Re: Benevolent parasite story

Don Bruder wrote:

> In article <4802d888$0$93279$804603d3@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>,
>  "Dan Goodman" <dsgood@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> 
> > Rasstag wrote:
> > 
> > > Hi folks,
> > > 
> > > You know what they say.... "memory" is the second thing to go....
> > > 
> > > ... I just don't recall what the first one was... sigh
> > > 
> > > 
> > > And so it is trying to recall the title of a science fiction book
> > > I read years ago... and I'm hoping someone may recall the title
> > > for me.
> > > 
> > > The plot line consists of describing how a sentient parasitic
> > > being drifted through space until he landed on earth while in his
> > > small 'seed' form.  He waited dormant for a potential host,...
> > > was eaten by a cow while it was grazing, recognized that this
> > > 'host', although warm blooded, was not sufficient to be a true
> > > host.  He remained dormant within the cow until the animal was
> > > slaughtered and ended up in a package of hamburger meat, which
> > > was ultimately made into hamburgers and eaten by a human.  The
> > > rest of the story deals with the parasitic being 'adventures'
> > > within this human and trying to communicate with him.
> > > 
> > > Does this ring a bell with any of you readers of science fiction??
> > 
> > From the Internet Speculative Fiction Data Base http://isfdb.org:
> > 
> > Title: The Cosmic Rape
> > Author: Theodore Sturgeon
> > Year: 1958
> > Type: NOVEL
> > Note: Expansion of "To Marry Medusa" (Galaxy Aug. 1958)
> 
> > Note:  If I recall correctly, the animal was a horse rather than a
> > cow.
> 
> 
> Possibly correct (I haven't read the story, personally) but I've
> gotta raise a minor quibble:
> 
> Horses don't generally get turned into hamburger, even back in 1958...

That was the POINT of it being a horse.  That a sleazy company was
making horses (presumably because horses no longer useful for anything
else were cheaper than cows) into hamburger.

-- 
Dan Goodman
"I have always depended on the kindness of stranglers." 
Tennessee Williams,  A Streetcar Named Expire
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