knowledge. The crafty devil. What was better than great wisdom? With the knowledge, Eve could become like Jehovah. Perhaps she could become a god herself. Such a subtle and alluring thing was, and is, wicked. In primeval times, in Heaven itself, the devil once yearned to replace Jehovah, to become a god. It is the ultimate sin.”
As he spoke, Noah’s eyes seemed to blaze. Or was that the fire’s light reflecting from them? “The devil loves to tempt men, using the same blasphemy that felled him. Yet the prince of evil seldom puts things so bluntly. First he tempts with the seemingly delicious thought that we can know hidden things, that through them we can become wise and powerful.”
“ What does the Tower have to do with that?” Beor asked.
“ Did you listen to them at Festival?” Noah asked. “Their great goal was and is to raise civilization. They hunger for it. The idea that they have been cheated, that they must struggle and strive to regain that which was lost consumes them. The hint being that Jehovah has taken from them, through the Flood, what by rights they should have. Therein, I suspect, is the Tower’s allure.”
Beor scratched his head . “You’ve gained this understanding because they desire to rebuild civilization?”
“ That and this appearance of the angel they worship,” Noah said. “I understand their twisted logic. By thanking the angel, they supposedly thank Jehovah. That is nonsense, of course. It is a ploy they use to trick the unwary and the simple.”
“ They?” Beor asked. “Who are they exactly?”
Hilda sat up . She heard a new note in her father’s voice.
“ I speak of the plotters,” Noah said, “those at the heart of the rebellion. Nimrod, Kush—the display of Jehovah’s power frightened him. The question is: did the display frighten Kush into obedience or will he strive even harder for deep knowledge?”
Beor plucked at his beard . “What you say makes sense.”
“ I’ve bemused you with these tales of the devil and his ancient offer of knowledge, that he uses what seems so good in order to bring about such evil.” Noah brooded. “I think a little trip is in order, for both you and Hilda.”
Beor asked, “A trip where?”
5.
Icy winds howled as snow crunched underfoot. Noah wore a warm cloak and a hood, and whenever he glanced at them, the frost frozen on his eyebrows made them even whiter. Beor gasped, the white puffs of air jetting out of his mouth whipped away by the wind and hurled over the mountaintops, or so it seemed to Hilda. Her father’s peg leg made it a grueling journey as the wooden shaft sank into the drifts. Her father toiled manfully, never complaining, simply gritting his teeth and plowing headlong after Noah. She found it easier. Sometimes the drifts hardened to such a degree that with her lighter weight she climbed upon them and ran on the surface, hurrying ahead to see what lay next.
They trekked up Mount Ararat.
The weather bid her recall Odin, the fat fool. He had told her about his journey to the Far North and the Ice Mountains. She had met him years before at Noah’s house. Odin…back at Festival he had risen as if from out of the very ground and into their hidden camp, startling them all. Gog… “May he rest in peace,” she whispered. Gog had wrestled him, and foolish Odin, although handy with a spear, had soon found himself with the other Hunters in the cage. She furrowed her brow, only now realizing that he’d never used the bronze head of his spear, just the butt end. He hadn’t meant to kill any of them, just free his companions. She shrugged, forgetting about Odin and letting thoughts of Gog slip away.
“ It’s just a little farther,” shouted Noah, grabbing her father’s arm.
They toiled upslope: past drifts and shrieking wind. Why had Noah taken them here? To see the Ark, he’d said. But why did that matter?
For another hour , they plowed on, topping the slope and dragging themselves down a
As he spoke, Noah’s eyes seemed to blaze. Or was that the fire’s light reflecting from them? “The devil loves to tempt men, using the same blasphemy that felled him. Yet the prince of evil seldom puts things so bluntly. First he tempts with the seemingly delicious thought that we can know hidden things, that through them we can become wise and powerful.”
“ What does the Tower have to do with that?” Beor asked.
“ Did you listen to them at Festival?” Noah asked. “Their great goal was and is to raise civilization. They hunger for it. The idea that they have been cheated, that they must struggle and strive to regain that which was lost consumes them. The hint being that Jehovah has taken from them, through the Flood, what by rights they should have. Therein, I suspect, is the Tower’s allure.”
Beor scratched his head . “You’ve gained this understanding because they desire to rebuild civilization?”
“ That and this appearance of the angel they worship,” Noah said. “I understand their twisted logic. By thanking the angel, they supposedly thank Jehovah. That is nonsense, of course. It is a ploy they use to trick the unwary and the simple.”
“ They?” Beor asked. “Who are they exactly?”
Hilda sat up . She heard a new note in her father’s voice.
“ I speak of the plotters,” Noah said, “those at the heart of the rebellion. Nimrod, Kush—the display of Jehovah’s power frightened him. The question is: did the display frighten Kush into obedience or will he strive even harder for deep knowledge?”
Beor plucked at his beard . “What you say makes sense.”
“ I’ve bemused you with these tales of the devil and his ancient offer of knowledge, that he uses what seems so good in order to bring about such evil.” Noah brooded. “I think a little trip is in order, for both you and Hilda.”
Beor asked, “A trip where?”
5.
Icy winds howled as snow crunched underfoot. Noah wore a warm cloak and a hood, and whenever he glanced at them, the frost frozen on his eyebrows made them even whiter. Beor gasped, the white puffs of air jetting out of his mouth whipped away by the wind and hurled over the mountaintops, or so it seemed to Hilda. Her father’s peg leg made it a grueling journey as the wooden shaft sank into the drifts. Her father toiled manfully, never complaining, simply gritting his teeth and plowing headlong after Noah. She found it easier. Sometimes the drifts hardened to such a degree that with her lighter weight she climbed upon them and ran on the surface, hurrying ahead to see what lay next.
They trekked up Mount Ararat.
The weather bid her recall Odin, the fat fool. He had told her about his journey to the Far North and the Ice Mountains. She had met him years before at Noah’s house. Odin…back at Festival he had risen as if from out of the very ground and into their hidden camp, startling them all. Gog… “May he rest in peace,” she whispered. Gog had wrestled him, and foolish Odin, although handy with a spear, had soon found himself with the other Hunters in the cage. She furrowed her brow, only now realizing that he’d never used the bronze head of his spear, just the butt end. He hadn’t meant to kill any of them, just free his companions. She shrugged, forgetting about Odin and letting thoughts of Gog slip away.
“ It’s just a little farther,” shouted Noah, grabbing her father’s arm.
They toiled upslope: past drifts and shrieking wind. Why had Noah taken them here? To see the Ark, he’d said. But why did that matter?
For another hour , they plowed on, topping the slope and dragging themselves down a
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