by Arthur Zulu
CHAPTER 9
INTERLUDE
I have never seen an assemblage of such make-believe artists before. All the best hands in movie making and drama, gather in the Doomsday Hall.
Now, this hall is the largest of its kind on earth, for it could sit over a million people. And on this occasion, it is filled to capacity, but the mood is somber. Because they have been asked by the kings to figure out the different ways and means that Inferno might use to end the world. And how they might counter the attack. In other words, they are to dream up how they would die. None of them had ever scripted anything like this before.
So at first they sit and merely content themselves with gazing at one another. And then one artist with a bad sense of humor tries to relieve the tension in the hall by saying that the title of this epic production should be A Fork in the Road. Some laugh. Others grin.
It is like the story of one wicked ruler in an Island. When this bad king decrees a law, it is never changed.
So there was a law he made to the effect that every criminal must die. But the law gave the offender the option to choose the way and manner that he was to die. Because of this freedom to choose how to die, some had chosen to be hanged, drugged, poisoned, shot, or stoned to death. Even some strange ones asked to be drowned or buried alive. The stories made headlines and even delighted the king greatly.
But one day, one man was caught sleeping with the king’s most beautiful daughter in one of the rooms in the king’s palace. It caused a stir and enraged the king so much. The judgment was swift: the man would have to die. That was expected. The unexpected thing, though, was that when the man-lover was asked to choose how he would like to die, he said that he had always wished to be killed by a snake. It shocked everyone, but not the king who wished that he died the most horrible death. Even the entreaties of the king’s daughter that her lover’s life be spared, did not sway the wicked ruler.
Now the condemned man had to decide by which snake he was to die, and where. As to this, the man succeeded in delaying his death; for he said that he liked to be given time to choose between a cobra, a viper, and a python. For he wanted to be killed by the deadliest of the three.
This further delighted the king who made a feast for all his people. But the people were saddened, and the king’s daughter wept for her lover. Now when the king thought the man was delaying his death, he ordered that he make a choice immediately.
And then another surprise! The man about to die said that he would like to die in a room full of vipers from foreign lands, and in the room in the king’s palace where he was caught sleeping with the king’s daughter!
When the king heard this, he wept. And all the princes and citizens wept with him. The questions now are: Would the king change the law? If not, where would they go to look for the vipers? Who will look for them, and how would the dangerous snakes be brought to the Island? Add to this, a room in the king’s palace is ten times bigger than a common citizen’s room. In this case, how many vipers would fill the room? Is it hundreds of thousands, or thousands of thousands? And what is the consequence of having snakes in the palace? Or would they be killed after?
But the king’s law can never be changed. The man’s wish must be carried out. So after the period of weeping, the king ordered special snake-carrying ships to be built. And when they were ready, he ordered 50,000 trained snake charmers to sail 10,000 ships across the seas to foreign lands in search of the biggest and most dangerous vipers.
Only 10 ships and 100 men returned with vipers after six months. Of the rest men, some were bitten to death by snakes or wild animals while in search of vipers in the forest. Others perished on their way going at sea, or while returning with their vipers. But others who loved their lives simply sailed to live in other lands, leaving behind their wives and children.
Now those that returned—some with blind eyes, a leg, or an arm—emptied their specially designed iron cages containing the vipers into the large room in the king’s palace. Women and children wept.
But the worst was yet to come. For when the condemned man was told that the room was now filled with the largest and most dangerous vipers in the world, he said that it must be the king himself that would open the door, and throw him into the room full of vipers!
Hearing this, the wicked king fainted. And all the Islanders mourned. When the king recovered, the people begged him to forgive the man and change his law. But he refused. The law of the king must not be changed!
So on the fateful day that the man was to die, the king dragged him toward the room full of snakes, and opened the door. But before he could say “God save my soul,” about 100,000 vipers rushed out—killing him, the condemned man, and all members of the royal family. The snakes now went from house to house, biting men and beasts to death. It was a disaster. Mothers could not save their children, nor could husbands save their wives.
Not even a living soul survived. Only vipers. So the land came to be called Viper Island till this day. And I myself begin to wonder how this world might end.
When the kings finish telling the artists about the different antics of the cunning Inferno and his seven dangerous parents, they come to know that they would really have to dream hard to find out how the devils would bring about the world’s end. They, therefore, begin to imagine several fantastic scenarios. But since war weapons could not kill the spirits, it becomes difficult for the movie stars to now suggest the type of instruments that can be used to wage a counter attack. The only thing is to ask the scientists to produce medicines that can neutralize any attack. But that is only possible if you know what the attack is, and if the scientists will be alive to administer their wonder treatment.
Artists are, nevertheless, not wanting in dreaming up scary scenes. So some last day scenes and defensive methods are suggested. One says that since it appears Inferno and his parents might destroy the Earth, there may be no need for anyone to think of saving it. Instead, he says that space ships should be used to evacuate all humans on Earth to another planet. But which planet are we going, and where are the space ships? Then he makes an alternative suggestion saying that in that case, the ships could take us to space temporarily, and bring us back to Earth after the disaster.
But the question still remains: Where are the ships and how many shall we need? And where shall we stay? Suppose Inferno and his parents destroy the ships or come to fight us in space? The artist has no answer. He, therefore, walks to a corner of the hall and sits down to listen to anyone who has a better idea.
Then one know-nothing actor who thinks that he is the best thing to happen in the make-believe industry comes forward to suggest the absurd. He says that magic umbrellas that have the power to shield the Earth from flying missiles be deployed in space—just in case Inferno and his deadly parents decide to unleash a rain of killer missiles. He calls them Guardian Angels.
A great laughter shakes the Doomsday Hall at these remedies. They tell him that the magic blanket would not work. Because Inferno could fool the “heavenly” watchdogs called Guardian Angels. Or simply decide to attack from under the umbrella, instead of attacking from above it.
Then the artist, who suggested the title A Fork in the Road, comes forward and says that Inferno will not destroy the world by means of all the suggestions that his colleagues have given. The jester says that Inferno might instead tie us in iron cages and hurl us into the bottom of the seas. Or give us a laughing gas and watch us laugh to death. Or play the scarecrow and frighten us into the fire. Or command dragons to eat us up. Whether he actually means what he is saying or whether he just wants to make people laugh, I do not know.
It sounds funny, but it seems likely that this destroyer might use any of those simple means to wipe out the world. I have come to the end of this adventure, and I now know the wise and the foolish between the winged-man in white and the kings.
So I begin to think of how I myself might escape and not any of their suggestions. I remember how I went to heaven in one of my earlier dreams. I
, therefore, pray that I might find myself in heaven again by the time the alarm bells sound for the world’s end. Because those in heaven do not know death. And I begin to envy the angels in heaven.
