Interest in mythology, expressed either in metaphorical references to known myths or in reflections on the ways in which new myths emerge, turns out to be the central idea in “The Ballad of Beta-2.” In it, an anthropology student explores the facts underlying a folk song recorded in a savage tribe that arose as a result of a colonizing expedition of earthlings. This story also pays attention to the problems of communication and linguistics, which subsequently became fundamental to Delaney’s work. The story received “Hugo” and “Nebula”.