Religious writings from Venmor
And in that land, there was no balance. The men trod their women underfoot like the hulls of seeds, and hid them under dark veil to snuff their light. Children were taught ignorance, and earned reward for evil deeds. Their leaders were a people of avarice, greed, and deceit, and the Mother looked down on them with sadness in her heart. She said, "I will live among the people and shake their foundations. They will know their wickedness and feel shame, and I will take their contrition to my bosom and make them whole."
And so it happened that the Mother took to the city, barefoot, clad in the air and the water, and tall like the oil palm, and the city trembled to behold her. The leaders hid their trepidation under outrage.
"See how she shows herself unfettered!
See how she makes a harlot out of herself
by the sight of her flesh!
We will not let her into our city
lest we be scandalized!"
And they put up a defense of barbed spears and pyres of acid leaves. The Mother stepped over the walls of the city and quenched the fires with the hem of her garment. She sat herself beside the fountain and drew circles in the sand with her fingertip.
The men clicked like insects to see her, bare-breasted, holding counsel with children and women.
"We cannot allow this to happen!
We, who are the might of our people!
Let us make example of these disobedient women!"
And they forbade their wives and children to leave the home, and those who did not obey were punished by crippling. Unable to stand, the women were unable to work, and the men went hungry. The men piled the feet in front of the Mother.
"Look what you have made us do!
Your evils have pulled astray our women and our offspring!
See and leave us at once!"
The mother laid her hands upon the mountain of dismembered limbs, and they were made into bejeweled flying insects, which fluttered about the heads of the wicked men.
"You seek to injure me by injuring yourselves, to cut me down by cutting down your own orchards. You will reap the fruits!" The insects chased the men home to find their crippled women and children had become groves of fruit trees hung with fruited vines, and they cursed their bad fortune, and cursed the mother.
"Who will tend us now? How burdensome they were in life, and how much more burdensome now!"
The men, hungry, ate the fruit of the orchards and were beset with stomach pains.
"Let it be so," Said the Mother, "That in five days' time, there will be left no men in this city."
And so it happened that the Mother took to the city, barefoot, clad in the air and the water, and tall like the oil palm, and the city trembled to behold her. The leaders hid their trepidation under outrage.
"See how she shows herself unfettered!
See how she makes a harlot out of herself
by the sight of her flesh!
We will not let her into our city
lest we be scandalized!"
And they put up a defense of barbed spears and pyres of acid leaves. The Mother stepped over the walls of the city and quenched the fires with the hem of her garment. She sat herself beside the fountain and drew circles in the sand with her fingertip.
The men clicked like insects to see her, bare-breasted, holding counsel with children and women.
"We cannot allow this to happen!
We, who are the might of our people!
Let us make example of these disobedient women!"
And they forbade their wives and children to leave the home, and those who did not obey were punished by crippling. Unable to stand, the women were unable to work, and the men went hungry. The men piled the feet in front of the Mother.
"Look what you have made us do!
Your evils have pulled astray our women and our offspring!
See and leave us at once!"
The mother laid her hands upon the mountain of dismembered limbs, and they were made into bejeweled flying insects, which fluttered about the heads of the wicked men.
"You seek to injure me by injuring yourselves, to cut me down by cutting down your own orchards. You will reap the fruits!" The insects chased the men home to find their crippled women and children had become groves of fruit trees hung with fruited vines, and they cursed their bad fortune, and cursed the mother.
"Who will tend us now? How burdensome they were in life, and how much more burdensome now!"
The men, hungry, ate the fruit of the orchards and were beset with stomach pains.
"Let it be so," Said the Mother, "That in five days' time, there will be left no men in this city."