Alternate Worlds Explored Archive b/j

5-24: Which One To Be? .... First King of Uruk

Questions for May 25th:
If you were to be reincarnated as an animal, what kind would you choose to be?

Which One to Be?

Not so very long ago, I would have picked an animal right away. I would have been big, silkily furred, strong and lithe. I would have been the master of my own existance and my presence would cause all the littler weaker animals to skitter away in fear. And I as a Tiger would live in indonesia or better yet Siberia. I'd rather live in a cold climate than a hot humid one.

But, not so any more. For some reason that image seems lonely and repulsive. And given the odds that I'd be killed by poachers, well.... Now I must think and figure out just what animal I would choose to become.

I could be the Eagle or Hawk who soars in the heavens closer to God than any land dwelling animal. I would be revered by the Native American and coveted for my plumage because of the spiritual beliefs held by these people. But the Eagle and Hawk fly in search for their daily meal. Being a bird they must consume three times their weight a day or starve to death. Folks that's a lot of rodents and snakes consumed in a day. So given the predation by humans for feather's and the diet of mice, prairie dogs and snakes, I think I shall pass on the bird aspect.

Okay what then?

I could come back as a cat or dog and be someone's pet. But people are so unpredictable when it comes to their pets. I could get lucky and be pampered and spoiled and shown more love and affection than a pet can stand. On the other hand I could end up on Animal Planet as one of those misfortunate pets that got put in a cage and forgotten. Or, end up in the alleys with mange and scrounging for garbage and fighting other misfortunates also trying to survive from the same garbage can. No I don't want to become a human's pet.

I could become a whale or a Great White shark and the only other animals I'd be afraid of would be the Fisherman. But given the spread of pollution in our world's oceans and the prospect that the animal I chose will become extinct because the poisons inhibit proper reproduction, no I don't wish to become an animal of the sea.

Hmmm, I've disqualified mammals, birds, and water life. That leaves reptiles, no thank-you, amphibians, and insects. No I do not wish to be a toad or a salamnder thank-you. That leaves bugs.... oh my!

hmmm....

Butterflies start out as caterpillars which get insecticide from humans and are delicacies for birds. Nope no Butterflies.

Spiders get killed by many people on sight no matter if they are in their rightful habitat or not. I know because I am that kind of human.

I could be a worm. No, I'd be turned into fish bait.

AH HA! I could be a firefly. It would be a short life but how glorious a life it would be. I would fly around with my little butt glowing calling to all the other fireflies, "here I am, here I am, ain't I a flashy one? What a life. Flash yer behind, have sex, lay yer eggs and die. But because I'm a lesbian firefly I could just have all the sex I wanted and forget about the eggs. I'd still die smiling.

So I think if I were to come back as an animal, I'd want to be a (lesbian) firefly.





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If you could be anywhere in history for one day, as someone famous from that time, where would you like to be, when, and as who?


(Don't forget the reasons behind your decision!)

I will have to give this one some thought. Okay I've thought about it and here is what I came up with.

A King talks with a Merchant

I'm one of those people who is fascinated with prehistory or rather near prehistory and the human condition. So let me go hunt up Mr. Peabody and solicit a ride back in his "way-back-machine" with a bit of a lemon twist. Instead of being accompanied by a doggy wearing eye glasses and sneakers and a boy named Elroy(?) also wearing the bottoms of coke bottles so he can see, I wish to become the the first legendary king of Uruk (Erech) circa -2700 B.C.

I want to be the man Gilgamesh as he looks over his kingdom marveling over the new inventions of the times. The same inventions that will make him a great and powerful man with near Godlike immortality through the passage of time. I want to be in his head whilst he talks to the engineers responsible for building that physical structure that will proclaim, "Gilgamesh was Here" or better yet have audience with the merchant who will keep him appraised of the progress being made in the kingdoms around him.

~~~

"Oh yes, Sire," proclaims the constantly bowing merchant from beyond the borders of his kingdom. "This item will allow you to see the face of your lovely wife even after the mighty sun has hid behind the world." The merchant then lifts one of the first oil-burning lanterns to the King of Uruk already burning with it's tiny flame dancing on an oil soaked wick.
"Hmmmmm" says Gilgamesh as he lifts the curious prize from the merchant's out stretched hands. "You say the wizards of Sumaria have created this magic?"

"Yes Sire, this same lamp is quickly replacing all those tallow candles and rough smoky torches in every elite house of Sumaria. Who would have thought a simple bit of animal oil or that of the fruit of the Olive tree could produce such a pure and sweet light against the darkness?"

"What other wonderous things have you brought for me to see. What makes this animal standing next to you so obedient. I should tell you that my guards will behead you if that creature causes any harm."

"Ho Sire I bring to you as a gift of pure loyalty from Egypt. His name has been given as Anubus after the Jackal God of the Egyptians, but Sire I assure you this is not a jackal but a dog who is tamed and more obedient than any child of any house."

"A dog you say? Not a jackal?"

"Yes, sire. But behold I have other treasures from both Egypt and Sumaria. Here is a polished metal so reflective that you can see your image clearly." The merchant hands the King the polished metal plate and Gilgamesh looks at it with his lips far apart showing his teeth in a contrived grin.

"Huh!" says the King as he picks a dark seed from a fruit he had eaten earlier from between his front teeth. Gilgamesh looks at his steward with a flash of rage. The steward cringes knowing his life will never be made so easy now that the King will have his own eyes to tell him if he has something amiss about his appearance. A King must always look, well, Kingly and food in ones teeth is not dignified.

Hurriedly the merchant claps his hands and slaves come forth carrying an assortment of platters and bowls with covers.

"Sire from the far land of Sumaria they have endeavored to tame the very growth of the grasses. Here is an assortment of the new foods now abundant in the lowliest of hovels of that land." The merchant runs his hands in the opened top of an urn and grain falls through his fingers back into the container. He then humbly raises a cover and reveals a golden brown loaf upon a platter. He removes a cover from a bowl and reveals a darkish brown liquid frothing along the sides.

"I present the treasures from the barley seed, Sire. Bread and Beer."

Gilgamesh scoffs at the merchant. "This is nothing new. I've eaten bread and beer before."

The merchant immediately bows his subservience. "Oh Sire, I did not mean to imply you have never had beer nor bread, but merely to tell you that even the lowest of your magnificent kingdom may now enjoy these rich foods, for the Sumarians have found a way to cause the fields to grow abundantly of this wonderful grain with no other grain in the field.

"Really? You mean they do not need to send out the children and the slave with their baskets to gather the seed from the sparse clumps as they grow wither the Gods have scattered them?"

"No Sire, they instead have captured the plants and cause them to grow in fields."

"Please, show me more about what is new in our world."

And the merchant produces an Egyptian calandar that shows 365 days marking a year. He shows the King pieces of metal with pictures of the barley grass on one side and a silhouette of a face on the other as he explains that these weighty little things are actually replacing barley as legal tender. He produces an urn full of colored glass sparkles another treasure from Egypt and shows how the beads may be placed on a string and used to adorn clothing. The merchant entertains the King with a sport called wrestling which is becoming highly developed throughout the known world. Then, he brags that Cheops in Egypt, Gilgamesh's contempary competition is building a pyramid which conforms in layout to dimensions and astronomical measurement. He continues to describe other wonders he has seen in his travels from the terraced towered temples of Mesopotamia, the rock carvings of Pharoah Semempsis at Sinai, and the Great Sphinx under construction in Gizeh.

At this I as Gilgamesh must proclaim I am no dummy and Cheops isn't the only King to be doing great things in this age of invention and progress.

"Well my good merchant let me show you the marvels of my Kingdom so that you can take the news of these things to other kingdoms and let those who rule there know we here in Uruk are also progressive in our ways of living.

I would then show this upstart of a salesman the brick temples with the colored pillars and on my tour of the engineering feets of my own kingdom I would show this merchant, this voice to the rest of the world who will proclaim my greatness, the plans for the Great Wall of Uruk, with the 900 towers.

The merchant may chance say, "Oh so this is what will become of that construction I passed on my way to your audience?"

And I as Gilgamesh would feel the wonder of the great things happening in the world and I am indeed a part of that Greatness.







Take care and may your road lead to only good places.

Deb

Compassion and the effort to try and understand some thing that was not understood before is a step toward acceptance not only of others but most importantly of yourself.

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