Beelzebub's Tales to His Grandson

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Kolhidious

 

19 Beelzebub’s Tales About His Second Descent onto the 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.’

19.184-5

“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.

19.186

“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.

19.204

“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.

19.206

“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.

 

20 The Third Flight of Beelzebub to the Planet Earth

20.207

“On this third descent of mine to the planet Earth our ship Occasion did not alight on the sea Kolhidious, which is now called there Caspian Sea, but on the sea called at that period the ‘Sea of Beneficence.’

“We decided to alight on this sea because I wished this time to go to the capital of the beings of the second group of the continent Ashhark, then named the City Gob, which was situated on the southeastern shore of that sea.