The First “Growl”

“No sooner said than done.

“And from that very day he ‘wiseacred’ away at his new ‘Gospel.’ But it was only when he had finished it, however, and had given it to the printers, that all the further events connected with this new ‘Gospel’ of his began.

“At any other time, nothing perhaps would have happened, and this new ‘Gospel’ of his would simply have slipped into its niche in the libraries of the bibliomaniacs there, among the multitudes of other books expounding similar ‘truths.’

“But fortunately or unfortunately for this writer, it happened that certain ‘power-possessing’ beings of that great community in which he existed had just been having rotten luck at what is called ‘roulette’ and ‘baccarat’ and they therefore kept on demanding what they called ‘money’ from the ordinary beings of their community, whereupon, thanks to these inordinate demands for money, the ordinary beings of that community at length awoke from their usual what is called torpor and ‘began-to-sit-up.’

Seeing this, the ‘power-possessing’ beings who remained at home became alarmed and took corresponding ‘measures.’

“And among the ‘measures’ they took was also the immediate destruction from off the face of their planet of everything newly arising in their native land, such as could possibly keep the ordinary beings of their community from resuming their hibernation.

“And it was just at this time that the aforementioned ‘Gospel’ of this writer appeared.

“In the contents of this new ‘Gospel’ also, the ‘power-possessing’ beings found something which also to their understanding might keep the ordinary beings of their community from hibernating again; and they therefore decided almost immediately to ‘get rid’ of both the writer himself and his ‘Gospel’—because they had now become quite expert in ‘getting rid’ of these native ‘upstarts’ who did not mind their own business.

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