Meanwhile the People of the Field had watched Pseudopolis burn, and
had wondered what would befall them. They had not long to wonder,
for next day the Fields were occupied, without any resistance by the
inhabitants.
"The People of the Field," said they, "have never fought, and for
them to begin now would be a very unheard-of thing indeed."
So the Fields were captured by the Philistines, and Chloris and
Jurgen and all the People of the Field were judged summarily. They
were declared to be obsolete illusions, whose merited doom was to be
relegated to limbo. To Jurgen this appeared unreasonable.
"For I am no illusion," he asserted. "I am manifestly flesh and
blood, and in addition, I am the high King of Eubonia, and no less.
Why, in disputing these facts you contest circumstances that are so
well known hereabouts as to rank among mathematical certainties. And
that makes you look foolish, as I tell you for your own good."
This vexed the leaders of the Philistines, as it always vexes people
to be told anything for their own good. "We would have you know,"
said they, "that we are not mathematicians; and that moreover, we
have no kings in Philistia, where all must do what seems to be
expected of them, and have no other law."
"How then can you be the leaders of Philistia?"
"Why, it is expected that women and priests should behave
unaccountably. Therefore all we who are women or priests do what we
will in Philistia, and the men there obey us. And it is we, the
priests of Philistia, who do not think you can possibly have any
flesh and blood under a shirt which we recognize to be a
conventional figure of speech. It does not stand to reason. And
certainly you could not ever prove such a thing by mathematics; and
to say so is nonsense."
"But I can prove it by mathematics, quite irrefutably. I can prove
anything you require of me by whatever means you may prefer," said
Jurgen, modestly, "for the simple reason that I am a monstrous
clever fellow."
Then spoke the wise Queen Dolores, saying: "I have studied
mathematics. I will question this young man, in my tent to-night,
and in the morning I will report the truth as to his claims. Are you
content to endure this interrogatory, my spruce young fellow who
wear the shirt of a king?"
Jurgen looked full upon her: she was lovely as a hawk is lovely: and
of all that Jurgen saw Jurgen approved. He assumed the rest to be in
keeping: and deduced that Dolores was a fine woman.
"Madame and Queen," said Jurgen, "I am content. And I can promise to
deal fairly with you."
So that evening Jurgen was conducted into the purple tent of Queen
Dolores of Philistia. It was quite dark there, and Jurgen went in
alone, and wondering what would happen next: but this scented
darkness he found of excellent augury, if only because it prevented
his shadow from following him.
"Now, you who claim to be flesh and blood, and King of Eubonia,
too," says the voice of Queen Dolores, "what is this nonsense you
were talking about proving any such claims by mathematics?"
"Well, but my mathematics," replied Jurgen, "are Praxagorean."
"What, do you mean Praxagoras of Cos?"
"As if," scoffed Jurgen, "anybody had ever heard of any other
Praxagoras!"
"But he, as I recall, belonged to the medical school of the
Dogmatici," observed the wise Queen Dolores, "and was particularly
celebrated for his researches in anatomy. Was he, then, also a
mathematician?"
"The two are not incongruous, madame, as I would be delighted to
demonstrate."
"Oh, nobody said that! For, indeed, it does seem to me I have heard
of this Praxagorean system of mathematics, though, I confess, I have
never studied it."
"Our school, madame, postulates, first of all, that since the
science of mathematics is an abstract science, it is best inculcated
by some concrete example."