Babel fish

Title

Babel fish

Description

The Babel fish is small, yellow, leech-like, and probably the oddest thing in the Universe. It feeds on brainwave energy received not from its own carrier, but from those around it. It absorbs all unconscious mental frequencies from this brainwave energy to nourish itself with. It then excretes into the mind of its carrier a telepathic matrix formed by combining the conscious thought frequencies with nerve signals picked up from the speech centers of the brain which has supplied them. The practical upshot of all this is that if you stick a Babel fish in your ear you can instantly understand anything said to you in any form of language. The speech patterns you actually hear decode the brainwave matrix which has been fed into your mind by your Babel fish."

The Babel fish has led to important profound consequences for the universe; apart from the philosophical implications, the Babel fish has started more and bloodier wars than anything else in the history of creation.

Apart from the philosophical implications, the Babel fish has started more and bloodier wars than anything else in the history of creation.

Creator

Unknown

Source

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

Contributor

Ashley Rieger

Format

Text

Type

Novel

Files

babelfish.jpg

Citation

Unknown, “Babel fish,” The Museum of Fictional Literary Artifacts, accessed April 26, 2024, https://mfla.omeka.net/items/show/99.