Beelzebubs-Tales-to-His-Grandson-by-G-I-Gurdjieff

process of decomposition. It is not for nothing that our dear Mullah NasrEddin gives the following wise counsel. 'Better pull ten hairs a day out ofyour mother's head than not help Nature.'"Strictly speaking, the capacity to cook up 'fantastic sciences' and to devisenew methods for ordinary being-existence did not pass from the ancientGreeks to the beings of contemporary Germany alone; the same capacity wasinherited, and perhaps no less, by the beings of another contemporarycommunity, also independent, and in its turn enjoying dominion."This community of your favorites is called 'England.'"There has even passed to the beings of this second contemporarycommunity, and directly to them alone, one of the most maleficent inventionsof the ancient Greeks, which the English beings have thoroughly assimilatedand put into practice."This particularly harmful invention of theirs was called by the ancientGreeks 'diapharon,' and contemporary beings call it 'sport.'"I shall tell you about this contemporary 'sport' in as much detail aspossible at the end of this tale; but meanwhile you should know that althoughthe beings of the community of England also invent in large quantities a widerange of new objects required by your favorites in the process of theirordinary being-existence, they do not invent chemical substances as do thebeings of Germany, no . they invent chiefly what are called 'metalwares.'"Especially in recent times, they have become expert in inventing andsupplying to the beings existing over the whole surface of your planet vastquantities of all sorts of metalwares, called padlocks, razors, mousetraps,revolvers, scythes, machine guns, saucepans, hinges, guns, penknives,cartridges, pens, mines, needles, and many other things of the same kind.