BOOK FOUR
THE BOOK OF THE VOICE
Chapter One
Now the one that was chosen by Bold Dove was Sweet
Blossom Fox, the daughter of Nameless Fox, and Yellow Blossom, the
first woman to serve as First Speaker.
2 Though she was advanced in age, she was
quick of mind, and eleven years she served The Lords until one night
she joined The Lords in her sleep. With her, The Glory of her
generation passed.
3 The Land of Spirit fell into a period of
decay. No great Speakers came from The Lords for many generations, and
many of the people fell away from Their Teachings to follow after gods.
4 A terrible sickness came out of the land of
The One to infect The Land of Spirit; a secret society of criminals,
bandits, and thieves called The Hoods infected The Land with their
poison.
5 Those who remained true to Spirit prayed to
The Lords, saying, "Lords, send a Voice, send a Speaker with the
thunder and the lightning, one who has The Old Power. Bring Your
Children back to Your Worship. For Your Land has become defiled with
sacrifice, and with lovers of men, and, lovers of women. Untruths
are spoken in Your Temples. Your Wisdom is gone from Your People. We
pray, oh Lords, You answer our prayer. Send a Voice to speak for
You. Raise Your People to their glory."
6 The Lords heard their prayer. And in The
513th Year From The Beginning, in The Southern City, a Speaker appeared.
7 Now, in the beginning, in that city at this
time, lived Gray Deer, whose family had been worshipers of The Lords.
8 But when he was nine seasons old, his father
had forsaken The Lords, and gone to The Temple of The One, taking all
of his family with him.
9 As all of his brothers were already older,
his father had made them make sacrifice to the temple and accept The
One, but Gray Deer was not yet old enough so his father waited.
10 When he was eleven seasons old, he took him to the temple of The One for The Ceremony of Manhood.
11 Gray Deer waited and watched the other boys
before him as they read from The Book of The One, then had the goats
they had brought tied to the crosses.
12 He listened to the animals' pitiful screams
as the priests carefully cut them open, removed their stomachs,
and intestines, and threw them in the altar fire.
13 Then, each boy opened his robes, and the
priest dipped his finger in the animal's blood, drew the circle and the
cross on his forehead, then the priest dipped his hand in the animals
body until it was covered with blood, took it out, and wiped it on the
boy's manhood.
14 "Today," the priest said, "before your god,
you are a man." The boy did up his robe and departed, going to a
party with his family.
15 Now, as it came Gray Deer's turn, he read
from the book, and put his hands on the goat's head, saying, "Upon you
I put my sins." But as the priest went to take the goat, he
suddenly bolted forward and seized it. "No!' he cried, "I
can't! I can't let you torture it in my name! It's
wrong! It's terrible! The Lords forbid such things!"
16 "My son," snapped his father angrily, "we
no longer follow The Lords. You now belong to The One. To be a
man, you must commit the sacrifice and accept the blood of
forgiveness. Otherwise, you will burn in the fires of
punishment for the unbelievers! Give the priest the
he-goat. He must bear your sins before the lord."
17 Gray Deer began to weep. "I will worship
your god, father," he answered, "but I cannot do this....I cannot!"
18 The priest came forward. "He is disturbing
the ceremony," he announced. "There are others waiting. And
if he will not accept the sacrifice willingly, it is useless. Let
him be. When the time comes, he will see the truth of our great god and
willingly bring his sacrifice. Until then, he will have to remain in
the children's court, a believer, but not sanctified."
19 Gray Deer's father was angry, but he took
the boy and departed. "When you are ready," he said, "tell me,
and I will provide for you a goat. Until then, pay your tenth and
keep up your prayers. I can understand your squeamishness, but
the day will come when you accept the truth, and forget these old
superstitions."
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