Beelzebub's Tales to His Grandson

19.177

Beelzebub began thus:

“I descended upon your planet Earth for the second time only eleven of their centuries after my first descent there.

19.177

“Shortly after my first descent onto the surface of that planet, the second serious catastrophe occurred to it; but this catastrophe was local in character and did not threaten disaster on a large cosmic scale.

19.177

“During this second serious catastrophe to that planet, the continent Atlantis, which had been the largest continent and the chief place of the being-existence of the three-brained beings of that planet during the period of my first descent, was engulfed together with other large and small terra firmas within the planet with all the three-brained beings existing upon it, and also with almost all that they had attained and acquired during many of their preceding centuries.

19.177

“In their place there then emerged from within the planet other terra firmas which formed other continents and islands, most of which still exist.

19.177

“It was just on the said continent of Atlantis that the city of Samlios was situated, where, do you remember, I once told you that young countryman of ours existed, on whose account my first ‘Descent-in-person’ took place.

19.177-8

“During the mentioned second great disaster to that planet, many of the three-brained beings who have taken your fancy survived owing to many and various events, and their now already excessively multiplied posterity descended just from them.

“By the time of my second Descent-in-person, they had already multiplied so greatly that they were breeding again upon almost all the newly formed terra firmas.

19.178

“And as regards the question of just which causes, ensuing according to law, brought about this excessive multiplication of theirs, you will understand this also in the course of my further tales.

19.178

“You might as well, I think, notice here in connection with this terrestrial catastrophe, something about the three-brained beings of our own tribe; namely, why all the beings of our tribe existing on that planet during the mentioned catastrophe escaped the inevitable what is called Apocalyptic-end.’

19.178

“They escaped it for the following reasons:

19.178

“I told you once, in the course of our previous talks, that most of those beings of our tribe who had chosen this planet of yours as their place of existence, existed during my first descent chiefly on the continent of Atlantis.

19.178

“It appears that a year before the said catastrophe, our, as she is called, ‘Party-Pythoness’ there, when prophesying, asked us all to leave the continent of Atlantis and migrate to another small continent not very far away, where we were to exist on that definite part of its surface she indicated.

19.178

“This small continent was then called ‘Grabontzi’ and the part the Pythoness indicated did indeed escape the terrifying perturbation which then occurred to all the other parts of the common presence of that ill-fated planet.

19.178

“In consequence of the said perturbation, this small continent Grabontzi, which exists until now under the name of Africa,’ became much larger, because other terra firmas which emerged from the water spaces of the planet were added to it.

19.178-9

“So, my boy, the Party-Pythoness there was able to warn those beings of our tribe who had been obliged to exist on that planet, and thereby to save them, as I have already told you, from the inevitable ‘Apocalyptic-fate,’ owing only to one special being-property which, by the way, can be acquired by beings only intentionally, by means of what is called being-Partkdolg-duty, about which I shall tell you later.

19.179

“I descended in person to the surface of that planet for the second time, for reasons that ensued from the following events.

19.179

“Once, while on the planet Mars, we received an etherogram from the Center announcing the imminent reappearance there on the planet Mars of certain Most High Sacred Individuals; and indeed, within half a Martian year, a number of Archangels, Angels, Cherubim, and Seraphim did appear there, most of whom had been members of that Most Great Commission which had already appeared on our planet Mars during the first great catastrophe to that planet of yours.

19.179

“Among these Most High Sacred Individuals there was again His Conformity, the Angel—now already an Archangel—Looisos, of whom, do you remember, I recently told you that during the first great catastrophe to the planet Earth he had been one of the chief regulators in the matter of averting the consequences of that general cosmic misfortune.

19.179

“So, my boy! The day following this second appearance of the mentioned Sacred Individuals, His Conformity, escorted by one of the Seraphim, his second assistant, made His appearance at my house.

19.179-80

“After Te Deums with me, and after certain inquiries of mine concerning the Great Center, His Conformity then condescended to tell me, among other things, that after the collision of the comet Kondoor with the planet Earth, he, or other responsible cosmic Individuals, superintending the affairs of ‘Harmonious-World-Existence,’ had frequently descended to this solar system to observe the actualizing of those measures they had taken in order to avert the consequences of that general cosmic accident.

19.180

“‘And we descended,’ His Conformity continued, ‘because although we had then taken every possible measure and had assured everybody that everything would be quite all right, we ourselves were nevertheless not categorically convinced that no unexpectedness might occur there unforeseen.

19.180

“‘Our apprehensions were justified, although, “Thanks-to-Chance,” not in a serious form, that is to say, on a general cosmic scale, since this new catastrophe affected only the planet Earth itself.

19.180

“‘This second catastrophe to the planet Earth,’ continued His Conformity, ‘occurred owing to the following:

19.180

“‘When during the first disaster two considerable fragments had been separated from this planet, then for certain reasons, the what is called “center-of-gravity” of the whole of its presence had no time to shift immediately into a corresponding new place, with the result that right until the second catastrophe, this planet had existed with its “center-of-gravity” in a wrong position, owing to which its motion during that time was not “proportionately-harmonious” and there often occurred both within and upon it various commotions and considerable displacements.

“‘But it was recently, when the center-of-gravity of the planet finally shifted to its true center, that the said second catastrophe occurred.

19.180-1

“‘But now,’ added His Conformity with a shade of self-satisfaction, ‘the existence of this planet will be quite normal in respect of the common-cosmic harmony.

“‘This second catastrophe to the planet Earth has finally quite pacified and convinced us also that a catastrophe on a great scale cannot again occur on account of this planet.

19.181

“‘Not only has this planet itself now again acquired a normal movement in the general cosmic equilibrium, but its two detached fragments’—which, as I have already told you, are now called Moon and Anulios—‘have also acquired a normal movement and have become, although small, yet independent “Kofensharnian,” that is, additional, planets of that solar system Ors.’

19.181

“Having thought a little, His Conformity then told me:

19.181

“‘Your Reverence, I have appeared to you just for the purpose of talking over the future welfare of the large fragment of that planet, which exists at the present time under the name of Moon.

19.181

“‘This fragment,’ His Conformity continued, ‘has not only become an independent planet, but there has now begun on it the process of the formation of an atmosphere, which is necessary for every planet and which serves for the actualization of the Most Great common-cosmic Trogoautoegocrat.

“‘And now, your Reverence, the regular process of the formation of the said atmosphere on this small, unforeseenly arisen planet is being hindered by an undesirable circumstance caused by the three-brained beings arisen and existing on the planet Earth.

19.181

“‘And it is just about this that I have decided to apply to you, your Reverence, and to request you to consent to undertake in the Name of the UNI-BEING CREATOR, the task of trying to spare us the necessity of resorting to some extreme sacred process, unbecoming for three-centered beings, and to remove this undesirable phenomenon in some ordinary way through the “being-Reason” they have in their presences.’

19.181-2

“And in his further detailed explanations, His Conformity then said, among other things, that after the second catastrophe to the Earth, the biped three-brained beings who had accidentally survived had again multiplied; that now, the whole process of their being-existence was concentrated on another, newly formed, also large continent called ‘Ashhark’; that three independent large groups had just been formed on this same large continent ‘Ashhark,’ the first of which existed in a locality then called ‘Tikliamish,’ the second in a place called ‘Maralpleicie,’ and the third in a still existing locality then called ‘Gemchania’ or ‘Pearl-land’; and that in the general psyche of the beings belonging to all those three independent groups, certain peculiar ‘Havatvernoni’ had been formed, that is, certain psychic strivings, the totality of the process of which common-cosmic strivings they themselves had named ‘Religion.’

19.182

“‘Although these Havatvernoni or Religions have nothing in common,’ continued His Conformity, ‘yet nevertheless in these peculiar religions of theirs there is very widely spread among the beings of all three groups the same custom called among them “Sacrificial-Offerings.”

“‘And this custom of theirs is based on the notion, which can be cognized only by their strange Reason alone, that if they destroy the existence of beings of other forms in honor of their gods and idols, then these imaginary gods and idols of theirs would find it very, very agreeable, and always and in everything unfailingly help and assist them in the actualization of all their fantastic and wild fancies.

19.182-3

“‘This custom is at present so widespread there, and the destruction of the existence of beings of various forms for this maleficent purpose has reached such dimensions, that there is already a surplus of the “Sacred Askokin” required from the planet Earth for its former parts, that is to say, a surplus of those vibrations which arise during the sacred process of “Rascooarno” of beings of every exterior form arising and existing on that planet from which the said sacred cosmic arising is required.

19.183

“‘For the normal formation of the atmosphere of the newly arisen planet Moon, the said surplus of the Sacred Askokin has already begun seriously to hinder the correct exchange of matters between the planet Moon itself and its atmosphere, and the apprehension has already arisen that its atmosphere may in consequence be formed incorrectly and later become an obstacle to the harmonious movement of the whole system Ors, and perhaps again give rise to factors menacing a catastrophe on a greater common-cosmic scale.

19.183

“‘So, your Reverence, my request to you, as I have already told you, is that you should consent, since you are in the habit of often visiting various planets of that solar system, to undertake the task of specially descending on the planet Earth and of trying there on the spot to instill into the consciousness of these strange three-brained beings some idea of the senselessness of this notion of theirs.’

19.183

“Having said a few more words, His Conformity ascended and, when He was fairly high up, added in a loud voice: ‘By this, your Reverence, you will be rendering a great service to our UNI-BEING ALL-EMBRACING ENDLESSNESS.’

19.183

“After these Sacred Individuals had left the planet Mars, I decided to carry out the said task at all costs and to be worthy, if only by this explicit aid to our UNIQUE-BURDEN-BEARING-ENDLESSNESS, of becoming a particle, though an independent one, of everything existing in the Great Universe.

“So, my boy, imbued with this, I flew the next day on the same ship Occasion for the second time to your planet Earth.

19.183-4

“This time our ship Occasion alighted on the sea which was newly formed by the perturbation during the second great disaster to that planet of yours, and which was called there in that period of the flow of time, ‘Kolhidious.’

19.184

“This sea was situated on the northwest of that newly formed large continent Ashhark, which at that period was already the chief center of the existence of the three-brained beings there.

“The other shores of this sea were composed of those newly emerged terra firmas which had become joined to the continent Ashhark, and which all together were first called ‘Frianktzanarali’ and a little later ‘Kolhidshissi.’

“It must be remarked that this sea and also the mentioned terra firmas exist until now, but of course they now already have other names; for instance, the continent Ashhark is now called Asia; the sea ‘Kolhidious,’ the ‘Caspian Sea’; and all the Frianktzanarali together now exist under the name ‘Caucasus.’

19.184

“The Occasion alighted on this sea Kolhidious or Caspian Sea because this sea was the most convenient for mooring our Occasion as well as for my further travels.

“And it was very convenient for my further travels because from the East a large river flowed into it, which watered almost the whole country of Tikliamish, and on the banks of which stood the capital of that country, the city ‘Koorkalai.’

19.184

“As the greatest center of the existence of these favorites of yours was then the country Tikliamish, I decided to go there first.

19.184-5

“Here it might as well be remarked that although this large river then called ‘Oksoseria’ now still exists, yet it no longer flows into the present Caspian Sea, because after a minor planetary tremor at almost half way, it turned to the right and flowed into one of the hollows on the surface of the continent Ashhark, where it gradually formed a small sea, which still exists and is called the ‘Aral Sea’; but the old bed of the former half of that large river which is now called the ‘Amu Darya,’ can still be seen by close observation.

19.185

“During the period of this second descent of mine in person, the country Tikliamish was considered to be and indeed was the richest and most fertile of all the terra fir-mas of that planet good for ordinary being-existence.

19.185

“But when a third great catastrophe occurred to the ill-fated planet, this then most fertile country of the surface of your planet, along with other more or less fertile terra firmas, was covered by ‘Kashmanoon,’ or, as they say, by ‘Sands.’

“For long periods after this third catastrophe, this country Tikliamish was simply called ‘bare desert,’ and now, its parts have various names; its former principal part is called ‘Karakoom,’ that is, ‘Black-sands.’

19.185

“During these periods the second also quite independent group of three-brained beings of your planet also dwelt on that continent Ashhark, on that part which was then called the country Maralpleicie.

“Later when this second group also began to have a center point of their existence they called it the ‘city Gob’ and the whole country was for a long time called ‘Goblandia.’

19.185

“This locality also was afterwards covered by Kashmanoon and now the former principal part of this also once flourishing country is called simply ‘The Gobi Desert.’

19.185

“And as for the third group of the three-brained beings of that time of the planet Earth, this also quite independent group had the place of its existence on the southeastern side of the continent Ashhark, opposite to Tikliamish, quite on the other side of those abnormal projections of the continent Ashhark which also were formed during the second perturbation to this ill-fated planet.

19.186

“This region of the existence of this third group was then called, as I have already told you ‘Gemchania or ‘Pearl-land.’

19.186

“Later the name of this locality also changed many times and the whole of this terra firma region of the surface of the planet Earth now exists under the name of ‘Hindustan’ or ‘India.’

19.186

“It must without fail be remarked that at that period, that is, during this second descent of mine in person onto the surface of your planet, there was present and already thoroughly crystallized in all these three-brained beings who have taken your fancy, belonging to the three enumerated independent groups, instead of that function called ‘the needful-striving-for-self-perfection,’ which should be in every three-brained being, also a ‘needful’ but very strange ‘striving’ that all the other beings of their planet should call and consider their country the ‘Center-of-Culture’ for the whole planet.

19.186

“This strange ‘needful-striving’ was then present in all the three-centered beings of your planet and was for each of them, as it were, the principal sense and aim of his existence. And in consequence, among the beings of these three independent groups at that period, bitter struggles, both material and psychic, were constantly proceeding for the attainment of the mentioned aim.

19.186

“Well, then, my boy.

19.186

“We then set off from the sea Kolhidious, or as it is now called, the Caspian Sea, on ‘Selchans,’ that is to say, on rafts of a special kind, up the river Oksoseria, or as it is now called, the Amu Darya. We sailed for fifteen terrestrial days and finally arrived at the capital of the beings of the first Asiatic group.

19.186-7

“On arriving there and after arranging the place of our permanent existence there, I first began visiting the ‘Kaltaani’ of the city Koorkalai, that is, those establishments there which on the continent Ashhark were later called ‘Chaihana,’ ‘Ashhana,’ ‘Caravanseray,’ and so on, and which the contemporary beings there, especially those breeding on the continent called ‘Europe,’ call ‘Cafés,’ ‘Restaurants,’ ‘Clubs,’ ‘Dance Halls,’ ‘Meeting Places,’ and so on.

19.187

“I first began visiting these establishments of theirs because there on the planet Earth, at present just as formerly, nowhere can one observe and study the specific peculiarities of the psyche of the beings of the locality so well as in just such gathering places of theirs; and this was just what I needed to make clear to myself their real inner essence-attitude to their custom of sacrificial offerings and to enable me more readily and more easily to draw up a plan of action for the attainment of that aim for which I made this second sojourn of mine there in person.

19.187

“During my visits to the Kaltaani there, I met a number of beings, among whom was one I happened to meet rather often.

“This three-brained being there, whom I chanced to meet frequently, belonged to the profession of ‘priest’ and was called ‘Abdil.’

19.187

“As almost all my personal activities, my boy, during that second descent of mine were connected with the external circumstances of this priest Abdil and as I happened to have during this descent of mine a great deal of trouble on his account, I shall tell you more or less in detail about this three-brained being there; and, moreover, you will at the same time understand from these tales about him the results I then attained for the purpose of uprooting from the strange psyche of your favorites the need to destroy the existence of beings of other forms in order to ‘please’ and ‘appease’ their gods and revered idols.

19.187-8

“Although this terrestrial being, who afterwards became for me like one of my kinsmen, was not a priest of the highest rank, yet he was well versed in all the details of the teaching of the religion then dominant in the whole country Tikliamish; and he also knew the psyche of the followers of that religion, particularly, of course, the psyche of the beings belonging to his what is called ‘congregation’ for whom he was ‘priest.’

19.188

“Soon after we were on ‘good terms’ with each other, I discovered that in the Being of this priest Abdil—owing to very many external circumstances, among which were also heredity and the conditions under which he had been prepared for a responsible being—the function called ‘conscience’ which ought to be present in every three-centered being, had not yet been quite atrophied in him, so that after he had cognized with his Reason certain cosmic truths I had explained to him, he immediately acquired in his presence towards the beings around him, similar to him, almost that attitude which should be in all normal three-brained beings of the whole Universe, that is to say, he became, as it is also said there, ‘compassionate,’ and ‘sensitive’ towards the beings surrounding him.

19.188

“Before telling you more about this priest Abdil, I must make clear to your Reason that there on the continent of Ashhark the mentioned terrible custom of Sacrificial-Offerings was at that time, as it is said, at its ‘height,’ and the destruction of various weak one-brained and two-brained beings proceeded everywhere in incalculable numbers.

19.188-9

“At that period, if anybody had occasion in any house to appeal to one or another of their imaginary gods or fantastic ‘saints,’ they invariably promised that in the event of good fortune, they would destroy in honor of their gods and saints the existence of some being or other, or of several at once; and if by chance good fortune befell them, then they carried out their promise with the utmost veneration, while, if it were otherwise, they increased their slaughter in order eventually to win the favor of their said imaginary patron.

19.189

“With the same aim, these favorites of yours of that period even divided the beings of all other forms into ‘clean’ and ‘unclean.’

“‘Unclean’ they called those forms of being, the destruction of whose existence was presumably not pleasing to their gods; and ‘clean,’ those beings, the destruction of whose existence was, presumably, extremely agreeable to those various imaginary idols whom they revered.

19.189

“These Sacrificial-Offerings were made not only in their own houses by private beings, but were also made by whole groups, and sometimes even in public. There even then existed special places for slaughterings of this kind which were situated mostly near buildings in memory of something or somebody, chiefly of saints—of course, of the saints they themselves had elevated to ‘sainthood.’

19.189

“Several such special public places, where the destruction of the beings of different exterior form was carried out, then existed in the country of Tikliamish; and among them was one most celebrated, situated on a small mountain from whence a certain thaumaturgist Aliman was supposed once upon a time to have been ‘taken-alive’ up to ‘some-Heaven-or-other.’

19.189-90

“In that place, as well as in other similar places, especially at definite times of the year, they destroyed an innumerable number of beings called ‘oxen,’ ‘sheep,’ ‘doves,’ and so on, and even beings similar to them themselves.

“In the latter case, the strong usually brought the less strong to be sacrificed; as for instance, a father brought his son, a husband his wife, an elder brother his younger brother, and so on. But, for the most part, ‘sacrifices’ were offered up of ‘slaves,’ who then as now were usually what are called ‘captives,’ that is to say, beings of a conquered community, which according to the law of what is called ‘Solioonensius,’ had at the given period—that is, at the period when their needful tendency to reciprocal destruction was more intensely manifested in their presences—a lesser significance in respect of this chief peculiarity of theirs.

19.190

“The custom of ‘pleasing-their-gods’ by destroying the existence of other beings is followed there, on your planet, until now, only not on the scale on which these abominations were practiced by your favorites at that time on the continent Ashhark.

19.190

“Well, then, my boy, during the early days of my sojourn in the town Koorkalai, I often talked on various subjects with this mentioned friend of mine, the priest Abdil, but, of course, I never spoke with him about such questions as might reveal my real nature.

19.190

“Like almost all the three-brained beings of your planet whom I met during all my descents, he also took me for a being of his own planet, but considered me very learned and an authority on the psyche of beings similar to himself.

19.190

“From our earliest meetings, whenever we chanced to speak about other beings similar to himself, his responsiveness and experiencings about them always touched me deeply. And when my Reason made it quite clear to me that the function of conscience, fundamental for three-centered beings, which had been transmitted to his presence by heredity, had not yet become quite atrophied in him, then there gradually began from that moment to arise in my presence and as a result to be crystallized, a ‘really-functioning-needful-striving’ towards him as towards a kinsman of my own nature.

19.190-1

“Thereafter, he also, according to the cosmic law ‘every-cause-gives-birth-to-its-corresponding-result,’ of course began to have towards me ‘Silnooyegordpana,’ or, as your favorites would say there, ‘a-feeling-of-trusting-another-like-yourself.’

19.191

“Well, then, my boy, no sooner was this clearly constated in my Reason, than the idea occurred to me to actualize through this first terrestrial friend of mine, the task for which this second descent of mine in person had been made.

“I therefore intentionally began to lead all our conversation towards the question of the custom of Sacrificial-Offerings.

19.191

“Although, my boy, considerable time has flowed since I talked with that terrestrial friend of mine, I could, perhaps, now recall word for word and repeat one of our talks we had at that time.

“I wish to recall and repeat just that talk of ours which was the last, and which served as the starting point of all the subsequent events, which though they brought the planetary existence of this terrestrial friend of mine to a painful end, brought him nevertheless to the beginning of the possibility of continuing the task of self-perfecting.

19.191

“This last talk took place in his house.

19.191

“I then explained to him frankly the utter stupidity and absurdity of this custom of Sacrificial-Offerings.

19.191

“I said to him as follows:

“‘Good.

“‘You have a religion, a faith in something. It is excellent to have faith in something, in whatever it might be, even if you don’t exactly know in whom or in what, nor can represent to yourself the significance and the possibilities of what you have faith in. To have faith, whether consciously or even quite unconsciously, is for every being very necessary and desirable.

19.191-2

“‘And it is desirable because owing to faith alone does there appear in a being, the intensity of being-self-consciousness necessary for every being, and also the valuation of personal Being as of a particle of Everything Existing in the Universe.

19.192

“‘But what has the existence of another being, which you destroy, to do with this, and, moreover, one whose existence you destroy in the name of its CREATOR?

“‘Is not that “life” just the same as yours for the CREATOR Who created you as well as this other being?

19.192

“‘Thanks to your psychic strength and cunning, that is to say, to those data, proper to you, with which our same COMMON CREATOR has endowed you for the perfecting of your Reason, you profit by the psychic weakness of other beings and destroy their existence.

19.192

“‘Do you understand, you unfortunate creature, what—in an objective sense—an indeed evil deed you commit by this?

19.192

“‘Firstly, by destroying the existence of other beings, you reduce for yourself the number of factors of that totality of results which alone can form the requisite conditions for the power of self-perfecting of beings similar to yourself; and secondly, you thereby definitely diminish or completely destroy the hopes of our COMMON FATHER CREATOR in those possibilities which have been put into you as a three-brained being and upon whom He counts, as a help for Him later.

19.192

“‘The obvious absurdity of such a terrible being-action is already clearly shown by your imagining that by destroying the existence of other beings, you do something pleasing just to that ONE who has intentionally created those beings also.

“‘Can it be that the thought has never even entered your head that if our COMMON FATHER CREATOR has created that same life also, then He probably did so for some definite purpose?

19.192-3

“‘Think,’ I told him further, ‘think a little, not as you have been accustomed to think during the whole of your existence, like a “Khorassanian-donkey,” but think a little honestly and sincerely, as it is proper to think for a being as you call yourself, “in-the-likeness-of-God.”

“‘When GOD created you and these beings whose existence you destroy, could our CREATOR then have written on the foreheads of certain of His creatures that they were to be destroyed in His honor and glory?

“‘If anyone, even an idiot from “Albion’s Isles,” were to think seriously and sincerely about it, he would understand that this could never be.

19.193

“‘This was invented only by people who say they are “in-the-likeness-of-God,” and not by Him, Who created people and these other beings of different form whom they destroy, as they fancy, for His pleasure and satisfaction.

“‘For Him there is no difference between the life of men and the life of beings of any other form.

“‘Man is life, and the beings of other exterior forms are life.

19.193

“‘It is most wisely foreseen by Him that Nature should adapt the difference of exterior form of beings in accordance with those conditions and circumstances under which the process of existence of various forms of life are pre-ordained to flow.

19.193

“‘Take yourself as an example; with your internal and external organs, could you go now and jump into the water and swim like a fish?

19.193

“‘Of course not, because you have neither the “gills,” “fins,” nor “tail” a fish has, that is, a life which is preordained to exist in such a sphere as “water.”

19.193

“‘If it occurred to you to go and jump into the water, you would instantly choke and drop to the bottom and become hors d’oeuvre for those same fishes, who, in that sphere, proper for them, would naturally be infinitely stronger than you.

19.193-4

“‘It is the same with the fishes themselves; could one of them now come to us, sit with us at this table and drink in our company the “Green tea” we are now drinking?

“‘Also, of course not! Because it has not the corresponding organs for manifestations of this kind.

19.194

“‘It was created for the water and its internal and also external organs are adapted for the manifestations required in the water. It can manifest itself effectively and successfully and fulfill the purpose of its existence, preordained by the CREATOR, only in that sphere appropriate to it.

19.194

“‘In exactly the same way, your external and all your internal organs are also created by our COMMON CREATOR in a corresponding manner. You are given legs to walk; hands to prepare and take the necessary food; your nose and the organs connected with it are so adapted that you may take in and transform in yourself those World-substances by which there are coated in the three-brained beings similar to yourself both higher-being bodies, on one of which rests the hope of our COMMON ALL-EMBRACING CREATOR for help in His needs, for the purpose of actualizations foreseen by Him for the good of Everything Existing.

19.194

“‘In short, the corresponding principle is foreseen and given to Nature by our COMMON CREATOR, so that He might coat and adapt all your internal and external organs in accordance with that sphere in which the process of the existence of beings of such a brain-system as yours is preordained to flow.

19.194-5

“‘A very good example for the clarification of this is your “own-donkey” now standing tied up in your stable.

“‘Even as regards this own-donkey of yours, you abuse the possibilities given you by our COMMON CREATOR, since if this donkey is now compelled to stand unwillingly in your stable, it does so only because it is created two-brained; and this again is because such an organization of the whole of its presence is necessary for common-cosmic existence upon planets.

“‘And therefore, according to law, there is absent from the presence of your donkey the possibility of logical-mentation, and consequently, according to law, he must be what you call “senseless,” or “stupid.”

19.195

“‘Although you were created for the purpose of the common-cosmic existence on planets, and although you were created also as “a-field-of-hope” for the future expectations of our COMMON ALL-GRACIOUS CREATOR—that is to say, created with the possibilities of coating in your presence that “Higher-Sacred” for the possible arising of which the whole of our now existing World was just created—and in spite of the said possibilities given to you, that is to say, in spite of your having been created three-brained with possibilities of a logical mentation, yet you do not use this sacred property of yours for the purpose for which it was foreordained, but manifest it as “cunning” towards His other creations, as, for instance, towards your own-donkey.

19.195

“‘Apart from the possibilities present in you of consciously coating in your presence the mentioned Higher-Sacred, this donkey of yours is of the same value for the common-cosmic process and consequently for our COMMON CREATOR, as you yourself, since each of you is predestined for some definite purpose, and these distinct definite purposes, in their totality, actualize the sense of Everything Existing.

19.195-6

“‘The difference between you and your own-donkey is merely in the form and quality of functioning of the internal and external organization of your common presences.

“‘For instance, you have only two legs, whereas the donkey has as many as four, any one of which, moreover, is infinitely stronger than yours.

“‘Can you, for instance, carry on those two weak legs of yours as much as that donkey can?

“‘Certainly not, because your legs are given you only for carrying yourself and the little that is necessary for the normal existence of a three-brained being as foreseen by Nature.

19.196

“‘Such a distribution of forces and strength, which at first sight appears unjust on the part of our MOST JUST CREATOR, was made by Great Nature simply because the surplus of cosmic substances foreseeingly given you by the CREATOR and by Nature to use for the purpose of your personal self-perfecting is not given to your donkey, but in place of this, Great Nature Herself transforms the same surplus of cosmic substances in your donkey’s presence for the power and strength of certain of its organs for its present existence only, but of course without the personal cognition of the donkey itself, thus enabling it to manifest the said power incomparably better than you.

19.196

“‘And these variously powered manifestations of beings of diverse forms actualize in their totality just those exterior conditions in which alone it is possible for those similar to you—that is, for three-brained beings—consciously to perfect the “germ-of-Reason” placed in their presences, to the necessary gradation of Pure Objective Reason.

19.196

“‘I repeat, all beings, of all brain systems, without exception, large and small, arising and existing on the Earth or within the Earth, in the air or beneath the waters, are all equally necessary for our COMMON CREATOR, for the common harmony of the existence of Everything Existing.

19.196-7

“‘And as all the enumerated forms of beings actualize all together the form of the process required by our CREATOR for the existence of Everything Existing, the essence of all beings are to Him equally valuable and dear.

“‘For our COMMON CREATOR all beings are only parts of the existence of a whole essence spiritualized by Himself.

19.197

“‘But what do we see here now?

“‘One form of beings created by Him, in whose presences He has placed all His hopes and expectations for the future welfare of Everything Existing, taking advantage of their superiorities, lord it over other forms and destroy their existence right and left and, what is more, they do so presumably “in His name.”

19.197

“‘The whole terror of it is that although such phenomenal anti-God acts take place here in every house and on every square, nevertheless it never enters the head of any of these unfortunates that these beings whose existence I or we are now destroying are equally dear to that ONE, Who has created them, arid that if He created these other forms of beings as well as ourselves, it must also have been for some purpose.’

19.197

“Having said all this to my friend, the priest Abdil, I said further:

“‘And what is most distressing is that every man who destroys the existence of other beings, in honor of his honored idols, does so with all his heart and is convinced beyond all doubt that he is doing a “good” deed.

19.197-8

“‘I am quite sure that if any one of them should become aware that in destroying another’s existence he is not only committing an evil deed against the true GOD and every real Saint, but is even causing them, in their essences, sorrow and grief that there should exist in the great Universe “in-the-likeness-of-God” beings-monsters who can manifest towards other creations of our COMMON CREATOR so consciencelessly and pitilessly; I repeat, if any of them should become aware of this, then certainly not one among them could with all his heart ever again destroy the existence of beings of other forms for Sacrificial-Offerings.

19.198

“‘Then perhaps on the Earth also would begin to exist the eighteenth personal commandment of our COMMON CREATOR which declared: “Love everything that breathes.”

19.198

“‘This offering to God of sacrifices by destroying the existence of His other creations is just as if somebody from the street should now break into your house and wantonly destroy all the “goods” there, which have taken you years to collect, and cost you years of labor and suffering.

19.198

“‘Think, but again think sincerely, and picture to yourself what I have just said, and then answer: Would you like it and thank the impudent thief who broke into your house?

“‘Certainly not!! A million times not!!!!

“‘On the contrary, your whole being would be indignant and would wish to punish this thief, and with every fibre of your psyche you would try to find a means of revenge.

19.198

“‘In all probability, you would now reply that although it is indeed so…“I am, however, only a man….”

“‘That is true, you are only a man. It is good that GOD is GOD and is not so vindictive and evil as man.

“‘Certainly He will not punish you nor will He revenge Himself upon you, as you would punish the mentioned robber who destroyed the property and goods it had taken you years to collect.

19.198

“‘It goes without saying, GOD forgives everything—this has even become a law in the World.

19.198

“‘But His creations—in this case, people—must not abuse this All-Gracious and Everywhere-Penetrating; Goodness of His; they must not only care for, but even maintain all He has created.

19.198-9

“‘But here on Earth, men have even divided beings of all other forms into the clean and the unclean.

“‘Tell me what guided them when they made this division?

“‘Why, for instance, is a sheep clean, and a lion unclean? Are they both not equally beings?

“‘This also was invented by people…. And why have they invented it, and made this division? Simply because a sheep is a very weak being and moreover stupid, and they can do to it just what they like.

19.199

“‘But people call the lion unclean simply because they dare not do to it what they like.

“‘A lion is cleverer and, what is more, stronger than they.

“‘A lion will not only not allow itself to be destroyed, but will not even permit people to approach near. If any man should venture to approach near to it, then this “Mister Lion” would give him such a crack on the noddle that our valiant’s life would at once fly off to where “people from Albion’s Isles” have not yet been.

19.199

“‘I repeat… a lion is unclean simply because men are afraid of it; it is a hundred times higher and stronger than they; a sheep is clean merely because it is much weaker than they and again I repeat, much more stupid.

19.199

“‘Every being, according to its nature and to the gradation of its Reason attained by its ancestors and transmitted by heredity, occupies its definite place among beings of other forms.

19.199-200

“‘A good example for clarifying what I have just said is the difference between the already definitely crystallized presences of the psyche of your dog and of your cat.

“‘If you pet your dog a little and get it used to anything you please, it will become obedient and affectionate to the point of abasement.

“‘It will run after you and cut every sort of caper before you just to please you all the more.

“‘You can be familiar with it, you can beat it, you can hurt it; it will never turn on you, but will always humiliate itself still more before you.

19.200

“‘But try the same on your cat.

“‘What do you think? Will it respond to your indignities as your dog did, and cut the same humble capers for your amusement? Of course not….

“‘Even if the cat is not strong enough to retaliate immediately, it will remember this attitude of yours toward it for a long time, and at some time or other will get its revenge.

19.200

“‘For instance, it is said that it has often happened that a cat has bitten the throat of a man while he was asleep. I can quite believe it, knowing what may have been the cat’s reasons for it.

“‘No, the cat will stand up for itself, it knows its own value, it is proud, and this is merely because it is a cat and its nature is on that gradation of Reason where according to the merits of its ancestors it just should be.

“‘In any case, no being, and no man, should be angry with a cat for this.

“‘Is it its fault that it is a cat and that, owing to the merits of its ancestors, its presence occupies such a gradation of “consciousness-of-self”?

“‘It must neither be despised for this, nor beaten, nor ill-treated; on the contrary, one must give it its due, as one occupying a higher rung on the ladder of the evolution of “consciousness-of-self.”’

19.200-1

“By the way, my dear boy, concerning the reciprocal relations of beings, a former famous prophet from the planet ‘Desagroanskrad,’ the great ‘Arhoonilo,’ now already the assistant to the chief investigator of the whole Universe in respect of the details of Objective Morality, once said:

“‘If by his Reason a being is higher than you, you must always bow down before him and try to imitate him in everything; but if he is lower than you, you must be just towards him, because you once occupied the same place according to the sacred Measure of the gradation of Reason of our CREATOR and ALL-MAINTAINER.’

19.201

“So, my dear boy, this last conversation with that Earth friend of mine produced such a strong impression on him, that for two days thereafter he did nothing but think and think.

“In short, the final outcome of it all was that this priest Abdil eventually began to cognize and sense concerning the custom of Sacrificial-Offerings almost as in reality he should have done.

19.201

“Several days after this conversation of ours, there occurred one of the two large religious festivals of the whole of Tikliamish, called ‘Zadik’; and in the temple where my friend Abdil was the chief priest, instead of delivering the usual sermon after the temple ceremony, he suddenly began speaking about Sacrificial-Offerings.

19.201

“I chanced to be also in that large temple that day and was one of those who heard his speech.

“Although the theme of his speech was unusual for such an occasion and for such a place, yet it shocked nobody, because he spoke unprecedentedly well and beautifully.

“Indeed, he spoke so well and so sincerely, and cited in his beautiful speech so many persuasive and illustrative examples, that as he spoke many of the beings of Koorkalai there even began sobbing bitterly.

19.201

“What he said produced so strong an impression on all his congregation that although his speech lasted till the next day instead of the customary half-hour or hour, nevertheless even when it was over, nobody wished to leave and all stood for a long time as if spellbound.

19.202

“Thereafter, fragments from his speech began to be spread among those who had not personally heard it.

19.202

“It is interesting to notice that it was the custom then for priests to exist simply on the offerings of their parishioners, and this priest Abdil had also been in the habit of receiving from parishioners all kinds of food for his ordinary existence, as for instance roast and boiled ‘corpses’ of beings of various exterior forms, such as ‘chickens,’ ‘sheep,’ ‘geese,’ and so on. But after this famous speech of his, nobody brought him any of these customary offerings but brought or sent him only fruits, flowers, handiwork, and so on.

19.202

“The day following his speech, this Earth friend of mine at once became for all the citizens of the town Koorkalai what is called the ‘fashionable-priest,’ and not only was the temple where he officiated always crammed with beings of the town Koorkalai, but he was also pressed to speak in other temples.

“He delivered many such speeches concerning Sacrificial-Offerings, and each time the number of his admirers grew and grew, so that he soon became popular not only among the beings of the town Koorkalai, but also of the whole of Tikliamish.

19.202

“I do not know how it would all have ended if the whole priesthood, that is, men-beings of the same profession as my friend, had not become alarmed and anxious on account of his popularity, and had not opposed everything he preached.

“Evidently these colleagues of his were afraid that if the custom of Sacrificial-Offerings were to disappear, their own excellent incomes would, disappear also, and that their authority would first totter and finally crumble.

19.202-3

“Day by day the number of this priest Abdil’s enemies increased, and they spread new slanders and innuendoes about him in order to lower or destroy his popularity and significance.

19.203

“His colleagues began delivering addresses in their temples proving exactly the opposite of all that the priest Abdil had preached.

19.203

“At last it came to the point that the priesthood began to bribe various beings who had ‘Hasnamuss’ properties to plan and commit every kind of outrage upon this poor Abdil; and, indeed, these terrestrial nullities with the properties mentioned even tried on several occasions to destroy his existence by sprinkling poison on the various edible offerings brought to him.

19.203

“In spite of all this, the number of sincere admirers of his preaching daily increased.

19.203

“Finally, the whole corporation of the priesthood could stand it no longer; and on a sad day for my friend, a general ecumenical trial was held, which lasted four days.

“By the sentence of this general ecumenical council, not only was this Earth friend of mine completely excommunicated from the priesthood, but, at the same council, his colleagues also organized means for his further persecution.

19.203

“All this, of course, had little by little a strong effect on the psyche of the ordinary beings, so that even those around him who had formerly esteemed him also began gradually to avoid him and to repeat every kind of calumny about him. Even those who only a day before had sent him flowers and various other offerings and had almost worshiped him also soon became such bitter enemies of his, owing to the constant gossip, that it was as if he had not only injured them personally, but had slaughtered and butchered all their near and dear ones.

19.203

“Such is the psyche of the beings of that peculiar planet.

19.203-4

“In short, owing to his sincere good will to those around him, this good friend of mine endured a great deal. Even this would have been, perhaps, nothing, if the climax of unconscionableness on the part of the colleagues of my friend and the other terrestrial ‘God-like’ beings around him had not brought all this to an end; that is to say, they killed him.

19.204

“And this occurred in the following way:

“My friend had no relatives at all in the city Koorkalai, having been born in some distant place.

“And as for the hundreds of servants and other ordinary terrestrial nullities who had been around him owing to his former importance, they, by this time, had gradually left him, naturally because my friend was no longer important.

19.204

“Toward the end there remained with him only one very old being who had been with him quite a long time.

“To tell the truth, this old man had remained with him only on account of old age which, owing to abnormal being-existence, most of the beings there reach; that is to say, on account of his complete uselessness for anything required under the conditions of being-existence there.

“He simply had no other place to go to, and that was why he did not desert my friend, but stayed with him even when he had lost his importance and was being persecuted.

19.204

“Going into my friend’s room one sad morning, this old man saw that he had been killed and that his planetary body had been hacked to pieces.

“Knowing that I was his friend, he at once ran to me to tell me about it.

19.204

“I have already told you, that I had begun to love him as one of my nearests. So when I learned about this terrible fact, there almost occurred in my whole presence a ‘Skinikoonartzino,’ that is to say, the connection between my separate being-centers was almost shattered.

19.205

“But during the day I feared that the same or other unconscionable beings might commit further outrages on my friend’s planetary body, so I decided at least to prevent the possible actualization of what I feared.

“I therefore immediately hired several suitable beings for a great sum of money and, unbeknown to anybody else, had his planetary body removed and temporarily placed in my Selchan, that is, on my raft which was moored not far away on the river Oksoseria, and which I had not disposed of because I had intended to sail on it from there to the sea Kolhidious to our ship Occasion.

19.205

“This sad end of my friend’s existence did not prevent his preachings and persuasions about the cessation of Sacrificial-Offerings having a strong effect on many, even on a great many.

“And indeed, the quantity of slaughterings for Sacrificial-Offerings began very perceptibly to diminish and one could see that even if the custom were not abolished completely with time, it would at least be considerably mitigated.

“And, for the time being, that was sufficient for me.

19.205

“As there was no reason for me to stay there any longer, I decided to return immediately to the sea Kolhidious and there to consider what to do further with the planetary body of my friend.

19.205

“When I arrived on our ship Occasion I found an etherogram for me from Mars in which I was informed of the arrival there of another party of beings from the planet Karatas, and that speedy return there was desired.

19.205

“Thanks to this etherogram a very strange idea came into my head—namely, I thought that instead of disposing of the planetary body of my friend on the planet Earth, I might take it with me and give it to the presence of the planet Mars.

19.205-6

“I decided to carry out this idea of mine as I was afraid that my friend’s enemies who hated him might make a search for his planetary body, and if they had chanced to learn where it had been given to the presence of that planet, or, as your favorites say, ‘buried,’ then doubtless they would have found it and perpetrated some atrocity on it.

19.206

“And so, from the sea Kolhidious, I soon ascended on the ship Occasion to the planet Mars, where our beings and several kind Martians, who had already learned of the events which had taken place on the planet Earth, paid due respect to the planetary body I had taken with me.

“They buried him with the ceremonies customary on the planet Mars, and over the spot they erected a corresponding construction.

19.206

“Anyhow, this was the first and surely will be the last what your favorites call ‘grave,’ for a being of the planet Earth on this so near yet so far and, for the terrestrial beings, quite inaccessible planet Mars.

19.206

“I learned afterwards that this story reached His All-Quarters-Maintainer, the Most Great Archangel ‘Setrenotzinarco,’ the All-Quarters-Maintainer of that part of the Universe to which that system Ors belongs, and that He manifested his pleasure by giving to whom it was proper, a command concerning the soul of this terrestrial friend of mine.

19.206

“On the planet Mars I was indeed expected by several beings of our tribe who had newly arrived from the planet Karatas. Among them, by the way, was also your grandmother who, according to the indications of the chief Zirlikners of the planet Karatas, had been assigned to me as the passive half for the continuance of my line.”