Beelzebub's Tales to His Grandson

18.149

Beelzebub continued as follows:

18.149

“The cause of my first meeting with that three-centered being who subsequently became my essence-friend and by whom I saw the said experiments with the Omnipresent-Okidanokh, was as follows.

18.149

“That you may better represent to yourself the events of this tale of mine, you must first of all know that at the beginning of my exile to that solar system, certain corresponding essence-friends of mine who had not taken part in those events from which the causes of my exile had issued, performed concerning my personality that sacred process which exists in the Universe under the name of the ‘Sacred Vznooshlitzval,’ that is to say, concerning my personality there was implanted in the presences of those three-brained beings by means of another sacred process called ‘Askalnooazar,’ that which Objective Science defines by the notion, ‘Trust-another-like-yourself.’

18.149

“Well, then, just after my arrival in that solar system Ors, when I began visiting its various planets and first descended upon the surface of the planet Saturn, it turned out in connection with the aforesaid, that one of the beings who had undergone the sacred action of ‘Vznooshlitzval’ regarding my person was what is called there the ‘Harahrahroohry’ of all the three-centered beings arising and existing on the planet Saturn.

18.149

“On the planet Saturn a being is called the ‘Harahrahroohry’ who is the sole chief over all the other beings on that planet.

18.149-50

“Similar beings-chiefs exist also on all the other planets upon which three-brained beings breed; they are differently named on different planets; and on your planet Earth such a chief is called a ‘King.’

18.150

“The only difference is that while everywhere else, even on all the other planets of the same system, there is one such king for the whole of the given planet, on your peculiar planet Earth there is a separate king for every accidentally segregated group of these favorites of yours and sometimes even several.

18.150

“Well, then:

“When I first descended on the surface of the planet Saturn and mingled with the three-centered beings there, it chanced that I had occasion the next day to meet the Harahrahroohry himself of the planet Saturn; and during what is called our ‘Exchange-of-subjective-opinions’ he invited me to make his own ‘Harhoory,’ that is, his own palace, the chief place of my existence during the whole of my sojourn on their planet.

18.150

“And this I did.

18.150

“So, my boy, when we were once talking simply according to the flow of what is called ‘being-associative-mentation,’ and happened to touch on the question, among other things, of the strange results actualized in the manifestations of the particularities of the Omnipresent-Okidanokh, the venerable Harahrahroohry of the planet Saturn first mentioned that one of his learned beings-subjects, by name Harharkh, had recently devised for the elucidation of many of the previously unexplained properties of that cosmic substance, an exceedingly interesting appliance which he called a ‘Rhaharahr,’ the chief demonstrating part of which he called a ‘Hrhaharhtzaha.’

18.150

“And further, he offered to make, if I wished, the necessary arrangements for showing me all these new inventions and for giving me every possible explanation of them.

18.150-1

“The result of it all was that the following day, escorted by one of that venerable Harahrahroohry’s court, I went to the place of existence of that Gornahoor Harharkh where I first saw those novel elucidatory experiments with the Omnipresent-Okidanokh.

18.151

“Gornahoor Harharkh, who afterwards, as I have already told you, became my essence-friend, was then considered one of the foremost scientists among the ordinary three-brained beings of the whole Universe, and all his constatations as well as the elucidatory apparatuses he had invented were everywhere widespread, and other learned beings on the various planets were using them more and more.

18.151

“Here it will do no harm to remark that I also, thanks only to his learning, had later in my observatory on the planet Mars that Teskooano which, when it was finally established, enabled my sight to perceive, or as is said, ‘approach-the-visibility’ of remote cosmic concentrations, 7,000,285 times.

18.151

“Strictly speaking, it was owing to just this Teskooano that my observatory was afterwards considered one of the best constructions of its kind in the whole Universe; and, most important of all, it was by means of this Teskooano that I myself thereafter could, even while staying at home on the planet Mars, relatively easily see and observe the processes of the existence occurring on the surfaces of those parts of the other planets of that solar system which, in accordance with what is called the ‘common-cosmic Harmonious-Movement,’ could be perceived by being-sight at the given moment.

18.151

“When Gornahoor Harharkh was informed who we were and why we had come, he approached us and forthwith very amiably began his explanations.

18.151-2

“Before beginning his explanations I think it not inadvisable to warn you once and for all that all my conversations with various three-centered beings arising and existing on various planets of that system where I was obliged to exist for the ‘Sins of my youth’—as for instance in the present case, the conversations with this Gornahoor Harharkh which I am now about to relate to you while we travel on the space-ship Karnak—all proceeded in dialects still quite unknown to you, and sometimes even, by the way, in such dialects the consonances of which were quite ‘indigestible’ for perception by normal being-functions assigned for this purpose.

18.152

“And so, my boy, in view of all this, I shall not repeat these conversations word for word but shall give you only their sense in our speech, continuing of course to employ those terms and ‘specific-names’ or rather those consonances produced by what are called ‘being-vocal-chords,’ which consonances are used by your favorites of the planet Earth and which have now become for you, owing to continued repetition during my tales about them, habitual and easily perceived.

18.152

“Yes… it must be noticed here that the word ‘Gornahoor’ is used by the three-brained beings on the planet Saturn in courtesy; they utter it before the name of one whom they are addressing.

“It is the same with your favorites on the planet Earth. They also have added to the name of every person the word ‘Mister’ or sometimes a whole meaningless phrase expressing the notion for which our honorable Mullah Nassr Eddin has the following sentence:

“And namely he says:

18.152

“‘Nevertheless, there’s more reality in it than in the wiseacrings of an “expert” in monkey-business.’

18.152

“Well, then, my boy…

18.152

“When this subsequent essence-friend of mine, Gornahoor Harharkh, was informed of what was required of him, he invited us by a sign to approach one of the special appliances which he had made and which, as it later turned out, was named by him ‘Hrhaharhtzaha.’

18.153

“When we were nearer the said special and very strange construction, he pointed to it with a particular feather of his right wing and said:

18.153

“‘This special appliance is the principal part of the whole of my new invention; and it is just in this that the results are revealed and shown of almost all the peculiarities of the Omnipresent-World-substance-Okidanokh.’

18.153

“And, pointing to all the other special appliances also present in the ‘Khrh,’ he added:

18.153

“‘I succeeded in obtaining extremely important elucidations concerning the omnipresent and everywhere penetrating Okidanokh, because thanks to all these separate special appliances of my invention, it became possible, first to obtain all three fundamental parts of the Omnipresent-Okidanokh from every kind of sur- and intra-planetary process and then artificially to blend them into a whole, and secondly, also artificially to disassociate them and elucidate the specific properties of each part separately in its manifestations.’

18.153

“Having said this, he again pointed to the Hrhaharhtzaha and added that by means of the elucidating apparatus, not only can any ordinary being clearly understand the details of the properties of the three absolutely independent parts—which in their manifestations have nothing in common—of the whole ‘Unique-Active-Element,’ the particularities of which are the chief cause of everything existing in the Universe, but also any ordinary being can become categorically convinced that no results of any kind normally obtained from the processes occurring through this Omnipresent World-substance can ever be perceived by beings or sensed by them; certain being-functions, however, can perceive only those results of the said processes which proceed for some reason or other abnormally, on account of causes coming from without and issuing either from conscious sources or from accidental mechanical results.

18.154

“The part of Gornahoor Harharkh’s new invention which he himself called the Hrhaharhtzaha and regarded as the most important was in appearance very much like the ‘Tirzikiano’ or, as your favorites would say, a ‘huge-electric-lamp.’

18.154

“The interior of this special structure was rather like a smallish room with a door that could be hermetically closed.

18.154

“The walls of this original construction were made of a certain transparent material, the appearance of which reminded me of that which on your planet is called ‘glass.’

18.154

“As I learned later, the chief particularity of this said transparent material was that, although by means of the organ of sight beings could perceive through it the visibility of every kind of cosmic concentration, yet no rays of any kind, whatever the causes they may have arisen from, could pass through it, either from within out or from without in.

18.154

“As I looked at this part of this said astonishing being-invention, I could through its transparent walls clearly distinguish inside in the center what seemed to be a table and two chairs; hanging above the table, what is called an ‘electric-lamp’; and underneath it three ‘things’ exactly alike, each resembling the ‘Momonodooar.’

“On the table and by the side of it, stood or lay several different apparatuses and instruments unknown to me.

18.154

“Later it became clear that the said objects contained in this Hrhaharhtzaha, as well as everything we had later to put on, were made of special materials invented by this Gornahoor Harharkh.

“And as regards these materials also, I shall explain a little more in detail at the proper time in the course of my further explanations concerning Gornahoor Harharkh.

18.154-5

“Meanwhile bear in mind that in the enormous Khrh or workshop of Gornahoor Harharkh there were, besides the already mentioned Hrhaharhtzaha, several other large independent appliances, and among them two quite special what are called ‘Lifechakans’ which Gornahoor himself called ‘Krhrrhihirhi.’

18.155

“It is interesting to note that your favorites also have something like this ‘Lifechakan’ or ‘Krhrrhihirhi’; and they name such an apparatus a ‘dynamo.’

18.155

“There was also there, apart, another independent large appliance, which, as it afterwards appeared, was a ‘Soloohnorahoona’ of special construction, or as your favorites would say, a ‘pump-of-complex-construction-for-exhausting-atmosphere-to-the-point-of-absolute-vacuum.’

18.155

“While I was looking over all this with surprise, Gornahoor Harharkh himself approached the said pump of special construction and with his left wing moved one of its parts, owing to which a certain mechanism began to work in the pump. He then approached us again and, pointing with the same special feather of his right wing to the largest Lifechakan, or Krhrrhihirhi, or dynamo, further continued his explanations.

18.155

“He said, ‘By means of this special appliance, there are first “sucked-in” separately from the atmosphere, or from any intra- or surplanetary formation, all the three independent parts of the Omnipresent-Active-Element-Okidanokh present in it, and only afterwards when in a certain way these separate independent parts are artificially reblended in the Krhrrhihirhi into a single whole, does the Okidanokh, now in its usual state, flow and is it concentrated there, in that “container”’—saying which, he again with the same special feather pointed to something very much like what is called a ‘generator.’

18.155-6

“‘And then from there,’ he said, ‘Okidanokh flows here into another Krhrrhihirhi or dynamo where it undergoes the process of Djartklom, and each of its separate parts is concentrated there in those other containers’—and this time he pointed to what resembled ‘accumulators’—‘and only then do I take from the secondary containers, by means of various artificial appliances, each active part of Okidanokh separately for my elucidatory experiments.

18.156

“‘I shall first demonstrate to you,” he continued, ‘one of the results which occur when, for some reason or other, one of the active parts of the Omnipresent-Okidanokh is absent during the process of their “striving-to-reblend” into a whole.

18.156

“‘At the present moment this special construction contains a space which is indeed an absolute vacuum, obtained, it must be said, only owing firstly to the special construction of the suction pump and to the materials of special quality of which the instruments are made, which alone make experiments possible in an absolute vacuum; and secondly, to the properties and the strength of the material of which the walls of this part of my new invention are made.’

18.156

“Having said this, he pulled another lever and again continued:

18.156

“‘Owing to the pulling of this lever, that process has begun in this vacuum whereby in the separate parts of the Omnipresent-Okidanokh there proceeds what is called the “striving-to-reblend-into-a-whole.”

18.156-7

“‘But since, intentionally by an “able-Reason”—in the present case myself—the participation of that third part of Okidanokh existing under the name of “Parijrahatnatioose” is artificially excluded from the said process, then this process proceeds there just now between only two of its parts, namely, between those two independent parts which science names “Anodnatious” and “Cathodnatious.” And in consequence, instead of the obligatory law-conformable results of the said process, that non-law-conformable result is now actualized which exists under the denomination of “the-result-of-the-process-of-the-reciprocal-destruction-of-two-opposite-forces,” or as ordinary beings express it, “the-cause-of-artificial-light.”

18.157

“‘The “striving-to-reblend-into-a-whole” of two active parts of the Omnipresent-Okidanokh, which is proceeding at the present moment there in this vacuum, has a force, as calculated by objective science, of 3,040,000 what are called “volts,” and this force is indicated by the needle of that special appliance there.’

18.157

“Pointing to a ‘something’ very much like the apparatus existing also on your planet and called there ‘voltmeter’ he said:

“‘One of the advantages of this new invention of mine for the demonstration of the given phenomenon is that in spite of the unusual power of the process of the “force-of-striving,” now proceeding there, the what are called “Salnichizinooarnian-momentum-vibrations,” which most beings consider also to be “rays,” and which ought to be obtained and to issue from this process, do not issue out of the place of their arising, that is, out of this construction in which the particularities of the Omnipresent-Okidanokh are being elucidated.

18.157

“‘And in order that the beings who are outside of this part of my invention may nevertheless also have the possibility of elucidating the force of the given process, I intentionally made the composition of the material of the wall in one place such that it has the property of permitting the passage through it of the said “Salnichizinooarnian-momentum-vibrations” or “rays.”’

18.157-8

“Having said this, he approached nearer to the Hrhaharhtzaha and pressed a certain button. The result was that the whole of the enormous Khrh or ‘workshop’ was suddenly so strongly lit up that our organs of sight temporarily ceased to function, and only after a considerable time had passed could we with great difficulty raise our eyelids and look around.

18.158

“When we had recovered and Gornahoor Harharkh had pulled still another lever, which resulted in the whole surrounding space being restored to its former usual appearance, he first, with his customary angel-voice, again drew our attention to the ‘voltmeter,’ the needle of which constantly indicated the same figure, and then continued:

18.158

“‘You see that, although the process of the clash of two opposite component parts of the Omnipresent-Okidanokh, of the same power of “force-of-striving” still continues, and that the part of the surface of this construction which has the property of admitting the passage of the said “rays” is still open, yet in spite of all this there is no longer the phenomenon which ordinary beings define by the phrase “the-causes-of-artificial-light.”

18.158

“‘And this phenomenon is no longer there, only because by my last pulling of a certain lever, I introduced into the process of the clash of two component parts of Okidanokh, a current of the third independent component part of Okidanokh, which began to blend proportionally with its other two parts, owing to which the result derived from this kind of blending of the three component parts of the Omnipresent-Okidanokh—unlike the process of the non-law-conformable blending of its two parts—cannot be perceived by beings with any of their being-functions.’

18.158

“After all these explanations of his, Gornahoor Harharkh then proposed that I should venture to enter with him that demonstrating part itself of his new invention, in order that I might become, there within, an eyewitness of many particular manifestations of the Omnipresent and everything-penetrating Active-Element.

18.158-9

“Of course, without thinking long about it, I immediately decided and gave him my consent.

“And I immediately decided, chiefly because I expected to obtain in my being unchangeable and imperishable ‘objective-essence-satisfaction.’

18.159

“When this future essence-friend of mine had my consent, he at once gave the necessary orders to one of his assistants.

18.159

“It appeared that for the actualization of what he proposed, various preparations had first to be made.

18.159

“First of all his assistants put on Gornahoor Harharkh and myself some special, very heavy suits, resembling those which your favorites call ‘diving suits’ but with many small heads of what are called ‘bolts’ projecting, and when these extremely peculiar suits had been put on us, his assistants screwed up the heads of these bolts in a certain order.

18.159

“On the inner side of these diving suits, at the ends of the bolts, there were, it appeared, special plates which pressed against parts of our planetary body in a certain way.

18.159

“It later also became quite clear to me that this was necessary, in order that there might not occur to our planetary bodies what is called ‘Taranooranura,’ or, as it might otherwise be said, in order that our planetary bodies should not fall to pieces as usually occurs to sur- and intraplanetary formations of every kind when they happen to come into an entirely atmosphereless space.

18.159

“In addition to these special suits, they placed on our heads a ‘something’ resembling what is called a ‘diver’s helmet,’ but with very complicated, what are called ‘connectors’ projecting from them.

18.159-60

“One of these connectors, which was called the ‘Harhrinhrarh,’ meaning ‘sustainer-of-the-pulsation,’ was something long, like a rubber tube. One end of it, by means of complicated appliances on the helmet itself, was hermetically attached to the corresponding place of the helmet for the breathing organs, while the other end, after we had already entered that strange Hrhaharhtzaha, was screwed to an apparatus there, which was connected in its turn with the space, the ‘presence’ of which corresponded to the second being-food.

18.160

“Between Gornahoor Harharkh and myself there was also a special connector, through which we could easily communicate with each other while we were inside the Hrhaharhtzaha, from which the atmosphere was pumped out to make a vacuum.

18.160

“One end of this connector also, by means of appliances that were on the helmets, was fitted in a certain way to what are called my organs of ‘hearing’ and ‘speech,’ and the other end was fitted to the same organs of Gornahoor Harharkh.

18.160

“Thus, by means of this connector between my subsequent essence-friend and myself, there was set up, as again your favorites would say, a peculiar ‘telephone.’

18.160

“Without this appliance we could not have communicated with each other in any way, chiefly because Gornahoor Harharkh was at that time still a being with a presence perfected only up to the state called the ‘Sacred Inkozarno’; and a being with such a presence not only cannot manifest himself in an absolutely empty space, but he cannot even exist in it, even though the products of all the three being-foods be artificially introduced into him in such a space.

18.160

“But the most ‘curious’ and, as it is said, the most ‘cunningly ingenious’ of all the connectors there for various purposes on those strange diving suits and helmets was the connector created by that great scientist Gornahoor Harharkh to enable the ‘organ-of-sight’ of ordinary beings to perceive the visibility of all kinds of surrounding objects in an ‘absolutely-empty-space.’

18.160-1

“One end of this astonishing connector was fitted in a certain way, also by means of appliances on the helmets, to our temples, while the other end was joined to what is called the ‘Amskomoutator,’ which in its turn was joined in a certain way by means of what are called ‘wires’ to all the objects within the Hrhaharhtzaha as well as to those outside, namely, to those objects whose visibility was needed during the experiments.

18.161

“It is very interesting to notice here that to each end of that appliance—a creation almost incredible for ordinary three-centered-being-Reason—two independent connectors, also of wire, were led, and through them, what are called special magnetic currents flowed from outside.

18.161

“As it was afterwards explained to me in detail, these connectors and the said special ‘magnetic-currents’ had, it seems, been created by that truly great scientist Gornahoor Harharkh in order that the presences of learned three-centered beings—even those not perfected to the Sacred Inkozarno—might, owing to one property of the ‘magnetic current,’ be ‘reflected’ for their own essences and that, owing to another property of this current, the presence of the mentioned objects might also be ‘reflected,’ so that thereby the perception of the reality of the said objects might be actualized by their imperfect organs of being-sight in a vacuum containing none of these factors or those results of various cosmic concentrations which have received such vibrations, from the actualization of which alone the functioning of any being-organ whatsoever is possible.

18.161-2

“Having fitted upon us the said very heavy appliances for enabling beings to exist in a sphere not corresponding for them, the assistants of this, then still great all-universal scientist Gornahoor Harharkh, with the help again of special appliances, carried us into the Hrhaharhtzaha itself; and having screwed up all the free ends of the connectors projecting from us to the corresponding apparatuses in the Hrhaharhtzaha itself, went out and hermetically closed behind them the only way by which it was still possible, if at all, to have any communication with what is called the ‘Everything-representing-one-world.’

18.162

“When we were alone in the Hrhaharhtzaha itself, Gornahoor Harharkh, after turning one of what are called ‘switches’ there, said:

18.162

“‘The work of the “pump” has already begun, and soon it will have pumped out all the results here without exception of those cosmic processes, whatever they may be, the totality of the results of which is the basis and significance, as well as the process itself, of the maintenance of the existence of everything existing in the whole of this “Everything-representing-one-world.”’

18.162

“And he added in a half-sarcastic tone: ‘Soon we shall be absolutely isolated from everything existing and functioning in the whole of the Universe; but, on the other hand, owing firstly to my new invention, and secondly to the knowledge we have already attained for ourselves, we have not only now the possibility of returning to the said world, to become again a particle of all that exists, but also we shall soon be worthy to become nonparticipating eyewitnesses of certain of these World-laws, which for ordinary uninitiated three-centered beings are what they call “great-inscrutable-mysteries-of-Nature” but which in reality are only natural and very simple results “automatically-flowing-one-from-the-other.”’

18.162

“While he was speaking, one could feel that this pump—another also very important part of the whole of his new invention—was perfectly actualizing the work assigned to it by this being with Reason.

18.162

“To enable you to represent to yourself and understand better the perfection of this part also of the whole of this new invention of Gornahoor Harharkh, I must not fail to tell you also about the following:

18.162-3

“Although I personally, as a three-brained being also, had had occasion many times before, owing to certain quite particular reasons, to be in atmosphereless spaces and had had to exist, sometimes for a long time, by means of the Sacred ‘Kreemboolazoomara’ alone; and although from frequent repetition, a habit had been acquired in my presence of moving from one sphere to another gradually and almost without feeling any inconvenience from the change in the presence of the ‘second-being-food’ occurring with the change of the presences of cosmic substances undergoing transformation and which are always around both large and small cosmic concentrations; and also, although the causes themselves of my arising and the subsequent process of my being-existence were arranged in an entirely special way, in consequence of which the various being-functions contained within my common presence had perforce gradually become also special, yet nevertheless, in spite of it all, the pumping out of the atmosphere by the said ‘pump’ then proceeded with such force that such sensations were impressed on the separate parts of the whole of my presence that even today I can very clearly experience the process of the flow of my state at that time and relate it to you almost in detail.

18.163

“This extremely strange state began in me shortly after Gornahoor Harharkh had spoken in a half-sarcastic tone about our imminent situation.

18.163-4

“In all my three ‘being-centers’—namely, in the three centers localized in the presence of every three-centered being, and which exist under the names of ‘Thinking,’ ‘Feeling,’ and ‘Moving’ centers—there began to be perceived separately and independently in each of them in a very strange and unusual way very definite impressions that there was taking place in the separate parts of my whole planetary body an independent process of the sacred ‘Rascooarno,’ and that the cosmic crystallizations which composed the presences of these parts were flowing ‘in vain.

18.164

“At first, what is called my ‘initiative-of-constatation’ proceeded in the usual way, that is, according to what is called the ‘center-of-gravity-of-associative-experiencing,’ but later, when this initiative-of-constatation of everything proceeding in me gradually and almost imperceptibly became the function of my essence alone, the latter not only became the unique all-embracing initiator of the constating of everything proceeding in me, but also everything, without exception, of that which newly proceeded began to be perceived by and fixed in this essence of mine.

18.164

“From the moment that my essence began to perceive impressions directly and to constate independently that, from what was proceeding, there was being entirely destroyed, as it were, in my common presence, firstly, the parts of my planetary body, and then, little by little, also the localizations of the ‘second’ and ‘third’ being-centers. At the same time, a constatation was definitely made that the functioning of these latter centers passed gradually to my ‘thinking-center’ and became proper to it, with the consequence that the ‘thinking-center,’ with the increasing intensity of its functioning, became the ‘unique-powerful-perceiver’ of everything actualized outside of itself and the autonomous initiator of the constating of everything proceeding in the whole of my presence as well as outside of it.

18.164

“While this strange, and to my Reason then, still incomprehensible being-experiencing was proceeding in me, Gornahoor Harharkh himself was occupied in pulling some ‘levers’ and ‘switches,’ of which there were very many at the edges of the table where we were placed.

18.164-5

“An incident which happened to Gornahoor Harharkh himself changed all this being-experiencing of mine, and in my common presence the usual ‘inner-being-experiencing’ was resumed.

“The following is what happened:

“Gornahoor Harharkh, with all those unusual heavy appliances which had been put on him as well, suddenly found himself at a certain height above the chair and began to flounder, as our dear Mullah Nassr Eddin says, ‘like-a-puppy-who-has-fallen-into-a-deep-pond.’

18.165

“As it afterwards proved, my friend Gornahoor Harharkh had made a mistake while pulling the mentioned levers and switches and had made certain parts of his planetary body more tense than was necessary. In consequence, his presence together with everything on him had received a shock and also the momentum given by the shock, and, owing to the ‘tempo’ proceeding in his presence from taking in the ‘second-being-food’ and to the absence of any resistance in that absolutely empty space, he began to drift, or, as I have already said, to flounder like a ‘puppy-who-has-fallen-into-a-deep-pond.’”

18.165

Having said this with a smile, Beelzebub became silent; a little later he made a very strange gesture with his left hand, and with an intonation not proper to his own voice, he continued:

18.165-6

“While I am gradually recalling and telling you about all this concerning the events of a period of my existence now long since past, the wish arises in me to make a sincere confession to you—just to you, one of my direct heirs who must inevitably represent the sum of all my deeds during the periods of the process of my past being-existence—and namely, I wish sincerely to confess to you that when my essence, with the participation of the parts of my presence, subject to it alone, had independently decided to take a personal part in those scientific elucidatory experiments with the demonstrating part of the new invention of Gornahoor Harharkh, and I had entered into this demonstrating part without the least compulsion from outside, yet, in spite of it all, my essence allowed to creep into my being and to be developed, side by side with the said strange experiencings, a criminally egoistic anxiety for the safety of my personal existence.

18.166

“However, my boy, in order that you may not at this moment be too distressed, it is not superfluous to add that this happened in me then for the first and also for the last time during all the periods of my being-existence.

18.166

“But perhaps it would be better for the present not to touch on questions that concern exclusively only our family.

18.166

“Let us rather return to the tale I have begun about the Omnipresent-Okidanokh and my essence-friend Gornahoor Harharkh, who was, by the way, at one time considered everywhere among ordinary three-brained beings as a ‘great-scientist,’ and is now, though he still continues to exist, not only considered not ‘great,’ but thanks to his own result, that is to say, to his own son, is what our dear Mullah Nassr Eddin would call a ‘has-been’ or, as he sometimes says in such cases, ‘He-is-already-sitting-in-an-old-American-galosh.’

18.166

“Well, then, while floundering, Gornahoor Harharkh, with great difficulty, and only by means of a special and very complicated maneuver which he made, finally managed to get his planetary body, burdened with the various unusually heavy appliances, down onto the chair again, and this time he fixed it all with the aid of special screws which were on the chair for that purpose; and when we were both more or less arranged and communication was possible between us by means of the said artificial-connectors, he first drew my attention to those apparatuses hanging over the table which I told you were very much like the Momonodooars.

18.166-7

“On close inspection all these were alike in appearance and served as three identical ‘sockets,’ from the ends of each of which, ‘carbon-candles’ projected, such as are usually to be found in the apparatuses which your favorites call ‘electric-arc-lamps.’

18.167

“Having drawn my attention to these three socket-like Momonodooars, he said:

18.167

“‘Each of these externally similar apparatuses has a direct connection with those secondary containers which I pointed out to you while we were still outside and in which, after the artificial Djartklom, each of the active parts of Okidanokh collects into a general mass.

18.167

“‘I have adapted these three independent apparatuses in such a way that, there in this absolutely empty space, we can obtain from those secondary containers for the required experiment as much as we wish of every active part of Okidanokh in a pure state, and also we can at will change the force of the “striving-to-reblend-into-a-whole,” which is acquired in them and which is proper to them according to the degree of density of the concentration of the mass.

18.167

“‘And here, within this absolutely empty space, I shall first of all show you that same non-law-conformable phenomenon which we recently observed while we were outside the place where it proceeded. And namely, I shall again demonstrate to you this World-phenomenon which occurs when, after a law-conformable Djartklom, the separate parts of the whole Okidanokh meet in a space outside of a law-conformable arising and, without the participation of one part, “strive-to-reblend-into-a-whole.”’

18.167-8

“Having said this, he first closed that part of the surface of the Hrhaharhtzaha, the composition of which had the property of allowing ‘rays’ to pass through it; then he pulled two switches and pressed a certain button, as a result of which the small plate lying on that table, composed of a certain special mastic, automatically moved toward the mentioned carbon-candles; and then having again drawn my attention to the Ammeter and the Voltmeter, he added:

18.168

“‘I have again admitted the influx of parts of the Okidanokh, namely, the Anodnatious and the Cathodnatious of equal force of “striving-to-reblend.”’

18.168

“When I looked at the Ammeter and the Voltmeter and indeed saw that their needles moved and stopped on the same figures I had noticed the first time we were still outside the Hrhaharhtzaha, I was greatly surprised, because in spite of the indications of the needles and the intimation of Gornahoor Harharkh himself, I had neither noticed nor sensed any change in the degree of my perception of the visibility of the surrounding objects.

18.168

“So, without waiting for his further explanations, I asked him:

18.168

“‘But why then is there no result from this non-law-conformable “striving-to-reblend-into-a-whole,” of the parts of the Okidanokh?’

18.168

“Before replying to this question, he turned off the only lamp, which worked from a special magnetic current. My astonishment increased still more, because in spite of the darkness which instantly ensued, it could clearly be seen through the walls of the Hrhaharhtzaha, that the needles of the Ammeter and Voltmeter still stood in their former places.

18.168

“Only after I had somehow got accustomed to such a surprising constatation, Gornahoor Harharkh said:

18.168-9

“‘I have already told you that the composition of the material of which the walls of this construction in which we are at this moment are made, possesses the property of not allowing any vibrations arising from any source whatsoever to pass through it, with the exception of certain vibrations arising from nearby concentrations; and these latter vibrations can be perceived by the organs of sight of three-brained beings, and even then of course, only of normal beings.

18.169

“‘Furthermore, according to the law called “Heteratogetar,” the “Salnichizinooarnian-momentum-vibrations” or “rays” acquire the property of acting on the organs of perception of beings only after they have passed a limit defined by science in the following formula: “the-result-of-the-manifestation-is-proportionate-to-the-force-of-striving-received-from-the-shock.”

18.169

“‘And so, as the given process of the clash of the two parts of the Okidanokh has the strength of great power, the result of the clash is manifested much further than the place of its arising.

18.169

“‘Now look!’

18.169

“Having said this, he pressed some other button, and suddenly the whole interior of the Hrhaharhtzaha was filled with the same blinding light which, as I have already told you, I experienced when I was outside the Hrhaharhtzaha.

18.169

“It appeared that the said light was obtained because by pressing this button, Gornahoor Harharkh had again opened that part of the wall of the Hrhaharhtzaha which had the property of permitting ‘rays’ to pass through it.

18.169

“As he explained further, the light was only a consequence of the result of the ‘striving-to-reblend-into-a-whole’ of the parts of Okidanokh proceeding in that absolutely empty space within the Hrhaharhtzaha and manifested owing to what is called ‘reflection’ from outside back to the place of its arising.

18.169-70

“After this he continued as follows:

“‘I shall now demonstrate to you how and by what combinations of the processes of Djartklom and of the striving-to-reblend-into-a-whole of the active parts of Okidanokh, there arise in planets from what are called the “minerals” which compose their interior presence, definite formations of varying densities, as for instance, “mineraloids,” “gases,” “metalloids,” “metals,” and so on; how these latter are afterwards transformed owing to these same factors one into another; and how the vibrations flowing from these transformations constitute just that “totality-of-vibrations” which gives the planets themselves the possibility of stability in the process called the “Common-system-harmonious-movement.”

18.170

“‘For my proposed demonstrating I must obtain, as I always do, the necessary materials from outside, which my pupils will give me by means of appliances which I have prearranged.’

18.170

“It is interesting to remark that while he was speaking, he was at the same time tapping with his left foot on a certain ‘something,’ very much like what your favorites call the famous Morse transmission apparatus—famous be it said, of course, only on the planet Earth.

18.170

“And a little later there slowly ascended from the lower part of the Hrhaharhtzaha a small something like a box, also with transparent walls, within which, as it proved later, were certain minerals, metalloids, metals, and various gases in liquid and solid states.

18.170

“Then with the aid of various appliances which were at one side of the table, he first of all, with complicated manipulation, took out from the box some what is called ‘red copper’ and placed it on the mentioned plate, and then said:

18.170

“‘This metal is a definite planetary crystallization and is one of the densities required for the said stability in the process called the Common-system-harmonious-movement. It is a formation from preceding processes of the action of the parts of the Omnipresent-Okidanokh; and at the present moment I wish to allow the subsequent transformation of this metal to proceed artificially and acceleratedly by means of the peculiarities of the same factors.

18.171

“‘I wish to aid artificially the evolution and involution of its elements towards a greater density, or, on the contrary, towards their transformation back to a primal state.

18.171

“‘To make the picture of the further elucidatory experiments clearer to you, I find I must first inform you, even if only briefly, of my first personal scientific deductions concerning the evidence of the causes and conditions owing to which there proceeds in the planets themselves the crystallizing of separate parts of the Okidanokh in these or the other said definite formations.

18.171

“‘Evidently first of all from any non-law-conformable Djartklom of the Omnipresent-Okidanokh which is in the presence of every planet, its separate parts are localized in the medium of that part of the presence of the planet, that is to say, in that mineral which was at the given moment in the place where the said non-law-conformable Djartklom occurred.

18.171

“‘And so if what is called the “vibration-of-the-density-of-the-elements-of-the-said-medium” has an “affinity-of-vibration” with the said active part of the Omnipresent-Okidanokh, then according to the World-law called “Symmetrical-entering,” this active part blends with the presence of the said medium and becomes an inseparable part of it. And from that moment, the given parts of the Omnipresent-Okidanokh begin, together with the said elements of the said medium, to represent the corresponding densities required in planets, that is to say, various kinds of metalloids or even metals, as for instance, the metal I have placed in this sphere, and in which there will proceed artificially at this moment, at my wish, the action of striving-to-reblend-into-a-whole of the parts of the Okidanokh, and which metal, as I have already said, exists under the name of red-copper.

18.171-2

“‘And further, having arisen in the planets in this way, the said various metalloids and metals then begin according to the common-universal-law called “Reciprocal-feeding-of-everything-existing”—as it is generally proper to arisings of every kind in which Okidanokh or any of its active parts participates—to radiate from their presences the results of their inner “Interchange-of-substances.” And as is proper to radiations of every kind issuing from sur- and intraplanetary formations that have acquired in their vibrations the property of Okidanokh or of its active parts, and which are in what is called the “center-of-gravity” of every such said formation, the radiations of these metalloids and metals possess properties almost similar to the properties of Okidanokh itself or of one or another of its active parts.

18.172

“‘When the said masses of different densities that have thus arisen in planets under normal surrounding conditions radiate from their common presences the vibrations required for the said World-law of Reciprocal-feeding-of-everything-existing, then, among these vibrations of various properties there is established, owing to the fundamental World-law “Troemedekhfe,” a reciprocally acting contact.

18.172

“‘And the result of this contact is the chief factor in the gradual change of the various densities in planets.

18.172

“‘My observations over many years have almost fully convinced me that it is owing only to the said contact and its results that there is actualized the “Stability-of-harmonious-equilibrium-of-planets.”

18.172

“‘This metal red-copper which I have placed in the sphere of my proposed artificial actualization of the action of the active parts of Okidanokh, has at this moment what is called a “specific-density,” reckoning from the unit of density of the sacred element Theomertmalogos, of 444, that is to say, the atom of this metal was 444 times more dense, and as much less vivifying, than the atom of the sacred Theomertmalogos.

18.173

“‘Now see in what order its artificially accelerated transformations will proceed.’

18.173

“Having said this, he first fixed before my organ of sight the automatically moving Teskooano and then turned on and off various switches in a certain sequence; and as I looked through the Teskooano he explained to me as follows:

18.173

“‘At this moment I admit the “influx” of all three parts of Okidanokh into the sphere containing this metal; and as all three parts have the same “density” and, hence, the same “force-of-striving,” they reblend into a whole in this sphere without changing anything in the presence of the metal; and the Omnipresent-Okidanokh thus obtained flows in its usual state through a special connection out of the Hrhaharhtzaha and is reconcentrated in the first container which you have already seen.

18.173

“‘Now look!

18.173

“‘I deliberately increase the force-of-striving of only one of the active parts of the Okidanokh; for example, I increase the force called Cathodnatious. In consequence of this, you see that the elements composing the presence of that red copper begin to involve towards the quality of the substances that compose the ordinary presences of planets.’

18.173

“As he explained this, he at the same time turned on and off various switches in a certain sequence.

18.173-4

“Although, my boy, I then looked very attentively at everything proceeding, and everything I saw was impressed in my essence ‘Pestolnootiarly,’ that is, forever, yet nevertheless, not even with my best wish could I now describe to you in words a hundredth part of what then proceeded in that small fragment of a definite intraplanetary formation.

“And I will not try to put into words for you what I then saw, because I have just thought of a possibility of soon actually showing it all to you when you also can be an eyewitness of so strange and astonishing a cosmic process.

18.174

“But I will tell you meanwhile that there proceeded in that fragment of red copper something rather like those terrifying pictures which I occasionally observed among your favorites on the planet Earth through my Teskooano from Mars.

18.174

“I said ‘rather-like’ because what occasionally proceeded among your favorites had a visibility only possible of observation at its beginning, whereas in the fragment of red copper the visibility was continuous until the final completion of transformation.

18.174

“A rough parallel can be drawn between the occasional proceedings on your planet and the proceedings then in that small fragment of copper, if you imagine yourself high up and looking down upon a large public square, where thousands of your favorites, seized with the most intense form of their chief psychosis, are destroying each other’s existence by all kinds of means invented by them themselves, and that in their places there immediately appear what are called their ‘corpses,’ which owing to the outrages done to them by the beings who are not yet destroyed, change color very perceptibly, as a result of which the general visibility of the surface of the said large square is gradually changed.

18.174

“Then, my boy, this subsequent essence-friend of mine, Gornahoor Harharkh, by means of switching on and off the influx of the three active parts of Okidanokh and changing their force-of-striving, also changed the density of the elements of the said metal and thereby transformed the red copper into all the other also definite intraplanetary metals of lower or higher degree of vivifyingness.

18.174-5

“And here, for the elucidation of the strangeness of the psyche of the three-brained beings who have taken your fancy, it is very important and interesting to note that while Gornahoor Harharkh was, with the aid of his new invention, artificially and deliberately producing the evolution and involution of the density and vivifyingness of the elements of red copper, I noticed very clearly that this metal was transformed once upon the said plate into just that same definite metal about which the sorry-savants of your planet have been wiseacring during nearly the whole of their arising and existing, in the hope of transforming other metals into this metal, and thus constantly leading astray their already sufficiently erring brethren.

“This metal is called there—‘gold.’

18.175

“Gold is no other than the metal we call ‘Prtzathalavr,’ the specific weight of which, reckoning from the element of the sacred Theomertmalogos, is 1439; that is to say, its element is three and a fraction times less vivifying than the element of the metal red copper.

18.175

“Why I suddenly decided not to try to explain to you in detail in words all that then took place in the fragment of the said red copper, in view of my suggestion of the possibility of soon actually showing you in definite intra-planetary formations the processes of various combinations of the manifestations of the active parts of Okidanokh, was because I suddenly remembered the all-gracious promise given me by our All-Quarters-Maintainer, the Most Great Archcherub, Peshtvogner.

18.175

“And this all-gracious promise was given me, as soon as I returned from exile and had to present myself first of all to His All-Quarters-Maintainer, the Archcherub Peshtvogner, and prostrated myself to produce before him what is called the ‘Essence-Sacred-Aliamizoornakalu.’

18.175-6

“This I had to do on account of the same sins of my youth. And I was obliged to do so, because when I was pardoned by HIS UNI-BEING ENDLESSNESS and allowed to return to my native land, certain Sacred Individuals decided to demand of me, for any eventuality, to have performed over my essence this sacred process in order that I might not manifest myself as in the days of my youth, and that the same might not thereby occur again in the Reason of most individuals dwelling here at the center of the Great Universe.

18.176

“You probably do not know yet what the Sacred-Aliamizoornakalu over an essence means? I shall later explain it to you in detail but meanwhile I shall simply use the words of our dear Mullah Nassr Eddin who explains this process as ‘giving-one’s-word-of-honor-not-to-poke-one’s-nose-into-the-affairs-of-the-authorities.’

18.176

“In short, when I presented myself to His All-Quarters-Maintainer, he deigned to ask me, among other things, whether I had taken with me all the being-productions which had interested me and which I had collected from various planets of that solar system where I existed during my exile.

“I replied that I had taken almost everything, except those cumbersome apparatuses which my friend Gornahoor Harharkh had constructed for me on the planet Mars.

18.176

“He at once promised to give orders that everything I should indicate should be taken at the first opportunity on the next trip of the space-ship Omnipresent.

18.176

“That is why, my boy, I hope that everything necessary will be brought to our planet Karatas so that, when we return there, you will be able to see it all with your own eyes, and I shall be able to explain everything in detail, practically.

18.176

“And meanwhile, during our traveling here on the space-ship Karnak, I shall, as I have already promised you, tell you in their order about my descents there to your planet and also about the causes of what is called my ‘appearances-there-in-person.’”