Wisdom and the First Moments of Darkness (Gambar 9)

To the Islander's on the boat, Gambar's ascension was a phenomenally meaningful event, the literal birth of knowledge.

To Gambar, the whole exercise was no big deal. He had spent the minutes before his ascension doing what he always did, holding his breath, walking around and occasionally picking something from the ground.

He had no idea that he had descended, died,experienced the after-life, purloined knowledge from beyond and ascended again to resurrection.

Glork didn't exacly buy the whole proposition either but scion of future politicians that he was, Glork decided to spin the concept immediately.

Glork instructed Gambar to hand him "knowledge" formerly known as Paul and in the future to be known as oyster.

Gambar passed "knowledge" over to Glork under the gaze of the awestruck Islanders.

Glork pryed open knowledge.

Paul could sense mortal danger.

Glork thought 'if this is what's going to  pass for knowledge, I'm gonna need as much as I can get'.

Glork looked at the exposed knowledge.

The exposed knowledge included the imperfect nuisance of Buster which over the years had hardened into the first pearl ever seen by human eyes.

The Islanders named it "wisdom".
Glork handed "wisdom" back to Gambar.
Glork handed Paul's shell over to the Islander in charge of the boat.
The Islanders named the shell "experience".

As Gambar possessed "wisdom" and the Islanders analyzed experience: Glork devoured "knowledge".

Literally.

So long Paul.

Hello Pearl.

Omnia Paulia est divisa in tres partes.

All of Paul is divided into three parts.

Experience, wisdom and knowledge.

After having tasted years of stupidity, Glork was surprised how similar was the taste of knowledge. Knowledge was neither sweet nor sour, warm nor cold. Knowledge tasted vaguely alive.  Knowledge felt a lot like what we today call phlegm.  The Islanders had an onomatopoetic word for phlegm.

Their word for phlegm was whhhkkkhkkhm.

Meanwhile, Paul, stripped of wisdom, experienced an unwelcome sensation of momentous knowledge. We know that sensation today as peristalsis.
 
Glork, having devoured knowledge didn’t feel any smarter unless feeling smarter felt like gagging.

Paul’s last move was a futile retreat, an attempt at reverse peristalsis.

Glork gagged.

The Islanders on the boat were changing their perception of Glork.

They even gave him a new name.

They called him Dark which in the developing Island vocabulary translated into "inlander who swallowed knowledge and became a prophet".

As Glork morphed into Dark, he learned something that would enable him to become the ancestor of all politicians. Even though experience leads to knowledge, knowledge without widsdom is strictly a matter of appearance. 

If the Islanders on the boat were willing to think he was smarter than they were, Dark was willing to tell them what to do, what to think, what to value, what to worship and what to fear.

These prevailing definitions came to be known as Darkness.