CHAPTER 5
MERICUS AND CHRISTOP
On the southern tip of Pangea, Porcus was running out of dead sea creatures to burn. Now the water was warming once again. He decided to venture out into the water in search of more dead creatures to burn. At first, he would go out on crudely constructed wooden rafts. It was difficult, not just due to the poor seaworthiness of the craft but because the wood was also a fuel that was needed to stay warm. But with warmer weather, it was a reasonable tradeoff and they could also fish from the rafts, not just gather dead, oily sea creatures. He could always find his way home just by following the smoke rising from his home.
One day, he encountered another vessel on the seas. It was much more sophisticated than his crude raft. The two leaders on the new vessel were explorers from the west. Mericus and Christop were full of tales of the lands to the east. The ice was gone, and you could travel in every direction. But there was even more. There were grapes for the taking in the fertile newly found land. It was a swine paradise. The new continent was Pater’s Laurasland. Porcus knew he would have to take his family there. He would build his own seagoing vessel, copying the design of Mericus and Christop.
One evening, when Porcus was being entertained by the two great explorers, they started to discuss some of their other discoveries. One discovery had been in the southern section of Urasia where they came upon a population of little rodents that called themselves Lemmings. These little furry creatures were preoccupied with reproduction and would move about the land in small mobs that would merge into great waves seemingly headed into one direction, following the one in front of them regardless of the dangers ahead. Once the leader was identified, it was easy to guide the whole throng in a single direction just by controlling the leader. Mericus and Christop would place obstacles in front of the leader to influence the leader in one direction or the other. It was great fun to do.
But one evening, the leader stopped the whole migration and confronted the two explorers. In a high pitched, raspy voice he said, “You know, we have been playing this little game with you just to see how far you would go with trying to influence our behavior. We think that you have no respect for other creatures since you seem to place yourselves above others. We are a gentle folk and very family oriented, perhaps a bit too family oriented. When our population exceeds the bounty the land can provide, we swim to the next island in mass in the hope of finding more food. While we are swimming, we are often attacked by the Great Porcas, a seagoing relative of yours, I believe. We know that before we start our migration, we are going to lose some of our number. It is the fulfillment of the Circle of Life and Harmony, ‘Death to One Gives Life to Many.’ It is an obligation to us which you apparently do not seem to share. Please leave Lemmingland until you have gained some manners and perhaps developed some respect for the other creatures in this great land.”
The shocked explorers apologized and left the Lemmings to go about their lives as before. But they would promulgate the myth of the Lemmings, even inflating the story to describe the Lemmings rush to follow each other over cliffs in a mass suicide. Unknown to Mericus and Christop, the citizens of Lemmingland would place the explorers’ libelous storytelling in a list of grievances to be presented at a later point in history.
But there were other stories the explorers would use to entertain their captive audience. They described the severe weather they had encountered along the equator that had forced them to the far south where the climate was exceedingly cold. Then they described how they saved themselves by turning away from the cold Wilderness and running aground on the barrier reefs that seemed to ring a strange new continent. Here they encountered a race of wingless birds of enormous size. The ostriches of Ostrichland were swift and quite strong. Their long necks would allow them to feed on seeds and grasses while seemingly standing upright. They would also pick up pieces of gravel in the same manner to fill their gizzards and aid their digestive processes. The long necks would also allow them to tend their nests and shift their eggs until their chicks were born. From a distance, it seemed that the ostriches had their heads in the sand and were overly-preoccupied with their chores. This was not the case of course, but in typical fashion the explorers turned this imaginary behavior into another myth about another species. They had not learned their lesson from their dealings with the Lemmings. But it made a good story and their shipboard guests were certainly entertained but unfortunately, they were now involuntarily prejudiced.
“Don't underestimate the value of Doing Nothing, of just going along, listening to all the things you can't hear, and not bothering.”
― A.A. Milne
How easy we are lead astray.