And it is told how once...
...the earth swayed in deep quiet...
...swayed in deep silence, r ested in stillness...
...softly r ocking, and lay ther e, lonely and void.
And this is the first testimony...
...the first word.
Ther e was no man...
... nor beast, fowl, fish, crab, tr ee...
...stone, cave, gorge, grass-tuft, nor bush...
Only the heavens wer e ther e.
lnvisible was the face of the earth.
Only the seas gather ed under the firmament...
That was all.
Nothing was ther e to take form...
...or become audible...
... nothing to move, trickle...
...or rush under the firmament.
Ther e was only the nothingness.
Only the waters gather ed together...
...only the sea lay calmly ther e, one single surging sea.
Truly nothing was ther e, which might otherwise have existed.
Only the cr eatr ess was ther e and the cr eator...
...the Mighty and Cucumatz, Herself, the child-bear er...
...and the begetter of sons wer e ther e upon the unfathomable waters.
Omniscient and omnipotent was their essence.
And likewise ther e 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...
...wher e ther e was darkness and night...
...and talked to the Mighty and to Cucumatz.
And they talked and bethought themselves...
...and consider ed car efully, took council among themselves...
...and br ought their words and considerations into accord.
Ther e emerged fr om their plans the dawning of a light...
...and the conception of man.
And then they ponder ed the spr outing, the gr owing of tr ees and cr eepers...
...the springing up of life...
...and the cr eation of mankind in darkness and night.
...on the str ength 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 gr een-lightning.
By these thr ee is the ''Heart of Heaven'' encompassed.
And they came to the Mighty and to Cucumatz...
...and consider ed light and life...
''ln 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 fr om the earth!
Let ther e 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 ther e is no splendor nor r enown, nor glory...
... in this, our work, our cr eation...
... lest man be built, man be cr eated.''
Thus spake they.
And earth was cr eated by them.
Y es indeed, thus it came forth.
So that earth might come forth they said...
...''Earth'', and at once it appear ed.
Mer ely like a cloud, like unto a haze when it first took shape...
... in its first manifestation.
Then the mountains wer e heard rising out of the waters...
...and they wer e majestic instanter.
And Cucumatz r ejoiced...
...''lt was good that thou camest down unto us...
...thou 'Heart of Heaven', thou Huracan...
...thou Tom-thumb-lightning, thou gr een-lightning!''
''Our cr eation and our work will be well-made,'' spake they.
Earth, the mountains, the plains thus came forth.
And everywher e the courses of the rivers wer e set...
They meander ed and wound...
...at the foot of the mountains and between them.
Well-parted the rivers wer e...
...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 for ests, the inhabitants of the mountains...
...the stag, fowl, puma, and jaguar...
...the snake, rattle-snake, and viper, the wards of the cr eepers.
And the child-bear er and the begetter of the sons spake...
''Shall it be all void...
...shall it be all still under the tr ees and cr eepers?
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 wer e 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...
... her e thou shalt dwell, betwixt grass-bushels and herbs.
ln the for ests shalt thou multiply!
Let it be so !'' they said unto them.
Then the small birds and the big birds r eceived their abode...
''Y e birds of the tr ee-tops and the cr eepers...
... may ye dwell and nest her e !
Her e may ye br eed and multiply on the branches of the tr ees...
...and on the tendrils and cr eepers.''
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 r esting place.
ln this manner, the child-bear er 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 wer e told by the cr eatr ess and the cr eator...
... by the child-bear er and the begetter of sons...
''Speak orderly...
...do not clamor or shout without sense...
...speak coher ently...
...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 cr eatr ess and cr eator heard...
...that they failed to speak as human beings do...
...they said to each other...
''They have not in the least master ed the calling of our names...
...although we ar e their constructors and their cr eators.
That is not in order.''
Ther efor e the cr eatr ess and the cr eator...
...essayed once mor e...
...to build living beings, to make moving cr eatur es.
''Without fail let us try anew!''
Time dr ew 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 cr eatr ess and the cr eator...
...the flesh of woman was made of r eed-grass marr ow.
But still the cr eatur es wer e without sense...
...they spake not befor e the face of their cr eatr ess and their cr eator...
...who made them, who formed them.
And so wer e they destr oyed, dr owned.
For their sakes, the face of the earth was darkened.
Ther e r eigned a rain-darkness...
... pelting-rain by day, and pelting-rain by night.
Small beasts and big beasts flocked together.
Tr ees and r ocks 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 befor e them.
ln this manner the second destruction of the beings formed...
...or cr eated like man took place...
...of the beings which ar e doomed to perish, to fall.
They wer e extinguished...
...they wer e all, r oot and branch, destr oyed.
Now ''Flying Robert'' appears small at the horizon...
... umbr ella in hand, his hair teased by the wind...
...wet-thr ough and shaken...
... rigid and sad like no other.
ln Paradise you cr oss the sand without seeing your shadow.
Ther e is a landscape even without deeper meaning.
Paradise is available to everybody.
ln Paradise only God is looking on.
Ther e you cr oss the sand without seeing your face.
Ther e is landscape even without deeper meaning.
The gates of Paradise ar e open to everybody.
Ther e, works ar e inspected which no one would do.
Ther e you dig holes without stumbling on man.
Ther e you slake lime and ar e chosen for this task by the rich.
Ther e, men cast a shadow in spite of the scorching sun.
Afterwards rar e animals wer e seen ther e.
l only have 16 years left...
...to explor e how these monitors...
...can endur e 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, ar e hidden away in their burr ows in the sand.
They ar e generally large pr edators.
Which you can see by the many flies which ar e gathering her e.
l've alr eady been away fr om Germany for 15 years.
Dear Eugen, we have r eceived your letter very much. How ar e you?
How's life in the hot country?
How ar e you? lsn't it too hot ther e?
When ar e you coming back?
Y es, l am coming back.
A dime.
Five bucks or nothing.
Well, ther e ar e certain species...
...of fat tailed sheep which we count on a lot.
They can endur e such incr edible temperatur es...
...of appr oximately 122°F and 140°F.
But ther e ar e only a few.
Some birds ar e able to cool down by taking flight.
But otherwise, you hardly find any life her e.
The desert doesn't make it easy to catch these animals.
For days you have to march thr ough the dunes and the wind...
...to find the monitors.
lndividual animals run away at incr edible speeds...
...and try to escape into their burr ows.
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?
ln Paradise r oasted pigeons fly dir ectly into your mouth.
Ther e you enjoy yourself without being forced to.
Ther e, enjoyment means obligation.
ln enjoyment, man finds himself in Paradise.
The ''Blitzkrieg'' is insanity.
ln Paradise even gentiles move mountains.
Ther e, wars ar e pr evented by mothers.
Ther e you expect her ons fr om the left.
ln Paradise ruins mean happiness.
Ther e you find gates without borders.
ln Paradise plane-wr ecks have been distributed in the desert in advance.
Ther e the landscape is as God has commanded it to be.
ln Paradise you call ''hello'' without seeing anybody.
Ther e you quarr el with strangers to avoid having friends.
ln Paradise man is born dead.
While you ar e sleeping...
...acids gnaw and leeches suck at the tuna-fish.
While you ar e dr eaming, an apple fr om a tr ee falls onto your br ow.
While you ar e waiting, trains br eak in two...
...you br eathe softly, as though you wer e dead.
While you r ecline...
...car elessly str ewn stars look out into space.
While you ar e sleeping...
...God softly walks over the fields with Maria.
ln the Golden Age, man and wife live in harmony.
Now, for ex ample, they appear befor e 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 r ewarding.
Unforgettable, however, r emains a jump fr om the light-house.
ln the Golden Age traces of Paradise can still be discerned.
Her e, for ex ample, a boat once landed.
Furiously the waves beat against the shor e.
ln the backgr ound, smoke is rising, that is to say...
... not even worse than you expected.
Stones that wer e cast do not r eturn by themselves.
ln the Golden Age, man does not forget to pray...
... lest God's end be uncomely.
Mor e than by death, even, blessing, and curses...
... man is perturbed by smoke over the world.
Beneath the earth the childr en have found a fir e.
And now the par ents wish suddenly to r eturn to houses of stone.
That's enough, even one of these thoughts would have done.
...and yet, you'r e forcing harvests fr om 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 her e, as soon as we turn to the right...
...the visitor's joy is gone.
The view is horrifying, and almost silence is necessary.
Pr epar ed for something, we ask ourselves...
...''Wher e ar e we going?'' And silence is the answer.
We'r e gliding thr ough 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 vigor ous plant gr owth...
...that we ar e forcing fr om the earth.
What can we learn fr om the turtle?
She has four fins which she uses to move forward.
She has a hard shell and a hard belly.
Her e she has the head with the mouth wher e she eats.
And she has a r ear end wher e it comes out again.
l'm going to get her again.
Ther e is nothing like the Peace of the Golden Age...
War is pr oclaimed dead by Peace.
Nothing is gr eat as the sand...
Nothing is gr eat as the Peace.
The land is entranced with Peace.