36
PARABLES
phrases, I will turn not just them – but the descendants of today’s slaves too,
and even all the earth’s rulers, too – into slaves. I’ll force them all to be
slaves for thousands of years to come.”
In the morning, when Cracy gave the signal, the head of security removed
his shackles. And right away, the next day, he invited the remaining priests
and the pharaoh to his observation platform. Cracy began his speech to
those who had assembled:
“No one is to write down or pass on what you are about to hear. No walls
surround us, and no one aside from you shall hear my words. I have con-
ceived a way of turning all people living on the Earth into slaves of our
pharaoh. This is something that is impossible to achieve even with the help
of countless troops and exhausting wars. Yet I shall achieve it with but a few
sentences. Once they have been pronounced, only two days will pass, and
then you will see how the world will begin to change. Look: down below us,
long columns of slaves shackled in chains are carrying one stone each.
They’re guarded by a multitude of soldiers. The more slaves there are, the
better it is for the government. That’s the way we have always seen it. But
the more slaves there are, the more we end up fearing their rebellion. We in-
crease security. We are forced to feed our slaves well, because otherwise
they’ll be unable to do this hard physical labor. Even so, they are lazy and
inclined to rebellion. Look how slowly they move, but the sentry has grown
lazy. He’s not urging them on with the cat o’ nine tails, and he’s not beating
even the strong and healthy slaves. But soon they’ll be moving much faster.
They will need no guards. The sentries, too, will become slaves. Here is how
we can achieve this. Today at sunset, let the heralds issue the pharaoh’s de-
cree, which will declare: “With the dawn of the new day, all slaves will be
granted complete freedom. For each stone that he delivers to the city, each
free man will receive one gold coin. The coins can be exchanged for food,
clothing, shelter, a palace in the city, and for the city itself. From this day
forward, you are free men.”
When the priests grasped the full import of what Cracy had said, one of
them, the oldest among them, uttered these words:
“You are a demon, Cracy. Your conception will enshroud a great number
