About slavery.
NEITHER MIDNIGHT NOR I could sleep that first night of reunion, so we sat together long after the others had gone to bed. When I asked him about his experiences as a slave, he considered his words for a long time.
“It’s something like a stone a day, John,” he finally said.
“I don’t understand.”
“I don’t think I can explain all it meant to me, but for now, I’ll just tell you this: The master hands you a stone every day, and you take each one from him and put it into your pocket. You do it bery, very carefully, because you don’t want to make him angry.” Midnight pretended to receive a stone, then placed it in my palm. “But, John, pretty soon you run out of pockets. And you aren’t allowed to put them down, so what do you do?”
“I don’t know.”
“You star swallowing the stones. Soon, your stomach gets all filled up and you start feeling sick, so you lie down.” He rubbed his belly. “Just one day of rest, you think, and everything wil be better. But the master keeps on handing you stones. Because he’s got his money invested in you and he’s decided he doesn’t want to wait even one day for you to get your strenght back. You say no, because you think you can. So he whips you, which makes you confused-confused, since you don’t know how to live a life where you can’t decide anything. Not even Mantis can tell you how to do that. After a few months your spirit is so heavy with stones that it can no longer even stand up. So, being kind, you lie your spirit down. And you let it be covered by stones, till it can’t breathe or move.”
“So you’re buried alive,” I said.
“That’s right, John, but only one stone at a time.”
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One day in September of 1824, there arrived in the post a slim manuscript writen by Benjamin, entitled, "On the Hidden Meaning of Slavery," whose dedication was made to me. In it, he gave readings of verses in the Torah to demonstrate that slavery was the last gasp of a dying world. The lower realms where shedding their skin like a snake, he theorized, in preparation for rising closer to the Upper Realms. The true and lasting evil of this practice, he wrote, "is that slavery keeps our spirits from fulfillment and realization, from soaring into the firmament inside each of us, and therefore from union with the Lord. As such, it is an abomination that must be abolished if we are to create a world fit for the Messiah."
From “Hunting Midnight”, by Richard Zimler
“It’s something like a stone a day, John,” he finally said.
“I don’t understand.”
“I don’t think I can explain all it meant to me, but for now, I’ll just tell you this: The master hands you a stone every day, and you take each one from him and put it into your pocket. You do it bery, very carefully, because you don’t want to make him angry.” Midnight pretended to receive a stone, then placed it in my palm. “But, John, pretty soon you run out of pockets. And you aren’t allowed to put them down, so what do you do?”
“I don’t know.”
“You star swallowing the stones. Soon, your stomach gets all filled up and you start feeling sick, so you lie down.” He rubbed his belly. “Just one day of rest, you think, and everything wil be better. But the master keeps on handing you stones. Because he’s got his money invested in you and he’s decided he doesn’t want to wait even one day for you to get your strenght back. You say no, because you think you can. So he whips you, which makes you confused-confused, since you don’t know how to live a life where you can’t decide anything. Not even Mantis can tell you how to do that. After a few months your spirit is so heavy with stones that it can no longer even stand up. So, being kind, you lie your spirit down. And you let it be covered by stones, till it can’t breathe or move.”
“So you’re buried alive,” I said.
“That’s right, John, but only one stone at a time.”
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One day in September of 1824, there arrived in the post a slim manuscript writen by Benjamin, entitled, "On the Hidden Meaning of Slavery," whose dedication was made to me. In it, he gave readings of verses in the Torah to demonstrate that slavery was the last gasp of a dying world. The lower realms where shedding their skin like a snake, he theorized, in preparation for rising closer to the Upper Realms. The true and lasting evil of this practice, he wrote, "is that slavery keeps our spirits from fulfillment and realization, from soaring into the firmament inside each of us, and therefore from union with the Lord. As such, it is an abomination that must be abolished if we are to create a world fit for the Messiah."
From “Hunting Midnight”, by Richard Zimler