Slowly, the slaves walked one after the other, each carrying a polished stone. Four lines, each one and a half kilometers long, from the stone-cutters to the place where the construction of the fortified city began, were guarded by guards. One armed guard warrior relied on a dozen slaves.
Away from the walking slaves, at the top of a thirteen-meter man-made mountain made of polished stones, sat Cratius, one of the high priests; for four months he silently watched what was happening. No one distracted him, no one, not even with a glance, dared to interrupt his thoughts. Slaves and guards perceived the artificial mountain with a throne on top as an integral part of the landscape. And no one paid any attention to the man, now sitting motionless on the throne, now walking along the platform on the top of the mountain.
Cratius set himself the task of rebuilding the state, strengthening the power of the priests for a millennium, subordinating all the people of the Earth to them, making them all, including the rulers of states, the slaves of the priests.
Once Kratius went downstairs, leaving his double on the throne. The priest changed his clothes, took off his wig. He ordered the chief of the guard to be chained up like a simple slave, and put in a line behind a young and strong slave named Nard.
Peering into the faces of the slaves, Cratius noticed that this young man had an inquiring and evaluating gaze, and not wandering or aloof, like many. Nard's face was now concentrated and pensive, now worried. “So he is hatching some kind of plan,” the priest realized, but wanted to make sure how accurate his observation was.
For two days Kraty watched Nard, silently dragging stones, sat next to him during a meal and slept next to him on a bunk. On the third night, as soon as the command "Sleep" was received, Kraty turned to the young slave and, in a whisper, with bitterness and despair, uttered a question addressed to an incomprehensible one:
- Will this continue for the rest of your life?
The priest saw: the young slave shuddered and instantly turned around to face the priest, his eyes glittering. They sparkled even in the dim light of the big barracks burners.
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- This will not last long. I come up with a plan. And you, old man, can take part in it too, - whispered the young slave.
- What's the plan? the priest asked indifferently and with a sigh.
Nard began to ardently and confidently explain:
- And you, old man, and I, and we all will soon be free people, not slaves. You count, old man: for every ten slaves, there is one guard. And the fifteen slaves, who cook food, sew clothes, are also watched by one guard. If at the appointed hour we all attack the guard, we will defeat it. Let the guards be armed, and we are chained. There are ten of us for each, and chains can also be used as weapons, exposing them to the blow of the sword. We will disarm all the guards, bind them and take possession of weapons.
- Eh, young man, - Kraty sighed again and, as if indifferently, pronounced, - your plan is not thought out: the guards who are watching us can be disarmed, but soon the ruler will send new ones, maybe even a whole army, and kill the rebellious slaves.
“I've thought about that too, old man. We must choose a time when there will be no army. And this time is coming. We all see how the army is being prepared for the campaign. Provisions are prepared for three months' journey. This means that in three months the army will come to the designated place and engage in battle. In battle, she will weaken, but will win, capture many new slaves. New barracks are already being built for them. We must start disarming the guards as soon as our ruler's army engages in battle with another army. It will take the messengers a month to deliver an immediate return message. The weakened army will return for at least three months. In four months we will be able to prepare for the meeting. There will be no less of us than the soldiers in the army. The captured slaves will want to be with us when they see what happened. I predestined everything right, old man.
- Yes, young man, you can disarm the guards with a plan, with your thoughts and defeat the army, - the priest answered, already encouraging and added: - but then what will the slaves do, and what will happen to the rulers, guards and soldiers?
- I thought about it a little. And while one thing comes to mind: all who were slaves will not become slaves. All who are not slaves today will be slaves, - as if thinking aloud, Nard answered not quite confidently.
- And the priests? Tell me, young man, to the slaves or not slaves of the priests, when will you win, will you rank?
- Priests? I didn't think about that either. But now I suppose: let the priests remain as they are. Slaves, rulers listen to them. Although it is sometimes difficult to understand them, I think they are harmless. Let them talk about the gods, but we know our own life how to live better.
“The best is good,” the priest replied, and pretended to be terribly sleepy.
But Cratius did not sleep that night. He pondered. “Of course,” thought Kraty, “the easiest way is to inform the ruler about the conspiracy, and they will seize the young slave, he is clearly the main inspirer for others. But that won't solve the problem. The desire for freedom from slavery will always be with slaves. New leaders will appear, new plans will be developed, and if so, the main threat to the state will always be present within the state. Before Krath was the task: to develop a plan to enslave the whole world. He understood that it would not be possible to achieve the goal with the help of only physical violence. It is necessary to have a psychological impact on every person, on entire nations. It is necessary to transform human thought, to instill in everyone: slavery is the highest good. It is necessary to launch a self-developing program that will disorient entire nations in space, time and concepts. But the most important thing is an adequate perception of reality. Craty's thought worked faster and faster, he stopped feeling the body, the heavy shackles on his arms and legs. And suddenly, like a flash of lightning, a program appeared. Not yet detailed and inexplicable, but already felt and scorching in its scale. Cratius felt himself to be the sole ruler of the world.
The priest lay on a bunk, shackled, and admired himself: “Tomorrow morning, when everyone is taken to work, I will give a conventional sign, and the head of the guard will order to take me out of the line of slaves, remove the shackles. I will detail my program, say a few words, and the world will begin to change. Incredible! Just a few words - and the whole world will obey me, my thought. God really gave man a power that has no equal in the Universe, this power is human thought. It produces words and changes the course of history. The situation is unusually fortunate. The slaves prepared a plan for the uprising. He is rational, this plan, and can obviously lead to a positive intermediate result for them. But with just a few phrases, not only them, but also the descendants of today's slaves, and the rulers of the earth, I will force them to be slaves for the coming thousand years."
In the morning, at a sign from Cratius, the head of security removed his shackles. And the very next day, the other five priests and the Pharaoh were invited to his observation platform.
Before the assembled, Cratius began his speech:
- What you are about to hear should not be written down or retold by anyone. There are no walls around us, and no one but you will hear my words. I came up with a way to turn all people living on Earth into slaves of our pharaoh. It is impossible to do this, even with the help of numerous troops and exhausting wars. But I will do it in a few sentences. It will only take two days after they are pronounced, and you will see how the world will begin to change. Look: below, long ranks of chained slaves carry one stone each. They are guarded by many soldiers. The more slaves, the better for the state - as we have always believed. But the more slaves, the more you have to fear their rebellion. We are strengthening security. We have to feed our slaves well, otherwise they will not be able to do hard physical work. But they are all the same, lazy and prone to rebellion. See,how slowly they move, and the lazy guards do not whip them and beat them, even healthy and strong slaves. But they will move much faster. They won't need guards. The guards will also turn into slaves. You can accomplish something like this.
Let today, before sunset, the heralds spread the decree of Pharaoh, which will say: “With the dawn of a new day, all slaves will be given complete freedom. For each stone delivered to the city, a free person will receive one coin. Coins can be exchanged for food, clothing, housing, a palace in the city and the city itself. From now on you are free people."
When the priests realized what Kratii had said, one of them, the oldest in age, said:
“You are a demon, Kraty. You will cover the multitude of earthly peoples conceived by demonism.
- Let me be a demon, and let people in the future call my plans democracy.
The decree at sunset was announced to the slaves, they were amazed, and many did not sleep at night, pondering a new happy life.
On the morning of the next day, the priests and the pharaoh again climbed to the platform of the artificial mountain. The picture presented to their eyes was amazing. Thousands of people, former slaves, were racing to drag the same stones as before. Sweating, many carried two stones. Others, who had one at a time, fled, kicking up dust. Some of the guards also dragged stones. People who considered themselves free - after all, the shackles were removed from them - sought to get as many coveted coins as possible in order to build their happy life.
Kratius spent several more months on his site, watching with satisfaction what was happening below.
And the changes were colossal. Some of the slaves united in small groups, built carts and, loading them to the top with stones, drenched in sweat, pushed these carts.
"They are still inventing many adaptations," Kraty thought with satisfaction to himself, "now internal services have already appeared: peddlers of water and food."
Some of the slaves ate right on the go, not wanting to waste time on the way to the barracks for eating, and paid with the coins they received who brought it.
“Wow, and doctors have appeared with them: they provide assistance to the victims right on the go, and also for coins. And the traffic controllers were chosen. They will soon elect their chiefs, judges. Let them choose: they consider themselves free, but the essence has not changed, they are still carrying stones …"
So they run through the millennia, in the dust, drenched in sweat, dragging heavy stones. And today the descendants of those slaves continue their senseless run.