The Stories of Thoth and Ma'at:
Set
Delivers The Deadliest Secret
in Nature |
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SET and HORUS have both exited after their first, and
indecisive, combat in Dunqul. ISIS, MA'AT, NEPHTHYS,
THOTH and ANUBIS are still in the Space. SET re-enters, aproned and notably feminine, bearing
trays with cups of wine.
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ISIS:
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Where are they going?
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ANUBIS:
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(Sniffs:) Horus is on his way to the valley.
Set is coming back here.
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| SET:
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But
of course. Set is not going anywhere when there's wine
to be had, darlings. Isn't this a delicious one, lovey?
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| ISIS:
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Before you begin serving
--
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| SET:
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I can deliver the basic lesson at hand as effectively
as any of you.
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| THOTH:
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This should be imaginative.
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| SET:
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The Truth is One. And if you ever buzz me like that
again in the middle of a fight, I will slice you from windpipe to weewee,
and you will fall down.
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| THOTH:
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On
the day that your arm becomes as swift as thought.
Just serve the wine.
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SET:
What have I done? The decline in public civility
is shocking even to me, and I'm the one who started it.
Ladies and gentlemen, the crux about wine is this: The fermentation
of fruit and grain into alcoholic liquor is the deadliest secret in nature,
and one of the clearest proofs that this realm must be operating in divine guidance.
If it were not, then how could such a powerful threat
to the health of the soul occur here in nature so lazily, so
easily and everywhere?
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| Alcohol is my friend. He's a killer.
Putting it simply: I will harvest every body of flesh here in this room within the next
hundred years, though some last longer. The ones that
alcohol catches are the easiest for me.
They seem to stretch their necks toward the blade, and they
fall plumb, without a struggle into the bag. It's not
safe for me to harvest many of them at one time, because they're
poisonous. Bury the body of a drunk under a flower bush or a
hedge, and the plant will lose moisture and begin to wither.
But alcohol is not all dismal. It gives courage to terrified
people. It liberates laughter. You can realize a great amount
of money from making liquor and selling it. You can forget your
sorrow until you remember it again. If you don't like
life, you can escape from it sooner. Drink up!
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| SET and other NETERS exit. ENSEMBLE continue to serve
wine. LIGHTS come up on the Royal Palace, as before. SET, ANUBIS
and THOTH re-enter severally, resume serving the wine. ISIS enters,
nearly collides with SET.
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ISIS:
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Are you still here?
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| SET:
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Of course I'm still here. The wine has an
odor that almost jumps. The party's just begun. Question is,
precious -- why were you
not here?
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| ISIS:
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(To ANUBIS:) Where is Horus?
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| SET:
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You don't know?
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| SET
and ANUBIS:
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(Simultaneous:)
He's gone to see his
father.
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| ISIS:
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(To THOTH:) Will you fly, and watch him?
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| THOTH:
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No. He goes alone this time. He
takes care of himself. The only question
of any consequence now is -- red wine or white? Grape or melon?
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ISIS exits, then LIGHTS fade as other
NETERs finish serving and exit.
LIGHTS shift to the earth colors of the Red Land. |
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