CHAPTER 27. PROPERTIES OF PAPER.

February 27, 2013.

The forest! Like an underwater rock or the stars, it stays in the same place for centuries—it changes its nature, it changes its states, but it never changes its essence! Some compare the forest to the Ship of Theseus, as if, having completely replaced its parts, it is never the same—but does that make it stop being a ship? Does that make it change its name? Remaining in the same place for centuries, it is permanently given over to peace and tranquility—it does nothing great: it doesn't need to, for it is great itself—the truly great, in fact, never confirm their greatness! Looking at its uniqueness, entering its world, you don't expect anything special from it—it is as it always was: the soft sound—the gentle rustle—of its leaves responds so monotonously, yet always uniquely, in the depths of decades, millennia, and centuries! And yet, in its speech, it is always consistent—when necessary, it's harsh, and when it's not, it's gentle: the aforementioned harshness and gentleness are created not only by its inanimate inhabitants, but also by those in whom life is, undoubtedly, placed for a reason—a lizard, a bird, a spider. It is not uncommon to hear other sounds here, in the forest, which are somewhat different from the forest's true sound—these waves, these impulses are created by none other than man. Birds like to observe man in the forest, or rather, his inaction, rather than his action—they like it as long as they are not deprived of their natural home. The spider and the lizard, however, always dislike man—they are closer to him, they feel his destructive power much more acutely.

"The forest is truly an amazing treasury! What don't you see here!" said one woodcutter to his heavily breathing comrade, who at that moment had sat down on one of the felled logs in the winter forest. "You know, I remember seeing a little chick that its mother deliberately pushed out of the nest so it would learn to fly: its gaze was the personification of fear, but it couldn't resist that force, which, in turn, was many times greater than the possibilities nature had instilled in it! The mother was stronger than it, and so it was forced to submit to this force. With a frenzied flutter of its wings, it plunged into the shroud of free fall, after which its body felt an indescribable pain—it hit the ground! This world is not simple! It is cruel and harsh! One should work one's wings much harder and more persistently in it! The little chick realized this from the first days of its life..."

"Yes, Gregor, there are its own laws here in the forest, but despite the countless multitude of these laws, it submits to the will of objective reality, objective truth and truth, which, for this forest as well as for the rest of the world, can only be one..."

"What can I say, Gilad, I love traveling through the forest, be it winter, summer, autumn, or spring! All this road hustle and bustle benefits me in many ways—by getting distracted by these trifles, I often forget about real human problems: perhaps this is the very reason why so many people love to travel?!"

"Or perhaps it's because they seek to escape from the very grayness of everyday life, which is directly hidden not in cities and villages, but in their souls?! Be that as it may, these are all questions of a specific person and individual worldview... I, for example, love the summer forest—to travel silently within its confines in the company of the golden-faced sun, this permanently levitating Seville orange!.."

Gregor Lurie gazed intently into the depths of the forest, then slowly lit a cigarette.

"How amazing is fate, Gilad! Here we are with you now in the cold forest, diligently harvesting timber, while other people, in warm offices, at the request of some and with the help of others, hold high positions in high offices! We, for example, need to have certain knowledge to properly do our work—those who sit in warm offices, often, with rare exceptions, have neither mind, nor honor, nor dignity! Such is the time now! Today, the main thing is not mind, not honor, and not conscience—today, the main thing is to be in communication with someone who can intercede for you, or whom you can intercede for yourself with! Having such communication, you can achieve a lot in a matter of moments... although, this elevation also has its drawbacks, for to a certain extent this elevation is associated with an inseparable dependence on the person who, in turn, contributed to this kind of elevation—as you know, this kind of connection often, or rather, almost always leads to death, because human help is often, or rather, almost always followed by a human reckoning!.."

"I take it, Gregor, you're talking now about Thomas Melton, who was appointed judge of our city court a month ago?"

"Yes, exactly about him! About the one who was appointed to perform the duties of a judge, and not to be a judge! You know, my dear Gilad, to be a judge is somewhat different from 'to be a judge'! Thomas Melton was appointed judge not to strengthen the spirit of justice, the spirit of law, the spirit of rights in the area entrusted to him—this position was assigned to him to strengthen the positions and states of a certain circle of people in the area entrusted to him, who, in turn, in a well-known way, by transmitting certain impulses and energy, strengthened the positions and states of several other people... Therefore, one should never appoint those who directly hate justice, despise honor, and do not like the law to such positions—one whose eyes are always hidden under some blindfold, like the eyes of Themis: a true judge is not a servant of Themis—he cannot worship a goddess who has independently covered, or had someone cover, her eyes with a material screen, thereby completely depriving herself of the ability to adequately assess true reality! Those judges who consider themselves true and faithful servants of Themis, in fact, often succumb to great delusions, while pedantically guided by a blindness prescribed to them by the cult, conscious or unconscious, but still—it is precisely for this reason, due to the inability to objectively evaluate the facts, being subjected to this blindness, that our esteemed judges confuse where, in a given situation, they should sign: under an acquittal or under a guilty verdict! Thus, our courts, when necessary, act blindly—in all other cases, they act blindly by default! How is this not a lottery, where, at times, in certain situations, the organizers already know the winner?"