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The Creator sat upon the throne, thinking. Behind himstretched the illimitable continent of heaven, steeped in a gloryof light and color; before him rose the black night of Space, likea wall. His mighty bulk towered rugged and mountain-like intothe zenith, and His divine head blazed there like a distant sun.At His feet stood three colossal figures, diminished to extinction,almost, by contrast -- archangels -- their heads level with Hisanklebone.
When the Creator had finished thinking, He said, "I havethought. Behold!"
He lifted His hand, and from it burst a fountain-spray of fire, a million stupendous suns, which clove the blackness and soared,away and away and away, diminishing in magnitude and intensityas they pierced the far frontiers of Space, until at last they werebut as diamond nailheads sparkling under the domed vast roof ofthe universe.
At the end of an hour the Grand Council was dismissed.
They left the Presence impressed and thoughtful, and retiredto a private place, where they might talk with freedom. None ofthe three seemed to want to begin, though all wanted somebodyto do it. Each was burning to discuss the great event, but would prefer not to commit himself till he should know how theothers regarded it. So there was some aimless and halting conversationabout matters of no consequence, and this draggedtediously along, arriving nowhere, until at last the archangelSatan gathered his courage together -- of which he had a verygood supply -- and broke ground. He said: "We know what weare here to talk about, my lords, and we may as well put pretenseaside, and begin. If this is the opinion of the Council -- "
"It is, it is!" said Gabriel and Michael, gratefully interrupting.
"Very well, then, let us proceed. We have witnessed a wonderful thing; as to that, we are necessarily agreed. As to the value of it -- if it has any -- that is a matter which does not personallyconcern us. We can have as many opinions about it as we like,and that is our limit. We have no vote. I think Space was wellenough, just at it was, and useful, too. Cold and dark -- a restfulplace, now and then, after a season of the overdelicate climateand trying splendors of heaven. But these are details of no considerablemoment; the new feature, the immense feature, is -- what, gentlemen?"
"The invention and introduction of automatic, unsupervised,self-regulating law for the government of those myriads ofwhirling and racing suns and worlds!"
"That is it!" said Satan. "You perceive that it is a stupendousidea. Nothing approaching it has been evolved from the MasterIntellect before. Law -- Automatic Law -- exact and unvaryingLaw -- requiring no watching, no correcting, no readjustingwhile the eternities endure! He said those countless vast bodieswould plunge through the wastes of Space ages and ages, atunimaginable speed, around stupendous orbits, yet never collide,and never lengthen nor shorten their orbital periods by somuch as the hundredth part of a second in two thousand years!That is the new miracle, and the greatest of all -- AutomaticLaw! And He gave it a name -- the LAW OF NATURE -- andsaid Natural Law is the LAW OF GOD -- interchangeable namesfor one and the same thing."
"Yes," said Michael, "and He said He would establish NaturalLaw -- the Law of God -- throughout His dominions, and itsauthority should be supreme and inviolable."
"Also," said Gabriel, "He said He would by and by create animals,and place them, likewise, under the authority of that Law."
"Yes," said Satan, "I heard Him, but did not understand.What is animals, Gabriel?"
"Ah, how should I know? How should any of us know? It is a new word."
[Interval of three centuries, celestial time -- the equivalent of ahundred million years, earthly time. Enter a Messenger-Angel.]
"My lords, He is making animals. Will it please you to come and see?"
They went, they saw, and were perplexed. Deeply perplexed -- and the Creator noticed it, and said, "Ask. I will answer."
"Divine One," said Satan, making obeisance, "what are theyfor?"
"They are an experiment in Morals and Conduct. Observethem, and be instructed."
There were thousands of them. They were full of activities.Busy, all busy -- mainly in persecuting each other. Satanremarked -- after examining one of them through a powerfulmicroscope: "This large beast is killing weaker animals, DivineOne."
"The tiger -- yes. The law of his nature is ferocity. The law ofhis nature is the Law of God. He cannot disobey it."
"Then in obeying it he commits no offense, Divine One?"
"No, he is blameless."
"This other creature, here, is timid, Divine One, and suffersdeath without resisting."
"The rabbit -- yes. He is without courage. It is the law of hisnature -- the Law of God. He must obey it."
"Then he cannot honorably be required to go counter to hisnature and resist, Divine One?"
"No. No creature can be honorably required to go counterto the law of his nature -- the Law of God."
After a long time and many questions, Satan said, "The spiderkills the fly, and eats it; the bird kills the spider and eats it; thewildcat kills the goose; the -- well, they all kill each other. It ismurder all along the line. Here are countless multitudes of creatures,and they all kill, kill, kill, they are all murderers. And theyare not to blame, Divine One?"
"They are not to blame. It is the law of their nature. Andalways the law of nature is the Law of God. Now -- observe -- behold! A new creature -- and the masterpiece -- Man!"
Men, women, children, they came swarming in flocks, indroves, in millions.
"What shall you do with them, Divine One?"
Letters from the Earth
Excerpted from Letters from the Earth: Uncensored Writings by Mark Twain
All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.
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