The Father of Teeth
Text for today: Cavities ciii-cxiv
In another concentration camp, however, the Father of Teeth discovered a woman who sought to bear witness of all that she and her compatriots had suffered. Using a hairpin hidden from the guards, she scratched the dates of significant events into the skin of her arms and legs, so that whether her captivity ended in release to the world or resurrection before the Creator of the universe, she would be able to display the salient facts.
Attracted by the sound of splitting skin, the Father of Teeth wandered through the darkened barracks, where the prisoners lay shivering on wooden shelves, trying not to cough too hard in case they should be judged unfit for slavery and disposed of according to the Creator's eternal rule about sheep and goats. When the Father of Teeth passed by, the woman was jerked from uneasy sleep by the fragrance of his breath, which surpassed the normal barracks smell as the humble chlorine is surpassed by the most advanced and apocalyptic nerve gas. Her bare legs kicked out in agonised jactitation, and the Father of Teeth perused the chronicle with interest.
"Though this needlework is rough in quality, your efforts are commendable," he said at length; "however, you are quite mistaken to assume that certain facts will be salient for posterity merely because they happen to be salient for you. Three thousand years after the fact, does it worry you that some Amorites or Amalekites were unhappy?"
"Then I shall testify before the Eternal," hissed the chronicler.
"That's up to you, of course," said the Father of Teeth; "but either the Eternal does not know the facts of your testimony, in which case He is hardly worth informing; or else He has always known them, in which case His purpose in allowing your persecution is either good, evil or indifferent. If evil or indifferent, the truth will make no difference to Him; and if good you owe Him only gratitude for your moral improvement and your sense of personal significance in the greater cosmic scheme."
"There is such a scheme, then?" asked the woman, and her eyes shone in the dimness. "Something that will make our suffering worth while?"
The Father of Teeth winked at her, his dentures glittering. "Work brings freedom," he said.
In another concentration camp, however, the Father of Teeth discovered a woman who sought to bear witness of all that she and her compatriots had suffered. Using a hairpin hidden from the guards, she scratched the dates of significant events into the skin of her arms and legs, so that whether her captivity ended in release to the world or resurrection before the Creator of the universe, she would be able to display the salient facts.
Attracted by the sound of splitting skin, the Father of Teeth wandered through the darkened barracks, where the prisoners lay shivering on wooden shelves, trying not to cough too hard in case they should be judged unfit for slavery and disposed of according to the Creator's eternal rule about sheep and goats. When the Father of Teeth passed by, the woman was jerked from uneasy sleep by the fragrance of his breath, which surpassed the normal barracks smell as the humble chlorine is surpassed by the most advanced and apocalyptic nerve gas. Her bare legs kicked out in agonised jactitation, and the Father of Teeth perused the chronicle with interest.
"Though this needlework is rough in quality, your efforts are commendable," he said at length; "however, you are quite mistaken to assume that certain facts will be salient for posterity merely because they happen to be salient for you. Three thousand years after the fact, does it worry you that some Amorites or Amalekites were unhappy?"
"Then I shall testify before the Eternal," hissed the chronicler.
"That's up to you, of course," said the Father of Teeth; "but either the Eternal does not know the facts of your testimony, in which case He is hardly worth informing; or else He has always known them, in which case His purpose in allowing your persecution is either good, evil or indifferent. If evil or indifferent, the truth will make no difference to Him; and if good you owe Him only gratitude for your moral improvement and your sense of personal significance in the greater cosmic scheme."
"There is such a scheme, then?" asked the woman, and her eyes shone in the dimness. "Something that will make our suffering worth while?"
The Father of Teeth winked at her, his dentures glittering. "Work brings freedom," he said.
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