Suddenly, Faustroll caught up with Davis.
“We don’t leap to quick conclusions,” he said, “or even walk to them. But it seems to us that those workers are trying to fill the River. They’re not having much success at it.”
“Building a dam,” Davis said. He quickened his pace.
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Philip Jos£ Farmer
CROSSING THE DARK RIVER
11
“Ivar and that other fool across the River, King Arpad, plan to dam the stream with all those blocks of stone if it takes them a hundred years. Then they’ll be able to keep any boats from slipping through past the guards at night. They’ll also tax the merchant boats going up and down the River past this point. Also, Ivar thinks that he’ll be able to cut through the mountains to the other side of the Valley. He’ll invade the state on the other side and rule it. And the tunnel will be a conduit for trade from the other side. Ivar also has this dream that the tunneling will reveal large deposits of iron.
“Pride goeth before a fall. He’ll suffer the fate of the arrogant Nimrod, who built the Tower of Babel thinking that he could conquer the hosts of Heaven.”
“How can they cut granite with flint tools?” Faustroll said.
“They can’t. But this area was blessed—or cursed— with underground deposits of copper and tin. The only such for thousands of miles either way from here. Ivar and his army of Vikings and Franks grabbed this land three years ago, and that’s why he has bronze tools and weapons.”
Going up the hill, they heard a loud explosion as rock was blasted with black gunpowder. When they stopped at the top, they heard a loud clanging. Beyond the shallow valley below them was a higher hill on top of which was a large round tower of granite blocks. Circling it at its base was a moat.
Below the two in the valley were the smithies, the molds, and great chunks of tin- and copper-bearing ore and the round bamboo huts with cone-shaped and leaf-thatched roofs in which the workers lived. The din, heat, and stench rolled over the two men in a nauseating wave.
“Men have brought Hell from Earth to this fair place,” Faustroll said. “They should be seeking spiritual progress, not material gain and conquest. That, we believe, is why we were placed in this purgatory. Of course, without the science of pataphysics, they won’t get far in their quest.
“On the other hand, left or right, we don’t know, it may all be accidental. But accidental doesn’t necessarily mean meaningless.”
Davis snorted his contempt for this remark.
“And just what is pataphysics?” he said.
“Our friend and fellow doctor, let us charge through the breach created by our conversation and assault the definition of pataphysics. It is an almost impossible task since it can’t be explained in nonpataphysical terms.
“Pataphysics is the science of the realm beyond metaphysics. It lies as far beyond the metaphysics as metaphysics lies beyond physics—in one direction or another, or perhaps still another.
“Pataphysics is the science of the particular, of laws governing exceptions. You follow us so far?”
Davis only rolled his eyes.
“Pataphysics, pay attention, this may be the heart of the matter, pataphysics is the science of imaginary solutions. But only imaginary solutions are real.”
Davis grunted as if struck a soft blow in the stomach.
“For pataphysics, all things are equal,” Faustroll continued. “Pataphysics is, in aspect, imperturbable.
“And this, too, is the heart of the matter, one of them anyway. That is, all things are pataphysical. Yet few people practice pataphysics.”
“You expect me to understand that?” Davis said.
“Not at once. Perhaps never. Now, the last castle to be
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Philip Jos6 Fanner
CROSSING THE DARK RIVER
13
conquered. Beyond pataphysics lies nothing. It is the ultimate defense.”
“Which means?”
Faustroll ignored that question. He said, “It allows each man or woman to live his own life as an exception, proving no law but his own.”
“Anarchy? You’re an anarchist?”
“Look about you. This world was made for anarchy. We don’t need any government except self-government. Yet men won’t permit us to be anarchists—so far.”