Narration: Which he did. In twelve days there stood in the center of his workshop an enormous machine, humming with power and imposingly rectangular, designed for the sole purpose of tackling—and conquering—this problem of problems.

Narration: He plugged it in and, not even waiting for its crystal works to warm up, went out for a walk.

Narration: Upon returning, he found the machine deeply involved in a task of the utmost complexity: it was assembling, with whatever lay at hand, another machine considerably larger than itself.

Narration: That machine in turn spent the night and following day tearing down walls and removing the roof to make room for the next machine.

Narration: Across the meadow and into the woods advanced, leveling the trees in its path, a progression of towering structures; the original computer was gradually edged by succeeding generations to the river, where it disappeared with a sizable splash.