Superbia
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e reached Superbia.
The streets were flooded with people wearing masks of different forms. Yet, the
masks on the faces of the people were usually not very dissimilar, and it
seemed as if we were bumping into the same person again and again. It was not
possible to recognize the true person behind the mask, at all, and we marveled
that we knew no one. We were all here nobodies to each other, and the only
reality, at hand, were the masks; the only relations, self-interest.
It appeared that
there were two orders of patrollers here. One wore a dark purplish uniform and
had the symbol of skull and bones embroidered on their arms. Underneath the
skull was the word “Fear”. The other wore a light purplish uniform and had the
symbol of figs and needles embroidered on their arms. Underneath the figs and
needles was the word “Shame”. All of them wore masks.
A siren howled and
the crowd began moving in the direction of the Center. The darkness seemed to
get thicker as we drew closer towards the place. But, there were stronger
lights, increasingly in number, that attempted to cast light despite being
mockingly blocked by a strange perpetual fog, which I heard some people calling
Vanity here. We reached the Center, entered the Court, and groped through to
find an empty seat. A clownish mask on my right stared as if incredulously at
my face. His look made me feel guilty of not wearing the mask. I drew the hood
over my head. But, Sophia was unperplexed; so was Inno.
The Court was an
open stadium lit by scores of strong flood lights. The huge space in the center
looked like a place for various events including sports of different kinds. On
the view opposite us was an elevated section, obviously reserved for the
dignitaries. The place was filled with shouts, whistles, and chattering noises.
Just then a loud trumpet call sounded and the stadium dropped to silence. An
officer announced the arrival of the Queen, the King, and the Lady Superbia and
commanded the crowd to rise. Hamartia entered hand in hand with Sarx. They were
followed by Superbia and her entourage. As they took their seats, a trumpet
sounded an arpeggio and the officer signaled the crowd to be seated. He then
annunciated with a loud voice: “Your Excellency, the Queen, and Your Highness,
the King, under the auspices of our Lady Superbia, we present before you the
First Marvel: the Incredible Logician!”
A man with flowing
white hair appeared in the center of the ground. The crowd was filled with
applause. He bowed to the dignitaries and waved his hand at the crowed. The
crowd cheered even crazily. He then pulled a wand out of nowhere and waved it
in a L shape once; suddenly there was a burst of sparks and the whole stadium
turned dark with only a soft spotlight drawing our eyes centerstage to where
Logician was.
“Ladies and
gentlemen,” he announced, “It has been erstwhile believed that we are all very
different from each other and that there is something that is even wholly other
than each of us here. Let me demonstrate to you that this is false, and that
the reality is that we are one with each other, one with this City, and one
with the King and the Queen; and that there is nothing else apart from the
oneness that we are.”
The crowd cheered
again. Logician then stuck his wand back into his holster and raised both of
his arms, with palms turned outwards, as if to stop something approaching him
from both sides. Suddenly, two huge blocks of cuboid boulders appeared on each
side and began pressing at him. The crowd watched with bated breath. A few
cried, “He’s going to be crushed! Oh no!” Then, a wonder occurred. As the
boulders began smashing him in, Logician began to shrink between them. In a
flip of moments the boulders smashed into each other with a loud thud and
Logician disappeared. “Where’s he gone?” someone cried. “He’s obliterated!”
someone else whispered with pain in his voice. Suddenly, the boulders shook,
and then steadily moved away from each other as a tiny figure of Logician grew
between then and resumed to its original shame. The stadium was filled with
applause and shouts of joy.
Logician dropped
his hands and the boulders disappeared. He then pulled out his wand again and
summoned the fastest runner in the stadium. A tall youth ran towards him. A
thin runners’ track was lit on the ground. Logician waved his wand and a
tortoise appeared on the track, which immediately started to move forward. The
youth laughed at it. A man sitting below laughed, “So, a race with a tortoise;
he should have beckoned me!” Logician now motioned the youth to run; but, the
youth derisively just walked. Then, a wonder occurred. Every time the youth
reached to a point which the tortoise had reached earlier, he discovered that
the tortoise had inevitably already left that point before he reached it and
had moved forward; in that way the tortoise was always at an advantage of a
place ahead of the youth. Now, the youth began to feel frustrated at this and
began to run; but no matter how hard he tried, every time he reached a point
that the tortoise had crossed, the tortoise was always ahead of him. The youth
lost the race. The crowd was spellbound. Logician announced: “Ladies and
gentlemen, this looks incredible to you, but this is what reality is all about.
All divisions, additions, subtractions, and multiplications will disappear the
moment we realize that they are only superficial. Fundamentally, everything is
one.” Saying that he bowed, and the crowd went crazy with applause.
The stadium then
darkened and lit up again. Logician was now gone. The officer then announced
again: “Your Excellency, the Queen, and Your Highness, the King, under the
auspices of our Lady Superbia, we present before you the Second Marvel: Drunken
Master!”
At that moment
there was an inundation of the sounds of drums and percussions, timbrels, and
the sounds of anklets on dancing feet. Then, there was a burst like a deep
thunder coupled with a crashing electric bolt and it was, suddenly, all still.
A tall youth, with a flowing black beard and a loose robe with sleeves falling
all over stood at the center. He had a turban on his head and wore gold and
diamonds on his neck and wrists. There was a deep drunkenness in his eyes and
he stood rather unsteadily. In his drunken stupor, he cried: “Nonsense
Logician! Away with your nonsense! I’ll show you a better way to be one. Just
efface your consciousness with the ebriety of the deep and then watch the world
fall to your feet!”
Suddenly, horsemen
appeared with drawn swords and spears in hand. They rushed towards Drunken
Master. As the first rider darted towards him, the Master swayed like a piece
of falling garment; then, revamped, dexterously slipped his hands around the
wrists of the rider and pulled him off the horse. He then swirled around and
jumped behind another rider and took command of the horse. Spears were hurled
and were deftly caught in his hands and flung back sending the riders back to
their stables. Then, an amazing thing occurred. Drunken Master stood upon the
horse as it galloped in the heat of its pace. He remained motionless and poised
as the horse sniffed, snorted, and swallowed the wind. Then, he spread his arms
and the horse came to a halt. He alighted and stepped to the center. “Ladies
and gentlemen,” he said, “I have demonstrated before you a very simple
principle: Reel to keep your heel!” He then went forward, bowed to the
dignitaries, and left the stadium. The crowd cheered uncontrollably.
Presently, a dark
figure appeared beside Hamartia. It was fully masked with pitch darkness hidden
under the black hood drawn over its head. “Look into the scroll,” whispered
Sophia. I took it out and unrolled it.
There were only three words carved with a death-like form: “Mystery of
Iniquity”. Then the words faded like falling leaves and these words emerged:
“To put an end to Sin!”
The officer
announced again: “Your Excellency, the Queen, and Your Highness, the King,
under the auspices of our Lady Superbia, we present before you the Third and
the Final Marvel: Stranger!”
The sky growled,
flashing red tributaries; it seemed as if its eyes were all fire. There was a
stir among the crowd, but they all calmed as they saw Superbia moving towards
the podium. She elegantly ascended and authoritatively waved her hand; the
crowd slumped on their chairs and there was pin drop silence.
“Let the sky spit
fire and brimstone; let its volcanoes grind, ignite, and turn to ashes; Sin
shall reign though the heavens roll away, and we’ll invade the stormy sky!” So
saying she clenched her fist against the sky and the crowd rose up in applause,
shrieking “Hail Hamartia! Hail Sarx! Hail Superbia! You have power over the sky
and the land!” Superbia waved her hand again and the crowed fell to silence.
Then she made a signal and the drums beat heavily as the lights began to move
towards a rostrum in front of the stage. They halted on a man who wore a
bloodstained purple coat on his body. He seemed to have been badly beaten as
there were bruises on his face and blood stains on his shirt. He stood with his
head bowed. Inno closed her eyes and hid her face in Sophia’s bosom. It wasn’t
easy to congeal tears. I turned aside and found a mask on an empty seat. I
grabbed it and put it on my face; then sobbed. At that moment the cheers
increased; so, I looked and saw that the other six Governesses of the City had
also now arrived and were seated on their seats on the stage.
An announcer
announced “Behold the Man!” to which the crowd cried, “Stranger, Stranger!”
“Citizens, listen!”
Superbia began, “Our vigilance has finally overcome the enemy and taken him by
surprise. We now have our Archenemy, Stranger in our hands. You all now stand
both witness and jury to this trial. The Queen herself shall preside over this
judgment, in the presence of all the Governesses; the verdict of the people
shall be final. May we rise in honor of Her Highness, the Queen Hamartia!”
The crowd rose
cheeringly and clapped their hands in mad applause for so long that our ears
rang. Then, Hamartia, seated on her seat, raised her finger and the crowd
dropped to silence. “Let the trial begin!” she ordered.
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