The Meditations of Caius Caligulia
A Chronicle of aWandering in the Dao
thirsty as a dog for their blood, came back from a trip to Damascus one of them. It is a sad
business.”
I felt transported by this news. I waved away my demand for a statuary in their Temple. I told
Agrippa I would instead accept the tribute that Antipas had offered me, and not a sestertius
less. He bowed before my magnanimity. As he turned to go, I sent a parting shot:
By Alfred Underhill
hang Ju, you are aware of why you are here?"
"Z
"Yes."
"You understand that you stand before a magistrate of the celestial court?"
“You people were wrong about that holy man. He was no blasphemer. He was a god. He lives
beyond death, as I shall.The gods are not distant, Agrippa.The gods are among you.” "Yes."
It was pleasure to watch him bow to me. UJ "Very well, you may sit, so long as you are attentive. As this is not a terrestrial court, you will
not be compelled to plead. Do you understand?"
"Yes."
"Good. At the end of these proceedings, you will be asked to answer the question at the heart
of this matter. If you leave before the court adjourns, your answer will be considered a
declination. Even so, you are free to leave at any time. Do you have any questions?"
"No."
"Zhang Ju, celestial law now requires the recitation of the record of your deeds to date within
the earthly realm, as compiled for this court by registered observers.At the end of the reading,
you will be prompted to answer a question, as previously stated. Based on all that is cataloged
on this scroll, it will take approximately sixty-four terrestrial days of continuous recitation to
list all of your deeds until the present. Do you anticipate needing a recess in that time?"
"No."
"Excellent.Then we shall begin. Ahem, you were born in the Huangdi year 633, the 18th of
Chenyue, in the province ofYangzhou, to Xu Ban and Xu Na: farmers.You were the third son
born to your parents, and the fifth child of twelve.Your filial piety was genuine and flawless;
your older brothers boxed your ears many times for 'showing them up'.Yet, despite your
brothers' violence, you never struck them back.You were consistent and thorough in all of
your labors around your family's farm.
You were an unusually curious and observant child. At the age of seven, you spotted the
approach of a leopard that had been terrorizing your family's livestock, thus enabling your
father and uncles to lay traps and kill it. At the age of twelve, you somehow worked out an
imperfect, yet functional, system of crop rotation, which kept your family from starving.You