From: matthew.malthouse@guardian.co.uk
Date: Tue, 19 Nov 2002 18:56:13 +0000
Subject: Re: (urth) Quetzal's Story of Creation




On 19/11/2002 18:16:53 Charles Reed wrote:

>Hello all.
>
>This recent talk about Quetzal and when he came aboard the Whorl, etc.
>got me to re-reading a few things, one of which was his accounting of
>the Adam and Eve story to Patera Remora at the beginning of CALDE.  It
>struck me -- "and it struck me indeed, so that I staggered as at a blow"
>:-) -- was that Quetzal was not only recounting the Garden of Eden
>story, but was in fact recounting his own species' story of creation!
>
>It's not too long, so read it again:
>
>      "You must recall the story, Patera."  Quetzal swayed from
>   side to side, perhaps with silent mirth.  "A-man and Wo-man
>   like rabbits in a garden.  The -- what do you call them?"
>   He held up a thin, blue-veined hand, palm cupped.
>      "A cobra, Your Cognizance?"
>      "The cobra persuaded Wo-man to eat fruit from his tree,
>   miraculous fruit whose taste conferred wisdom."
>      Remora nodded, wondering how he might reintroduce the
>   springs.  "I recollect the -- um -- allegory."
>      Quetzal nodded more vigorously, a wise teacher proffering
>   praise to a small boy.  "It's all in the Writings.  Or nearly
>   all.  A god called Ah Lah barred Wo-man and her husband from
>   the garden."  He ceased to speak, apparently wandering among
>   thoughts.  "We seem to have lost sight of Ah Lah, by the way.
>   I can't recall a single sacrifice to him.  No one ever asks
>   why the cobra wanted Wo-man to eat his fruit."
>      "From sheer, er, wickedness, Your Cognizance?  That is
>   what I had always supposed."
>      Quetzal swayed faster, his face solemn.  "In order that she
>   would climb his tree, Patera.  The man likewise.  Their story's
>   not over because they haven't climbed down."
>
>Obviously, Adam and Eve.
>
>But consider another interpretation:  the inhumi (before the Whorl came)
>can be seen as the "rabbits in the garden" -- i.e., the stupid, mindless
>beasts that they were.  Somehow they discovered a certain miraculous
>fruit (humanity) that if eaten conferred wisdom (raised them out of
>their ignorant, beastlike lives and gave them minds).  The god Ah Lah
>(the true God of Gods, the Outsider) barred them from the garden -- that
>is, they could not revert to their innocent, beastlike selves after
>tasting such wisdom but felt compelled to seek more of it out.  The
>inhumi then climbed the tree (i.e., ascended to the Whorl) so that they
>could continue partaking of such miraculous fruit.  The Plan of Pas
>being put on hold, they haven't been able to come down yet.
>
>Anyway, this idea has probably been posted here before, but I couldn't
>remember seeing it and a quick search through the archives didn't yield
>anything, so if I'm bringing up something that everybody has already
>figured out, please forgive.  I just thought it was cool, cool, cool
>that the story could serve as the creation story for both humanity and
>the inhumu.
>
>Whadya think?

And what's with Quetzal swaying?  Cobra-like....


Matthew



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