 1981), Tales in Time (White Wolf Publishing, Apr. 1997), and Wondrous Beginnings (DAW Books, Jan. 2003), as well as the de Camp collection Years in the Making: the Time-Travel Stories of L. Sprague de Camp (NESFA Press, 2005).
In a future New York City, cases of an odd and unexplainable dementia begin cropping up. Victims transition in an instant from a normal state into one in which their speech is usually unintelligible and they behave in confused or bizarre fashions. The story cuts back and forth between scenes of victims as they are stricken by the condition and the investigators grappling with the mystery. It develops that a sufferer is not in fact crazy but rather suddenly possessed of the persona and memories of an ancestor, right down to the archaic dialect or language that ancestor spoke.
Fruit vendor Niccolo Franchetti is conversing with a policeman when something goes "ping" inside his head and he becomes Decimus Agricola, an ancient Roman legionary who a moment before, as he believes, has been involved in a battle with the Parthians. Confused at the change in scene, he reacts in panic.
The victims are referred to the psychiatric department of the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research, headed by Bill Jenkens, but their condition baffles the staff. At Jenkins's request, investigating psychiatrist Pierre Lamarque calls in outside aid—his father-in-law Arthur Lindsley, a professor of biology, and some of his academic colleagues in linguistics. The initial break comes when one of these, Dr. Fedor Jevsky, recognizes that one victim, a Mrs. Garfinkle, is speaking ancient Gothic. Another comes with the questioning of Mike Watrous, a sufferer speaking an archaic but intelligible English, who believes he is actually Sgt. Ronald Blake, a soldier of Cromwell's army in the year 1648.
Anti-Semitic demagogue Hans Rumpel is addressing a rally, when to the consternation of his audience his mind gives way to that of Rabbi Levi ben Eliezer, a Polish Jew from 1784.
Meanwhile, Lindsley and Lamarque discuss the unfolding situation. They have taken steps to send their loved ones to safety as the city's hospitals fill with victims.
H. Perkins, a church congregant, is passing the collection plate among the pews when he is overtaken by the persona of pirate Joshua Hardy, and absconds with the offering.
Lindsley and Lamarque continue to brainstorm as the dementia rapidly spreads into a regional epidemic and a mass exodus of citizens clogs the roads out of New York. They discuss some new cases—a bus driver who came down with the condition and crashed his bus, their colleague the mathematical professor Graham Calderwood, who has turned into Scottish clansman Gavin MacTaggart, and biological student Arne Holmgren, who now thinks he's a Viking.
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The Isolinguals
"The Isolinguals" is a science fiction story, addressing the concept of ancestral memory, by American writer L. Sprague de Camp. It was his first published story. It was first published in the magazine Astounding Stories for September, 1937, and first appeared in book form in the anthology First Flight: Maiden Voyages in Space and Time (Lancer Books, Aug. 1963; reprinted Nov. 1966 and Nov. 1969 (as Now Begins Tomorrow). It later appeared in the anthologies First Voyages (Avon Books, May 1981), Tales in Time (White Wolf Publishing, Apr. 1997), and Wondrous Beginnings (DAW Books, Jan. 2003), as well as the de Camp collection Years in the Making: the Time-Travel Stories of L. Sprague de Camp (NESFA Press, 2005).
In a future New York City, cases of an odd and unexplainable dementia begin cropping up. Victims transition in an instant from a normal state into one in which their speech is usually unintelligible and they behave in confused or bizarre fashions. The story cuts back and forth between scenes of victims as they are stricken by the condition and the investigators grappling with the mystery. It develops that a sufferer is not in fact crazy but rather suddenly possessed of the persona and memories of an ancestor, right down to the archaic dialect or language that ancestor spoke.
Fruit vendor Niccolo Franchetti is conversing with a policeman when something goes "ping" inside his head and he becomes Decimus Agricola, an ancient Roman legionary who a moment before, as he believes, has been involved in a battle with the Parthians. Confused at the change in scene, he reacts in panic.
The victims are referred to the psychiatric department of the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research, headed by Bill Jenkens, but their condition baffles the staff. At Jenkins's request, investigating psychiatrist Pierre Lamarque calls in outside aid—his father-in-law Arthur Lindsley, a professor of biology, and some of his academic colleagues in linguistics. The initial break comes when one of these, Dr. Fedor Jevsky, recognizes that one victim, a Mrs. Garfinkle, is speaking ancient Gothic. Another comes with the questioning of Mike Watrous, a sufferer speaking an archaic but intelligible English, who believes he is actually Sgt. Ronald Blake, a soldier of Cromwell's army in the year 1648.
Anti-Semitic demagogue Hans Rumpel is addressing a rally, when to the consternation of his audience his mind gives way to that of Rabbi Levi ben Eliezer, a Polish Jew from 1784.
Meanwhile, Lindsley and Lamarque discuss the unfolding situation. They have taken steps to send their loved ones to safety as the city's hospitals fill with victims.
H. Perkins, a church congregant, is passing the collection plate among the pews when he is overtaken by the persona of pirate Joshua Hardy, and absconds with the offering.
Lindsley and Lamarque continue to brainstorm as the dementia rapidly spreads into a regional epidemic and a mass exodus of citizens clogs the roads out of New York. They discuss some new cases—a bus driver who came down with the condition and crashed his bus, their colleague the mathematical professor Graham Calderwood, who has turned into Scottish clansman Gavin MacTaggart, and biological student Arne Holmgren, who now thinks he's a Viking.