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At first I thought no, they are merely shifting and spreading theirwings in the light, but I realized now that close behind me stood asmall legion or group of angels, and that they had been at the edges ofthe crowd all the time and were now being pushed towards me.
"These angels I knew of course, some much more intimatelythrough debate and argument than others, and they came from allranks. I looked at them in confusion and then towards the DivinePresence.
" 'Memnoch,' said the Lord suddenly. 'These behind you, yourcohorts, are also asking that you be granted your wish, to make yourcase, in the hopes that you can make it for them too.'
" 'I don't understand, Lord.' But in a twinkling I did. I saw nowthe sorrow on their faces, and the way they cleaved to me as if I weretheir protector. I knew in an instant what had happened, that rangingover the whole earth, these angels had done as I had done.
" 'Not with such a flourish or with such invention,' said the LordGod. 'But they, too, saw the heat and mystery between the coupledman and woman; and they, too, found the Daughters of Men to befair, and took them as wives.'
"There came again a great uproar. Some were laughing still inthat light gay manner as if all of this was splendid and novelentertainment and others were amazed, and those Watchers who clung tome, who seemed in comparison to the bene ha elohim a small number,looked to me desperately, and some even accusingly, and there camea whisper from their midst.
" 'Memnoch, we saw you do it.'
"Was God laughing? I couldn't hear it. The light poured out in itsimmense rays beyond the heads and shoulders and shaded forms ofthe Seraphim and Cherubim, and the wealth of love seemed eternaland constant as it had always been.
" 'In tribes throughout the world, my Sons of Heaven have gonedown to know the flesh as you would know it, Memnoch, though as Ihave already said, with far less flair and desire to stir the thickatmosphere of Nature and so deliberately disturb my Divine Plan.'
" 'Lord, God, forgive me,' I whispered. And from the legion withme came the same hushed and respectful chorus.
" 'But tell me, you who stand behind Memnoch, what do you haveto say for yourselves as to why you did this and what you discovered,and what case would you put before the Heavenly Court?'
"The answer was silence. These angels fell prostrate before theLord, asking only forgiveness with such total abandon that noeloquence was required. I alone stood there.
" 'Ah,' I said, 'it seems, Lord, that I stand alone.'
" 'Haven't you always? My Son of Heaven, my angel who doesnot trust the Lord.'
" 'Lord, God, I do trust you!" I said at once, angry suddenly. 'I do!
But I don't understand these things, and I cannot still my mind or mypersonality, it's impossible for me. No, not impossible, but it doesnot... it does not seem right to be silent. It seems right to make thecase. It seems that the greatest thing I can do is to make the case, andthe greatest thing I can do is to please God.'
"There seemed great divisions amongst the others梟ot theWatchers, who didn't dare to climb to their invisible feet, and hadtheir wings folded over them as if they were birds afraid in the nest?
but among the entire Court. There were murmurings, and littlesongs, and riffs of melody and laughter, and deep, soft questions, andmany faces turned on me with eyes full of curiosity and even tingedwith anger so that their eyebrows made a scowl.
" 'Make your case!' said the Lord. 'But before you begin,remind yourself, for my sake and the sake of everyone present, that Iknow all things. I know humankind as you can never know it. Ihave seen its bloody altars, and its rain dances, and its reekingsacrifices, and I have heard the cries of the wounded, the afflicted, theslowly annihilated. I see Nature in Humankind as I see it in thesavagery of the seas or the forests. Don't waste my Time, Memnoch.
Or to put it more clearly so that you will understand it, don'twaste the Time you have with me.'
"So the moment had come. I stood quietly preparing myself.
Never in all my existence had I felt the importance or significance ofan event as I felt the meaning of this one now. It is what you wouldcall excitement, perhaps, or exhilaration. I had my audience. And Idid not know how to doubt myself! But I was already furious with allthe legion behind me lying on their faces and saying nothing! Andsuddenly in my fury I realized that as long as they lay there, leavingme alone in the open before God and his court, I wasn't going tospeak a word. I folded my arms and stood there.
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