H. Adler - The Journey

“I’m not here. I have left. Yes, I have! It’s been half an hour. When I will be back, I don’t know.”

“You shouldn’t pretend. You endanger us all by doing so. You can’t always pretend to be a rabbit.”

“Why not? I cannot stand your incriminating looks! I’ve committed suicide. You’ll find me on the dissection table because that’s where they wanted to ascertain what poison I used to kill myself. In fact, I only fell out of the train, but the clumsy oafs didn’t see it.”

“Go on, stop talking such nonsense! You’re right in front of us. Anyone can see that. Little Red Riding Hood in a wolf’s skin, no, that can’t be true! Everyone knows you by your long nose. It’s no less obvious even if you cover it so thickly with brown dust.”

“I’m not wearing any wolf’s skin. How can you insult a rabbit so! My lovely little nose is real and is not made of dust. Father always said so. He claimed that it was a family trait. It comes from our rabbit ancestors.”

“Nobody believes your story about the rabbit. Come here and answer when someone calls you! There’s no fooling around in the Technology Museum. The times are too serious for that. They want to interrogate you and examine you, Zerlina! Have you heard? A body search, not a dissection of the body. They don’t do that to people, only to rabbits and baby porpoises.”

“I really am … I am … Is that what you want, for me to cry? Why don’t you believe me, especially when I always gave you my little paw when you called to me? I detest lies. Mother taught me not to do that as a child. She told me how nasty it was. You don’t do that. Not even in the most dangerous situations. It is better to willingly accept your sure demise than to have even the width of a finger between you and God’s ways.”

“You’ve changed the subject! Now you want to teach us morals when, in fact, you are the one who is pretending.”

“I have never pretended. I am only talking about how things appear to me.…”

All senses dissolve beneath the earth. Only out of fear of the unknown do those remaining behind stand there and tip full watering cans so that streams of water flow into the earth in order that such dissolution takes place. Graves have become outdated, because they take up too much space and are too expensive. Cemeteries need to be made smaller, not larger. Land and soil will only increase in price. The town government beats every offer and buys it all up because it wants to build apartment boxes so that the rabbits’ apartment shortage can be taken care of. But they keep multiplying and begin to take over, such that soon there won’t be any more cemeteries. Boxes made out of waterproof cardboard will also be set up for the dead. A rabbit will live in each. Then no one will need a coffin when he dies, because he will just be left in his box, which will then be bound up with a little bit of string, all of it so comfortable and practical, after which the box can just be carried off to the crematorium. No need for a hearse, which indeed had not been used in Ruhenthal either.

The crematorium is practical and hygienic. It’s one of the nicest and most useful inventions of the modern era, something that not only is an inspiration but also the product of the refined sensitivity of a civilized heart, quickly taking care of what must be done, as well as saving the grave diggers a good deal of work. The furnance can be fueled with oil, but as a result of today’s advanced research it can also run on electricity. The length of time it takes to burn the body of a grown rabbit, which is similar to the time needed for that of a full-grown man, is about ten minutes, thanks to regular improvements, which will eventually reduce the time even further. This length does not suit the sensitive yet uneconomical cremation of a single corpse, but instead can simultaneously take care of twenty to thirty customers at a time.

The natural decomposition of the body is reduced to a manageable amount of time. This indeed means no food for the worms, but they can apply at the unemployment office for a new and better profession, such as agriculture or earthworks. That will also be healthier and more morally acceptable to the worms, for whom the decomposition of corpses, to put it mildly, is unappetizing. Isn’t it horrible to think of how the obsolete way of decomposition occurs? But now the flame is lit, the energy is turned on, while from a religious standpoint the departed should be ready to be welcomed. It’s regrettable that this Copernican act is met with so much enmity, but it requires proper explanation in order to overcome the last reservations. Look here, Vera, this was your uncle, a little paper bag that is neatly labeled and with a couple of dry little crumbs as its contents. It’s just like it happens in fairy tales! You can put it all, bag and crumbs, into a tasteful container, ranging in price from a lead box to a Greek urn, which Dr. Plato selected, an embroidered barrel of sorrow that one can hold dear and can also be stamped with ornate lettering. The ashes were born on ________ followed by a lifted torch; the ashes died on ________ followed by a lowered torch. Up and down, so and so, one and two, back and forth, left and right, one in the earth, one in the urn.

Mixing ashes is completely forbidden in our line of work. A great deal of care is taken and everything is carried out under the official eye of a sworn expert in order to expand the public awareness among the savages. The executor personally seals each box and witnesses each bag being filled. Better that babies be swapped in a maternity ward rather than ashes! In addition the urns can be buried, and thus advantages of cremation are then linked with the preference for burial. How wonderful! And cheap! Take advantage of it today! Reduced rates for suicides! How fortunate, an enormous step forward for the culture as a whole! Check out our free prospectus about our special offers on executions! Beautifully illustrated! Informative! Special editions available for children, with text that gently helps them understand! How entertaining! The electric chair belongs in the storage room next to the iron maiden!

Also, our executions are carried out in the quickest manner in our crematoriums. After disrobing, the patients are shot from behind on marble tiles, everything done with the utmost consideration in order to avoid any undesirable mess-ups. The corpse is then placed immediately on a conveyor that feeds into the fire of the furnace such that the lifeless corpse is never touched by human hands. As a result the danger of infection is reduced to a minimum. The perfect diet! Success guaranteed! Other methods of execution that are supposedly as good can hardly compare! One’s last wishes can be fulfilled on demand or denied. Spitting within the crematorium, and especially during executions, is strictly forbidden! Afterward, the personnel must rinse out their mouths with an antiseptic solution. Technical malfunctions in the shooting mechanism are also unacceptable! Should the service be faulty then full compensation will be due! The crematorium and all of its equipment are completely protected against sabotage. All extraneous agony is to be avoided. Should it occur that the delinquent willingly gives in to his fate, this artificial way of dying is far preferable than any other means of separation from life.

Nonetheless Zerlina spits because she cannot control herself. She says she is sorry. “I did it out of overwhelming disgust!” The offense is severely reprimanded by the guards on duty, though it is also greeted with a considerate smile from the indentured engineer because the orderly completion of the systematic execution has been disrupted.

At reasonable cost the ashes can be sent to your house in a simple mail packet that holds an urn carefully wrapped in wastepaper, the package addressed and insured against loss and theft. Because it is likely that only a few will want such a service, a special public depository is constructed out of concrete, lead, and glass that allows for a tasteful display of human ashes. The rows run back and forth in an amazing zigzag fashion, left and right of the main street from the town gate. It’s like being in a bazaar or the terrarium of a zoological garden, everything is done to attain the most comfort for the public, which wants to behold such things in orderly fashion. In this installation the urns live one atop another in four vertical rows, one next to another, much like postal boxes, each one magnificently decorated, a jewel locked behind glass. Whoever rents a box has one key, which the crematorium makes sure that you have, while a second key remains in the administrative chambers of the enterprise itself. Thus anyone passing by can take it all in with complete comfort. Everywhere flowers decorate the little boxes, whether it be inside next to the urns or outside hung from hooks and rings, thus signifying the eternal gratitude of those left behind.