"Hands of the Man" (1957/1972)

Jon Nelson
1 hour ago
5 min read

“It is not my game. I am too guileless.” “The serpent in the garden said the same, but for all that he had a motive.”

“Hands of the Man” was written in 1957 as a con-game story with no science fiction elements, and interesting for at least three reasons. The first two have been documented by Andrew Ferguson. First, it is a Wreckville story, so anyone interested in Lafferty’s heterotopia of brilliant confidence agents will want to know it. Aside from the early novel Antonino Vescovo and Lafferty’s extensive translations of poetry, 1957 is also the year when the archive comes to life. Lafferty sets up the series of pieces he will play with as he establishes himself as a published writer.

Second, as Ferguson points out, it is a place to see Lafferty’s revision process, namely, how he takes a story in one genre and revises it for the science fiction market. The two best stories for watching at work like this are “Hands of the Man” and “The Ultimate Creature.”

The third reason Ferguson does not mention. I don’t know why. Maybe he just did not think it was worth pointing out.

The original “hands of the Man” is about a seaman who bests two Jews. The Jews think they have an easy mark in the main character, but, unknown to them, they are the marks. It is not an antisemitic story, but it is an example of the virtuous antisemitism one sees in Antonino Vescovo and throughout Lafferty. Here ones finds it at ground zero: 1957.

In the original “Hands of the Man,” a stocky seaman named Hodl Oskanian sits in a tavern boasting about his deeply lined palms. This is the chiromancy theme that Lafferty uses throughout his career, and that finds its fullest expression in “This Boding Itch.” Hodl compares his intellect to that of historical figures: Leonardo, Aquinas, Aristotle, and one Willy McGilly:

"But now the right hand. Notice that, while still the second most fascinating hand in the world, it is not what it should be. Every line is a little fuzzy. It is now the hand of a compromised genius (I doubt if there is any other kind); something like the hand of a Leonardo or an Acquinas or an Aristotle or a Willy McGilly; the hand of a man capable of reaching the stars, but not knowing what to do when he has reached them."

A spotter named Henry Gottlieb sees Hodl’s diamond ring and introduces him to a diamond merchant named David Shapiro. Because he suspects the stone is stolen, Shapiro negotiates a purchase and brings a wrapped bundle of cash, along with hidden guards, to complete the transaction. When Hodl says the ring is stuck on his finger, the real con begins. Hodl’s secret accomplice, Charley O’Malley, who elsewhere in the early fiction is a character later swapped out for Willy McGilly, arrives disguised in a dirty apron to provide hot water and soap. This creates a brief distraction. Hodl and Charley execute a sleight-of-hand trick to swap David’s cash for a dummy bundle wrapped in matching brown paper and David Shapiro Jeweler tape. Hodl then escapes with both the ring and the money. Lafferty ends with Hodl and Charley later that evening in a Wreckville bar, where they split the real bills while Hodl continues to admire the allegedly virtuous lines on his hands.

The version readers know, published in 1970 and later collected in a Centipede volume, moves the story from a contemporary setting into science fiction. Lafferty tacks on some of the planets we know from his other works. Hodl’s profession is changed from a “seaman” to a “skyman,” and the tavern’s regular beverage is replaced with a “green beer” recently introduced from Barathron, in a Romulan-ale move. The dialogue about the diamond’s origins and Hodl’s pocket contents now includes references to extraterrestrial locations and currencies, which adds a kind of genre-sandwich sprinkle: Ganymede, Astrobe, Trader Planets, and Earth coin:

"It isn't from Earth,” said David. “I doubt that it's of any trabant or asteroid. It hasn't the orange cast of those of Ganymede, and I'd know a diamond from Hokey Planet anywhere. Is it from Astrobe? Pudibundia? Bellota?”“No, it isn't from any of the Hundred Worlds, nor from any licensed planet. I didn't pick it up in any such backyards. It's from a distance.”

Significantly, the character names are altered. Gone are the Jews. The spotter Henry Gottlieb becomes Henry Hazelman. The diamond merchant David Shapiro becomes David Daumier. Finally, Charley O’Malley becomes Willy McGilly. Lafferty repaints David’s henchmen and adds some science-fiction chrome. One is introduced as a mind-reading mechanical man named Structo, or Penetrax Nine, who interacts with the characters and scans both the diamond and the protagonist’s mind.

Lafferty also retools the ending, which had originally been more like a vignette than a story, and expands the concluding scenes to suit the new setting. During the money-counting sequence, instead of merely pointing out that the bills are masterfully printed, Hodl accuses David of trying to pay him with counterfeit, or “funny,” money. Lafferty had originally trusted the intelligence of the reader. Now this accusation becomes Hodl’s pretext for drawing a weapon and backing out of the establishment with both the ring and the swapped bundle. The final scene in the Wreckville tavern adds a new monologue by Willy McGilly. McGilly outlines the stages of the grift, the Setting, the Bait, the Warning, and the Counterplay, while comparing their work to an ancient handicraft surviving in an automated universe:

“They have multiplied the Earth by billions and made all things intricate,” said Willy. “Men are not the same as their fathers were, and a man would need three brains to comprehend all the new devices. And yet in quiet places, like a Green Valley, some of the simple and wholesome things endure—old friends, old customs, old cons—sweet frauds that are ever young. We are like ancient handicrafters in an automated universe, but we do fine and careful work.”

Again, one feels that Lafferty had originally trusted the reader. Minor details are inserted throughout as well. David’s package now bears a “deformed Greek M” to indicate the amount. Eoin Dinneen is added to the list of historical geniuses because this is now a science fiction story. Piety is added to the virtues Hodl admires on his palm in the new ending.

The story is not one I care for, but it seems to me an example of Ferguson making a great point about the revision process while missing, or choosing not to discuss, some of the larger significance of what has been changed. When I find this kind of omission, I always think of his reminder to keep in mind Lafferty’s other treatments of Jewish characters in his fiction. And then I think that had I not been keeping track or read the manuscript, the Gottlieb and Shapiro point would not be something anyone in the present Lafferty community would point out. Ferguson writes that Lafferty worked before "finding a mix the market would take." Part of that meant striking through the names "Gottlieb" and "Shapiro." Maybe that only matters to me.