To my luck, Ma’t was not occupied at
the moment, but welcomed me into his chamber with a “Fe’n, my boy! Let you come and be seated!” I positioned myself on the stool as
usual. “What has brought you to me this
fine afternoon?” The old man asked.
“I have quarreled with my brothers
once again, although I suppose that is nothing new.”
“No, of course not! It means to me that all is right with the
world. Let you always seek to be in
conflict with those two!”
“Yes, well this afternoon a letter
has come from Sirlay, and they read it aloud to me. I care very little for what he has to say,
but they continue to insist that I am ignorant merely for disagreeing with them.”
“Ah, but that is always the way, my
boy,” the priest rasped. “Those who have
spent their lives in pursuit of vain knowledge think themselves superior to all
others. It is the way they must be; if
they do not diminish you for being like them, their pursuits will have become
purposeless.”
“I suppose that is so, for I hate
the disdain with which they describe the Hihaythean people. I know that we Hihaytheans are good, noble
people who follow the Iqharepur in all things.
Yet to Yhako and Ansidrion, the Hihaytheans are foolish things, poor,
directionless souls.”
Ma’t frowned. “Tell me, my boy. What is it that they have said?”
So I recounted to Ma’t the
conversation I had overheard between my brothers about the need for a
Hihaythean awakening. “How can they wish
for a content people to realize their anger?
If we are happy, why would they trouble this?”
“Your brothers are, indeed, quite
foolish. The people do not need to be
awoken from this slumber.”
“That is exactly as I felt. We are merely content. Why must they insist that we must be asleep
merely because we disagree with them?”
“The people do not need to be awoken
to any such disagreement! They do not
need to learn from your brothers; it is the role of the people to be humbly
led.”
“Led?” I asked.
“Yes, led. It is my task, as given from God, to direct
the people away from wrong. Men like
your brothers have interfered with this task, by complicating the public mind
and sowing dissent. When uppity men like
them offer so many choices, it is only natural that the people will drift down
the wrong path.”
“But why can the people not be given
choices? If our way is the correct
way—and I believe that it is—should most people not choose it if let to their
own devices?”
“Perhaps they should, Fe’n, but they
will not. There are too many corrupt
forces; too many men who are eager to deceive the people away from our faith.”
“Then we should educate them. If the people can be so easily deceived, we
should fill their minds with truth, so that there will be no space for lies.”
“Fe’n, you are a bright young man,
and adhere to many pleasant ideals. But
unfortunately, these ideals are not the way of the world. The only way we can protect people is to shield
them from these sinful alternative ideals.
Education is not the solution.
Think of your mother, Fe’n. When
she was perhaps the most educated woman in all of Ilepya, she was at her most
sinful. It was only when she abandoned
her worldly learning that she opened her mind to the proper way.”
“Hum. I suppose you are correct on this
matter.” He had his facts correct, at
least. And yet it felt wrong to me. How could the pursuit of learning lead a
person to foolishness? If knowledge were
bad, why should I come to Ma’t with questions?
But, as usual, I said nothing of this, nor did I act upon it. I continued to see Ma’t just as much as I
always did, because he was the only person who gave me the answers that I
sought.
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