Cave, to my astonishment, had memorized most of the dialogues I’d
written and he said my words with the same power that he said his own.
I was startled by this. There had been no hint that such a thing might
happen and I couldn’t, for some time, determine the motive until I
recalled Cave’s reluctance to being quoted in print; he had apparently
realized that now there would be a complete record of his testimony and
so, for the sake of both literacy and consistency, he had committed to
memory those words of mine which were thought to be his. At the great
moment, however, the peroration (by which time there were no more
questions and Cave’s voice alone was heard) he became himself, and
spoke Cavesword.
Then, without the Committee’s leave, in the dazzled silence which
followed upon his last words, he got up abruptly and left the room. I
switched off the television set. That week established Cavesword in the
country and, except for various priests and ministers of the deserted
gods, the United States was Cavite.
2
The desertion of the old establishments for the new resembled, at
uneasy moments, revolution.
The Congressional Committee, though anti-Cavite, did not dare even
to censure him ... partly from the fear of the vast crowd which
waited in the Capitol plaza and partly from the larger, more cogent
awareness that it was politically suicidal for any popularly elected
Representative to outrage a minority of such strength.
The hearing fizzled out after Cave’s appearance and though there were a
few denunciatory speeches on the floor of Congress, no official action
was taken; shortly afterwards the ban on Cave’s television appearances
was lifted but by then it was too late and millions of people had got
permanently into the habit of attending weekly meetings at the various
Centers to listen to Cave, to discuss with the Residents and their
staffs the points of doctrine ... and doctrine it had become.
The second year in our yellow citadel was more active than the first.
It was decided that Cave make no personal appearances anywhere.
According to Paul, the mystery would be kept intact and the legend
would grow under the most auspicious circumstances. He did not reveal
his actual motive in Cave’s presence but I was aware, from private
conversations we had, just the two of us, of the wisdom of his plan.
He explained himself to me late one afternoon in my office.
“Get him in front of a really hostile crowd and there’d be no telling
what might happen.” Paul was restlessly marching about the room in his
shirtsleeves ... a blunt cigar in his mouth gave him the appearance of
a lower-echelon politician.
“There’s never been a hostile audience yet,” I reminded him. “Except
for the Congressional hearings and I thought he handled himself quite
well with them.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account