Asimov's Youth

"Youth" is an early, and short, work. It tells the tale of two explorers who crash on a mission of commerce and are discovered by two children. The children cage the explorers and want to sell them to the circus.
It is an interesting piece because it hints at themes Asimov expands on in his later works. The children see the visitors as animals because they look different and they don't have a means of communication. The visitors know the children mean no harm because they are telepathic.
The children's parents represent two ends of the human spectrum: scientist and industrialist. The scientist is expecting the visitors and is eager to learn from them. The industrialist awaits the visitors with a mixture of trepidation and opportunism.
The world of the story has suffered from a cataclysmic man-made disaster. The people could not control the technology or their base instincts. The result was near annihilation. The scientist thinks that the visitors and their technology can jump start a new technological era for the world and that the visitors offer hope that a race can master technology without destroying itself. The industrialist is not so sure. He fears their technology and it's effects on his people, while desiring to see if their technology can make him profit.
In the end, the visitors win over the industrialist. They demonstrate restraint in the use of their deadly weapons. The industrialist sees that the visitors are not too much different than he is. They have basic human kindness and want to explore and make profit.
The end of the story is an O'Henry twist. It makes the point of the story more poignant.