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

Asia called 'China,' 'India,' 'Tibet,' and also of course in that half-Asiatic, half-European community that has recently become the largest of all, named'Russia. '"In the beginning, whatever time I had free from observations andinvestigations concerning my chief aim I devoted to the study of 'languages,'in order to have greater possibilities of establishing suitable relationseverywhere with beings of all 'types,' belonging to every 'nationality. '"Maybe, my boy, you do not yet know about that phenomenal absurdityfound only on this ill-fated planet, which consists in this for 'verbalintercourse,' again thanks to the abnormal external conditions of theirordinary existence, there are as many different 'languages' or 'dialects' havingnothing in common with each other as there are distinct independent groupsinto which they have gradually become divided, whereas on all other planetsof our Great Universe where three-brained beings breed, there is everywhereone common form of what is called 'sound-manifesting mutual intercourse.'"Yes . . . this 'multiplicity of languages' is another of the exclusivecharacteristics of these strange three-brained beings who please you."Indeed, on every scrap of 'terra firma,' and even for each tiny independentgroup accidentally separated from the others on such a scrap, these strangebeings have developed a quite different dialect, and still continue to do so."So nowadays, because of this, if one of the inhabitants of some locality ofthe planet Earth finds himself by chance in another place on the same planet,he has no possibility whatever of communicating with his fellow beings thereunless he learns their language."Even I, who by then knew eighteen of their 'languages' to perfection,found myself at times during my travels in situations where I could not evenget fodder for my horses, in spite of the fact that my pockets were full of whatthey