William Gaddis - The Recognitions

Pray for this sick lady, for her hair to be thick and black, for her eyes strong, and clear eyesight, for her nose to grow one inch longer, big, thick and healthy, her teeth and gums to be strong and healthy, also pray for her eyelashes and eyebrows to be thick and black, and skin healthy and white, and for all her Health, all her Reconstruction, and her husband.

Please help this lady; pray hard and strong for her. This Ritual comes from India to help this lady and to save and uplift humanity.

Please pray hard for her to get to India to help humanity. Please spread this Ritual for her and her husband. Please use this Ritual or you will be sick and poor. Please get this lady a lot of helpers and help her to live in India.

After you say this Ritual, pray in your own way all you can. Help this lady or you will be sorry. If you do this Ritual you shall have everything you need in this world. Send this Ritual to all your friends and to the children and to the relatives. You must do this work or everyone will get sick and poor and the world will shake to pieces.

TRANSMUTING

You need to know this added higher law of the transmuting of power within mankind, within your own system.

You already know that all of our mental power must be used to help. Also all of your creative power must be used to help.

Instead of wasting this creative power of the genetalia, it must be used with the Ritual, praying out the power to help this sick lady for her health and her reconstruction, out of suffering.

Also you should get the men to transmute power to their sick wives so that their wives can be strong and healthy and so that their wives can pray for this sick lady.

Also you should get all the men and all the women and the older adolescent children to send out their power both ways to help this sick lady. This has to be done quickly to save this lady and her husband and to save and uplift humanity, to the next teachings, which you all will receive thru some sort of world publicity.

Please send copies of this Ritual and letter to all Doctors and Dentists and Lawyers and everybody that you can all over the world.

Stanley twisted his shoulders against the hot nettling sensation under his shirt. The rattling chain sounded distantly, muffled by the red hangings, and his bandaged hand sought the tooth in his pocket. Then the heat became more sensible. It was drenched with the scent of roses, and a soft glow illuminated the paper he held before him. — We always say our prayers this way. . since Portugal. . He looked up slowly, past the figure of Hadrian, sagged forward again silently, petrified there about to spring upon something long since gone to earth, the light from behind bringing a soft sheen to the yellow patches of pubescence. -It makes Us feel, somehow, closer to Him. She had two lighted tapers apd held one of them forth, in the hand springing from the gold circlet of the wrist watch, and that, with the ellipsoid still swinging gently on the end of the chain, was all she was wearing, though the attar of roses clung to him as he passed the tendered head of Nebuchadnezzar's general, slipping, near being pinioned on Judith's sword, and made the street where a car swerved to a stop, so near running him down that he found himself standing stricken in the dark gap between its headlamps, his empty hand against its grill, where he read the word FIAT.

— Of course I said. . No, he whispered. Bells sounded somewhere.

It was sundown in Barbados.

Doctor Fell stood on his veranda with one hand down the front of his pants, scratching. In the other he held a letter which commenced, — Dear Doctor, In cases of gastric hyperacidity, the commonest symptom is the sensation of a bonfire in the stomach. . He was not reading the letter, however, but looking down the path which led to the rest of the Pilot Project and the native bungalows. Shadows were already gathering, and Doctor Fell appeared concerned, for he knew what difficulty his assistant had keeping his balance in the dark.

— Gordon!… he called after a moment. He saw nothing but the palm trees one way and the rim of the sea the other way. He heard the sound of the surf. — Gordon! he called again, and then sheltering his eyes from the lack of brilliance above with the letter, he peered down the path. Scarcely more steady than the shadows themselves, a figure took form, and emerged. Doctor Fell stepped down and came to help him with his load of little white boxes. Gordon could only carry one armload, stacked up to his chin, since the other arm was in a sling.

— Tsk tsk, said Doctor Fell, — how heavy they are getting. . Gordon followed him in. When the little white boxes were all locked in the freezing unit, Doctor Fell turned and said, — How do you like the work by now, Gordon? You don't mind it so much, do you Gordon?

— No. But they…

— Who?

— The men down in the field, Ed and Max, and Anselm and Chaby…

— You mean the natives?

— Yes, they…

— What do you call them Ed and Max and. . what do you call them names like that for, Gordon?

— They. . they just. . look like them, by now.

— You'd better have some Dramamine, right now, Gordon. Doctor

Fell opened a tremendous cabinet. All the shelves were filled with bottles. — It's also good for fenestration procedures, labyrinthitis, and vestibular dysfunction associated with antibiotic therapy. I read up on it today. It's even good for pregnancy. Do you ever feel like jumping out of windows, Gordon? Tsk tsk. . you can here, of course, but it wouldn't be any fun. It wouldn't be any more fun than falling out of bed. Do you still fall out of bed?

— I…

— Here we are, Gordon. Ahmm, tsk tsk, this is the last of the Dramamine. How do you want it administered, orally or rectally?

— I…

— But don't worry, Gordon, we have lots of things here, said Doctor Fell, rummaging among the bottles for the jug of saline solution. — Tomorrow we'll start on Roniacol, and when we run out of that there's Lesofac, Gustamate, Diasal, Amchlor. . Oh they've sent us everything. The Nicotinic acid was the best, wasn't it, in spite of its evanescent reactions, the tingling, itching, burning of the skin, dizziness, faintness, sensations of warmth. . bend over now, Gordon. . gastric distress, cutaneous flushing, the increased gastro-intestinal motility… ah… mmmp, there we are, Gordon. You'll feel better in no time. It's due to a vasodilating action.

— Do you think there will be a scar. .?

— What do you suppose vasodilating means?… a what? a scar? where?

— When you take these bandages off my arm?

— Oh certainly, certainly Gordon.

— But. . like this one on my face?

— Oh, bigger. That one you could cover with a mustache. You'd be cute in a mustache, Gordon. Wait, don't go yet. Doctor Fell had fitted an ophthalmoscope to his head, and swung the mirror down over his eye. — Have a look at the bloody labyrinth, he went on talking as he worked. — Oh, I'm not being profane now you understand, tsk tsk, I'm referring to the hemorrhaging in the labyrinth of the ear, your ear of course. . Can you hear me? can you hear me in this ear? Yes, you're getting better, I think it's all over now. Why, I'll lose you before too long, won't I… with all that money you can be off, you can fly to the moon if you want to, can't you. I've worried about you, you know, you seemed like a very sensitive young man, and I've wondered how this sickness had done this to you, just left you with your eyes glazed and no interest in anything but your work. Tsk tsk, maybe something better will come along? You can't really enjoy going out with the vitamin samples in the morning and bringing in the. . the specimens in the evening. But that's what life is, isn't it, yes, tsk tsk. . Ooop… be careful, Gordon, watch where you're going. Keep your eyes open. Do you want me to walk back with you? No? All right, just be careful, keep your eyes open. Yes. . and now where do you suppose that tattooed idiot is? He's useless, worthless, all he does is drink and talk about shark fishing and trim his little mustache, I don't trust him at all. I'd think he'd followed us here, but I can't imagine why anyone would follow anyone here.