As Gud walked on along the Impossible Curve he saw himself approaching
to meet him. This made Gud very angry at himself because himself
insisted on walking in the opposite direction, which seemed to show Gud
that he had a dual nature and could go two ways at once. So Gud charged
ahead to meet himself, and as he approached himself he swung the staff,
which was over his shoulder, with a vicious blow at himself.
In his anger, Gud had forgotten the nothing which was hanging by its
ears on his staff. As he swung the staff, the Impossible Curve took a
sudden turn in an unknown direction so that Gud missed himself at which
he struck. But that which was hanging by the ears flew off the staff and
went hurtling through the deceitful mirror.
In this new excitement Gud forgot himself and peered through the
deceitful mirror to see what had become of nothing. Gud saw that nothing
was being chased by something, which Gud recognized as the reflection of
an Underdog.
The chase was exciting; the nothing ducked and the reflection of an
Underdog leaped over it. Then the nothing turned and started back toward
the deceitful mirror, through which Gud was peering. The reflection of
the Underdog turned also, and when the quarry reached the mirror it came
back through and its pursuer came after it.
Quickly Gud swung his staff again and broke the mirror into ten thousand
pieces. Then he turned about and saw, by the contented look on the face
of the Underdog, that nothing was no more. Gud was glad he had been
engaged in breaking the mirror and so had not seen the finale of the
chase, for thus he missed the suffering of the victim and yet could see
the satisfaction of the victor.
Gud now looked at the staff in his hand and saw that it had borne a
luscious fruit. He plucked the fruit and tasted it. At first it tasted
very sweet but later the taste turned bitter in his mouth. Gud looked
again at the staff which he had picked from the heap of discarded
theories, and Gud saw that he held in his hand the theory of conquest.
In horror he hurled it from him, and it struck the Underdog, who gave
forth a great howl of pain.
Gud felt compassion for the Underdog and picked him up and nursed his
wound, and the Underdog licked Gud's hands. Then he sat the Underdog
down and started on his way, and the Underdog followed at Gud's heels
along the Impossible Curve.
Chapter VIII
The Gogs are good, the Gogs are great,
They rule a realm of real estate.
Their greedy little eyes are slits
That vision beauty torn to bits,
And when the night's aglow with stars
They stagger through the lupinars.
The Gogs are good, the Gogs are great
We slave to rent their real estate;
We toil in their behalf like fools,
Obey their customs, creeds and rules,
Because each intellectual hog
Would like to be, and is a Gog!
Chapter IX
So they trudged along very happily until they met some one.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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