Study of Beelzebub's Tales

Chapter.Page

Darthelhlustnian

 

30 Art

30.483

“Well, then, two of the participants would always come upon these ‘reflectors-of-reality’ or stages, first; and then usually one of them stood for a while and, as it were, listened to his own what is called ‘Darthelhlustnian’ state, or, as it is sometimes otherwise said, to the state of his own inner ‘associative-general-psychic-experiencings.’

30.483

“Listening in this way, he would make it clear to his Reason, for instance, that the sum total of his associating experiencings emerged in the form of an urgent inclination to hit another being in the face, the sight of whom had always served as the cause for the beginning of the association of those series of impressions present in him which had always evoked in his general psyche disagreeable experiencings offensive to his own self-consciousness.

30.483

“Let us suppose that these disagreeable experiencings always proceeded in him when he saw someone who was then called ‘Irodohahoon,’ which professional there contemporary beings now call a ‘policeman’!

30.483

“Having then made this Darthelhlustnian psychic state and inclination of his clear to his Reason, but at the same time being on the one hand well aware that in the existing conditions of external social existence it was impossible for him to gratify his inclination to the full, and, on the other hand, being already perfected by Reason and being well aware of his dependence on the automatic functioning of the other parts of his common presence, he clearly understands that on the gratification of this inclination of his depends the fulfillment of some imminent and important being-duty of his, of great importance to those around him; and having thought over everything in this way, he decides to gratify this urgent inclination of his as best he can by at least doing a ‘moral injury’ to that Irodohahoon by evoking in him associations that would lead to unpleasant experiencings.

30.483-4

“With this object in view, he turns to the other learned being who has come onto the stage with him, and treating him now as an Irodohahoon or policeman, he would say:

30.484

“‘Hi! you! Don’t-you-know-your-duty? Don’t-you-see-that-there…?’ pointing with his hand at that moment in the direction of another small room of the club where were the other participants of the demonstrations of that day, ‘Two-citizens-a-“soldier”-and-a-“cobbler”-are-fighting-in-the-street-and-disturbing-the-public-peace-and-here-you-are-leisurely-strolling-about-imagining-yourself-God-knows-who-and-leering-at-the-passing-wives-of-honest-and-respectable-citizens!-Just-you-wait-you-scamp!-Through-my-chief-the-city’s-chief-physician-I-shall-report-to-your-chief-your-negligence-and-breach-of-duty!’

30.484

“From that moment, the learned being who had spoken would become a physician, because he had chanced to call his chief the head physician of the city, while the second learned being whom the former had called a policeman would assume the role of a policeman. Two other participating learned beings were then immediately called from the other room by the one who assumed the role of policeman, and they assumed the roles of cobbler and soldier respectively.

30.484

“And these two latter learned beings assumed and had to manifest themselves in just those roles, namely, one in the role of a soldier and the other in the role of a cobbler, only because the first learned being, having himself in accordance with his Darthelhlustnian state assumed the role of a physician, had called them soldier and cobbler respectively.