1. IN the twelve hundredth year after Fragapatti, in the east colony of Haraiti, one Ctusk, a former Lord of Jehovih's host, renounced Jehovih, the Creator, and falsely proclaimed himself Ahura, the All Master; and he took with him three Lords of grade eighty-eight, and twelve sub-Gods of grade sixty-four, and one thousand six hundred students of eight hundred years' resurrection, none of whom were less than grade sixty, and were sufficient to pass as Brides and Bridegrooms. And these students took with them thirty-six thousand teachers, factors, and physicians, and nurses, all of whom were upward of grade forty.
2. And Ahura appropriated to himself one colony of one hundred and ten million angels, together with the colleges, schools, factories, and all things whatsoever belonging therein. And the three Lords took their kingdoms, and by annexation made them part and parcel with Ahura's kingdom. Now these three Lords' kingdoms comprised the largest habitable places of mortals in Vindyu and Jaffeth, and the greatest heavenly places of angels in the first resurrection.
3. And Ahura divided up the regions he thus obtained, making confederate heavenly kingdoms, sufficient in number to give place of dominion to his Lords and Gods, and to make sub-Gods out of all the one thousand six hundred students. And after that, Ahura numbered his people, and there were in his heavens more than three thousand million souls!
4. God sent messengers to Ctusk, who had assumed the name Ahura'Mazda, inquiring, admonishing and inquiring: My Lord, whom I have loved, whom by mine own hand was crowned in the name of Jehovih, why has thou deserted the Father's kingdoms? Wherein hast thou had cause to complain against Jehovih? Wherein, against me, thy God? O my son, my Lord, say not thou hast gone so far thou canst not return! What canst thou ask of me that I will not grant unto thee? Nay, even judge thou me, and if thou desirest all the heavens and earth in my place, I will abdicate unto thee, and become thy lowest servant, or whatsoever thou wilt put upon me.
5. Ahura returned this answer, to wit: Because I have nothing against thee, I have alienated myself and my kingdom from thee. I desire not thy kingdom, nor even mine own. Behold, I looked upon thee, and thou wert pure and holy. I looked upon the kingdoms of heaven, and the kingdoms of earth, and they were impure and unholy. Then came certain brother Lords to me, most wise Lords, and they said: A less pure God, a less holy God, would be more efficient. So, I was persuaded to my course.
6. God replied to this, saying: Behold, we have a Diva! Why spakest thou not thus before me, face to face? And thy three great Lords were also Divans; and they were silent on the matter likewise. The Div would have decreed whatever was all wise. Because I was in darkness, I saw not thy thoughts, nor thy Lords, and ye have heaped shame upon me. How shall I send my record to etherea? Shall I say, Behold, certain Lords consulted clandestinely, and then concluded to overthrow the Creator? And, forsooth, they have gone and set up a kingdom of their own, calling it the All Highest.
7. Hear me yet, and I will endeavor to speak wisely unto thee. Thy messengers notified me some days since that thou hadst repudiated Jehovih, saying: There is no All Highest Person; I can make myself high as the highest! And thereupon, thy messenger gave me a map, saying: Behold thou, here are the boundaries of the kingdom of Ahura'Mazda, the All Sufficient High God!
8. I looked over the map, and beheld its great extent; and I surmised to myself: He is a great God that can rule over all that! For I knew thee and thy education, which is as great as any Lord's in atmospherea. And thou knowest thou canst not control even a plateau! Canst thou raise thine hand and stay the a'ji, or the ji'ya, or the nebulae! Scarce canst thou change a single current of wind; nor canst thou cast a drouth on any land. And yet thou knowest there are Gods who can do these things by a motion of one finger! How darest thou, then, proclaim thyself an All Sufficient High God!
9. But I will not rebuke thee, for I desire thy love and thy help. I would win thee by any sacrifice I can make. Behold, there is great darkness in p. 292 heaven and on earth. Wherein I may be short, I will rebuke myself in after ages. I pray thee, then, return thou to me, and make exactions upon me and my kingdoms. With thy loss, behold, Diva is broken up. With thy dismemberment of heavens, others will follow. Alas, I will not look upon even that which my soul seeth. I plead for thy love and for thy assistance. Nevertheless, if the All Highest Light, for the All Best Good, showeth thee that thou art right, come not to me! I know the Great Spirit will sustain me, even though my soul is well nigh crushed to pieces by the loss of so fair a love.
10. To this Ahura replied: How came the thought to me to do as I did, if it be not the wisest, best course?
11. God replied: Because of the long reign of ji'ya, thou wert inoculated with darkness; even as a mortal, on a rainy day, loseth his patience to be wise.
12. Then Ahura sent the following, to wit: I have been patient in mine answers; but now I will speak plainly. First of all, thou art All Pure, and Most Wise, above all other Gods. For more than two hundred years I have been a faithful Lord unto thee and thy kingdoms. At first the Great Light came to thee, and a voice came out of the light! Then I feared, and was awe-stricken. Because I believed thee so near the Creator, thine every word and act were to me worshipful.
13. At last I rebuked myself, saying to myself: Fool! Givest thou worship to man born of woman! Remember thy Creator only!
14. But the times changed; ji'ya fell upon heaven and earth. Our glorious kingdoms were cast down by the great darkness. Then I reasoned, saying to myself: Behold, when we were in light, Jehovih's Voice spake unto us. When the darkness came, the Voice came not. We sat in the Diva, in the altar circle, praying for light from the Father, but it came not. And I said: More we need the Voice in darkness than in light. For a hundred years we saw not the light of the Voice, nor heard the Voice speak. Thou hast said thou heardst in thy soul! Who is there in heaven or earth that cannot say as much?
15. In my soul I no longer believe there is an All Person. There are great Gods, a thousand times greater than I; but there is the end! Yea, some of those great Gods may have cast the ji'ya upon us. But that is not my matter. There is room for thee and thy people. Here is room for me and my people.
16. Jehovih spake to God, saying: Answer thou not Ahura more. Behold, I will interpret him to thee: He will even yet persuade angels and mortals that it was he who inspired Zarathustra. But he seeth it not himself. Suffer him, therefore, to go his way; neither take sorrow to thy soul. Have I not, from the lowest to the highest, given unto all men even that which they desired? Behold, I can use even bad men in the far future!
17. Jehovih said: For a long season Ahura will strive to walk upright, but because he hath cut Me off, he will also cut himself off in time to come. Behold, a mortal man striveth for riches honorably, and when he is rich, his riches cut him off from Me by the ruin he casteth upon his competitors. Nor can he extricate himself. Even so will it be with Ahura: His kingdom and his sub-kingdoms, and his multitude of officers will cause him to enslave hundreds of millions of drujas, and they will draw him into a vortex from which he cannot escape.
18. So God answered Ahura no more; but nevertheless, his heart was full of sorrow. Now, when the time of the meeting of Diva came, God foresaw that not more than one-half of them would be present, and he feared the questions that might come up.
19. But Jehovih said unto him: Fear not, My Son; for even though many more leave thee, yet shalt thou preserve the Diva to the end of this cycle. So it came to pass that Jehovih stilled the tongues of all the Gods and Lords of the Diva in reference to Ahura, even as if they had never known him. And Ahura sent quizzers to different Gods and Lords afterward, to learn what action the Diva had taken in his case. But when he was told that he had not been mentioned, he became angered, and he swore an oath that he would build the largest of all heavenly kingdoms.
20. Because of the great darkness on heaven and earth, God sent hope and promise into all the kingdoms, urging his Lords and his sub-Gods to maintain faith, not only in themselves, but within the hearts of their respective inhabitants. Now, from the time of the secession of Ahura to the next dan would be three hundred years, and God knew this, though the multitudes in heaven and earth knew it not. And God commanded great recreation and extensive labors in order to prevent further dismemberment. But in the course of a hundred years many were carried away by the extravagant stories told about Ahura's kingdoms p. 293 being places of great delight, and of ease and idleness.
21. Ahura's Lords said unto him: Thou shalt adorn thy kingdom; thy throne and thy capital, Ctusk, shall be the largest and most ornamental of all places in the universe; and our sub-kingdoms shall be places of great delight. And Ahura was persuaded, and so began self-glorification, and his Lords with him.
22. And in another hundred years Ahura had withdrawn and annexed unto him in heaven the following provinces, with their sub-Gods: Etyisiv, with seventy million souls; Howwak, with one hundred million souls; Hyn, with twenty million souls; D'nayotto, with eighty million souls; Erefrovish, with one hundred and ninety million souls; the whole of the kingdom of Gir-ak-shi, six hundred million souls; the whole of the kingdom of Soo'fwa, with eight hundred million souls. And all of these confederated in the lower heavens, making the kingdom of Ctusk, with Ahura as MAZDA IN CHIEF, the central kingdom.
23. The Diva was by this reduced to seven members, but these remained faithful. And God kept up the standard of resurrection for yet one hundred more years. And then Jehovih sent a region of dan to heaven and earth, and the Most High heavenly hosts descended in fire-ships and took God and his harvest up to Jehovih. And with all the misfortune that befell God and his Lords, there were, nevertheless, six thousand million Brides and Bridegrooms to Jehovih raised up to the higher heavens.
24. Now, when the etherean hosts came for the resurrection, knowing the darkness upon the lower heaven and the earth, they sent otevans, with heralds and trumpeters around the earth, proclaiming the resurrection at hand, and asking all who chose, to repair to Mouru, in Haraiti. And the word was whispered throughout Ahura's kingdom: What! Then, of a truth, there must be higher heavens than this! Alas, had we been faithful till now, we had been Brides and Bridegrooms! So potent was this disaffection for Ahura, that five of his Lords broke membership, and re-affiliated with God and his kingdoms.
25. And thus matters stood when God's successor came to the throne.