Poor Little Warrior!

by Brian Aldiss

Release: April 1958
Format: Short Story
Genre: Science Fiction
Audience: Adults
Content: Definite Time Travel
Original Language: English

You are reading an artsy story, told in the second-person, about a time traveler from AD 2181 who hunts a brontosaurus.

Time for listening to the oracle is past; you’re beyond the stage for omens, you’re now headed in for the kill, yours or his; superstition has had its little day for today; from now on, only this windy nerve of yours, this shakey conglomeration of muscle entangled untraceably beneath the sweat-shiny carapice of skin, this bloody little urge to slay the dragon, is going to answer all your orisons.

DEBUT

“Poor Little Warrior!,” Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, April 1958.

VARIANTS

3 English variants

TRANSLATIONS

Croatian translation:
“Nemoćni mali ratnik,” Sirius #15, September 1977.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Brian Aldiss as by Brian W. Aldiss
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . translated by Nikola Popović
Dutch translation:
“Arm vechtersbaasje!,” in Monsterlijke uitdaging (Born, 1969).
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Brian Aldiss
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . translated by David Brisk
Dutch translation:
“Arme kleine strijder!,” in Fontein science fiction, edited by Brian W. Aldiss (De Fontein, 1976).
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Brian Aldiss as by Brian W. Aldiss
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . translated by Hans Kemming
French translation:
“Comment tuer un brontosaure,” [Error: Missing '[/ex]' tag for wikilink]
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Brian Aldiss
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . translated by unknown persons
French translation:
“Pauvre petit guerrier,” Fiction #337, February 1983.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Brian Aldiss as by Brian W. Aldiss
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . translated by Michel Deutsch
German translation:
“Armer kleiner Krieger!,” in Der unmögliche Stern (Insel, 1972).
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Brian Aldiss as by Brian W. Aldiss
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . translated by Rudolf Hermstein
German translation:
“Armer kleiner Krieger!,” in 30 Jahre Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, edited by Edward L. Ferman (Heyne, 1981).
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Brian Aldiss as by Brian W. Aldiss
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . translated by Reinhard Heinz
German translation:
“Armes Drachentöterlein,” in Die besten Horror-Stories, edited by Edward L. Ferman and Anne Jordan (Droemer Knaur, 1989).
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Brian Aldiss as by Brian W. Aldiss
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . translated by Stefan Troßbach
German translation:
“Armer kleiner Krieger,” in Das große Dinosaurier-Lesebuch, edited by Jack Dann and Gardner Dozois (Goldmann, June 1992).
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Brian Aldiss as by Brian W. Aldiss
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . translated by Michael Kubiak
German translation: Alternative title of “Armer kleiner Krieger!”
“Armer kleiner Krieger,” in Gefährliche Possen, edited by Peter Haining (Heyne, 1997).
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Brian Aldiss as by Brian W. Aldiss
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . translated by Rudolf Hermstein
Italian translation:
“Povero guerriero!,” in Interplanetary Europa 5, edited by Gianfranco de Turris, Sebastiano Fusco, and Sandro Sandrelli (Edizioni dell'Albero, May 1964).
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Brian Aldiss as by Brian W. Aldiss
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . translated by Sebastiano Fusco
Italian translation:
“Povero piccolo guerriero!,” Gamma #1, October 1965.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Brian Aldiss as by B. W. Aldiss
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . translated by Valentino De Carlo
Slovenian translation:
“Ubogi mali bojevnik,” in Prodajalna svetov: Znanstvenofantastične zgodbe, edited by Drago Bajt, Bogdan Gradišnik, and Branko Gradišnik (Mladinska Knjiga, 1979).
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Brian Aldiss as by Brian W. Aldiss
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . translated by Drago Bajt
Bogdan Gradišnik
Branko Gradišnik
Swedish translation:
“Sanningens ögonblick,” in Det hände i morgon, edited by Sam J. Lundwall (Delta, 1973).
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . written by Brian Aldiss as by Brian W. Aldiss
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . translated by unknown persons

14 translations

TAGS(SPOILERS!)

Time Periods

Age of Reptiles (252 Ma to 66 Ma: Mesozoic/Triassic/Jurassic/Cretaceous)
Circa AD 2100 to 2199: starting time, AD 2181

Timeline Models

Single Naive Timeline

Time Travel Methods

Unexplained Time Travel Methods

Themes

Hunting Extinct Species: to the Jurrasic

Groupings

Fiction (France) (periodical): #63, February 1983; and #337, February 1983
The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction (periodical): April 1958 AND Octover 1979
Sirius (periodical): #15, September 1977
Cited in Time Machines by Paul J. Nahin ()

TIME TRAVEL ITINERARY (SPOILERS!)

From unspecified place, AD 2181 ⋙ to the Jurassic. Note: You are on a dinosaur safari!

ITTDB Work #1630: by Brian Aldiss
Indexer: not yet assigned
Curator: Michael Main
as of 6:03 p.m. MDT, 5 May 2024
This page is still under construction. Please bear with us as we continue to finalize our data over the coming years.