Class 10 English — Footprints Without Feet · Chapter 9 NotesThe Book That Saved the Earth

The play opens in the twenty-fifth century, in the Museum of Ancient History on Earth, in the Department of the Twentieth Century. A Historian sits beside a movie projector and tells the audience that the twentieth century was called the Era of the Book. In those days, books existed on every subject, from ant eaters to Zulus, and they taught people how, when, where and why to do things. The Historian then reveals that the strangest thing a book ever did was to save the Earth from the Martian invasion of 2040. She turns on the historiscope to show what happened centuries ago, and the spotlight shifts to Mars Space Control.

• Timethe twenty-fifth century
• PlaceMuseum of Ancient History, Department of the Twentieth Century, Planet Earth
• The Historian uses a historiscope to show past events
• The twentieth century is remembered as the Era of the Book

At Mars Space Control, the Great and Mighty Think-Tank sits on a raised box with his apprentice Noodle beside a switchboard. Think-Tank demands a long, flattering salutation and consults his mirror, asking who is the most fantastically intellectually gifted being in the land. He calls Earth an insignificant, primitive ball of mud and orders Noodle to contact the space probe so that he can invade Earth before lunch. Noodle adjusts the levers, and the scene shifts to the Centerville Public Library, where Captain Omega, Lieutenant Iota and Sergeant Oop have taken shelter.

• Think-Tank is Commander-in-Chief of Mars Space Control
• Noodle is his apprentice and operates the switchboard
• Think-Tank is vain and calls Earth insignificant
• The crew of Probe One lands in the Centerville Public Library

The Martian crew is completely confused by the library. Iota counts two thousand books and thinks the place is a storage barn; Oop tries a book as a hat and wonders if it is a haberdashery. Think-Tank declares the building a refreshment stand and the books sandwiches. He orders the crew to eat one, and Oop bites a corner, finding it dry as Martian dust. Noodle gently suggests that the Earthlings used the sandwiches as a communication device, and Think-Tank immediately claims this was his own next point. The crew listens to the books, hears nothing, and finally opens Mother Goose to read the code.

• The crew misidentifies the library as a barn, a haberdashery and a refreshment stand
• Think-Tank calls books 'sandwiches' with bread and filling
• Oop bites a book and finds it dry
• Noodle corrects Think-Tank without offending him

When Omega reads Mistress Mary, quite contrary, Think-Tank panics: he believes the Earthlings can grow crops of rare metals like silver and even high explosives. Iota reads Hey diddle diddle, and he concludes that Earthlings have taught animals music, space techniques and humour, and may launch an attack of millions of cows. Oop then reads Humpty Dumpty, and Noodle shows Think-Tank the picture. Seeing the egg-shaped Humpty Dumpty, Think-Tank screams that it is his own balloon brain and that the Earthlings plan to capture Mars Central Control. He orders an immediate escape to Alpha Centauri, a hundred million miles away, and tells the crew to remove all traces of their visit.

• Mistress Mary is misread as a plan to grow silver and explosives
• Hey diddle diddle is misread as an animal space programme
• Humpty Dumpty is mistaken for Think-Tank himself
• The invasion is called off and the Martians flee to Alpha Centauri

The Historian returns to close the play. She explains that one dusty old book of nursery rhymes saved the world from a Martian invasion. Five hundred years later, in the twenty-fifth century, Earthlings resumed contact with Mars and became friendly with the Martians. By then, the Great and Mighty Think-Tank had been replaced by the wise and wonderful Noodle. Earthlings taught the Martians the difference between sandwiches and books, taught them to read, and established a model library in Marsopolis, the Martian capital. Yet there is still one book the Martians can never bring themselves to read — Mother Goose.

• The book that saved Earth was Mother Goose
• Earth and Mars became friendly in the twenty-fifth century
• Noodle replaced Think-Tank as the Martian leader
• A model library was set up in Marsopolis

Think-Tank is vain, boastful and quick to claim credit, but his confidence collapses the moment he fears for himself. Noodle is clever and diplomatic: he never directly contradicts his master, yet he quietly supplies the correct information each time. Captain Omega, Lieutenant Iota and Sergeant Oop are obedient but puzzled; they follow orders even when those orders make no sense, and their confusion creates much of the comedy. The Historian is the calm narrator who frames the story and delivers its message about the value of books.

• Think-Tankvain, boastful, easily frightened
• Noodleintelligent, tactful, corrects without offending
• Omega, Iota and Oopobedient, confused, comic
• Historiannarrator who explains the lesson

The play celebrates the power of books and reading. A simple book of nursery rhymes, not an encyclopedia or a secret file, defeats a technologically advanced invader. The Martians fail because they cannot read or understand Earth's culture; their ignorance turns innocent rhymes into imagined threats. The play also warns against arrogance and flattery: Think-Tank's belief in his own brilliance makes him ridiculous. Finally, it values cultural preservation — the museum, the library and the act of teaching Martians to read all show that knowledge shared is knowledge that protects.

• Books and reading are powerful
• Ignorance and arrogance lead to failure
• Misunderstanding can cause unnecessary conflict
• Sharing knowledge builds friendship between cultures