Beelzebub's Tales to His Grandson

19 Beelzebub’s Tales About His Second Descent onto the Planet Earth

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.’