Beelzebub's Tales to His Grandson

42 Beelzebub in America

42.969

“Even quite recently on this same continent Asia, certain beings again attempted not only to find a method by which it might indeed be possible to preserve their edible products for a long time without deterioration, but they even tried to find some entirely new means for minimizing as much as possible the time spent on this inevitable being-need of feeding on the first-food; and this time they were almost on the verge of discovering a very suitable method for this purpose.

42.969-70

“I can give you satisfactory details concerning the interesting results of their new investigations in this sphere because I not only personally knew the terrestrial three-brained being who by his conscious labors discovered the said method, but was even present personally at several elucidatory experiments upon the possibilities of applying this method to beings, conducted by the initiator himself of the, so to say, ‘new investigations.’

42.970

“His name was Asiman and he was a member of a group of contemporary Asiatic three-brained beings, who, having cognized their slavish dependence upon certain causes within themselves, organized a collective existence for the purpose of working upon themselves to deliver themselves from this inner slavery.

42.970

“It is interesting to notice that this group of contemporary terrestrial three-brained beings, one of whom was this Brother Asiman, had previously existed in the country formerly Pearl-land, now called Hindustan, but afterwards when beings from the continent of Europe appeared there and began disturbing them and hindering their peaceful work, they all migrated across what are now called there the ‘Himalayan Mountains’ and settled partly in the country Tibet and partly in what are called the ‘valleys of the Hindu Kush.’

42.970

“Brother Asiman was one of those who settled in the ‘valleys of the Hindu Kush.’

42.970

“As time was precious to the members of this brotherhood who were working for their self-perfection, and the process of eating robbed them of a great deal of time, this Brother Asiman, being very well versed in the science then called ‘alchemy,’ began working very earnestly in the hope of finding what is called a ‘chemical preparation’ on the introduction of which into himself, a being could exist without spending so much time in the preparation and consumption of all kinds of products for his first-food.

42.970-1

“After long and intensive work, Brother Asiman found for this purpose a combination of chemical substances in the form of a ‘powder,’ one small thimbleful of which, introduced into a being once in every twenty-four hours, made it possible for him both to exist without consuming anything else except water as food, and to perform all his being-obligations without injury.

42.971

“When I chanced to visit this monastery where Brother Asiman existed with the other brethren of the said small group of your contemporary favorites, this preparation had already been used by all the brethren for five months, and Brother Asiman with the participation of others of the brethren who were also very familiar with this question was intensively busy with elucidatory experiments on a large scale.

42.971

“And these same experiments showed them that this preparation could not ultimately suffice for normal being-existence.

42.971

“After this constatation of theirs, they not only entirely ceased the use of this preparation, but even destroyed the very formula for preparing it, which Brother Asiman had found.

42.971

“Several months later I again happened to come upon that monastery and acquainted myself personally with the document of these brethren which had been composed by them on the day when they finally ceased the use of this indeed astonishing preparation.

42.971

“This document contained, among other things, several very interesting details about the action of this said preparation of Asiman. It was stated that when this preparation was introduced into the presence of a being, it had besides its nourishing property, a particular action upon what are called the ‘wandering nerves of the stomach’; from which action not only did the need for food immediately cease in beings, but furthermore, every desire to introduce into oneself any other edible product whatsoever entirely disappeared. And if something should be forcibly introduced, it took a long time before the disagreeable sensation and state thus provoked would pass.

42.971-2

“It was also stated that at the outset no change was noticed in the presence of beings who fed on this preparation.

“Even their weight did not diminish. Only after five months did its harmful effect begin to be evident in the common presence of a being in the gradual weakened functioning of certain perceptive organs and of the manifestations of their so to say ableness and sensitiveness. For example, their voices would grow weaker, and their sight, hearing, and so on, worse. Furthermore, in several of them from the beginning of the derangement of these being-functions, changes were observed in their common psychic state.

42.972

“In the document composed by these brethren, there was among other things, a lengthy description of the changes in the character of beings after five months’ use of this remarkable preparation of Asiman, and, in illustration, some very excellent and apt comparisons were given.