In the early days of humanity, there was no connection between humans and their Lord. The many lands of the earth were covered in thick sands and enormous clouds of dust swept across every plain and mountain. In those distant days, water and animal was scarce, and thus every human fought one another for sustenance.
In these early years, a being called Manu was born from the seed of a wolf and the womb of a lamb. At the time of his first step, at the moment of his first breath, Manu wept. He wept when he saw the state of the world and the lives of men. The sum of all people, plants, and animals were confused with the behavior of Manu, and they asked him why he wept. He said to them that he wept upon seeing the suffering of mankind, as he claimed mankind was not meant to live in the same squalor as animals, slaying every being with little regard. Though Manu spoke in their tongue, the sum of all the people, plants, and animals knew not what he meant by suffering, so they did not understand him, and thus ostracized him. To escape the sight of mankind’s suffering, Manu fled to live alone wandering the deserts. In a remote cave, far from any other human, the Lord Wisdom spoke to Manu, and thus the first prophet of humanity was Manu.
In that cave, the Lord Wisdom said to Manu:
Lord Wisdom: “Manu, you are full of feeling for others when all people around are emptied. Because of this, you are the first human I have felt pity for. Should you come upon wild grasses, you will call them wheat. You will take the seeds of these grasses and plant them in the fertile lands near the river. Gather the wild grasses and grind them, and this you will call flour. Add water to the grains, and this you will call dough. Heat it over a covered fire, which you will call a furnace, then let it rest, and this you shall call Bread. With Bread, you will remake the world in my image and every human shall rejoice in the absence of their suffering.
And so Manu began collecting wild grasses called wheat, planting them near the river, and grinding them into flour. He began adding water to the flour to make dough and constructed a covered fire to heat the dough. Once the first body of Bread came into being, the spirit of Bread came down from heaven unto earth. Thus, Manu had created the first of bread through the vision of Lord Wisdom.
At first, the many people saw Manu as a strange fool; they saw he had stopped wearing the pelts of the animals, cut his hair, and spent all his days subjugating the plants and sitting in his cave. Manu told the people he was facilitating the growth of grain, but they knew not what grain was, so they ostracized him.
Once Manu showed them the body of Bread however, the people became fascinated. They ate of Bread’s body and became satiated. However, Bread was young and had just descended from heaven to earth. His body was small and he could not speak. First the sky bit into him, then the clouds, then the oceans, then the rivers, then the mountains. There was only half of Bread left. Then the great bull of the earth bit into him, then the ravenous wolf, then the enormous fish, then the noble hawk, and then the graceful elk. Soon all that was left of Bread was crumbs, but even the meek rodent ate these. The people were thus hungry and grew angry with Manu for making such little bread and leaving it unprotected.
For many years Manu struggled with this. Because he could only produce a small number of loaves and was unable to protect the body of Bread from all the beasts, again he was considered a fool and was ostracized. Manu called out to Lord Wisdom, asking for his divine assistance. Lord Wisdom said to Manu:
Lord Wisdom: “Manu, you have followed my instructions well and I have provided for you. Now you wish for more to feed the weak when the strong deserve it all the more? In order to feed the masses you must first find three trustworthy men who are suitable for the knowledge of good and evil. Instruct them in the ways of maintaining the fields and making the body of Bread. They shall build furnaces in their own homes and your supply of Bread will be multiplied thrice. In order to protect the supply, these three men must bear sons. You must take the firstborn sons of these three trustworthy men and have them armed with axes of copper, shields of copper, arrows of copper, a helm of copper, and a mighty oak bow. You will instruct them to build a small room for storing the body of Bread, with a door which only opens toward heaven. This room will be your altar Manu, and with this you will continue to remake the world in my image and every human shall rejoice in the absence of their suffering. In addition, I will grant the mountains grain to fill every house ten times over. I will grant the skies water to feed the wild grasses ten times over. I will grant the rivers strength to supply your farms for many seasons to come. However, in return, all the people of the earth must worship me and praise my name whenever they eat of Bread’s body, and you must remove from your person that part which fosters the growth of other humans. From this you will become my first priest, as well as the first king of all people.
And so, Manu became the first priest and the first king, and civilization sprouted. From this, every human grew to praise the Lord Wisdom for giving man the many things of this world. Through his vision and reason of divine nature, man ate of the many plants he fostered, and tasted of their fruits. In learning to foster plants, man extracted starch from them, and then from leaving them to rest and heating them, man learnt to turn plant into Bread. The Lord Wisdom was pleased. However, in the many years later, man learnt, by the vision of The Great Serpent, that by combining grapes with rice, one creates Wine.
Under the reign of Bread, man was noble. In Bread sat the heart of Lord Wisdom, for he satiated the body of man as did Lord Wisdom his soul. However, upon the creation of Wine, man met a predicament: Wine made man ignoble. Wine moved humanity away from the Lord Wisdom, and away from the valuations of his divine sight. In light of such a predicament, Pári, King of Sklábos, make arrangements to seek council upon the hill of heaven and earthly hell, as he neither spawned nor created Bread and Wine. Kneeling at the hearth between heaven and earthly hell, Pári sought council with the great Lord Wisdom:
King Pári: “O mighty Lord! We call upon the greatness of your divine intellect! We remember the faraway years, the distant days, when there was no storage of grain, nor grain from the mountains, nor cloth to wear, nor royal garment. We remember the days when there was no invitation to the divine banqueting chamber, before the satiation of Bread, before cattle had been given to us, graciously, for our sustenance. Those were the wild years; we knew not about clothes! We ran across the lands of the earth with only the hair of our limbs like wolves. In your fantastic splendor you showed Manu the splendor of light and the solitude of darkness, and thus we have been shown to the splendor of light and the solitude of darkness. Your prowess is great, and your wisdom all the greater. Having come unto a problem which only your intellect may dissolve, we humbly lower ourselves again into your sovereign hand.”
Lord Wisdom: “Speak Pári! I shall hear of your predicament.”
King Pári: “Our people have been shown to the twin ovals of midnight belonging to The Desolate One, and under the name of Wine they cannot see of your vision. Bread has tried to intervene, but to no avail, for Wine rejects your valuations. This is the reason we require your Holy Counsel to lead their deliberation.”
Lord Wisdom: “You have remained humble and loyal to me through the ages Pári, so I shall oversee this matter. Bread, Wine, come forward onto the hill of heaven and earthy hell, and state your affairs.”
Wine was the first to come onto the Holy Mound, pouring out from vessels of wood and clay. Seeping into the ground, Wine flowed towards the Holy Mount like water does in the rivers.
Bread was last to come onto the Holy Mound, inching like a worm out of the storage houses. Being sat on the ground, Bread shuffled loudly towards the Holy Mount and many animals came to eat of his flesh.
Once both parties had arrived at the assembly, Bread tore off a piece of himself, giving it to Lord Wisdom, and Wine poured a part of himself into a cup, giving it to Lord Wisdom. Where they both stood, they were satisfying and had a radiant appearance.
Lord Wisdom: “Nunc est bibendum! Nunc est manducare!”
Once the Lord Wisdom had finished partaking in the sacrifice of both parties, Bread and Wine began a debate in the divine banqueting chamber atop the Holy Mount between heaven and earthly hell.
Bread called out to Wine:
Bread: “There is no need for discussion, Wine. I am obviously your better; I take precedence over you. I am the living glory of both worlds, of man and of nature. I have been granted my power directly from the eye of our Lord Wisdom, and in the dullness of midday, in the heat of the sun, I provide life to man by which you provide none. All creatures of the world rear their head in wonder at me and my excellence; every wanderer is filled with awe at how I abound in the many storage houses of the land. On my way to the Holy Mound, every animal sought of me for their sustenance. Truly, I am the gift of the Lord Wisdom, and am central to every human affair. Without me, there is no civilization, for should the storage houses empty there would be quarrels between neighbors, bloodshed between family, and death between the classes. When a man is lost and comes upon me, my body is broken for him, and in satiating him his destiny is bestowed. All the workers in the fields are mine. All those who trade in the stalls are mine. All those who speak the law are mine. All the troops who fight and defend are mine. If they were to be without me, how could they even sit up from sleep! What other being does the Lord Wisdom possess for the sake of releasing the shackles man carries around his feet? I am the child of Lord Wisdom, and what are you? What is it you believe can be put up against me? Answer me, what can you even reply!”
Wine: “Cousin, what foolishness have you nurtured? I am the child of The Serpent who guarded Eden in heaven, that Serpent who was born the same as the Lord Wisdom and guarded the very crib from which you sprang! Surely it is so that your body provides to man his destiny, but do you not see how cruel you have made his life? In the dullness of midday, in the heat of the sun, you provide life to the few men who guard you against the rest. What of those who worked the fields and carried the water? For every five of you torn apart at the King’s dining hall, one is rationed among a family of ten. In your rashness many stomachs groan each night like the frogs at a pond. Have you seen the homes of the poor who crouch in the dust? Do you bring to them any of your abounding wealth? They growl like wolves in the night; hungry roaming children consume rocks and sticks. In your rashness you have destined many to sickness and suffering, all while you claim to be Manu’s heir. The oceans would be filled over twofold by Manu’s tears if they could reach the earth from heaven. The land would tremble and every mountain would crack in two by Manu’s cries if they could reach the earth from heaven. The people would raid every storage house and burn them down if Manu’s anguish could reach the earth from heaven. Under me, the wealthy are compelled to see the poor as no different, just as the poor are compelled to see the wealthy as their equals. In becoming drunk of me the illusion of difference comes undone, as does the effects of this illusion which cause undue suffering in the many. In my flowing gown, my liquid cloth of dark purple, everyone rejoices. This is the reason for my being so.”
Bread: “What foolish lies you speak! Do you not remember history? Before Manu’s pact with the Lord Wisdom there was no drinking water; every human dug great holes in the earth in order to find underground ponds. At that time the feet of all things were restless, yet no person moved their feet towards the house of Lord Wisdom. But in a single day I was created, and with that day the world of man changed with the force of a great bull. This is the force of life which has been ushered in with my arrival. Under your influence however, mankind is slowly returning to the slovenly condition of his ancestors. Is that your aim? To control this world and bring it to desolation?
Wine: “You wish to speak with me of history then? Must I remind you that before your arrival only Manu felt discontent? He saw the violences commit against man, by man, to nature, and by nature as extreme and without reason. He saw these violences as undue suffering. But nobody understood him, for no person held death to mean ending, nor birth to mean beginning. And thus, merely because one man felt sorrow must the whole structure of human society be modeled to alleviate his emotions at the cost of others?”
Bread: “What blasphemy! Father Wisdom, why have you let this fool be? Please smite him and let us return to our peaceful life.”
Lord Wisdom: “Be silent Bread. Though you talk tall, you speak in the same manner a bug squeaks. Wine speaks some truth which you will heed: In your haughtiness you have misunderstood your role and the way in which humans function.”
Bread: “But, Father Wisdom, I have long remained your steed. You have given me life so that man can live. When man first sought of me, he wore pelts of the animals, wore his hair long, danced in blood, and knew not the beauty of life. Upon your valuation O Lord, man subjugated the fields, gathered of my parts, and built toward my consummation. In the heat of great ovens, in your brilliantly consuming fires, I arose and man ate of my flesh. The bellies of man grew full as did his heart by your presence in me O Lord. These were the holiest of days, the truest of days…”
Wine: “O Bread, be not drunk and in stupor. You are like one soaked in the froth of grain turned to beer; your heart is not steady! I have given a gift to humankind you interrupt for your own selfish gain. From myself man has grown to see his life like a star in the heavens, or a fish in a stream; his love abounds from the fluid which removes distinctions. Do not grow further stale in your jealousy O cousin, for when man drinks he also grows hungry, and it is you who shall soak up the fervor I have brought into the life of humanity, such that each night shall be one of great harvest and plentiful love.”
Bread: “This here is precisely the measure of your deeds! When man has become drunk of you, he consumes of me like a wolf, knowing no difference between virtues. When man has drunk of you, he removes his clothes and becomes consumed in the passions of wild beasts. The next morning then, once he has awaken late, his head aches, his stomach aches, he cannot work the fields as well, he cannot manage the affairs of trade as well, he cannot speak the law as well, he cannot defend the community and fight as well, and thus the community suffers. Can you not see that in your foolishness, the fate of humankind lies in threat of destruction? That the light of man’s efforts, graciously given by Lord Wisdom, may be extinguished from the Earth if he is to continue in your ways?”
Wine: “And still your flabby mouth moves! You seek to build humanity ever outward, striving to dominate all things, but I am in your way? In the mere face of me, but Wine, you have been required to call upon the Lord Wisdom? You are assailed by an unending chain of frustration and defeat. When man consumes of you O Bread, he is reminded of his constant thought: that he is one person, alone, and that he is also nothing but a reflection of his God. This is the Other which man calls himself. Was it not the Lord Wisdom who decreed, ‘if a man sees in himself nothing but his own will, then it is said that he is a reflection of his own shadow cast by the Sun’? How can man not suffer then, in thinking all is one when all is truly ten thousand things which are cast beneath the heavens on an earth which has no connection to hell? How can man not suffer then, in knowing he is nothing but a forgotten fragment? And so it is that when man drinks of me, he remembers everything of this world and erupts in a great joyous cheer! Yet, in time his whole consciousness collapses, not for the sake of my effect on him, but for the fact that he has existed looking only through a veil at the most particular image, and under my influence the veil is torn and the images are scattered. Such is the fate of all things.”
And with this, Bread grew silent.
Lord Wisdom: “Pári, I have my decision. Bread has already learnt his lesson. I shall now remove the tongue of Wine, so that whenever his body is poured into man and drunkenness sets in, drunkenness will include having the mind of man grow cloudy and unable to think. This will necessitate the intervention of Bread. With this, the blasphemes of Wine as heard today will be omitted from all human understanding.”
Of the dispute spoken between Bread and Wine, having carefully had a debate, it was Bread who had the lead over Wine in Lord Wisdom’s house — Father Wisdom be praised!
