Flatland: a romance

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Edwin Abbott Abbott. Flatland: a romance

PART I. THIS WORLD

SECTION 1. Of the Nature of Flatland

SECTION 2. Of the Climate and Houses in Flatland

SECTION 3. Concerning the Inhabitants of Flatland

SECTION 4. Concerning the Women

SECTION 5. Of our Methods of Recognizing one another

SECTION 6. Of Recognition by Sight

SECTION 7. Concerning Irregular Figures

SECTION 8. Of the Ancient Practice of Painting

SECTION 9. Of the Universal Colour Bill

SECTION 10. Of the Suppression of the Chromatic Sedition

SECTION 11. Concerning our Priests

SECTION 12. Of the Doctrine of our Priests

PART II. OTHER WORLDS

SECTION 13. How I had a Vision of Lineland

SECTION 14. How I vainly tried to explain the nature of Flatland

SECTION 15. Concerning a Stranger from Spaceland

SECTION 16. How the Stranger vainly endeavoured to reveal to me in words the mysteries of Spaceland

SECTION 17. How the Sphere, having in vain tried words, resorted to deeds

SECTION 18. How I came to Spaceland, and what I saw there

SECTION 19. How, though the Sphere shewed me other mysteries of Spaceland, I still desire more; and what came of it

SECTION 20. How the Sphere encouraged me in a Vision

SECTION 21. How I tried to teach the Theory of Three Dimensions to my Grandson, and with what success

SECTION 22. How I then tried to diffuse the Theory of Three Dimensions by other means, and of the result

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I call our world Flatland, not because we call it so, but to make its nature clearer to you, my happy readers, who are privileged to live in Space.

Imagine a vast sheet of paper on which straight Lines, Triangles, Squares, Pentagons, Hexagons, and other figures, instead of remaining fixed in their places, move freely about, on or in the surface, but without the power of rising above or sinking below it, very much like shadows—only hard with luminous edges—and you will then have a pretty correct notion of my country and countrymen. Alas, a few years ago, I should have said "my universe:" but now my mind has been opened to higher views of things.

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You may perhaps ask how under these disadvantagous circumstances we are able to distinguish our friends from one another: but the answer to this very natural question will be more fitly and easily given when I come to describe the inhabitants of Flatland. For the present let me defer this subject, and say a word or two about the climate and houses in our country.

The birth of a True Equilateral Triangle from Isosceles parents is the subject of rejoicing in our country for many furlongs round. After a strict examination conducted by the Sanitary and Social Board, the infant, if certified as Regular, is with solemn ceremonial admitted into the class of Equilaterals. He is then immediately taken from his proud yet sorrowing parents and adopted by some childless Equilateral, who is bound by oath never to permit the child henceforth to enter his former home or so much as to look upon his relations again, for fear lest the freshly developed organism may, by force of unconscious imitation, fall back again into his hereditary level.

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