[The photograph below was the cover for a suite of essays that I published a couple years ago. It has nothing to do with the present entry, beyond the fact that today’s text contains a two-word phrase that matches the title of one of the parts of that old set.]
(Cont.)
So Moses led the workers through the Red Ocean, and they wandered out into the woods of Farmington. Soon they ran out of water to drink. They trekked for three days through the woods, but they found no water.
Then they came to Bitter River. But they could not drink the water of Bitter River, because it was bitter: that’s the reason they named it Bitter River.
Now the workers began to grow annoyed, and they complained to Moses with angry sarcasm, saying: “Smart plan, to bring us out into the woods without any water. Certainly, humans can live a long time without water, so this is no problem at all.”
Then Moses stood outside the wild man’s vortex. And the wild man whose body was like rusty iron said to Moses, “Why are you crying?” And he showed Moses a tree that was growing in the woods. And he instructed Moses to uproot the tree with his bare hands and toss it into Bitter River. So Moses did this, and the waters of the river became sweet. So they renamed it Sweet River.
Then the wild man drew up a contract, to put the people to the test; and he urged Moses to sign the deal on behalf of all the workers. And this document said as follows:
“If the labor force will listen with sincere interest to the voice of the volcano of potential, and behave in a way that looks agreeable to his eyes, and learn all the lessons that he teaches, and follow all the instructions he gives, then I will, in turn, hold back from plaguing you with all the evil diseases that you saw me inflict on the Empire. For I am the Volcano that heals you.”
Then they arrived in a place called Eden, where were twelve functioning wells and seventy palm trees in a half-circle, each bearing a new type of succulent fruit. So they made an encampment there by the waters.
Eventually they left Eden and journeyed into the forest of Sin, which is about halfway between Eden and Sinai, the district containing the wild man’s hill. This was about two and a half months after they vacated the Empire.
Now the mass of workers began to criticize the government of Moses in the forest: the multitudes cried out against him, saying, “Our wish is that we would have been abandoned by the Volcano, back in the Empire; for then at least we would have been able to devour the assorted salamis at the meat market and freely partake of the pastry buffet: We deeply miss all the food trucks and flesh pots! Those days now seem like the Golden Age, since you have dragged us out here to the forest to starve us to death.”
Then, when Moses relayed this complaint to the wild man in the fiery vortex, the man growled and answered: “Look, I will cause the sky to rain bread for you; and the workers shall go out and gather a ration daily. I will do this to test them, to see whether they can follow simple instructions or not. For five days, I will give them their normal amount; then, on the sixth day, I will give them a double portion, so they will be able to gather extra; but they will need to save the surplus, because I will tell the sky not to rain bread on the last day of each week.”
Moses therefore turned aside and conferred with his prophet Bryan, saying: “You go now and tell these multitudes of workers to draw near and approach the Volcano. Tell them that he has heard their sarcastic accusations.”
So Bryan relayed this message to the masses: “Tomorrow evening, you will know that the Volcano saved you from the Empire; because, in the morning, you will witness the full sumptuousness of the Volcano’s generosity. For he has heard all the whining and complaining that you have been voicing against him, as of late. Consider that, when you complain against us, you’re really just complaining against the Volcano – after all, what are we? we’re just like you: honest laborers; we act as his representatives, telling you what he tells us to say; we have no actual power here. Everything that happens is according to the dictates of the volcano of potential.”
And, as Bryan was addressing all the workers in the forest, the crowd’s attention was distracted: for, there in the woods, right behind Bryan, suddenly appeared the amber glow of the wild man’s vortex, with misty smoke issuing out of it.
And Bryan added: “Now, here is what shall happen. The Volcano has agreed to give you, once per evening, a certain allotment of flesh to eat. And then, each morning, he will give you bread to the full.”
And it happened that, at evening time, quails flew in and landed all around, covering the camp; and they were easy to catch and kill. Then, in the morning time, a weird pale dew was found all about the armies. And once this dew had evaporated, in the place where it had been, there lay a small round thing, as small as the hoar frost on the ground.
And when the masses of workers saw it, they said one to another: “What IS this shit?” because they had never seen anything like it.
And Moses answered them, saying: “No, it’s the bread that the Volcano has served you for breakfast. Here are his rules about it: every man should gather up as much as he and the people of his household can consume – to each according to his need; and from each according to his ability – one gallon per man. Take as much as you need to feed the members of your tabernacle.”
And the multitudes of workers did so; some gathered more, and some less. And when they divvied out the total with a gallon-sized measuring bucket, it turned out perfectly: whoever had gathered a lot had no leftovers, and whoever had gathered a little suffered no lack. Everyone received the amount that they could eat.
And Moses alerted the people, saying: “The Volcano will rain upon you freshly every day the food that you need; however, beware: he has engineered this type of bread to spoil fast. Therefore, do not attempt to stockpile this stuff.”
Notwithstanding they ignored this warning; and some of them saved their daily ration till the next morning, at which point it began to breed worms and stink. This angered Moses.
So, day followed day, and each morning the workers gathered the sky-bread: and when the sun waxed hot, it melted.
But on the sixth day of each week, they gathered twice as much of the strange substance: two gallons per man. And the gossips who fancied themselves rulers among the multitudes ran to Moses and tattled on the people, saying: “Look! they are gathering double.”
And Moses answered: “Calm down; that’s OK; for the Volcano has said: The upcoming day is your time of rest – it’s your weekend: you get one day off (unlike the Empire, which gave you no days off, or the Volcano’s projected Paradise, which, when established, will be entirely automated, so that all the chores necessary to sustain existence shall be performed by robots and machines, thus leaving you workers with a permanent vacation: all seven days of every week will be yours to spend however you like; this, incidentally, is the true definition of freedom, which, you will note, is the opposite of the motto of the Empire: ‘Work makes you free’) – therefore, in preparation for your laborless morrow, the Volcano has provided enough extra sky-bread to last for another full morn: two morn’s worth of sustenance. Accordingly, you are advised to bake whatever you bake today, and seethe what you seethe; and then any leftovers will remain fresh when you save them – you can eat them for the next day’s breakfast. You see, the Volcano has modified the engineering of every sixth allotment so that it is different from the other weekdays’ fare: today’s portion is packed with preservatives.”
So they laid it up till the morning, as Moses bade: and it did not stink, neither was there any worm therein.
And Moses made an announcement on that first “Rest Day,” saying: “Eat this morning what you set aside from yesterday. For on the seventh day of the week, no sky-bread shall fall.”
And it happened that despite Moses’ announcement, certain fools among the masses went out to gather food from the field, but they found that nothing had rained: The heaven was as dry as an old witch’s humor.
Then the wild man said to Moses: “How long are you going to disregard my instructions? I told you clearly what my plan was, and yet many among the multitudes are now acting as if they did not pay attention. Why are there people out in the field looking for food during what is supposed to be their day off? I was hoping that we could begin quickly to increase the size of their weekend from one to two days, and then eventually reach the point of my projected Paradise: where the concept of daily work itself enters retirement, and the weeks become a seamless flow of relaxed contemplation. But it seems as if many among the masses are allergic to bliss.”
So the workers remained at the initial phase of the Volcano’s test. And, over the successive months and beyond, they kept trying to kick their habit of laboring on the weekend.
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