LittleNipper wrote:Sorry, but one should not judge the Bible on a small portion.
Why not? The Bible was written over a period of around 1600 years by a multitude of different authors. Why not judge each of it's 66 books on each book's own merits?
LittleNipper wrote:Needless to say that other guy's novel has its tedious portions that can be skipped over.
You must not be reading it. I can't think of a less tedious book to read. The entire book is only 122 pages long. Each chapter is a wonder of poetic prose and brevity.
LittleNipper wrote:Also, the Bible will direct one to heaven, while the other points in all directions...
No, it's direction is the same as you hope yours is. Gibran was a christian, by the way.
This, or any other post that I have made or will make in the future, is strictly my own opinion and consequently of little or no value.
"Faith is believing something you know ain't true" Twain.
You work that you may keep pace with the earth and the soul of the earth.
For to be idle is to become a stranger unto the seasons, and to step out of life's procession, that marches in majesty and proud submission towards the infinite.
When you work you are a flute through whose heart the whispering of the hours turns to music.
Which of you would be a reed, dumb and silent, when all else sings together in unison?
Always you have been told that work is a curse and labour a misfortune.
But I say to you that when you work you fulfil a part of earth's furthest dream, assigned to you when that dream was born,
And in keeping yourself with labour you are in truth loving life,
And to love life through labour is to be intimate with life's inmost secret.
But if you in your pain call birth an affliction and the support of the flesh a curse written upon your brow, then I answer that naught but the sweat of your brow shall wash away that which is written.
You have been told also life is darkness, and in your weariness you echo what was said by the weary.
And I say that life is indeed darkness save when there is urge,
And all urge is blind save when there is knowledge,
And all knowledge is vain save when there is work,
And all work is empty save when there is love;
And when you work with love you bind yourself to yourself, and to one another, and to God.
And what is it to work with love?
It is to weave the cloth with threads drawn from your heart, even as if your beloved were to wear that cloth.
It is to build a house with affection, even as if your beloved were to dwell in that house.
It is to sow seeds with tenderness and reap the harvest with joy, even as if your beloved were to eat the fruit.
It is to charge all things you fashion with a breath of your own spirit,
And to know that all the blessed dead are standing about you and watching.
Often have I heard you say, as if speaking in sleep, "he who works in marble, and finds the shape of his own soul in the stone, is a nobler than he who ploughs the soil.
And he who seizes the rainbow to lay it on a cloth in the likeness of man, is more than he who makes the sandals for our feet."
But I say, not in sleep but in the over-wakefulness of noontide, that the wind speaks not more sweetly to the giant oaks than to the least of all the blades of grass;
And he alone is great who turns the voice of the wind into a song made sweeter by his own loving.
Work is love made visible.
And if you cannot work with love but only with distaste, it is better that you should leave your work and sit at the gate of the temple and take alms of those who work with joy.
For if you bake bread with indifference, you bake a bitter bread that feeds but half man's hunger.
And if you grudge the crushing of the grapes, your grudge distils a poison in the wine.
And if you sing though as angels, and love not the singing, you muffle man's ears to the voices of the day and the voices of the night.
"The Prophet" Chapter Eight, Joy And Sorrow:
Then a woman said, "Speak to us of Joy and Sorrow."
And he answered:
Your joy is your sorrow unmasked.
And the selfsame well from which your laughter rises was oftentimes filled with your tears.
And how else can it be?
The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain.
Is not the cup that hold your wine the very cup that was burned in the potter's oven?
And is not the lute that soothes your spirit, the very wood that was hollowed with knives?
When you are joyous, look deep into your heart and you shall find it is only that which has given you sorrow that is giving you joy.
When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight.
Some of you say, "Joy is greater than sorrow," and others say, "Nay, sorrow is the greater."
But I say unto you, they are inseparable.
Together they come, and when one sits alone with you at your board, remember that the other is asleep upon your bed.
Verily you are suspended like scales between your sorrow and your joy.
Only when you are empty are you at standstill and balanced.
When the treasure-keeper lifts you to weigh his gold and his silver, needs must your joy or your sorrow rise or fall.
This, or any other post that I have made or will make in the future, is strictly my own opinion and consequently of little or no value.
"Faith is believing something you know ain't true" Twain.
Leviticus 23:1-44 The Lord tells Moses that He is appointing 6 special holidays, proclaimed as official days for holy assembly. Israelites have six days each week for ordinary work, but the seventh day, the Sabbath day, is one of complete rest, an official day for holy assembly. It is the Lord’s Sabbath day, and it must be observed wherever they live. In addition to the Sabbath, these are the Lord’s appointed festivals, the official days for holy assembly that are to be celebrated at their appointed times each year. The Lord’s Passover begins at sundown on the fourteenth day of the first month. On the next day, the fifteenth day of the month, they must begin celebrating the Festival of Unleavened Bread. This festival to the Lord continues for seven days, and during that time the bread eaten must be made without yeast. On the first day of the festival, all the people must stop their ordinary work and observe an official day for holy assembly. For seven days they must present special gifts to the Lord. On the seventh day the people must again stop all their ordinary work to observe an official day for holy assembly. When Israel enters the land He is giving you a harvest of its first crops. They are to bring the priest a bundle of grain from the first cutting of this grain harvest. On the day after the Sabbath, the priest will lift it up before the Lord so it may be accepted on their behalf. On that same day they will sacrifice a one-year-old male lamb with no defects as a burnt offering to God. With this they must present a grain offering consisting of four quarts of choice flour moistened with olive oil. It will be a special gift, a pleasing to the Lord. They must also offer one quart of wine as a liquid offering. They must not eat any bread or roasted grain or fresh kernels on that day until they bring this offering to God. This is a permanent law for them, and it must be observed from generation to generation wherever they live. From the day after the Sabbath—the day they bring the bundle of grain to be lifted up as a special offering—count off 49 days. Keep counting until the day after the seventh Sabbath, fifty days later. Then present an offering of new grain to the Lord. They are to bring two loaves of bread to be lifted up before the Lord as a special offering. These loaves are to be made from four quarts of choice flour, and baked with yeast. They will be an offering to the Lord from the first of the crops. Along with this bread, present seven one-year-old male lambs with no defects, one young bull, and two rams as burnt offerings to the Lord. These burnt offerings, together with the grain offerings and liquid offerings, will be a special gift to the Lord. Then they must offer one male goat as a sin offering and two one-year-old male lambs as a peace offering.The priest will lift up the two lambs as a special offering to the Lord, together with the loaves representing the first crops. These offerings, which are holy to the Lord, belong to the priests. That same day will be proclaimed an official day for holy assembly, a day on which you do no ordinary work. This is a permanent law for you, and it must be observed from generation to generation.When harvesting crops remember, do not harvest the grain along the edges of the fields, and do not pick up what the harvesters drop. Leave it for the poor and visiting foreigners. On the first day of the appointed month in autumn, they are to observe a day of complete rest. It will be an official day for holy assembly, a day commemorated with loud blasts of trumpets. They must do no ordinary work on that day. Instead, present special gifts to the Lord. Celebrate the Day of Atonement on the tenth day of that same month—nine days after the Festival of Trumpets. They must observe it as an official day for holy assembly, a day to deny themselves and present special gifts to the Lord. No work is to be done that entire day because it is the Day of Atonement, when offerings of purification are made for Israel. All who do not deny themselves that day will be cut off from God’s people. And God will destroy anyone among them who does any work on that day. They must not do any work at all! This day of rest will begin at sundown on the ninth day of the month and extend until sundown on the tenth day. Begin celebrating the Festival of Shelters on the fifteenth day of the appointed month—five days after the Day of Atonement. This festival to the Lord will last for seven days. On the first day of the festival they must proclaim an official day for holy assembly, when they do no ordinary work. For seven days they must present special gifts to the Lord. The eighth day is another holy day on which they present special gifts to the Lord. These are the Lord’s appointed festivals. Celebrate them each year as official days for holy assembly by presenting special gifts to the Lord—burnt offerings, grain offerings, sacrifices, and liquid offerings—each on its proper day. These festivals must be observed in addition to the Lord’s regular Sabbath days, and the offerings are in addition to personal gifts, the offerings given to fulfill vows, and the voluntary offerings presented to the Lord. Remember that this seven-day festival to the Lord—the Festival of Shelters—begins on the fifteenth day of the appointed month, after they have harvested all the produce of the land. The first day and the eighth day of the festival will be days of complete rest. On the first day they are to gather branches from magnificent trees—palm fronds, boughs from leafy trees, and willows that grow by the streams. Then celebrate with joy before the Lord your God for seven days. They must observe this festival to the Lord for seven days every year. For seven days they must live outside in little shelters. All native-born Israelites must live in these shelters.
Young's Literal Translation (YLT)
1 And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, saying,
2 `Speak unto the sons of Israel, and thou hast said unto them, Appointed seasons of Jehovah, which ye proclaim, holy convocations, [are] these: they [are] My appointed seasons:
3 six days is work done, and in the seventh day [is] a sabbath of rest, a holy convocation; ye do no work; it [is] a sabbath to Jehovah in all your dwellings.
4 `These [are] appointed seasons of Jehovah, holy convocations, which ye proclaim in their appointed seasons:
5 in the first month, on the fourteenth of the month, between the evenings, [is] the passover to Jehovah;
6 and on the fifteenth day of this month [is] the feast of unleavened things to Jehovah; seven days unleavened things ye do eat;
7 on the first day ye have a holy convocation, ye do no servile work;
8 and ye have brought near a fire-offering to Jehovah seven days; in the seventh day [is] a holy convocation; ye do no servile work.'
9 And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, saying,
10 `Speak unto the sons of Israel, and thou hast said unto them, When ye come in unto the land which I am giving to you, and have reaped its harvest, and have brought in the sheaf, the beginning of your harvest unto the priest,
11 then he hath waved the sheaf before Jehovah for your acceptance; on the morrow of the sabbath doth the priest wave it.
12 `And ye have prepared in the day of your waving the sheaf a lamb, a perfect one, a son of a year, for a burnt-offering to Jehovah,
13 and its present two tenth deals of flour mixed with oil, a fire-offering to Jehovah, a sweet fragrance, and its drink-offering, wine, a fourth of the hin.
14 `And bread and roasted corn and full ears ye do not eat until this self-same day, until your bringing in the offering of your God -- a statute age-during to your generations, in all your dwellings.
15 `And ye have numbered to you from the morrow of the sabbath, from the day of your bringing in the sheaf of the wave-offering: they are seven perfect sabbaths;
16 unto the morrow of the seventh sabbath ye do number fifty days, and ye have brought near a new present to Jehovah;
17 out of your dwellings ye bring in bread of a wave-offering, two [loaves], of two tenth deals of flour they are, [with] yeast they are baken, first-[fruits] to Jehovah.
18 `And ye have brought near, besides the bread, seven lambs, perfect ones, sons of a year, and one bullock, a son of the herd, and two rams; they are a burnt-offering to Jehovah, with their present and their libations, a fire-offering of sweet fragrance to Jehovah.
19 `And ye have prepared one kid of the goats for a sin-offering, and two lambs, sons of a year, for a sacrifice of peace-offerings,
20 and the priest hath waved them, besides the bread of the first-[fruits] -- a wave-offering before Jehovah, besides the two lambs; they are holy to Jehovah for the priest;
21 and ye have proclaimed on this self-same day: a holy convocation is to you, ye do no servile work -- a statute age-during in all your dwellings, to your generations.
22 `And in your reaping the harvest of your land thou dost not complete the corner of thy field in thy reaping, and the gleaning of thy harvest thou dost not gather, to the poor and to the sojourner thou dost leave them; I Jehovah [am] your God.'
23 And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, saying,
24 `Speak unto the sons of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, on the first of the month, ye have a sabbath, a memorial of shouting, a holy convocation;
25 ye do no servile work, and ye have brought near a fire-offering to Jehovah.'
26 And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, saying,
27 `Only -- on the tenth of this seventh month is a day of atonements; ye have a holy convocation, and ye have humbled yourselves, and have brought near a fire-offering to Jehovah;
28 and ye do no work in this self-same day, for it is a day of atonements, to make atonement for you, before Jehovah your God.
29 `For any person who is not humbled in this self-same day hath even been cut off from his people;
30 and any person who doth any work in this self-same day I have even destroyed that person from the midst of his people;
31 ye do no work -- a statute age-during to your generations in all your dwellings.
32 It [is] a sabbath of rest to you, and ye have humbled yourselves in the ninth of the month at even; from evening till evening ye do keep your sabbath.'
33 And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, saying,
34 `Speak unto the sons of Israel, saying, In the fifteenth day of this seventh month [is] a feast of booths seven days to Jehovah;
35 on the first day [is] a holy convocation, ye do no servile work,
36 seven days ye bring near a fire-offering to Jehovah, on the eighth day ye have a holy convocation, and ye have brought near a fire-offering to Jehovah; it [is] a restraint, ye do no servile work.
37 `These [are] appointed seasons of Jehovah, which ye proclaim holy convocations, to bring near a fire-offering to Jehovah, a burnt-offering, and a present, a sacrifice, and libations, a thing of a day in its day,
38 apart from the sabbaths of Jehovah, and apart from your gifts, and apart from all your vows, and apart from all your willing-offerings, which ye give to Jehovah.
39 `Only -- in the fifteenth day of the seventh month, in your gathering the increase of the land, ye do keep the feast of Jehovah seven days; on the first day [is] a sabbath, and on the eighth day a sabbath;
40 and ye have taken to yourselves on the first day the fruit of beautiful trees, branches of palms, and boughs of thick trees, and willows of a brook, and have rejoiced before Jehovah your God seven days.
41 `And ye have kept it a feast to Jehovah, seven days in a year -- a statute age-during to your generations; in the seventh month ye keep it a feast.
42 `In booths ye dwell seven days; all who are natives in Israel dwell in booths,
43 so that your generations do know that in booths I caused the sons of Israel to dwell; in my bringing them out of the land of Egypt; I, Jehovah, [am] your God.'
44 And Moses speaketh [concerning] the appointed seasons of Jehovah unto the sons of Israel.
Last edited by Guest on Fri Dec 07, 2012 10:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.
“Just the place for a Snark!” the Bellman cried, As he landed his crew with care; Supporting each man on the top of the tide By a finger entwined in his hair.
“Just the place for a Snark! I have said it twice: That alone should encourage the crew. Just the place for a Snark! I have said it thrice: What I tell you three times is true.”
The crew was complete: it included a Boots — A maker of Bonnets and Hoods — A Barrister, brought to arrange their disputes — And a Broker, to value their goods.
A Billiard-marker, whose skill was immense, Might perhaps have won more than his share — But a Banker, engaged at enormous expense, Had the whole of their cash in his care.
There was also a Beaver, that paced on the deck, Or would sit making lace in the bow: And had often (the Bellman said) saved them from wreck, Though none of the sailors knew how.
There was one who was famed for the number of things He forgot when he entered the ship: His umbrella, his watch, all his jewels and rings, And the clothes he had bought for the trip.
He had forty-two boxes, all carefully packed, With his name painted clearly on each: But, since he omitted to mention the fact, They were all left behind on the beach.
The loss of his clothes hardly mattered, because He had seven coats on when he came, With three pairs of boots — but the worst of it was, He had wholly forgotten his name.
He would answer to “Hi!” or to any loud cry, Such as “Fry me!” or “Fritter my wig!” To “What-you-may-call-um!” or “What-was-his-name!” But especially “Thing-um-a-jig!”
While, for those who preferred a more forcible word, He had different names from these: His intimate friends called him “Candle-ends,” And his enemies “Toasted-cheese.”
“His form is ungainly — his intellect small —” (So the Bellman would often remark) “But his courage is perfect! And that, after all, Is the thing that one needs with a Snark.”
He would joke with hyenas, returning their stare With an impudent wag of the head: And he once went a walk, paw-in-paw, with a bear, “Just to keep up its spirits,” he said.
He came as a Baker: but owned, when too late — And it drove the poor Bellman half-mad — He could only bake Bridecake — for which, I may state, No materials were to be had.
The last of the crew needs especial remark, Though he looked an incredible dunce: He had just one idea — but, that one being “Snark,” The good Bellman engaged him at once.
He came as a Butcher: but gravely declared, When the ship had been sailing a week, He could only kill Beavers. The Bellman looked scared, And was almost too frightened to speak:
But at length he explained, in a tremulous tone, There was only one Beaver on board; And that was a tame one he had of his own, Whose death would be deeply deplored.
The Beaver, who happened to hear the remark, Protested, with tears in its eyes, That not even the rapture of hunting the Snark Could atone for that dismal surprise!
It strongly advised that the Butcher should be Conveyed in a separate ship: But the Bellman declared that would never agree With the plans he had made for the trip:
Navigation was always a difficult art, Though with only one ship and one bell: And he feared he must really decline, for his part, Undertaking another as well.
The Beaver’s best course was, no doubt, to procure A second-hand dagger-proof coat — So the Baker advised it — and next, to insure Its life in some Office of note:
This the Banker suggested, and offered for hire (On moderate terms), or for sale, Two excellent Policies, one Against Fire, And one Against Damage From Hail.
Yet still, ever after that sorrowful day, Whenever the Butcher was by, The Beaver kept looking the opposite way, And appeared unaccountably shy.
Fit the Second
The Bellman’s Speech
The Bellman himself they all praised to the skies — Such a carriage, such ease and such grace! Such solemnity, too! One could see he was wise, The moment one looked in his face!
He had bought a large map representing the sea, Without the least vestige of land: And the crew were much pleased when they found it to be A map they could all understand.
“What’s the good of Mercator’s North Poles and Equators, Tropics, Zones, and Meridian Lines?” So the Bellman would cry: and the crew would reply “They are merely conventional signs!
“Other maps are such shapes, with their islands and capes! But we’ve got our brave Captain to thank: (So the crew would protest) “that he’s bought us the best — A perfect and absolute blank!”
This was charming, no doubt; but they shortly found out That the Captain they trusted so well Had only one notion for crossing the ocean, And that was to tingle his bell.
He was thoughtful and grave — but the orders he gave Were enough to bewilder a crew. When he cried “Steer to starboard, but keep her head larboard!” What on earth was the helmsman to do?
Then the bowsprit got mixed with the rudder sometimes: A thing, as the Bellman remarked, That frequently happens in tropical climes, When a vessel is, so to speak, “snarked.”
But the principal failing occurred in the sailing, And the Bellman, perplexed and distressed, Said he had hoped, at least, when the wind blew due East, That the ship would not travel due West!
But the danger was past — they had landed at last, With their boxes, portmanteaus, and bags: Yet at first sight the crew were not pleased with the view, Which consisted of chasms and crags.
The Bellman perceived that their spirits were low, And repeated in musical tone Some jokes he had kept for a season of woe — But the crew would do nothing but groan.
He served out some grog with a liberal hand, And bade them sit down on the beach: And they could not but own that their Captain looked grand, As he stood and delivered his speech.
“Friends, Romans, and countrymen, lend me your ears!” (They were all of them fond of quotations: So they drank to his health, and they gave him three cheers, While he served out additional rations).
“We have sailed many months, we have sailed many weeks, (Four weeks to the month you may mark), But never as yet (’tis your Captain who speaks) Have we caught the least glimpse of a Snark!
“We have sailed many weeks, we have sailed many days, (Seven days to the week I allow), But a Snark, on the which we might lovingly gaze, We have never beheld till now!
“Come, listen, my men, while I tell you again The five unmistakable marks By which you may know, wheresoever you go, The warranted genuine Snarks.
“Let us take them in order. The first is the taste, Which is meagre and hollow, but crisp: Like a coat that is rather too tight in the waist, With a flavour of Will-o’-the-wisp.
“Its habit of getting up late you’ll agree That it carries too far, when I say That it frequently breakfasts at five-o’clock tea, And dines on the following day.
“The third is its slowness in taking a jest. Should you happen to venture on one, It will sigh like a thing that is deeply distressed: And it always looks grave at a pun.
“The fourth is its fondness for bathing-machines, Which it constantly carries about, And believes that they add to the beauty of scenes — A sentiment open to doubt.
“The fifth is ambition. It next will be right To describe each particular batch: Distinguishing those that have feathers, and bite, And those that have whiskers, and scratch.
“For, although common Snarks do no manner of harm, Yet, I feel it my duty to say, Some are Boojums —” The Bellman broke off in alarm, For the Baker had fainted away.
Fit the Third
The Baker’s Tale
They roused him with muffins — they roused him with ice — They roused him with mustard and cress — They roused him with jam and judicious advice — They set him conundrums to guess.
When at length he sat up and was able to speak, His sad story he offered to tell; And the Bellman cried “Silence! Not even a shriek!” And excitedly tingled his bell.
There was silence supreme! Not a shriek, not a scream, Scarcely even a howl or a groan, As the man they called “Ho!” told his story of woe In an antediluvian tone.
“My father and mother were honest, though poor —” “Skip all that!” cried the Bellman in haste. “If it once becomes dark, there’s no chance of a Snark — We have hardly a minute to waste!”
“I skip forty years,” said the Baker, in tears, “And proceed without further remark To the day when you took me aboard of your ship To help you in hunting the Snark.
“A dear uncle of mine (after whom I was named) Remarked, when I bade him farewell —” “Oh, skip your dear uncle!” the Bellman exclaimed, As he angrily tingled his bell.
“He remarked to me then,” said that mildest of men, “ ‘If your Snark be a Snark, that is right: Fetch it home by all means — you may serve it with greens, And it’s handy for striking a light.
“ ‘You may seek it with thimbles — and seek it with care; You may hunt it with forks and hope; You may threaten its life with a railway-share; You may charm it with smiles and soap —’ ”
(“That’s exactly the method,” the Bellman bold In a hasty parenthesis cried, “That’s exactly the way I have always been told That the capture of Snarks should be tried!”)
“ ‘But oh, beamish nephew, beware of the day, If your Snark be a Boojum! For then You will softly and suddenly vanish away, And never be met with again!’
“It is this, it is this that oppresses my soul, When I think of my uncle’s last words: And my heart is like nothing so much as a bowl Brimming over with quivering curds!
“It is this, it is this —” “We have had that before!” The Bellman indignantly said. And the Baker replied “Let me say it once more. It is this, it is this that I dread!
“I engage with the Snark — every night after dark — In a dreamy delirious fight: I serve it with greens in those shadowy scenes, And I use it for striking a light:
“But if ever I meet with a Boojum, that day, In a moment (of this I am sure), I shall softly and suddenly vanish away — And the notion I cannot endure!”
Fit the fourth
The Hunting
The Bellman looked uffish, and wrinkled his brow. “If only you’d spoken before! It’s excessively awkward to mention it now, With the Snark, so to speak, at the door!
“We should all of us grieve, as you well may believe, If you never were met with again — But surely, my man, when the voyage began, You might have suggested it then?
“It’s excessively awkward to mention it now — As I think I’ve already remarked.” And the man they called “Hi!” replied, with a sigh, “I informed you the day we embarked.
“You may charge me with murder — or want of sense — (We are all of us weak at times): But the slightest approach to a false pretence Was never among my crimes!
“I said it in Hebrew — I said it in Dutch — I said it in German and Greek: But I wholly forgot (and it vexes me much) That English is what you speak!”
“’Tis a pitiful tale,” said the Bellman, whose face Had grown longer at every word: “But, now that you’ve stated the whole of your case, More debate would be simply absurd.
“The rest of my speech” (he explained to his men) “You shall hear when I’ve leisure to speak it. But the Snark is at hand, let me tell you again! ’Tis your glorious duty to seek it!
“To seek it with thimbles, to seek it with care; To pursue it with forks and hope; To threaten its life with a railway-share; To charm it with smiles and soap!
“For the Snark’s a peculiar creature, that won’t Be caught in a commonplace way. Do all that you know, and try all that you don’t: Not a chance must be wasted to-day!
“For England expects — I forbear to proceed: ’Tis a maxim tremendous, but trite: And you’d best be unpacking the things that you need To rig yourselves out for the fight.”
Then the Banker endorsed a blank cheque (which he crossed), And changed his loose silver for notes. The Baker with care combed his whiskers and hair, And shook the dust out of his coats.
The Boots and the Broker were sharpening a spade — Each working the grindstone in turn: But the Beaver went on making lace, and displayed No interest in the concern:
Though the Barrister tried to appeal to its pride, And vainly proceeded to cite A number of cases, in which making laces Had been proved an infringement of right.
The maker of Bonnets ferociously planned A novel arrangement of bows: While the Billiard-marker with quivering hand Was chalking the tip of his nose.
But the Butcher turned nervous, and dressed himself fine, With yellow kid gloves and a ruff — Said he felt it exactly like going to dine, Which the Bellman declared was all “stuff.”
“Introduce me, now there’s a good fellow,” he said, “If we happen to meet it together!” And the Bellman, sagaciously nodding his head, Said “That must depend on the weather.”
The Beaver went simply galumphing about, At seeing the Butcher so shy: And even the Baker, though stupid and stout, Made an effort to wink with one eye.
“Be a man!” said the Bellman in wrath, as he heard The Butcher beginning to sob. “Should we meet with a Jubjub, that desperate bird, We shall need all our strength for the job!”
Fit the Fifth
The Beaver’s Lesson
They sought it with thimbles, they sought it with care; They pursued it with forks and hope; They threatened its life with a railway-share; They charmed it with smiles and soap.
Then the Butcher contrived an ingenious plan For making a separate sally; And had fixed on a spot unfrequented by man, A dismal and desolate valley.
But the very same plan to the Beaver occurred: It had chosen the very same place: Yet neither betrayed, by a sign or a word, The disgust that appeared in his face.
Each thought he was thinking of nothing but “Snark” And the glorious work of the day; And each tried to pretend that he did not remark That the other was going that way.
But the valley grew narrow and narrower still, And the evening got darker and colder, Till (merely from nervousness, not from goodwill) They marched along shoulder to shoulder.
Then a scream, shrill and high, rent the shuddering sky, And they knew that some danger was near: The Beaver turned pale to the tip of its tail, And even the Butcher felt queer.
He thought of his childhood, left far far behind — That blissful and innocent state — The sound so exactly recalled to his mind A pencil that squeaks on a slate!
“’Tis the voice of the Jubjub!” he suddenly cried. (This man, that they used to call “Dunce.”) “As the Bellman would tell you,” he added with pride, “I have uttered that sentiment once.
“’Tis the note of the Jubjub! Keep count, I entreat; You will find I have told it you twice. ’Tis the song of the Jubjub! The proof is complete, If only I’ve stated it thrice.”
The Beaver had counted with scrupulous care, Attending to every word: But it fairly lost heart, and outgrabe in despair, When the third repetition occurred.
It felt that, in spite of all possible pains, It had somehow contrived to lose count, And the only thing now was to rack its poor brains By reckoning up the amount.
“Two added to one — if that could but be done,” It said, “with one’s fingers and thumbs!” Recollecting with tears how, in earlier years, It had taken no pains with its sums.
“The thing can be done,” said the Butcher, “I think. The thing must be done, I am sure. The thing shall be done! Bring me paper and ink, The best there is time to procure.”
The Beaver brought paper,portfolio, pens, And ink in unfailing supplies: While strange creepy creatures came out of their dens, And watched them with wondering eyes.
So engrossed was the Butcher, he heeded them not, As he wrote with a pen in each hand, And explained all the while in a popular style Which the Beaver could well understand.
“Taking Three as the subject to reason about — A convenient number to state — We add Seven, and Ten, and then multiply out By One Thousand diminished by Eight.
“The result we proceed to divide, as you see, By Nine Hundred and Ninety Two: Then subtract Seventeen, and the answer must be Exactly and perfectly true.
“The method employed I would gladly explain, While I have it so clear in my head, If I had but the time and you had but the brain — But much yet remains to be said.
“In one moment I’ve seen what has hitherto been Enveloped in absolute mystery, And without extra charge I will give you at large A Lesson in Natural History.”
In his genial way he proceeded to say (Forgetting all laws of propriety, And that giving instruction, without introduction, Would have caused quite a thrill in Society),
“As to temper the Jubjub’s a desperate bird, Since it lives in perpetual passion: Its taste in costume is entirely absurd — It is ages ahead of the fashion:
“But it knows any friend it has met once before: It never will look at a bribe: And in charity-meetings it stands at the door, And collects — though it does not subscribe.
“ Its flavour when cooked is more exquisite far Than mutton, or oysters, or eggs: (Some think it keeps best in an ivory jar, And some, in mahogany kegs:)
“You boil it in sawdust: you salt it in glue: You condense it with locusts and tape: Still keeping one principal object in view — To preserve its symmetrical shape.”
The Butcher would gladly have talked till next day, But he felt that the lesson must end, And he wept with delight in attempting to say He considered the Beaver his friend.
While the Beaver confessed, with affectionate looks More eloquent even than tears, It had learned in ten minutes far more than all books Would have taught it in seventy years.
They returned hand-in-hand, and the Bellman, unmanned (For a moment) with noble emotion, Said “This amply repays all the wearisome days We have spent on the billowy ocean!”
Such friends, as the Beaver and Butcher became, Have seldom if ever been known; In winter or summer, ’twas always the same — You could never meet either alone.
And when quarrels arose — as one frequently finds Quarrels will, spite of every endeavour — The song of the Jubjub recurred to their minds, And cemented their friendship for ever!
Fit the Sixth
The Barrister’s Dream
They sought it with thimbles, they sought it with care; They pursued it with forks and hope; They threatened its life with a railway-share; They charmed it with smiles and soap.
But the Barrister, weary of proving in vain That the Beaver’s lace-making was wrong, Fell asleep, and in dreams saw the creature quite plain That his fancy had dwelt on so long.
He dreamed that he stood in a shadowy Court, Where the Snark, with a glass in its eye, Dressed in gown, bands, and wig, was defending a pig On the charge of deserting its sty.
The Witnesses proved, without error or flaw, That the sty was deserted when found: And the Judge kept explaining the state of the law In a soft under-current of sound.
The indictment had never been clearly expressed, And it seemed that the Snark had begun, And had spoken three hours, before any one guessed What the pig was supposed to have done.
The Jury had each formed a different view (Long before the indictment was read), And they all spoke at once, so that none of them knew One word that the others had said.
“You must know ——” said the Judge: but the Snark exclaimed “Fudge!” That statute is obsolete quite! Let me tell you, my friends, the whole question depends On an ancient manorial right.
“In the matter of Treason the pig would appear To have aided, but scarcely abetted: While the charge of Insolvency fails, it is clear, If you grant the plea ‘never indebted.’
“The fact of Desertion I will not dispute; But its guilt, as I trust, is removed (So far as related to the costs of this suit) By the Alibi which has been proved.
“My poor client’s fate now depends on your votes.” Here the speaker sat down in his place, And directed the Judge to refer to his notes And briefly to sum up the case.
But the Judge said he never had summed up before; So the Snark undertook it instead, And summed it so well that it came to far more Than the Witnesses ever had said!
When the verdict was called for, the Jury declined, As the word was so puzzling to spell; But they ventured to hope that the Snark wouldn’t mind Undertaking that duty as well.
So the Snark found the verdict, although, as it owned, It was spent with the toils of the day: When it said the word “GUILTY!” the Jury all groaned, And some of them fainted away.
Then the Snark pronounced sentence, the Judge being quite Too nervous to utter a word: When it rose to its feet, there was silence like night, And the fall of a pin might be heard.
“Transportation for life” was the sentence it gave, “And then to be fined forty pound.” The Jury all cheered, though the Judge said he feared That the phrase was not legally sound.
But their wild exultation was suddenly checked When the jailer informed them, with tears, Such a sentence would have not the slightest effect, As the pig had been dead for some years.
The Judge left the Court, looking deeply disgusted: But the Snark, though a little aghast, As the lawyer to whom the defense was entrusted, Went bellowing on to the last.
Thus the Barrister dreamed, while the bellowing seemed To grow every moment more clear: Till he woke to the knell of a furious bell, Which the Bellman rang close at his ear.
Fit the Seventh
The Banker’s Fate
They sought it with thimbles, they sought it with care; They pursued it with forks and hope; They threatened its life with a railway-share; They charmed it with smiles and soap.
And the Banker, inspired with a courage so new It was matter for general remark, Rushed madly ahead and was lost to their view In his zeal to discover the Snark
But while he was seeking with thimbles and care, A Bandersnatch swiftly drew nigh And grabbed at the Banker, who shrieked in despair, For he knew it was useless to fly.
He offered large discount — he offered a cheque (Drawn “to bearer”) for seven-pounds-ten: But the Bandersnatch merely extended its neck And grabbed at the Banker again.
Without rest or pause — while those frumious jaws Went savagely snapping around- He skipped and he hopped, and he floundered and flopped, Till fainting he fell to the ground.
The Bandersnatch fled as the others appeared Led on by that fear-stricken yell: And the Bellman remarked “It is just as I feared!” And solemnly tolled on his bell.
He was black in the face, and they scarcely could trace The least likeness to what he had been: While so great was his fright that his waistcoat turned white- A wonderful thing to be seen!
To the horror of all who were present that day. He uprose in full evening dress, And with senseless grimaces endeavoured to say What his tongue could no longer express.
Down he sank in a chair — ran his hands through his hair — And chanted in mimsiest tones Words whose utter inanity proved his insanity, While he rattled a couple of bones.
“Leave him here to his fate — it is getting so late!” The Bellman exclaimed in a fright. “We have lost half the day. Any further delay, And we sha’New Testament catch a Snark before night!”
Fit the Eighth
The Vanishing
They sought it with thimbles, they sought it with care; They pursued it with forks and hope; They threatened its life with a railway-share; They charmed it with smiles and soap.
They shuddered to think that the chase might fail, And the Beaver, excited at last, Went bounding along on the tip of its tail, For the daylight was nearly past.
“There is Thingumbob shouting!” the Bellman said, “He is shouting like mad, only hark! He is waving his hands, he is wagging his head, He has certainly found a Snark!”
They gazed in delight, while the Butcher exclaimed “He was always a desperate wag!” They beheld him — their Baker — their hero unnamed — On the top of a neighbouring crag.
Erect and sublime, for one moment of time. In the next, that wild figure they saw (As if stung by a spasm) plunge into a chasm, While they waited and listened in awe.
“It’s a Snark!” was the sound that first came to their ears, And seemed almost too good to be true. Then followed a torrent of laughter and cheers: Then the ominous words “It’s a Boo-”
Then, silence. Some fancied they heard in the air A weary and wandering sigh That sounded like “-jum!” but the others declare It was only a breeze that went by.
They hunted till darkness came on, but they found Not a button, or feather, or mark, By which they could tell that they stood on the ground Where the Baker had met with the Snark.
In the midst of the word he was trying to say, In the midst of his laughter and glee, He had softly and suddenly vanished away — For the Snark was a Boojum, you see.
A mason came forth and said, "Speak to us of Houses."
And he answered and said:
Build of your imaginings a bower in the wilderness ere you build a house within the city walls.
For even as you have home-comings in your twilight, so has the wanderer in you, the ever distant and alone.
Your house is your larger body.
It grows in the sun and sleeps in the stillness of the night; and it is not dreamless.
Does not your house dream? And dreaming, leave the city for grove or hilltop?
Would that I could gather your houses into my hand, and like a sower scatter them in forest and meadow.
Would the valleys were your streets, and the green paths your alleys, that you might seek one another through vineyards, and come with the fragrance of the earth in your garments.
But these things are not yet to be.
In their fear your forefathers gathered you too near together. And that fear shall endure a little longer. A little longer shall your city walls separate your hearths from your fields.
And tell me, people of Orphalese, what have you in these houses? And what is it you guard with fastened doors?
Have you peace, the quiet urge that reveals your power?
Have you remembrances, the glimmering arches that span the summits of the mind?
Have you beauty, that leads the heart from things fashioned of wood and stone to the holy mountain?
Tell me, have you these in your houses?
Or have you only comfort, and the lust for comfort, that stealthy thing that enters the house a guest, and becomes a host, and then a master?
Ay, and it becomes a tamer, and with hook and scourge makes puppets of your larger desires.
Though its hands are silken, its heart is of iron.
It lulls you to sleep only to stand by your bed and jeer at the dignity of the flesh.
It makes mock of your sound senses, and lays them in thistledown like fragile vessels.
Verily the lust for comfort murders the passion of the soul, and then walks grinning in the funeral.
But you, children of space, you restless in rest, you shall not be trapped nor tamed.
Your house shall be not an anchor but a mast.
It shall not be a glistening film that covers a wound, but an eyelid that guards the eye.
You shall not fold your wings that you may pass through doors, nor bend your heads that they strike not against a ceiling, nor fear to breathe lest walls should crack and fall down.
You shall not dwell in tombs made by the dead for the living.
And though of magnificence and splendour, your house shall not hold your secret nor shelter your longing.
For that which is boundless in you abides in the mansion of the sky, whose door is the morning mist, and whose windows are the songs and the silences of night.
"The Prophet" Chapter Ten, Clothes:
And the weaver said, "Speak to us of Clothes."
And he answered:
Your clothes conceal much of your beauty, yet they hide not the unbeautiful.
And though you seek in garments the freedom of privacy you may find in them a harness and a chain.
Would that you could meet the sun and the wind with more of your skin and less of your raiment,
For the breath of life is in the sunlight and the hand of life is in the wind.
Some of you say, "It is the north wind who has woven the clothes to wear."
But shame was his loom, and the softening of the sinews was his thread.
And when his work was done he laughed in the forest.
Forget not that modesty is for a shield against the eye of the unclean.
And when the unclean shall be no more, what were modesty but a fetter and a fouling of the mind?
And forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair.
This, or any other post that I have made or will make in the future, is strictly my own opinion and consequently of little or no value.
"Faith is believing something you know ain't true" Twain.
And a merchant said, "Speak to us of Buying and Selling."
And he answered and said:
To you the earth yields her fruit, and you shall not want if you but know how to fill your hands.
It is in exchanging the gifts of the earth that you shall find abundance and be satisfied.
Yet unless the exchange be in love and kindly justice, it will but lead some to greed and others to hunger.
When in the market place you toilers of the sea and fields and vineyards meet the weavers and the potters and the gatherers of spices, -
Invoke then the master spirit of the earth, to come into your midst and sanctify the scales and the reckoning that weighs value against value.
And suffer not the barren-handed to take part in your transactions, who would sell their words for your labor.
To such men you should say,
"Come with us to the field, or go with our brothers to the sea and cast your net;
For the land and the sea shall be bountiful to you even as to us."
And if there come the singers and the dancers and the flute players, - buy of their gifts also.
For they too are gatherers of fruit and frankincense, and that which they bring, though fashioned of dreams, is raiment and food for your soul.
And before you leave the marketplace, see that no one has gone his way with empty hands.
For the master spirit of the earth shall not sleep peacefully upon the wind till the needs of the least of you are satisfied.
"The Prophet" Chapter Twelve, Crime And Punishment:
Then one of the judges of the city stood forth and said, "Speak to us of Crime and Punishment."
And he answered saying:
It is when your spirit goes wandering upon the wind,
That you, alone and unguarded, commit a wrong unto others and therefore unto yourself.
And for that wrong committed must you knock and wait a while unheeded at the gate of the blessed.
Like the ocean is your god-self;
It remains for ever undefiled.
And like the ether it lifts but the winged.
Even like the sun is your god-self;
It knows not the ways of the mole nor seeks it the holes of the serpent.
But your god-self does not dwell alone in your being.
Much in you is still man, and much in you is not yet man,
But a shapeless pigmy that walks asleep in the mist searching for its own awakening.
And of the man in you would I now speak.
For it is he and not your god-self nor the pigmy in the mist, that knows crime and the punishment of crime.
Oftentimes have I heard you speak of one who commits a wrong as though he were not one of you, but a stranger unto you and an intruder upon your world.
But I say that even as the holy and the righteous cannot rise beyond the highest which is in each one of you,
So the wicked and the weak cannot fall lower than the lowest which is in you also.
And as a single leaf turns not yellow but with the silent knowledge of the whole tree,
So the wrong-doer cannot do wrong without the hidden will of you all.
Like a procession you walk together towards your god-self.
You are the way and the wayfarers.
And when one of you falls down he falls for those behind him, a caution against the stumbling stone.
Ay, and he falls for those ahead of him, who though faster and surer of foot, yet removed not the stumbling stone.
And this also, though the word lie heavy upon your hearts:
The murdered is not unaccountable for his own murder,
And the robbed is not blameless in being robbed.
The righteous is not innocent of the deeds of the wicked,
And the white-handed is not clean in the doings of the felon.
Yea, the guilty is oftentimes the victim of the injured,
And still more often the condemned is the burden-bearer for the guiltless and unblamed.
You cannot separate the just from the unjust and the good from the wicked;
For they stand together before the face of the sun even as the black thread and the white are woven together.
And when the black thread breaks, the weaver shall look into the whole cloth, and he shall examine the loom also.
If any of you would bring judgment the unfaithful wife,
Let him also weight the heart of her husband in scales, and measure his soul with measurements.
And let him who would lash the offender look unto the spirit of the offended.
And if any of you would punish in the name of righteousness and lay the ax unto the evil tree, let him see to its roots;
And verily he will find the roots of the good and the bad, the fruitful and the fruitless, all entwined together in the silent heart of the earth.
And you judges who would be just,
What judgment pronounce you upon him who though honest in the flesh yet is a thief in spirit?
What penalty lay you upon him who slays in the flesh yet is himself slain in the spirit?
And how prosecute you him who in action is a deceiver and an oppressor,
Yet who also is aggrieved and outraged?
And how shall you punish those whose remorse is already greater than their misdeeds?
Is not remorse the justice which is administered by that very law which you would fain serve?
Yet you cannot lay remorse upon the innocent nor lift it from the heart of the guilty.
Unbidden shall it call in the night, that men may wake and gaze upon themselves.
And you who would understand justice, how shall you unless you look upon all deeds in the fullness of light?
Only then shall you know that the erect and the fallen are but one man standing in twilight between the night of his pigmy-self and the day of his god-self,
And that the corner-stone of the temple is not higher than the lowest stone in its foundation.
This, or any other post that I have made or will make in the future, is strictly my own opinion and consequently of little or no value.
"Faith is believing something you know ain't true" Twain.
Leviticus 24:1-23 God tells Moses to tell the people of Israel to bring pure oil of pressed olives for the light, to keep the lamps burning continually. This is the gold lampstand that stands in the Tabernacle, in front of the inner curtain that shields the Ark of the Covenant.Aaron is to keep the lamps burning in the Lord’s presence all night. Thet are to bake twelve loaves of bread from choice flour, using four quarts of flour for each loaf, and put the bread before the Lord on the gold table --- arranged in two rows, with six loaves in each row. They will put some pure frankincense near each row to serve as a representative offering, a special gift presented to the Lord. Every Sabbath day this bread must be laid out before the Lord. The bread is to be received from the people of Israel as a requirement of the eternal covenant. Aaron and his descendants must eat them, for they are most holy. It is the permanent right of the priests to claim this portion of the special gifts presented to the Lord. One day a man who had an Israelite mother and an Egyptian father came out of his tent and got into a fight with one of the Israelite men. During the fight, this son of an Israelite woman blasphemed the Name of the Lord with a curse. So the man was brought to Moses for judgment. His mother was Shelomith, the daughter of Dibri of the tribe of Dan. They kept the man in custody until the Lord’s will in the matter should become clear to them. Then the Lord told Moses to take the blasphemer outside the camp, and tell all those who heard the curse to lay their hands on his head. Then let the entire community stone him to death. Those who curse their God will be punished for their sin. Anyone who blasphemes the Name of the Lord must be stoned to death by the whole community of Israel. Any native-born Israelite or foreigner among you who blasphemes the Name of the Lord must be put to death. Anyone who takes another person’s life must be put to death. Anyone who kills another person’s animal must pay for it in full—a live animal for the animal that was killed. Anyone who injures another person must be dealt with according to the injury inflicted— a fracture for a fracture, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. Whatever anyone does to injure another person must be paid back in kind. Whoever kills an animal must pay for it in full, but whoever kills another person must be put to death. This standard applies both to native-born Israelites and to the foreigners living among them. After Moses gave all these instructions to the Israelites, they took the blasphemer outside the camp and stoned him to death.
Young's Literal Translation (YLT)
1 And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, saying,
2 `Command the sons of Israel, and they bring unto thee pure olive oil, beaten, for the lamp, to cause a light to go up continually;
3 at the outside of the vail of the testimony in the tent of meeting doth Aaron arrange it from evening till morning before Jehovah continually -- a statute age-during to your generations;
4 by the pure candlestick he doth arrange the lights before Jehovah continually.
5 `And thou hast taken flour, and hast baked twelve cakes with it, two tenth deals are in the one cake,
6 and thou hast set them two ranks (six in the rank) on the pure table before Jehovah,
7 and thou hast put on the rank pure frankincense, and it hath been to the bread for a memorial, a fire-offering to Jehovah.
8 `On each sabbath-day he arrangeth it before Jehovah continually, from the sons of Israel -- a covenant age-during;
9 and it hath been to Aaron, and to his sons, and they have eaten it in the holy place, for it [is] most holy to him, from the fire-offerings of Jehovah -- a statute age-during.'
10 And a son of an Israelitish woman goeth out (and he [is] son of an Egyptian man), in the midst of the sons of Israel, and strive in the camp do the son of the Israelitish woman and a man of Israel,
11 and the son of the Israelitish woman execrateth the Name, and revileth; and they bring him in unto Moses; and his mother's name [is] Shelomith daughter of Dibri, of the tribe of Dan;
12 and he causeth him to rest in charge -- to explain to them by the mouth of Jehovah.
13 And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, saying,
14 `Bring out the reviler unto the outside of the camp; and all those hearing have laid their hands on his head, and all the company have stoned him.
15 `And unto the sons of Israel thou dost speak, saying, When any man revileth his God -- then he hath borne his sin;
16 and he who is execrating the name of Jehovah is certainly put to death; all the company do certainly cast stones at him; as a sojourner so a native, in his execrating the Name, is put to death.
17 `And when a man smiteth any soul of man, he is certainly put to death.
18 `And he who smiteth a beast repayeth it, body for body.
19 `And when a man putteth a blemish in his fellow, as he hath done so it is done to him;
20 breach for breach, eye for eye, tooth for tooth; as he putteth a blemish in a man so it is done in him.
21 `And he who smiteth a beast repayeth it, and he who smiteth [the life of] man is put to death;
22 one judgment is to you; as a sojourner so is a native; for I [am] Jehovah your God.'
23 And Moses speaketh unto the sons of Israel, and they bring out the reviler unto the outside of the camp, and stone him with stones; and the sons of Israel have done as Jehovah hath commanded Moses.
Last edited by Guest on Wed Dec 12, 2012 12:34 am, edited 2 times in total.
Then a lawyer said, "But what of our Laws, master?"
And he answered:
You delight in laying down laws,
Yet you delight more in breaking them.
Like children playing by the ocean who build sand-towers with constancy and then destroy them with laughter.
But while you build your sand-towers the ocean brings more sand to the shore,
And when you destroy them, the ocean laughs with you.
Verily the ocean laughs always with the innocent.
But what of those to whom life is not an ocean, and man-made laws are not sand-towers,
But to whom life is a rock, and the law a chisel with which they would carve it in their own likeness?
What of the cripple who hates dancers?
What of the ox who loves his yoke and deems the elk and deer of the forest stray and vagrant things?
What of the old serpent who cannot shed his skin, and calls all others naked and shameless?
And of him who comes early to the wedding-feast, and when over-fed and tired goes his way saying that all feasts are violation and all feasters law-breakers?
What shall I say of these save that they too stand in the sunlight, but with their backs to the sun?
They see only their shadows, and their shadows are their laws.
And what is the sun to them but a caster of shadows?
And what is it to acknowledge the laws but to stoop down and trace their shadows upon the earth?
But you who walk facing the sun, what images drawn on the earth can hold you?
You who travel with the wind, what weathervane shall direct your course?
What man's law shall bind you if you break your yoke but upon no man's prison door?
What laws shall you fear if you dance but stumble against no man's iron chains?
And who is he that shall bring you to judgment if you tear off your garment yet leave it in no man's path?
People of Orphalese, you can muffle the drum, and you can loosen the strings of the lyre, but who shall command the skylark not to sing?
"The Prophet" Chapter Fourteen, Freedom:
And an orator said, "Speak to us of Freedom."
And he answered:
At the city gate and by your fireside I have seen you prostrate yourself and worship your own freedom,
Even as slaves humble themselves before a tyrant and praise him though he slays them.
Ay, in the grove of the temple and in the shadow of the citadel I have seen the freest among you wear their freedom as a yoke and a handcuff.
And my heart bled within me; for you can only be free when even the desire of seeking freedom becomes a harness to you, and when you cease to speak of freedom as a goal and a fulfillment.
You shall be free indeed when your days are not without a care nor your nights without a want and a grief,
But rather when these things girdle your life and yet you rise above them naked and unbound.
And how shall you rise beyond your days and nights unless you break the chains which you at the dawn of your understanding have fastened around your noon hour?
In truth that which you call freedom is the strongest of these chains, though its links glitter in the sun and dazzle the eyes.
And what is it but fragments of your own self you would discard that you may become free?
If it is an unjust law you would abolish, that law was written with your own hand upon your own forehead.
You cannot erase it by burning your law books nor by washing the foreheads of your judges, though you pour the sea upon them.
And if it is a despot you would dethrone, see first that his throne erected within you is destroyed.
For how can a tyrant rule the free and the proud, but for a tyranny in their own freedom and a shame in their won pride?
And if it is a care you would cast off, that care has been chosen by you rather than imposed upon you.
And if it is a fear you would dispel, the seat of that fear is in your heart and not in the hand of the feared.
Verily all things move within your being in constant half embrace, the desired and the dreaded, the repugnant and the cherished, the pursued and that which you would escape.
These things move within you as lights and shadows in pairs that cling.
And when the shadow fades and is no more, the light that lingers becomes a shadow to another light.
And thus your freedom when it loses its fetters becomes itself the fetter of a greater freedom.
This, or any other post that I have made or will make in the future, is strictly my own opinion and consequently of little or no value.
"Faith is believing something you know ain't true" Twain.
1 And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, in mount Sinai, saying,
2 `Speak unto the sons of Israel, and thou hast said unto them, When ye come in unto the land which I am giving to you, then hath the land kept a sabbath to Jehovah.
3 `Six years thou dost sow thy field, and six years thou dost prune thy vineyard, and hast gathered its increase,
4 and in the seventh year a sabbath of rest is to the land, a sabbath to Jehovah; thy field thou dost not sow, and thy vineyard thou dost not prune;
5 the spontaneous growth of thy harvest thou dost not reap, and the grapes of thy separated thing thou dost not gather, a year of rest it is to the land.
6 `And the sabbath of the land hath been to you for food, to thee, and to thy man-servant, and to thy handmaid, and to thy hireling, and to thy settler, who are sojourning with thee;
7 and to thy cattle, and to the beast which [is] in thy land, is all thine increase for food.
8 `And thou hast numbered to thee seven sabbaths of years, seven years seven times, and the days of the seven sabbaths of years have been to thee nine and forty years,
9 and thou hast caused a trumpet of shouting to pass over in the seventh month, in the tenth of the month; in the day of the atonements ye do cause a trumpet to pass over through all your land;
10 and ye have hallowed the year, the fiftieth year; and ye have proclaimed liberty in the land to all its inhabitants; a jubilee it is to you; and ye have turned back each unto his possession; yea, each unto his family ye do turn back.
11 `A jubilee it [is], the fiftieth year, a year it is to you; ye sow not, nor reap its spontaneous growth, nor gather its separated things;
12 for a jubilee it [is], holy it is to you; out of the field ye eat its increase;
13 in the year of this jubilee ye turn back each unto his possession.
14 `And when thou sellest anything to thy fellow, or buyest from the hand of thy fellow, ye do not oppress one another;
15 by the number of years after the jubilee thou dost buy from thy fellow; by the number of the years of increase he doth sell to thee;
16 according to the multitude of the years thou dost multiply its price, and according to the fewness of the years thou dost diminish its price; for a number of increases he is selling to thee;
17 and ye do not oppress one another, and thou hast been afraid of thy God; for I [am] Jehovah your God.
18 `And ye have done My statutes, and My judgments ye keep, and have done them, and ye have dwelt on the land confidently,
19 and the land hath given its fruit, and ye have eaten to satiety, and have dwelt confidently on it.
20 `And when ye say, What do we eat in the seventh year, lo, we do not sow, nor gather our increase?
21 then I have commanded My blessing on you in the sixth year, and it hath made the increase for three years;
22 and ye have sown the eighth year, and have eaten of the old increase; until the ninth year, until the coming in of its increase, ye do eat the old.
23 `And the land is not sold -- to extinction, for the land [is] Mine, for sojourners and settlers [are] ye with Me;
24 and in all the land of your possession a redemption ye do give to the land.
25 `When thy brother becometh poor, and hath sold his possession, then hath his redeemer who is near unto him come, and he hath redeemed the sold thing of his brother;
26 and when a man hath no redeemer, and his own hand hath attained, and he hath found as sufficient [for] its redemption,
27 then he hath reckoned the years of its sale, and hath given back that which is over to the man to whom he sold [it], and he hath returned to his possession.
28 `And if his hand hath not found sufficiency to give back to him, then hath his sold thing been in the hand of him who buyeth it till the year of jubilee; and it hath gone out in the jubilee, and he hath returned to his possession.
29 `And when a man selleth a dwelling-house [in] a walled city, then hath his right of redemption been until the completion of a year from its selling; days -- is his right of redemption;
30 and if it is not redeemed until the fulness to him of a perfect year, then hath the house which [is] in a walled city been established to extinction to the buyer of it, to his generations; it goeth not out in the jubilee;
31 and a house of the villages which have no wall round about, on the field of the country is reckoned; redemption is to it, and in the jubilee it goeth out.
32 `As to cities of the Levites -- houses of the cities of their possession -- redemption age-during is to the Levites;
33 as to him who redeemeth from the Levites, both the sale of a house and the city of his possession have gone out in the jubilee, for the houses of the cities of the Levites are their possession in the midst of the sons of Israel.
34 And a field, a suburb of their cities, is not sold; for a possession age-during it [is] to them.
35 `And when thy brother is become poor, and his hand hath failed with thee, then thou hast kept hold on him, sojourner and settler, and he hath lived with thee;
36 thou takest no usury from him, or increase; and thou hast been afraid of thy God; and thy brother hath lived with thee;
37 thy money thou givest not to him in usury, and for increase thou givest not thy food;
38 I [am] Jehovah your God, who hath brought you out of the land of Egypt, to give to you the land of Canaan, to become your God.
39 `And when thy brother becometh poor with thee, and he hath been sold to thee, thou dost not lay on him servile service;
40 as an hireling, as a settler, he is with thee, till the year of the jubilee he doth serve with thee, --
41 then he hath gone out from thee, he and his sons with him, and hath turned back unto his family; even unto the possession of his fathers he doth turn back.
42 `For they [are] My servants, whom I have brought out from the land of Egypt: they are not sold [with] the sale of a servant;
43 thou rulest not over him with rigour, and thou hast been afraid of thy God.
44 `And thy man-servant and thy handmaid whom thou hast [are] of the nations who [are] round about you; of them ye buy man-servant and handmaid,
45 and also of the sons of the settlers who are sojourning with you, of them ye buy, and of their families who [are] with you, which they have begotten in your land, and they have been to you for a possession;
46 and ye have taken them for inheritance to your sons after you, to occupy [for] a possession; to the age ye lay service upon them, but upon your brethren, the sons of Israel, one with another, thou dost not rule over him with rigour.
47 `And when the hand of a sojourner or settler with thee attaineth [riches], and thy brother with him hath become poor, and he hath been sold to a sojourner, a settler with thee, or to the root of the family of a sojourner,
48 after he hath been sold, there is a right of redemption to him; one of his brethren doth redeem him,
49 or his uncle, or a son of his uncle, doth redeem him, or any of the relations of his flesh, of his family, doth redeem him, or -- his own hand hath attained -- then he hath been redeemed.
50 `And he hath reckoned with his buyer from the year of his being sold to him till the year of jubilee, and the money of his sale hath been by the number of years; as the days of an hireling it is with him.
51 `If yet many years, according to them he giveth back his redemption [money], from the money of his purchase.
52 `And if few are left of the years till the year of jubilee, then he hath reckoned with him, according to his years he doth give back his redemption [money];
53 as an hireling, year by year, he is with him, and he doth not rule him with rigour before thine eyes.
54 `And if he is not redeemed in these [years], then he hath gone out in the year of jubilee, he and his sons with him.
55 For to Me [are] the sons of Israel servants; My servants they [are], whom I have brought out of the land of Egypt; I, Jehovah, [am] your God.