mysterious. There is no place where the sun shows. Below all this piling grayness, beneath the scudding harbingers of rain, there is a hill, a large and rounded hill formed by Nature into a grotesque, gnarled lump, a blemish upon the face of the earth. There are people
people,..
GO ON. The same old urging-go on, go on, go on
There are people and there is a cross a wooden cross
FOCUS ON THE CROSS. WHAT DO YOU SEE THERE?
Me.
YES?
Nailed. Blood. Much blood. White, festered wounds dribbling rusty blood around the edges of little holes, neat little holes like the cavities left when you rip the buttons from the faces of rag dolls Rusty blood there
WHO IS IN THE CROWD?
Harry. I see Harry there. He's weeping.
WHY IS HE WEEPING?
For me.
WHO ELSE?
I'm thirsty.
WHO ELSE?
I'm thirsty. Very thirsty.
THEY WILL GIVE YOU WATER SOON. THEY
WILL SLAKE YOUR THIRST. NOW WHO ELSE IS
IN THE CROWD?
Morsfagen is casting dice for my cloak. And over there, beyond him, is a pregnant woman who is
GO ON, PLEASE
.
Please this time?
GO ON.
I look at her belly and there is Child. He is weeping too. But he is not weeping for the same reason that Harry is. He isn't weeping for me. It's because he wants up there where I am. He wants out of that woman's womb and up on the cross, nailed and bleeding and thirsty and dying. He wants it so bad that he writhes inside her in fury, wanting out
DO YOU KNOW WHY HE WANTS OUT?
For the same reason I am happy to be there.
YOU ENJOY BEING ON THE CROSS?
Yes.
WHY?
WHY?
I don't know.
DO YOU SEE ANYONE ELSE IN THE CROWD?
No! Oh, no! Oh, my God, my God, my God!
WHAT IS IT? WHAT IS THE MATTER?
No! You'll spoil it/me! I can't! Don't you see my station, my purpose, my nature? It must be my purpose! I haven't got another one, there isn't another one, this must be it! Get away from me! No!
WHAT IS IT? WHO DO YOU SEE?
Melinda. Floating, naked. Floating toward the cross. No!
Stay away! You'll spoil my purpose!
STOP IT.
Help! Help me! Don't let her touch me! Forgod'ssakeshe'snaked naked nakednakednakednaked!
STOP DREAMING! WAKE! LISTEN TO ME; HOLD
YOURSELF TOGETHER AND LISTEN TO ME.
IQUIET. COMPOSE YOURSELF. I WILL INTERPRET YOUR DREAM. THOUGH I MUST SAY THAT
THIS THROWS A NEW LIGHT ON YOUR PSYCHE.
DO YOU SEE WHY YOU ARE THE ONE ON THE
CROSS? NO NEED FOR AN ANSWER, PURELY
RHETORICAL. YOU SEE YOURSELF AS CHRISTWHAT A NEW DEVELOPMENT!-MORE PRECISELY, AS THE INCARNATION OF CHRIST AS REPRESENTED BY THE SECOND COMING. THERE
ARE PARALLELS, OF COURSE, BETWEEN YOUR
CONDITION AND THE STORY OF THE CHRIST.
YOU COULD SAY THAT YOUR OWN BIRTH WAS A
VIRGIN BIRTH, FOR EXAMPLE. YOU WERE NOT
CONCEIVED BY FLESH IN FLESH AND THE SPILLING OF SEED, BUT BY THE GENETIC ENGINEERS
AND THE COMPLEX CYBERNETIC ARTIFICIAL
WOMBS. AND THERE ARE YOUR SUPER-HUMAN
POWERS. PERHAPS THEY ARE NOT AS ALL-ENCOMPASSING AS THOSE OF THE CHRIST MYTH,
BUT THEY ARE SUFFICIENTLY STRONG TO NURTURE YOUR DELUSIONS.
YOU WERE NOT ABLE TO SEE A PURPOSE TO
YOUR LIFE, SO YOU CHOSE TO CAST YOURSELF
IN THE ROLE OF A SAVIOUR. IT SERVES A DOUBLE PURPOSE: FIRST, IT REINFORCES ALL YOUR
CHRISTIAN MORES, ALL THE THINGS THEY
THOUGHT YOU SHOULD BELIEVE AS YOU WERE
RAISED (THOUGH THEY WERE AS INTERESTED
IN SUPPLYING YOU WITH MORES THAT WOULD
KEEP YOU IN LINE AS MUCH AS THEY CARED
ABOUT YOUR HAVING A CHRISTIAN UPBRINGING); SECONDLY, IT GIVES A PURPOSE AND
MEANING NOT ONLY TO YOUR LIFE BUT TO THE
ENTIRE UNIVERSE WHICH SOMETIMES
GO ON. The same old urging-go on, go on, go on
There are people and there is a cross a wooden cross
FOCUS ON THE CROSS. WHAT DO YOU SEE THERE?
Me.
YES?
Nailed. Blood. Much blood. White, festered wounds dribbling rusty blood around the edges of little holes, neat little holes like the cavities left when you rip the buttons from the faces of rag dolls Rusty blood there
WHO IS IN THE CROWD?
Harry. I see Harry there. He's weeping.
WHY IS HE WEEPING?
For me.
WHO ELSE?
I'm thirsty.
WHO ELSE?
I'm thirsty. Very thirsty.
THEY WILL GIVE YOU WATER SOON. THEY
WILL SLAKE YOUR THIRST. NOW WHO ELSE IS
IN THE CROWD?
Morsfagen is casting dice for my cloak. And over there, beyond him, is a pregnant woman who is
GO ON, PLEASE
.
Please this time?
GO ON.
I look at her belly and there is Child. He is weeping too. But he is not weeping for the same reason that Harry is. He isn't weeping for me. It's because he wants up there where I am. He wants out of that woman's womb and up on the cross, nailed and bleeding and thirsty and dying. He wants it so bad that he writhes inside her in fury, wanting out
DO YOU KNOW WHY HE WANTS OUT?
For the same reason I am happy to be there.
YOU ENJOY BEING ON THE CROSS?
Yes.
WHY?
WHY?
I don't know.
DO YOU SEE ANYONE ELSE IN THE CROWD?
No! Oh, no! Oh, my God, my God, my God!
WHAT IS IT? WHAT IS THE MATTER?
No! You'll spoil it/me! I can't! Don't you see my station, my purpose, my nature? It must be my purpose! I haven't got another one, there isn't another one, this must be it! Get away from me! No!
WHAT IS IT? WHO DO YOU SEE?
Melinda. Floating, naked. Floating toward the cross. No!
Stay away! You'll spoil my purpose!
STOP IT.
Help! Help me! Don't let her touch me! Forgod'ssakeshe'snaked naked nakednakednakednaked!
STOP DREAMING! WAKE! LISTEN TO ME; HOLD
YOURSELF TOGETHER AND LISTEN TO ME.
IQUIET. COMPOSE YOURSELF. I WILL INTERPRET YOUR DREAM. THOUGH I MUST SAY THAT
THIS THROWS A NEW LIGHT ON YOUR PSYCHE.
DO YOU SEE WHY YOU ARE THE ONE ON THE
CROSS? NO NEED FOR AN ANSWER, PURELY
RHETORICAL. YOU SEE YOURSELF AS CHRISTWHAT A NEW DEVELOPMENT!-MORE PRECISELY, AS THE INCARNATION OF CHRIST AS REPRESENTED BY THE SECOND COMING. THERE
ARE PARALLELS, OF COURSE, BETWEEN YOUR
CONDITION AND THE STORY OF THE CHRIST.
YOU COULD SAY THAT YOUR OWN BIRTH WAS A
VIRGIN BIRTH, FOR EXAMPLE. YOU WERE NOT
CONCEIVED BY FLESH IN FLESH AND THE SPILLING OF SEED, BUT BY THE GENETIC ENGINEERS
AND THE COMPLEX CYBERNETIC ARTIFICIAL
WOMBS. AND THERE ARE YOUR SUPER-HUMAN
POWERS. PERHAPS THEY ARE NOT AS ALL-ENCOMPASSING AS THOSE OF THE CHRIST MYTH,
BUT THEY ARE SUFFICIENTLY STRONG TO NURTURE YOUR DELUSIONS.
YOU WERE NOT ABLE TO SEE A PURPOSE TO
YOUR LIFE, SO YOU CHOSE TO CAST YOURSELF
IN THE ROLE OF A SAVIOUR. IT SERVES A DOUBLE PURPOSE: FIRST, IT REINFORCES ALL YOUR
CHRISTIAN MORES, ALL THE THINGS THEY
THOUGHT YOU SHOULD BELIEVE AS YOU WERE
RAISED (THOUGH THEY WERE AS INTERESTED
IN SUPPLYING YOU WITH MORES THAT WOULD
KEEP YOU IN LINE AS MUCH AS THEY CARED
ABOUT YOUR HAVING A CHRISTIAN UPBRINGING); SECONDLY, IT GIVES A PURPOSE AND
MEANING NOT ONLY TO YOUR LIFE BUT TO THE
ENTIRE UNIVERSE WHICH SOMETIMES
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