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From
Richard Bach's "Illusions" comes the story - the parable - of the
Vampire.
"Your
conscience is the measure of the honesty of your selfishness. Listen to
it carefully"
"WE ARE ALL FREE
to do
whatever we want to do," he said that night.
"Isn't that simple and clean and clear? Isn't that a great way to run a
universe?"
"Almost. You forgot a pretty important part." I said.
"Oh?"
"We
are all free to do whatever we want to do,
as long as we don't hurt someone
else." I chided. "I know you meant that, but you ought to say
what you mean."
There was a sudden shambling sound in the dark, and I looked at him quickly.
"Did you hear that?
"Yeah. Sounds like there's somebody... "
He got up, walked into the dark. He laughed suddenly, said a name I couldn't
catch.
"It's OK." I heard him say.
"No, we'd be glad to have you ... no need to stand around... come on,
you're welcome , really...."
The voice was heavily accented, not quite Russian, nor Czech. More
Transylvanian.
"Thank you. I do not wish to impose upon your evening... "
"Make yourself comfortable ," I said. "Can we
help you at all?" ....
He looked at me with a desperate smile that turned me to ice.
"Yes, you can help me. I need this very much or I would not ask. May I
drink some of your blood? Just some? It is my food, I need human blood
.........
"What are you saying?" I was the more fierce because I was scared.
"What in the hell are you saying, mister? I don't know what you are, are
you some kind of VAM...?"
Shimoda cut me off before I could say the word.
"Richard, our guest was talking, and you interrupted. Please go ahead, sir; my
friend is a little hasty."
"Please to understand. I did not choose to be born a vampire. It is
unfortunate. I do not have many friends. But I must have a small amount of
fresh blood every night or I writhe in terrible pain, longer than that without
it and I cannot live! Please, I will be deeply hurt - I will die - if you do
not allow me to suck your blood .... just a small amount, more than a pint I
do not need."
He advanced a step toward me, licking his lips .....
"One more step and there will be blood, all right. Mister, you touch me and
you die...."
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(Continued from Left Column)
He turned to Shimoda. "You have made your point?"
"I think so. Thank you."
"I wont drink you're blood, Richard," he said in perfect
friendly English. No accent at all.
As I watched he faded as if he was turning out his own light .. in five
seconds he had disappeared.
Shimoda sat down again by the fire. "Am I ever glad you don't mean what
you say!"
I was still trembling with adrenalin, ready for my fight with a monster.
"Don, I'm not sure I'm built for this. Maybe you'd better tell me
what's going on. Like, for instance, what was that?"
"Dot was a wompire from Tronsylwania," he said in words
thicker than the creature's own. "Or to be more precise, dot was a
thought-form of a wompire from Tronsylwania. If ever you want to make a point,
you think someone isn't listening, whip 'em up a little thought-form to
demonstrate what you mean. Do you think I overdid him, with the cape and the
fangs and the accent like that? Was he too scary for you?"
"The cape was first class, Don. But that was the most stereotyped,
outlandish ... I wasn't scared at all."
He sighed. "Oh well. But you got the point, at least, and that's what
matters."
"What point?"
"Richard, in being so fierce toward my vampire, you were doing what you
wanted to do, even though you thought it was going to hurt somebody else. He
even told you he'd be hurt if..."
"He was going to suck my blood!"
"Which is what we do to anyone when we say we'll be hurt if they don't
live our way."
I was quite for a long time, thinking about that. I had always believed that
we were free to do as we please only if we don't hurt another, and this didn't
fit.
There was something missing.
"The thing that puzzles you," he said, "is an accepted saying that happens to
be impossible. The phrase is hurt somebody else.
We choose, ourselves, to be hurt or not to be hurt, no matter what. Us who
decides. Nobody else. My vampire told you he'd be hurt if you didn't let him?
That's his decision to be hurt, that's his choice.
What you do about it is you're decision, your choice: give him blood; ignore
him; tie him up; drive a stake of holly through his heart. If he doesn't want
the holly stake, he's free to resist, in whatever way he wants. It goes on and
on, choices, choices."
"When you look at it that way ........ "
"Listen," he said, "it's important.
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