Egon (fictional country)
Egon is the name of a fictional country in Lionel Davidson's children's novel Under Plum Lake. Located somewhere deep beneath Earth's oceans, Egon is unknown and inaccessible to surface-dwelling humans unless an Egonian chooses to take a human being down to Egon for purposes of study or amusement. On all such occasions, the human being's memories of Egon are erased and replaced with false memories so that he or she can be returned to the surface with no remembrance of what he or she has witnessed. Under Plum Lake is narrated by a thirteen-year-old boy named Barry, whose false memories have been tampered with and who is therefore starting to recall memories of his experiences in Egon.
According to Barry's Egonian friend, Dido, the word "Egon" can be roughly translated to mean "life" or "mind"; it also represents a plural form of the word "ego" or self. Egon is home to a highly advanced society where a great number of technological advances are based on the power of the mind.
History of Egon[edit]
Not much is known of Egon's history, as it is relayed through Barry's very fragmented memory of what he was told by Dido.
Millions of years ago, according to Dido, the Egonians lived on the surface of Earth. At that time, there was only a single continent, Earth's climate was stable and good, and all life had the chance to develop fully. Egonian civilization had advanced to the point that Earth's sun no longer offered a sufficient power source for the Egonians' needs. So they developed a plan to move Earth into orbit around another, more useful star. Unfortunately, this plan failed, severely damaging the planet in the process. The single continent fractured into plates, subjecting the formerly stable climate to earthquakes and wild weather changes.
By that time, however, the Egonians had discovered the deep undersea caves that would become Egon and had taken everything they needed down to these caves to build their civilization. There they remained, creating and honing a highly technologically advanced world beneath the seas of Earth.
Geography[edit]
Egon is located in caverns deep beneath the sea, described as somewhere "below the abyss". It appears to have a sky with sun, moon and stars due to light science, a technology which allows Egonians to "tune in" light from the surface of Earth much as humans "tune in" channels on a radio. As a result, the Egonians experience day, night, and the shifting of the seasons.
Egonian geography is not mentioned in great detail, but it can be inferred from the text that the country has diverse and beautiful places to visit. There is a very tall mountain called Mount Julas, and near it is the eponymous Plum Lake, described as "twelve miles long and three miles wide", extremely deep, and shaped and colored like a plum. There are also references to rivers, waterfalls, and tigra-nut forests.
Government[edit]
Egon is governed by a president who must have considerable executive power, as it is said that he "runs the world". The capital city, Egonia, is presumed to be the largest city in Egon and is home to the presidential palace. Egonian architecture is diverse and unique; the buildings have novel, organic shapes similar to pears, mushrooms, flowers or elongated pineapples, and are brightly colored and illuminated at night. The presidential palace itself is shaped like a sea anemone, the national symbol of Egon.
The Egonian sea anemone represents contentment and self-sufficiency. The anemone can move, but it chooses not to do so, preferring to get what it needs from the ocean surrounding it. Dido describes it as a sign that the Egonians will never try to move their world again.
Population[edit]
No specific population is mentioned in the book. However, the resort surrounding Plum Lake -- which is described as "the finest place on earth" and which is so popular that each Egonian gets a total of just ten weeks' visit there over a whole lifetime -- can hold 200,000 people at capacity. Egon's population is probably significantly higher than this figure.
Egonian physiology[edit]
Egonians appear externally similar to humans, and may or may not be very distantly related. Without exception, they have white hair and green eyes. Egonians live longer and mature much slower than humans; Dido, for example, who appears to be about Barry's age, is 99 years old. The Egonian lifespan averages about 700 or 800 years, barring severe injury or accident. Egonians do not feel pain, as their autonomic processes are different from those of humans and they can tell immediately when something is wrong with them. Their medical technology has reached a stage of advancement where, if internal organs fail or are badly damaged, they can be replaced easily. Mature Egonians are also much larger than humans, growing to be 20 to 30 feet tall.
Egonians are far more physically and mentally advanced than humans. Their physical and creative abilities are comparable to those of Olympic champions and artistic geniuses. Most Egonians have the ability to "read minds" after a fashion; for instance, Dido touches Barry's head and is instantly able to speak his language. They also appear to be able to perform intricate brain and body adjustments with the power of their minds. Some mature Egonians maintain thousands of special mental links called "distant thought," which are used to transmit faster-than-light messages through space, to run factories and power lines through space, and to navigate spaceships. Such links can be in use even when these persons are asleep.
References[edit]
Davidson, Lionel. Under Plum Lake. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1980.
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