“So did I,” said Moses angrily, “but I also used my wits a little. Faith is nothing; any animal can have faith. You and your faith had to get inside a wooden ark, in order to keep dry. But when I wished to take an entire nation across the sea, I simply parted the waters. I shall not tell you how I did it, because it would be lost on you. It takes a first-rate intelligence to understand such a thing.” Noah replied excitedly, “Please remember that I am your ancestor, and treat me with more respect.” “You are an old drunkard,” said Moses. But at this point God joined them again, and they were silent, to hear what the Holy One had to say. “This young man,” said God, “does not believe in Me any more. How then shall I convince him of Myself?” Desirous of showing his knowledge, Moses began to quote from the Book of Wisdom: “Infidelity, violence, envy, deceit, extreme avariciousness, a total want of qualities, with impurity, are the innate faults of womankind.” “Nevertheless,” said God, “they are also My creations. In My larger aspects I am as impure as I am pure; otherwise there would not be a balance. However, as I have said, we are not concerned with My larger aspects.” Noah broke in at this point. “Send him to sea, Lord,” he begged. “There is nothing like a long trip at sea to quiet the mind. It is very peaceful on the water. One forgets one’s disappointments.” “You are right,” said God; “we need the sea; it will give him peace. But as a matter of fact, I do not care whether he finds peace or not. As I have told you, I simply wish this poet to understand that I am God, and not Baal of Canaan. The attempt to confuse Me with a sun-myth, with the fertility of earth as symbolized by the figure of a bull, or a dove, vexes Me. Increase is man’s affair, not God’s. Besides, where will all this increase end? I regret the days of Adam and Eve and the Garden of Eden. Already there are more people on earth than I have any use for, socially speaking. Now I could wish there were more beauty in the world. I should like some poet to speak of Me in words other than those of a patriot. Yet if I try to explain Myself, who will understand Me? Not even you, Moses, with all your wisdom. And so I, in turn, must forget My wisdom, in order to explain Myself. I must act as the not-too-wise God of an ignorant people. That this is possible is due to the fact that along with infinite wisdom, I include within Myself an equal amount of ignorance.” He sighed deeply. “I shall send Jonah to Nineveh,” he concluded. “The subjects of King Shalmaneser the Third are honest, hard-working men and women. I enjoy, in some of My aspects, their vigorous and spectacular festivals. Nevertheless, repentance will not do them any harm, since for one thing they will not know exactly what it is they are asked to repent of, and for another, they will soon go back to their old ways again.