And it is told how once . . .
. . .the earth swayed in deep quiet. . .
. . . swayed in deep silence , rested in stillness. . .
. . . softly rocking , and lay there , lonely and void .
And this is the first testimony. . .
. . .the first word .
There was no man . . .
. . . nor beast, fowl , fish , crab, tree . . .
. . . stone , cave , gorge , grass-tuft, nor bush . . .
Only the heavens were there .
l nvisible was the face of the earth .
Only the seas gathered under the firmament. . .
That was all .
Nothing was there to take form . . .
. . . or become audible . . .
. . . nothing to move , trickle . . .
. . . or rush under the firmament.
There was only the nothingness.
Only the waters gathered together. . .
. . . only the sea lay calmly there , one single surging sea .
Truly nothing was there , which might otherwise have existed .
Only the creatress was there and the creator. . .
. . .the Mighty and Cucumatz, Herself, the child-bearer. . .
. . . and the begetter of sons were there upon the unfathomable waters.
Omniscient and omnipotent was their essence .
And likewise there truly was Heaven . . .
. . . and also the ''Heart of Heaven'' . . .
. . .this is the name of the God . . .
. . .this is how He is named .
And his word came thither. . .
. . . unto the Mighty and to Cucumatz. . .
. . .where there was darkness and night. . .
. . . and talked to the Mighty and to Cucumatz.
And they talked and bethought themselves. . .
. . . and considered carefully, took council among themselves. . .
. . . and brought their words and considerations into accord .
There emerged from their plans the dawning of a light. . .
. . . and the conception of man .
And then they pondered the sprouting , the growing of trees and creepers. . .
. . .the springing up of life . . .
. . . and the creation of mankind in darkness and night.
. . . on the strength of Him , who is the ''Heart of Heaven'' . . .
. . . and whose name is Huracan .
Huracan-flash-of-lightning is his first appearance . . .
. . .the second is Tom-thumb-lightning . . .
. . .the third , at last, is green-lightning .
By these three is the ''Heart of Heaven'' encompassed .
And they came to the Mighty and to Cucumatz. . .
. . . and considered light and life . . .
''l n what manner shall life be sown . . .
. . . and how shall light shine?
Who shall be our ward and keeper?
O that it may come to pass!
This thou shalt ponder!
Recede o ye waters, abate ye from the earth !
Let there be earth and her union . . .
. . . and she shall become level . . .
. . . so that life can be sown . . .
. . . so that light shall be in heaven and on earth .
For there is no splendor nor renown , nor glory. . .
. . . in this, our work, our creation . . .
. . . lest man be built, man be created .''
Thus spake they.
And earth was created by them .
Yes indeed , thus it came forth .
So that earth might come forth they said . . .
. . . ''Earth'' , and at once it appeared .
Merely like a cloud , like unto a haze when it first took shape . . .
. . . in its first manifestation .
Then the mountains were heard rising out of the waters. . .
. . . and they were majestic instanter.
And Cucumatz rejoiced . . .
. . . ''lt was good that thou camest down unto us. . .
. . .thou 'Heart of Heaven' , thou Huracan . . .
. . .thou Tom-thumb-lightning , thou green-lightning !''
''Our creation and our work will be well-made ,'' spake they.
Earth , the mountains, the plains thus came forth .
And everywhere the courses of the rivers were set. . .
They meandered and wound . . .
. . . at the foot of the mountains and between them .
Well-parted the rivers were . . .
. . . after the high mountains had come forth into light.
Thus came this earth into being .
And further they now thought out the beasts of the mountains. . .
. . .the keepers of all forests, the inhabitants of the mountains. . .
. . .the stag , fowl , puma , and jaguar. . .
. . .the snake , rattle-snake , and viper, the wards of the creepers.
And the child-bearer and the begetter of the sons spake . . .
''Shall it be all void . . .
. . . shall it be all still under the trees and creepers?
Would not it be wise now. . .
. . .to have somebody watch over them?'' spake they. . .
. . . bethinking themselves and taking council the one with the other.
At once the stag and the fowl were shaped . . .
. . . and now they showed the stag and the fowl their habitation . . .
''Thou , stag , shalt sleep near the course of the river, in the gorges. . .
. . . here thou shalt dwell , betwixt grass-bushels and herbs.
l n the forests shalt thou multiply!
Let it be so !'' they said unto them .
Then the small birds and the big birds received their abode . . .
''Ye birds of the tree-tops and the creepers. . .
. . . may ye dwell and nest here !
Here may ye breed and multiply on the branches of the trees. . .
. . . and on the tendrils and creepers.''
So it was told to the stags and the fowl .
Thus was the earth haunted by them . . .
. . . and each was given his bed and his resting place .
l n this manner, the child-bearer and begetter of sons. . .
. . . gave the beasts of the earth their habitation . . .
. . .thus all the stags and fowl became alive .
And the stags and fowl were told by the creatress and the creator. . .
. . . by the child-bearer and the begetter of sons. . .
''Speak orderly. . .
. . . do not clamor or shout without sense . . .
. . . speak coherently. . .
. . . everyone in his manner. . .
. . . everyone after his family. . .
. . . everyone after his kind .''
However, it came to pass that they spake . . .
. . . not as human beings would .
When the creatress and creator heard . . .
. . .that they failed to speak as human beings do . . .
. . .they said to each other. . .
''They have not in the least mastered the calling of our names. . .
. . . although we are their constructors and their creators.
That is not in order.''
Therefore the creatress and the creator. . .
. . . essayed once more . . .
. . .to build living beings, to make moving creatures.
''Without fail let us try anew!''
Time drew near for the dissemination of man and for the illumination .
''Let us build ourselves a keeper!''
The flesh of man was made of tzite-wood . . .
. . . but when woman was carved by the creatress and the creator. . .
. . .the flesh of woman was made of reed-grass marrow.
But still the creatures were without sense . . .
. . .they spake not before the face of their creatress and their creator. . .
. . .who made them , who formed them .
And so were they destroyed , drowned .
For their sakes, the face of the earth was darkened .
There reigned a rain-darkness. . .
. . . pelting-rain by day, and pelting-rain by night.
Small beasts and big beasts flocked together.
Trees and rocks cried shame upon them .
They determined to climb up the huts. . .
. . . but the huts made them tumble , and they fell .
They determined to hide in the caves. . .
. . . but the caves closed before them .
l n this manner the second destruction of the beings formed . . .
. . . or created like man took place . . .
. . . of the beings which are doomed to perish , to fall .
They were extinguished . . .
. . .they were all , root and branch , destroyed .
Now ''Flying Robert'' appears small at the horizon . . .
. . . umbrella in hand , his hair teased by the wind . . .
. . .wet-through and shaken . . .
. . . rigid and sad like no other.
l n Paradise you cross the sand without seeing your shadow.
There is a landscape even without deeper meaning .
Paradise is available to everybody.
l n Paradise only God is looking on .
There you cross the sand without seeing your face .
There is landscape even without deeper meaning .
The gates of Paradise are open to everybody.
There , works are inspected which no one would do .
There you dig holes without stumbling on man .
There you slake lime and are chosen for this task by the rich .
There , men cast a shadow in spite of the scorching sun .
Afterwards rare animals were seen there .
l only have 1 6 years left. . .
. . .to explore how these monitors. . .
. . . can endure the heat of the sun and still find food .
They live off of the few living beings that exist in this desert. . .
. . . smaller lizards and mice . . .
. . .who , in the daytime , are hidden away in their burrows in the sand .
They are generally large predators.
Which you can see by the many flies which are gathering here .
l've already been away from Germany for 1 5 years.
Dear Eugen , we have received your letter very much . How are you?
How's life in the hot country?
How are you? lsn't it too hot there?
When are you coming back?
Yes, l am coming back.
A dime .
Five bucks or nothing .
Well , there are certain species. . .
. . . of fat tailed sheep which we count on a lot.
They can endure such incredible temperatures. . .
. . . of approximately 1 22°F and 1 40°F.
But there are only a few.
Some birds are able to cool down by taking flight.
But otherwise , you hardly find any life here .
The desert doesn't make it easy to catch these animals.
For days you have to march through the dunes and the wind . . .
. . .to find the monitors.
l ndividual animals run away at incredible speeds. . .
. . . and try to escape into their burrows.
And then you have to dig them out with a shovel in this heat.
lt's not fun .
But then again , what wouldn't you do to find out about these animals?
l n Paradise roasted pigeons fly directly into your mouth .
There you enjoy yourself without being forced to .
There , enjoyment means obligation .
l n enjoyment, man finds himself in Paradise .
The ''Blitzkrieg'' is insanity.
l n Paradise even gentiles move mountains.
There , wars are prevented by mothers.
There you expect herons from the left.
l n Paradise ruins mean happiness.
There you find gates without borders.
l n Paradise plane-wrecks have been distributed in the desert in advance .
There the landscape is as God has commanded it to be .
l n Paradise you call ''hello'' without seeing anybody.
There you quarrel with strangers to avoid having friends.
l n Paradise man is born dead .
While you are sleeping . . .
. . . acids gnaw and leeches suck at the tuna-fish .
While you are dreaming , an apple from a tree falls onto your brow.
While you are waiting , trains break in two . . .
. . .you breathe softly, as though you were dead .
While you recline . . .
. . . carelessly strewn stars look out into space .
While you are sleeping . . .
. . . God softly walks over the fields with Maria .
l n the Golden Age , man and wife live in harmony.
Now, for example , they appear before the lens of the camera . . .
. . . death in their eyes, a smile on their faces, a finger in the pie .
Running , they train themselves harder and harder.
Weight-lifting , too , is rewarding .
Unforgettable , however, remains a jump from the light-house .
l n the Golden Age traces of Paradise can still be discerned .
Here , for example , a boat once landed .
Furiously the waves beat against the shore .
l n the background , smoke is rising , that is to say. . .
. . . not even worse than you expected .
Stones that were cast do not return by themselves.
l n the Golden Age , man does not forget to pray. . .
. . . lest God's end be uncomely.
More than by death , even , blessing , and curses. . .
. . . man is perturbed by smoke over the world .
Beneath the earth the children have found a fire .
And now the parents wish suddenly to return to houses of stone .
That's enough , even one of these thoughts would have done .
. . . and yet, you're forcing harvests from this mysterious soil .
lts thriving brings pain as well as joy to the field-workers.
lt's difficult not to encounter a camel on the wayside . . .
. . .typically harnessed as a pack, work, or riding animal .
Riding animal !
And here , as soon as we turn to the right. . .
. . .the visitor's joy is gone .
The view is horrifying , and almost silence is necessary.
Prepared for something , we ask ourselves. . .
. . . ''Where are we going?'' And silence is the answer.
We're gliding through the landscape and it seems as if. . .
. . .this tragic mission of strange beauty yet otherwise hell . . .
. . .will never end .
We cannot withstand this sight for long . . .
. . . and an inner voice urges us to look at the vigorous plant growth . . .
. . .that we are forcing from the earth .
What can we learn from the turtle?
She has four fins which she uses to move forward .
She has a hard shell and a hard belly.
Here she has the head with the mouth where she eats.
And she has a rear end where it comes out again .
l'm going to get her again .
There is nothing like the Peace of the Golden Age . . .
War is proclaimed dead by Peace .
Nothing is great as the sand . . .
Nothing is great as the Peace .