OF THE BATTLES OF THE GODS FOR THE DOMINION OF THE EARTH AND THE LOWEST HEAVENS; AND THESE WERE CALLED BATTLES OF A THOUSAND YEARS
.1. DE'YUS was no slow hand; not a dull God. He had two thousand seven hundred years' experience, and his soul quick and strong in mighty works. He rushed not in without first measuring the way, most deliberately and in great wisdom.
2. At first he felt his way along, to humor the populace, doing as if by proxy Jehovih's commands, till safely fell into his dominion and power his flattered Gods and officers, then boldly launching forth: I, the Lord God, command!
3. The very audaciousness of which overtopped his friends' judgment, and made them believe for a fact that De'yus was the foremost and greatest, mighty God. To do whose will, and reverently applaud his name, was the surest road to home laurels.
4. To win great majesty to himself, and after having sworn to havoc the whole earth in order to establish the name De'yus, and Lord God, he called to his side his five chiefest friends: p. 393 the Gods, Hikas, falsely named Te-in; Wotchissij, falsely named Sudga; Che-le-mung, falsely named Osiris; Baal, and Ashtaroth. And thus in dignity De'yus spake to them:
5. It is well, my Gods, ye stand about and see the battles; but let your generals and high captains go forth and mingle in the bloody work. In your kingdoms be constantly upraising your magnificence, and in times sallying forth to the earth valiantly, as when kings and queens and prophets are to win a victory, or be plunged into mortal death, to show how your august presence turned the tide of battle. Then hie ye back in dignity to your thrones, leaving your officers and inspiring hosts to go in the game of mortal tragedy.
6. Then spake Osiris, falsely named, saying: To exalt thy name, O De'yus, thou Lord God; and to persuade mortals that thou, of all created beings, can stand in Hored, and by thy will control the victory to whomsoever applaudeth thee and praiseth thy name, be thou to me the bond of my solemn oath, so will I lose or win battles on the earth accordingly as they shall honor thee and despise the Great Spirit, or any other God or Lord.
7. Then Te-in, also falsely named, said: To keep mortals in constant war for a thousand years; to teach them that battles are won or lost according to the loudest call and praise to thee, O De'yus, under thy thigh will I be as an oath renewed from everlasting to everlasting.
8. Sudga, the false, said: By all my parts, to shape the arms and legs of the unborn in comeliness, shall my legions drum into the ears of enceinte women a thousand years, swearing them to thy name, O De'yus; or, if refusing, to curse with crookedness all their progeny. And when these mothers sleep, my legions shall find their souls in their dreams, and give them delight or torment, accordingly as they, when awake, applaud thee, my most might Lord God.
9. Baal said: To overturn the oracles of Jehovih, and to make the prophets and seers receive and announce thy name, O'De'yus, thou Lord God of heaven and earth, have I already sworn more than ten thousand oaths.
10. Ashtaroth said: The work of my legions shall be to deal death to thy enemies, O De'yus. To them that raise the name Jehovih, or Ormazd, or Great Spirit, my legions shall carry foul smells to their noses whilst they sleep. And for thy enemies, who may win a battle against thy people, my legions shall carry inoculation from the rotten dead; in the air shall they carry the virus to the breath of them that will not bow down to the name, Lord God!
11. De'yus answered them, saying: So spoken, so shall these things be; I, the Lord your God, command. Send forth your generals and high captains thus decreed; to each and every one sufficient armies to make patent these, our high resolves. Into three great armies shall my legions be divided for the earth battles: one to Jaffeth, one to Vind'yu, and one to Arabin'ya and the regions lying west and north. Of the latter, thou, Osiris, shalt have chief command; and thou, Baal, and thou, Ashtaroth, ye twain, so linked in love and one purpose, shall be the earth managers to Osiris' will. For your efficient service, behold, I have given you these high-raised generals and captains: Jah, Pluton-ya, Apollo-ya, Petoris, Hi-ram, T'cro-no, Egupt, Ares, Yube, Ali-jah, Afro-dite, Ar-ti-mis, Ben, Aa-ron, Argo, Atstsil, Nadar and Oyeb, besides Peter, Yact-ta-roth, Haur, Abel, Said, Josh and Wab, who shall be the conquering spirits to play on both sides in battles, urging stubborn mortals on to religious feud till both sides fall in death, or till one, to me and my Gods, boweth down in fear and reverence. And they shall sing their names in mortal ears day and night, and teach them to live in praise of the Lord, your God, the De'yus of heaven and earth, and to be most daring in the overthrow of Jehovih, most hated of Gods.
12. To thee, Te-in, another third of my legions is committed, to deal with the land of giants, and urge them on in the same way, to greatness or to death, doing honor and reverence to me and my kingdoms. High raised are thy generals: Wah-ka, Ho-jou-ya, Oke-ya-nos, Thu-wowth, Haing-le, Gochin-woh-to-gow, and Eurga-roth, besides Yam-yam, Hi-rack-to, Kacan-cat, Isaah, Lutz-rom and Le-Wiang, and others of high grade and power.
13. And to thee, O Sudga, in like manner have I given another third of my legions to play battles with mortals for a thousand years. Like Osiris and Te-in, to set mortals up in war, and move them one way and then another, and thus plunge them into each other's bloody arms and death. That they may learn to know of a truth they are but machines and playthings in the hands of angels and Gods; that they are worked like clay in a potter's hand, till they cry out: Enough! I will bow my head to God, who is Lord over all, p. 394 great De'yus. Yea, more, I will fight for him and drink even my brother's blood, if De'yus but prosper me and mine in slaying Faithists, fool-worshippers of Ormazd, the Unseen and Scattered Wind. To him, in likeness of a man, with head, and legs, and arms in boundary and size of a man, sitting on a throne in Hored; to him, the great Lord God, will I ever bow in reverence.
14. And thou, O Sudga, shalt play war in Vind'yu, with the most, highest learned people of the earth. For which purpose thou shalt have these, my high-raised generals and captains: Asij, Gaeya, Naiswichi, Samen, Yube, Sol Mung-jo, Don, Hefa-yis-tie, Lowtha, Daridrat, Udan, Brihat, Bogir, Eshong, Weel, Vanaiti, Plowya, Vazista, Kiro, Cpenista, Visper, Cpenta-mainyus and Urvasta, and many others, most determined to rescue the earth from the dominion of far-off Gods.
15. De'yus continued: Go forth, ye Gods, and in majesty build your thrones; in great splendor ornament your high places, that even the magnificence shall be as a million preachers' tongues proclaiming the heavens' well-chosen Gods. And as fast as mortals fall in battle, gather the spirits of the dead into groups, not suffering them for pity's sake to lie in chaos, but bring them to your kingdoms in easy riding ships. And when thus housed, apply your physicians and nurses diligently, to restore them to their senses and new condition; and when they wake up in heavens, beholding the great glory of your thrones and kingdoms, initiate them by solemn rites and ceremonies to sworn servitude to yourselves and to me, your Lord God, to inherit such bounteous kingdoms.
16. And as ye shall thus despoil those of earth, to make them know my power and yours, so shall ye pursue those newly-arrived in heaven, to make them swear solemnly against Jehovih, the Great Spirit, the Ormazd, and against all other Gods; but if they stubbornly refuse, though in heaven, even as they did on earth, take them before my son, Anubi, who shall further examine them; but if still they refuse, Anubi, with his strong guard and brands of fire, shall send them down in hell.
17. I, the Lord God, have spoken; my commandments are gone forth in heaven and earth; whosoever praiseth and glorifieth me, with everlasting service for the exaltation and glory of my kingdoms, shall enter into everlasting happiness; but whosoever will not bow down to me shall be cast into everlasting torments.