From: an12070@anon.penet.fi (S. Boxx)
Date: Sun, 14 Nov 93 15:50:25 PST
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: the Zen of Cyberspace
Message-ID: <9311142347.AA18381@anon.penet.fi>
MIME-Version: 1.0
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Yang said to Yin, ``why are you so weird? why can't you be more like me?''

``because you are Yang, and I am Yin,'' said Yin.

* * *

I was walking along a path in a foreign city, and came upon a group of
men carrying their king on their shoulders on a massive platform and
weighty throne. They were struggling and sweating from the oppressive
weight in the hot sun.

``Long live the Royal King'' they called out to me as I was about to
pass. The king had haughty expression, and looked down on me sullenly
and, I thought, somewhat belligerently.

``What do you think of my kingdom, traveller?'' he called out.

I answered, ``Kind sir, I have been treated most generously by your
gracious citizens. They have offered kind hospitality to a weary
traveller. Truly, it is an oasis in the desert.''

``Long live the Holy King!'' they called out. The king waved me away,
and I bowed. But I was curious and followed the procession. The king
made many strange contacts along the way, but that is another story.
After a time he became bored, yawned, and fell asleep. The carriers
continued to struggle with the sheer weight of his burden.

``How long have you been carrying the king?'' I whispered to one.

``Many years, traveller. Many years the people of this country have
beared the weight of this tyrant.''

Of course, I was shocked at this. But other men echoed out upon hearing
us, but whispered and were careful not to wake the slumbering king, who
now had a steady stream of drool running down his chin and was snoring
quite noisily.

They told me horrible tales of his tyranny and crimes against the
people. But they also told me of their great fear in challenging him. I
was quite surprised -- It seems that each of the carriers shared a
common vice with the king, and they were bound by the chain of their
depravity. They were all greedy, and thirsted after the gold that he
taunted them with every night in secret meetings in the palace chamber
halls. Much of the populace saw many signs of the corruption but
``looked the other way''. Some had been executed for their dark discoveries.


Many years later, I passed through the country again. I came upon the
same sight -- the weary and toiling men carrying the heavy king upon
their backs. By this time His Highness was quite fat and ugly from his
vice and excess, and the carriers had great despair, desperation, and
resignation etched in their faces. But they trudged on.

That time, the king was apparently asleep when I found them. This time,
he was quite inert and lifeless.

``How long have you been carrying the king?'' I said.

``Many years. Too numerous to remember. You get used to it after awhile.''

I talked to the men quietly. They still beared their great burden,
prodded by their intense hunger for the gold of the king, which he had
teased them with for many years. The king had tremendous power over
people. Nevertheless, they began to laugh loudly at their king's
stupidity and ignorance of their embezzlements. I wondered if the king
was in turn embezzling from them. Suddenly, I realized the whole
royalty was corrupt.

The men laughed some more, oblivious to my epiphany, and one man jabbed
the king accidentally with his flailing arms in the midst of his
ridicule and mockery. The man was horrified. But the king did not stir.

The other carriers were puzzled. They apparently had not looked at the
king for some time, and suddenly realized that their highness had a
pale pallor. The carrier who had jabbed him thought his body felt
rather stiff. Suddenly, the night grew utterly cold.

The king was dead. They were flabbergasted.

``How long has the king been dead?'' I asked.

They did not know.

With this, they suddenly dropped the massive platform in terror, and it
broke and shattered with an ugly, ear-splitting noise. The king was
lost within the rubble. I was injured by some fragments. Some of the
carriers were crushed. Some cursed me. Some claimed that I was an evil
omen that triggered the death of the king! Others fled. Many headed for
the Castle, to steal whatever was left of the unguarded gold. They were
astonished to find it was all counterfeited, and worthless.

After many weeks, the entire populace finally realized they had been
sustaining a black lie, and the country plunged into chaos. I was lucky
to escape alive.

* * *

Yin said to Yang, ``why are you so weird? why can't you be more like me?''

``because you are Yin, and I am Yang,'' said Yang.

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