Why Some animals are more equal than others? IV

In honor of Abraham Lincoln’s 200^th birthday (Feb 12, 2009)

1865

He found himself in an unacquainted place. The clouds were strolling under his feet. In his surroundings, the girls who were looking immortally young, with their hair beautifully shaped in wigs, played the musical instruments that he had never seen. Something was swimming across in the air towards him. He recognized what it was. That was his old, shabby and worn out hat. He caught it up and put it on his head, pulling it down a little more on the right side until it covered up enough his life-long old scar at his right eye. Suddenly, a shrill ghostly voice appeared from some corner of this strange place, “Sic semper tyrannis” (Thus always to tyrants).

He started to notice a twilight that flashed at a mysterious place at some distance of his eye sight. He began walking towards this mysterious light. The shrill voice seemed to be getting far and far away as he walked forth. He wished this voice of evil nature should completely fade away. As the worn-out hat that topped his head, his life had been ruffled out since his very young childhood.

“All my life has a single cause, that is an apology for the government of the people, for the people, and by the people”, he said in remembrance of his past soul. He voice was full of melancholy. He started to blab out a few stanzas that his past soul adored the most,

“Tis the wink of an eye, ‘tis the draught of a breath,

From the bosom of health to paleness of death

From the gilded saloon to the bier and the shroud,

Oh, why should the spirit of mortal be proud?”

He remembered the beauty of the bouquet he dropped off at the tomb of Ann. He remembered the witted tease of Mary in her younger years. At last, he even remembered the denial he accepted at his age of 32 from a sixteen year old Sarah. All these have been left together with his past soul of soberness. No one was with him now in going to this mysterious twilight. He eagerly hoped that probably already late Ann should be there at this light source.

“Yes, honest Abe, no one from the past is with you. However, I have been with you, all the time”, he heard a very dignified voice. He saw a figure walking in the fog, steadily toward him. The figure was as tall as he was, around six-feet two inches, the shoulders were broad, the bones and joints were large, and the gait of the figure had no need to boast of the distinctive characters and strength of the figure person. He saw the figure’s face now: a well-shaped face with a firm chin, a prominent nose with blue gray penetrating eyes. His noble strong hand was holding a rosary wreath.

“O, Founding father, Washington”, he recognized the figure and stuck his head into the well-rounded chin of the figure and wept. Washington embraced him and padded his long back and mourned, “You are the second founding father of America, Abe”. Father Washington put the wreath on Abe’s head. Father Washington’s eyes were also welling up with tears. A loss of half a million people for a single cause late Abe had successfully defended and paid his life just recently, Not to become a house divided against itself!

“Where I am now, Father?” Lincoln asked softly. “You are at the front door of Heaven. There is a task that lies ahead of you, Abe”, explained Washington. Washington continued, “The Heaven here is called the immortal heaven of rationality. This heaven is different from the normal heavens where the ordinary mortal humans from earth are used to have faith in and are used to arrive. This is not the Christian Heaven, Islamic Heaven or Buddha’s Heaven where a monarch god is able to rule. This is the heaven of wisdom, compassion, temperance and mindfulness.For this heaven door to be opened, you need to debate and defeat the three monkeys who guard this heaven. Debate with them and crush them, and the monkeys will give the key to open this heaven door for you. That is your first task for our rejoining in Heaven, Abe”.

Abe said in ambiguity, “My past soul has never crushed any human life, Father. I have not ever sent a single soul of the Southern rebels to the guillotine. I never have killed an animal for sake of my food”. Washington smiled graciously, “If you don’t send these monkeys to the guillotine of irrationality this time, they will send the humanity to their guillotine of rationality in the future, Abe. For God’s sake and your duty as moral imperative, you need to crush these three greedy and irrational monkeys,” Washington padded Abe for the last time, waved his hand and disappeared.

(To be cont. Three monkeys Abe Lincoln has to crush are Bodhisattva of No Priority for All Are the Same, Bodhisattva of No priority for All Are Nothing, and a Burmese civilized and courteously polite person called Always Thank a Capitalist for His Immense Gratefulness for Your Food)