The arch-preposterous BEELZEBUB continued:
"My first meeting with the three-centered being who later became my 'essence-friend,' and thanks to whom I saw these experiments with the 'Omnipresent Okidanokh,' took place in the following circumstances.
"You must know that at the beginning of my exile to that solar system, certain essence-friends of mine, who had not taken part in the events that caused my exile, carried out in relation to me personally the sacred process which exists in the Universe under the name of the sacred 'vznooshlitzval,' that is to say, they implanted in the presence of certain corresponding three-centered beings, by means of another sacred process called 'askalnooazar,' the impulse that Objective Science describes as 'trusting another as oneself.' "Well then, soon after my arrival in the solar system Ors I began visiting its various planets. And when I first descended to the surface of the planet Saturn, it turned out that one of the beings who had undergone the sacred action of 'vznooshlitzval' in regard to my person was what is called there the 'harakhrakhrookhry' of all the three-centered beings arising and existing on that planet.
"On the planet Saturn 'harakhrakhrookhry' is the name given to the sole chief of all the other beings on that planet.
"Such being-chiefs also exist on every other planet where three-brained beings breed; on different planets they are differently named, and on the Earth such a chief is called a 'king.' "The only difference is that while everywhere else, even on the other planets of the same system, there is only one 'king' for the whole planet, on your peculiar planet Earth, for each accidentally separated group of your favorites there is a separate 'king,' sometimes even several of them.
"Well . . .
"When I descended to the surface of the planet Saturn, and began to mingle with the three-centered beings there, it chanced that on the day after my arrival I had occasion to have a meeting with the harakhrakhrookhry himself In the course of our exchange of subjective opinions he invited me to stay in his own 'harkhookhry,' that is, his palace, for the whole of my sojourn on his planet.
"And this I did.
"So, my boy, once while we were talking, simply according to the flow of 'associative being-mentation,' we happened to touch upon the question of the strange results that arise from the manifestations of the particularities of the Omnipresent Okidanokh The venerable harakhrakhrookhry of the planet Saturn mentioned that one of his learned subjects by the name of Harharkh, in order to study certain previously unexplained properties of that cosmic substance, had recently devised an exceedingly interesting apparatus, the chief demonstrating part of which he called 'hrakhartzakha.' "And he offered to make the necessary arrangements, if I wished, to have this new invention shown to me with full explanations.
"The result was that the following day, escorted by one of the venerable harakhrakhrookhry's attendants, I went to the place of existence of Gornahoor Harharkh, and there for the first time I witnessed those novel experiments elucidating the Omnipresent Okidanokh.
"Gornahoor Harharkh, who afterward, 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 All his discoveries were widely known, as were the apparatuses he had invented for his experiments, and on various other planets other learned beings were making more and more use of them.
"Here it will do no harm to remark that I owe it entirely to his knowledge that I was later able to install in my observatory on the planet Mars that 'teskooano' which enhanced the power of my sight and, as is said, increased the visibility of remote cosmic concentrations 7, 000, 285 times.
"The truth is, it was thanks to this teskooano that my observatory was later regarded as one of the best installations of its kind in the whole Universe Most important of all, by means of this teskooano I was able, even while staying at home on Mars, to see and observe relatively easily the processes of existence taking place on those parts of the surface of other planets of that solar system which, in accordance with the 'common-cosmic harmonious movement,' could be perceived by 'being-sight' at the given moment.
"When Gornahoor Harharkh was told who we were and why we had come, he came to meet us and very amicably began his explanations.
"Before going into this, perhaps I should warn you once and for all that my conversations with three-centered beings dwelling on the various planets of that solar system where I was obliged to exist for the 'sins of my youth'— as for instance the conversation with Gornahoor Harharkh—were all held in languages still unknown to you, whose consonances were sometimes quite 'indigestible' by the normal being-functions meant for this purpose.
"And so, my boy, I shall not repeat these conversations word for word, but simply give you their meaning in our language, continuing of course to use those 'terms' and 'specific names'—or rather those combinations of sounds pro-duced by the being-vocal cords of your favorites on the planet Earth—which, owing to their frequent repetition in my tales, have by now become familiar to you and easily understood.
"Ah yes . . . it should be added here that the word 'gornahoor' is used by the three-brained beings of the planet Saturn as a matter of courtesy, they put it in front of the name of the one they are addressing It is the same with your favorites on the planet Earth, who have invented the custom of putting the word 'mister,' or sometimes a whole meaningless phrase, in front of the name of the person they are speaking to—which expresses a notion that our hon-orable Mullah Nasr Eddin characterizes in the saying.
" 'Even so, there's more in it than in the wiseacrings of an expert in monkey-business.' "Well, my boy . . .
"When he had been informed of what was required of him, this future essence-friend of mine, Gornahoor Harharkh, made a sign to us to approach that special appliance he had invented, which he called 'hrakhartzakha.' "As we came nearer this very strange construction, he pointed to it with a particular feather of his right wing, and said:
" 'This special appliance is the chief part of my whole invention, and it is just in this part that the results of almost all the particularities of the omnipresent substance Okidanokh are found and manifested. ' "Then, pointing to all the other appliances in the 'khrkh,' or 'workshop,' he added:
'All these special appliances that I invented have enabled me to obtain certain extremely important clarifications about the omnipresent and everywhere-penetrating Okidanokh, because they made it possible for me first to collect all three fundamental parts of Okidanokh from every kind of sur-planetary and intraplanetary process and then to blend them artificially into a whole; and finally to dissociate them, also artificially, and to study the specific properties of each part separately in its manifestations.' "Having said this, he again pointed to the 'hrakhartzakha' and added that by means of this experimental apparatus any ordinary being could clearly understand in detail the properties of the three parts—entirely independent in themselves and in their manifestations—of the 'unique active element' whose particularities are the chief cause of everything existing in the Universe.
Furthermore, any ordinary being could become categorically convinced that no results normally obtained from the processes through which this om-nipresent world-substance passes can ever be perceived or sensed by beings.
The only results of these processes that can be perceived by certain being-functions are those that for some reason or other occur abnormally on account of causes coming from without, either from conscious sources or from accidental mechanical results.
"The part of Gornahoor Harharkh's new invention called 'hrakhartzakha,' and considered the most important, looked very much like a 'tirzikiano' or, as your favorites would say, a huge 'electric light bulb.' "The interior of this original structure was rather like a smallish room with a door that could be hermetically sealed.
"The walls were made of a certain transparent material, resembling what is called 'glass' on your planet.
"As I later learned, the chief particularity of this transparent material was that, although with the organ of sight a being could perceive every kind of cosmic concentration through it, it did not permit any rays, whatever their source, to penetrate it, either from within or from without.
"As I looked at this part of that astonishing being-invention, I could clearly distinguish through its transparent walls, in the center, what seemed to be a table and two chairs. Above the table hung three identical 'things' like terrestrial electric light bulbs and resembling 'momonodooars.' On the table and standing beside it were several different apparatuses and instruments altogether unknown to me.
"I afterward realized that all the objects contained in this 'hrakhartzakha,' as well as everything we were to put on later, were made of special materials invented by Gornahoor Harharkh As regards these materials, I will go into more detail at the proper time.
"Meanwhile bear in mind that in the enormous 'khrkh,' or workshop, of Gornahoor Harharkh, besides the 'hrakhartzakha' there were several other large independent apparatuses, and among them two quite special 'life-chakhans,' which Gornahoor Harharkh called 'khrikhirkhis.' "It is interesting to note that your favorites also have something like this 'life-chakhan,' or 'khrikhirkhi,' which they call a 'dynamo.' "At one side stood another enormous appliance which turned out to be a special kind of 'solookhnorakhoona,' or what your favorites would describe as a 'pump of complex construction for exhausting the atmosphere to the point of absolute vacuum.
"While I was looking at all this with amazement, Gornahoor Harharkh went over to this complex pump and with his left wing moved one of its parts, thus putting a certain mechanism in motion He then came back to us and, pointing with the same special feather of his right wing to the largest 'life-chakhan,' or 'khrikhirkhi,' that is, 'dynamo,' continued his explanations:
'This particular appliance first sucks in separately all the three independent parts of the omnipresent active element Okidanokh present in the atmosphere or in any intraplanetary or surplanetary formation, and only when these sep-arate parts have been artificially reblended into a single whole in the "khrikhirkhi" does Okidanokh, now in its usual state, flow into that "container," where it is concentrated.' Here he pointed, still with the same feather, to something very much like a 'condenser.' " 'From there,' he said, 'Okidanokh flows into another "khrikhirkhi," or "dynamo," where it undergoes the process of "djartklom"; and each of its separate parts is then concentrated in those other containers over there.' This time he pointed to what resembled 'accumulators.' 'Only then, by means of various artificial contrivances, do I take each active part of Okidanokh separately from these secondary containers for use in my experiments.
" 'I shall first demonstrate what happens when, for any reason, one of the active parts of the Omnipresent Okidanokh is absent during the process of their "striving to reblend into a whole." 'At the present moment, inside this apparatus, there is indeed an absolute vacuum, made possible only by the special construction of the suction pump and by the quality and strength of the material of which the walls of this part of my new invention are made. Experiments in this absolute vacuum are also possible because of the special quality of the materials of which the instruments are made.' "Having said this, Gornahoor Harharkh pulled another lever and continued:
'When this lever is pulled, there begins to take place within this empty space the process whereby the separate parts of the Omnipresent Okidanokh "strive to reblend into a whole." 'But since an "able Reason"—my own, in this case—• has by intention artificially excluded the third part of Okidanokh, known as "parijrahatnatius," the process is now taking place between only two of its independent parts, which science calls "anodnatius" and "cathodnatius." consequently, instead of the law-conformable results that would issue from the blending of the three parts, a non-law-conformable result is now being actualized ensuing from "the reciprocal blending of two opposite forces," and ordinary beings call this result "the cause of artificial light." " 'The "striving to reblend into a whole" of two active parts of the Omnipresent Okidanokh now proceeding in this vacuum has a force, calculated by Objective Science, of 3 040, 000 volts, and this force is indicated by the needle of that appliance over there. ' "He pointed to 'something' very much like the apparatus called a 'voltmeter' on your planet and said, 'One of the advantages of my new invention for the demonstration of this phenomenon is that in spite of the extraordinary power of the "force of striving" now proceeding there, the "salnichissinooarnian momentum-vibrations," which should issue from this process, and which most beings regard as "rays," do not issue from the place of their arising, that is, the interior of this apparatus, where the particularities of the Omnipresent Okidanokh are being studied.
" 'But in order that beings who are outside this part of my invention may evaluate the force of this process, I purposely made the wall in one place out of a material which allows the "salnichissinooarnian momentum-vibrations," or "rays," to pass through.' "Having said this he went up to the 'hrakhartzakha' and pressed a certain button Suddenly the enormous khrkh, or workshop, was flooded with such an intense light that our organs of sight temporarily ceased to function, and only after a considerable time could we, with great difficulty, raise our eyelids and look around.
"As soon as we had recovered, Gornahoor Harharkh pulled another lever, which restored the surrounding space to its usual appearance. Then in his customary angel voice he again drew our attention to the needle of the voltmeter which steadily indicated the same figure, and went on:
'You see, although the process of conflict between the two opposing component parts of the Omnipresent Okidanokh still persists with the same "force of striving," and the part of the wall of this apparatus that can let the "rays" through is still open, the phenomenon that ordinary beings call "artificial light" has ceased.
" 'And it has ceased because by pulling that lever just now I introduced into the process of the clash between the two opposing parts a current of the third component part of Okidanokh, whereupon this third part at once began to blend proportionately with the other two. And the result of this blending of the three component parts of the Omnipresent Okidanokh, unlike the process of the non-law-conformable clash of its two parts, cannot be perceived by beings with any of their being-functions.' "After this explanation, Gornahoor Harharkh proposed that I should venture with him inside the demonstrating part of his new invention, so that there within I might become an eyewitness of certain particular manifestations of the omnipresent and everywhere-penetrating active element.
"Without thinking long about it, I decided of course to do so; and I agreed at once because I expected to receive in my being an unchangeable and imperishable 'objective essence-satisfaction.' "As soon as he had my consent, my future essence-friend gave the necessary orders to one of his assistants.
"It appeared that various preparations had to be made before his proposal could be earned out.
"First his assistants dressed Gornahoor Harharkh and myself in special, very heavy suits resembling what your favorites call 'diving suits' that had a large number of 'bolts.' with small projecting heads. And when this most peculiar garb had been put on us, the assistants tightened up the 'bolts' in a certain order.
"On the inner side of these diving suits, at the end of the bolts, there were, it appeared, special plates which pressed against different parts of our planetary bodies.
"Later it became obvious to me that this was necessary to prevent our planetary bodies from undergoing what is called 'taranooranoora' or, in other words, from falling to pieces, as usually occurs to all intraplanetary and surplanetary formations when they happen to come into an entirely atmosphereless space.
"Besides these suits, the assistants placed on our heads something like 'diving helmets,' with complicated 'connectors' projecting from them.
"One of these connectors, called 'harinkhrarkh,' meaning 'sustainer of the pulsation,' was a sort of long rubber tube, one end of which was hermetically attached by means of complicated appliances to the place on the helmet corresponding to the breathing organs, while the other end, after we had entered this strange 'hrakhartzakha,' was screwed into an apparatus connected in its turn with the space whose presence corresponded with the 'second being-food.' "Between Gornahoor Harharkh and myself there was also a 'special connector,' so that once inside the 'hrakhartzakha,' when the atmosphere had been pumped out to produce an absolute vacuum, we could easily communicate with each other.
"One end of this connector was fitted in a certain way, by means of appliances on the helmets, to my organs of 'hearing' and 'speech,' and the other end to those of Gornahoor Harharkh.
"Thus a sort of 'telephone,' as your favorites call it, was set up between my future essence-friend and myself.
"Without this appliance we could not have communicated with each other at all, chiefly because at that time the presence of Gornahoor Harharkh was perfected only up to the state called the sacred 'Inkotsarno'; and a being with such a presence cannot manifest himself nor even exist in an ab-solutely empty space, even if the products of all three being-foods were artificially introduced into him.
"But the most curious, cunning, and subtly ingenious of all the connectors attached for various purposes to these strange diving suits and helmets was the one invented by the great scientist Gornahoor Harharkh to enable the organ of 'sight' of ordinary beings to perceive surrounding objects in 'ab-solutely empty space.' "One end of this astonishing connector was fitted to our temples by means of appliances on the helmets, while the other end was fastened to a so-called 'ams-commutator,' in its turn connected by wires to all the objects that had to be visible during the experiment, both those inside and outside the 'hrakhartzakha.' "It is interesting to note here that at each end of this appliance—a creation almost incredible for the Reason of an ordinary three-centered being—were attached two further independent connectors, also of wire, through which special 'magnetic currents' flowed from outside.
"As it was afterward explained to me in detail, these connectors had been invented by that truly great scientist, Gornahoor Harharkh, so that by virtue of a certain property of these 'magnetic currents,' also discovered by him, the presence of learned three-centered beings—even those not perfected up to the sacred 'Inkotsarno'—might be 'reflected' in their essence, and thanks to another property of these currents, the presence of the objects mentioned above might also be 'reflected.' Thus it was possible for their imperfect organs of being-sight to perceive these objects, even in a vacuum containing none of the factors, or results, of the various cosmic concentrations which are animated by those vibrations that alone permit the functioning of any being-organ whatsoever.
"Having fitted us out in this very heavy equipment, which made it possible for beings to exist in this unnatural environment, the assistants of the great all-universal scientist Gornahoor Harharkh, again with the help of special appli-ances, carried us into the 'hrakhartzakha' itself. Then, having screwed all the free ends of the connectors projecting from us to the corresponding apparatuses in the 'hrakhartzakha,' they went out and hermetically sealed behind them the only way by which it would have been possible to have any communication with what is called 'all that represents a world.' "When we were alone in the 'hrakhartzakha,' Gornahoor Harharkh shifted one of the 'switches' near him and said to me:
" 'Now the work of the pump has begun, and soon it will have pumped out of here all the results, without exception, of those cosmic processes whose totality is the basis and significance, and process itself of the maintenance of existence of "all that represents a world." "And he added in a somewhat sarcastic tone: 'Soon we shall be absolutely isolated from everything that exists and functions in the whole Universe. Yet thanks to my new invention and to the knowledge we have already attained, we now have the possibility not only of returning to the world, to become once again particles of all that exists, but also of being worthy to be nonparticipating eyewitnesses of certain world laws, which by ordinary uninitiated three-centered beings are considered inscrutable mysteries of Nature, but which in reality are natural and simple results automatically flowing one from another.' "While he was speaking one could feel that the 'pump'— this very important part of his new invention—was carrying out perfectly the work assigned to it by being-Reason.
"To help you represent to yourself and understand better the perfection of this part of Gornahoor Harharkh's invention, I must tell you also the following:
"Although for certain quite particular reasons I had had to be in atmosphereless space on several occasions and to exist there as a three-brained being, sometimes for a long time, by means of the sacred 'kreemboolatsoomara' alone;
and although my presence had acquired from frequent repetition the habit of moving gradually from one sphere to another, almost without feeling any inconvenience from the change in the 'second being-food' inevitably brought about by the transformation of the substances always present around both large and small cosmic concentrations; and although the very causes of my arising and the subsequent process of my being-existence had been arranged in an entirely special way, so that gradually the various being-functions within my common presence had perforce also become quite special, nevertheless, in spite of all I have just said, the pumping out of the atmosphere then proceeded with such force, and the sensations impressed on the separate parts of my entire presence were so strong, that even today I can very clearly relive the whole course of my experience at that moment and describe it for you in detail.
"This extremely strange state began in me shortly after the pump started working and Gornahoor Harharkh had spoken in that half-sarcastic tone about our imminent situation.
"In my three 'being-centers,' that is, those centers localized in the presence of every three-centered being under the names of the 'thinking,' 'feeling,' and 'moving' centers, there began to be perceived in each one of them separately, in a strange and unusual way, the definite impression that each of the separate parts of my whole planetary body was undergoing an independent process of sacred 'rascooarno,' and that the cosmic crystallizations composing the presence of each of these parts were flowing 'in vain.' "At first my 'initiative of constatation' proceeded in the usual way according to what is called the 'center of gravity of associative experiencing.' But later, when this initiative of constatation gradually and almost imperceptibly became the function of my essence alone, this essence became the unique all-embracing initiator of constatation, not only of everything taking place within me but also of everything without exception newly happening outside me.
"From that moment my essence began to perceive impressions directly, and to constate that from what was taking place in my common presence the parts of my planetary body were, so to speak, being entirely destroyed, and then little by little the localizations of the second and third being-centers as well. At the same time my essence perceived that the functioning of these two centers passed gradually to my thinking center, and became proper to it, with the result that the thinking center, with this increased intensity of functioning, became the 'unique and powerful perceiver' of everything actualized outside itself as well as the autonomous initiator of constatation of everything proceeding within the whole of my presence.
"While I was in the throes of this strange 'being-experiencing, ' still incomprehensible to my Reason, Gornahoor Harharkh was busy pulling some of the many levers and switches attached to the edges of the table at which we were placed.
"And then something happened to Gornahoor Harharkh that suddenly changed all this strange being-experiencing of mine, and in my common presence the usual being-experiencing was resumed. This is what occurred:
Gornahoor Harharkh, with all the heavy equipment he was wearing, suddenly found himself high above his chair and began to flounder, as our dear Mullah Nasr Eddin would say, 'like a puppy fallen into a deep pond.' "As we afterward learned, my friend Gornahoor Harharkh had made a mistake while pulling the levers and switches, and had tensed certain parts of his planetary body more than was necessary, and in consequence his presence, together with everything he was wearing, had received a shock. Owing to the 'tempo' given to his presence from the taking in of the 'second being-food' and to the absence of any resistance in that absolutely empty space, he began to drift or, as I have just said, 'to flounder like a puppy in a pond.' Having said this with a smile, Beelzebub became silent; after a short pause he made a very strange gesture with his left hand, and in a tone of voice not natural to him, continued:
"While I am recalling these events of a period so long ago in my existence, the wish arises to make a sincere confession to you—just to you, one of my direct heirs, who will inevitably represent the sum of all my deeds in the course of my being-existence. That is to say, I wish to confess to you in all sincerity that although my essence, with the consent of the parts of my presence subject to it alone, had decided to participate in the scientific experiment about to take place within Gornahoor Harharkh's new invention, and although I had entered its chief demonstrating part without the least compulsion from outside, yet this same essence of mine had allowed to creep into my being and to develop there, side by side with the strange sensations I have described to you, a criminally egoistic anxiety for the safety of my personal existence.
"However, my boy, so that you may not be too distressed by this confession, it is not superfluous to add that this was the first time this ever happened to me, and also the last, throughout my entire being-existence.
"But perhaps it would be better for the present not to touch on questions that concern only our family.
"Let us rather return to my tale about the Omnipresent Okidanokh and my essence-friend Gornahoor Harharkh who, by the way, was once recognized by ordinary three-brained beings everywhere as a 'great scientist,' but is today no longer considered 'great'; indeed, thanks to the fame of his own result, that is to say, his son, he is now a 'has-been' or, as our dear Mullah Nasr Eddin sometimes says in such cases, 'He is up to his neck in an old American galosh.' "Well then, while Gornahoor Harharkh was floundering about, he finally managed, with great difficulty and only by means of a very complicated maneuver, to get his planetary body, burdened as it was with its heavy and unusual equipment, down onto the chair again, and this time he fastened it all with screws that were on the chair for that purpose. When we were both more or less settled again and could communicate by means of the artificial connector I mentioned, he drew my attention to the three apparatuses hanging over the table which, as I told you, looked like 'momonodooars.' "On close inspection all three of these proved to be exactly alike in appearance, each being a sort of 'socket' out of which projected 'carbon poles' like those found in what your favorites call 'arc lights.' "Having drawn my attention to these three objects resembling 'momonodooars,' he said:
'Each of these outwardly similar apparatuses has a direct connection with the secondary containers I showed you while we were still outside the "hrakhartzakha," and in which all three active parts of Okidanokh, after the occurrence of the artificial "djartklom," reblend into a single mass.
" 'I have constructed these three independent apparatuses in such a way that in this absolutely empty space we can obtain from those secondary containers as much of each of the active parts of Okidanokh, in a pure state, as we need for our experiment; and we can also change at will the force of the "striving to reblend into a whole" that is acquired by them and becomes proper to them, according to the density of concentration of their mass.
" 'And now, within this absolutely empty space, I shall show you first of all the same nonlawful phenomenon we observed a little while ago from outside. In other words, I shall again demonstrate to you the cosmic phenomenon that occurs when, after a lawful "djartklom," the separate parts of Okidanokh meet in a space devoid of any cosmic concentration and, without the participation of one of the parts, strive to reblend into a whole.' "Having said this, he closed the section of the wall of the 'hrakhartzakha' that had the property of allowing 'rays' to pass through, and then pulled two switches and pressed a certain button, with the result that a small plate of special mastic lying on the table automatically moved toward the 'carbon poles.' Then, having again drawn my attention to the ammeter and the voltmeter, he added:
'I have just now admitted the current of the two parts of Okidanokh called "anodnatius" and "cathodnatius," giving them the same force of striving to reblend.' "When I looked at the ammeter and the voltmeter, and saw that their needles had indeed moved and then stopped on the same figures I had noted the first time while we were outside the 'hrakhartzakha,' I was greatly surprised, for in spite of the indications of the needles and Gornahoor Har-harkh's warning, I had neither noticed nor sensed any change in the degree of visibility of the objects around us.
"So without waiting for any further explanation, I asked:
" 'But why then is there no result from this nonlawful "striving to reblend into a whole" of the parts of Okidanokh?' "Before answering my question, he turned off the only lamp, which drew its power from a special magnetic current. My astonishment increased even more, for in spite of the sudden darkness I could clearly see through the walls of the 'hrak-hartzakha' that the needles of the ammeter and voltmeter had stayed in the same positions.
"Only after I had somehow or other adapted myself to this surprising observation did Gornahoor Harharkh say:
" 'I have already told you that the material used for the walls of the construction we are in right now has the property of not allowing any vibrations from any source whatsoever to pass through it, with the exception of certain vibrations arising from nearby concentrations; and these vibrations can be perceived by the organs of sight of three-brained beings—provided, of course, that these beings are normal.
'Furthermore, according to the law called "Heterato-getar," the "salnichissinooarnian momentum-vibrations," or "rays," acquire the property of acting on the organs of perception of beings only after having passed the limit defined by science in the following terms: "the result of the manifestation is in exact proportion to the force of striving received from the shock." 'And so, since the process of the conflict of these two parts of Okidanokh has a force of great intensity, the result is manifested at some distance from the place of its origin.
'Now look!' "He pressed another button, and suddenly the whole interior of the 'hrakhartzakha' was filled with the same blinding light that I had experienced before, when I was standing outside this apparatus.
"This flood of light had apparently been released when Gornahoor Harharkh, by pressing the button, had again opened the section of the wall of the 'hrakhartzakha' that permitted 'rays' to pass through.
"He explained further that the light was a consequence of the 'striving to reblend into a whole' of the parts of Okidanokh, which was proceeding in the absolutely empty space inside the 'hrakhartzakha'; and it was manifested there owing to what is called 'reflection from outside,' that is to say, to the return of the rays to the place of their origin.
"He then continued: 'I am now going to demonstrate how and by what combinations of the processes of "djartklom" and the "striving to reblend into a whole" of the active parts of Okidanokh there arise in planets from the "minerals" composing their interior presence certain definite formations of varying densities, such as "mineraloids," "gases," "metalloids," "metals," and so on. And I will show you how these latter, owing to the same factors, are afterward progressively transformed one into another; and how the vibrations flowing from these transformations constitute the "totality of vibrations" that makes possible the "stability' of planets in the process called the "common-system harmonious movement." " 'For my proposed demonstration, I must as always obtain the necessary materials from outside, and my pupils will provide them by means of appliances I have prepared in advance.' "It is interesting to remark that while Gornahoor Harharkh was speaking, he was tapping with his left foot on 'some-thing' very much like the transmission apparatus of the celebrated Morse— celebrated, be it said, only on the planet Earth.
"A few moments later, from the lower part of the 'hrakhartzakha' there slowly rose a small object something like a box with transparent walls, containing, as it afterward proved, certain 'minerals,' 'metalloids,' 'metals,' and various 'gases' in liquid and solid states.
"Then with the help of various appliances arranged at one side of the table and by means of complicated manipulations, he took out of the box a piece of what is called 'red copper,' put it on the mastic plate before him, and said:
" 'This metal is a definite planetary crystallization, representing one of the densities required for the said "stability" in the process of the "common harmonious movement of all systems." It is a formation resulting from previous processes of the reciprocal action of the parts of the Omnipresent Okidanokh. Now I will allow the transformation of this metal to proceed artificially at an accelerated pace, by means of the particularities of the same factors.
" 'I intend to aid artificially the evolution and involution of its elements, either toward a greater density or, on the contrary, back toward their primal state.
" 'So that you may have a clearer picture of the whole experiment you are about to witness, I shall have to give you at least a brief account of my own first scientific deductions as to the causes and conditions that bring about the crystallization, within planets, of the three separate parts of Okidanokh in one or another of the definite formations I referred to.
" 'To begin with, from every non-law-conformable "djartklom" the separate parts of the Omnipresent Okidanokh become localized in the medium of that part of the presence of the planet where the "djartklom" has taken place, that is to say, in whatever corresponding mineral is there at that moment.
'Now if the density of the elements of that medium has an "affinity of vibrations" with one of the active parts of the Omnipresent Okidanokh, then, according to the world law called "symmetrical interpenetration," this active part blends with the presence of the medium, to become an inseparable part of it. And from that moment, the separate parts of Okidanokh, combined with the elements of the given medium, begin to represent the corresponding densities required in planets, that is to say, various kinds of "metalloids" or even "metals," as for instance the metal existing under the name of "red copper," which I have just placed in this medium and where, at my wish, the "striving to reblend into a whole" of the parts of Okidanokh will now proceed artificially.
'Further, having thus arisen within the planets, these various "metalloids" and "metals" begin—as is proper to all arisings in which Okidanokh or any one of its active parts participate—to radiate from their presence the results of their "inner interchange of substances" according to the universal law called the "reciprocal feeding of everything existing." And, as is proper to all radiations issuing from surplanetary and intraplanetary formations, the radiations of these "metalloids" and "metals" acquire a property almost like that of Okidanokh or of any one of its active parts, present in what is called the "center of gravity" of all such formations.
'When these masses of different densities, which have thus arisen in planets under normal surrounding conditions, radiate the vibrations required for this universal law of the "reciprocal feeding of everything existing," then, among these vibrations having various properties, there is established, according to the fundamental world law of "Troemedekhfe," a reciprocally acting contact.
" 'And it is the result of this contact which is the chief factor in the gradual change of the various densities in planets.
" 'My observations over many years have almost fully convinced me that it is only this contact and its results that assure the "stability of the harmonious equilibrium" of planets.
" 'The metal, red copper, which I have just placed in this sphere where I propose to set in motion in an artificial way the active parts of Okidanokh, has at this moment a specific density of 444, reckoning from the unit of density of the sacred element Theomertmalogos; that is to say, an atom of this metal is 444 times denser and as many times less vivifying than an atom of the sacred Theomertmalogos.
" 'Now watch and see in what order the artificially accelerated transformations will take place.' "Having said this, he put in front of my organ of sight an automatically controlled teskooano, then began to turn several switches on and off in a certain sequence; and as I looked through the teskooano, he gave me the following explanation:
" 'I am now allowing all three parts of Okidanokh to flow into the sphere of presence containing this metal; and since all three parts have the same "density," and hence the same "force of striving," they reblend into a whole without changing anything in the presence of the metal. And the Omnipresent Okidanokh thus obtained flows in its usual state through a special conduit out of the "hrakhartzakha," and is reconcentrated in the first container, which you have already seen. " 'Now look!
'I am deliberately increasing the "force of striving" of just one of the active parts of Okidanokh. In this case I am increasing the force called "cathodnatius," and you will see that the elements composing the presence of the "red copper" begin to involve toward the quality of the substances that compose the ordinary presence of planets.' "While explaining this he was turning various switches on and off in a certain sequence.
"Well, my boy, although I watched everything that went on very attentively and everything I saw was impressed in my essence 'pestolnootiarly,' that is, forever, I could not now, however much I might wish to do so, put into words a hundredth part of what then took place in that small fragment of an intraplanetary formation. Nor shall I even try to do so, for I have just thought of a way of actually showing it all to you so that you too can soon be an eyewitness of that astonishing cosmic process.
"Meanwhile, I will only tell you that there proceeded in that fragment of 'red copper' something rather like those frightful scenes among your favorites on the Earth that I occasionally observed through my teskooano from the planet Mars.
"I say 'rather like' because what I sometimes observed among your favorites was only at its beginning, whereas in that fragment of 'red copper' I was able to observe the whole process right up to its final transformation.
"A rough parallel can be drawn between what occasionally happens on your planet and what took place then in the small fragment of copper, if you imagine yourself high up, looking down upon a large public square where thousands of your favorites, seized with the most acute form of their chief psychosis, are destroying one another's existence by every means they have invented, and then suddenly in their place you see their 'corpses,' as they call them, which change color perceptibly owing to the outrages done them by the beings not yet destroyed, and this gradually alters the general appearance of the surface of that large square.
"Now, my boy, by switching on and off the flow of the three active parts of Okidanokh, thus changing their 'force of striving,' this future essence-friend of mine, Gornahoor Harharkh, also changed the density of the elements of the 'red copper,' and thereby transformed this metal into all kinds of other intraplanetary metals of lower or higher degree of vivifyingness.
"And here, to throw more light upon the strangeness of the psyche of the three-brained beings who have taken your fancy, it is interesting and important to note that while Gornahoor Harharkh, by means of his new invention, was artificially producing the evolution and involution in density and vivifyingness of the elements of 'red copper,' I noticed distinctly that this metal was transformed at one point into that very metal about which many sorry scientists of your planet have been wiseacring for nearly the whole of their existence, in the hope of transforming other metals into it —thus leading astray their already sufficiently erring brethren. On Earth this metal is called 'gold.' " 'Gold' is no other than the metal we call 'prtzathalavr,' whose specific gravity, reckoning as always from the sacred Theomertmalogos, is 1, 439; that is to say, an atom of 'gold' is three and a fraction times less vivifying than an atom of 'red copper.' "The reason I decided not to try to explain in words everything that took place in that fragment of 'red copper' was because I suddenly remembered the all-gracious promise given me by our All-Quarters Maintainer, the Most Great Arch-Cherub Peshtvogner, which will make it possible for you to see with your own eyes, in definite intraplanetary formations, the processes of the manifestations of the active parts of Okidanokh.
"And this all-gracious promise was given me just after my return from exile, when my first duty was to present myself to our All-Quarters Maintainer, the Arch-Cherub Peshtvogner and, prostrating myself at his feet, to perform before him what is called the 'essence-sacred aliamizoornakalu.' "I was obliged to do this on account of the sins of my youth. For 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 that this sacred process be performed over my essence, both as a precaution against my ever again manifesting myself as in the days of my youth, and so that nothing similar would recur in the Reason of most of the Individuals dwelling at the Center of the Great Universe.
"You probably do not yet know what the sacred 'aliamizoornakalu' over an essence means. Later I will explain that to you in detail, but meanwhile, I shall simply turn once more to our dear Mullah Nasr Eddin, who describes this process as 'giving one's word of honor not to poke one's nose into the affairs of the authorities.' "In short, when I presented myself to our All-Quarters Maintainer he deigned to ask me, among other things, whether I had brought back with me all the being-inventions that had interested me and that I had collected from various planets of that solar system where I had existed during my exile. I replied that I had brought back almost everything except those cumbersome apparatuses that my friend Gornahoor Harharkh had constructed for me on the planet Mars.
"He at once promised to give orders that everything I indicated should be put on board the space ship Omnipresent on its next trip.
"So I hope, my boy, that everything necessary will have been brought to our planet Karatas and that when we return there, you will be able to see the experiments with your own eyes and I shall be able to explain everything in detail. "In the meantime, during this journey of ours on the ship Karnak, I will tell you, in their order, as I have already promised, about my descents to your planet and the reasons for my appearances there in person."
YOU ARE READING
Tales
General Fictionstories by GI Not written by me. This app gives a nice reading interface. So had to copy paste my book here to read it in a better fashion.
