1. OSIRE said: In the name of Jehovih, peace be unto thee! To which Daveas replied: Nay, in the name of Apollo, who I am! How darest thou approach, save to crawl on thy belly? Four hundred years hath the honor of my kingdom been revered by all visiting Gods; but thou comest as a barbarian. Down, wretch! Erst I have thee bound and cast in prison!
2. Osire said: Why should I not come before thee? Behold, the Great Spirit created the whole universe for His Sons and Daughters. By what right hast thou usurped a portion? And whence thy authority to bid me kneel to thee? But if thou canst show me wherein thou hast one just claim to enslave these people, rather let thy argument run thither, for I am come in the name of the Father to liberate them, that they may be prepared for the second and third resurrections.
3. Daveas said: Think not that I have neglected to prepare for rebellious Gods like thou. Behold my millions of subjects! What is thy handful? Verily, I tell thee I have prisons large enough to hold thee and thy hosts. Neither flatter thyself that I am ignorant. For two hundred years I wrought in the so-called resurrections; I made myself a slave to the multitude, giving all my labor and time. Then I beheld my folly, and so built a third resurrection myself. This is, therefore, my lawful kingdom. Moreover, I tell thee to thy face, thou wretch, there is no higher heaven than mine. Neither comest thou from a heaven great as mine. But having great self-conceit, thou art come for mischief. I have heard of thee in other heavens! But now thou hast p. 157a put thy head into the halter. Seize him, marshals! Seize him and his hosts! Cast them in prison!
4. Osire spake not, but raised his hand upward in the seventh sign, and suddenly his hosts casts forth sheets of light brighter than the sun. Daveas stood back affrighted, and his marshals fled. Presently, Osire, with a thousand attendants, stepped forth in flames of light, and went up into the capital and surrounded Daveas, the usurper, but touched him not. And now the ship was illumined, and lo, the sentinels of Daveas' Council broke and fled. Hereupon, Osire spake, saying:
5. Hand of Thy hand, O Jehovih; voice of Thy voice, overturn Thou this house and throne! And, behold, the light of the upper heavens rested in Osire's palms, and he smote the house and the throne, and they tumbled over as straw before a hurricane. Alone stood Daveas, the evil God, half speechless and half blinded by the great Light of Jehovih. Down! down! said Osire, to the walls and temples of the city. And his hosts concentrated at any point Osire's hand directed; and lo, everything fell and was scattered far.
6. Meanwhile, the officers of Daveas fled in all directions, save such as were overcome by the light, and these fell and were buried themselves amidst the rubbish.
7. Hold! Hold! cried Daveas. Give me air! I perish! I am a consuming fire! And he tossed his hands aloft; then cringed his face within his glittering robes. And now Osire called forth thunder and lightning, and sent shafts through, and over, and about the whole plateau of Vibrahj, and the din and roar confounded all the eight hundred millions of souls, so they ran no farther, but stood and waited, watching what should next befall.
8. Osire halted not, but went forward to a more suitable place, to build his throne. Jehovih! Almighty! he cried: Elements of Thy elements, O Father! Found here a throne for Thy Son! And even so, for whilst his words went forth, the elements rose to do his will, and there raised a most excellent throne, strong and adamantine, on which Osire ascended. Daveas had fallen flat down, weeping and wailing; but Osire, by a motion of the hand, called Wang-te, a most enlightened archangel, with her attendants, to bear him hence, the which was quickly done.
9. Quickly, now, the place being cleared, the hosts of Osire fenced around a sufficient space for a city of a thousand million souls, with pillars p. 158a of light, as brilliant as an arc in the etherean firmament. Hereat, Osire appointed Klesta, Dawn Goddess, and he gave her a council of fifty thousand ethereans. Outside of the walls of the pillars of agni were Daveas and his eight hundred million subjects, in dire confusion.
10. Wang-te, the archangel, said to Daveas: In thine own falsehood thou art favored to free thyself awhile, to organize a new kingdom, but in holiness, and return and command obedience from this smothering host. Behold, thou has taught them to believe thou art Apollo; say to them now: I am not Apollo! I have been false!
11. Daveas madly replied: Never! Jehovih and His kingdoms accursed be forever! Ye strange spirits, come from far-off kingdoms, to despoil and overturn the most righteous place in heaven! Are Jehovih and His servants destroyers! To which Wang-te replied: This is no time for argument; behold here these countless millions! If I withdraw from thee, and my attendants also withdraw, thou wilt be as one drowned amidst this sea of ignorance and horrid smells. Assume at once, for pity's sake, to purge thyself of thy life-long falsehoods and treacherous tyranny. Announce thyself as Daveas, as thou art, and I can save thee!
12. Daveas rudely thrust her aside, saying: Never! I acknowledge to none! If there be a higher heaven, I will ascend thither as I am, Apollo! Apollo! Wang-te said: Put me not off, in Jehovih's name! Remember what thou art, and of the little thou hast seen, how powerless thou art before Omnipotence! Thy fate is like that of all dictators, on the verge of a chasm of horrors. Daveas waited not to hear her further, but proclaimed aloud, Apollo! Apollo! and stood aside. And presently his former officers rushed to him, and with that came the sea of millions of spirits, unorganized, unwashed, unfed, frightened and mad, for love of the name Apollo, the meaning of which they knew not; and they became as a knot of serpents, entwined around the central figure, Daveas and his officers. And in the terrible brawl not one voice could be distinguished from another. And the outer extreme pressed inward, on every side, and presently the eight hundred millions were p. 159a as a ball, a knot of darkness, with a dull and rumbling moan within, and fearful clamor on the surface, from which horrid smells issued in all directions.
13. Wang-te and her attendants hastened back to the throne of Osire, Son of Jehovih, to tell what had happened. Osire said: What shall I do, O Father? Then the Light of Jehovih came, and Jehovih spake, saying: Consider My Creation, My son. The young child I made to fall with few bruises; but the full-grown man falleth heavily. Shall I make a separate rule to favor kings and queens on the earth, and false Gods in heaven? Nay, verily. Behold, I will make of Daveas an example in heaven, and on earth, also. Because he hath spurned his own name, so will I make both angels and mortals to curse and shun the name, Daveas.
14. Osire said: Proceed ye with my kingdom, in the name of the father. Let Daveas rest awhile as he is.
15. At that, Osire departed, taking the remainder of his hosts with him in his fire-ship; and he went to a heavenly place to the westward, where was Seru, a false God, with ten millions of slaves; and Osire destroyed Seru's kingdom also. Next, he went to a heavenly place in the north, where Raka, a false God, had seventy millions of slaves; and Osire destroyed his kingdom also, liberating his slaves, and putting a guard over Raka.
16. Thus went Osire throughout atmospherea, demolishing all the heavenly kingdoms of the false Gods, of whom there were, in all, seven hundred and eighty; but many of them had not a million of subjects. Thirty days, in all, was Osire engaged in destroying the evil kingdoms in the lower heavens, and then the work was finished.
17. Osire said to his hosts: For thirty days we labored in destroying that which was; now will we rebuild to Jehovih for another thirty days. Take the ship, therefore, to Vibrahj, for thither will I found my central kingdom. And after we shall have completed the work of starting the second resurrection on a sure foundation, then will we go down to the earth and overturn the kingdoms of the false Lords and men.