Demon Cratius
Slowly, the slaves walked one after another, each carrying a polished stone. Four lines, each one and a half kilometers long, from the stonecutters to the place where the construction of the fortress city began, were guarded. A dozen slaves relied on one armed guard warrior.
Away from the marching slaves, on top of a thirteen-meter man-made mountain of polished stones, sat Cratius, one of the high priests; for four months silently watched what was happening. No one distracted him, no one, even with a glance, dared to interrupt his thoughts. Slaves and guards perceived the artificial mountain with a throne on top as an integral part of the landscape. And no one paid any attention to the person, now sitting motionless on the throne, now walking along the platform on the top of the mountain.
Cratius set himself the task of rebuilding the state, strengthening the power of the priests for a millennium, subordinating all the people of the Earth to them, making them all, including the rulers of states, slaves of the priests.
One day, Cratius went downstairs, leaving his double on the throne. The priest changed clothes, took off his wig. He ordered his chief of the guard to chain him, Cratia, like a simple slave, and put him in line behind a young and strong slave named Nard.
Looking into the faces of the slaves, Cratius noticed that this young man had an inquisitive and evaluating look, and not a wandering or detached one, like many. Nardâs face was either concentrated, thoughtful, or excited. So heâs hatching some plan of his own, the priest realized, but he wanted to be sure how accurate his observation was.
For two days, Cratius watched Nard, silently carrying stones, sat next to him during the meal and slept next to him on the bunk. On the third night, as soon as the command âSleepâ was received, Cratius turned to the young slave and in a whisper, with bitterness and despair, uttered a question addressed to someone incomprehensibly:
Will it continue like this for the rest of your life?
The priest saw: the young slave shuddered and instantly turned around to face the priest, his eyes shining. They sparkled even in the dim light of the burners of the big barracks.
âIt wonât be like this for long. Iâm thinking of a plan. And you, old man, can also take part in it,â the young slave whispered.
- Whatâs the plan? the priest asked indifferently and with a sigh.
Nard passionately and confidently began to explain:
âAnd you, old man, and I, and all of us will soon be free people, not slaves. You count, old man: for every ten slaves there is one guard. And fifteen slaves who cook food and sew clothes are also watched by one guard. If at the appointed hour we all attack the guard, we will defeat it. Let the guards be armed, and we be in chains. There are ten of us each, and the chains can also be used as weapons, exposing them to the blow of the sword. We will disarm all the guards, tie them up and take possession of the weapons.
âOh, young man,â Cratius sighed again and, as if indifferently, said, âyour plan is not well thought out: the guards who are watching us can be disarmed, but soon the ruler will send new ones, maybe even a whole army, and kill the rebellious slaves.
âI thought about that too, old man. We must choose a time when there will be no army. And this time is coming. We all see how the army is being prepared for the march. Provisions are being prepared for a three-month journey. This means that in three months the army will come to the appointed place and enter the battle. In the battle, she will weaken, but she will win, she will capture many new slaves. New barracks are already being built for them. We must begin to disarm the guards as soon as our rulerâs army enters battle with another army. It will take the messengers a month to deliver a message for an immediate return. The weakened army will return for at least three months. In four months we will be able to prepare for the meeting. We will be no less than the soldiers in the army. The captured slaves will want to be with us when they see what happened. I got it right, old man.
âYes, young man, with a plan, with your thoughts, you can disarm the guards and defeat the army,â the priest answered already encouragingly and added: âbut then what will the slaves do, and what will happen to the rulers, guards and soldiers?
-
I thought about it a little. And while one thing comes to mind: all who were slaves will not become slaves. All those who are not slaves today will be slaves, - as if thinking aloud, Nard answered not quite confidently.
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And the priests? Tell me, young man, to the slaves or not the slaves of the priests, when you win, will rank priests ?
â Priests? I didnât think about that either. But now I suppose: let the priests remain as they are. They are listened to by slaves, rulers. Although it is sometimes difficult to understand them, I think they are harmless. Let them talk about the gods, but we ourselves know our own life, how best to live.
âItâs betterâitâs good,â the priest replied, and pretended to be terribly sleepy.
But Cratius did not sleep that night. He thought. âOf course,â Cratius thought, âthe easiest way is to inform the ruler about the plot, and they will seize the young slave, he is clearly the main inspirer for others. But that wonât solve the problem. The desire for liberation from slavery will always be among the slaves. New leaders will appear, new plans will be developed, and if so, the main threat to the state will always be present inside the state. Cratius was faced with the task of developing a plan for the enslavement of the whole world. He understood that it would not be possible to achieve the goal with the help of physical violence alone. It is necessary to have a psychological impact on each person, on entire nations. It is necessary to transform human thought, to inspire everyone: slavery is the highest good. It is necessary to launch a self-developing program that will disorient entire nations in space, time and concepts. But the most important thing is in an adequate perception of reality. Cratiaâs thought worked faster and faster, he stopped feeling the body, the heavy shackles on his arms and legs. And suddenly, like a flash of lightning, a program appeared. Not yet detailed and inexplicable, but already felt and burning with its scale. Cratius felt himself the sole ruler of the world.
The priest lay on the bunk, shackled, and admired himself: âTomorrow morning, when everyone is taken to work, I will give a signal, and the head of the guard will order me to be taken out of the line of slaves, to remove the shackles. I detail my program, say a few words, and the world will begin to change. Incredible! Just a few words - and the whole world will obey me, my thought. God really gave man a power that has no equal in the universe, this power is human thought. It produces words and changes the course of history. An unusually fortunate situation has developed. The slaves prepared a plan for an uprising. It is rational, this plan, and it can obviously lead to a positive intermediate result for them. But with just a few phrases, I will force not only them, but also the descendants of todayâs slaves, and even the rulers of the earth, to be slaves for thousands of years to come.
In the morning, at a sign from Cratia, the head of the guard removed the shackles from Cratia. And the very next day, the other five priests and the pharaoh were invited to his observation platform.
Cratius began his speech before the assembled:
âWhat you are about to hear should not be written down or retold by anyone. There are no walls around us, and no one but you will hear my words. I came up with a way to turn all people living on Earth into slaves of our pharaoh. To do this, even with the help of numerous troops and exhausting wars, is impossible. But I will do it in a few sentences. Only two days will pass after they are pronounced, and you will see how the world will begin to change. Look: below, long lines of chained slaves carry one stone at a time. They are guarded by many soldiers. The more slaves, the better for the state - thatâs what we always thought. But the more slaves, the more one has to fear their rebellion. Weâre beefing up security. We have to feed our slaves well, otherwise they will not be able to do hard physical work. But they are still lazy and rebellious. See how slowly they move, and the lazy guards do not drive them with whips and do not beat them, even healthy and strong slaves. But they will move much faster. They donât need guards. The guards will also turn into slaves. You can do something like this.
Today, before sunset, let the heralds spread the decree of the pharaoh, which will say: âWith the dawn of a new day, complete freedom is granted to all slaves. For each stone delivered to the city, a free person will receive one coin. Coins can be exchanged for food, clothes, housing, a palace in the city, and the city itself. From now on you are free people.
When the priests realized what Cratius had said, one of them, the oldest in age, said:
âYou are a demon, Cratius. The multitude of earthly peoples conceived by you will be covered with demonism.
âLet me be a demon, and let people call what I have conceived democracy in the future.
The decree was announced to the slaves at sunset, they were amazed, and many did not sleep at night, thinking about a new happy life.
In the morning of the next day, the priests and the pharaoh again climbed to the platform of the artificial mountain. The picture presented to their eyes was amazing. Thousands of people, former slaves, raced to drag the same stones as before. Drenched in sweat, many carried two stones. Others, who had one each, fled, kicking up dust. Some of the guards were also carrying stones. People who considered themselves free - after all, the shackles were removed from them - sought to get as many coveted coins as possible in order to build their happy life.
Kratiy spent a few more months on his site, watching with satisfaction what was happening below.
And the changes were huge. Some of the slaves united in small groups, built carts and, loaded to the top with stones, sweating, pushed these carts.
âThey will invent many more devices,â Cratius thought to himself with satisfaction, ânow internal services have already appeared: peddlers of water and food.â
Some of the slaves ate right on the go, not wanting to waste time on the road to the hut for eating, and paid with the coins they received.
âWow, and the doctors appeared with them: right on the go they provide assistance to the victims, and also for coins. And the traffic controllers were chosen. Soon they will choose their own bosses, judges. Let them choose: after all, they consider themselves free, but the essence has not changed, they still drag stones ⌠"
And so they run through the millennia, in the dust, drenched in sweat, dragging heavy stones. And today the descendants of those slaves continue their senseless run.
Author Vladimir Megre. Translate Google.
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