How would
it fare then with an impostor who claimed to be the son of this
all-powerful god? This then is all the proof that you require, for
as he would strike you down should you deny me, so would he strike
down one who wrongfully claimed kinship with him."
This line of argument being unanswerable must needs be convincing.
There could be no questioning of this creature's statements
without the tacit admission of lack of faith in the omnipotence of
Jad-ben-Otho. Ko-tan was satisfied that he was entertaining deity,
but as to just what form his entertainment should take he was
rather at a loss to know. His conception of god had been rather a
vague and hazy affair, though in common with all primitive people
his god was a personal one as were his devils and demons. The
pleasures of Jad-ben-Otho he had assumed to be the excesses which
he himself enjoyed, but devoid of any unpleasant reaction. It
therefore occurred to him that the Dor-ul-Otho would be greatly
entertained by eating--eating large quantities of everything that
Ko-tan liked best and that he had found most injurious; and there
was also a drink that the women of the Ho-don made by allowing
corn to soak in the juices of succulent fruits, to which they had
added certain other ingredients best known to themselves. Ko-tan
knew by experience that a single draught of this potent liquor
would bring happiness and surcease from worry, while several would
cause even a king to do things and enjoy things that he would
never even think of doing or enjoying while not under the magical
influence of the potion, but unfortunately the next morning
brought suffering in direct ratio to the joy of the preceding day.
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