CHAPTER 8. GENUINE PURPOSE.

January 8, 1851.

A barely perceptible rustle in the blink of an eye cut through the completely and imperturbably, of course, until that hour, reigning deep silence in this, truly, nothing more and nothing less than significantly, but not absolutely, malachite, area—from behind the broad-leaved emerald vegetation, two human figures suddenly, with unspeakable anxiety, as if furiously wanting something at this hour, revealed their, it must be noted, very peculiar appearance to that original space: one of these figures was an unusually agitated half-naked man, while the other figure belonged to a no less naked and no less agitated woman. Unrestrainedly and wildly directing their gaze from one cardinal direction to another, these primitive people, and, it must be mentioned, they truly were so—no, not because of this or that strength of their thoughts and by no means thanks to this or that strength of their feelings, but as a result of that very, primitive, social formation, which at this hour did not allow them to think and feel otherwise—nothing less than, and truly, with unspeakable diligence, in the most crude and, importantly, demanding, as if they, truly, were nothing more and nothing less than the rulers of nature, way, they tried as soon as possible to find at least a small amount of some, of course, regardless of its nutritional value, food. Suddenly, their gaze stopped on a certain, absolutely asymmetrical, dark object, which was currently located right under their already quite dirtied from continuous action and continuous movement, muscular feet—that very peculiar object was that very natural formation, which is called by every, relatively possessing certain knowledge, representative of the human race, iron ore. Immediately, but with considerable caution, moving the aforementioned mineral from the earth's surface into their own hands, the primitive man, whose very surprising appearance in the most involuntary way awakened all kinds of thoughts about Adam, slowly brought that natural mineral formation right up to his face—striving, with the help of the sense of smell given to him by nature, to comprehend the smell of the aforementioned mineral as soon as possible, and also wishing, with the help of his completely rough tongue, to taste that object as quickly as possible, unusually inspired by his aspirations full of the most sincere and unfeigned hope, the aforementioned simple-hearted man hastily explored with his nose, as well as his tongue, certain properties and qualities, which for some reason, and very likely for something, were inherent in this formation: at that very moment, when he managed to relatively know, from certain sides, the true nature of this mineral empirically, he instantly experienced, truly, nothing more and nothing less than considerable disappointment—that material did not have a smell, nor did it have a taste. Having been significantly imbued, due to the existing properties in the discovery just made by his primitive nature, with a feeling of furious anger, that man, unconsciously emitting a certain sound that completely resembled the growl of a very unsociable animal, with considerable force and, importantly, with considerable contempt, threw the aforementioned natural material right in front of him—that formation of atoms, having acquired considerable speed, and accordingly strength, with the help of man, swiftly inflicted considerable damage on a nearby relatively flawless tree, after which, with no less haste, it plunged down, to the green-faced earth: it must be admitted that the aforementioned result, or if you will, the consequence of that action, just performed by nothing more and nothing less than a primitive human mind, to a significant extent amazed not only that involuntary follower of the cult of Adam, but also his faithful, like Cacambo to Candide, half-naked companion—the involuntary follower of the pretty cult of Eve. Immediately approaching that, for some reason, for an unknown rational reason, wounded tree, the aforementioned primitive man with considerable attention began to study the abrasion just created by his frantic feelings on the body of that plant—unconsciously touching that abrasion with his fingers, that descendant of Adam suddenly felt a certain, very viscous, moisture on his fingers, which he immediately, without delay, brought to his lips: having tasted with his tongue nothing more and nothing less than the astringent charm of that moisture, this primitive man experienced, and truly, an in no way describable, exceptional pleasure, which, in turn, after many centuries, his blood descendants, being in spacious living rooms and other kinds of offices, completely containing no less a number of all kinds of colored vegetation, but living already in other kinds of vessels than the pristine one, will, truly, without significant effort and diligence, with the help of insignificant, unsubstantial actions, extract. From this moment on, having tasted genuine and unfeigned human pleasure, the aforementioned man no longer despised that accumulation of atoms, which is called iron ore—from now on, his gaze was full of a certain sacred, mysterious respect for that object. Having experienced, so quickly after considerable disappointment, exceptional respect for that natural material, this man, suddenly, to a significant extent, was amazed by the nature of nothing more and nothing less than his very own being—why did his feelings towards the very same, unchanging object change in such a lightning-fast way? Only because he looked at its purpose differently? Its properties are unchanged, as is its nature. Gradually, slowly this man began to realize that his nature, like the nature of that bizarre accumulation of atoms, was known to him to the same extent as the depths of the caves of Icaria are known to every representative of the human race. From now on, from that moment on, this man never again, of course, until the minute of his death, parted with the very surprising originality of the aforementioned natural material—that piece of iron ore most directly participated with this man not only in countless bloody battles, but also in every way helped this man during peace: he was often a witness not only to the birth of this or that human being, but also, importantly, to its death. With the death of its first owner, the life of this natural material, like the flesh of its former ruler, underwent, truly, significant metamorphoses.