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civilization itself."
"It must thus be eradicated," said another.
"There is, thus, only one value, one virtue?" I asked.
"Yes," said another.
"One is one," said another, profoundly, "self-identical and the same."
"Sixteen is sixteen, too," I said.
"But sixteen is only sixteen times one, and thus all reduces to one, which is
one," said another.
"What about one-half and one-half?" I asked.
"They add up to one," said another.
"What about one-third and one-third, then?" I asked.
 Each of those is but one number," said another, "and, thus, each is one, and
one is one."
"What of the diversity you see about you," I asked, "say, of kaiila and
sleen?"
"One kaiila and one sleen are both one, which is one," said another fellow.
"What about zero and one?" I asked.
"Zero is one number and one is one number, and thus each is one, and one is
one," said another.
"What about nothing and one?" I asked.
"One is one, and nothing is nothing," said another, "so one is left with one,
which is one."
"But you would have at least one nothing, wouldn't you?' I asked.
"Nothing is either nothing or one," said another. "If it is nothing, then it
is nothing. If it is one, then it is one, and on is one," said another.
"Thus, all is the same," said another.
"You are spouting total gibberish," I said. "Are you aware of that?"
'To the unenlightened profundity often appears gibberish, said another.
''Indeed," said another, "and to some who have lost the enlightenment it can
also appear gibberish."
'The more absurd something seems, the more likely it is to be true," said
another.
"That seems absurd," I said.
"And, thus," said the fellow, "it, in itself, by the same proof, is shown
most likely to be true."
"Is that supposed to be self-evident?" I asked.
"Yes," said another.
"It is not self-evident to me," I said.
'That is not the fault of its self-evidence," said another.
 You cannot blame its self-evidence for that."
"Something which is self-evident to one person may not be self-evident to
another," said another fellow.
"How can it be self-evident to one and not to another?" asked.
"One may be more talented in the detecting of self-evidence than another,"
said another.
"How do you distinguish between what merely seems self evident and that which
is truly self-evident?" I asked.
"The Priest-Kings would not deceive us," said another.
"How do you know?" I asked.
 That is self-evident," said another.
"Have you ever been mistaken about what is self-evident?
"Yes, frequently," said Pumpkin.
"How do you explain that?" I asked.
"We are weak, and frail," he said.
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"We are only Waniyanpi," said another.
I regarded Pumpkin.
'To be sure," he said, "There is a place for faith in all of this."
"A rather large place, I conjecture," I said.
"Large enough," he said.
"How large is that?" I asked.
"Large enough to protect the Teaching," he said. _,"I thought so," I said.
"One must believe something," said Pumpkin.
"Why not experiment with the truth?" I said.
"We already believe the truth," said one of the fellows about.
"How do you know?" I asked.
 The Teaching tells us," said another.
"You must understand," said another, "that we do not like putting people out
to die. It makes us very sorry to do this. On the occasions of expulsion we
often eat a meal in silence, and weep bitter tears into our gruel."
"I am sure it is a touching sight," I said.
Pumpkin looked down toward the girl. He did not look directly at her, but she
knew herself to be the object of his attention, indirect though that attention
might have been.
"Teach me your Teaching," she said. "I want to be a Same."
"Wonderful," said Pumpkin. He almost reached out to touch her, so pleased he
was, but suddenly, fearfully, he drew back his hand. He blushed.
There was sweat on his forehead.
"Excellent," said more than one of the Waniyanpi
"You will not regret it," said another.
"You will love being a Same," said another. "It is the only thing to be,"
said another.
"When we reach the vicinity of the compound," said Pumpkin, "and you are
unbound and properly clothed, in suitable Waniyanpi garb, you will lead us all
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