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The Laws
Posted by
StarMountainKid
,
26 January 2012
·
170 views
The Laws
Inspired by the stories of Franz Kafka
We know there are Laws, but no one knows what these laws are.. This peculiar situation leads to a life of anxiety. Especially if one is a curious person, and I am perhaps more curious than others. There is a danger in being curious, but I have felt this way my entire life, and I can not stop now.
As no one knows the Laws, one never knows if one has broken one of them. Being of an inquisitive nature, this constant uncertainty is always lurking in the back of my mind. Others do not seem to be overly concerned about this ambiguous state of affairs, but I am. As I say, I am a curious fellow.
Throughout everyone's life we have known people to disappear. Neighbors, friends, sometimes whole families are suddenly gone from our lives. One wonders about these of course, but we dare not to delve too deeply into this mystery. One can only think, well this or that person has obviously broken a Law and has been arrested and taken away. We do not become too upset at this, for these people must have been criminals, or at least have committed a criminal act. So in this way we justify to ourselves their disappearances.
Another thing of interest is, we never experience any evidence of the police. There are no police stations, for instance. So who are these people who arrest us? Where is our judicial system located, who are the prosecuters and judges? No one knows.
The only person of authority who is ever visible to us is the Govenor of our Provence. Only on various State occasions does he make an appearance, and only then to make a long speach in the village square. However,we never really listen to what he says.. At any rate, we are careful not to listen to his words too carefully. We turn a deaf ear to him because we don't want to hear bad news. In fact, we don't want to hear any news at all. In the long term it is better not to listen to his pronouncesments or especially to any gossip about them, as it is better not to know very much. The less one knows about these things be better one sleeps at night.
This is because, if we knew his pronouncements or the Laws themselves our lives would become much too complicated. It is simpler to live our daily, tedious lives oblivious to these things. Laws are Laws, after all, and they must exist and be obeyed, but we don't wish our lives to be determined by external circumstances. We feel it is better to flounder about, trying to organize our lives in our own poor way as best we can, than to have strict rules to be obeyed. In this way we gain some freedom, at least.
Now, we know that in most cases the Law is slow in it's deployment. It is possible, even probable, that we may at any time be arrested for having broken a Law twenty or even thirty years before. This is accepted by us. The Law is very precise and methodical, and it may take that long for the crime to be fully investigated and the authorities to come to the proper conclusion as to one's guilt or innocence.
This is proper, and the way is should be. Authority must move slowly and deliberatly. I remember one occasion when I was a young boy. Part of the road in front of our house was broken, and while my parents were not bold enough to complain, our elderly neighbor wrote a letter to the Govenor, pleading that our little road be repared. It finally was repaired, but long after that neighbor had grown ill and died.
I believe this is how the system works. One may file a complaint, and most likely the complaint will be read and some satisfactory conclusion will come of it, but much too late for the one who has complained to profit from its successful solution.
This is just one of only a few conclusions I have reached in my long life about the true workings of our Authorities and our Laws. Of course, I tell no one of my conclusions, as it is always best to keep one's inner thoughts to one's self. Any knowledge of the Laws, even the most fanciful and imaginative, may be a breach of the Law in itself. One cannot be too careful, even though it is impossible to be careful at all. One just lives one's life and hopes for the best.
Now that I am an old man, sometimes on dreary days with nothing to occupy my mind, I wish that at some moment of my past life I had unknowingly broken one of our Laws, and therefore will one day be arrested. In a sense this would be a benefit to me. At least to my curiosity. For then I would witness first hand and for the first time understand the inner workings of our mysterious judicial system. Perhaps this will happen one day. A sudden knock on the door at midnight, unknown men enter my rooms, and I am stelthely taken away to some hidden location where I will stand trial for my criminal act.
Some nights I even dream of this. In my dream, as I am taken away, I plead with the men, saying, "But I am innocent!" Their reply is always, "Innocent of what?"
The outcome to this covert trial would of course already have been determined beforehand. The final judgement is inevitable. The authorities would not waste their time on an innocent person. I know very well what the verdict would be. Aquittal is an impossibility. Anyone under arrest is of course guilty, and we know only one sentence is possible.
Even this I would accept, just to know even one of the Laws. The one I had unknowingly broken so many years before, perhaps as a young man over exuberent and careless in life.
So, now I sit in my little room waiting for old age and nature to take its course, and equally awaiting that fateful knock on my door. I'm not certain which conclusion to this long life I prefer.
Inspired by the stories of Franz Kafka
We know there are Laws, but no one knows what these laws are.. This peculiar situation leads to a life of anxiety. Especially if one is a curious person, and I am perhaps more curious than others. There is a danger in being curious, but I have felt this way my entire life, and I can not stop now.
As no one knows the Laws, one never knows if one has broken one of them. Being of an inquisitive nature, this constant uncertainty is always lurking in the back of my mind. Others do not seem to be overly concerned about this ambiguous state of affairs, but I am. As I say, I am a curious fellow.
Throughout everyone's life we have known people to disappear. Neighbors, friends, sometimes whole families are suddenly gone from our lives. One wonders about these of course, but we dare not to delve too deeply into this mystery. One can only think, well this or that person has obviously broken a Law and has been arrested and taken away. We do not become too upset at this, for these people must have been criminals, or at least have committed a criminal act. So in this way we justify to ourselves their disappearances.
Another thing of interest is, we never experience any evidence of the police. There are no police stations, for instance. So who are these people who arrest us? Where is our judicial system located, who are the prosecuters and judges? No one knows.
The only person of authority who is ever visible to us is the Govenor of our Provence. Only on various State occasions does he make an appearance, and only then to make a long speach in the village square. However,we never really listen to what he says.. At any rate, we are careful not to listen to his words too carefully. We turn a deaf ear to him because we don't want to hear bad news. In fact, we don't want to hear any news at all. In the long term it is better not to listen to his pronouncesments or especially to any gossip about them, as it is better not to know very much. The less one knows about these things be better one sleeps at night.
This is because, if we knew his pronouncements or the Laws themselves our lives would become much too complicated. It is simpler to live our daily, tedious lives oblivious to these things. Laws are Laws, after all, and they must exist and be obeyed, but we don't wish our lives to be determined by external circumstances. We feel it is better to flounder about, trying to organize our lives in our own poor way as best we can, than to have strict rules to be obeyed. In this way we gain some freedom, at least.
Now, we know that in most cases the Law is slow in it's deployment. It is possible, even probable, that we may at any time be arrested for having broken a Law twenty or even thirty years before. This is accepted by us. The Law is very precise and methodical, and it may take that long for the crime to be fully investigated and the authorities to come to the proper conclusion as to one's guilt or innocence.
This is proper, and the way is should be. Authority must move slowly and deliberatly. I remember one occasion when I was a young boy. Part of the road in front of our house was broken, and while my parents were not bold enough to complain, our elderly neighbor wrote a letter to the Govenor, pleading that our little road be repared. It finally was repaired, but long after that neighbor had grown ill and died.
I believe this is how the system works. One may file a complaint, and most likely the complaint will be read and some satisfactory conclusion will come of it, but much too late for the one who has complained to profit from its successful solution.
This is just one of only a few conclusions I have reached in my long life about the true workings of our Authorities and our Laws. Of course, I tell no one of my conclusions, as it is always best to keep one's inner thoughts to one's self. Any knowledge of the Laws, even the most fanciful and imaginative, may be a breach of the Law in itself. One cannot be too careful, even though it is impossible to be careful at all. One just lives one's life and hopes for the best.
Now that I am an old man, sometimes on dreary days with nothing to occupy my mind, I wish that at some moment of my past life I had unknowingly broken one of our Laws, and therefore will one day be arrested. In a sense this would be a benefit to me. At least to my curiosity. For then I would witness first hand and for the first time understand the inner workings of our mysterious judicial system. Perhaps this will happen one day. A sudden knock on the door at midnight, unknown men enter my rooms, and I am stelthely taken away to some hidden location where I will stand trial for my criminal act.
Some nights I even dream of this. In my dream, as I am taken away, I plead with the men, saying, "But I am innocent!" Their reply is always, "Innocent of what?"
The outcome to this covert trial would of course already have been determined beforehand. The final judgement is inevitable. The authorities would not waste their time on an innocent person. I know very well what the verdict would be. Aquittal is an impossibility. Anyone under arrest is of course guilty, and we know only one sentence is possible.
Even this I would accept, just to know even one of the Laws. The one I had unknowingly broken so many years before, perhaps as a young man over exuberent and careless in life.
So, now I sit in my little room waiting for old age and nature to take its course, and equally awaiting that fateful knock on my door. I'm not certain which conclusion to this long life I prefer.
