Ismael Daniel Quinn one The first time I read the ad, I almost choked, I said a cue, I spat and threw the newspaper to the ground. As that did not seem enough, I picked it up quickly, went straight to the kitchen and threw it in the garbage can. While I was there, I prepared a small breakfast and I gave myself a little time to calm down. While I was eating, I thought of things completely different Better. Then I picked up the newspaper from the trash and went back to the "personal" section to see if that bullshit was still there, just like the I remembered. It said the following: MAESTRO seeks a student. He must have a true desire to save the world. Introduce yourself personally A real desire to save the world! Ya, how beautiful. Really interesting. A true desire to save the world. Yes, really splendid. At noon, two hundred cocoons, fools, fools, simpletons, heads of plover, ceporros, mental weaklings and breams would queue with all security at the door of the indicated address, ready to deliver all his earthly goods in exchange for the rare privilege of sitting at his feet of a guru, whose message would be that everything would go much better if each one Go back to your neighbor and give him a hug. Daniel Quinn - 5 - And someone will ask: why is this man so outraged? So angry? Good question. Actually, it's a question that I was doing too. The answer goes back a couple of decades ago, a time in the that I had the silly idea that what I most needed in this world was ... find a teacher True. I imagined that I wanted, that I needed a teacher. To tell me how you could ... save the world. Stupidity, right? A childish one. A naivety A simpleness A penalty of maturity. Or, if you will, a stupidity on all four sides. In a person so manifestly normal in other respects, it seems necessary to Explanation. That's how things developed. During the revolt of the sixties and seventies, I was already mature enough to understand what they had in their heads those kids - putting the world upside down - and young enough to believe they could get it. Really. Every morning, when opening the eyes, I hoped to see that the new era had begun, that the sky was more blue and the grass more green. I expected to hear laughter everywhere and see people dancing on the street, and not just children: everyone! I'm not going to apologize for my candor; there is more to hear the songs of then to know that I was not alone. Then, one fine day, when I was about fifteen, I I woke up and realized that the new era was never going to start. The revolt had not been stifled, it had been subtilized to become a fashionable slogan. Is it possible that I was the only one in the world that I had felt frustrated by that? The only one bewildered? It seemed. All the The world seemed to agree to dispatch the matter with a cynical smile, like saying: "Well, what are you waiting for? It's what it is, and there's never been more than that. No one is going to save the world, because nobody cares a damn the world. It's just a bunch of foolish kids with a lot Daniel Quinn - 6 - bla bla bla. They get a job, they make a little money, they work until sixty and they move to Florida to die there. " I could not just shrug my shoulders and, in my innocence, I thought there had to be someone out there with special able wisdom to dissipate my disenchantment and disquiet: a teacher. But it was clear that there was not. I did not want a guru or a kung fu teacher or a spiritual director. I did not want to become a sorcerer, to learn the zen of archery, do transcendental meditation, align my chakras or discover previous incarnations. This type of arts and disciplines are basically Selfish: all are intended to benefit the student, not the world. I I was looking for something completely different, but it was not in the yellow pages, or anywhere else, where I could discover it. In the Journey to the East, by Hermann Hesse, I never discovered in what It consisted of Leo's terrible wisdom. And this because Hesse could not tell us something that he himself did not know. Hesse was like me: I wished there was someone in the world Leo, someone with a secret knowledge and a wisdom beyond his own But it is clear that there is no secret knowledge; no one knows nothing that can not be found on the shelves of a library public. But I did not know that then. So, I searched. Although it may seem silly now, I searched. In comparison, walking after the Grail would have made more sense. But Im not going to Talk about that, it's too embarrassing. I searched until I matured a little. I stopped making a fool of myself; but something died inside me, something that some I had always liked it or that I had admired it. And his place occupied him a scar, a particularly sensitive mark. And, now that so many years have passed since I abandoned the search, a charlatan appears looking in the newspaper for that kind of young dreamer that I had been fifteen years before. Daniel Quinn - 7 - But this does not explain my grievance yet, right? Let's make the following assumption: for a decade you have been in love with someone, someone you hardly know if he still lives. You've done everything, you have tried everything so that this someone sees that you are a person valuable, estimable, and that your love is worth it. Then, one good day, you open the newspaper by the "personal" section, and you see that the beloved person has put an ad... Oh, I know it's not exactly the same. Why did you expect this Unknown teacher will contact me instead of placing an announcement Looking for a student? And, conversely, if this teacher was a charlatan, like he supposed, why would I want him to contact me? Do not give it more laps. You look where you look, there's no where take it Things that happen two Of course, I had to go there, I had to stay comfortable and check that it was an imposture more. You understand me. It would take me thirty seconds, one look, ten words from his mouth. I would notice immediately. Then I would go home quietly and I I would forget about it. When I arrived, I was surprised to discover that it was a building offices of the most common, occupied by advertising companies, lawyers, dentists and second-rate travel agencies, plus a chiropractor and a Private detective, or two, maybe. I had expected a building something more attractive: brown stoneware, prefabricated panels, high ceilings and shutters, perhaps. I looked for office 105, and found it in the back, where the windows must face the alley. The door offered no information. I opened it and entered a large, empty room. This unusual space was the Daniel Quinn - 8 - result of demolishing several partitions, of which there was some trace in the wooden floor. My first impression was that of emptiness. The second was of a nature Olfactory: the place smelled like a circus. No, rather, to the zoo: a smell Unmistakable, but not unpleasant. I looked around. The room was not completely empty. Next to the wall on the left was a small shelf with thirty or forty volumes, mostly of history, prehistory and anthropology. In between was a lonely upholstered armchair, which He looked at the wall to the right, as if the ones in the move had left there forgotten. I had no doubt that I would be reserved for teacher; the disciples would kneel or sit in a semicircle on the floor. And where were the students that, as I had predicted, Would they go to porrillo? Had they arrived before me and taken them away? like the children of Hamelin? The layer of dust that covered the ground denied similar hypothesis. That room had something strange, but until I took another look I did not discover what it was. On the opposite wall there were two tall windows with shutters that let in a faint light from the alley. On the wall of the left, common to the office next door, there was nothing. In the one on the right, there was a window with crystals, but it was not a window that opened onto the world outside, as it did not receive any kind of light; It was a window facing the adjoining room, with less light still than the room where I I found. I asked myself what object of veneration would be kept there behind, to except of any curious hand. Would it be some yeti or abominable man of the embalmed snow, covered with cat fur and papier mache? Would it be the body of an ovninauta killed by a national guard before it had could deliver some sublime astral message ("We are brothers. good ones")? Being seconded by darkness, the glass of this window looked black: opaque, reflective. As I progressed, I made no attempt Daniel Quinn - 9 - to see what was on the other side; I was the object of observation. To the come, I saw my own eyes first and then I looked at the other side of the glass, I run into another pair of eyes. Startled, I backed up. Then, after verifying what my eyes saw, I backed up again, this time a little scared. What was on the other side of the glass was a body gorilla whole. Of whole body is to say little, of course. Was intimidatingly huge, a real rock, a megalith of Stonehenge Its enormous mass was alarming in its own right, even though I was using it in a threatening way. On the contrary, it was half sitting, placidly reclining, nibbling gently at a twig that I had it in my left hand, like a magic wand. I did not know what to say. You will understand better my great distress if I tell them that I felt as if I had an obligation to speak: apologize, explain my presence, justify my intrusion, ask for forgiveness to that animal. I thought it was an affront to look him in the eyes; but I felt paralyzed, unarmed. He could not look at anything that was not his face, uglier than any other of the animal kingdom because of its resemblance to ours although, in certain way, more noble than any ideal of Greek perfection. Truth be told, no obstacle stood between us. The Crystal would have broken like a thin layer at the slightest contact. Was sitting, looking into my eyes, nibbling the tip of a branch, waiting. Do not, I was not waiting; I was just there, I was there before my arrival and I would still be there after my departure. He felt that for him he had no greater importance that a passing cloud has for a reclining pastor in the slope of a hill. As my fear subsided, I regained consciousness of my situation. I said to myself that, simply, the teacher does not he had introduced himself and that, since there was nothing to hold me there, Daniel Quinn - 10 - go home. But I did not want to leave, as they say, with my hands empty I looked around and thought I should leave a note, if that I found something where and with what to write; But there was nothing. But nevertheless, My search was not futile: it caused my attention to rest on something in which I had not noticed before and it was on the other side of the glass. It was a kind of sign or poster that hung from the wall behind the gorilla. He prayed like this: THE MAN HAS DISAPPEARED, IS THERE HOPE FOR THE GORILLA? That banner stopped me, or, rather, the text of it. My profession are the words. I focused on them and asked them to explain themselves, that they stop being ambiguous. Did they mean that the hope of the gorillas it was based on the extinction of the human race, or rather on survival this? They could be interpreted in both ways. Of course, it was an oxymoron, something that seems like inexplicable. I was repaying for this reason, but also for this one: because it looked as if the magnificent animal that was on the other side of the mirror was captive simply to serve as a living illustration to said oxymoron. The truth is that you should do something about it, I said to myself inside, angry. Then I added: The best thing would be to sit down and keep quiet. I heard the echo of that strange admonition like a piece of music that can not be identified at all. I looked at the chair and asked myself: Would it be better sit down and keep quiet? And, in that case, why? The answer arrived Quickly alone: ​​because, if you keep silent, you can hear better. Yes, I thought. That was undeniably true. Without any conscious reason, I raised my eyes to those of my animal companion of the adjoining room. As everyone knows, the eyes speak. Two strangers can reveal their interest without any effort and Daniel Quinn - eleven - mutual attraction with a single look. His eyes spoke, and I understood. My legs turned to butter, and I could barely reach the chair without fall - But how? I said to myself, not daring to say it out loud. -Does matters? He answered in an equally silent manner. Is Well, and there's no need to say more. -But you ... -chapourished-. You are... I discovered that I could not articulate the word I wanted to say. A The next instant, he nodded, as if recognizing my difficulty. - I am the teacher. For a moment we looked each other in the eye, and my head felt emptier than an abandoned haystack. Then he asked: - You need a little time to regain your composure, right? - Yes! I exclaimed, speaking loudly for the first time. He turned his massive head to the side to look at me curiously. - Could it help you to listen to my story? - Of course I do, "I replied. But, first, if you do not mind, Please tell me your name. He stared at me for a while without answering and, from what I could see, without any expression this time. Then he continued as if he had not done no question. - I was born somewhere in the jungle of Equatorial Africa. I have never I tried in the least to discover where exactly, I do not see why some for which I should strive now. Have you heard, by chance, of the methods employed by those who hunted animals to sell them to the zoos and circuses? I looked up, surprised. - Well, no, I have not heard anything about it. Daniel Quinn - 12 - - There was a time, at least during the 1930s, when the The method most commonly used with gorillas was this: when finding a herd, they beat the females and took away all the little ones they saw. - What horror, "I exclaimed without thinking. The animal responded with a shrug. - I do not really remember that, even though I keep memories of things that happened even before. In short, the case is that the Johnson sold me to the zoo in a small town in the northeast, I would not know to say which, because I was not aware of such things at that time. There I grew up and lived for many years. He paused and spent some time nibbling the twig with an air absent, as if he were making memory. 3 In those places, "he continued, finally," where the animals are simply locked in, they are almost always more reflective than their cousins ​​of the jungle. This is because not even the shortest lights can stop perceive that there is something in that way of life that does not work. When I say that they are more reflective, I do not mean to say that they have the capacity to reason. But the tiger that you see coming and going like a madman for his cage is giving him turns to something that humans would recognize, without a doubt, as "a thought. "And this thought is a question: why?" Why, for what, why, why, why, why? ", asks the tiger hour after hour, day after day, year after year, as he travels his endless path after the bars of the cage. You can not analyze the question or make syllogisms to the respect. If we could ask the animal: "why what?", This would be unable to answer However, it is a burning question, which it burns the mind like an inextinguishable fire, inflicting a pain lancinating that does not diminish until the animal suffers in a lethargy Daniel Quinn - 13 - definitive, that zookeepers recognize as an irreversible rejection of life. Of course, this questioning of things is something that no tiger in its normal habitat. After a while, I started to wonder why. To the be neurologically far ahead of the tiger, I could examine what he understood by that question, at least in a way rudimentary I remembered a different type of life, very interesting and nice for those who lived it. Instead, the life he led then was unbearably boring and never pleasant. So, when asking why, I was trying to figure out why life had to be divided from this way, an interesting and pleasant half and another half boring and unpleasant. I did not imagine myself as a captive, nor did I It crossed my mind that someone was preventing me from leading a life interesting and nice. When I saw that there was not going to be any answer to my question, I began to consider the differences between the two lifestyles. The fundamental difference was that, in Africa, I was a member of a family, of a kind of family that has not occurred in your culture in the last thousand years. If the gorillas were able to express themselves according to this, they would tell you that, for them, the family resembles a hand of which they are the fingers. They are fully aware of being a family, but they are very little conscious of being individuals. In the zoo, there were other gorillas, but there was no any family Five separate fingers do not form a hand. I also reflected on the question of our diet. The human children dream of a country where the mountains are jelly, the marzipan trees and the candy stones. For a gorilla, Africa is precisely that country. Wherever we go, there is something wonderful that eat. We never think: "Oh, how I would like to find something to eat". Food is everywhere, and we take it almost without paying attention, like when we take air to breathe. Actually, we do not think about food as a separate activity. It's more like a delicious music that sounds Daniel Quinn - 14 - accompanying all activities throughout the day. In fact, the feeding became food only at the zoo, where twice day they put a bunch of tasteless grass in the cage. He was asking me these kinds of small questions as he started arise my inner life. Practically without realizing. Although, naturally, I did not know anything about that problem, the Great Depression was claiming its tribute in all aspects of life American All the zoos in the country were forced to save money and reduce the number of animals to maintain; that is, to reduce costs of any kind. A large number of animals were shot down, I think know, because in the private sector there was no outlet for animals that either they were not easy to maintain or they were neither very showy nor very spectacular The exceptions were, of course, the big cats and the primates. In short, for short, I will say that I was sold to the owner of a Small traveling circus that had an empty wagon. I was a large adolescent c impressive that represented without a doubt a important long-term investment. You could imagine that life in a cage looks like life in any cage, but that is not true. Consider, for example, the question of contact with humans. In the zoo, all the gorillas were aware of our human visitors. We found something curious, worthy to be seen, in the same way as the birds or squirrels that surround A house might seem worthy of being observed by a human family. It is clear that these strange animals were looking at us, but it never crossed our mind that they had come expressly for that reason. In the traveling circus, however, I ended up really realizing of this phenomenon. In fact, my education in this sense began at the moment in which I was exposed for the first time. Some visitors approached me Daniel Quinn - fifteen - wagon and, soon after, they started talking to me. I did not leave my astonishment. At the zoo, visitors talked with each other, never with we. "It's likely that these people are confused," I said to myself. intros "That he has confused me with one of his own." My amazement and perplexity were increasing, however, when checking that each group who visited my wagon behaved in the same way. Simply I did not know what to think. That night, almost without realizing it, I made my first attempt to gather my thoughts in order to solve a problem. Was it possible -me I asked- that change of situation would have changed me in some way way? I did not feel changed in the least, and certainly nothing of my Appearance seemed to have changed either. Maybe, I thought, the people that I had visited that day belonged to a different species than the one that went to zoo. That reasoning did not impress me. The two groups were identical in all the senses, less in one thing: that those in a group were talking to each other others and those of the other spoke with me. The sound of the talk was the same. It had to be, then, something different. The next night I tackled the problem again, reasoning from the following way: if nothing has changed in me or in them, then it must have changed something else. I am the same and they are the same, then there is something else that is not the same. Posing the problem in this way, I could only see one answer: in the zoo there were many gorillas, while here there was only one. The strength of that one reasoning, but unable to find out why the visitors behaved one way in the presence of many gorillas and another in the presence of only one. The next day I tried to pay more attention to what my visitors I soon noticed that, although each conversation was different, there was a sound that repeated itself over and over again, and it seemed to me that they did Daniel Quinn - 16 - to get my attention Of course, I could not guess its meaning. I I did not possess anything that served me as a Rosette stone. The wagon on my right was occupied by a chimp with a creature, and I had already noticed that visitors They spoke the same way as me. I also noticed that visitors they always used a different sound to get their attention. When they were In front of his wagon, visitors shouted: "Zsa-Zsa! Zsa-Zsa! Zsa- Zsa! ", While in front of mine they exclaimed:" Goliath! Goliath! Goliath!". Through small observations like that, I soon understood that these sounds were, in some mysterious way, directly associated to us two as individuals. You, who have a name from the cradle and you probably think that even a pet puppy is aware of having a name, which is not true, you can not imagine the perceptive revolution that produced in me the acquisition of a name. It would not be an exaggeration to say that I was truly born at that moment, that I was born as a person. From the awareness that I had a name to the conscience that everything had a name, the passage was not very big. You might think that a Caged animal has little chance of learning the language of its visitors, but it's not like that. The traveling circuses attract families, and I soon discovered that parents do not stop instructing their children in the arts of language: "Look, Johnny, that's a duck! Do you know how to say duck? Paaa-too! Do you know how the duck does? The duck does what! " A couple of years later, I was able to follow most of the conversations that were kept around me, but I discovered that that understanding on my part was accompanied by a great deal of perplexity. I already knew that I was a gorilla and that Zsa-Zsa was a chimpanzee. As well I knew that all the inhabitants of the wagons were animals. But no I was able to find out completely what was the distinctive feature of an animal; our human visitors clearly distinguished between themselves and the animals, but I did not know why. While he understood what we Daniel Quinn - 17 - he made animals, or thought he understood, he did not understand what he was doing that they were not animals. The nature of our captivity was no longer a mystery, since the I had heard explain to hundreds of children. All the animals of the circus We had originally lived in a place called "jungle", which was it spread all over the world, regardless of what the "world" was. They had taken us in the jungle and they had taken us to the same place, since, For some strange reason, people found us interesting. Us kept in cages because we were "wild" and "dangerous", terms these that puzzled me a bit, because, evidently, they referred to some qualities that I symbolized. I mean, when the parents wanted teach their children a particularly wild and dangerous animal, They pointed to me. It's true that they also pointed to the big cats, but, As I had not seen a big cat out of a cage, that did not I got out of doubt. As a whole, life in the traveling circus represented an improvement Regarding life in the zoo, it was not so oppressively boring. I dont know I happened to feel resentment towards my guardians. Although they had a margin of movement much greater than me, they seemed as tied to the circus as the the rest of us, and it did not occur to me at all that they could carry a completely different kind of life outside the enclosure. The idea that I had been unjustly stripped of some innate right, such as the right to live as I pleased, was something as foreign to me as the law of Boyle It must have been three or four years. Then, a day when the place was deserted, I received a very special visitor: a man lonely who looked old and decrepit but who, as I later learned, did not I was more than forty-five years old. His way of approaching was different. From the entrance, he looked methodically at all the wagons, one after the other, and then he went directly to mine. He stopped before the rope placed Daniel Quinn - 18 - one and a half meters away, he put his cane in the mud just in front of his shoes and stared at me straight in the eyes. It has not disturbed never any human look, so I returned him placidly the look. I sat down, and he was several minutes without moving. I remember having I felt an unusual admiration for that man, who so stoically He could stand the drizzle that was stubbornly hitting his face and soaking his clothing. In the end, he straightened up and nodded to me, as if he had come to a well-thought-out conclusion. - You are not Goliath - he said. After which, he turned around and marched where he had come, without look to the right or to the left. 4 I was stunned, as you can imagine, that I was not Goliath? What could it really mean that I was not Goliath? It did not occur to me to say, "Well, if I'm not Goliath, then who Am I? "A human would ask himself this question, aware that, whatever his name, it is certainly someone. But not me. On the contrary, it seemed to me that, if It was not Goliath, so it was not anyone at all. Although that stranger had never set his eyes on me before, I doubted for a moment that he spoke with an unquestionable authority. Thousands of people had called me by the name of Goliath, including who, like the employees of the traveling circus, they knew me very well; But I was Of course, that was not important, that it did not help. The unknown He had not said: "You are not called Goliath", but "You are not Goliath". I had a abysmal difference. I felt - though I could not have expressed it that way in that epoch- as if he had declared my consciousness of identity null. Daniel Quinn - 19 - I fell into a kind of semi-unconscious state. He passed near me an employee with food, but I did not notice him. It was night, but no I slept It stopped raining and the sun came out without me noticing. And later The usual crowd arrived, who began to shout: "Goliath! Goliath! Goliath!" But I did not pay any attention. I spent several days this way. Then, one night, after closing the circus, I drank all the contents of my bowl and fell asleep: they had thrown into the water a very powerful sedative. At dawn, I woke up in another cage. At first, being so big and having a very strange shape, I even thought it was a cage. It was circular, and had all sides in the air; As I found out later, it was a roundabout that had been reformed to serve me as a cage. Except for the large white house that there was the cage was alone in the middle of an attractive park, which I imagined it had to extend to the ends of the Earth. It did not take me long to find an explanation to that strange move. The people who visited the traveling circus came, at least in part, with the idea of ​​seeing a gorilla named Goliath. I did not know where they got said idea, but they certainly seemed to have it. And, when the owner of the circus learned that I was not really Goliath, I could not continue exhibiting me as such, and he had no choice but to say goodbye. I do not I knew whether to regret it or not. My new home was much more pleasant than all those he had had since leaving Africa, though, without the encouragement everyday of the crowd, it would soon become agonizingly more bored that the zoo, where at least counted on the company of others Gorillas I was still pondering those questions when, on average Tomorrow, I raised my eyes and saw that I was not alone. There was a man just at On the other side of the bars, a black silhouetted silhouette on the house illuminated by Sun. I approached cautiously and was left speechless when I I recognized Daniel Quinn - twenty - As a repetition of our previous encounter, we were looking at each other mutually eye to eye for several minutes, I sitting on the floor of the Cage and him leaning on his cane. I noticed that, with other clothes and not being Raining like the other time, it was not the old man I had taken him for. His face was long, dark and sucked; the eyes burned by a strange intensity, and in his mouth was a grimace of bitter joy. TO! Finally, he greeted me with a nod, like the previous time. - Indeed, he was right. You are not Goliath. You are Ismael. Once again, as if a transcendental question had been resolved finally, he turned around and walked away. And, once again, I was speechless, but that time with a feeling of deep relief, as if rescued from oblivion. Better yet, the error that had made me live as an involuntary impostor for so many years it had been corrected at last. I felt like a real person, and not another time but for the first time. I was consumed with curiosity about my savior. I did not think associate it with my move away from the traveling circus and my move to that lovely belvedere, it was still incapable of the most primitive of the Fallacies: post hoc, ergo propter hoc 3. He was for me a supernatural being. For a mind predisposed to mythology, he was the beginning of my experience of what is meant by divine. I had done two brief appearances in my life, and both, after a simple assertion, had turned. I tried to look for the hidden meaning of those appearances, but I could not find more than questions. I went to the circus in search of Goliath or in my search? And this because I expected that I would be Goliath or because he suspected that I was not Goliath? How is it that I had found so quickly in my new location? I did not have any element to measure the scope of human knowledge; yes everyone I knew I could be found in the traveling circus - that, at least, it had seemed to me-, would I also know that I could also be found Daniel Quinn - twenty-one - here? Apart from all those incontestable questions, there was the fact incontrovertible that the stranger had sought me twice with the In order to approach me in an unprecedented way: as a person. I I was sure that, finally, the question of my identity was settled, he was going to disappear from my life forever. What else was there left to do? 3. In Latin it means "after the fact, therefore due to the fact". You probably think that all these hasty considerations do not They are more than paparruchas. However, the truth - as I later learned - did not It was much less fantastic. My benefactor was a wealthy Jewish merchant from that city, by name Walter Sokolow. The day he discovered me in the traveling circus, I had been walking in the rain, prey to a kind of suicidal sadness that had seized him a few months before, after learning that all his family had disappeared in the Nazi holocaust. His wanderings They drove to a fair in the outskirts of the city. Due the rain, most of the booths and other attractions were closed, which gave the place an air of abandonment, perfectly in tune with the melancholy that seized his person. In the end he came to the area of wild animals, whose elements of interest were announced in a series of gaudy paintings. In one of them, even more garish than the others, it appeared the Goliath gorilla brandishing the shattered corpse of an African native to weapon mode. Walter Sokolow, thinking maybe a gorilla called Goliath could be an appropriate symbol of the Nazi giant that was then bent on ending David's race, he decided it could be interesting Contemplate such a monster behind bars. He entered, approached my wagon and, after looking me in the eyes, he I realized right away that I had nothing to do with the monster bloodthirsty of the painting, nor with the Philistine tormentor of his race. He felt that it did not give him any satisfaction to see me behind bars. Before to Daniel Quinn - 22 - On the contrary, in a quixotic gesture of guilt and defiance, he decided rescue me from my cage and turn -horrible thought- into a sort of substitute for the family he had not been able to rescue from the European cage. The owner of the traveling circus agreed to a deal; He was even glad when Mr. Sokolow asked him to hire the tamer who He had taken care of me since my arrival. The owner was a realistic man: with the inevitable entry of the United States into the war, the shows itinerants like yours or they would have to retire to their barracks winter or they would simply disappear from circulation. Mr. Sokolow let a whole day pass for me to do the new environment, and came again so that we started to know each other. Wanted to that the tamer knew about everything related to me, from the type of food that they gave me until the cleaning of the cage. He asked if he believed that I was dangerous. The tamer replied that I looked like a weight heavy, dangerous if at all by my size and strength, but not by my temperament. About an hour later, Mr. Sokolow told him he could leave, and we look at each other in silence for a long time, just like than the previous two times. Finally, reluctantly, as if Overcome some formidable internal barrier, he began to speak to me, not the way the visitor talked to me, but rather how it speak to the wind or to the waves that arrive at the beach, saying things that have to be say but that nobody should hear. While he gave free rein to his troubles and self-recriminations, he forgot the need to be prudent. A About an hour later, he was leaning on the cage, with one hand around a bar. He was looking at the ground, immersed in his thoughts, opportunity that I took advantage of to express my sympathy pulling out my hand and gently stroking the knuckles of hers. The he startled, horrified, but when he looked me in the eyes again, he calmed down, convinced that my gesture was not as threatening as it had seemed Daniel Quinn - 2. 3 - In the first moment. Alerted by this experience, he began to suspect that I had a true intelligence, and a few simple tests were enough to convince him. After verifying that I understood his words, he came to the conclusion -as would do others later working with more primates - that I was able to articulate some words. And that's how he decided to teach me how to talk. I do not I will stop in the painful and humiliating months that followed. Neither of them understood that the difficulty was insurmountable, due to the basic lack of phonic endowment on my part. By not understanding this, we continue working convinced that, if we persevered, a gift special would manifest itself one day as if by magic. But the day came in that he could not continue and, anguished at not being able to tell him with words, I told him with the thought, with all the mental strength I found in me. He was shocked, just like me when he saw that I had heard my mental scream. I will not tire you telling you each of the steps of my progress, a Once between us a full communication was established, because it is something that you can easily imagine, it seems to me. Throughout the next decade, he was teaching me everything he knew about the world, the universe and human history, and when my questions exceeded their knowledge, we studied side by side. And in the end, when my studies took me more beyond his own interests, he willingly accepted to be my assistant in the research, looking for books and information that, of course, were not within reach of my hand. As my education absorbed most of my interest benefactor, the remorse left soon to torment him and, of this way, he gradually emerged from his prostration. At the beginning of sixty, I was like a guest who barely needs the attention of his host, so Mr. Sokolow began to be rediscovered in the social circles, with the predictable result that it was not long before arms of a young woman in her forties, who saw no reason Daniel Quinn - 24 - why he could not become his wife in every rule. In fact, he was not at all against marriage, but he made a terrible mistake calculation: decided that he should hide from his wife our special relationship. It was not a strange decision for those times, and, for my part, I did not I was sufficiently experienced to recognize it as the error that was. I went back to the gazebo as soon as it finished its reform, made in function of the new civilized habits that I had acquired. But since the beginning, Mrs. Sokolow saw me as a dangerous mascot and started to campaign for me to move elsewhere or get rid of me as quickly as possible. Fortunately, my benefactor, who was accustomed to doing what he thought was most convenient, he made it clear that, If they begged or pressured him, they would not change their plans stop with me. A few months after the wedding, he went to tell me that his wife, at just as Sarah, the old wife of Abraham, was soon to give him a son. "I did not think of this when I named you Ishmael," he told me. "But do not worry, I will not allow you to be expelled from my house like Sara He expelled your namesake from the house of Abraham. "However, he told me in a tone Funny that, if it was a boy, it would be called Isaac. But it turned out to be a girl, and it was called Raquel. 5 At that moment, Ismael paused very long, with his eyes closed, so long that I started to wonder if he would not have stayed asleep. But, after a while, he continued: -I do not know if it was a prudent or crazy decision, the fact is that my benefactor let me know that I would mentor the girl, and, be a prudent or crazy decision, I loved having that opportunity to Daniel Quinn - 25 - show my appreciation. In her father's arms, Rachel spent almost as much time with me as with his mother, which, of course, is not It helped to improve my relationships with that person. How could I communicate with the girl in a more direct language than the spoken speech, I could comfort her and have fun when others could not, and so, little to little, a bond was created between us comparable to that which exists between two twins, only I was at the same time his brother, pet, tutor and carer. »Mrs. Sokolow was looking forward to the day when Rachel went to school, then his new interests would turn it into a strange to me Seeing that this result was not produced, he renewed his machinations to send me away from there, arguing that my presence would only hinder the social development of the child. But he was not hindered even by the fact of having been able to skip three primary courses and another high school course to finish graduating in biology before turning twenty. In the end, after so many years failing in a matter that touched so closely the government of her house, Mrs. Sokolow no longer needed any particular reason to wish I left. »On the death of my benefactor, which occurred in 1985, Raquel became in my protector. I was not going to continue living in the gazebo. With the funds intended for this purpose according to the will of his father, Rachel moved me to a place that had been prepared for me in advance. Again, Ishmael was silent for several minutes. Then he continued. -In the following years, things did not go exactly as they had planned, or expected. I discovered that I was not happy with my life withdrawal. Having spent all my life, so to speak, retired, I now wanted advance another bit until you reach the very center of your culture, and almost I exhausted the patience of my protector looking for all kinds of initiatives to this Daniel Quinn - 26 - finish. For her part, Mrs. Sokolow, who was not willing to leave things As they were, he convinced a judge to reduce the number of funds for my maintenance. »Until 1989 my situation was not clarified, finally. That year I understood that my true vocation was to teach, and I devised a system to be able to survive in tolerable circumstances in this city. He nodded, giving me to understand that this was the end of his story, or that was all he wanted to tell. 6 There are times when having too much to say can be so Annoying as having too little to say. I could not think of any adequate response to that story. Finally, I asked a question that I did not think it was more or less futile than the other dozens who came to me mind. -And have you had many disciples? "Four, and I've failed with all four. -Ah And why have you failed? He closed his eyes to reflect for a moment. -I have failed to underestimate the difficulty of what I was trying teach, and for not understanding the mind of my students well enough. "I see," I nodded. And what do you teach? Ishmael picked up a new twig from a pile on his right, he examined it briefly and then began to nibble it, watching me languidly in the eyes. In the end, he asked me: -Basting you in my story, what topic do you think I could be more qualified? I blinked and told him I did not know. -Of course you know. My theme is: captivity. Daniel Quinn - 27 - - The captivity? -Right. A minute later, without getting up from the chair, I commented: -I try to find out what this has to do with saving the world. Ismael reflected for a moment. - Among those of your culture, who are those who want to destroy the world? -Who are those who want to destroy the world? As far as I know, nobody specifically wants to destroy the world. -And, nevertheless, you are destroying it. Each of you is contributing daily to its destruction. -Yes, that's true. - Why do not you stop that process? I shrugged. -Sincerely, we do not know how to do it. -They are captives of a system of civilization that forces them more or less to continue destroying the world to live. -Yes, that seems. -All right. You are captives, and you have also taken captive world. That is the crux of the matter, is not it? Your captivity and captivity of the world. -Yes it is. I had never focused on the problem in that way. -And you yourself are also captive your way, is not it? -Yes? How? Ishmael smiled, revealing two huge rows of ivory teeth. Until that moment, it had not occurred to me that I could smile. I added: -Well, I have the impression of being a captive, but I can not explain why what do I have that impression? - Years ago - you would be very small then, for that reason you will not remember-, Many young people in this country had that same impression. They made a Daniel Quinn - 28 - naive and disorganized effort to escape such captivity, but at final failed. -Why? -For being unable to discover the bars of the cage. If you can not discover what keeps us locked up, the willingness to leave soon is It becomes confusing and ineffective. - Yes, that is the impression that I have too. Ismael nodded. -But, let me ask again, what does that have to do with to save the world? The world can not survive much longer if humanity is captive Do you need this explanation? -Do not. At least for me. -I think that among you there are many who would like to free the world of captivity. -Yes I agree. -And what prevents them from carrying it out? -I do not know. - Here is what prevents it: they can not discover the bars from the cage. -Yes, ‖ I said. I get it. And then ... what do we do now? Ishmael smiled again. -As I told you the story of how I got here, such Once you could do the same. -What do you mean? -Well, maybe you could tell me a story that would explain how is it that you got here? -Ah, "I said. Well, give me a moment. -You can have as many moments as you want -said seriously. Daniel Quinn - 29 - 7 -When I was studying at the university -I finally began-, I did certain occasion a job for the philosophy class. I do not remember exactly the topic; something related to epistemology. This is what, to large traits, I said in that work: Do you know something? In the end, the Nazis do not They lost the war. They won and they prospered. They seized the world and erased from the map every Jew, gypsy, Black, Indian or mulatto found. Then, carried out this operation, They also erased the Russians, Poles, Bohemians, Moravians, Bulgarians, Serbs and Croats, basically all Slavs. Then, they undertook it with the Polynesians, Koreans, Chinese and Japanese, all peoples of Asia. It took them a long, long time, but once they had finished, all the inhabitants of the world were one hundred percent Aryans, and all They were very, very happy. "Naturally, in textbooks used in schools, more race than Aryan was mentioned, more language than German, more religion that Hitlerism no more political system than National Socialism. There would be no It made no sense. A few generations later, no one would have been happened to write something different in textbooks, even if there Dear, nobody knew anything else. »But, one fine day, two students were chatting at the University of New Heidelberg, in Tokyo. Both were handsome, with one Aryan pose, but one of them seemed somewhat brooding and unhappy. It was called Kurt. His friend asked him: "What's the matter, Kurt? Why are you always crestfallen and meditative? "Kurt replied:" I'll tell you, Hans. There's something that it takes my sleep away. "His friend asked him what." This is it, "Kurt replied. "I can not help but feel the crazy feeling that they have lied to us in something". »And with that I finished my work. Daniel Quinn - 30 - Ismael nodded thoughtfully. - And what did your professor tell you about it? - He wanted to know if I had the same crazy feeling that Kurt. To the say yes, he asked me about what I thought we were lying. I answered: "How can I know? I have no more information of what Kurt had. "Of course, he did not think he was talking serious. He supposed that it was a mere exercise in epistemology. - And still you keep asking if they have lied to you? - Yes, but not as desperately as then. - Not so desperately? Why not? - Because I discovered that the thing does not matter in the practice. We are lying or not, we have to get up all the mornings, go to work and pay the bills and all that. - Unless, of course, that mud start suspecting that you are lying, and that you all discover what the lie is. - What do you mean? - If only you discovered the lie, then you would probably be right: in practice the thing would not matter at all. But yes all you discovered the lie, the thing could have a lot of importance in practice. - True. - So, that's what we should aspire to. I started to ask him what he meant by that, but he handed me his leathery black hand and told me: - Morning. 8 That afternoon I went for a walk. Walking for a walk is something that I do very rarely. Inside my apartment I felt inexplicably Daniel Quinn - 31 - nervous. I needed to talk to someone, to be reassured. Or maybe confess my sin: once again, I was having impure thoughts about saving the world. Or maybe it was not about any of those things and just It was ringing. And, in fact, considering the events of the day, it was more than likely that he was dreaming. Sometimes I fly in my dreams, and then I say to myself: "It's finally happening in the reality and not in a dream! ". Anyway, I needed to talk to someone but I was alone. Is my usual situation, by own choice, or at least that's what I tell myself. The simple compadreo leaves me dissatisfied, and there are few people willing to carry the weight and risk of friendship, as I understand it. People say that I am bitter and that I am a bit misanthrope, and I I answer that it is probably true. Any type of discussion about Whatever the subject, it has always seemed a waste of time. The next morning, I thought when I woke up: "In spite of everything, I could be a dream You can sleep in a dream, even have dreams in a sleep. "As I gave myself to the routine of preparing breakfast, eating and To wash myself, I noticed that my heart was pounding. I thought he told me: "How do you want to not be terrified?" And so time went by. I took the car to go downtown. The Building was still there. The office at the end of the corridor on the ground floor was still there, without being bolted. When I opened the door, I was received, suddenly, by the intense and acrid aroma of Ismael Shaking my legs, I went to the chair and sat down. Ishmael looked at me gravely through the dark mirror, like wondering if I would be strong enough to endure that conversation so serious. Once the decision was made, he started talking preambles, and I could see that this was his usual way of proceed. Daniel Quinn - 32 - Chapter TWO Daniel Quinn - 33 - one "It's funny," he began, "but it was my benefactor who elicited in me the interest in the subject of captivity, not my own condition. As surely I already mentioned in my story yesterday, they had obsessed events that were taking place at the time in Nazi Germany. - I already imagined it. -For what you told me yesterday about Kurt and Hans, I deduce that you are a scholar of the life and time of the German people under Adolf Hitler. -Studious? No, I would not say so much. I have read some pretty books known, the memories of Speer, Boom and fall of the Third Reich of Shirer, etcetera, and certain studies on Hitler. -In that case, I'm sure you'll understand how much effort put Mr. Sokolow in that I understood: that it was not just the Jews the captives of Hitler. The entire nation was captive, including its most enthusiastic followers. Some detested what he did, others simply Daniel Quinn - 3. 4 - They kept on throwing the best they could, and others went really well; but all of them were captives. -I think I know what you mean. -And what was it that kept them captive? -Well ... terror, I suppose. Ismael shook his head. -You have certainly seen movies from the previous big gatherings to the war, where hundreds of thousands of people appear cheering with one only voice. It was not terror that drove them to these unity and of force. -Already. Let's say then that it was Hitler's charisma. - No doubt he had it. But with charisma you only attract the attention of the people. Once you have earned your attention, you must have something to tell. Y What was it that Hitler had to tell the German people? I thought for a moment. -Apart from the Jewish question, I do not think I can answer that Question. -What I had to tell him was a story. -A story? -A story where the Aryan race in general and the people of Germany in they appeared deprived, handcuffed, harassed, violated and trampled by the mestizo races, the communists and the Jews. A story where, under the aegis of Adolf Hitler, the Aryan race would break their chains, consummate his revenge on his oppressors, he would purify humanity from her baseness and she would recover her legitimate role as mistress of all races. -Already. Now it can seem incredible that people let themselves be seduced by similar paparruchas; but, after almost two decades of humiliation and suffering after the First World War, contained an attractive irresistible to the people of Germany, and they were also reinforced not only Daniel Quinn - 35 - by the usual means of propaganda, but also by good programs designed for youth education and reeducation of the elderly. - True. - As I say, in Germany many qualified this history of rancid mythology, but ended up being held captive simply because the vast majority believed her wonderful and was willing to give her life for turn it into reality. You know what I mean, right? -I think so. Even if you were not personally a captive of that story, you ended up being captive because the people around you I became a captive. Something similar to the animal that is dragged between of a stampede. -Exact. Although you privately believed that everything was crazy, you had to represent your role, you had to take your place in the story. The only one The way to avoid it was to flee Germany. -Already. -You know why I'm telling you this, right? -I think so, although I'm not entirely sure. -I'm telling you this because those of your culture are in a very similar situation. As in Nazi Germany, she is captivated by a history. I was blinking for a few moments. - I do not know any history of that type - I said at the end. -You mean you've never heard of her? -Exact. Ismael nodded. -That's because there is no need to hear it. There is no need to name her or talk about her. Each and every one of you the You know by heart since you were six or seven years old. Black and white, men and women, rich and poor, Christians and Jews, Americans and Russians, Norwegian and Chinese. You all know her And you hear her incessantly because all Daniel Quinn - 36 - the propaganda media, all the educational media, disseminate it unceasingly. And when you hear it incessantly, you do not lend it real Attention. There is no need to pay attention to it. Is always there, humming like a background music; that's why there is no need to pay attention. It will even seem to you - at least initially- it is difficult to pay attention to it. It's like the purr of a distant engine that does not stop; In the end, nobody seems to hear it. -That's very interesting, I agreed. But I also find it a bit hard to believe. Ismael closed his eyes gently and gave an indulgent smile. -It is not about believing. Once you know that story, you will hear it everywhere in your culture, and you'll be surprised that people around you do not hear it but just assume it. two -You told me yesterday that you do not have the impression of being a captive. That's what you say because there is enormous pressure on you to play a role in the history that your culture is representing in the world, no matter the paper that is. This pressure is exerted in many ways, and many levels, but the most usual way is the following: those who refuse to play a role they stop being fed. -Yes it is. -A German who did not want to play a role in the history of Hitler I had a choice: I could leave Germany. But you do not have that option. Wherever you go, you discover that you are representing the same story, and, if you do not want to play any role in it, you stop being fed. -That's true. Daniel Quinn - 37 - -The Mother Culture teaches us that this is how it should be. Except for how many thousands of savages scattered here and there, all the towns of the Earth are now living this story. Man was born to represent this story, and moving away from it is to depart from the human race properly such; is to risk falling into oblivion. Your place is here, your role is to participate in this story, to pitch in and, as reward, be fed. There is no "other thing". Get out of this History is falling on the edges of the world. There is no other way out than Do not be through death. -Yes, that's what I think too. Ismael marked a pause to think a little. - What we have said so far is just an introduction to our work. I wanted you to hear it because I wanted you to have at least one vague idea of ​​where you are introducing yourself. Once you learn to discern the voice of Mother Culture, which, as background music, tell your story again and again to those of your culture, no longer you will never stop hearing it. Wherever you go in what's left of your life, You will feel the need to tell the people around you: "How can you to listen to those paparruchas and not recognize them as such? "And then the People will look at you strangely and wonder what the hell you are talking about. In other words, that if you undertake this educational trip with me, you will discover that you have alienated yourself from the people around you: friends, family, partners, colleagues, etc. -That I can handle - I just said. 3 - My most beloved fantasy, and at the same time more unrealizable, is to travel one day for your world as you travel, freely and without anyone bother go out to the street and stop a taxi to take me to the airport, Daniel Quinn - 38 - where I would take a flight to New York, London or Florence. When I I surrender to that fantasy, I delight in making the preparations for the trip, imagining what I have to take and what I can leave at home (You will understand that, of course, he would travel under a human disguise). If I take too many things, dragging them from one place to another, the trip it would be tiring; but, if I did not get enough, I would have to constantly interrupt the trip to acquire what I need, which It could be even more tiring. "Yes, I think so," I observed by way of courtesy. -Well, that is precisely what we are going to do today: prepare the Suitcase for our trip together. In that suitcase I'm going to put some things I do not want to stop and pick up later. Some things that will mean little or nothing for you at this time. I'll show you just in passing and then the I'll throw the suitcase. That way you can recognize them when you take them out later. -Very well. -First, a little vocabulary. Let's see some names so that, for example, we do not have to keep talking about "those of you culture "and" those of other cultures. "I have already used some names with other students, but now I'm going to try a new pair of names with you. I suppose you are familiar with the expression "either take it or leave it". In such order of things, would the words Takers and Debates have any important connotation for you? -I do not see exactly what you want to say. -I want to say that, if for example I call a group the Takers already other the Dejadores, do you have the impression that one is composed of good and the other one of bad guys? -Do not. They sound perfectly neutral to me. -All right. Then, from now on I will call those of your culture the Takers and those of all other cultures, the Dejadores. Daniel Quinn - 39 - "Mmmm," I said. I have a reservation to make. -Ahead. -I do not see how you can put all the rest of the world in one category, as you just did. -It is precisely the way you proceed in your culture, except that you use a couple of very strong terms instead of relatively neutral terms. You call yourself civilized and rest of the primitive world. You accept these terms universally. I mean, you, the inhabitants of London, Paris, Baghdad, Seoul, Detroit, Buenos Aires or Toronto, you know that, regardless of what that can differentiate you, unites you being civilized and distinct from the peoples of the Stone Age that are scattered all over the world; and you think that, whatever their differences, the peoples of the Stone Age they are also grouped under the category of primitives. -Yes it's correct. Would you be more comfortable using the civilized terms and Primitives? -Yes, I guess so; but only because my ear is used to they. But for me you can use the Takers and the Dejadores. 4 -In second place, the map. I have one. You do not need to memorize the itinerary. That is, do not worry if, at the end of a day, you suddenly realize that you do not remember a word of what what I said No matter. It is the journey itself that is going to change you. See what What do I want to say? Daniel Quinn - 40 - -I'm not sure. Ismael thought for a moment. -I will give you a general idea of ​​where we are going, and I'm sure you'll understand. -In agreement. -The Mother Culture, whose voice resounds in your ear from the day of your birth, has given you an explanation of why things are how are you. You know her well: everyone in your culture knows her very well Well, but this explanation did not hit you at once. Nobody called you to tell you: "Look, this is how things have ended up being the way they are, since They started their journey some ten or fifteen billion years ago. " Well, this explanation is similar to a mosaic that you have been composing from a million fragments of information collected from others that They share this same explanation. They come from conversations that they kept your relatives at home, from the cartoons you saw in the tele, catechetical classes, what your textbooks taught you and your professors, newsreels, movies, novels, sermons, works of theater, various publications and other sources. Do you follow me? -I think so. -This explanation of why things are as they are is part of the air that you breathe in your culture. Everyone knows her and all The world accepts it without questioning. -Yes. -In the course of our trip we are going to examine the key pieces of that mosaic. We are going to take them out of your mosaic and fit in a mosaic entirely different, in a completely different explanation of why what things are as they are. -In agreement. -And when we have finished, you will have a complete vision new to the world and what has happened in it. And it will not matter if Daniel Quinn - 41 - Do you remember or not how that vision was formed? This trip is going to change you; for the which, you do not need to worry about memorizing the path traveled until achieve that change. -Great. I see what you want to say. 5 "Third," he continued, "are the definitions. There are some words that hold a special meaning for us. First definition: history A story is a scenario where they interrelate man, the world and the gods. -In agreement. -Second definition: represent. To represent a story is to live from so that that story becomes reality. In other words, To represent a story is to strive to make it a reality. You will become with me in that was what the people of Germany tried to do in Hitler times. Turn the Reign of the Thousand Years into reality. Convert actually the story that Hitler was telling. -So is. -Third definition: culture. A culture is a town that is representing a story -A town that is representing a story? And a story is a turn ...? -A scenario where man, the world and the gods. -Voucher. So what you're trying to say is that those in my culture are representing his own story about man, the world and the gods. -So is. -But I still do not know what that story is. Daniel Quinn - 42 - -You'll know. Do not hurry. At the moment, the only thing you have What to know is that during the history of humanity two completely different stories. One began to be represented will make two or three million years by those of us who have agreed to call the Dejadores, and continues to be represented by them with the same success as forever. The other one began to be represented some ten or twelve thousand years ago by part of what we have agreed to call the Takers, and apparently about to end in a catastrophe. "Ah," I exclaimed with a tinge of perplexity. 6 -If Mother Culture decided to provide an explanation of the human history using these terms, it would sound something like this: "The Dejadores constituted the first chapter of human history, a long and boring chapter. Your chapter in human history ended about ten thousand years with the birth of agriculture in the Middle East. East event marked the beginning of the second chapter, the chapter of the Takers Certain Debatees still live in the world, but they are an anachronism, like fossils; People who live in the past, people who do not know he realizes that his chapter in human history has ended. -Already. -That is, broadly speaking, human history, just like you he perceives it. -I would say that it is, indeed. -As you'll see later, what I say is quite different from this. The Dejadores are not the first chapter of a story in which the Takers are the second chapter. -Can you repeat this? Daniel Quinn - 43 - -I'll say it another way. The Decisors and the Takers are representing two different stories, based on premises completely different and contradictory. About this we will stop after; so at this moment you do not have to understand it. -In agreement. 7 Ismael scratched his jaw thoughtfully. From my side of crystal, I did not hear him scratching; but in my imagination it sounded like a shovel dragged on the gravel. -I think our suitcase is full up. As I said before, I do not expect you to remember everything that I will put into it today. When you Marches, it's likely that everything looks like a big mess. -It is probable -I seconded with conviction. -But it does not matter. If tomorrow I take something out of our suitcase today, you will recognize it instantly; that is what really matters. -Voucher. I'm glad to hear you say that. -We'll have a short session today. The trip itself begins morning. Until then, you can reflect on the history that those of you culture have been representing in the world for the last ten thousand years. Do you remember what it is? -Do not. What is it about? -It is about the meaning of the world, of the divine intentions in the world and human destiny. -Already. Above all, I can tell you several stories; I do not think there's just one. -It is about the history that everyone in your culture knows and you accept. I'm sorry to say I do not know what you mean. Daniel Quinn - 44 - -It may help you to understand it if I tell you that it is a explanatory story, such as "How did the elephant get the trunk?", or "How did the spots get the leopard?" -I see. -And what do you imagine that explains your history? -Well ... I have no idea. -It should have been clear from what I told you before. Explain why things are the way they are. From the beginning to the time I presented. "Ah," I stammered as I looked out the window for a few seconds. Do not I think I know that story. As I said, I know several stories; Not only a. Ismael plunged into his reflections for a couple of minutes. -One of the students that I mentioned yesterday, a student in particular, She felt obliged to explain what she was looking for and said: "Why does not anyone seem unfazed? In the laundry I hear a lot of people talk about the end of the world, and do not flinch any more than if you were comparing different detergents. People talk about the destruction of the ozone layer and of the annihilation of life. Talk about the deforestation of the rainforest, of the deadly contamination that is going to stay with us for thousands and millions of years, of the disappearance of dozens of species every day that happens, the end of speciation itself. And it seems to stay so pancha " »I answered:" Is this what you want to know, then? People do not flinch at the destruction of the world? "She was left thinking a while and, in the end, he replied: "No, I know why they do not flinch, they do not flinch because they believe what who tell them. " »I said:" Yes? " Daniel Quinn - Four. Five - »What have you told the people who are preventing you from flinching, that the keeps relatively quiet while contemplating the terrible damage that Are you inflicting this planet? -I do not know. -They told him an explanatory story. They have given an explanation why things are the way they are, which serves to disable any alarm. This explanation covers everything: the deterioration of the ozone layer, the pollution of the oceans, the destruction of the rainforest, and even the extinction of humanity; and that explanation seems to leave her satisfied. Or such It would be more accurate to say that it pacifies her. People put their shoulders on the day, you get stuck with drugs or with television at night and try not to Think too seriously in the world that you will bequeath to your children. -True. -You also gave you the same explanation of why things They are as they are, but apparently it does not satisfy you. You have heard it from the childhood, but you've never swallowed it. You have the feeling that something important has been left out, that they have eaten something. You have the feeling that you have been lied about something, and you would like to know what it is, and for You are here in this room. -Let me think for a while. You will not be claiming that story explanatory contains the lies that I talked about in my work on Kurt and Hans ... -Yes sir. That's it. -I feel a little dazed. I do not know such a story. Y certainly not a unique story. -It is a unique story, perfectly delimited. Enough that think in a mythological way. -What? -I'm referring to the mythology of your culture, of course. I thought it was obvious. Daniel Quinn - 46 - -Not for me. -Any story that explains the meaning of the world, the intentions of the gods and the destiny of man is in itself a mythology. -It may be so, but I am not aware of anything remotely resembling such a thing. As far as I know, in our culture there is nothing that can called mythology, unless we're talking about Greek mythology, Norse mythology or things like that. -I'm talking about a living mythology. It is not registered in any book; is registered in the minds of those in your culture, and is being represented all over the world right now, while we are sitting here, talking about her. -Excuse me, but, as far as I know, there's nothing that looks like that in Our culture. Ishmael frowned at his black forehead as he shot me a look of funny exasperation -That's because you conceive mythology as a set of stories fantastic The Greeks did not conceive their mythology in that way. Surely See what I mean. If you could get close to a man from Greece Homeric and ask him what fantastic stories he tells his children about Gods and heroes, I would not know what you're talking about. He would say the same thing you said before: "As far as I know, there is nothing similar in our culture." A Scandinavian from the past would say exactly the same thing. -Already. But I have not seen it at all. -In agreement. I'm going to simplify a little more. This story, like any story, it has a beginning, a development and an end. And each one of These parts is a story in itself. Before we meet tomorrow, try to see if You can find the beginning of the story. - The beginning of the story? -Yes. Think ... anthropologically. I laughed. Daniel Quinn - 47 - -What does that mean? If you were an anthropologist looking for the story represented by the Aboriginal Alawa of Australia, you would expect to hear a story with a beginning, a development and an end, right? -In agreement. - And what would you expect to be the beginning of the story? -I do not have the slightest idea. -Of course you do. You are playing dumb I remained silent for a minute, trying to figure out how to stop play dumb "Okay," I finally replied. I guess I would expect it to be about his myth of creation. -That's. -But I do not see how that could help me. -I'll tell you without bluntness. You are looking for the myth of creation of your own culture. I gave him a dirty look. -We do not have any myths of creation, I said. Is a certainty. Daniel Quinn - 48 - Chapter THREE Daniel Quinn - 49 - one -What is that? I asked when I arrived the next morning. I meant an object that was on the arm of my chair. -What would you say it is? -A tape recorder. -Well, yes, that's it. - What is it there for? -To be recorded for posterity the curious legends of a culture doomed to disappear, which you will tell me now. I laughed and took a seat. -I'm sorry to tell you that I have not yet found any curious legend to tell you. Daniel Quinn - fifty - - So my suggestion that you look for a myth of creation has not produced no fruit ... -We do not have any creation myths -I insisted-. Unless what are you referring to that of Genesis. -Don't be absurd. If an eighth grade teacher invited you to explain how all this began, would you read the first chapter of Genesis to the class? -Of course not. -And what would you tell him? -I would tell you something, but certainly not a myth. -Ah, you would not consider it a myth, of course. No story of creation It is a myth for those who tell it. It is simply history. -Okay, but the story I'm going to tell about it does not have Absolutely nothing of myth. Some parts are still in doubt, I it seems, and I suppose that the studies of the future could review it a little; but I assure you that it is not a myth. - Turn on the tape recorder and start. We talk later. I gave him a disapproving look. -You mean you really want to ...? - Tell me the story, that's it. -I can not tell it right away, like that suddenly. I need some time to order the pieces. -We have plenty of time. It's a ninety minute tape. I sighed, pressed the record button and closed my eyes. two - Everything started a long, long time ago, about ten or fifteen a billion years, "I launched a few minutes later. I'm not sure which one is the theory most followed today, if the state of equilibrium or the big Bang; but, in any case, the universe began to walk a lot Daniel Quinn - 51 - weather. At that point, I opened my eyes and shot Ismael a look inquisitive Look that he gave me back, with these words: -That is all? That is the history? -No, I just wanted to do a check. -I closed my eyes and started again-. After I do not know. I guess about six or seven billion of years, our solar system was born ... I keep in my mind the image of a school encyclopedia with gelatinous globs projected or merging ... Those were the planets; which, in two or three billion years next, they cooled and solidified ... Anyway. And life appeared in the broth chemist of our ancient oceans will do some ... What do I know, about five thousand millions of years? -Three and a half billion, or four thousand. -All right. Then bacteria developed, microorganisms that they converted into higher forms, more complex forms that became turn in even more complex ways. Life was spreading gradually throughout the Earth. I do not know ... mud on the edge of the oceans ... Amphibians The amphibians then moved to the mainland and became in reptiles; which in turn became mammals. This when would be? It will perhaps a billion years ago. - Only two or three hundred million years ago. -All right. In any case, mammals ... I do not know. Some animals in small burrows ... under bushes, up in the trees ... Of the The primates come from the trees. Then, what do I know, maybe it will do ten or fifteen million years ago, a branch of primates abandoned the trees and ... I had no breath. "This is not an exam," Ismael told me. Enough to big traits; history as it is popularly known, just as the they know the bus drivers, the day laborers and the senators. Daniel Quinn - 52 - "All right," I agreed, and closed my eyes again. In agreement. Anyway, that one thing led to the other. Some species followed other species and, finally, the man appeared. When was this? Three million years ago years? -More or less, yes. -All right. -It is done? -Well ... broadly, yes. -The history of creation as it is told in your culture. -So is. According to the current state of knowledge. Ismael nodded and invited me to turn off the tape recorder. Then he He reclined and exhaled a sigh that rumbled through the glass, like a volcano. distant; He put his hands on his belly and gave me a long look, inscrutable. -And you, who are an intelligent and well-educated person, You pretend that I believe that this is not a myth. -What about mythical in all that? - I have not said that there is something of mythical in that. I said that that is a myth. I think I felt a nervous laugh. - Probably I do not know what you understand by myth. -Well, I guess the same as you. I am using the word in its most usual sense. -Well, it's not a myth. - Yes, it's a myth. Listen a moment. -Ismael invited me to rewind the tape and press the "play" key. After hearing it, I remained pensive for a moment, although just to mislead. Then I declared: Daniel Quinn - 53 - -It is not a myth. You can put this on a Science test Natural high school, and I do not think anyone would think to put the minor objection, creationists apart. -I totally agree. Did not I say before the story perneak all your culture? Children learn it in all kinds of media, textbooks included. -Then what are you really telling me? You're trying to tell me that it is not a narrative of empirical facts? - It's full of empirical data, of course; but its order is purely mythical. -I do not know what you're talking about. - It is clear that your mind is clouded. Mother Culture has The usual nana was crooned to numb you. I shot him a look of few friends. - Are you saying that evolution is a myth? -Do not. - Are you saying that man did not evolve? -Do not. -So what are you saying? Ismael looked at me with a smile. Then he shrugged. Finally, he raised his eyebrows. I stared at him, saying to myself: he's taking me hair a gorilla. But it served little. "Press the button again," he invited me. When the recording had come to an end, I said: -All right, there's a word that gets a little attention: showed up. I said that the man appeared. Is that? -No, it's nothing like that. I will not argue for a word. For him context it is clear that the word appeared is synonymous with evolved. -So, what the hell is it? Daniel Quinn - 54 - -I'm sorry to tell you that you are not reflecting. You have recited a story you've heard a thousand times, and now you're hearing Mother Culture, that you whispers in his ear: "Look, my son, there is nothing to think about, nothing for what to worry. Let nothing sleep you, do not listen to that animal so unpleasant. There is no myth, nothing that I tell you is a myth. So there's nothing to think about, nothing to worry about. You only have to listen to my voice and go to sleep, to sleep, to sleep. I bit a lip for a moment and then said: -That does not clarify anything either. "Very well," he said, "I'll tell you a story of mine, maybe I'll tell you clarify He nibbled a twig for a few moments, closed his eyes and started: History, said Ismael, takes place five hundred million years ago, in a remote, very remote era, when this planet was completely unrecognizable to you Nothing moved on Earth except the wind and the powder. There was not a blade of grass that waved in the wind, nor a cricket that I will sing, not a bird that will cross the sky. All these things would take place tens of millions of years later. Even the seas were still phantasmagorically silent, for vertebrates would also take appear tens of millions of years. But, of course, an anthropologist wandered around. Can there be a world without anthropologists? However, this anthropologist was very depressed and disillusioned, for he had traveled the planet in search of someone to interview, and all the tapes he had in his backpack are- They were cleaner than the sky. Until, one day I was wandering languidly by the shore of the ocean, he saw in the water, at a little distance, a thing that seemed to have life. His body was gelatinous, his appearance was not particularly showy; but he was the only living being he had seen in all Daniel Quinn - 55 - his trips, so he went into the water to where the thing was floating He greeted the sea creature with courtesy, who greeted him in turn, and They soon became good friends. The anthropologist explained the best could his new friend who was studying the different uses and customs, and asked for information about it, which immediately facilitated "And now," he told her later, "I'd like to record on a tape." some of the stories you have among you -Stories? The other asked. -Yes. For example, the myth of creation, if you have any. -What is a myth of creation? The sea creature asked. -Well ..., you know-the anthropologist rambled. The fantastic story that Tell your children about the origins of the world. At that moment, the creature stood up indignantly, at least everything that a gelatinous glob could stand up, and he let go that his town did not have such fantastic stories. -So, do not you have any explanation about the creation? -Man, an explanation about the clear creation that we have - he said. But it has nothing to do with a myth. "Oh, of course not," corrected the anthropologist, remembering end what he had been taught at the university. I will be terribly grateful if you let me know the narration. "Good," the creature replied. But I want you to be very present that, like you, we are a very rational people, who do not accept anything that is not based on observation, logic and method scientific. "Sure, sure," the anthropologist agreed. And that's how the marine animal began to tell its story. Daniel Quinn - 56 - "The universe," he began, "was born a long, long time ago; will make that maybe ten or fifteen billion years. Our solar system (is say, this planet and all the others) must have formed about two or three a billion years For quite some time, there has not been any kind of lifetime. But then, about a billion years later, the lifetime. "Excuse me," the anthropologist interrupted. You say that life appeared. Where did that happen according to your myth, sorry, I mean according to your Scientific explanation? The being seemed puzzled by that question, adopting the color of the lavender. -Do you mean in what exact place? No, I mean if it took place on land or at sea. -On land? The other asked. What is the earth? -Well, you should know that, "said the anthropologist, pointing to the coast-: the extension of sand and rocks that starts there. The color of the creature became more lavender still. "I do not understand what you're talking about," he protested. The sand and rocks that are there are simply the edge of the vast bowl that contains the sea. "Oh, okay," the anthropologist agreed. I see what you want to say. Perfectly. Follow. "Very good," said the other. For many millions of centuries, in the world only living microorganisms that drifted in the middle of a chemical broth But, little by little, more complex forms were appearing: unicellular beings, silts, algae, polyps, et cetera. And finally… -Postilló the creature, becoming pink rose of pride reached the climax of his story-, finally the jellyfish appeared. Daniel Quinn - 57 - 4 For the next ninety seconds or so, I was not there was nothing to say, concentrated as it was in trying to contain the Rage. Then I said: -It does not seem fair. -What do you mean? -I do not know exactly what I want to say. You wanted to show a thesis, but I do not know exactly which one. -Do not? -Do not. I do not know. -What did the jellyfish mean by "and finally the jellyfish appeared"? -Well, he meant ... That was the point towards and in which everything came together. That the ten or fifteen thousand million previous years ended in the jellyfish. -In agreement. And why does not your explanation of creation end with the appearance of the jellyfish? I guess at that moment I struggled to contain a laugh. - Man, because more things were going to come after the jellyfish. -True. The creation did not end with the jellyfish. They were still to come vertebrates, amphibians, reptiles, mammals and, for course and finally, man. -Yes. -So your explanation of the creation ends with "and finally the man appeared. " -Exact. -And what does that mean? -It means that more things were not going to come. That the creation had touched to its end. -What was the term where everything was going to stop, is not that? Daniel Quinn - 58 - -Yes. -Clear. Everyone in your culture says the same thing. The top was reached with the man. Man is the culmination of all the cosmic representation of the creation. -You are right. -When the man finally appeared, the creation came to an end, for the goal had already been achieved. There was nothing left to create. -I think that is the underlying, unspoken assumption, indeed. -It is not at all tacit. The religions of your culture do not remain silent respect, far from it. Man is the final product of creation. The man is the creature for whom the rest of creation was made: this world, this solar system, this galaxy, the universe as such. -So is. -All of your culture assume that the world was not created for the jellyfish, salmon, iguanas or gorillas. It was created for man. -Right. Ishmael looked at me scornfully. -And this is not mythology? -Well ... The facts are the facts. -Definitely. The facts are the facts, even if they are surrounded by mythology. But what about the rest? Is it that the whole cosmic process of the creation ended three million years ago, right here, in this little planet, with the appearance of man? -Do not. - He also ended the planetary process of creation three years ago millions of years with the appearance of man? Did the just evolution because man came? -Do not. Of course not. -So, why did you tell the story that way? -I suppose I told you that way because that is how it is told. Daniel Quinn - 59 - -That is the way it is counted among the Takers. But it's certainly not the only way you can count. -Voucher. Now I see it. And you, how would you tell it? He nodded in the direction of the world outside his window. - You see anywhere in the universe a single proof that the Creation will end with the birth of man? See somewhere in there was a single proof that man was the culminating point towards what would the creation have been directing from the beginning? -Do not. I can not even think what that test could be. -That should be obvious. If astrophysicists could claim that the main creative processes of the universe stopped five thousand ago millions of years ago, there when our solar system made its appearance, that would offer at least some basis for those notions. -Yes, I see what you want to say. -Or if biologists and paleontologists could claim that speciation stopped three million years ago, that would also be quite instructive. -Yes. -But you know that none of these things happened. Before to otherwise, the universe continued as before. The planet continued as before. The appearance of man caused no greater sensation than the appearance of the jellyfish. -True. Ismael gestured toward the tape recorder. - How do we interpret the story you told before? I let my teeth see when I smiled a brittle smile. -It is a myth. Incredible as it may seem, it is a myth. Daniel Quinn - 60 - 5 - Yesterday I told you that the story that is representing the people of your culture deals with the meaning of the world, of divine interventions in the world and of human destiny. -Yes. -And, according to this first part of the story, what is the meaning of world? I thought for a moment. -I do not see exactly how this story can explain the meaning of world. -Half of your story, the center of attention passed from the universe as a whole to this planet of ours. Why? -Because this planet was destined to be the birthplace of the man. -Of course. As you say, the birth of man was a central event - or rather, the central one - in the history of the cosmos as such. Since the birth of man, the rest of the universe stops have interest, stop participating in the play that is represented. For that is enough Earth; it is the place of birth and the home of man, and that is its meaning The Takers see the world as a kind of system of support for human life, as a machine designed to produce and sustain human life. -Yes it is. -In your exposition of history, you naturally left out any mention to the gods, because you did not want it to be labeled mythology. As their mythological character has now been uncovered, you no longer have to worry about that. Assuming there is a divine intervention behind the creation, what can you tell me about the intentions of the gods? Daniel Quinn - 61 - -Well, let's basically say that what they had thought from the The beginning was man. They made the universe so that our galaxy I could be in it. They made our galaxy so that our solar system I could be in it. They made our solar system so that our planet I could be in it. And they made our planet so that we could be in the. Everything was done so that the man had a piece of land in which to be. -And this is more or less what all of your culture also believe, at least those who assume that the universe is an expression of intentions divine -Yes. -Naturally, as the whole universe was done so that I could appear man, this must be a creature of enormous importance for the gods. But this part of the story does not reveal too many clues about the divine intentions for him. The gods must have had reserved for him some special destiny; but that does not appear revealed here. -Yes it's correct. 6 Every story is based on a premise; it's like the result of said premise. As a writer that you are, surely you know what I am referring. -Yes. -I'm sure you know this story: Two offspring of families they fall in love. -Yes. Romeo and Juliet. -The history that the Takers are representing in the world it also has a premise, which is contained in the part of the story that You told me today Let's see if you guess what it is. Daniel Quinn - 62 - I closed my eyes to look like I was thinking, although I knew that I had no chance to guess it. - I'm sorry to say that I do not see what it is. -The history that the Dej ers in the world have represented is based in a completely different premise, that it would be impossible for you Discover at this point. But you could discover the premise of your own history. It is a very simple notion, the most powerful of all history human It is not necessarily the most beneficial, but it is the most powerful. All your history, with all its wonders and catastrophes, is the result of that premise. -The truth be told, I can not guess where you intend to go. -Keep a little ... Let's see. The world was not made for Medusa, is not it? -Do not. -It was not made for frogs, lizards or rabbits. -Do not. -Of course not. The world was made for man. -Right. - Everyone in your culture shares this, is not it? Even the atheists who swear that there is no god accept that the world was made for man. -You are right. I would say yes. -Well, the premise of your story is precisely this: that the The world was made for man. I do not quite understand where you want to go. I mean, not I see why you talk about a premise. -The ones in your culture made this a premise: they took it as premise. They said to themselves: what if the world was made for us? -Already. Keep going. Daniel Quinn - 63 - - Think of the consequences of taking that as your premise. If he world was made for you, what do you say, then? -Voucher. I see what you want to say. I think. If the world was made for us, then the world belongs to us, and we can do with it what give us the real desire. -Exactly. That's what has been happening here during the last ten thousand years. You have been doing with the world what you have given the real one wins. And, of course, you intend to continue doing what I give you the real one wins, since the whole shed belongs to you. "Yes," I nodded, and paused a few seconds to think. Actually, It looks awesome. I mean, it's something you hear say fifty times a day. People talk about our environment, our seas, our system solar. I've even heard many people talk about our wildlife. -And just yesterday you said to me quite convinced that there was nothing in your culture that remotely resembled mythology. -It is true. -Ismael was still looking at me with a frown -I was wrong, "I acknowledged. What else do you want? "Complementity," he replied. I nodded. -Yes, I'm perplexed, okay. Only maybe I do not let it show. -We should have met when you were seventeen. I shrugged, but implying that I wish it had been A) Yes. 7 - Yesterday I told you that your story contained an explanation of why the things are as they are. -Yes. - How does the first part of the story contribute to this explanation? Daniel Quinn - 64 - -Do you mean ... how does it help explain why things have finished being as they are in the present? -Exact. - So, to bounce soon, I do not see how it can contribute in something to the subject that it occupies us. -Think a little bit. Would things have ended up being as they are if the Would the world have been made for the jellyfish? -No, of course not. If the world had been made for Medusa, things would have been completely different. -Exact. But it was not made for the jellyfish, but for the man. -What explains in part why things are the way they are. -So is. It's kind of a twisted way of blaming everything to the gods. If they had made the world for the jellyfish, then there would be no nothing happened of all this. "Neither more nor less," said Ismael. You are beginning to understand it. 8 -Do you have any idea now where you could find the other Parts of this story: the central part and the end? I will ponder a few moments your question. -I would watch some episodes of Nova 2, I think. -Why? -I would say that the story that I told you today is like an outline of the history of creation that appears in Nova. What I have to clarify Now is how the story would continue. -Then those are the duties that I put to you. Tomorrow I want me tell the continuation of the story. 2 Nova: television series about science of enormous success in the USA. {N. from E.) Daniel Quinn - 65 - Chapter FOUR Daniel Quinn - 66 - one "All right," I said. I think I have understood quite well the central and final parts of the story. Ismael nodded and I started the tape recorder. -What I've done has been to start with the premise. The world was made for man Then I asked myself how I would write the story to the way as it is done in Nova. Here is the result: The world was made for the man, who took a long, long time to understand this. During almost three million years ago, he lived as if the world had been made for the jellyfish. That is, he lived as one more creature among the others, like a lion or a koala. -What exactly does it mean to live like a lion or a koala? - It means ... live at the mercy of the world. It means living without controlling in absolute your environment. -I see. Continue -All right. In such conditions, man could not be truly Daniel Quinn - 67 - man. I could not develop a truly human way of life, a way of life that was privately human. So, during the first part of his life - in fact, most of his life - the man limited to wandering clumsily, without going anywhere in particular or doing anything special. »But there was a key problem to solve (and to realize the existence of this problem I have needed a lot of time). The man does not could go anywhere living as a lion or as a koala ... For to be able to get something, the man had to establish himself in a place where, so to speak, get down to work. In other words, I could not go beyond a certain point living outdoors as a hunter-gatherer, always moving from one place to another in search of food. To go beyond from that point, he had to settle down, he had to have a permanent base from which to begin to dominate their environment. "All right. And why not? I mean, what prevented him from doing that? What it stopped him was the fact that, if he settled in one place for more In a few weeks, he was starving. As a hunter-gatherer, your task reduced to leaving the area clean, which left nothing to hunt or gather. To be able to settle the man had to learn one thing fundamental: he had to learn to manipulate his environment to avoid fleecing your power supplies. I had to manipulate it so that it produced more food. In other words, he had to become a farmer. «This was a real turning point. The world had been made for the man, but he was unable to take possession of him until he solve that problem. Finally, he resolved it in the Fertile Arc, he will make ten thousand years. It was a very important moment, the most important one then in human history. The man was finally free of all those limitations ... The limitations of hunter-gatherer life They had stopped the man for three million years. With agriculture, those limitations disappeared, and the rise of man was meteoric. Daniel Quinn - 68 - The settlement gave rise to the division of labor. The division of labor gave rise to technology. With technology came the exchange and the Commerce. With the exchange and trade came the mathematics, literature, science and everything else. Everything started at last, and the rest, as they say, it's history. »This is the central part of the story. two "Really impressive," exclaimed Ismael. I'm sure that you realize that this "great moment" that you just described was in reality the birth of your culture. -Yes. - However, it should be noted that the notion that agriculture It spread across the world from a single point is quite outdated. However, the Fertile Arc is still the legendary birthplace of agriculture, at least in the West, which has a special importance, as we will have occasion to see later. -In agreement. -The part of yesterday's story revealed the meaning of the world as such and as understood by the Takers; namely, that the world is a system designed to preserve human life, a machine designed to produce and preserve human life. -Exact. -The part of today's history seems to be about the fate of the man. Obviously, man's destiny was not to live like a lion or like a koala. -True. -What is the destiny of man, then? Daniel Quinn - 69 - -Mmm -balbucí-. Well ... the destiny of man is ... to get, achieve great goals. -According to you hear the Takers say, the destiny of man would be something more specific than that. -Well, I suppose you could say that your destiny consists of build civilization. - Think mythologically. - I'm sorry to say that I do not know how to do that. -I'll show it to you. Pay attention. Pay attention. 3 -As we saw yesterday, the creation was not completed when the jellyfish, when the amphibians appeared, when the reptiles appeared when the mammals appeared. According to your mythology, it did not end until the man appeared. -Exact. -Why was the world and the universe incomplete without man? Why does the world and the universe need man? -Well I do not know. -Think a little bit. Think of a world without men. Imagine a world without men. "Okay," I nodded while closing my eyes. Couple of minutes Afterwards, I told him that I was imagining a world without men. -How is it? -I dont know. Well ... just world. -Where are you? -What do you mean? - Where are you looking? Daniel Quinn - 70 - -Ah From above. From space. What are you doing up there? -Well, I do not know. - Why do not you go down to Earth? -I dont know. Without men on Earth ... I look like a visitor, a alien. -Do not worry. Come on, go down to Earth. "All right," I agreed, but soon after I said, "How curious. I'd rather not be here. -Why? What is here? I laughed. -The jungle. -I see. You mean, with Tennyson: "Nature, red teeth and claws ... Prehistoric dragons that shatter in the middle of mud ". -Yes. -And what would happen if you went down there? -It would be one of the dragons that is tearing apart another in the middle of the mud. I opened my eyes in time to see Ismael nodding. -It is at this point that we begin to see where the man fits, according to the divine scheme. The gods did not want the world to be a jungle, right? -You mean in our mythology, right? Well no, certainly not. -All right. So, without man, the world was unfinished, it was only Red nature of teeth and claws. It was pure chaos, it was in a state of primitive anarchy. -Right. -And what did he need, then? -I needed someone to come to ... to fix things, to put order. Daniel Quinn - 71 - -And what kind of person is the one who arranges things? What kind of Is the person in charge of fighting anarchy and putting order? -Well ... a ruler. A king. -Of course. The world needed a ruler. I needed the man. -Yes. -Now we already have a clear idea of ​​the true argument of this history. The world was made for man, and man was made for master it -Yes. This is quite clear now. Everyone understands this. -And what is this? -What? - Is it an empirical data? -Do not. -So what is it? -It's mythology -I answered. - Of which you say that there is no trace in your culture. -Exact. Once again, Ismael looked at me grumpily through the crystal. "Look," I said a while later. The things that you are showing me, the things that you are doing ... almost border on the limit of credibility. That you what I can assure. But it's not my style to get up from the chair abruptly, hit my forehead and shout: "Gentlemen, there is no one who believes it!" Ismael frowned meditatively before asserting: - Is something happening to you? He seemed so worried that I had to smile. "Everything is frozen inside me," I explained. Like an iceberg. He shook his head, as if I were sorry. Daniel Quinn - 72 - 4 -Back to our subject ... As you say, the man took a long time, long time to realize that he was destined for greater goals of which could reach living as a lion or a koala. For about three million years, he limited himself to being part of the general anarchy, a more creature that wallowed in the mud. -So is. -Until that, about ten thousand years ago, he finally realized that his place was not mud. He had to get out of that quagmire, take control of the situation and impose order. -So is. -But the world did not submit meekly to the dominion of man, true? -Do not. -Do not. The world challenged man. The world and the rain demolished what he built. The jungle claimed the spaces that he cleared for the planting and housing construction. The birds ate the seeds that he I sowed. The insects devoured the shoots that he kept. The rats they looted the crops he stored. Wolves and foxes robbed him animals that he raised and fed. Mountains, rivers and oceans are They stood in their way and did not let him pass. And earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, blizzards and droughts did not disappear your order. -True. -And as the world did not submit meekly to the dominion of man, What did he have to do? -I do not understand what you want to say. -If the king arrives in a city that does not want to submit to his rule, What does this one usually do? Daniel Quinn - 73 - -To conquer her. -That's. In order to become the master of the world, man had to conquer it -That awful! -I exclaimed so hard that I almost fell off the armchair and I break my forehead and more things. -What? -This we hear fifty times a day. You put the radio or the television and what you hear every hour Man is conquering deserts, man is conquering the oceans, man is conquering the atom, man is conquering the elements, man is conquering space. Ismael smiled. -Don't believe me when I told you that this story makes all your culture. Now you see what I wanted to say. The mythology of your culture it resonates in your ears so constantly that nobody gives you the least Attention. It is true that man is conquering space, the atom, the deserts, oceans and elements. According to your mythology, for that man was born. -Yes. This is quite clear now. 5 -I have already managed to recompose the first two parts of the story: the world was made for man, and man was made to conquer it and submit it But how does the second part contribute to explaining why things are as they are? -Let me think for a moment ... Again, it's a twisted way to blame the gods. They made the world for man, and They made man to conquer and dominate him, which he ended up doing. And that's why things are the way they are. -Affiliate a little more. Deepen a little more. Daniel Quinn - 74 - I closed my eyes and reflected a couple of minutes, but the reflection did not it worked. Ismael nodded as he looked towards the windows. -All this, all your triumphs and tragedies, your wonders and miseries, are they a direct consequence of what? I ruminated for a while, but I also could not see where he was going. "Try it this way," Ismael advised me. Things would not be as they are if the gods had intended man to live as a lion or a koala, is not it? -It is true. -The destiny of man was to conquer and subdue the world. And the things they ended up being as they are as a direct consequence of ... -... of having fulfilled the man his destiny. -Exact. He had to fulfill his destiny, did not he? -Absolutely true. -That's why, why break your head, no ...? -True true. - As the Takers see it, this is simply the price to pay to be a man -What do you mean? -That it was not possible to be fully human in the middle of the quagmire, next to the dragons. -I see. -To be able to be fully human, the man had to leave the mud. And everything that came after was the result of that action. So and As the Takers see, the gods put man before the same tessitura that to Aquilles: or a brief life but of glory or a long life, placid, anonymous. And the Takers chose a short but glorious life. -Yes, that's how everyone understands it. People shrink from shoulders and alleges: "Well, that's the price that had to be paid to be able to Daniel Quinn - 75 - have running water, central heating, air conditioning, a car and everything else". I gave him an inquisitive look. -And what do you say? -I say that the price you have paid is not the price to get to be human Nor the price for having all those things that you just to mention. It is the price for representing a history in which humanity He is the enemy of the world. Daniel Quinn - 76 - Chapter FIVE Daniel Quinn - 77 - one -We already have the beginning and the central part of the story -he said Ismael to resume the talk the next day. Man is starting with order to fulfill your destiny. The conquest of the world has already started. And how does the story end? -I think I should have moved on yesterday. It gives me the impression of have lost the thread. -Maybe it would not be bad to hear the end of the second part. -Good idea. -I rewound the tape a minute or two and gave it to play: "Man was finally free of all those limitations ... limitations of hunter-gatherer life had held man back for three million years. With agriculture, those limitations They disappeared, and the rise of man was meteoric. The settlement gave origin to the division of labor. The division of labor gave rise to technology. With technology came the exchange and trade. With the Daniel Quinn - 78 - exchange and commerce came mathematics, literature, science and everything else. Everything started at last, and the rest, as they say, is history". -Well, I will declare. In agreement. The destiny of man was to conquer and master the world, and that's what he did, or almost. He did not get it at all, and at It seems that was his undoing. The problem is that, by conquering the world, man devastated him. And, despite the domain achieved, it does not have enough power to stop devastating the world, or to repair the devastation Perpetrated We men have dumped our pollutant discharges into the world as if it were a bottomless pit, and we keep doing it without ceasing. We have squandered irreplaceable resources as if they were not going to run out never, and we continue to waste them. It is difficult to imagine that the world can survive another century subjected to this abuse, but nobody is doing really nothing to prevent it. It is a problem that our children They will have to solve, or the children of our children. »Only one thing can save us. We have to increase our domain over the world. All these damages are the product of our conquest of the world, but we have to continue conquering it until our domain is absolute. Then, when our control is total, all the problems will have disappeared. We will have nuclear capacity. Already there will be no pollution. We will open and close the tap of the rain to discretion. We will grow a bushel of wheat in a square centimeter of ground. We will convert the oceans into farms. We will control the phenomena weather: there will be no hurricanes, tornadoes, drought or frost untimely. We will make the clouds discharge their water on the earth in once they unload it uselessly on the oceans. All processes of planetary life will remain, as the gods had planned, under our control. And we will manipulate them as a programmer manipulate a computer. Daniel Quinn - 79 - »And that's where we are now. We have to continue the conquest. And that means continuing to destroy the world or turning it into a paradise, in the paradise that is supposed to be under the human shelter. »And if we manage to do this, if we finally manage to convert in the absolute owners of the world, then nothing can stop us. Then the space age will begin. Man will go out into space conquer and dominate the entire universe. And maybe that is his final destination: conquer and dominate the entire universe. That's how wonderful man is. two To my amazement, Ishmael picked up a twig from the pile he had in front of him and waved it in my direction in sign of enthusiastic approval. - Once again, I must say that it has been excellent - he exclaimed, tearing off the tip of a mouthful. But, of course, you will notice that, if you had told this part of the story a hundred or fifty years ago, you would have spoken only of a coming paradise. The idea that the conquest of world by man could have been not beneficial would have resulted completely bizarre Until three or four decades ago, those of your culture were convinced that things were going to get better and better. Do not there was no end point in sight. -Yes it is. -But there is an element of history that you have left out, a necessary element to complete the explanation that predominates in your culture about why things are the way they are. - What is that element? -I think you can imagine. So far we have the following: the world was made for man to conquer and dominate; under the Human domain should become a paradise. Obviously, this is Daniel Quinn - 80 - to put a "but". The Takers always knew that the world was far A lot of being the paradise that was supposed to be. -It is true. Let me think ... Let's see: the world was made so that the man conquered and subdued him, but his conquest turned out to be more destructive than anticipated. -You have not paid attention to me. The "but" was part of the story long before your conquest was globally destructive. The "but" was already there to explain all the failures of your paradise: wars, brutality, poverty, injustice, corruption, tyranny ... And even today he is still there to explain famine, oppression, nuclear proliferation and pollution. That is what the Second World War explained, and what would explain the Third, if it were to take place. I looked at him without knowing what to say. -This is a common place. Any third-party student could arrive to this conclusion. -I'm sure you're right, but I do not see yet ... -Come on, think another bit. What has failed here? What is it What has always failed here? Under the domain of man, the world should have become a paradise, but ... -But people spoiled it. -Yes. And why did people spoil it? -Why? -Did he spoil it because he did not want it to be a paradise? -Do not. So it seems ... people were doomed to ruin it. I wanted to turn the world into a paradise, but, being human, I was condemned to spoil it. -But why? Why, to be human, were people condemned to spoil it? Daniel Quinn - 81 - -Because there is something that basically fails in man. Something that He turns reluctant to paradise. Something that makes him be stupid, destructive, greedy and myopic. -Yes. Everyone in your culture knows that. Man was born to convert the world in a paradise, but, by some tragic design, it was born defective, tared And, thus, his paradise has always been weighed down by stupidity, greed, destructiveness and myopia. -So is. 3 I realized I was in a mess - Are you suggesting that this explanation is false? -asked. Ismael shook his head. -It's no use confronting mythology. A long time ago, of your culture believed that the Earth was the center of the universe. Like the man was the main reason why the universe was created, it was perfectly logical that his homeland was the capital of it. The followers of Copernicus did not dispute this idea. They did not point people out with their finger and They said: "You are wrong." Rather, they pointed to the heavens and said: "Look closely at what is there." -I'm not sure where you intend to go. -How did the Takers reach the conclusion that there was something fundamentally defective in humans ? What evidence did they have before eyes? -I do not know. -I think you're being ignorant on purpose. They had before them eyes the test of human history. -True. -And when did human history begin? Daniel Quinn - 82 - -Well ... about three million years ago. Ismael gave me a look of boredom. -As you will undoubtedly know, only recently have these three been added millions of years to human history. Before, everyone declared that the History had begun ... when? -Well ..., only a few thousand years ago. -Yes. In fact, among those in your culture it was said that the whole story human was your story. No one had the slightest suspicion that there there was human life before your reign. -So is. -Well, and when those in your culture drew the conclusion that there was something fundamentally defective among humans, what proof did they have before the eyes? -The proof of your own history. -Exactly. They had before their eyes the zero point five percent of a test taken from a single culture. It was not a reasonable sample of the to be able to draw such a far-reaching conclusion. -Of course not. -But there is nothing fundamentally defective among humans. If it's about representing a story that puts them in sync with the world, they will live in tune with the world. But if it's about representing a history that confronts the world, as yours does, will live in confrontation to the world. If it's about representing a story in which humans are The owners of the world, humans will act as owners of the world. And, if it tries to represent a story in which the world is an enemy to conquer, they will conquer it as an enemy, and one fine day this enemy will will inevitably bleed at your feet, as we are seeing what happens to the world today. Daniel Quinn - 83 - 4 "A few days ago," Ismael went on, "I qualified as a mosaic explanation about why things are the way they are. What we have seen so far it's just a vignette of that mosaic, or a sketch of the painting general. Here we are not going to consider the pieces of that mosaic. That's something that you can easily do by yourself when we are finished. -In agreement. - However, in this vignette there is an element of capital importance that should be mentioned before moving forward ... One of the most important features curious about the culture of the Takers is their passionate and widespread dependence on the prophets. The influence of characters like Moses, Gau-tama Buddha, Confucius, Jesus and Muhammad in the history of the Takers is simply great. I'm sure you're aware of that. -Yes. -But the most curious thing is the fact that there is absolutely nothing of this among the Dejadores, except as a reaction to some experience unhappy with the culture of taking, as is the case with Wovoka, Ghost Dance, John Frumm or the cults Cargo of the South Pacific. Apart from these cases, among the Dejadores there is no tradition of prophets arising for guide them in life and give them new frameworks of laws or new principles by those who rule. -Some of this had already happened to me. I guess it occurs to you also to many people. I think it's ... I do not know ... -Follow. -I think the general feeling is, what the fuck, who cares people? I mean, it's no big surprise that savages do not have prophets God did not really care about humanity until the friendly Neolithic farmers did not appear. Daniel Quinn - 84 - - Yes, that idea seems quite extended. But what I want to refer now is not to the absence of prophets among the Dejadores, but to the enormous influence that the prophets have exercised among the Takers. Millions of people have been willing to support the prophet of their choice, even with one's life. What is it that makes them so important? -Good question, yes sir; but I do not think I know the answer. -Do not? Try asking yourself this other question: what were you trying to Do the prophets here? -That has already been answered by you a minute ago. They were trying to fix things and tell us how we should live. -A really vital information. It's worth dying for her, without doubt. -Definitely. -But why? Why do you need prophets to tell you how should you live? Why do you need someone to tell you how you should live? -Ah okay. I see where you intend to go. We need the prophets tell us how we should live because, otherwise, we would not know how to live. -Clear. Questions about how to live always end up becoming between the Takers in religious matters, about which the prophets For example, when abortion began to be legalized in this country, at first it was treated as a purely civil matter. But when the people began to entertain doubts about it, went to their prophets, and the matter soon became a religious dispute, where the different sides They sought the support of clerics. In the same way, legalizing or not drug like heroin and cocaine is a question that is being debated currently in fundamentally empirical terms; but as soon as become a serious possibility, certain people will begin to wield quotes from the scriptures to see what their prophets sentence about it. Daniel Quinn - 85 - -Yes it is. It's such an automatic reaction that people give it simply for discounted. -A few minutes ago you said: "We need prophets to tell us how we should live, otherwise we would not know how to do it. "Why? what? Why would you not know how to live without prophets? -Good question. I would say that because ... Look, for example, the case of abortion We can be discussing the subject thousands of years; but never there is going to be a sufficiently solid argument to settle the discussion, because each argument has its counter-argument. Thus, it is impossible to know what what should we do. That's why we need a prophet. The prophet yes knows. -Yes, I think that's it. But the question remains: Why do you guys you do not know? -I think the question is still standing ... because I do not know how to answer it. -You can fission atoms, reach the moon and combine genes, but you do not know how people should live. -True. -And because? What does the Mother Culture have to say about it? "Huh?" I exclaimed, closing my eyes. And, a couple of minutes later, I continued: "Mother Culture says that it is possible to have some knowledge of things like, for example, atoms, space travel and genes, but that there is no certain knowledge about how people should live. No this at our disposal, and that's why we do not have it. -I see. And, after listening to Mother Culture, what do you say yourself? - Well in this case I have to say that I agree. Knowledge how people should live is a knowledge that simply is not our disposition -In other words, that the best thing to do, since not there is nothing "at your disposal", it is to search within yourself. That is what It is being done in the debate about the legalization of drugs. Each side Daniel Quinn - 86 - pose your position according to what you consider reasonable, and choose one or another side, you will not know if you have made the right decision. -That is absolutely true. It's not about doing the right thing because There is no way to know what is right. It is a kind of vote. -And you are completely sure that there is no way to know for sure how people should live. -Completely sure. -How do you get that security? -I do not know. Knowing how to live ... that is not within reach of the hand, as is another kind of thing. As I say, it's not there, at hand. -But has any of you looked around? I gave a mocking laugh. - Has anyone ever said: "Well, as we have certain knowledge of so many other things, why do not we see if we can have certain knowledge of how one should live "? Has anyone said any time? -I doubt it. - And do not you find it strange? Considering the fact that this is with much the most important problem that humanity has posed, that has always been raised, the logical thing is that there was a whole branch of science dedicated to it. Instead, we discover that there is no human have ever wondered if there is any knowledge of this kind. -We know that it does not exist. - Without even looking for you, you want to say. -Right. -It is not a very scientific procedure that we say for a species as scientific as the human. -Already. Daniel Quinn - 87 - 5 -We already know two very important things about humans - recapitulated Ishmael-, at least according to the mythology of the taker. The first is that there is something in them that basically fails, and the second, that does not exist a thorough knowledge about the way they should live, nor ever will be. It seems as if there should be a relationship between these two things, right? -Yes. If people knew how to live, then they would know how to deal with fact that there is something that fails in human nature. I want to say that knowing how to live should include for humans the knowledge of imperfect beings. You see what I want to say, do not you? -I think so. You're saying that if you knew how to live, then you could control the failures of man. If you knew how to live, you would not be constantly spoiling the world. Maybe these two things are not in reality more than one. Perhaps the fundamental fault of man is pre- This is precisely what he does not know how he should live. -Yes, that's the way it goes. 6 -We already have all the most important elements that your culture to explain why things are the way they are. The world was given to man to make him a paradise; but this one does not stop spoil it because it is a basically imperfect being. I could do something to respect if he knew how he should live; but he does not know, nor will he ever know, because no knowledge of that nature can be obtained. So, as much as The man tries to turn the world into a paradise, probably just manage to spoil it even more. -Yes, that seems. -It is a sad story that we have before our eyes, a story Daniel Quinn - 88 - of hopelessness and futility, a story in which there is literally nothing what to do. Since man is imperfect, he continues to spoil what he should be a paradise, and nothing can be done to prevent it. It is not known how there to live to stop spoiling paradise, and nothing can be done respect. So there they are, thrown directly into a catastrophe, and what The only thing they can do is see how it happens. -Yes, that's how it seems. -And since this sad story is the only perspective, it is not surprising that many of you spend your life hooked on drugs, drinking or to television. It is not surprising that many of you go crazy or take their lives -True. But is there another? -Other what? - Another story? -Yes, there is another story, but the Takers are doing everything You can to destroy it along with everything else. 7 -Have you seen many places of interest during your travels? - What if I've seen what? I blinked stupidly. -What if you've tried to see the local places of interest. -I guess so. Sometimes. -I'm sure you've noticed that only tourists look Really local places of interest. For all purposes, these result invisible to the natives by the simple fact of always being there, in plain sight general. -Yes it is. Daniel Quinn - 89 - -This is what we've been doing on our trip so far. We have been touring your cultural homeland looking at the landmarks that the natives they never see A visitor from another planet would seem remarkable, even extraordinary but the natives of your culture take them for granted and They even notice them. -It is true. You had to hold my head with both hands and direct it to a place, saying: "Do not you see that?" And I have answered many Sometimes: "See what? There is nothing to see." -Today we have spent most of the time looking at one of your most impressive monuments: the axiom according to which You can have a thorough knowledge of how people should live. Mother Culture asks that this be created without more, without evidence, as something intrinsically unprovable. -True. - And the conclusion that you draw from this axiom is ...? -That, therefore, it is useless to seek such knowledge. -True. According to your maps, the world of thought is delimited by your culture. It ends at the border of your culture, and if you venture beyond it, you simply fall over the edge of the world. See what I mean? -I think so. - Tomorrow we will arm ourselves with courage and we will cross that border. And how You see, we will not fall by the edge of the world. We simply we will find in a new territory, in a territory never explored by no one of your culture, because it does not appear on your maps, nor can it figure. Daniel Quinn - 90 - Chapter SIX Daniel Quinn - 91 - one -And how do you feel today? Ismael asked. Sweat on the hands? Heart palpitations? I looked at him thoughtfully through the glass that separated us. That joking tone was something new, and I was not sure I liked it particularly. I was tempted to remind him that he was just a gorilla, hear you, but I held back and mumbled instead: -Well, relatively quiet, for now. -All right. Like the Second Sicario of Macbeth, you are a man to which the slaps of the world have him so burned that he would do anything for spitting on the world. -Exactly. -So, let's start. We are facing a wall here, just on the border of the thought of your culture. Yesterday I called it "monument", but I suppose there is nothing that prevents a wall from being a monument. In any case, this wall is an axiom according to which the Daniel Quinn - 92 - Man can not know how he should live. I reject this axiom and I will to cross said wall. We do not need a prophet to come and tell us how you have to live; we can discover it by ourselves looking at what There is really there. As I had nothing to comment on, I just shrugged of shoulders. -It is natural for you to be skeptical. According to the Takers, in the universe you can find all kinds of useful information, but there's none about the way people should live. Studying the universe, you have learned to fly, to disintegrate atoms, to command messages to the stars at the speed of light, et cetera; but you do not know study the universe in order to obtain the most basic and necessary knowledge of all: how should you live. -True. - A century ago, those who wanted to fly were exactly in the same situation on how to fly. Do you see what I mean? -Do not. I do not see what that is about now. -Then no one was at all sure that you could learn to fly. Some simply said that it was impossible, so it did not work nothing to even try. Do you see the similarity now? -Yes, I guess so. -But you can still say more things that abound in such similarity. At that time, no one knew for sure that you could fly. Each one He had his own theory. Some said: "The only way to get to fly is imitating the bird; it is enough to have a pair of wings that move. "Others They said: "A pair of wings is not enough, you have to have two pairs". Others They argued: "Paparruchas." Paper airplanes fly without mobile wings; just a pair of rigid wings and a power supply for keep you floating in the air. "And so on. day exposing their personal opinions, because there was nothing about it that Daniel Quinn - 93 - it was absolutely true. All they could do was proceed according to the trial method and error. -Ehh ... Ummmm ... -What would have allowed them to proceed in a more effective way? -Well, as you say, if they had more knowledge precise ... -But what specific knowledge? -I know what ... For example, know how to take off from the earth. To know that the air that passes through the blades ... -What are you trying to describe? -I am trying to describe what happens when the air passes through the Blades ... -Do you mean what always happens when the air passes through the Blades, right? -That's. - What's that called? What is the name of a formulation that describes what What always happens when certain circumstances occur? -A law. -Exactly. The first aviators had to proceed according to the trial method and the error because they did not know the laws of the aerodynamics; they did not even know that there were such laws. -Already. I see where you want to go. -The ones of your culture are in the same conditions when They try to know how to live. They have to proceed according to the method of trial and error, because they know no law in that sense .... and not even They know that there are such laws. -And I agree with the people -corroborated. -You are sure that no law can be discovered on how must live people. Daniel Quinn - 94 - -So is. Of course, laws are being passed constantly, such as laws against drug use, but they are laws that can be changed by a vote. But you can not change the laws of the aerodynamics through a vote, plus there are no laws of that kind type about how people should live. -I get it. That's what Mother Culture teaches, and in this you are you still. But, well, at last you have a pretty clear idea of ​​what I intend show you: a law that is not subject to any change or voting. -Very well. My mind is open, but I can not imagine at all How can you show me such a thing? two -What is the law of gravity? Asked Ismael, catching me again with a sudden change of subject. - The law of gravity? Well, the law of gravity says ... that in the universe all the particles attract each other, attraction that varies according to the distance that exists between them. -And that law was formulated ... from what? -What do you mean? -Dicha ley got out ... looking where? -Well ... looking at the matter, I suppose. To the behavior of the matter. -It was not removed from the detailed study of the habits of bees. -Do not. -Of course, if you want to understand the habits of bees, you study the bees, not the formation of the mountains. -Right. -And if you had the curious impression that there could be a series of laws on how to live, where would you look? Daniel Quinn - 95 - -I do not know. - Would you look at the heavens? -Do not. "Would you burn in the world of subatomic particles? -Do not. - Would you study the properties of wood? -Do not. -Come on, see if you guess. - Anthropology? - Anthropology is a science, just like physics. Discovered Newton the law of gravity reading a physics book? Was the law formulated in a similar book? -Do not. - Where was it written? -In matter, in the universe of matter. -Then, if there is a law relating to life, where will you find yourself written? -I suppose that in human behavior. -I have some incredible news for you. Man is not alone in this planet. It is part of a community, on which it depends entirely. Do not Has this possibility ever occurred to you? It was the first time, since I had known him, that I saw him raise an eyebrow. "You do not have to be sarcastic," I told him. - What is the name of the community of which man is a part? member? -The community of life. -Very well. Does it seem plausible to you that the law we are seeking is Is it written in that community? -I do not know. -What does Mother Culture say? Daniel Quinn - 96 - I closed my eyes and listened for a moment. -La Madre Cultura says that, if such a law existed, it would not apply to humans. -Why not? -Because we are way above the rest of that community. -I see. And you can not think of any other law that you are exempt from for the fact of being human? -What do you mean? -I mean that cows and cockroaches are subject to the law of the gravity. Are they exempt? -Do not. - Are you exempt from the laws of aerodynamics? -Do not. - Of genetics? -Do not. - Of thermodynamics? -Do not. - Can you think of any law that humans are exempt from? -So suddenly, no. -Well ... let me know if it occurs to you. It would be a real novelty. -Very well. -But, in the meantime, if there was a law that governs the behavior of the community of life in general, humans would be exempt from it, do not? -Well ... that's what Mother Culture says. -And what do you say? -I do not know. I do not see how a law that exists for turtles and butterflies could have a particular relevance for us. I suppose that Turtles and butterflies obey that law you're talking about. Daniel Quinn - 97 - Yes, indeed. And, as regards relevance, I suppose that the laws of the aerodynamics were not always relevant to you, right? -Do not. -When did they start being relevant? -Well ... when we wanted to fly. -When you wanted to fly, the laws that govern the flight became Relevant -Yes it is. -And now that you are on the verge of extinction and want to live a little more, the laws that govern life could become relevant, right? -Yes, I guess so. 3 - What effect does the law of gravity have? What is the use of gravity? -I would say that gravity organizes things at the macro-cosmic level. Is what holds things together: the solar system, the galaxy, the universe. Ismael nodded. -And the law we are looking for is the law that holds the community of living beings. Organize things on a biological level as well as the law of gravity organizes things at the macroscopic level. -In agreement. -I think Ishmael noticed that I had in mind another He waited for her to continue. It is difficult to imagine that our Biologists are not aware of this law. Wrinkles of amused amazement were drawn on the blue-gray skin of her face. - Do you think that Mother Culture does not speak to your biologists? -How I'm going to believe that. -So what does he tell you? - That if there is such a law, it does not apply to us. Daniel Quinn - 98 - -Of course. But that does not really answer your question. Your biologists would not be surprised to hear that the behavior of the community natural follows certain guidelines. You will remember that, when Newton formulated the The law of gravity, nobody was particularly surprised. I dont know he needs to possess superhuman intelligence to claim that the objects who do not find resistance fall freely towards the center of the Earth. That's what any child with more than two years knows. Newton's achievement does not it consisted in discovering the phenomenon of gravity, but in formulating said phenomenon as law. - I see what you mean. - In the same way, nothing of what we discover here about life in the community of the living will leave nobody astonished, and certainly not to naturalists, biologists and animal behavioral scholars in general. My achievement, if I get it, would be to simply formulate it as law. - In agreement. Caught. 4 - Would you say that the law of gravity has as its object the flight? I kept thinking for a moment, and then I answered: -No the flight exactly, but no doubt that this is important insofar as that law it applies to airplanes as well as rocks. The law does not establish distinction between planes and rocks. -Right. The law we are looking for here looks a lot like the law that rules civilizations. It is not a law about civilizations, but it applies to civilizations in the same way that it applies to flocks of birds and herds of deer. It does not distinguish between civilizations human and beehives. It applies to all species without distinction. This is one of the reasons why this law has not been discovered in your Daniel Quinn - 99 - culture. According to the mythology of the Takers, man is by definition a biological exception. Of all the millions of species, only one is a Final product. The world was not made to produce frogs, cicadas, sharks or grasshopper. It was made for man to arise. So, man occupies a place apart, is an exceptional being that is infinitely above all the rest -True. 5 Ismael spent the next few minutes staring at a spot half a meter from his nose, and I started to wonder if he would not have I forgot that I was there. Then he shook his head and came to himself. By the first time since we knew each other, he pronounced a kind of mini- conference. - The gods have played three tricks on the Takers - started-. First, they did not put the world where Takers they believed he should be; namely, at the center of the universe. But, although Men disliked this greatly, they soon got used to it. Your home it was located in the last corner of the universe, but that did not prevent that they continue believing the protagonists of the great "theatrical representation" of creation. »The second evil trick of the gods was worse. As the man was the cusp of creation, the creature for whom everything had been done others, the gods should have had the deference to create the man of adequate manner to its dignity and importance; that is, within the framework of a separate creative action, special. Instead, they decided that it would evolve from the original silt, like ticks and flukes. The Takers got very angry when they found out about this, but it did not take long for Get used. Even when man had evolved from the silt Daniel Quinn - 100 - primordial, it remains its destiny, according to divine design, to rule the world, and maybe even the universe in its entirety. "But the last bad pass of the gods was the worst of all. Although the Takers do not know it yet, the gods did not exempt the man of the law that rules the lives of larvae, ticks, prawns, rabbits, mollusks, deer, lions and jellyfish. They did not exempt him from this law as neither did they exempt him from the law of gravity. And this was going to be the most hard inflicted on Takers as a whole: they could get used to other bad passes of the gods; but to this one, no. Ismael, a pile of skin and flesh, remained silent for a long time, I guess for me to digest these last words. Then he continued: -A law is law because it takes effect; otherwise we could not discover. The effects of the law that we are looking for are very simple. The species that live according to the law live perennially, as long as allow environmental conditions. This should be a good news for humanity in general, because if it lives according to that law, then it will also live perennially, or at least while the conditions allow it. "But, of course, this is not the only effect of the law. The species that do not live according to the law are extinguished. In the biological time scale, it they extinguish very quickly. Which is very bad news for those of you culture, the worst you've ever heard. - You will not think, I interrupted, that with this explanation I already know where I have to look for that law. Ishmael thought for a moment and then picked up a twig from the pile that had to the right, held it for me to see it and then dropped it to the ground. - Here is the effect that Newton tried to explain. And then he waved a hand in the direction of the street. This is the effect that I am trying to explain. If you look out there, you will see a world full of species, which, if Daniel Quinn - 101 - allow environmental conditions, they will continue to live indefinitely - Already. But why do we have to explain this? Ishmael took another twig from the pile, held it and dropped it ground-. Why does this need an explanation? - Well ..., you want to prove that this phenomenon is not the result of chance, which is the product of a law, that there is a law behind, right? - Exactly. There is a law behind, and my task is to show you what they are their efects. At this point, the easiest way to show you how it works is by analogy with laws that you already know; for example, the law of gravity and the laws of aerodynamics. 6 -All right. You know that, while we are sitting here, we are not in any way resisting the law of gravity. The objects that they do not lean on anything they fall freely towards the center of the Earth, and surfaces on which we are sitting prevent our fall. - So is. - The laws of aerodynamics do not help us to defy the law of the gravity. I'm sure you understand this; they simply talk about the possibility of using air as a support. A man sitting on a aircraft is subject to the law of gravity exactly like us, which We are sitting here. However, the man who is sitting on a plane obviously enjoys a freedom that we lack here: the freedom of the air. - Yes - Well, the law we are looking for is similar to the law of gravity. There is no way to avoid it, but there is a way to achieve equivalent of flight: the equivalent of freedom of the air. In others Daniel Quinn - 102 - words, that it is possible to build a civilization that flies. I stared at him for a moment and then nodded: - In agreement. -You will remember the time when the Takers began to rehearse flights with engine. They did not start studying the laws of aerodynamics, nor trying to formulate a theory based on research and experimentation carefully planned. They simply built some gadgets that they threw around the edges of the cliffs and waited for the invention it will work. - True. - All right. I will continue detailing one of these first attempts. Suppose that the attempt is carried out with one of those gadgets beautifully driven by pedals and equipped with moving wings, based in a misunderstanding of aeronautical flight. - In agreement. - At the beginning of the flight, everything is fine. Our aspiring aviator will has thrown around the edge of the cliff and is pedaling, with the wings of wit beating like crazy. He feels divinely, as if enraptured. Is experiencing the freedom of the air. What he does not realize, however, is that this device is aerodynamically incapable of flying. Simply, does not observe the laws that make flight possible; but he would laugh if you told him that. He has never heard of such laws and knows nothing about them. Tea I would point out the swinging wings and I would say to you: "See, like a bird!" Without However, regardless of what he thinks, the case is that he is not flying. It is an object in free fall towards the center of the Earth. Are you from Agree with me up here? - Yes - Luckily, or say rather unfortunately for our aviator, He chose a very high cliff to propel his wit. Your disappointment it is still very far, both in time and space. There we have it, Daniel Quinn - 103 - well, in free fall, feeling a wonderful being and congratulating himself for his triumph. It looks like the joke that leaps out the window from the nineteenth floor. Going through the ninth, he says to himself: "What good is going all!". «There it is, then, I repeat, in free fall, experiencing the joy that It provides being flying. From the height, you can see kilometers and kilometers around him, although one thing he sees leaves him somewhat puzzled: The bottom of the valley is strewn with mills like yours. Not crashed, simply abandoned. "Why," he asks, "are those ingenios there down on the ground, and not in the air? What crazy people are abandoning their device, when they could be enjoying the freedom of the air! " eccentricities of short-range mortals are not for him a reason for concern. However, looking back down the valley there is something that He worries now: he seems not to be keeping up. It seems as if the earth was rising steadily towards him. But, well, decide not worry too much After all, your flight has been a complete success until now, and there are no reasons for it to stop being so. Only has to pedal with a little more intensity; that is all. »For now, everything is fine. Think sarcastically of those who predicted that his flight would end in disaster, broken bones and death. Here he is: has made this whole journey without the slightest scratch, and certainly without any broken bone. But look down again and what you see worries you Really. The law of gravity has come to meet you at the speed of ten meters per second squared, an acceleration speed that goes on constant increase. The ground now rushes towards him in a way alarming. He is worried, certainly, but not at all desperate. "My device has brought me here without suffering any damage", He says. "So I'm going to continue." And, in effect, he starts pedaling with all his forces. Which, of course, does not work for your good, because your gadget does not adheres to the laws of aerodynamics. Even when I had the power of a thousand Daniel Quinn - 104 - men in his legs - or ten thousand, or a million - his contraption did not I would fly; is doomed to crash, and he too, if not leave - Okay, I see what you want to say, but I do not see the relationship with what We were talking before. Ismael nodded. - Well, I'll tell you. Ten thousand years ago, those of your culture They embarked on a similar flight: the flight of civilization. Your device does not It was designed following no theory. Like our aviator imaginary, they had no idea that there was a law to observe for get the flight of civilization. They did not even ask if there was such thing. They wanted freedom of the air, and they threw themselves into the first plane that found by hand: the plane of Takers. »At first, everything went well. Actually, he marched phenomenally. Takers were moving away by pedaling and flapping the wings of his contraption. They felt enchanted, jubilant. They were experiencing the Freedom of the air: the freedom with respect to the ties that coexist with the rest of the biological community. And with that freedom they were producing authentic wonders. I mean all those things that you mentioned the other day: the first cities, technology, mathematics, science. It was unthinkable that his flight could ever stop; safe that would continue to be more and more exciting. They could not know, not even barruntar, who, like our ill-fated aviator, were in the air, Yes, but they were not really flying. They were in free fall, because their apparatus did not obey the law that makes the flight possible. But his disappointment is even in the distant future, and keep pedaling and having a great time all right. Like our aviator, they have some strange visions during the the course of his fall. They see the remains of some devices very similar to yours -Not destroyed, but only abandoned-: the Mayan devices, the hohokam, the anasazi or the hopewell cult peoples, to mention just Daniel Quinn - 105 - a few of those around here, in the New World. "Because I know they ask, "are there devices on the ground and not in the air? Some people who prefer to rush towards the land instead of enjoying the freedom of the air, like us? "It is something that is incomprehensible to them, as an unfathomable mystery. "Such nonsense leaves the Takers indifferent, which They keep pedaling and having a great time. They do not think abandon your device. They think they continue to enjoy the freedom of the air eternally. But, alas, they are subject to a law. They do not know that there is such a thing law, but ignorance does not exempt them from compliance or protect them against their efects. It is a law that does not forgive, that is imposed in the same way that the law of gravity was imposed on our aviator at a speed growing. «Some nineteenth-century thinkers, such as Robert Wallace and Thomas Robert Malthus, they looked down. Probably a thousand years before, or only Five hundred years before, they would not have noticed anything. But what they see in their time the alarm. It's as if the ground is approaching them in marches forced, as if they were going to crash. They answer and say: "If we continue so, in the not too distant future we are going to get into a very berenjenal great. "The other Takers did not take their predictions seriously. advanced a lot following this path and we have not made a single scratch. It is true that the soil seems to be getting closer and closer, but this it just means that we have to pedal a little harder. There is no reason to worry. "However, as predicted, the famine does not It took a long time to wreak havoc on many parts of the Takers' apparatus, which had to pedal even more and more effectively than before. But, as strange as it may seem, the more effectively they pedaled more the situation worsened. Something quite curious, by the way. Peter Farb what describes as paradox: "The intensification of production to feed an increased population leads to an even greater increase in Daniel Quinn - 106 - population. "" Nothing happens, "the Takers said and said. apply more effective birth control so that some people pedal better So, yes, the device of the aircraft will fly in perpetuity Takers. " »But such simple answers are not enough in the present for reassure those in your culture. When you look down, it's obvious to you that the ground approaches you vertiginously with each passing year. The basic ecological and planetary systems are being affected by the Tapping apparatus, with an impact that increases in intensity with the Over the years. Every year, basic, irreplaceable resources are consumed, and Each year they are eaten with greater avidity. Whole species are disappearing as a result of your invasion, and every year that passes increases the number of those that disappear. The pessimists - or maybe better the realists- look down and say: "The smack can occur inside twenty or, at most, fifty years. Although, in reality, it could occur at any time. It is something that can not be known to science Certainly. "Of course, there are also optimists who say:" We must have faith in our contraption. After all, it has brought us here healthy and saved. What is before us is not a catastrophe, it is just a small mountain that we can fly over if we all get to pedal with a little more strength. Then we will be fired towards a bright future, infinite, and then the Takers' apparatus will take us to the stars and we will conquer the rest of the universe. "But your device is not going to save ros. On the contrary, it is your device that will lead you to catastrophe. Neither five or ten or twenty billion of you pedaling could get let it fly It is in free fall from the beginning, a fall that is point to touch its end. At the end of his speech, I came up with something to comment on my own harvest. Daniel Quinn - 107 - -The worst part of the story -I observed- is that the survivors, if that there is one left, they will immediately get to work to do the same thing again same, and in exactly the same way. -Yes, I'm sorry to say you're right. The test method and the error do not It's a bad way to learn how to build an airplane, but it can be a disastrous way to learn to build a civilization. Daniel Quinn - 108 - Chapter SEVEN Daniel Quinn - 109 - one -I'm going to propose a riddle to see if! A guesses -he started Ismael-. You are in a remote place, in a strange city, isolated of all your congeners. Immediately you feel impressed by the people who It surrounds you It is friendly, cheerful, healthy, prosperous, vigorous, peaceful, educated, and tells you things that have been taking place since time immemorial. Anyway, You are happy to stop here on the road. A family of the place you He invites you to stay at his house. »Dinner seems delicious to you, although it tastes a bit strange, and, After asking what it is, they answer you: "Ah, it's meat of the B, for course It's the only thing we eat. "That answer, naturally, puzzled and ask them again if they refer to the lambs of the flock that can be seen in the distance. They laugh and take you to the window. "There are some B ", they inform you, pointing to the house next door. Daniel Quinn - 110 - - Holy God! You exclaim in horror. You do not mean to say that you eat people! They look at you with surprise and answer: -We eat the B. -What atrocity! You exclaim. Are they your slaves, perhaps? Do you have them locked up? -Why were we going to have them locked up? -Asking your turn hosts -Well, to prevent them from running away, of course. »Your hosts are starting to think that you are a little bit gone and you explain that the B would never think of running away, since the A, their Food, they live just opposite, across the street. "Anyway, I'm not going to tire you with the string of indignant exclamations for your part and for unconvincing explanations for theirs. In the end, you end up taking charge of the awful truth. The A are eaten by the B, and the B are eaten by the Cs, which are eaten in turn by the A. No There is no hierarchy between these food classes. The C do not feel superior to the B, because they are their food and, after all, they are in turn the food of the A. Everything happens in a perfectly democratic way and friendly. But, of course, everything is completely scary to you, and ask them now how they can endure living like this, without law. Once again, They look at you surprised. - What do you mean by living without law? They ask. We We have a law, which we all invariably follow. That's why we are so friendly, cheerful, peaceful and all those things that you find so attractive In us. And this law is the foundation of our success as a people, and what It has been from the beginning. Ismael finally challenged me. And here, finally, the riddle. Without asking them, Can you tell me how to find out what law they observe? Daniel Quinn - 111 - I looked at him without blinking. -I can not think of an answer. -Think a little bit. -Well ..., obviously his law is that the A eat the C, the B they eat the A, and the C eat the B. Ismael shook his head. -That is simply a matter of food preferences. For that no law is needed. -Then I need some more clue to keep going. The only one track that I have are your food preferences. -Disposes of three other tracks. They have a law that they follow invariably, and by following it invariably they have achieved great success in the social plane. -I still seem insufficient. Unless the law is something like ... "Relax and enjoy". "I'm not asking you to guess what the law is. I'm asking you that you create a method to discover that law. I sat back in the armchair, put my hands on my stomach and I kept looking at the ceiling. A few minutes later, an idea came to me. - Is there any punishment for breaking this law? -Death. -Then, I would wait for someone to be executed. Ismael smiled. - Ingenious, but can hardly be considered a method. Further, you are not taking into account the fact that it is a law followed invariably. There has never been a single execution. I sighed and closed my eyes. A few minutes later, I ventured: -Observe? Observe people meticulously for a long time time frame? - That's already a little closer. What would you be observing? Daniel Quinn - 112 - -What they do not do. What they would never do. -All right. But how would you distinguish between straw and grain? For example, Could you discover that you never sleep with your feet up and your head down, or that never throw stones at the moon? There would be a million things that they never do, but such things would not necessarily be prohibited by the law. -True. Let's see. They have a law, they follow it invariably and, according to they ... Ah According to them, following this law has given them a society that works very well. Are you really convinced of it? -Definitely. It is part of the hypothesis. -Then this would eliminate most of the chaff. The fact that Never sleep with your head down and your feet up would have nothing to do with the fact of having a society that works well. Let's see. Actually... What I would really look for is ... I would approach the problem from two sides. From the first, he would ask me: "What makes it work well? a society? "And, from the other, he would ask:" What they do not do but does this society work well? " -Very well. As you have reasoned so brilliantly, I am going to give you now a break. Despite the regrets, there is going to be an execution. For first Once in history, someone has broken the law, which is the foundation of this society. Everyone is outraged, horrified, stupefied. They catch the offender, they make picadillo and throw it to the dogs. This should help you Great help to discover your law. -Yes. -I will play the role of your host. We just attended the execution. You can ask me the questions you want. -In agreement. What has this guy done? -It has broken the law. -Already. But what exactly has he done? Ishmael shrugged. Daniel Quinn - 113 - - He lived contrary to the law. He did things that we do not we never do I stared at him. -That is not right. You are not answering my questions. -Let's see, young man, all this sad history is in the public domain. The biography of the executed is available in the central library with everything luxury of details. I grumbled. -And well, how are you going to use this biography? It does not say how the individual broke the law. It's just a per-minorized report of how he lived, and most of it will undoubtedly be irrelevant. -Okay, but I notice that this gives me another clue. Now I already have three: what makes your society work well, what they do not they never do and what he did but that others never do. -Very well. These are exactly the three clues you have for guess the law we are looking for here. The community of life in this planet has worked well for three billion years, not to say even that marvelously well. The Takers departed in horror of this community, believing it was a chaotic, lawless, wild place, where there reigned a merciless competition and where each creature must fear for his life. But those of your kind who really live in this community do not think so, and will shed the last drop of their blood before to get away from her. »It is really a well-ordered community. The green plants they serve as food for the herbivores, which serve as food for the predators, some of which serve as food in turn to others predators And what's left is food for the scavengers, who They return to the earth some necessary nutrients for green plants. Is a system that has worked perfectly for billions of years. It is understandable that some filmmakers love the scenes Daniel Quinn - 114 - bloody, but any naturalist will tell you that there is no type of war between species. The gazelle and the lion are enemies only in the of the Takers. The lion that approaches a herd of gazelles does not he massacred them, as an enemy would. Kill one, not to satisfy your hatred towards the gazelles, but to satisfy his hunger, and once he has consummated their killing action, the other gazelles continue to graze happy and happy with the lion in their midst. »All this happens because there is a law invariably observed in the heart of the community, without which the community would be plunged into chaos, It would disintegrate quickly, disappear. Man owes his existence to this law. If the species that surround him did not comply, he would not have been born I could survive. It is a law that protects not only the community in its whole, but also to the different species within that community, and even to each of the individuals. Do you understand what I'm saying? -I understand what you tell me, but I have no idea which one It can be this law. -I'm targeting its effects. -In agreement. -It is a law that seeks peace and that prevents the community from joining in that maddening chaos that only exists in the Takers' imagination. It is a law that favors everyone's life, the life of herbs, grasshoppers that feed on the grass, the quail that feeds of the grasshoppers, the fox that feeds on the quail, the crows that feed on the dead fox. »The osteicides that prowled the coasts of the continents originated because hundreds of millions of generations of living beings previous had followed this law; and some of them became amphibians following this law. And some amphibians became reptiles following this law. And some reptiles became birds and mammals following this law. And some mammals became primates following Daniel Quinn - 115 - this law. And a branch of the primates became the austra-lopithecus following this law. And the australopithecus became the homo habilis following this law. And homo habilis became homo erectus following this law. And homo erectus became homo sapiens following this law. And homo sapiens became homo sapiens sapiens following this law. »And then, about ten thousand years ago, a branch of the homo family sapiens sapiens said: "Man is exempt from this law. they planned that man be subject to her. "And, consequently, they built a civilization that mocks this law in all aspects, and, about five hundred generations later - a blink of an eye on the biological time scale-, this branch of the homo sapiens family Sapiens discovered that he had taken the whole world to the brink of extinction. And what is the explanation he gave of this calamity? -Hey? -The man lived harmlessly on this planet for about three millions of years, but the Takers have brought it to the brink of collapse in only about five hundred generations. And the explanation that they have given to this is...? -I see what you want to say. The explanation is that there is something in man that does not work as it should. -It is not so much that the Takers have behaved improperly, but there is something in human nature that does not work as it should. -Exact. -What, do you like this explanation? -I'm beginning to harbor certain doubts about it. -All right. Daniel Quinn - 116 - 3 -At the time when the Takers broke into the New World and they started to destroy everything, the Dejadores were looking in situ for a answer to the question: "Is there a way to be sedentary that does not threaten against the law that we have been observing since the beginning of the times? "Of course, I do not mean to say that they had formulated consciously this question. They were not more aware of this law that the first aviators were from the laws of aerodynamics. But they fought equally: building and abandoning an essay of civilization after another, trying to find one that will fly. Proceed in this way It can be very slow. Proceed according to the trial and error method I could have guessed another ten or fifty thousand years. Apparently they had the good enough to tell himself that there was no hurry. They did not need to throw yourself into the air. According to them, there was no point in surrendering to a civilization that was clearly launched towards disaster, as has happened with the Takers. Ismael made a stop, and when I saw that he was not continuing, I asked: -And now that? His cheekbones contracted to smile. -Now you can leave and come back when you're ready to tell me what law or set of laws has existed in the community of life From the beginning. -I'm not sure I'm ready for that. -Well, it's what we've been doing here for the last half week, although not from the beginning: we have been preparing. -But I would not know where to start. -Yes, you know it. You have the same three tracks as in the case of the A, B and C. The law you're looking for has been invariably observed in the community of life for three billion years. -Ismael made a Daniel Quinn - 117 - gesture in the direction of the outside world. And that's why things are the way they are. If this law had not been observed from the beginning by a generation after another, the seas would have been deserts without life and the Earth would continue being a lot of dust whipped by the wind. The countless forms of life that you see here arose following this law, and was following this law as Man also emerged. And only once in the entire history of this planet There has been a species that has tried to live in defiance of this law, and not a entire species, but only a town called the Takers. Ten thousand ago years, this town said: "What was given is over, man is not subject to This law ", and began to skip the law in all aspects. that was prohibited by that law incorporated it into their civilization within the framework of your basic policy And now, five hundred generations later, they're about of paying the price that any other species would have had to pay for live contrary to this law. Ismael opened a hand conclusively. -This should be enough as a clue. 4 The door closed behind me, and there I was ... As I could not I did not want to go home again, I just stayed there. My Mind was blank. I felt depressed, without any rational reason. I even felt rejected. The house was full of things. I had been left behind in my I was working and I was not meeting deadlines. And now he had an imposed task for Ismael that I was not particularly enthusiastic about. How had the time to put the batteries seriously, I did something that I usually do Sometimes: I went out to have a drink. I needed to talk to someone, and the lonely drinkers are fortunate in this regard: they always have someone to talk to. Daniel Quinn - 118 - All right. What was there in the background of those strange sensations of depression and rejection? And why had that day appeared, specifically? The answer was: on this day in particular Ismael has asked me to work for my account. Ishmael could have saved me the research work that I was about to start, but I had decided not to save it. So that, feeling of rejection. Everything that is childish, but I have not pretended never to be perfect. However, there was something else, because I still felt depressed. A second whiskey helped me get over it. I was making progress. Great. That's why I felt depressed. Ismael had a pedagogical plan. Well, why would not I have it? I had been using it for many years, working with a student after other. It was perfectly understandable. You have to have a plan. You start here, you continue to that point, and then to that other, and another, and another, and then, voila! One day, you finish, and you say: "Thanks for the attention borrowed, have a good life, and please do not forget to close the door when leaving ". How far had I come? Where was I? Halfway through path? In a quarter of the way? In any case, every progress What I did was moving me further away from Ishmael's life. What is the negative term that best describes this way of address the situation? Selfishness? Self-love? Scarlet spirit? Be what I will accept myself as I am without trying to find excuses. I had to face reality: I did not just want a teacher, I wanted a teacher in perpetuity. Daniel Quinn - 119 - Chapter EIGHT Daniel Quinn - 120 - one The search for the law took me four days. I spent a whole day telling myself I could not get it, two days getting it and another day more making sure I got it Really. On the fifth day, I returned. Upon entering Ismael's office, he was still mentally repeating what he was going to say, which was nothing but: "I think now I see why you insisted so much that I discovered it for myself. " I gave up my mental rehearsals, raised my eyes and felt momentarily disoriented. I had forgotten what I expected there: an empty room, a lonely armchair, a crystal with a pair of eyes shining to the other side. Implusively, I waved, raising my hand. Ishmael then did something he had never done before. By way of greeting, lifted the upper lip, exposing a row of teeth Amber as massive as marble blocks. I sat on the couch Daniel Quinn - 121 - hastily and I waited like a schoolboy for Ismael to nod with the head. -I think now I see why you insisted so much that I discovered it for myself, "I recited. If you had done the work in my place, indicating the things that Takers do and that they are never done in the community of nature, I would have said: "Sure, of course, it was not so complicated". Ismael growled. -All right. As I see it, there are four things that Takers do and that the rest of the community never does, and all four are basic to their civilization system. First, they exterminate their competitors, something that never happens in the natural world. Wild animals defend their territory and its prey and invade the territories of its competitors to take theirs. Some species even hunt their competitors, but they never pursue them with the sole intention of killing them, as they do ranchers and peasants with coyotes, foxes and crows. What they hunt they eat it. Ismael nodded. -It must be specified, however, that animals also kill in self-defense, or even when they simply feel threatened. By For example, the baboon can attack a leopard that has not attacked it. But It should be noted that the baboon goes in search of food, not in search of Leopards -I'm not sure what you want to say. -I mean that, when they have no food, the baboons are organized to find food, but they would never organize to find a leopard. In other words, what is it like you say: when animals go hunting (including the most aggressive animals, such as baboons), is for get food, not to exterminate competitors, even though a Sometimes they are hunted by these. Daniel Quinn - 122 - -Yeah, I see what you mean. - And how can you be sure that this law is invariably observed? Bearing in mind that you never see competitors exterminating one another in what you call wild nature. -If it were not invariably observed, then, as you say, the Things would not have happened this way. If competitors were to hunt each other only to be killed, then there would be no competitors; there would be a single species at each competitive level: the strongest. - Go on. -In the second place, the Policyholders systematically destroy the food of their competitors to be able to grow them more. Nothing of this occurs in the natural community, where the norm is: take what you need and leave everything else in peace. Ismael nodded. -In the third place, the Policyholders deny their competitors access to the food. In the jungle, the norm is: you can deny your competitors the access to what you are eating but you can not deny it to food in general. In other words, what can you say: "This gazelle is mine", but not You can say: "All the gazelles are mine." The lion defends its prey as own, but does not defend livestock as their own. -Yes it's correct. But suppose you are raising your own cattle, from the principle, so to speak. Could you defend that livestock as your own? -I do not know. I suppose so, as long as my policy was not that all the cattle of the world are mine. -And what about denying competitors access to what you are you cultivating? -I say the same. Our policy is: every square meter of this planet belongs to us, so let's cultivate everything arable and all our rivals will remain poor with nothing, and they will have no choice but to Daniel Quinn - 123 - disappear. Our policy is to deny our rivals access to all food of the world, a thing that no other species does. -The bees will deny you access to the hive that is located in the apple tree, but you will not be denied access to apples. -True. -All right. And you said there's a fourth thing Takers do and that is never done in the jungle, as you call it. -Yes. In the jungle, the lion kills a gazelle and eats it. It does not kill a second gazelle to keep it for tomorrow. The deer eats the grass that There are around him. It does not cut the grass and keeps it for the winter. Things these that the Takers do. - You seem less sure about this fourth thing. -Yes, I'm less sure. There are species that store food, like the bees, but not many more. -Well, in this case, you're not right. All living beings store food. Most of them limit themselves to storing it in their bodies, as they make, for example, lions, deer and humans. Regarding the others, they are not adapted for this, so they have to store also food out of the body. -In agreement. -There is no prohibition against the storage of food as such. There could not be, because that is what makes the system work in whole: green plants store food for herbivores, these they store food for predators, and so on. -True. I had not seen him from that point of view. -Is there anything else that Takers do and that they never do the rest of the community of life? -Well, it does not occur to me right now. Not that I seem relevant for what makes the community work. Daniel Quinn - 124 - two - This law that you have so admirably described defines the limits of competition in the community of life. You can compete to the extreme of your ability, but you can not chase your competitors, destroy their food or deny them access to it. In other words, that you can compete but not to make war. -Yes. As you said, it's a peacemaking law. - And what is the effect of this law? What is this law encourages? -Well ... promote order. -Yes, but now think of something else. What would have happened if Would this law have been rejected ten million years ago? How would it be then the community of life? -Again, I have to say that there would only be one way of life to each level of competition. If all the competitors for the pastures had been in war for ten million years, now reign a winter generalized Or maybe there would be only one winning insect, one winning bird, one winner reptile, et cetera. The same could be said at all levels. -Then what is the law encouraging? What is the difference between the community you just described and the current community? -I suppose the community that I just described would consist of How many dozens or hundreds of different species? The current community It consists of millions of species. -Then, what is that law encourages? -The diversity. -Of course. And what is good about diversity? -I do not know well. Without a doubt ... it's more interesting. -What defect would you find to a global community that would consist only of grass, gazelles and lions? Or to a global community that consists only of rice and humans? Daniel Quinn - 125 - I looked at the ceiling for a moment. -I would think that such a community is ecologically fragile. What is it extremely vulnerable. At the smallest change that occurred ..., all the shed It would go to hell. Ismael nodded. -Divority is a survival factor for the community of the life as such. A community of one hundred million species can survive almost everything but a total, global catastrophe. Within it, there would be several thousands that could survive a global temperature drop of twenty degrees, something that would be much more devastating than it may seem to simple view Within it, there would be thousands more who could survive a global temperature rise of twenty degrees. But a community of one hundred species or thousand species would almost have no chance of survival. -True. And it is precisely diversity that is being attacked in this age. Every day that passes, dozens of species disappear as direct consequence of the way in which Takers compete: in the margin of the law. -Now that you know there is a law in between, does this imply a special way in your vision of things? -Yes. I no longer consider what we are doing as hard-hitting pata: we are not destroying the world because we are clumsy; we are destroying because we are, in the most literal and deliberate sense of the word, at war with him. 3 -As you explained, the community of life would be destroyed if all species were exempt from competition rules dictated by this law. But what would happen if only one species were self-exempting Daniel Quinn - 126 - Of the same? - Do you mean another species other than human? -Yes. Of course, I should possess a cunning and a determination almost human Suppose you are a hyena. Why should you share the Hunting with those lazy and dominant lions? It's something that happens over and over time: you kill a zebra, a lion goes by, sends you for a walk and gets the boots while you wait your turn for leftovers. Is that fair? -I thought it was the other way around: the lions kill and the hyenas eat the remains. -Lions kill their own prey, of course, but they do not have No compunction in appropriating other prisoners, if necessary. -In agreement. -You're sick of lions. What are you thinking to do? -Extermine them. - And what will be the effect of your action? -Well ..., that the problems in this sense are over. -What did the lions live on? -Of the gazelles. Of the zebras ... -Now the lions have disappeared. How does that affect you? -I see where you want to go. There are more prey for hyenas. - And now that there are more prey for hyenas? I looked at him without knowing what to say. -Voucher. I'm assuming you know the ABC of ecology. In the natural community, whenever the supply of food increases. population, also increases this population. And, as said population, their food supply decreases, and as their food supply, also decreases the aforementioned population. Is interaction between the rapacious population and the loot population is what keeps the general equilibrium - I already knew that. Only it had not occurred to me now. Daniel Quinn - 127 - "Good," said Ismael with a gesture of perplexity. Think I laughed. -Voucher. So, once the omens are gone, there is more food for hyenas, and our population increases. Increase to the point in the that the dams become scarce, and then our population starts to decrease. -That would happen under normal circumstances, but you have changed those circumstances. You have decided that the law of competition limited does not apply to hyenas. -So is. Then we kill all our competitors. -Please, do not make me get the words out with a corkscrew. I want you to develop only the thread of the argument. -Well, let's see. After not leaving any of our competitors in the fight for food supply ..., our population increases until the supply begins to become scarce. As there is no more competitors to exterminate, we have to increase the population of prey to hunt ... I can not imagine the hyenas raising and tending flocks. -You have exterminated those who compete for your supply, but the animals that you eat also have competitors: competitors for the pastures. Now they are your competitors in the first grade. If you exterminate them, there will be more grass for the animals you hunt. -Exact. More grass for the animals you hunt means more animals to hunt, and more animals to hunt means more hyenas, and more hyenas mean ... What remains to be exterminated? -Ismael looked at me raising the eyebrows. There is nothing left to exterminate. - Think. I thought. -Well, we have exterminated our direct competitors and Our competitors in first grade. Now we can exterminate Daniel Quinn - 128 - our competitors in second grade: the plants, which compete with the grass for more space and more sunlight. -Right. Then there would be more grass for your hunting and more hunting for you. -The thing is funny ... And think that farmers and ranchers consider this almost as a commandment ... Exterminate everything that does not you can eat Exterminate everything that eats what you eat. Extermina everything that does not feed the animals that you eat. -It is a sacred act in the culture of the Takers. How many more competitors destroy more humans you can bring to the world. Here is a almost sacred precept for you. Once you have put yourself out of the law of limited competition, everything in the world except you, you food and the food of your food becomes an enemy to exterminate. -As you see, a species exempt from this law has the same effect that all species would be exempt. It ends with a community in the diversity is destroyed pro-gresively in order to support the expansion of a single species. -Yes. You have to finish where the Takers have finished constantly eliminating competitors, constantly increasing their supply of food, and constantly asking what you are going to do with regarding the population explosion. In what way did you explain the other day? Something about increased food production to feed a population increase. -Intensification of production to feed a population growing, leads to an even greater increase in population. Peter Farb what He said in "Humanity". - You said it was a paradox? - No, he said it was a paradox. - Why? Ishmael shrugged. I'm sure you know that any species in nature will always expand to the extent Daniel Quinn - 129 - that your food supply expands. But, you know well that the Mother Culture teaches that those laws do not apply to man. 5 - I have another question - I added -. As we have been delving into the problem, I have been asked the question of whether agriculture as such is contrary to this law. I mean, it seems contrary to the law because it nition, right? - Yes. If the only definition you have is the definition of the Takers But there are other definitions. Agriculture does not have to be in war against all kinds of life that does not support the growth of one. -My problem is probably the following: the biological community It's an economy, right? I mean, if you start claiming more for yourself, Surely there will be less for other people, for other things, do not you think? -Yes. But why do you want more for yourself alone? -Well, that's the basis of sedentary lifestyle, right? I can not go back sedentary if I do not have agriculture. -Are you sure that's what you want? -What else I'm going to want? -Do you really want to grow to the point of taking over all the world, cultivate all square meter that puts you ahead and force every living creature to become a farmer? -Do not. -Well, that's what the Takers have been doing, and what is still keep doing. What your agricultural system seems to be pursuing is not just the settlement, but above all growth. Unlimited growth -In agreement. But the only thing I want is to settle down. -Then you do not have to make war on anyone. Daniel Quinn - 130 - -But the problem remains. To get the settlement, I have to have more than what I had before, and that surplus has to come from some part. -Yes, that's true, I see your difficulty. First, sedentary lifestyle it is not in any way an exclusively human adaptation. Right now I can not think of any species that is one hundred percent nomadic. Forever There is some kind of territory, be it a corral, a spawning ground, a hive, a nest, a perch, a den, a den, a hole, a burrow ... There are different degrees of sedentarism among animals, such as also among humans. Even hunter-gatherers are not completely nomads: there are intermediate states between them and the pure cultists. There are hunter-gatherers who practice intensive cultivation and they harvest and store the surplus food to be able to be more sedentary Then, there are the middle farmers, who cultivate little and they harvest a lot; then, the almost farmers, who cultivate a lot and harvest little bit. And so on. "But that does not fully address the main problem," I said. -If you approach it, only that you are predisposed to see the problem from a specific angle, and only from that angle. The reasoning that escapes you here is this: when you entered scene the homo habilis (when that particular adaptation came on the scene which we call homo habilis), something had to give way. I do not want to say that another specific species had to be extinguished. I simply say that, From the very beginning, the homo habilis found himself in competition with some thing. And not with just one thing, but with a thousand things, all of which had to to give in, to get worse in some way or another so that the homo habilis I could live This applies to any new species that appears in this planet. -Voucher. But I still do not see what this has to do with the problem of settlement. Daniel Quinn - 131 - -You're not listening to me. The settlement is a biological adaptation practiced to a certain degree by every species, including humans. And all adaptation is consolidated competing with the adaptations that surround it. In one word, that human settlement does not go against the laws of competition, but is subject to the laws of competition. -Ah okay. Now I see it. 6 -Well, what have we discovered so far? -Well, any species that is outside the norms of the competition ends up destroying the community in order to encourage its own expansion. -Any kind? Including man? -Evidently. That is what is really happening here. -Then you will agree with me that this, at least this, should not be to a certain mysterious evil, exclusive of the human race. It is not a defect imponderable of man what has turned those of your culture into destroyers of the world. -Do not. The same would happen with any species, at least with any strong enough species to do it; as long as all increase in the food supply is accompanied by a demographic increase. - Given an expanding food supply, any population it just expands. This is true for any species, including human The Takers have been doing this for ten thousand years. For ten thousand years they have been constantly increasing the production of food to feed an increased population, and, each time They have done this, the population has increased even more. I remained silent for a minute, reflecting. Then I observed: -The Mother Culture does not agree. Daniel Quinn - 132 - -Of course not. I'm sure it dissides to the highest degree. What is it What does it say, by the way? -It says we can increase the production of food without need to increase our population. - With what purpose? Why increase the production of foods? -To feed the millions of people who are dying of hungry. -And, by feeding them, do you get from them the promise that they will not will they reproduce? -Well ... No, that's not part of the plan. -Then, what will happen if you feed the millions who die of hungry? -They will reproduce and our population will increase. -Do not hesitate. It is an experiment that has been carried out in your culture with annual regularity for ten thousand years, with full results predictable: increase production to feed a population in growth results in a further increase in population. Obviously, this result has to occur, and to predict another one is Simply surrender to biologicals and mathematics. -Even though ... -I was reflecting for some time-, Mother Culture says that birth control can solve this problem. -If you're dumb enough to discuss this issue with some of your friends, you will discover that they exhale a sigh of relief at the Remember that this solution exists. "Ugh, thank goodness!" As the alcoholic who He swears he will leave the drink before ruining his life. But the control Global demographic is something that is always left for the future. I was going to happen in the future when you were three billion in 1960. And now that you are five billion, is still something that will happen in the future ... -True. However, it could happen. Daniel Quinn - 133 - - It could, without a doubt, but not while you are representing this history. In the meantime, you will continue to respond to the famine with increased production food. Have not you seen the ads to send food to the towns hungry all over the world? -Yes. -But you have never seen ads to send contraceptives. -Do not. -Never. Mother Culture always speaks as it suits you. If you you mention the population explosion, it tells you about global demographic control, but if you mention the famine of so many people, he talks about increasing the food production. But it happens that the production of food every year, while global demographic control is something that It never comes to fruition. -True. -Your culture in general does not give much value to demographic control global. But what you have to keep in mind here is that it will never give you much value while you are representing a story that says that the gods They made the world for man. While you are representing that history, Mother Culture will demand for today a greater production of food and promise for tomorrow, only for tomorrow, control demographic. -Yes. I see what you want to say. But I have a question about it. -Ahead. -I know what Mother Culture says about hunger in the world. Y What do you say about it? -I? I do not say anything; only that your species is not exempt from biological realities that govern all the others. -But how do you apply this to hunger? - Hunger is not an exclusive phenomenon of humans. All species are subject to hunger, in any corner of the world. When the Daniel Quinn - 134 - population of a species exceeds the available food resources, said population decreases until it is again in balance with its resources. But as Mother Culture says that humans should be exempt from said process, when it encounters a population that has exceeded its resources are launched to import food, thus ensuring that more people even if he dies of hunger in the next generation. And as a population is never allowed to decrease until their own resources, hunger becomes a chronic phenomenon. -Yes. A few years ago, I read in the newspaper about an ecologist who I had said this myself at a conference on hunger. Geez, almost hang! They accused him of nothing less than a murderer. -Yes, I believe it. Your colleagues from all over the world know perfectly what he's talking about, but they're not as foolish as to face Mother Culture, and its unquestioned benevolence. Yes there are forty thousand people in an area that can only feed thirty a thousand, you do not do them any favors by bringing food there to feed the forty thousand. In the long run, that will only perpetuate the situation of famine. -True. But, nevertheless, it is difficult to keep the arms crusaders and let those people die of hunger. -That's exactly how someone who imagines governing by divine election speaks. "I will not let those people die of hunger, I will not let them produce droughts I will not let the rivers overflow. "They are the gods who allow these things to happen, not you. "Good reasoning," I exclaimed. Even so, I have one more question that do yourself about it. Ishmael nodded. Here, in the USA, we tremendously increase the production of food every year, and yet the demographic increase is relatively moderate here. On the other hand, population growth is enormous in countries with a Daniel Quinn - 135 - poor agricultural production. This seems to contradict your correlation between food production and population growth. Ismael shook his head with a grimace of slight disgust. -The phenomenon, as I observe it, is the following: to everything increase in production to feed a larger population is answered with another demographic increase. As you can see, here nothing is said about where those increases occur. -I do not get it. -An increase in food production in Nebraska does not originate necessarily a demographic increase in Nebraska. It can originate a population increase somewhere in India or Africa. -I still do not get it. -All increases in food production are accompanied by a demographic increase somewhere. In other words, someone consumes the surpluses of Nebraska, and if this someone did not exist, the farmers of Nebraska would stop producing such surpluses, without hesitation. "True," I agreed, immersed in new reflections. Are you suggesting, then, that the First World producers are feeding the Demographic explosion in the Third World? "Ultimately," he said, "who, if not, could do this? I stared at him. -We must take a step back to see the problem from a global perspective. At the present time, there are five and a half billion humans in the world, and, although there are many millions who are dying of hunger, you are producing enough food to feed six thousand millions, and how are you producing enough food to feed six billion, is a biological postulate that, within a period of three or four years, there will be six billion humans. By then, however, even When several million are starving, you will be producing enough food for six and a half billion, which means that, in Daniel Quinn - 136 - another term of three or four years, you will be six and a half billion. But for then, you will produce enough food for seven billion, even when many millions are starving, which in turn It will mean that, in another term of three or four years, you will be seven billion. In order to stop this process, you have to assume the fact that a greater production of food does not feed your hungry, but that encourages even more your demographic explosion. -I understand that. But how can you stop production of growing food? -In the same way that you have to stop destroying the layer of ozone or depleting the rainforests. When there is a will it is much easier to find a method. 7 "As you can see, I've left a book next to your chair," Ismael It was the American Heritage Book of Indians The Big Book of the Indians American people]. -Now that we are talking about the issue of demographic control, there on the cover you have a map of tribal sites that you can Find enlightening. After taking a look, he asked me what I thought. -I did not know there were so many different peoples. -Not all coincided in time, although the majority. The What I would like you to consider is what limited their growth. -How could a map help me in this regard? -I wanted you to see that this continent was far from empty. Demographic control was not a luxury, it was a necessity. -In agreement. Daniel Quinn - 137 - - Any idea, then? - You mean after taking a look at the map? No, I'm afraid that do not. -Dell one thing: what do those in your culture do if they get tired of living in the overpopulated northeast? -Very easy. Going to live in Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado ... large open spaces. -And how do the Takers who live in these big open spaces? -It does not make them very funny. They place stickers on the bumpers They say: "If you love New Mexico, return to your home state." -But they do not return to their state of origin. -No, they continue to flow. - Why the Takers of these areas can not contain the alluvium of people? Why can not they control the population growth of the northeast? -I dont know. I do not see how they could do it. - So, here we are facing an excessive growth in a part of the country that nobody cares to contain, as the surplus of People can always move to the great open spaces of the west. -Exact. - However, each of these states has its borders. Why these borders do not prevent them from passing? -Because they are only imaginary lines. -Exact. The only thing you have to do to become Arizonians is to cross that imaginary line and that's it. But what I want you to notice is that within the limits of each of the Dejador villages of this map there was a border that was by no means imaginary: a border cultural. For example, if the Navajos noticed that they suffered from overpopulation, they did not say: "Well, as the Hopi have a lot of Daniel Quinn - 138 - free space, we go there and we become hopis. "Such a thing would have been unthinkable. In a nutshell, today's New Yorkers can solve their demographic problems becoming Arizonans, but the Navajos did not They could solve their demographic problems by becoming Hopi. Those cultural borders were borders that nobody could cross after a simple personal decision. -True. But the Navajos could cross the territorial border of the Hopi without crossing their cultural border. -You mean they could invade Hopi territory. Yes, definitely. But what I intend to say still stands. If you entered Hopi territory, you do not They gave you a form to fill out, but they just killed you. The thing worked very well: it was a very powerful reason why the people will control their growth. -Yes, indeed. -No people controlled their growth for the good of humanity or the environment. It controlled its growth because, for most, this was easier than declaring war on the neighbors. Of course, there were also some who did not try too hard to control their growth, they did not care at all about going to war with their neighbors. I do not mean to say that this was the peaceful kingdom dreamed of by a Utopian visionary. In a world in which no Big Brother supervises the behavior of others or guarantees their property rights, is profitable to have a reputation for intrepid and fierce, and this fame is not acquired precisely sending warning notes to your neighbors. The neighbors they must know exactly what can come over them if they do not control their growth and do not stay within the borders of their territory. -Yeah, I see. That is, they controlled each other. -But not only raising insurmountable territorial borders. Also its cultural borders were insurmountable. The excessive population of the narraganset could not just roll the mat and head west, Daniel Quinn - 139 - Cheyenne territory. The narraganset had to stay where they were and control its population. -Yes. This is one more case in which diversity seems to work better than homogeneity. 8 "A week ago," Ismael continued, "when talking about the laws that indicate how people should live, you said that they could only belong to a type: those that can be modified by a vote. What do you think now? Do you still think that the laws that govern the competition within the community can be modified through a vote? -No, but they do not have universal value, as, for example, the laws of aerodynamics. They can be violated. - Can the laws of aerodynamics be violated? -Do not. If your plane is not built according to these laws, it will not be able to fly. -But if you push it from a cliff, it will stay in the air, will not it? It is true? -During some time, yes. -Well, the same goes for a civilization that is not built according to the law of limited competition. It stays in the air for some time, but then it collapses and crashes. Is not that what is going to happen to those of your culture? A phenomenal smack? -Yes. -Then, what is it that we have found out now? -We've found out more about how people should live. On how should he live? -A knowledge that a week ago you said was unattainable. Daniel Quinn - 140 - -Already but... -But? -I do not see how ... Wait a moment ... -Take your time. -I do not see how this can become a source of knowledge in general. I want to say that I do not see how to apply in a general way this knowledge to other issues. - Do you teach the laws of aerodynamics to heal damaged genes? -Do not. -So what are they for? -Serve to ... Allow us to fly. -The law that we have outlined here allows the species to live, allows to survive, including the human species. This law will not tell you whether psychotropic drugs should be legalized or not. It will not tell you if sex is right or wrong before marriage. It will not tell you if the Capital punishment is good or bad. But it will tell you how to live to avoid extinction, and this is the most important and most important knowledge You need to have any. -True. With everything... -With everything...? -The ones in my culture will not accept it. -You mean that those in your culture will not accept what you have learned here, is not that? -That's. -We are clear about what they will accept and will not accept. The law itself It is out of the question. It's just there, ruling the community of the life. What the Policyholders deny is that it also applies to the human community -Already. Daniel Quinn - 141 - -It is something that can hardly surprise anyone. Mother Culture I could accept the claim that the Earth is not the center of the universe. I could accept the claim that man comes from the primitive silt. But he will never accept the affirmation that man is not exempt from the pacifying law of the community of life. Accepting that would mean his end. -So, are you saying there is no hope? -Absolutely. Naturally, you have to put an end to Mother-Culture if you want to survive, and that is something you can do. She has no existence out of your minds. Once you stop listening, the Mother Culture will cease to exist. -True. But I do not think that people allow that. Ishmael shrugged. -Then, the law will do it instead of the people. If people refuse to live under the law, then you will have to say goodbye to life, simply. We could consider this one of the main results of the law: who they threaten the stability of the community by defying the law they are eliminated automatically to themselves. -The Takers will never accept that. -The acceptance has nothing to do here. It's like saying that someone does not fall over the edge of a precipice because it does not accept the effects of gravity. The Takers are in the process of eliminating themselves, and when this has occurred, the stability of the community will be restored and the damage you have done may begin to be repaired. -True. On the other hand, I think you're being unreasonably pessimistic about respect. I think there are a lot of people out there aware that they finished what was given and willing to hear something new, eager to hear something new, like you, without going any further. -Well, you're right. Daniel Quinn - 142 - 9 -I'm not entirely satisfied with the way we have formulated this law, "I proclaimed. -Oh no? -We are referring to it as a single law when in fact They are three different laws. In any case, I described it as three laws different - Those three laws are three branches. What you are looking for is the trunk, which is something like saying: "No species should seize the life of the world". -Yes, that's what the rules about the competition guarantee. -It is an expression of the law. Here is another: "The world was not made for a single species. " -Yes. So, man was not made in any way to conquer it and govern it. -That's a big jump. According to the mythology of Takers, the world needed a ruler because the gods They had left in a sorry state. The gods had created a jungle, a maddening chaos, an anarchy. But was it really like that? -No, everything was in perfect order. It was the Takers who They introduced disorder into the world. -That law was and is enough. Men did not have to impose no order in the world. 10 -The ones of your culture you cling with fanatical tenacity to the character special of man. You want by all means to perceive a great abyss between man and the rest of creation. This mythology of superiority Daniel Quinn - 143 - human being justifies them to do with the world what it seems to them, just like Hitlerite mythology about Aryan superiority justified the Nazis for do with Europe what you think. But in the end, this mythology is revealed profoundly unsatisfactory. The Takers are a people deeply lonely. The world is for them an enemy territory and they live in it which army of occupation: alienated and isolated by virtue of their supposed character special, extraordinary. -That's true. But where do you want to go with this? Instead of answering my question, Ishmael continued: -Among the Dejadores, the crime, the mental illness, the suicide and the Drug addiction are very rare phenomena. How does Mother Culture explain this? -I would say it's because ... Mother Culture says it's just because the Dejadores are too primitive for them to give each other these things. -In other words, that crime, mental illness, suicide and Drug addiction would be characteristic of an advanced culture, right? -Indeed. Nobody raises it that way, of course, but it's like that as it should be understood. These things are the price to pay for being so advanced. -It is an almost opposite opinion that has had a good acceptance in your culture for a century or so. A different opinion on why such things are so rare among the Dejadores. I was reflecting for a moment. "You mean the myth of the good savage, do not you? I can not say what know with detail. -But surely you have a general idea. It is quite common among those of your culture: not knowing any theory in detail and having only one general idea. -True. Well, it's the idea that people who live near the nature tends to be noble. It's about contemplating so many sunsets. Do not Daniel Quinn - 144 - You can see a sunset and then go to set fire to the hut of your neighbour. Living close to nature is wonderful for mental health. -You know I'm not saying any of this. -Already. But what are you really saying? -We have reviewed the history that the Takers have represented during the last ten thousand years. The Dejadores have also represented a story. It is not a story told, but a story represented. -What do you mean? -If you approach the different peoples of your culture (if you go, example, to China, Japan, Russia, England or India), each town will make you a story completely different from itself, but they are all representing one only history, which is simply the history of the Takers. The same It can be said of the Dejadores. The Bushmen of Africa, the Alawa of Australia, the kreenakrore of Brazil and the Navajo of the United States, each It will make a different story but they are also representing basically a single story, which is none other than the history of the Dejadores. -I see where you intend to go. What counts is not the story what you do, but the way you really live. -Exact. The story that the Takers have represented from Ten thousand years ago it's not just disastrous, it's a story of conquest and habit. Representing it does not give them the power. Representing it gives them a life satisfactory and important to them. This is what you will find if you join to them. The leaders are not furious at the disagreement or uprising, they are not arguing incessantly about what should be allowed and what should be prohibited, they are not accusing themselves of not living in the same way correct, they are not living in fear of the other, they are not going crazy because their lives seem to be empty and meaningless, they do not have to be anesthetized Daniel Quinn - 145 - with drugs to endure those days, they do not invent a new religion every week to have something to lean on, they are not constantly looking Something to do or something to believe in to make their lives worthwhile. I insist this is not because they live close to nature or because they do not have a formal government or that they are innately noble. This is simply because they are running a story that works well for the lefters, a story that worked well for three million years and that still works well today and that Policyholders still do not They have managed to destroy. -It's okay. That sounds terrible. When will we get to that story? -Morning. At least, we will try. "Well," I agreed. But before finishing for today, I have another question what to do Why do we say Mother Culture? I personally do not have no difficulty in saying it, but I imagine that some women can to feel bad, because it seems that a gender figure has been chosen specifically female to make of the movie's bad. Ismael growled. -I do not consider her bad in any way, but I understand your discomfort. Here is my answer: Culture is like a mother at all times and places, she is intrinsically a nurturer and nurturer of societies and lifestyles humans. Among the Dejado peoples, Mother Culture explains and preserves a lifestyle that is healthy and self-sustainable. Among the peoples Takers, explains and preserves a lifestyle that has turned out to be unhealthy and self-destructive. -In agreement. And good? - Does not this solve your question? If culture is mother among the Alawa of Australia, the Bushmen of Africa and the kayapo of Brazil, why not Can she also be a mother among the Takers? Daniel Quinn - 146 - Chapter NINE Daniel Quinn - 147 - one When I arrived the next day, I discovered that I had been prepared for new plan: Ismael was no longer on the other side of the glass, but on this side, reclining on some cushions, about one meter from my armchair. I I had not realized how important it was to have that crystal for our relationship. And, to tell the truth, I felt some alarm in my stomach. His proximity, and the enormity of his body, puzzled me, but, without doubt it for a second, I took a seat and made the usual greeting. He told me He returned, although I thought I perceived a distrustful look in his eyes, speculative, as if our proximity disturbed him as much as it did me. -Before proceeding -he broke the silence a few moments later-, I want to dispel a misunderstanding. Having said that, he handed me a sketch pad, with a diagram in the upper part. Daniel Quinn - 148 - "He is not a particularly difficult figure," he added. Represents the historical evolution of the Dejadores. -Yes, I see. He added something else and handed it to me. -This branch, produced around 8000 a. of C, represents the Beginning of the history of the Takers. -In agreement. -Why event was it marked? -He asked me placing the point of your pencil at the point where the 8000 date was written. -For the agricultural revolution. -And did this event occur at a certain time or did it lengthened in time? -I suppose it went on in time. -Then what does this point represent from 8,000 a. of C? -The beginning of the revolution. - And where do I put a point to show its completion? -Ah ... -balbucí-. Well, I would not know how to say it. It must have lasted about two thousand years. -What event marked the end of the revolution? -I have to recognize again that I do not know. I do not know that there was a concrete event that marked that end. -So no bottle of champagne was uncorked then, right? Daniel Quinn - 149 - -I do not know. - Think. I thought and, a few moments later, I answered: -In agreement. It is curious that schools do not teach more about Agricultural revolution. I think I heard something in class, but I do not remember anything in concrete. -Follow. -I do not finish. It simply spread. It has not stopped spreading since it started about ten thousand years ago. It spread through North America during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and is still spreading in some parts from New Zealand, Africa and South America. -Of course. As you see, your agricultural revolution is not a event like the Trojan War, isolated in the remote past and without a direct importance for your current life. The work started by those Neolithic farmers in the Middle East have continued generation to generation, without interruption until now. Is the foundation of your vast current civilization in the same way that it was the foundation of the first farmers' colony. -In agreement. -This should help you understand why the story you tell your children about the meaning of the world, about the divine designs for the world and about the destiny of man has such a great importance for those of your culture. It is the revolutionary manifesto on which base your culture It is the fifth essence of all your doctrine revolutionary and the full expression of your revolutionary spirit. Help to understand why the revolution was necessary and why it had to be continued All coast. "Yes," I agreed. It seems to me a good reasoning. Daniel Quinn - 150 - two "About two thousand years ago," Ismael continued, "within Your culture produced an event of exquisite irony: the Takers, or, at least, a very large segment of them, adopted a story that It seemed charged with meaning and mystery. They came from a village Taker of Near East that he had been telling his children during innumerable generations, so many that it had become a mystery even for them. You know why? - Why was it a mystery? Well, no. -It had become a mystery because the first ones that they had told the story, their oldest ancestors, they were not Takers but Dejadores. I stood for a while looking at him with puzzlement. Then I asked him if he did not He did not mind repeating that remote story. - About two thousand years ago, the Policyholders adopted as their own a history that had emerged among the Debands many centuries before. -In agreement. But I do not see any irony in this. -The irony is that it was a story that circulated among the Debates on the origins of the Takers. -And good? -But the Takers adopted as their own a story about their origins devised by the Dejadores. -I'm sorry, but I do not get it. - What kind of history could the town of the Dejadores tell about the appearance of Takers in the world? -Well, I have no idea! Ismael looked at me questioningly. Daniel Quinn - 151 - -It seems as if this morning you had forgotten to take the pill for the brain. But it does not matter. I'll tell you a story, and then I'm sure you see it more clearly. -Very well. Ismael displaced his enormous body mass from a group of cushions to another, and I, involuntarily, closed my eyes, thinking: If I went in now Some stranger through that door, what would he think? 3 -There is a fundamental principle that must be known if it is intended govern the world, "Ismael began. I'm sure you agree with this. - Honestly, I had never thought about it. -The takers have this knowledge, of course, or, at least, that's what they imagine, and they're proud to own it. It is the most knowledge important of all, absolutely indispensable for those who wish rule the world. And what do you suppose the Takers find when go to the territory of the Dejadores? -I do not know what you mean. -They discover that the Dejadores do not have this knowledge. It is not this curious? -Well I do not know what to tell you. -Reflect a little. The Takers have a knowledge that it allows to govern the world, and the Decedents lack it. That is what that the missionaries have discovered whenever they have gone to meet the Dejadores. The Takers, therefore, were extremely surprised, because they believed that such knowledge was something that was taken for granted. -I do not even know what knowledge you are referring to. - To the knowledge that is needed to govern the world. Daniel Quinn - 152 - -Okay, but what knowledge in particular? -You will know when you hear the story. Now we will talk about who owns This knowledge, and I've already told you that the Takers are the ones who own it. This makes sense, right? The Takers are the rulers of the world, is not it true? -Yes. -And the Dejadores do not have it, which also makes sense, is not it true? -I guess so. -And now tell me one thing. Who, in addition to the Takers, could have that knowledge? -I have no idea. - Think mythologically. -It's okay…. The gods have it. -Of course. And that's what my story is about, like the gods they acquired the knowledge they needed to govern the world. 4 -One day (Ishmael started) the gods were analyzing the administration of the world in a simple way, and one of them said, This is the place I had been thinking, a wide and pleasant savannah. We are going to Send a large crowd of locusts on this land. Then the fire of the life will prodigiously grow in them and in the birds and lizards that will They feed on them, and that will be fine. The others, they thought this for a while, Then one said, "It is true that, if we send the locust on this earth, the fire of life will burn in them and in the creatures that feed on them, but at the expense of all the other creatures that live there. The others will They asked what their point was, and he continued. Without a doubt, it would be a great crime deprive all these other creatures of the fire of life so that the Daniel Quinn - 153 - lobsters and birds and lizards can bloom for a brief weather; for the locusts will leave the land bare, and then the deer, the gazelles, goats and rabbits will starve to death. And, with the disappearance of the hunt, the lions, the wolves and the foxes will soon die. Will not they curse us then and call us criminals for having favored the locusts, the birds and the lizards before them? Upon hearing that, the gods scratched their heads, because never before They had considered things in that light. In the end, one of them said: -I do not see that this represents a big problem. Simply, do not let's do. We do not send any multitude of locusts to that region, which follows everything as it is and no one will have reason to curse us. Most of the gods considered that reasonable, but one of they showed their disagreement. "I think that would be an equally big crime," he said. Well Is it not in our hands the lives of locusts, birds and lizards at like the life of other creatures? Is not it going to touch them never the turn to prosper, how do other creatures prosper? While the gods pondered that reasoning, a fox came out to hunt, and they commented: -We send him a quail so he can continue living. But those words had hardly been uttered when one of they replied: -Well, I say it would be a crime to allow the fox to live expense of the quail. The quail has the life that we have given, which is in our hands. It would be dishonorable to send it right to the the mouth of the fox. In this, he threw another one still: -Behold! The quail is harassing a grasshopper! If you do not We give the fox, then she will eat the grasshopper. And he does not have too the grasshopper a life that we have given him and that is in our Daniel Quinn - 154 - hands, like that of the quail? Without a doubt, it would be a crime not to give quail to the fox, so that the grasshopper can live. In short, that, as you can imagine, the gods ended up extremely disheartened with all this, not knowing what to do. And so, while they were still discussing, spring came and the melting of the mountains began to fill of water the streams. Then, one of them commented: - Without a doubt, it would be a crime to let this water flood the earth, countless creatures could be dragged towards death. But another replied: -As it would also be a crime not to let this water flood the land, then, without it, ponds and swamps would dry out, and all animals that live in them would die. Again, the gods did not know what to expect. Finally, one of them seemed to have an idea: -It is clear that any action that we undertake will be good for some and bad for others. So the best thing is not to take any action. Of this way, none of the creatures whose life is in our hands can call us criminals. -Moonshine! Said another. Not taking any action is also good for some but bad for others. The creatures whose lives are in our hands will say: "Here we are we suffer, and, while, the gods crossed arms! ". And, taking advantage of the fact that the gods were still at each other's throats, locusts invaded the savannah and, together with birds and lizards, praised the gods while the herbivores and the predators died cursing at the gods themselves. And, since they had not taken any action, the quail lived and the fox returned hungry to his burrow cursing the gods. And, as the quail lived, it ate the grasshopper, and the Grasshopper died cursing the gods. And how, in the end, the gods had decided to prevent the waters of the spring thaw from falling Daniel Quinn - 155 - valleys, ponds and swamps dried up and the thousands of animals that they lived in them they died cursing the gods. Upon hearing those curses, the gods lamented what they had done and they manifested: -We have turned the garden into a place of terror, and all those who they live in it they hate us and they consider us tyrants and criminals. And they do not lack reason, because by our acts or omissions we send them the good one day and the bad one day later without knowing exactly what to do. The savanna, devastated by locusts, he does not stop cursing us, and here we are without any answer to offer The fox and the grasshopper curse us for letting live to the quail, and here we are without any response to offer them. Without a doubt, the world must curse the day we created it, because we are like criminals who send good and evil in turns, not knowing what to do in every moment In short, that the gods were plunged into great depression and Bewildered when one of them looked up and exclaimed: - Listen for a moment, do not we plant a tree in the garden whose fruit is the Knowledge of good and evil? "Yes," the others exclaimed. Let's find that tree and eat from him to see what that knowledge is. And, once the gods had found that tree, eaten of its fruit and seen what was the above knowledge, they opened their eyes and They stated: -Now we really have the knowledge necessary to take care of garden without acting as criminals or attracting the curses of those whose life is in our hands. And, as they celebrated this discovery, a lion went out to hunt, and the gods They advocated: -Today it's the lion's turn to go hungry, so the deer that would have Hunted will live another day. Daniel Quinn - 156 - So, the lion did not catch its prey and, while returning hungry to its lair, He began to curse the gods. But they replied: -Calm yourself, because we know how to govern the world, and today you It's up to you to go hungry. And the lion calmed down. And, the next day, the lion went out to hunt, and the gods sent him the deer whose life they had saved the day before. And when you feel the bites of lion, the deer began to curse the gods. But they replied: -Calm yourself, because we know how to govern the world, and today you It's up to you to die, just like yesterday you had to live. Then the gods said to themselves, Certainly the knowledge of good and evil is a powerful knowledge, because it allows us to govern the world without become criminals If yesterday we had dispatched the lion hungry without this knowledge, then it would truly have been a crime. And if we had sent the deer to the lion's jaw without this knowledge, then in truth it would have also been a crime. But with this knowledge, we have done these two things, one apparently opposed to the other and we have not committed any crime. Now what happened was that one of the gods had gone on a mission when the others were eating in the tree of knowledge, and when he came back and I heard that the gods had done that, he said, when they did those two things certainly committed a crime in one way or another, since those two things are opposite and one has to be good and the other evil. If it was good for the lion to go hungry the first day, then it was wrong to send the deer the next day. Or it was okay to send the deer the second day, then it was wrong to dispatch the hungry lion the first day. The others nodded and said, Yes, this is simply the way that we had reasoned before eating from the tree of knowledge. - What knowledge is that? The god asked observing the tree by first time. Daniel Quinn - 157 - -Proof of its fruit -they invited him-, and you will know then of what science It is exactly. The god tasted of the tree, and then his eyes were opened. "Yes, now I see it clearly," he exclaimed. This is undoubtedly the true science and this the true knowledge of the gods: knowing who should live and who should die. 5 -Any observations to make here? Ismael asked. I moved on the seat, startled by that interruption of the narration. -No, but I find it fascinating. And Ishmael continued. 6 While the gods saw how Adam woke up, they said to themselves: -It is a creature so similar to us that it could almost be part of of our society. How much life do we give you and what destination do we reserve? One of them answered: -As it is so beautiful, let's give it all the life that this planet lasts. During your childhood, let's take care of it as we take care of everything else in the garden so that it rejoices with the life that it receives from our hands. But, in adolescence, you will begin to realize that you are capable of many more things that other creatures are capable of and you will feel restless to be to our charge. Why do not we take it then to that other tree of garden, the Tree of Life? But another replied: Daniel Quinn - 158 - -To take Adam as a child to where the Tree of Life is before that it does not even occur to him to look for it by himself would be to deprive him of a adventure through which I could get great wisdom and prove himself his enormous worth. As we will provide the care you need As a child, let's give him the chance to look for him alone as a teenager. Let's make the search of the Tree of Life the task of your adolescence. Of this way, you will discover for yourself that you can live as long as you live this planet. All agreed with this reasoning, except one, which He stated: -We should keep in mind that this could be a long and puzzling search for Adam. Youth is impatient, and after a few how many thousands of years of searching, I could lose hope of finding The Tree of Life. If that were to happen, you might be tempted to eat of the Tree of the Science of Good and Evil. - Do not say nonsense! The others protested. You know perfectly well that the fruit of that tree can only feed the gods. That fruit does not he can feed Adam more than the grass that the oxen eat. Might take it to his mouth and eat it, but it would go through his body without reporting any benefit How can you believe that you can get our Knowledge eating from that tree! "Of course not," replied the others. The danger is not so much in that can get our knowledge as it can be believed that it has got. After tasting the fruit of that tree, he could say to himself: "I have eaten from the Tree of Knowledge of the gods and, therefore, I know both like them on how to govern the world. I can do it and I will. " "That's absurd," the other gods protested. How could it be so fool Adam to believe that he has the knowledge that allows us to we gobe rnar the world and do what we want? None of our Creatures will never have the knowledge of who should live and who should die. Daniel Quinn - 159 - This knowledge is only ours, and although Adam grew in wisdom up to eclipsing the same universe, it would not even reach the heels. But the other did not shrink from this argument and returned to the burden: -If Adam ate from our tree, no one can assure us that it is not I would cheat myself. By not knowing the truth, it could be said for his Inside: "Everything I can justify is good and everything I can not Justify is bad. " But the others counter-argued in this way: -That is not the knowledge of good and evil. "Of course it is not," said the other, "but how could Adam know? The others shrugged: -Maybe in his childhood, Adam could believe that it was enough wise as to rule the world; but what's the difference? That belief so arrogant and such a fool would pass to reach maturity. "Mmmm," the other muttered, "and you think that Adam could get there?" I live to maturity with that stupid and arrogant conviction? By believing himself equal to we would be capable of anything. In his arrogance, he could look at garden and saying to himself: "This is all a mistake! Why not Could I share the fire of life with all these creatures? Look, the Lions, wolves and foxes take the deer that I could have for me. That is wrong. I will kill those beasts, and that will be fine. And look, those rabbits, grasshoppers and sparrows are taking the fruits of the earth that I could have for me alone. That is wrong. I will kill all those animals, and that will be all right. And look now, the gods have put a limit on my growth equal that have put a limit on the growth of all others. That is wrong. I will grow without limit and I will take for myself all the fire of life that runs through this garden, and that will be fine. "Tell me: if that happened, how long Would it take Adam to devour the whole world? -If that happened, -the others said-, Adam would devour the world in a only day and, at the end of that day, he would devour himself. Daniel Quinn - 160 - "That's right," agreed the other, "unless ... I managed to escape this world. Then he would devour the whole universe just as he had devoured the world. But, even so, he would end up devouring himself inevitably, as it can not but happen to everything that grows without limit. "That would undoubtedly be a terrible end for Adam," said another. But Could I not reach the same end even without having eaten from the Tree of Science of Good and Evil? Could not you be tempted by your desire for growth to seize the fire of life without even deceiving himself with the reasoning that that's fine? "Yes, I could," the others replied. But with what result? He would become a criminal, an outlaw, a thief of life and a killer of the creatures that surround him. And, without the false idea that what is doing is fine and, therefore, necessary at all costs, you would soon get tired of the life of outlaw. In fact, it is what will happen during your search of the Tree of Life. But if he ate from our Tree of Science, then he would overcome his depression, saying to himself: "And what difference does it make that he lives downcast by to have killed all the living beings that were around me? I know the good and evil, and this way of life is good. So I must live from this way even when he is dejected, even when he comes to destroy the world and even myself. The gods wrote in the world a law for the follow everyone, but I can not apply it to myself because I am the same to the gods. So, I will live on the margin of that law and I will grow without limit. Being Limited is bad. I will take the fire of life out of your hands and I will keep it for my growth, and that will be fine. I will destroy those species that do not They contribute to my growth, and that will be fine. I will snatch the garden from them gods and I will order it again so that it only contributes to my growth, and that will be fine. And since those things are fine, they should be done at all costs. It may destroy the garden and turn it into a plain. Maybe those of my blood spread throughout the Earth like a plague of locusts, leaving her bald, until they drown in their own mud and loathe Daniel Quinn - 161 - each other and go crazy. However, they should continue forward, Growing without limits is good and accepting the limits of the law is bad. What if someone says: 'Let's get rid of the burden of criminal life and let's put our life back into the hands of the gods', I will kill him, for those Words are bad. And if someone says: 'Let's end our misery and let's look for that other tree, 'I will kill him, because those words are bad. Y when, finally, it has subjected the whole garden, and all the species that do not they serve for my growth have been annihilated, and all the fire of life of the world flow through the veins of my progeny, I will continue to grow still. Y I will tell the people of this land: 'Grow up, it is good', and they will grow. And to the From the land next door, I will tell you: 'Grow up, it is good', and they will grow. Y, When those on this earth can no longer grow, they will go to meet the from the land next door to kill them, so they can grow even more. And if the moans of my progeny will be heard from all corners of the world, I I would say to them: 'You must endure your sufferings, for you suffer for a good cause. See how great you have become! Thanks to the knowledge of the good and of evil, we have taken over the whole world, and the gods do not have no power over us. And, even if your moans are heard throughout the world, is not it more beautiful to be masters of your life than to be subject to the law of the gods? '". And when the gods heard this, they realized that of all the garden trees, only the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil could destroy Adam. And so he was told, "You must eat of all the trees of the garden except the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, because the the day you eat of that tree, you will die. " 7 Baffled, I sat there for a moment, and then I remembered seeing a Bible in Ismael's strange collection of books. In Daniel Quinn - 162 - Actually, there were three. I went to look for them and after analyzing them I raised the look and I said: None of these makes any comment on why you are I forbade Adam to eat from this tree. - Did you expect to find something there? -What if. -The Takers wrote the notes, and for them this story has been always an impenetrable mystery. They never found out why they were he should forbid man to know good and evil. - Do not you realize why? -Do not. -Because for Takers this knowledge is the knowledge more beneficial than man can have. If it is this way, why do Gods would forbid it to man? -It is true. -The knowledge of good and evil is mainly knowledge that the rulers of the world must have because everything they do It is good for some and bad for others. This is what it is about governing, do not?. -Yes. -And man was born to rule the world, not? -Yes, according to the mythology of the Takers. -Then why would the gods want to retain the knowledge that the Does man need to fulfill his destiny? From the point of view of Takers, this does not make sense. -It is true. -The disaster occurred ten thousand years ago when the people of your culture said: "We are as wise as the gods and we can govern the world just like them "When the man had in his hands the power to decide life and death in the world, they signed their sentence. -Yes. Because in reality they are not as wise as the gods. Daniel Quinn - 163 - -The gods ruled the world for billions of years, and what They did quite well. Instead only a while after the man I began to rule, the world was on the verge of death. -It is true. But Takers will never leave it. Ismael shrugged shoulders. Then they will die, as predicted. The authors of this story they knew what they were talking about. 8 -And you're telling me that this story was written from the point of view of the Dejadores? -So is. If it had been written from the point of view of the Takers, Adam would not have been forbidden to know the good and the wrong, but it would have been delivered to him. The gods would have embraced him saying: Come Man, do not you realize that you are nothing without this knowledge? Stop living our generosity like a lion or a koala. Eat this fruit and you will immediately realize that you are naked, as naked as any lion or koala, naked in front of the world, without no power Come on, eat this fruit and become one of us. That way you can leave this garden and start a life with the sweat of your forehead, just as humans are supposed to live. And if the people who share your cultural persuasion I would have told this story, the event is not would have called the Fall but the Ascent or as you said earlier Release. -Very true ... But I'm not sure how this fits with everything else. -We're trying to make you understand how things came to be this form. -I do not understand. -A few moments ago you told me that Takers were never going to leave Daniel Quinn - 164 - your tyranny no matter how bad you put things. How did they become that way? I stared at him. -They have to be because they have always believed that what they do is correct, so they have to do it at all costs. They have always believed who, like the gods, know what is right and what is wrong, and that what they do is right. Do you know how they have shown what I am saying? -Well ... I can not think of it right now. -They have proven it by forcing everyone else to do what they They do, to live as they live. You had to force everyone to live as the Takers, because only they knew how to live. -Yeah, I see it. -Among the Dejadores, many villages practiced agriculture, but they never believed that what they were doing was right, that the world whole had to practice agriculture, that until the last meter The planet's square had to be destined for this purpose. They did not tell their neighbors: "You can not live hunting and collecting anymore, it's a wrong method. It's wrong, and we forbid it. Put the land to cultivate or, of otherwise, we will erase you from the map. "What they said was:" Do you want to be Hunter-gatherers? Well, great. That benefits them. We we want to be farmers. You, hunter-gatherers, and us, farmers. We do not pretend to know what is right. Simply We know what we prefer. " -I see. -And, if they got tired of being farmers, or they thought they did not like it where agriculture was taking them in their particular adaptation, since the they left and here peace and then glory. They did not say: "Nothing, we have to continue to till the earth even if this ends with us, it is the way right to live. "For example, there was a town that built a vast network of irrigation channels in order to make the deserts of the Daniel Quinn - 165 - it currently constitutes the southeastern part of Arizona. He kept operatives these channels for three thousand years and created a quite advanced civilization, but, in the end, he said to himself: "It's a very tiring way of life and unsatisfactory, so, to the devil! "And they sent the invention to walk and they took away from the head so completely that we do not even know how to they called themselves. The only name we have to refer to They are the ones that the Pima Indians gave him: hohokam, that is, "the disappeared. " "But Takers would not find it as easy. I would find them very difficult to give the arm to twist, because what they are doing is right, so they will have to keep doing it even if it means destroying the world and humanity at the same time. -Yes, that's what seems to be happening. -Well, what would it mean to give the arm to twist? -To give the arm to twist would mean ... It would mean that all this time They have been wrong. It would mean that they have never known how to govern the world. It would mean ... abandoning your pretensions of divinity. - It would mean to spit the fruit of that tree and return the government of the world to the gods. -Yes. 9 Ismael nodded, looking at the Bibles stacked at my feet. -According to the authors of that story, the people who lived among the rivers Tigris and Euphrates had eaten from the Tree of Divine Knowledge. From where do you suppose they got that idea? -What do you mean? -What is it that gave the authors of this story the idea that the people who lived in Mesopotamia had eaten from the Tree of Knowledge Daniel Quinn - 166 - Divine? Do you think they saw it with their own eyes? Do you think they witnessed the beginnings of your agricultural revolution? -It's a posibility. - Think. If they had been eyewitnesses, who would they have been? -Eh ... Already. They would have been the town of the Fall. It would have been the Takers -But if they had been the Takers, they would have told them the story otherwise, right? -Yes. -Then, the authors of this story are not eyewitnesses. How did they find out what had happened? How did they know that the Takers had usurped the role of the gods in the world? -Well ... -I said. -Who were the authors of this story? -Well ... the Hebrews, right? Ismael shook his head. -To the town known as "Hebrew," this was a pretty old story, at the same time quite mysterious. The Hebrews burst into history as Takers, and what they most wanted was look like your neighbors Takers. That's why his prophets were always ranting. -Yes, it's true. -But, although they transmitted this story, they did not understand it at all all right. To find the people who did understand it, we have to look for its authors. Who were? -Well ..., the ancestors of the Hebrews. -But, who were they? I'm sorry to say that I have no idea. Ismael growled. Daniel Quinn - 167 - -Look, I can not stop you from saying "I have no idea", but I I would like you to spend a few seconds thinking before saying that. I spent a few seconds reflecting, just for reasons of politeness, final I confessed: -Sorry. My knowledge of ancient history are frankly despicable. -The ancestors of the Hebrews were the Semites. -Ah - That you did know, right? -Yes I think so. Except that... -Just that you were not thinking. -Voucher. Ismael stirred and, to tell the truth, my stomach cringed when I noticed that the half ton that weighed his body brushed my armchair. Who does not know how gorillas move, you can visit a zoo or rent a treadmill National Geographic; will be much better than any explanation for me part. Then, Ishmael lumbered forward, or crawled, to the bookstore and He took a historical atlas, which he handed me open through a page where a map of Europe and the Middle East circa 8,500 BC A blade shaped like a scythe separated the Arabian peninsula from the rest. Words incipient agriculture made it clear that the scythe was fencing Mesopotamia. A series of points indicated the locations where they had found tools of primitive agriculture. "This map, it seems to me, offers a false impression," he continued. Ismael-, albeit not deliberately. It seems that the Agricultural revolution took place in an empty world. That's why I prefer my own maps. He opened his notebook and showed me a map. Daniel Quinn - 168 - - Here you can see, about five hundred years later, a panoramic similar. The agricultural revolution was already underway. The area in which it occurs agricultural exploitation appears marked with rajas. -With a pencil, he pointed me the area between the Tigris and the Euphrates. It is, of course, Mesopotamia, the place of birth of Takers. And what is supposed to be do they represent all these points? - The peoples of the Dejadores? -Exactly. They do not indicate anything about population density, nor do they give not understand that the entire region was inhabited by people Dejadores. They only indicate that the then one was far from being a world empty. Do you understand why I show you this map? -Well ... I suppose so. The Land of the Fall, located in Mesopotamia, was surrounded by non-agricultural towns. Daniel Quinn - 169 - -Exactly, but I also want to make you see that, in that era, at the beginning of your agricultural revolution, the first Takers, the founders of your culture, were little known and nothing important, that they lived isolated. The following map of this historical atlas it reflects the situation four thousand years later. What would you expect to find in the? -I would wait to see the expansion of the Takers. Ismael nodded, making me turn the page. An oval entitled Chalcolithic cultures, with Mesopotamia in the center, delimited all of Asia Minor and all the land located to the north and east, to the Caspian Sea and the Gulf Persian To the south, the oval extended to the Arabian peninsula, an area shaded where the Semitas epigraph was distinguished. "Well," Ishmael went on, "we already find some witnesses here Presences -What do you mean? -In the events described in the third chapter of Genesis, the Semites were not around yet. And he drew a small oval in the center of Mesopotamia-. The series of events generally known as the Fall took place here, hundreds of kilometers north of where the Semites lived, and they were lived by an entirely different people. You know who were they? -According to the map, the Caucasian towns. -But then, in the year 4500 a. of C, the Semites witnessed a event that was taking place right next to him: the expansion of the Takers. -Yeah, I see. -In four thousand years, the agricultural revolution, which had begun in Mesopotamia, spread throughout Asia Minor, to the west, and through the mountains of north and east. While, to the south, it seems that it was blocked ..., why? Who? Daniel Quinn - 170 - -For the Semites, apparently, right? -But why? Why would the Semites block it? -I do not know. -Who were the Semites? Were they farmers? -Do not. The map makes it clear that they were not part of what was taking place between the Takers. So, I suppose, they must have been Dejadores. -Yes, but some Dejadores who had stopped being hunters- collectors. They had adapted to another way of life that was going to be characteristic of the Semitic peoples. -Ah, now. They were dedicated to grazing. -Exact. They were shepherds. -E indicated the border between culture calcolitic of Takers and Semites. So ... what is it that happened there? -I dont know. Ishmael shook his head at the bibles piled at my feet. -Read the story of Cain and Abel that relates the Genesis, and you will have the answer. I took the top one and opened it for the fourth chapter. A few minutes Then, I whispered: -That awful! 10 After reading the story in all three versions, I looked up and I said: -What was happening on that border was that Cain was killing Abel. The farmers were watering their fields with the blood of the Semitic shepherds. -Exact. What was happening was what has always happened in Daniel Quinn - 171 - the borders of the expansion of the Takers. The Dejadores were being murdered so that a greater amount of land. -Ismael took his notepad and opened it where there was a map of this period-. As you see, the farmers' rajas have now spread throughout the area, except for the territory occupied by the Semites. Here in the border that separates the breakers from the soil of the Semitic herders, Cain and Abel confronted each other. I studied the map for a moment and then shook my head. - And the students of the Bible do not see this? -Of course, I can not say that no Bible scholar Have you ever seen this? But the immense majority reads this story as if it would have happened in the Land of Neverland or in one of Aesop's fables. Nobody thinks of reading it as a form of Semitic war propaganda. -True. I know that the explanation of why God accepted the offering of Daniel Quinn - 172 - Abel and rejected Cain's has always been surrounded by mystery. This what Explain. With this story, the Semites were telling their children: "God is from our side. He loves us, we are shepherds, and he hates those murderers from the north, who are soil rippers. " -Exact. If you read this as a story that arose between your own cultural ancestry, you will find it incomprehensible. It only starts to charge meaning if you discover that it arose among the enemies of your ancestors cultural -Already. -I was blinking for a while and then I went back to take a look at the map of Ismael-. If the northern soil breakers were Caucasian - I added, "then Cain's mark is this," I concluded, pointing to my own pale face. -Could be. Obviously, we will never know for sure what they had in mind the authors of the story. "But that makes sense," I insisted. Cain received a mark on his forehead to serve as a warning to others: "Leave this man alone. dangerous man, whose death will be avenged seven times. "Of course, there are an immensity of people all over the world who have experienced meat own how dangerous it is to get into trouble with the pale face. Ishmael shrugged, unconvinced or, perhaps, simply not interested. eleven -In the previous map, I've taken the trouble to draw hundreds of points to represent the Dejador peoples who lived in the Middle East in the beginnings of your agricultural revolution. What do you think happened to these people between the time of the first map and the second? -I would say that either they were invaded and assimilated or they adopted the agriculture, in imitation of the Takers. Daniel Quinn - 173 - Ismael nodded. - Without a doubt, many of these people had their own stories in the who spoke of this revolution and explained in their own way how the peoples of Mesopotamia had ended up being as they were; but only one of these stories survived: the one told by the Semites about the Fall of Adam and the death of Abel at the hands of his brother Cain. And he survived because Takers never managed to subdue the Semites and they refused to adopt the agricultural way of life. Not even his descendants, takers, the Hebrews, who transmitted the story without fully understanding it, They showed a special enthusiasm for the lifestyle of the peasants. Y that is the reason why, with the spread of Christianity and the Ancient Testament, the Takers ended up adopting as their own a story written in another time by an enemy to denounce them. 12 - So, we return to the question: where did the Semites get the idea that the people of Mesopotamia had eaten from the Tree of the Divine Knowledge? -Well ...- I answered-. I would say it was a kind of reworking. They looked at the people they were fighting against and said: "What a barbarian! How could they have become what they are? " -And what was your response? -Well ... "What's wrong with these people? What's wrong with our brothers from the north? Why are they doing this to us? Act like ... "Let me think a little. Take your time "Well," I went on a few minutes later. I'll tell you what I think The Semites must have thought: "Here something is happening completely new. These guys are not a gang of robbers, nor the kind of people who Daniel Quinn - 174 - Draw a line on the floor and show your teeth so you know what is there. These guys are saying ..., our brothers from the north are saying that we have to die They are saying that Abel must be annihilated. Is it so saying that we will not be allowed to live. Now, this is something completely new, that we do not understand. Because they can not they live there being farmers and let us live here being shepherds? Why do they have to kill us? »Something really strange must have happened there so that these people come back murderous. What could it be? Wait ... Let's take a look at the how those people live. No one had lived like this before. Not only those people is saying that we have to die. He is also saying that everything must die. Not only is he killing us, but he is killing to every living creature. He's saying: 'Alright, lions, from now on dense for dead. We are already fed up with you. They're going to get out of here. He's saying, 'All right, wolves, we're also fed up with you, and they are also going to leave here. ' He's saying ... From now on he will not eat nobody more than us. All these foods belong to us and no one else can have food without our permission. He is saying: 'He will live what that we want him to live and die what we want him to die. ' "That's! They are acting as if they were gods. They are acting as if ate of the tree of the wisdom of the gods, as if they were so wise like the gods and could decree life and death there where they like If that is. That is what must have happened there. Those people found the tree of the wisdom of the gods and stole part of its fruit. »It's crystal clear! It is a cursed people. It is seen right away. When the Gods discovered what they had done, they said: 'Alright, people evil, what was given was over. From now on, we will not take care of you. Disappear We expel you from the garden. From now on, instead of live of our magnificence, you will have to remove the food from the soil with Daniel Quinn - 175 - the sweat of the forehead. ' And it was like those damn soil growers They ended up persecuting us and watering their fields with our blood. " When I had finished, I noticed that Ismael had put his hands together way of silent applause. I replied with a smirk and a modest nod. 13 -One of the clearest signs that these two stories were not product of your cultural ancestors is the fact that agriculture is not described as a desirable choice, made freely, but more well as a curse. For the authors of these stories, it was literally inconceivable that someone could prefer to live with the sweat of the forehead. A) Yes, the question they asked was not "why did that people have adopted a style of life so fatiguing? ", but" what terrible wrongdoing must have been committed that village to deserve such punishment? What have they done to make the gods their magnificence, which allows us the rest of the rest peoples lead a life free of care? ". -Yes, now it's obvious. In our cultural history, the adoption of agriculture was the prelude to the rise. In these stories, agriculture is heritage and fate of the fallen. 14 "I have another question," I said. Why do they describe Cain as the Firstborn of Adam and Abel as the second child? Ismael nodded. -It is an importance of mythological rather than chronological order. I want say you find this motif in the sagas and popular narratives of everyone: when the parents have two children, one good and one bad, the Daniel Quinn - 176 - bad is almost always the beloved firstborn, while the good son is the second to be born, which is equivalent to saying: the loser of history. -In agreement. But why would they be considered descendants of Adam? -Do not confuse metaphorical thinking with biological. The Semites did not consider Adam their biological ancestor. -How do you know? Ismael reflected for a moment. -You know what Adam means in Hebrew, right? We do not know the name that the Semites gave him, but it probably had the same meaning. - It means "Man." - That's right: the human race. According to you, did the Semites believe that the race was your biological ancestor? -Do not. Of course not. -I agree. In this story, kinships have to be understood metaphorically, not biologically. According to the authors of the story, the Fall divided the human race into two categories: the bad and the good, the soil breakers and shepherds, and the former had set out to kill to the seconds. -In agreement. fifteen -But I'm afraid I have another question. -You do not have to apologize for anything. That's what you're here for, is not it? -Voucher. The question is: how does Eva fit into all this? -What's the meaning of your name? -According to my notes, it means "Life". -And not "Woman"? -Not according to my notes. Daniel Quinn - 177 - -With this name, the authors of the story have made it clear that the temptation of Adam was not sex, lust or love runaway to one's own woman. Adam was tempted by Life. -I do not get it. -Think a little bit. With one hundred men and one woman, you can not do One hundred children, but with one man and one hundred women, yes. -And good? -I mean that, in terms of demographic expansion, men and women play a markedly different role. They are not in mode some the same in this respect. -Very well. But I still do not see it. -I try to put you in the place of a non-agricultural town, a town for which demographic control is always a problem of first order. Stated more specifically: a group of pastors that consists of fifty men and a single woman will never know an explosion demographic, but a group consisting of only one man and fifty Women can find themselves in a difficult position. Knowing humans, the group of fifty-one pastors will have a hundred members in one open and Close your eyes. -True. But I'm sorry to tell you that I still do not see what relationship this has with the story of Genesis. -Be patient. Let's go back to the authors of the story: a town of shepherds who are pushed into the desert by farmers in the north. Why did their brothers from the north press them? -They wanted to cultivate also the lands of the shepherds, right? -Yes but why? -Oh I see. Because they were increasing the production of food to support an increased population. -Of course. Now you are ready to address another issue. As you see, these floor breakers have no qualms when it comes to Daniel Quinn - 178 - expand. They do not control their population. When there is not enough food for everyone, they simply look for new land to cultivate. -True. -Then, what did these people say? -Mmmmm I think I see it, although still in a somewhat confused -Plant it like this: like most people not farmers, the Semites had to be very careful not to produce imbalance between the sexes. The shortage of males did not threaten the stability of its population, but that of women, of course. This what See, right? -Yes. -But the Semites observed that this did not matter to their brothers from North. If the number of inhabitants was excessive, they did not worry Too much: they simply went in search of new lands to cultivate. -Already. -Orpose it also like this: Adam and Eve spent three millions of years in the garden, living on the generosity of the gods, they grew very little, according to the lifestyle of the Dejadores that was the way what it had to be. Since the Dejis were everywhere, they needed to exercise the prerogative of the gods to decide who should live and who should die. But when Eve showed this knowledge to Adam, the said yes. With this knowledge we will not have to depend anymore of the generosity of the gods. With the power to decide who should die and who should live, we can create a generosity that exists only for us and this means that we can say yes to Life and accept the knowledge of good and evil as different perspectives of a single act, and this is the way that Genesis tells the story. -Yes, It's a mystery, but I think I understand it. When Adam accepted the fruit of that tree, he surrendered to the temptation to live without limits and for that reason the Daniel Quinn - 179 - The person who offered him this fruit is called Life. Ismael inclined his head. As long as a couple of Takers speak about how wonderful it would be to have a big family, they are re executing this scene from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. they say to themselves it is our right to distribute life on this planet as we please. Why stop when we have four or six children? We can have fifteen if we want. All we have to do is plow another hundred acres of the rainforest, if total who cares if a a dozen other species disappear as a result. 16 There was still something that did not quite fit, but I did not know how formulate it properly. Ishmael told me to take my time. After a good while immersed in my reflections, he told me: -Do not want to formulate it in terms of our knowledge current At that time, the Semites lived isolated in the peninsula Arabic, with the sea on one side and with the people of Cain on the other. According to we know, together with his brothers from the north they constituted the whole race human, the only people on Earth. Certainly, that was how they They saw the story. It is possible that they did not know what was in that little corner of the world where Adam had eaten from the tree of the gods, or that Mesopotamia was not the only place in the world where people practiced agriculture, or that had spread around the world many people who lived as Adam had lived before the Fall. "Sure," I agreed. I had tried to make everything fit with the information that we have at present, but obviously that's not true It could work. Daniel Quinn - 180 - 17 -In my opinion, we can affirm, without fear of being wrong, that the The story of the Fall of Adam is by far the most famous story in the world. "At least in the West," I pointed out. -Oh, it's also well known in the East, because it has reached the last corners of the planet by the work of Christian missionaries. Exercises a powerful attraction on Takers from all parts of the world. -Yes. - Why is it like that? -I guess because he tries to explain what went wrong. - What went wrong? How did the people understand the story? -Adán, the first man, ate the fruit of the forbidden tree. -And what is this supposed to mean? -Frankly, I do not know. I've never heard a convincing explanation. -And the knowledge of good and evil? -I repeat that I have never heard a convincing explanation. I see it as most people see it: that the gods wanted to prove the obedience of Adam forbidding him something, no matter what was at stake. That it is essentially the Fall: an act of disobedience. -I mean, it has nothing to do with the knowledge of the good and evil. -Well, no. Although I suppose there are people for whom that knowledge of good and evil is just a symbol of ..., I could not say exactly what. That considers the Fall as a loss of innocence. -Innocence in this context is probably synonymous with Blessed ignorance, right? -Yes, something like this: the man was innocent until he learned to distinguish Between good and bad. When he stopped being innocent, by having that knowledge, he became a fallen being. Daniel Quinn - 181 - -I'm sorry to tell you that that does not say anything at all. -Not me either, for that matter. -But if you read the story from another point of view, it explains what exactly failed, right? -Yes. -But those of your culture have never been able to understand that explanation because they have always assumed that it had been formulated by people like them, people who took it for granted that the world was made for man and that man was made to conquer and govern him, people for which the most precious knowledge in the world was the knowledge of good and evil, people who considered cultivating the soil the only way noble and human to live. If you read this story as a story written by someone who sees the world from your point of view, then not you will have no chance to understand it. -That's true. -But if you read it in another way, the explanation will make full sense: man can never possess the wisdom that the gods possess at the time of govern the world, and if you try to arrogate that wisdom, you will have signed your death sentence. "Yes," I agreed. I have no doubt about it. That's what what the story is about Adam was not the progenitor of our race. Was the progenitor of our culture. -That's why his figure has always been so important to you. Even if the story as such does not have full meaning for you, always You can identify yourself with its protagonist. From the beginning, you recognize it as one of yours. Daniel Quinn - 182 - Chapter TEN Daniel Quinn - 183 - one An uncle of mine arrived unannounced, waiting for me to accompany him and will teach the city. I thought it was going to be a single day, but there were two and medium. Mentally, I would send these messages in the form of a question: "No Do you think you should go? Do not you miss your friends and your things? Do not it occurred to you that you could discover the city by yourself, and that I can have more important things to do? "But he did not seem to notice. A few minutes before going to the airport to say goodbye, I received a call of a client in an ultimatum plan. "No more excuses, no more words. Or do the job right now or give us back the advance. " I replied saying I would do the job right now. So, I accompanied my Relative to the airport, I went back and sat down in front of the computer. Since it was not a very long job, I reasoned, it was not necessary to move to the center from the city just to tell Ismael that I was going to be absent a couple of days plus. But I noticed that a feeling of guilt was taking over me. I usually pray for my teeth. Who has not done this at some time? I do not I never have time to brush my teeth with dental floss. You already know Hang in there, I tell you. I'll take care of you before it's too much Daniel Quinn - 184 - late. But, the second night, one of the back molars said: "Up to here I've arrived. "The next morning, I found a dentist willing to extract it and give it an honorable burial. In the armchair, while he put one injection after another and fiddled with his instruments to check my blood pressure, I thought to say the following: "Look, I do not have time to so many checks Just pull it off and let me go. "But it turned out that he was right What a barbarity root had that tooth! It seemed to be mu- closer to the spine than to the lips. In determined moment, I even asked him if it would not be easier to approach it behind. When it was over, I was able to know the other side of his personality. He became a real Dental Police: he scolded me and made me feel insignificant, irresponsible, immature. I nodded and promised to do everything who sent me, thinking: Please, sir, give me another chance, trust yourself of my word. He did it in the end, but when I got back home, they were my hands were shaking and some gauze balls came out of my mouth. aesthetic I spent the day stuffing myself with painkillers and antibiotics and becoming a zombie based on whiskeys. The next morning I went back to work, but I noticed that he was taking over me the same feeling of guilt. "Just one more day, and I take this to the post," I said to myself. "One more day can already matter. " A player who has bet his last hundred dollars on a number odd and see how the ball stops in box 18 will tell you that from the moment in which the card came out of his hand, he knew that his was a bet without a future. I knew, I felt it. But, of course, if the ball is I would have stopped a square beyond, in 19, I would have expressed jubilant that there are many forebodings that end up being erroneous. Not mine. Daniel Quinn - 185 - From the entrance itself, I saw a cleaning machine next to the door half open of Ismael, while a middle-aged man with clothes Gray work went back and was preparing to close the door. I told him that wait a moment. -What are you doing? I asked with a somewhat emphatic tone when He was close enough not to have to shout at her. That question did not deserve any answer, and he did not give it to me. "Look," I insisted. I know it's not my business, but would you mind? Tell me what is happening here? He looked at me like I was the cockroach that I thought had crushed the last week. However, in the end he made a small oral effort and He uttered a few words: -Preparing the place for the new tenant. -Ah, "I exclaimed. But, mmmm, what happened to the previous tenant? He shrugged and answered me indolently: "They'll have thrown it out, I suppose. I would not pay the rent. - They have thrown? -I had momentarily forgotten that Ismael was not the owner. He gave me a look of incomprehension. -I thought you knew the lady. -No, I knew the, .. mmm ... He looked at me for a moment, still blinking. "Look," I said, but hesitant now, "there's probably a note for me, or something. "Right now there's nothing in there, I assure you. Only a smell pretty bad. - Would you mind taking a look? He turned around and closed the door. -Tell better with the agency, okay? I'm in a hurry. Daniel Quinn - 186 - two The "agency", embodied in a receptionist, saw no reason to let me enter that office or to provide me with any kind of information beyond what I already knew: that the tenant had not complied with the terms of the contract and, consequently, had been The order to vacate the place was sent. I tried to confuse her a bit telling her part of the truth, but she contemptuously rejected my insinuation that a gorilla had occupied that place until recently. - No animal like the one you mentioned has been housed, nor will never stay, in any of our properties. I asked him to tell me at least if Raquel Sokolow had been the leasing of said place. What could be wrong with that? But she answered: -There is nothing bad. The only thing that ... if his interest was legitimate, I would know who the landlord is. She was not the typical receptionist, of course. If I ever need some, I hope to find one like her. 3 There were half a dozen women in the phone book, surnamed Sokolow, but none whose name was Rachel. There was a Grace, with the guy of perfect management to be the widow of a well-to-do Jewish merchant. The next morning, I caught the car early and made a small and discreet intrusion to see if the house had a gazebo. Yes I did. I washed the car, I polished my shoes and brushed the shoulder pads of a costume that he kept for a wedding or funeral case. Then, to make sure If I did not arrive at lunch or tea time, I waited for the two to make my appearance Daniel Quinn - 187 - The beaux-arts style is not to everyone's taste, but I do not It seems wrong when you do not confuse it with a wedding cake. The mansion of the Sokolow seemed cold and majestic, and yet it was something outlandish, as an aristocratic family picnic. After ringing the bell, I had enough time to study the front door carefully, a whole work of art, where the rape of Europe was represented in bronze, the foundation of Rome or something like that. After a while, it was opened by a man who, by the way he dressed, his appearance and manners, could well to have been a Secretary of State. He did not need to say: "Yes?" or "and Okay? "It was enough with a simple movement of his eyebrows, I told him that I wanted to see to Mrs. Sokolow. He asked me if I had an appointment, although I knew perfectly that was not the case. I sensed that this character is not could say things like "it's a personal matter", that is, what He had taken me there, it was none of his business. I decided to give him some clues. -To tell the truth, I'm trying to contact your daughter. He looked me up and down with an amused air, as if asking me telepathically: "And do not you want anything else?" I decided to tell him something else. - Were you with Mr. Sokolow? He frowned, giving me to understand that he doubted much about the importance of my research. -The reason I'm asking this is ... can I ask him his first name? He also doubted the importance of that question, but decided Follow the game. - My name is Partridge. -Well, Mr. Partridge, the reason I ask you this is ... Did you happen to know Ismael? He looked at me with half-closed eyelids. Daniel Quinn - 188 - -To be really honest, I'm not looking for Rachel, but for Ismael I think I know that Raquel took care more or less of him when his father. -What makes you think that? He asked, without releasing a pledge. -Mr. Patridge, if you know the answer it would help me a lot but otherwise, it would not help me at all. This was an interesting point and he recognized it Bowing head. Then I wonder why I was looking for Ismael. -He is not in the usual place. -It is obvious that someone took it. Let's help it -Yes, I said. I do not think he went to Hertz and rented a car. Patridge ignored my idea. Honestly, I'm afraid I do not know anything. - Mrs. Sokolow? -If she would know something, I would notice immediately. I believed him but I said: Tell me some place to start looking. -I do not know of any place now. Now that Miss Sokolow is dead. I stayed there for a moment analyzing it. -What did he die of? - I did not know her? -Not much. -Then it's none of your business, he told me without rancor, simply as something natural. 4 I thought about the possibility of hiring a private detective. Then I reviewed in my head the things that I would have to tell him, and I decided to leave him. But since I could not sit back, I made a call I telephoned the zoo to ask if they happened to have a plain gorilla. They answered me no. I told them that I had a gorilla I had I let go and asked if they wanted it, but they said no. Daniel Quinn - 189 - So I asked them if they knew of someone who might want one, and They said no, that they had no idea. And if they had to to get rid peremptorily of a gorilla, what would they do ?, I returned to the charge. His answer was that there could be a laboratory or two that would like it to make experiments; but I got the impression that they were not paying no attention. One thing was clear: Ishmael had done some friends that I did not know, maybe some of his former students. For to find them, it occurred to me to use the same method that he used to get students: put an ad in the newspaper. FRIENDS OF ISMAEL Another friend has lost contact. Please call me to tell me where it is. That announcement was a mistake, because it gave me another excuse to disconnect the brain. I waited for him to appear, I waited a week for him to someone would read it and then a few more days for someone to call me, and from that two weeks passed during which I did not hit. When, finally, I faced the evidence that nobody was going to answer, I started looking for a new strategy. It took me about three minutes find her. I called the City Council and they put me with the person in charge of issuing permits to traders: What if someone wanted to lease a municipal solar for a week? - There was some street fair in the city those days? -Do not. - Had there been any lately? -Yes, the Darryl Hicks Carnival, with nineteen attractions, twenty-four booths and a tent. They had left a couple of weeks ago, more or less. -Included something similar to a menagerie? Daniel Quinn - 190 - He did not remember that he had brought wild beasts. -An animal or two in the tent, perhaps? -Pss. It was possible. - The next destination? - Not the slightest idea. It did not matter. After a dozen other calls, I knew there was stayed a week in a city fifty-something kilometers, to the north, and that he had left again. I assumed that there was continued north, and found his current whereabouts after a single call. What if, now they boasted of having "Gargantua, the most famous gorilla in world, "a bug that, according to my news, had been dead for forty years. Someone who reasonably had a means of locomotion modern, I would have found the Darryl Hicks Carnival in about ninety minutes; but I, who had a Plymouth that was the same age as Dallas, did not I arrived after two long hours. The fair was in full swing. Already it is known, fairs are very similar to bus stations: some more great than others, but all very similar. Darryl Hicks occupied a hectare full of squalor disguised as fun: many ugly people, a lot Noise and an intense smell of beer, sweet cotton and popcorn. I made my way in direction to the central tent. I have the impression that this type of tents, just like me I remember my childhood years - or perhaps my childhood films - it shines practically by its absence in the modern fairs; but, if such is the In this case, Darryl Hicks is a clear exception. When I entered, a animator was introducing a fire-eater; but I did not stay to look. There were a lot of things to see in there: the aforementioned collection of monsters, weird guys, a fakir, a human pin cushion, a fat woman tattooed, and more things, to which I paid no attention. Ismael was in a dimly lit corner at the end of the tent, object of attention of two kids of about ten years. Daniel Quinn - 191 - -I bet that, if you want, break those bars at one stroke -commented one of them. "Yes," the other agreed. But he does not know that. I remained motionless for a while, with my gaze fixed on Ismael, he seemed not to flinch or pay attention to anything, until the boys they moved away. A couple of minutes later, I was still staring at him and he was still becoming indifferent. Finally, I gave in and broke the silence: -Tell me something. Why have not you asked for my help? You could have it fact. They do not put anyone on their paws in the street overnight. Nothing betrayed that he had heard me. -What the hell can I do to get you out of here? He kept looking in my direction, but as if he was not watching me, as if I were an invisible man. I returned to the charge: -Hey, Ismael, are you angry with me or what? Finally, he looked me in the eyes, but with a look of few friends. -I have not asked you at any time to be my pro-tector - he replied-; so, please, try not to be condescending. -You mean that I take care of my own affairs, is not that it? -As plain and simple, yes, that's it. I looked around, seized by a sense of helplessness. - Do you really want me to believe that you want to stay here? Again, Ismael's gaze turned icy. "All right, all right," I said. What about me? -What "and me, what"? -We were not supposed to finish, were we? -No, we were not finished. -So, what are your plans? That I become the unsuccessful number five, right? Daniel Quinn - 192 - He was a couple of minutes looking at me with a cloudy air. Then, he answered: -It does not have to be this way. We can continue as before. At that time, a family of five members came to take a look at the most famous gorilla in the world: mom, daddy, two girls and a small asleep in the arms of the mother. -So we can continue as before ... That's what you think, do not? I rebutted him, and not precisely in a low voice. That seems to you perfectly feasible, of course. The family of visitors apparently found me much more interesting that "Gargantua", which, after all, remained seated sad I continued with my subject: -And what, when do we start? Do you remember where we left it? Intrigued, the visitors turned to see what answer They started my words in Ishmael. When the response occurred, obviously only I could hear it. -Shut your mouth. - Shut the peak? I thought I heard you say we were going to stay the same what before He let out a grunt, moved to the back of the cage and we He offered those present a broad vision of his back. One minute after approximately, the visitors decided that I deserved a reproachful look; they put it well on my side and they continued their journey in the direction of the mummified corpse of a man killed by a shot to the end of the Civil War. -Let me take you out of here. "No, thank you," he said, turning to me, but without doing any I try to approach. As incredible as it may seem to you, I prefer to live like this before living from your generosity. Daniel Quinn - 193 - -From my generosity only until we came up with something else. - Something else ... like what? Doing homework in a program of the TV? Or dial a shtick every night in a boite? -Listen out. If we can get in touch with the others, maybe we can do something positive among all. -What the hell are you talking about? -I'm talking about those who have taken you so far. You have not done it not alone? He gave me a hostile look from the shadow. "Go," he growled. Go and leave me alone. I left and I left him alone. 5 I had not planned that, actually I had not planned Absolutely nothing, and I had no idea what I could do. I booked a room in the cheapest motel I found and went out to eat and drink Something to see if while I had an idea. Since at nine o'clock at night I had not yet thought of anything, I went back to the fairgrounds to see what was happening there. I was lucky, so to speak: It was approaching a cold front, and a thin but persistent rain was sending home the many visitors. Are those who work at a fair still called pawns? I do not know I asked the man who was closing the tent. I must have had About eighty years. I offered him a ten dollar bill in exchange for power Commune for a while with nature in the person of the gorilla, who, from then, it was not called Gargantua. He did not seem to mind the lack of Ethics of my proposal. He snarled sarcastically at the lack of substance of bribery By offering him another ten, he left a light burning next to the cage and Daniel Quinn - 194 - He walked away, with a limp step, from the place. There were groups of chairs collected next to each of the scenarios; I dragged one and sat down. Ismael was watching me for a few minutes and finally asked me where we had left it. -You just told me that the Genesis story that starts with the Fall of Adam and ends with the murder of Abel is not really like what they understand those of my culture. It is the story of our agricultural revolution told by some of the first victims of that revolution. -And what do we have left to do, in your opinion? -I dont know. Maybe we can reduce all this to a common denominator. I do not know yet what the sum of all these parts can be. -In agreement. Let me think a little. 6 -What is culture exactly? Ismael asked at last. At sense in which the word is commonly used, not in the special sense that we have given him throughout these conversations. It seemed a diabolical question to pose to someone sitting inside of a fairground tent; All in all, I tried my best to reflect. -I would say that it is the global sum of what makes a town be such village. Ismael nodded. -And how does this lump sum come about? -I'm not sure where you intend to go. It arises with life itself from town. - Yes, but the sparrows also live, and they do not have culture. -Okay, I see what you mean. Let's say it's an accumulation. The lump sum is an accumulation. -But you are not telling me how this accumulation begins. Daniel Quinn - 195 - -Ah good. Voucher. Accumulation is the global sum that is transmitted from one generation to another. It starts when ... when a species reaches some degree of intelligence, those belonging to a generation begin to transmit information and techniques to the next. The next generation receives this accumulation, adds his own discoveries, makes how many touches and passes the batch to the next. -And this accumulation is what is called culture. -Yes, I would say yes. - It is the global sum of what is transmitted, of course; and not only information and techniques. Also beliefs, assumptions, theories, customs, legends, songs, stories, dances, jokes, superstitions, prejudices, tastes, attitudes. All this -Yes. -By curious as it may seem, the degree of intelligence needed for accumulation to start is not necessarily very high. The chimpanzees of the jungle already transmit their production methods and use of tools. I see that this surprises you a little. -Oh no. Well ... I guess what surprises me is that you cite chimpanzees. - Instead of quoting the gorillas, right? -Yes. Ismael frowned. -To tell the truth, I have deliberately avoided all studies about of the life of the gorillas. It is a subject whose study does not interest me particularly. I nodded, feeling a little stupid. In any case, if the chimpanzees have already begun to accumulate knowledge about what works well for chimpanzees, when do you think you who started your kind to accumulate knowledge about what Did it work well for the species? Daniel Quinn - 196 - -I would say that they started when there started to be people. -Our paleo-anthropologists would agree. Human culture It began with human life, which is to say with homo habilis. East transmitted to his children everything he had learned, and, as each generation was adding its grain of sand, there was an accumulation of knowledge. And who was the heir of this accumulation? - The homo erectus? -Right. Which transmitted this accumulation to successive generations, each of which made its small contribution to the whole. Y Who was the heir of this accumulation? -The homo sapiens. -Of course. And his heir was homo sapiens sapiens, who transmitted this accumulation to successive generations, each of the which made its small contribution to the whole. And who were the heirs of this accumulation? -I would say that the different peoples of the Dejadores. - And not those of the Takers? Why not? - Why not? Well I do not know very well. I would say because ... It's Of course there was a complete break with the past at the time of the Agricultural revolution. However, there was no break with the past between the different peoples who were emigrating to the Americas for that time. There was no break with the past between the different peoples that They lived in New Zealand, Australia or Polynesia. -What makes you say that? -I do not know. It is an impression. Yes, but on what is this impression based? -I think in the following. I do not know what story those are representing people, but I get the impression that everyone is representing the same I can not specify yet what story it is, but it is clearly there, as opposed to the story that they are representing Daniel Quinn - 197 - peoples of my culture. Wherever they are, these people are always doing exactly the same kind of things, carrying exactly the same kind of life, just as, if we look at ourselves, we are always doing exactly the same kind of things, we are always carrying exactly the same kind of life. -But, what is the relationship between this and the transmission of accumulation? cultural heritage on the part of humanity during the first three million years of human life? I thought for a couple of minutes and then answered: - Here is the relationship: the Dejadores are still transmitting the accumulation in all the ways it reaches them. But not us, well, ten thousand years ago, the founders of our culture said: "That's not they are more than "paparruchas", that is not the way people should live ", and They threw everything inherited overboard. And without a doubt that they did, then, in the when their descendants enter history, there is no trace of the attitudes and ideas that we find everywhere among the Dejado peoples. Further... -Yes? -It's curious. I had never thought about this ... The towns Dejadores are always aware of a tradition that goes back to the primitive times. We do not have that conscience. In general terms, We are a very "new" people. Every generation is in a certain way new, more far from the past than the one that preceded it. - What does the Mother Culture say about it? -Well ... -I answered, closing my eyes-. Mother Culture says it is as well as it should be. The past has little to offer us. The past is filth. The past is something that you have to leave behind, of what you have to escape. Ismael inclined his head. So you understand, in this way it's like You became a cultural amnesiac. Daniel Quinn - 198 - -How? -Until Darwin and paleontologists came to change three million years of human life of your history, it was believed in your culture that the birth of man and culture were simultaneous events when in fact both were a single event. What I want to say is that people in your culture thought that man was born of you. It was believed that agriculture was innate to man as is the production of honey to bees. - Yes, that's how it seemed. -When the people of your culture met the hunters of Africa and from America, it was thought that these people had degenerated the state natural farmer, people who had lost the art with which they had born. The Takers did not imagine that they were in front of what they had been themselves before they became farmers. Until What the Takers knew, there was not one before. The creation had happened only a couple of thousand years ago, Man and Agriculture had immediately spread the task of building civilization. -Yes it is. - Do you realize how this happened? -What thing? -As it happened that the loss of memory of your period Prerevolutionary was such that you did not even know that it had existed. -No, I do not know. I feel like I should but not. -It was your observation that what Mother Culture teaches you is that the past is shit, something that should disappear. -Yes. -And what I want to get is that apparently this is something that she He has been teaching you from the beginning. -Yes I understand. It is clearing me now. I'm saying that between the Dejadores, you always have the feeling of a person with a past Daniel Quinn - 199 - that goes back to the birth of time. Among the Takers, you have the feeling of a person whose past goes back to 1963. Ismael inclined the head, but then continue: At the same time, it should be taken into account that the antiquity, is a great validator among the people of your culture always and when you limit yourself to that function. For example, the English want all its institutions and all the splendor that surrounds those institutions be what oldest possible (even if they are not). However, they do not live as the British lived before, and they do not have the slightest intention of do what. More of the same could be said of the Japanese. They appreciate the values ​​and the traditions of their most noble and wise ancestors and lament their disappearance, but they have no interest in living the way they lived his most noble and wise ancestors. Summing it up, ancient customs they serve for institutions, ceremonies and vacations but the Takers do not they want to adopt them for their daily lives. -It is true. 7 -But, of course, Mother Culture did not teach that there was discard everything from the past. What had to be saved? That Did he really save? -I would say that the information on how to make or do in general certain things. -All information related to production was saved. And that's why so things are as they are. -Yes. -Of course, also the Dejadores save the information about the production, but rarely is production by production a trait characteristic of their lives. Among the Dejadores, people do not have quotas Daniel Quinn - 200 - weekly pots or arrowheads to produce. She is not worried for increasing his production of axes. -True. - So, although it keeps information about the production, most of it of the information it keeps is about other things. How would you characterize that information? -I think you already gave the answer to that question a few minutes ago. They keep what works well for them. -For them? Not for everyone? -Do not. I am not an expert in anthropology, but I have read enough things related to this matter to know that, for example, the zuñis or Navajos do not believe that their way of life is the way they should live all the world. Each town has a way of living that works well for its members. -And this way of living, which works well for its members, is the that they teach their children, right? -Yes. And what we teach our children is above all how make things. How to make more and better things. - Why do not you teach them what works well for people? -I would say that because we do not know what works well for the people. Each generation has to devise its own version of what works good for the people. My parents had their version, which was pretty useless, and the parents of my parents also had their version, which was pretty useless, and we are currently creating our own version, which It will hardly seem useless to our children. 8 -I've let the conversation deviate a bit from your course - Ismael grumbled as he shifted his position, making the axes of the Daniel Quinn - 201 - carromato-, so you can see that each culture left is an accumulation of knowledge that goes back, which uninterrupted chain, until the al- bores of human life. That's why it's no wonder that each of these cultures work well. Each of them has been checked and refining over thousands of generations. -Yes. Something is happening to me about that. -Ahead. -Give me a minute. It has to do with ..., the one that we do not know how should live people. -Take your time. "Well," I went on a few minutes later. When I said at the beginning that there was no sure knowledge about how people should live, what I wanted to say was that there is no one correct way. But that's what we postulate. That is what the Takers are proposing. We do not we want to know a way of living that works well. We want to know the only correct way And that is what the prophets and the legislators. Let me think ... After an amnesia that lasted between Five and eight thousand years ago, the Takers did not really know how to live. They must have turned their back on the past, because, suddenly, they enter the scene Hammurabi, and everyone asks: "What is that?", And Hammurabi He answers: "This, my children, are laws." "Laws? And what are the laws?" Y Hammurabi replies: "Laws are those that establish which is the only right way to live. "What was he trying to say? -I'm not sure. -It may be this: when you started talking about our amnesia cultural, I thought you were speaking metaphorically, or maybe exaggerating a bit to make me see some reasoning better. Well, obviously, you can not know what those peasants thought Neolithic However, a few thousand years later, the descendants of these Neolithic farmers scratched their heads and said: "Ah! Daniel Quinn - 202 - know how people should live. "But meanwhile, during that same space of time, the World's Dependents had not forgotten how to live. They still remembered, but those of my culture had forgotten, they had away from a tradition that taught them how to live. They needed a Hammurabi told him. They needed a Dragon, a Solon, a Moses, a Jesus and a Muhammad told him. Not so the Dejadores, because they had a way, or rather, they had a range of ways ... Wait. I think that already I have. -Take your time. -Each of the ways of living or cultures of the Dejadores evolved little by little, according to a process of trial and error that began before even having words to name them. Nobody said: "Very good, we form a committee to draft a series of laws that we are all going to observe. "None of those cultures were inventions, but that's what our legislators gave us: inventions, tricks. No things that had been gone testing over thousands of generations, but rather verdicts arbitrary about the only correct way to live. And that's what I still it's happening. The laws that pass in Washington are not included in the textbooks because they work well, but because they represent the only correct way to live. You can not abort, unless the fetus threatens the life of the mother or was begotten by a rapist. There is a lot of people who like the law to be like that. Why? Because that is the only correct way to live !. One can cause death getting drunk, and nothing happens to him, but if he gets caught smoking a cigarette of marijuana, to jail, because that is the only correct way to live. TO Nobody cares a damn if our laws work well or badly. Not that enters the order of the day .... - Again, I think I'm lost. Ismael growled. Daniel Quinn - 203 - -You do not have to talk about something concrete. You are exploring a deep complex of ideas ..., and you can not reach the depths of a question in twenty minutes. -True. - However, there is one thing I want to make clear before continuing ahead. -Very well. -You've seen that the Takers and the Dejadores accumulate two types of completely different knowledge. -Yes. Takers accumulate knowledge about what works good for things, and the Dejadores accumulate knowledge about what It works well for people. -But not for all people. Each Dejador village has a system that works well for him because that system has evolved inside your breast; was suitable for the land on which he lived, was suitable for the biological community in which he lived, was suitable for his peculiar tastes, preferences and world view. -Yes. -And what is the name of this type of knowledge? -I do not know what you mean. - What does someone have that knows what works well for people? -Well ... wisdom? -Well of course. Now you know that what your culture values ​​most is the knowledge of what works well for production, and that what more they value the letting cultures is the knowledge of what works well for the people. And every time the Takers destroy a culture left, irreparably disappears a wisdom distilled from the birth of humanity, like, every time we exterminate a species, irreparably disappears a form of life distilled from the birth of life. Daniel Quinn - 204 - -That is an outrage, it came out. "Yes," said Ismael. An atrocity. 9 Ismael spent a few minutes scratching his head and touching his ears, and then dispatched me for that day. -I'm tired, he explained. And I'm too cold to think. Daniel Quinn - 205 - Chapter ELEVEN Daniel Quinn - 206 - one The fine rain was still there, and when I arrived around midday Next, there was no one over there who could be bribed. I had taken from a warehouse in the Navy two blankets for Ismael - and another for me, so he would not think ...- Although he accepted them reluctantly, he seemed quite happy to have something to keep warm. We spent a little while sunk in despondency, and then, somewhat reluctantly, Ishmael decided tear: -Little before my move, you asked me, I do not remember well what was what gave rise to the question, when were we going to try the story represented by the Dejadores. -So is. -Why are you interested in knowing that story? That question caught me completely unprepared. -And why would not I be? -I'm asking what was the basis of your question. You know what Abel is practically dead. -Yes, it's true. Daniel Quinn - 207 - -Then, why learn the story he was representing? -I return the question: and why can not I know it? Ismael shook his head. -I do not like to continue in this plan. Although I could not tell you why I can not tell you, it would not be enough reason to have to tell you. He was obviously in a bad mood. I could not reproach him, but I could not sympathize with him either, because it was he who was insisting create a bad environment I ask: - Do you want to know it out of curiosity? -No, I would not say that. You said at the beginning that here they have represented two stories. I already know one of them. Nothing more natural than want to know the other one. -Natural? -He repeated, as if that word did not like him too much- . I would like you to say something with a little more content. Something that the feeling that I'm not the only one using the brain. -I'm sorry to tell you that I do not know where you want to go. -I know you do not know, and that's what irritates me. You have become a passive listener; it seems that you disconnect the brain when you are sitting there and that you reconnect when you get up to leave. -I do not think that's true. -Tell me then why it is not a waste of time to know a history that has practically disappeared. -Well ... I do not consider that a waste of time. -That's not enough. Nothing is done simply because it is not a waste of time. I shrugged, not knowing where to throw. Ismael shook his head, obviously displeased. -It is clear that for you that knowledge would be completely useless. That is more than clear. - Well, it's not so much to me. Daniel Quinn - 208 - -Then, do you think there is a basis to know that story? -You are right. - What is that foundation? -God! I just want to meet her, period. -Do not. I can not continue in that plan. I want to continue, but not simply to satisfy your curiosity. Go and come back when you can give me some real reason to continue. -An authentic reason, like what? Give me an example. -Very well. Why bother knowing the story that represent those of your culture? -Because the representation of that history is destroying the world. -True. But why bother to meet her? -Because it is, obviously, something that must be known. - Who should know? -All the world. -Why? I always return to that. Why, why, why? Why should yours know the story they are representing while destroy the world? -To be able to stop representing it. Not to continue with the battering current. To see that they are involved in a megalomaniac fantasy, in a fantasy as insane as the Reich of the Thousand Years. - Is that what makes history worth knowing? -Yes. -I'm glad to hear that. Now go and come back when you can explain me What makes it worthwhile to know the other story? -I do not need to leave. I can explain it to you now. -Tell me. - People simply can not leave a story. That's what the guys tried to do in the sixties and seventies. They tried to leave to live as Takers, but they had no other way to live. They Daniel Quinn - 209 - failed because you can not just stop being part of a history, you must have another story to belong to. Ismael bowed head. And if that story existed, should people listen to it? -Yes, they should. - Do you think they want to hear it? -I do not know. I do not think that someone could want something if they still do not know that exists. -Very true. -And what do you think this story is about? -I have no idea. - Do you think it's about hunters and farmers? -I do not know. -Be honest. Did not you expect some hymn of the joy of the mysteries? of the Great Hunt? - As far as I know, I do not expect anything like that. -Well, at least you should know that it's about the meaning of the world, the divine intentions in the world and the destiny of man. -Yes. -As I already told you at least half a dozen times, the man He became a man representing this story. That you should know too. -Yes. -How did man become man? I thought for a few moments to see if any traps were hidden behind that question. "I'm not sure what that question means," I said. OR, rather, I'm not sure what kind of response you expect. You will not want to answer, I suppose, that man became a man by evolving. That would be tantamount to saying that he became a man by becoming a man, right? -Yes. Daniel Quinn - 210 - -Then my question is still waiting for your answer. How it was made man the man? -I suppose it's one of the typical obvious answers. -Yes. If I gave you the answer, you would say: "Man, of course. stupidity". I shrugged, defeated. -We will address the issue obliquely. But do not forget about which is a question that awaits your response. -In agreement. 3 -According to Mother Culture, what kind of revolution marked her revolution agricultural? - What kind of revolution? I would say that, according to Mother Culture, it was a technological revolution -It does not contain any deeper human involvement, of type cultural or religious? -Do not. The first farmers were simple technocrats of the Neolithic. That's what I always thought. -But, if you take a look at chapters three and four of Genesis, You will see that there was more at stake, more than what the Mother teaches us Culture. -Yes. -There were many more things at stake, of course, and there are still, the revolution is still ongoing. Adam continues to eat the fruit of that tree forbidden, and whenever we find Abel today, there is also Cain behind from him, knife in hand. -True. Daniel Quinn - 211 - - There is another indication in the sense that the revolution was something more that merely technological. Mother Culture teaches that, before the revolution, human life was devoid of meaning and was bland, empty, futile. Prerevolutionary life was something ugly. Detestable. -Yes. -And you believe it too, right? -Well ... I guess so. - Undoubtedly most of you believe it, right? -Yes. - Who would be the exceptions? -I do not know. I suppose the anthropologists. -The people who really know about that life. -Yes. -But Mother Culture teaches us that life was abominably miserable. -So is. -Can you imagine some circumstance in which you yourself Would you exchange your life for that kind of life? -Do not. Frankly, I can not imagine why anyone would do it if I would have the freedom to choose. -The Dejadores would do it. Throughout history, the only way that the Takers found to leave that life was thanks to brutal force, thanks to the genocide. In most cases, it was easier for them just exterminate them. -It is true. However, Mother Culture has something to tell us respect. What she says is that the Dejan simply did not know what It was what they were losing. They did not understand what the benefits were of life based on agriculture and that's why they clung so much to live Of hunting. Ismael smiled surreptitiously. Among the aborigines of your country, Who would you say were the strongest adversaries the Daniel Quinn - 212 - Takers? -Well ... I would say the Aborigines of the plains. -I think most of you agree with that. Without However, before the Spanish brought the horses, the aborigines of the plains had been farmers for centuries. But when they got the horses, they left agriculture and became hunters. -I did not know that. -Well, now you know, the Aborigines of the plains knew the benefits of life based on agriculture? -I suppose they should know them. -What is it that Mother culture says? I thought about it for a moment and then I laughed. She says that they in They did not understand. If they had done so, they would never have returned to the hunt. -Because that is a detestable life. -So is. -You can begin to understand how effective the teachings of the Mother Culture on this topic. -True. But what I do not understand where all this takes us. -We're on our way to discover what is the lie in the most deep of your fears and hatred of the life of the Dejador. We are looking for discover why man feels he must make the revolution even when it destroys him and the whole world. We are about to discover what it is faced the revolution of man. -Ah, exclame. -And when we've discovered all of that, I'm sure you can say what is the story that the Debands have been executing during the first three million years of human life and still some follow representing at present, there where they have managed to survive. Daniel Quinn - 213 - 4 When mentioning "to survive", Ismael began to shiver and covered himself with the blankets exhaling a mixture of sigh and moan. During a minute, He seemed bewitched by the incessant drumming of the rain against the canvas of the tent; then, he cleared his throat and continued: - Let's face it like that. Why was the revolution necessary? -It was necessary for the man to get something. -You mean for the man to have central heating, university, opera houses and spaceships, right? -Yes. Ismael nodded. -This answer would have accepted her when we started our I work, but now I want you to delve a little deeper into the subject. -In agreement. But I do not know what you mean by "dig a little deeper." -You know very well that, for hundreds of millions of you, certain things, such as central heating, the university, the opera house or the Space race belong to a remote and unattainable world. Hundreds of millions of humans live in conditions that most people Americans could hardly imagine. Even in this country, there are millions of people who lack home or live in miserable conditions and desperate in huts, penitentiaries or public centers that are just better than jails. For these people, the joker of the revolution agricultural would be completely meaningless. -True. -But even if these people did not enjoy the advantages of your revolution, would they turn their backs on him? Would they change their misery and despair? for the kind of life that was carried in prerevolutionary times? -Well, I have to say no again. Daniel Quinn - 214 - -That is also my impression. Takers believe in their revolution even if they do not enjoy its benefits. There are no rejectionists, dissidents, counterrevolutionaries. Everyone believes in the depths of their being that, for If things go wrong, this life is infinitely preferable to the one There was before. -Yes, I would say the same. -Well, today I want you to go to the root of this belief so extraordinary And, once you've found it, you'll have a vision completely different from your revolution as well as from the lives of Dejadores. -Very well. But how can I do it? - Listening to what Mother Culture says. This one has been talking to your ear from the beginning of your earliest childhood, and what you have heard is not different from what your parents and grandparents heard, or from what people hear every day in the whole world. In other words, what we are Searching is buried in your mind, in all your minds. Today I want that you dig up. Mother Culture has taught them to abhor life that they left behind with their revolution, and I want you to look for the roots of said abhorrence. "All right," I agreed. It is true that we feel certain abortion towards that life, but the problem is that this abhorrence does not have for me nothing reprehensible. -Oh no? Why not? -I do not know. But ..., it's a life that, in my opinion, does not lead to any part. - Enough of superficial answers. Escarba I sighed, curled up on my blanket and prepared to dig. "It's funny," I said a few minutes later. While I was here thinking about how our ancestors lived, I came to mind very concrete and very clear image. Daniel Quinn - 215 - Ismael waited for him to continue. -It has something to do with a dream. Or with a nightmare. Is dusk, and a man advances by the edge of a mountain, digging occasionally. In this world, it's always getting dark. The man is short, thin, dark skin and naked. He runs half stooped, looking for clues. He is hunting and he seems desperate. Night is falling and He has nothing to put in his mouth. »Run without stopping, as if you were on a treadmill. In fact, it is a treadmill, then, when it gets dark the next day, he will continue running But there are other things that push him to run, in addition to hunger and despair. He is terrified. Behind him, although in the distance, his enemies come chasing him by the edge of the mountain to do it picadillo: the lions, the wolves, the tigers. That's why he has to keep running by the treadmill throughout his life, always one step behind his prey and another in front of his enemies. »The edge of the mountain, of course, represents the edge of the knife of survival. The man lives on that edge and has to fight perpetually so as not to fall into the abyss. In fact, it's as if, instead of him, it was the edge of the mountain and the sky that were moving. The he is running on the spot, trapped there, without getting anywhere. -In other words, that hunter-gatherers lead a very life hard. -Yes. -And why is it so hard? - Because it's a struggle to stay alive. -But, really, it's nothing like that. I'm sure that what You know, you keep it in another part of the mind. Hunters-gatherers do not they live on the razor's edge of survival as neither do the Wolves, lions, sparrows or rabbits. The man was so perfectly adapted to life on this planet like any other species, and the idea of Daniel Quinn - 216 - that lived on the razor's edge of survival is a simple biological As an omnivore, his range of food is immense. There is thousands of species that would starve before him. Your intelligence and dexterity allow him to live quite well in conditions that would result completely unbearable for any other primate. »Instead of constantly looking for something to eat, the hunter-gatherers are the best-fed people on Earth; pass looking for food only two or three hours a day, which makes them people more settled, or less worked, of the planet. In his book on economics of the Stone Age, Marshall Sahlings calls it "the first society opulent. "By the way, the hunting of men by predators is practically non-existent. This is simply because they do not they are far from being his favorite dish. As you see, then, your vision ghostly and terrifying of the life of your ancestors is another More paparruchada of the Mother Culture. If you like, you can confirm everything this for yourself in any library. "All right," I said. And good? -Now that you know it's a nonsense, do you still think the same? about that kind of life? Do you find it less repulsive now? -A little less repulsive, maybe. But repulsive after all. - Let's face it this way. Suppose you are part of the battalion of the homeless of the country. Without work, without qualification; your woman is same, and you have two children. Nobody to turn to, no hope, no future. But I can give you a box with a button. You squeeze it and, of Suddenly, you move to prerevolutionary times. You can talk the language, you have the qualification that everyone has. You do not have to worry about you or your family anymore. All that you They are already done, because you are part of this first affluent society. -In agreement. -What, do you press the button or not? Daniel Quinn - 217 - -I dont know. I have to think about it. -Why? You will not say goodbye precisely to a wonderful life. According to this hypothesis, the life you lead here is miserable, and has no aspects of improvement. Then, it will be because the other life seems worse to you still. It's not that you can not say goodbye to the life you have, it's that You can embrace that other life. -If that is. - What makes that life seem so horrible to us? -I dont know. -It seems that Mother Culture has done a good job with you. -It seems. -Very well. Let's think about it in this other way. Whenever the Takers have approached the hunter-gatherers with the intention of expel them from the area they occupy, they have tried to explain that they must abandon their way of life and become Takers, more or less with these words: "That life they lead is not only miserable, but also it's a mistake. Man is not made to live that way. So no fight against us. Join us, our revolution, and together We will turn the world into a paradise for man. " -True. -Well, you will do this role, that of the cultural missionary, and I will do the hunter-gatherer. And now explain to me why the life that my people and me it seems satisfactory for thousands of years is sad, disgusting and repulsive -Caramba! -Well, I'll start. Bwana 3, you tell us that the way we live is miserable, wrong and shameful; that is not the way how are people supposed to live? This disturbs us a lot, bwana, for thousands of years it has always seemed good to us Way of life. But if you, who climb the stars and send words Daniel Quinn - 218 - everybody at the speed of thought, you tell us otherwise, then we will try to be sensible and listen to what they have to tell us -Mmmm ..., I see that it seems good. This is because they are people ignorant, illiterate and with few lights. -Exactly, bwana. We hope they enlighten us. Tell us why our life is miserable, dirty and shameful. -Your life is miserable, dirty and shameful because you live like animals. Ismael frowned, bewildered. -I do not understand, bwana. We live as the whole world lives. We take what we need from the world and leave the rest in peace, as do lions and deer. Do they lead a shameful life? Lions and deer? -No, but that's because they are only animals. It is not good that humans live that way. "Ah," said Ismael. We did not know that. And why not Is it okay to live that way? -Well because ... living that way ... they do not control their lives. Ismael looked at me crossly: -In what sense do we not control our lives, bwana? -They do not control the most basic and necessary thing of all: their supply food -You baffle me a bit, bwana. When we have ham-bre, we go out in search of something to eat. What greater control is needed? -You would have more control if you planted it yourselves. - How is that, Bwana? Who cares who plants the food? -If you plant them, then you will know with complete certainty that they are going to be there. 3 Bwana: com. cabbage. Master, sir: It is used humorously or ironically. Daniel Quinn - 219 - Ismael let out a giggle, obviously amused. - Certainly, you leave me speechless, bwana. We already know with total certainty that they will be there. Everything in life is food. Do you think that food will leak at night? Where would they go? They are always there, day after day, season after season, year after year, If it were not like that, I I would not be here talking to you now. -Yes, but if you would plant them, you could control how much food there is. They could say: "Well, this year we will have more sweet potatoes, this year We will have more legumes, this year we will have more fruits. " -Bwana, those things grow in abundance without the slightest effort our part. Why are we going to break our heads by planting what we already is growing? -Yes, but ... do not you ever need? Does not it ever happen to them that Would you like to eat sweet potatoes but discover that there are none in sight? -Yes, I guess so. But is not it the same for you? Do not want to Sometimes sweet potatoes but you discover that you are not growing in your fields? -No, because if we want sweet potatoes, we go to the store and buy a sweet potato box. -Yes, I've heard about that system. Tell me one thing, bwana. The box of sweet potatoes that they buy in the store ... how many people work for get that box up there? - Oh, hundreds of people, I suppose. Farmers, reapers, transporters, cleaners, mechanics, packers, other trans-portistas, unpackers, dependents and so on. -Excuse me, Bwana, but that seems like an infernal chain. Do everything that just to make sure you're never going to feel cheated if one day They want to eat sweet potatoes. In my town, when we want a sweet potato, we just go and rip it off the ground, and if we do not find any, we will find something else that is just as good. So we will not force hundreds of people to work to put sweet potatoes in our hands. Daniel Quinn - 220 - -You do not see the point of the matter. -Without doubt, bwana. I stifled a sigh. -Look, I'll tell you what the point of the matter is. If you do not control the supply of food, you will live at the mercy of the world. It does not matter that always You've had enough. That is not the crux of the matter. You can not live depending on the caprice of the gods. That is not the way they should live the men. -Why not. bwana? -Well ... listen. Suppose you go out in search of food and you hunt a deer. Okay, that's very good. Great. But you did not know that there There was a deer, you had no control over this fact, right? -No, bwana. -All right. The next day, you go out hunting and there are no deer in sight. Has not that ever happened to you? -Many times, bwana. -Yeah, well that's what it was. Since you do not have control over the deer, you have no deer. And what do you do now? Ishmael shrugged. -We'll hunt a couple of rabbits. -Exactly. They would not need to go for rabbits when what They want is a deer. - And that is the reason why we lead a shameful way of life, bwana? Is that the reason why we should put aside the life that Do we love to go to work in one of your factories? Why do we eat Rabbit when we did not meet any deer? -Do not. Let me finish. You have no control over the deer, nor neither about rabbits. Suppose you go hunting one day, and there is no deer nor any rabbit. -Then we would eat something else, Bwana. The world is full of Daniel Quinn - 221 - food. -Yes, but watch. If you do not have control over any of them ... You I showed my teeth. There is no guarantee that the world will be always full of food, right? Have you never had a drought? -Of course, Bwana. -Well, then what happens? -The grasslands dry up, all the plants wither. The trees do not they bear no fruit -The prey disappears. The birds of prey are disappearing. -And what happens to you? -If the drought is very strong, we also started to disappear. -You mean we die, right? -Yes, Bwana. -That is the point! - Is it embarrassing to die, Bwana? -No ... This is the point. You die because you live at the mercy of the gods. You die because you think the gods are going to take care of you. This is fine for the animals, but you should know. - We must not trust our lives to the gods? -Definitely not. You must entrust your lives to yourselves. That is the way of life of man. Ismael shook his head. Bwana, certainly, This is sad news. For many, many years we have lived in the hands of the gods, and it seemed to us that we lived well. We left the gods all the work of sowing, cultivating and living a happy life, and it seemed that always There was enough for us in the world, because look! We are here! -Yes, I said austerely. You are here, and look at yourself you have nothing. These naked and helpless. You live without security, without comfort, without opportunity. - And this is because we live in the hands of the gods? -Absolutely. In the hands of the gods, you are no more Daniel Quinn - 222 - important that the lions, that the lizards or fleas. In the hands of these gods, these gods who care for lions, lizards and fleas, you are nothing special. You are just another animal to feed. Wait a second, I said and I closed my eyes for a couple of minutes. -Okay, this is important. The gods do not distinguish between you and the rest of the creatures. -No, that's not it. Hold. I went back to analyze it and then try again. Here is: What the gods provide you, it's enough to live like animals, that's what I guarantee -But to live as humans, you are the one who must provide. The Gods are not going to do that. Ismael looked at me stunned. -Bwana, you say there is something that we need something that the gods are not going to give us. -So it seems. They give you what you need to live as an animal but not what you need to live as a human. -But how can that be, bwana? How can gods be? wise enough to create the universe, the world and the life that there is in he and, nevertheless, lack the necessary wisdom to give us What is necessary to be human? -I do not know how to explain it, but that's the way it is. It is a fact. The life of man was in the hands of the gods for three million years and, at the end of that long period, the man was not better or more advanced than at the beginning. - Undoubtedly, bwana, this is very strange news. What kind of gods are those? I let out a laugh. Ah, my dear friend, you are incompetent gods. That's why not They must put their lives in their hands. They must put their lives on their own hands. Daniel Quinn - 223 - -And how do you do that, bwana? -As I said, you have to start by planting yourselves fruits that will eat. -But what can that change, bwana? Food is food, we plant them or the gods plant them. That is exactly the point of the matter. The gods just plant what that we need, while we can plant more than the what do we need. - To what end, bwana? What's good about having more food than What are needed? -Shit! I exclaimed. I already have it! Ishmael smiled and repeated: -What is good about having more food than are needed? - That is the damn thing in the matter! When you have more food that the necessary, then the gods no longer have power over you. -We can make fun of them, right? -Exactly. In spite of everything, bwana, what are we going to do with all these foods if we do not need them? -They keep them! They keep them to thwart the plans of the gods when they decide that they have to go hungry. They keep them so that when they send droughts, they can say: "It will not affect me, damn it! I'm not going to go hungry, and you can not do anything, because my life is now in my own hands. " 5 Ismael nodded, abandoning his role as hunter-gatherer. -So your lives are now in your hands, right? Daniel Quinn - 224 - -So is. -Then, what is it that has all of you so worried? -What do you mean? -If you now have your lives in your own hands, it depends completely from you to know if they are going to continue living or if they are going to to become extinct. It's a logical reasoning, is not it? -Yes, but, obviously, there are still some things that are not in our hands. We could not control or survive a total ecological catastrophe. - That is, they are not yet safe. And when will they be, finally? -When we have snatched the whole world from the gods. -That is, when everyone is in their own hands, they are more competent hands, is not that? -So is. Then, the gods will finally stop having power over we. Then the gods will no longer have power over anything. All power It will be in our hands and finally we will be free. 6 "Well," said Ismael, "do you think we are making any progress? -I think so. -Do you think we have found the root of his abhorrence of gender of life that existed in prerevolutionary times? -Yes. In my opinion, the most trivial reflections of Christ were that of: "Do not worry about what you will eat tomorrow. sky. They do not sow or reap nor store in barns, and your Father Celestial feeds them. Do not you think he will do the same with you? " Our culture, the overwhelming answer to that question is: "Well no". Until the most devout monks worry about planting, mowing and storing barns Daniel Quinn - 225 - - What about San Francisco? -San Francisco counted on the waste of the farmers, not with the God. Even the most radical of fundamentalists would cover their ears if I heard Jesus talk about the birds of the sky and the lilies of the field. Would know perfectly well that Jesus is just telling stories, making pretty speeches -So you think that is what is at the root of his revolution. You want and still want to have your lives in your own hands. -Yes. Safely. For me, to live in any other way It would be almost inconceivable. I am convinced that hunters- collectors live in a state of complete and constant concern for what what tomorrow may have in store for them. - However, this is not the case. Any anthropologist will tell you will confirm. Hunter-gatherers suffer less anxiety than you. They do not have jobs to lose. Nobody can say to them: "Teach me the money that you have or, otherwise, you do not eat or dress or take cover. " -I think. Rationally speaking, I believe you. But I'm talking about what I feel, of my conditioning. My condition tells me, the Mother Culture tells me, that putting your life in the hands of the gods must be an endless nightmare full of terror and anguish. -And that's what their revolution gives them: get us out of that Spanish nightmare, and get out of reach of the gods. -If that is. -All right. Now we have a couple of new definitions for you. The Takers are those who know good and evil, while Dejadores are ... -Decedents are those whose lives are in the hands of the gods. Daniel Quinn - 226 - Chapter TWELVE Daniel Quinn - 227 - one Towards three in the afternoon, the rain stopped, and the fair yawned, He stretched and cheered again and scratched the locals' pockets. Without know what to do one more time, I turned around aimlessly, letting go of some dollars. Finally, I had the idea of ​​looking for the owner's clue of Ismael. It turned out to be a black man, with a penetrating gaze, called Art Owens. It measured approximately one sixty and passed, in plain sight, more time lifting weights that I sat at the keyboard. I let him know that I was interested in buying him the gorilla. -Really? He asked without appearing interested but also disdainful. I said yes and asked him how much I would get. -It would come out about three thousand. -It does not interest me then. Daniel Quinn - 228 - -How much would you give? He asked by simple curiosity, not by true interest. -Well, more than a thousand. He giggled a rabbit, but tried not to be discourteous. By Some reason, I liked that guy. He was one of those with a degree in Law by Harvard hidden in a drawer of the house because they have never I found something interesting to do with it. I returned to the charge: -It is a very, very old animal, as everyone can watch. It's been here since the 1930s. That caught his attention. He asked me how I knew. "I know that animal," I replied concisely, as if I knew another thousand more like him. "I could go down to two thousand five hundred," he said. -The problem is that I do not have two thousand five hundred. -Look, I recently commissioned a poster from a New painter Mexico-he let me know. I've advanced two hundred. -MMM. Maybe I could go up to fifteen hundred. -I do not think I can accept less than two thousand two hundred, really. In Seriously, if I had had two thousand in hand right there, I'm sure there would be accepted enchanted And maybe even eighteen hundred. I told him I would think about it. two Since it was Friday night, the revelers did not start leave until after eleven o'clock, so my old bribe presented to take his twenty dollars until twelve. Ishmael was asleep sitting, wrapped in his blankets, but I had no qualms about waking him up. I had to appreciate the advantages of an independent life. Daniel Quinn - 229 - He yawned, sneezed twice, cleared his throat to remove a mass of phlegm and looked at me with bleary and malevolent eyes. "Come back tomorrow," he told me with the equivalent of a grunt mental. -Tomorrow is Saturday. Impossible to do anything. It annoyed him, but he knew that I was right. It took a little time inevitable interview by composing the posture and ordering the cage and the blankets. He sat down and gave me a hateful look. -Where do we leave it? -We leave it with a new pair of definitions for Takers and the Dejadores; namely, those who know good and evil, and those who know whose lives are in the hands of the gods. Ismael growled. 3 -What happens to those whose lives are in the hands of the gods? -What do you mean? -I mean, what happens to those whose lives are in the hands of the gods but it does not happen to those who base their lives on the Knowledge of good and evil? -Ah, I know, -you answer-. I imagine that this is not what you are looking for, but it is what comes to mind. Those whose lives are in the hands of the gods do not become the masters of the world nor force others to live as they, but those who know good and evil do. "You have reversed the question," Ismael grumbled. I asked you what happens to those whose lives are in the hands of the gods but not it happens to those who know good and evil, and you have answered just what contrary; that is, what does not happen to those whose lives are in the Daniel Quinn - 230 - hands of the gods but it does happen to those who know good and wrong. -You mean you're looking for something positive that happens to you those whose lives are in the hands of the gods, is not that? -That's. -Well, they tend to let their neighbors live in their own way. -You are telling me something they do, not something that happens to them. I am trying to focus your attention on the effects of their way of life. -I'm sorry, but I do not know where you want to go. -You know it, but you're not used to raising the issue in these terms. -In agreement. -Remember the question we started answering when you came to noon: how was man made man? We are still looking for a answer to that question. Rezongue to me without any qualms. -Why do you grumble? Ismael asked. -Because questions that are too general intimidate me. How I know Did man make man? And what do I know! It was simply done. He became the same way that birds became birds, in the same way that birds horses were made horses. -Exactly. -Don't do this to me, I said. - You obviously did not realize what you just said. -Probably not. -I'll try to clarify it to you. Before you were Homo, what were you? -Australopithecus. -All right. And how did Australopithecus become Homo? -Waiting. -Please. You are here to think. Daniel Quinn - 231 - -Sorry. -The Australopithecus became Homo saying, We know the just like the gods the difference between good and evil, that's why We need to live in their hands just like rabbits and lizards do. From now on we will decide who should live and who should die in This planet, not the gods. They could not become men by saying that? -Do not. -Why not? -Because they would no longer be subject to the conditions in which evolution takes place. -Exactly. Now you can answer this question: What happens to men, and creatures in general who live in the hands of the gods? -Yes I understand. They evolve. -And now you can also answer the question I asked you this tomorrow: how did man become man? -The man became a man by leaving his life in the hands of the gods. -Right. -Living as the kreen-akrore of Brazil live. -Correct again. -How do New Yorkers live? -Do not. - Or the Londoners? -Do not. -Well, you know what happens to those whose lives are in hands of the gods. -Yes, that evolve. - And why do they evolve? -Because they are in a position to evolve. Because that is how it is it produces evolution. The ancestor of man evolved to become Daniel Quinn - 232 - the first man because he was competing with the rest. The ancestor evolved because I do not avoid competition, because it remained subject to the laws of natural selection. -You mean that I was still part of the general community of Life is not so? -So is. -And for that, in the end the australopithecus became homo habilis, this in homo erectus, this in homo sapiens and this in homo sapiens sapiens. -Yes. -And what happened next? -After, the Takers said: "Enough that our lives be in the hands of the gods. That is over for us. Selection natural? No thanks". -So ..., that's how it was. -That's how it went. - Do you remember that I told you that to represent a story is to live from so that it becomes reality? -Yes. -According to the story of the Takers, the creation came to an end with the Man no? -Yes. And good? -How do we have to live so that this becomes a reality? How do you have to to live so that the creation touches its end with man? -Uff. Oh, I know what you mean. You have to live as the Takers We have been living in such a way that the creation goes to come to an end very soon. If we continue like this, there will be no successor for man, nor for the chimpanzee, the orangutan or the gorilla; that is, not there will be successor for no living being. All the shed will go to hell with we. In order for your story to become a reality, Takers have to Daniel Quinn - 233 - end the creation, and, as they are acting, of course they are to get. 4 -When we started, I tried to help you find the premise of the story of the Takers and I told you that the history of the Dejadores had a completely different premise. -Yes, I remember it. -Maybe you are ready now to expose that premise. -I could not say ... At this moment I do not even remember the premise of the Takers. -I'm sure you remember. Every story is the making of a premise. -Ah, now. The premise of the story of the Takers is that the world belongs to man -I was thinking for a moment, and then I went to laugh-. It seems too easy. The premise of the Dejadores is that man It belongs to the world. -And what does that mean? "It means ..." I let out a laugh. It's really ... too much. -Ahead. -It means that, from the beginning, everything that lived perte-necía world, and that's why things ended up being the way they are. Living beings unicellular that moved by the ancient oceans belonged to the world, and that is why everything that came after came into being. The osteophytes that lived in the shores of the continents belonged to the world, and that's why in the end the amphibians. And, since the amphibians belonged to the world, the reptiles And, as the reptiles belonged to the world, the mammals And, as mammals belonged to the world, they emerged at the end the primates. And, since the primates belonged to the world, the Daniel Quinn - 2. 3. 4 - Australopithecus. And, as the Austra-lopithecus belonged to the world, it arose at final man. And, for three million years, man belonged to world, and since it belonged to the world, it grew and developed and became more ready and more skilled than the others until, one day, he was so smart and so skilled that we had to call it homo sapiens sapiens, which means it was like we. -And that's how the Decedents lived for three million years: belonging, forming part of the world. -Exact. And that's how we came up. 5 Ishmael continued: -We already know what happens if we adopt the premise of the Takers: that the world belongs to man. -Yes, which ends in disaster. -And what happens if we adopt the premise of the Dejadores, that is, that Does man belong to the world? -Well, then, the creation never ends. - What do you think of that? -I give my vote. 6 "I can think of one thing," I observed. -Yes? -Well ... that the story I just told is actually the story that the Debands have been representing on Earth during the three last million years. The story of the Takers reads: "The gods they made the world for man, but they did an unpresentable job, and Daniel Quinn - 235 - We, who are more competent, could not help but take letters in the matter. "While the history of the Dejadores reads as follows:" The Gods made man for the world, just as they did for the world the salmon, the sparrow and the rabbit; how this has worked quite well So far, we do not worry and we let the world go on hands of the gods. " -True. There are other ways of putting it, as there are other ways of tell the story of the Takers; but this way is as good as any other. I remained silent for a moment. -I'm thinking about ... the meaning of the world, the divine intentions to the world and to the destiny of man ... according to the history of the Dejadores. -Ahead. -The meaning of the world ... I think the third chapter of Genesis He was right It is a garden, the garden of the gods. I say this even when I doubt much that the gods intervene here. But I think an interpretation healthy and encouraging -I understand. -In the garden there are two trees, one for the gods and one for us. Theirs is the Tree of the Science of Good and Evil, and ours is the Tree of the life. But we can only find the Tree of Life if we We stay in the garden, and we can only stay in the garden if we We keep away from the tree of the gods. Ismael nodded in encouragement. -With regard to divine intentions ... It would seem that ... there is a kind of trend to evolution, do not you think? If you start with those ultra-simple beings of the ancient seas and you keep moving forward, step by step, until what we see now - and beyond -, you can not help but observe Daniel Quinn - 236 - a tendency to ... complexity. And to consciousness and intelligence. These in agreement? -Yes. -I mean, that every creature on this planet seems to be in a trance of achieve that awareness and that intelligence. So, the gods have not bet only by humans. We were never meant to be the only actors of this movie. It is clear that the gods claim that this Planet is a garden full of sentient and intelligent beings. -It seems. And if such is the case, then the fate of man It would seem pretty clear. -So is. Incredible as it may seem, it is quite clear. He is he pioneer, the explorer. Your destiny is to be the first to know that the creatures, like him, have a choice: they can try to thwart the plans of the gods, and perish in the attempt, or they can also be thrown into a side to make room for others. But there is something else. The destiny of man is be the father of all creatures, and I do not mean biological fatherhood. By giving everyone else a chance - whales, dolphins, chimpanzees or raccoons-, it becomes in a certain sense in its progenitor ... Oddly enough, this destination is even grander than the one that Takers had dreamed of making reality. -Oh yeah? How? -Think a little bit. Within a billion years, who, or what, lives at that time, he will say: "The man? Ah, yes, the man! What a creature so wonderful it was! It was within his reach to destroy the whole world and end the future of all of us, but saw the light before it was too late and backed down. He backed down and gave us all a chance. He showed us what had to be done to make the world a garden forever. The man was an example to follow for all of us. " -It is not a negligible destination. -No, of course. And I can think of something else ... Daniel Quinn - 237 - -Yes? In a way, this shapes the whole story. The world is a beautiful place. Not a chaotic place that needs to be conquered or governed by man: the world does not have to belong to man, but man does have to belong to him. Some creature had to be the first to note that there were two trees in the garden , one good for gods and another good for creatures. Some creature had to find the way, and then there would be no turning back. In other words, that man It has a function in the world, but its function is not to govern. The Gods take care of that. The function of man is to be the first. The Man's function is to be the first without being the last one at a time. The man's function is to elucidate how this can be achieved, and leave room to others so they can become what he has become. And maybe, When the time comes, the function of man will be to be the teacher of all the creatures that could reach where he has arrived. And not the only teacher, nor the last: perhaps only the first instructor, the one of the nursery; but neither would that be insignificant. And you know something else? -What? -All this time, I've been asking myself: "This is very interesting, but what is it for? Nothing will change!". -And you still think the same? - Here is what we need: not just stop doing things. Not only do less things People need something positive to work for. You need to see something ... I do not know. Something that... -I think what you want to say is that people need something more than scolding and sermons, something more than feeling stupid and guilty. He needs something more than seeing everything black. He needs a vision of the world, and of himself same, that will inspire her. -Yes. Without any type of doubts. Stop polluting is not something that inspire too much Separating waste is not something that inspires too much. Daniel Quinn - 238 - Reducing fluorocarbon consumption is not something that inspires too much. But imagine ourselves in another way, imagine the world of a new way ... Imagine ... I expounded at ease, what the fuck. He knew very well what I was trying express. 7 -I hope you see now what I tried to make you see in our first encounters. The history that the Takers have been representing it is not precisely chapter two of the story that was represented during the first three million years of human life. The history of the Dejadores has its own chapter two. -What is chapter two? -You've talked about that recently, right? -I'm not sure. For a long time, Ismael seemed completely immersed in his thoughts. -We will never know what the Decedents of Europe and Asia when those of your culture annihilated them. But we do know what they had set out to do here, in North America. They were looking for a to become sedentary that would harmonize with the way they came living forever, a way of life that will leave room for the rest of the beings alive around him. I do not mean to say that they did this for ideals I just want to say that it did not occur to them to take the life of the world in their own hands and declare war on the rest of the community of life. Had I lived that way for another five or ten thousand years, on this continent could have appeared a dozen civilizations so advanced as it is now yours, each with its own values ​​and objectives. It is not unthinkable. Daniel Quinn - 239 - -No, it is not. Or rather, if it is. According to the mythology of the Takers, all civilizations of the universe must be civilizations Takers, civilizations in which people have taken the life of the world in your hands. That is so obvious that it does not need to be explained. Hell, every other civilization in the history of science fiction has been a Taker civilization. Every civilization that ever faced the Companies from the United States has been a Taker civilization. This happens because intelligent creatures everywhere insist on putting their lives in the hands of the gods, and in that way they do not realize that the The world belongs to them and we to the gods. -It is true. -What makes an important question come up in my mind? What is it What exactly does this instance mean, to belong to the world? Obviously, you're not saying that only hunters belong truly the world. -I'm glad to hear that. However, if the Bushmen of Africa (Bushmen) or the Kapalo of Brazil (if there is any left) they want continue to live that way for the next ten million years, not I understand why this would not be good for them and for the world. -It is true. But that does not answer my question. How can the civilized people belong to the world? -Ismael shook his head in what seemed like a mixture of impatience and exasperation. -The civilized has nothing to do with that. As they can belong to the world the tarantulas? How can the world belong to sharks? -I do not understand. -If you look around you, you will see creatures that act as if the world belonged to them and others that act as if they belonged world. Can you distinguish them? Daniel Quinn - 240 - -Yes. -The creatures that act as if they belong to the world follow the law that watches over peace, and because they follow that law, they give to other creatures an opportunity to develop your own potential. This is how the man. The creatures around the australopithecus did not imagined that the world belonged to them, so they let him live and grow. So, being civilized means you have to destroy the world? -Do not. - Does it disable you to be civilized to leave the creatures of your around a bit of space in which to live? -Do not. - It incapacitates you to live as innocently as the tibu-rones, Tarantulas and rattlesnakes? -Do not. -Are you unable to follow a law that even snails and worms continue without any difficulty? -Do not. -I told you a long time ago that human settlement is not against the law, it is subject to the law, and the same applies to civilization. So, what Was it exactly your question? -Well, I do not know now. Obviously, belonging to the world means ... belong to the same club as everyone else. This club is nothing other than community of life. And belonging to this club means following the same standards that everyone. And if being "civilized" really means something, it should mean that You are responsible for the club, not your harassers or your destroyers. "Right," I agreed, and then I found myself blinking a few moments. Something you said a moment ago ... about that we will never know what the Dependents of Europe or Asia had in mind when those of my culture They came to annihilate them ... Daniel Quinn - 241 - -Yes? -I think that, in recent years, some information has been discovered about. Ismael nodded, and said: -If it's new, it's possible that I did not hear about it. -An archaeologist named Riane Eisler has written about an extensive agricultural society of Dejadores that existed in Europe until it was razed The Takers will do about five or six thousand years. Only she does not call them Dejadores and Takers, of course. I'm not an expert on the subject, but it seems that the culture that the Takers annihilated was based on the worship of the goddess Ismael nodded again: -One of my students knew the book you're talking about, but not You could explain its importance in the terms that you have done. Is called, I think, "The chalice and the sword." 8 - Returning to the theme of hope ... today we have a new reason not to lose it, "Ismael suggested. -Which? -When my other students arrived at this point, they all said: "Yes, yes, this is wonderful, but people are not going to give up the power they have over the world. Quite simply, it is something that can not happen. Never. Not even though spend a thousand years. "And I had nothing concrete to offer them to encourage their hope. But now yes. It took me half a minute to discover it. -I suppose you mean what has happened lately in the Union Soviet and in Eastern Europe. Daniel Quinn - 242 - -Exactly. Ten or twenty years ago, anyone who had predicted the imminent dismantling of Marxism from above would have I was branded as a sad visionary, to be mad at the top. -Yes. It is true. -But, when the inhabitants of those countries felt inspired faced with the possibility of a new way of life, the dismantling it produced almost overnight. -I know what you mean. Five years ago, I would have said that it could not be achieved, no matter how inspired people felt. -And now? - Now it is hard to imagine and it is quite unlikely; but, in all honesty, it is not entirely unimaginable. 9 - I have another question - I added. -Ahead. - Your ad said: "He must have a real desire to save the world." -And good? - What does one do with real desire to save the world? Ismael looked at me for a long time through the bars with the frown. - Do you want a program? -Of course I want a program. - Here you have a program: You have to reverse the Genesis story. First, Cain must stop murdering Abel. That is essential if you want survive The Dejadores are the most endangered species important, and not because they are human but because only they can teach to the destroyers of the world that there is no unique way to live. And in Second, of course, they must spit out the fruit of that forbidden tree. Daniel Quinn - 243 - They must abandon forever the idea that they can decide who should live and who to die on this planet. -Yes, I see this clearly, but it is a program for humanity as a whole, not a program for me. What do I have to do? -What you have to do is teach a hundred people what I have taught, and encourage each of them to teach the same to another hundred. This is how it has always been done. -Yes, but ... will that be enough? Ismael frowned. -Of course not. But, if you start in another way, there will be no no hope Those of your culture can say: "We are going to change the way to get along with the world, but we're not going to change the way see the world, nor the way of interpreting the divine intentions towards the world, nor the way of conceiving the destiny of man. "While those of your culture are convinced that the world belongs to them and that the fate of the world is, by divine design, to be conquered and governed by them, they will continue to act as they have been acting for the last ten thousand years. They will continue to treat the world as if it were owned by humans and they will continue to conquer him as if he were another adversary. You can not change these things with laws. You have to change the mentality of the people. Neither you can eradicate a set of nefarious ideas and simply leave a empty instead. You have to offer people something that has more importance that what you lose, something that makes more sense than the old and frightful Supreme Man, who erases from the planet what does not serve direct or indirectly to their needs. I shook my head. -What you say is that there has to be someone who is for the world today what was Paul for the Roman Empire, right? - Yes, basically. Is that so intimidating? These words made me laugh. Daniel Quinn - 244 - -Intimidating is not a strong enough word. Call him intimidating is like calling the Atlantic Ocean a puddle. -Is it really that impossible at a time when a comedian Does television reach more people in ten minutes than Pablo in all his life? -I'm not a comedian. -But you're a writer, right? - Not that guy. Ishmael shrugged. -Then you are a lucky man: you are exempt from all obligation. Self-exempted -I have not said that. -What did you expect to learn from me? An enchantment? A word magic that would end in a stroke with all the reigning asker-sity? -Do not. -In the end, you'd say you're not different from the ones you say you despise: you You want something for you alone. Something that makes you feel better when you notice that near the end -No, is not that. You do not know me very well. I always act like that. First, I say: "No, no, that's impossible, not to mention, it's over," but then I'm still doing the same. Ismael looked me up and down, unconvinced. -One thing I know people are going to tell me is, are you suggesting that we become hunter-gatherers again? -Of course that is a pointless idea, said Ismael. The lifestyle of the Dejadores is not about hunting and gathering, it's about allowing the the rest of the community that lives as well as the farmers and that the Hunter-gatherers. He stopped and shook his head. What I have been trying to do is to show you a new premise of the history of man. The life of the Dejadores is not something outdated that is back. Your duty is not is to return but to reach. Daniel Quinn - 245 - -But to what? We can not leave our civilization in the way that The Hohokam did it. -That's true. The Hohokam had another way of life than the I expected, but you have to be ingenious if it's worth it for you. Yes you care to survive He looked at me with a muted look. -You are clever people, are not you? They take pride in that, do not they? -Yes. -Then invent. -I did not take into account a small question, said Ismael, and then gave a He sighed long, as if he regretted having remembered him. I waited in silence. -One of my students was a former inmate. He had been a robber. I have not told you? I told him no. -Although I have trouble recognizing it, our talks turned out to be more profitable to me than to him. Basically, I learned from him that, against the impression that is taken out of prison films, inmates do not form a undifferentiated mass, far from it. As it happens in the world outside, there are rich and poor, powerful and weak. And the rich and the powerful they live pretty well in prison, not as well as they were, of course, but a lot, much better than the poor and the weak. Actually, they can have almost everything they want in relation to drugs, food, sex and services. I looked at him with an eyebrow raised. -You want to know what this is coming from, right? He asked with a movement of head-. Well, it has to do with this: The world of Takers is a vast prison, and, except for a handful of Deceivers dispersed by the four corners of the world, the entire human race is currently in the interior of that prison. During the last century, all Deceased peoples of America had to choose between being exterminated or living prisoners. Daniel Quinn - 246 - Many chose the prison, but few were really capable of adapt to prison life. -Yes, I've heard about that. Ismael looked at me with half-opened and wet eyes. -Naturally, a well-run prison must have an industry prison that works. I'm sure you know why. -Well ... because it helps keep the inmates busy, I suppose. It makes them forget about the boredom and insignificance of their lives. -Yes. And what does yours do? - You mean our prison industry? Well, suddenly, not I can think of nothing. Surely it is something pointless. -Quite insubstantial, no doubt. I thought a little. -To leave the world exhausted. Ismael nodded. -Added to the first one. eleven -There is a very important difference between the inmates of their prisons and the inmates of their cultural prison: the former know that the distribution of wealth and power within the prison has nothing to do with justice. I was blinking for a few seconds and then I asked him to explain himself. -In your cultural prison, who are the ones who hold the power? -Mmmm ... The male inmates. Especially the whites. -Yes, that's true. But do not forget that these white inmates are after all, inmates and not guardians. Despite its power and its privileges, In spite of everything they cheat in prison, none of them has a key to get out of it. Daniel Quinn - 247 - -If true. Donald Trump can do many things that I do not I can, but can not leave the cultural prison. But what does this have to do with justice? -Justice makes white men have power within the Cultural prison. -Yes I understand. But what are you saying? That is not true? - True? Of course it's true that men like you say, especially white men have had the power inside the jail for thousands of years, maybe even from the beginning. Of course it is true that this is redistributed fairly. However, you must have in account that what is indispensable to survive as a race is not the redistribution of power and wealth within the prison but the destruction of that prison. -If I understand that, but I do not think others would understand it. -Do not? -Do not. Among the politically active, the redistribution of power and riches is ... I do not know what to call it to sound strong enough. An idea whose time has arrived. The Holy Grail. -However, escaping from the Tomadores jail is something that It concerns all of humanity. White, colored, men or women, what the people of this culture want is to have the most amount of power and wealth that they can within the jail of the Takers. It's not important for nothing that is a prison and they do not give a damn that they are destroying the world. Ismael shrugged. The same pessimist of forever. -Maybe you're right. I hope you're wrong. -I also hope I'm wrong, believe me. Even though we had only talked for an hour, Ismael looked exhausted. I made the mistake of leaving, but evidently he is thinking of another thing. Until finally I look up and said: You realize that I've Daniel Quinn - 248 - finished with you I felt as if they were driving a knife through my stomach. Ismael closed his eyes for a moment. -Excuse me. I'm tired and I do not I feel good. I did not want it to happen this way. I could not answer anything, the only thing I managed to do was tilt the head. -I finish doing what I had planned to do. As a teacher, I have nothing more to teach you. However, I would like to have you as a friend. Once again I could not do anything but tilt my head. Ismael shrugged his shoulders and looked around with a look confused, as if he had forgotten where he was. Then he threw his head He pushed back and sneezed loudly. "Listen to me," I managed to tell him as I stood up. I will be back morning. He gave me a long, dark look. No doubt he was asking what the hell I expected of him; but it was too much tired to ask me the question. He said goodbye with a grunt and a gesture affirmative of the head. Daniel Quinn - 249 - Chapter THIRTEEN Daniel Quinn - 250 - one That night, before falling asleep in my motel bed, I outlined my plan. It was a bad plan, I knew it, but I could not think of a better one. You Ismael liked it or not (I knew not), I had to rescue him from that fair of bad death. My plan was bad in that it depended entirely on me and my scarce resources. I had no more than a letter, and, if I taught it, I It gave the thorn that it was going to be a letter something wrong. At nine in the morning of the next day, while entering a small town located halfway with the hope of finding somewhere to have breakfast, I saw the pilot on the dashboard light up temperature, which forced me to stop the car. I opened the hood and checked the oil: normal. I checked the water tank: dry. Well, it did not matter too much: as a preventable driver that I am, I always carry a full container of water in the trunk. I filled the tank, I started and, two minutes later, The red light went on again. I went to a service station that had a workshop next door, but there was no one at that time. However, the Daniel Quinn - 251 - the gas station, which knew about thirty times more cars than me, agreed to throw him A look. -The radiator fan does not work -he told me about fifteen Seconds later. He showed it to me and explained that this usually happens when circulates a lot through the city. - Could not it be a blown fuse? "I could," he agreed, but ruled out this possibility by putting a new one and see that everything was the same. I'm going to see something, "he said while wielding a pen-shaped detector to check the plug that connected the fan to the electrical system-. The fan reaches the current, "he told me. so it must be the same fan that has broken down. -Where can I get a new one? -Not in this town. It's Saturday, you know. I asked him if he could continue to my house the way the car was. -I think so, he said, if you do not have to go through a lot of city until you reach your house. Oh, and stop the car to cool the engine every once the pilot lights up. I returned home around noon and left the car in a workshop guard, although they assured me that they would not look at it before Monday through morning. I just had a message to do, which was none other than going to a small and nice ATM to take out all the money from that available: checking account, savings, credit cards. I went back to my apartment with two thousand two hundred dollars, but, apart from that amount, it was completely peeled. I did not want to think about the subsequent problems, which were in themselves pretty fat. How to take out a gorilla that weighs half a ton of Cage that he does not want to leave? How to put a gorilla that weighs half a ton in the back seat of a car that stops every two for three? But, above all can you move a car with a gorilla that weighs half a ton in the back seat? Daniel Quinn - 252 - As you can see, I am one of those who face problems according to arrive An improviser First he would do anything to accommodate Ismael in the back seat of my car and then I would think of something. What if I managed to take him to my apartment, I would see what he did next. My experience tells me that you never really know the extent of a problem until you do not have it in front of you two They called me on Monday at nine in the morning to tell me what I had the car. The fan had broken down because it had been forced too; and he had forced himself too much because the happy circuit of Refrigeration had gone bad. The reparation needed a lot of work, About six hundred dollars an hour. I grumbled and told them ... go ahead. Me they replied that it would probably be ready in the afternoon, and that They would call. I told them not to call me, that I would personally go to pick it up as soon as possible. Actually, I had given it up for lost: no he could pay for the repair, and most likely he could no longer transport to Ismael. I rented a van. You wonder how the hell I had not thought of it before that idea The answer is: simply, because I had not been happened I'm a little slow reflexes, okay? I'm used to doing things in a certain way, and among them does not figure the rent of vans. Two hours later, while entering the fairgrounds, I exclaimed: -Shit! The fair had gone elsewhere. Something, maybe a premonition, made me go out to have a look. The solar it seemed too small to have contained nineteen attractions, twenty-four booths and a tent. I wondered if I could find the Daniel Quinn - 253 - location of Ismael's cage without help. My feet took me alone near there, and my eyes did the rest, for there was an unmistakable trace: the blankets that had taken him formed a messy heap along with other things, that I also recognized: some of his books, a notebook where he still they saw the maps and diagrams that he had made to illustrate the stories of Cain and Abel, of the Dejadores and the Takers, and the poster of his office, now rolled and held with a rubber band. While I was wondering how much I was there, the old man who had bribed several times. He smiled a rabbit's smile and He held a black plastic bag in the air to show me what was doing: collecting part of the hundreds of kilos of garbage left by the in its path. Then, seeing the small pile at my feet, he raised the eyes and said: - It's been pneumonia. -What? -Your friend the gorilla was sick with pneumonia. I stayed there watching him, Without being able to understand what it was that he wanted to tell me. The veterinarian came Saturday and full of things but it was too late. He died this morning around seven or eight, I suppose. - You're telling me he's ... dead? Is dead. And I, a total egoist, almost had not realized that I was a little pale. Look at the vast gray field, where the wind he picked up the papers from here to there and sometimes he made them fall, and I found an empty one unused, covered with dust, a wasteland. My old friend He waited, interested in hearing what this friend of the Gorillas -I asked what they had done with him. -How?. -What did they do with the body? -Ah I guess they called the county. They took him to where they grow Daniel Quinn - 254 - to the dead in traffic accidents. Dresses? -Oh yeah. Thank you. -Do not worry. - Is it okay if I take these things? The way he looked at me, I gave myself mind that he thought he was crazy. -Of course, why not? Anyway, everything will go to waste. I left the blankets, of course, but the rest I carried under my arm. 3 -I was going to do? Spend a few minutes with your eyes down next to municipal furnace where they burn the run-over animals? Another person I would have acted differently, probably better, demonstrating a bigger heart, a greater sensitivity. I went back home. I returned the van, picked up the car and returned to my apartment. I was strangely empty, like a more empty degree. In one corner of the table was a telephone that connected me with a world full of life and activity; but who was he going to call? Interestingly, I came up with a person, I searched for their number and what I dialed. Three tones later, a soft but firm voice answered. -Residence of Mrs. Sokolow. Is it Mr. Partridge? -If the same. -I'm the boy who paid you a visit a couple of weeks ago, trying to locate Raquel Sokolow. Partridge waited. I communicated: -Ismael is dead. A pause -I'm sorry to hear that news. Daniel Quinn - 255 - -We could have saved him. Partridge paused again, thinking of the answer. - Are you sure you would have left us? I was not, and I told him. 4 Until I brought the Ismael poster to a picture shop I discovered that it was written on both sides. I sent it to frame so you could see both. The message that was on one side It was the one I had seen on the wall of Ismael's room: THE MAN HAS DISAPPEARED, IS THERE HOPE FOR THE GORILLA? The message on the other side read: THE GORILLA WAS DISAPPEARED, IS THERE HOPE FOR MAN? Daniel Quinn - 256 - ... the world does not belong to man, man belongs to the world ...