“Just the fact,” answered Rudyard serenely, “that the conception of the Ark occurred to me. That such a conception should have been born among us shows that we are worthy of it. This is not true of any conception, but it is true of one so noble.”
“Maybe you’re just disgruntled,” said Laura in vain.
“Noah invented the gong,” said Edmund pensively, “and Noah was the first to make wine.”
“No wonder,” said Laura, “he needed a drink. Anyone would need a drink, after what he went through.”
“But for us,” said Rudyard, disregarding his sister, “it is not so much what we accept as what we reject that is important.”
“You can’t have everything,” said Jacob, “and you certainly can’t have too much.”
“We have had enough,” said Ferdinand, “and more than enough.”
“If you ask me,” said Laura, “none of you have what you want, and that’s what makes you mad.”
“Anger is the vice of gentlemen,” said Rudyard, “but the abounding strength of the truly noble. Let us begin with what we reject.” He took notebook and pencil in hand.
“We reject automobiles,” said Edmund, “I never liked them, anyway. Any boob thinks he is a king when he drives a car.”
“An automobile would be useless on a boat, anyway,” said Marcus.
“Too many human beings get killed in cars,” said Edmund. “A fine thing for a rational being: to die for an automobile!”
“And no more marriage,” said Rudyard. “Marriage is the chief cause of divorce and adultery. There are no marriages in heaven and if there are no marriages in heaven, why should we have them?”
“After all, there is something to be said for the family and family life,” said Jacob.
“We will have the family,” said Rudyard, “we will just not have any marriages.”
“How about the phonograph?” asked Jacob, already somewhat apart. “If you reject the automobile, then you can’t have the phonograph, and if we don’t have the phonograph, how will we be able to hear great music?”
“We don’t have to be consistent,” said Rudyard, “it is an overrated virtue used chiefly to defend the fearful from the beautiful possibilities with which their imaginations might become infatuated. We will reject the automobile and accept the phonograph.”
Apart from Jacob, it was felt that this was just, reasonable, and full of insight.
“How about the animals?” said Edmund. “Don’t forget that we have to have two of each kind, male and female.”
“Animals are fine,” said Francis, “I like animals. They are interesting, spontaneous, and sincere.”
“Animals and also children,” said Rudyard. “We will have a new education for them, the education of the Ark. They will not be taught the skills which crush their natures and prepare them to be desperate citizens of the middle class. We will teach them every kind of virtue and vice, and by this true education, they will be made truly free. For in what sense can a human being be said to be free, if he is not possessed by the knowledge of every possibility, famous and infamous?”
“You want the children to be just like you,” said Laura.
“I suppose you like the world as it is?” said Rudyard passionately. “Are you happy? Is anyone happy?”
Laura had no answer, but felt that Rudyard was wrong.
“As for me,” said Ferdinand, “I spit on this life.”
This declaration was acclaimed.
“This life,” added Ferdinand, “can go and take a flying La Rochefoucauld for itself.”
The addition was also acclaimed.
“Say what you will,” said Jacob, when the applause had ended, “there is something that must be said for this life. This idea of the Ark is only an idea, and yet we all hold back. There is no flood of rejections and renunciations. We are all too much in love with many things, whether we have them or not.”
“You don’t like Arks,” said Rudyard, knowing that a crisis had been reached, since Jacob was turning away.
“I like Arks well enough,” said Jacob, “although I have never been on one, and can’t be too sure. But I like many other things, even if they are not as good as they might be.”
“No,” said Rudyard, feeling that the emotion was slipping away and that the circle was becoming bored with the idea of the Ark.
“The kingdom of heaven is within us,” said Jacob, “but also the kingdom of hell.”
“What kingdom?” said Rudyard. “Do you know any kings? Do you know anyone who has found any kingdom within himself? I thought once that I had, but I was wrong.”
It was too late. Jacob smiled patiently and in sympathy.
“This is where we are,” said Jacob, “and this is where we are going to stay, waiting in hope and fear for what comes next in this life.”
“As for me, I am going home,” said Ferdinand, and all the visitors arose to depart, for they had had enough of the idea of the Ark.
EIGHT: “PRACTICALLY EVERYONE DOES WHAT HE WANTS TO DO IF HE CAN”
During a period when Rudyard was absent on a long visit, a celebrated cause and scandal broke out.
The scandal began with Marcus Gross. During the difficult winter of the year, he had paid much attention to a plump and pretty girl named Irene. She was active, efficient, interested in many things, especially radical politics. Marcus met her at meetings of the radical party to which both belonged, and he courted her not only because she was pretty, but also because he had already heard about her from a friend of his, Algernon Nathan. Algernon was a certain well-known type, the perfect student who gets the highest grades in all his classes. He was precise, thin-lipped, tormented by pride, and as humorless as a public monument. He earned a handsome salary and he felt unable to understand why he was not the perfect success in the great world that he had been in school. He had succeeded very quickly with Irene. His parents owned a store and it was simple for him to bring Irene home, either in the afternoon or in the early evening, when his parents were at the store. When his parents came home unexpectedly one day, Algernon left his bedroom, attired himself in his dressing gown, and halted his parents in the hallway, asking them to depart from the house because he was having sexual intercourse. The adoration, and awe of his parents were such that they left the house immediately and hurriedly, supposing that if Algernon, the perfect student, thought that this was right, it must indeed be right.
Algernon provided Marcus with a comprehensive description of his sessions with Irene, who was, he affirmed, “passionate to a satisfactory extent,” but with whom he did not like to be seen by his friends. Irene, however, wanted Algernon to take her out and to visit his friends with him. And Algernon found that what he really wanted from Irene, she did not really like. What he really wanted to do when he made love was to whip Irene. He had not gone so far as to propose this exercise to her, but had restricted himself to squeezing her and pinching her while he regarded the pain upon her face. This had been endured by Irene only upon occasion, when she was eager to please him. Her attitude was a blow to Algernon’s pride, for he felt that if a girl truly loved him, she ought to want whatever he wanted.
After a time, Algernon decided that it would be more sensible and more efficient to pay for such satisfactions and not to become involved with a girl whom he had to take out and be seen with by his friends. He had made the proper inquiries and found that there were establishments where what he wanted was available, and he had gone to them with system, twice a week, taking with him a book to study on the subway, a book which extended his knowledge about such subjects as some period in history, relativity physics, or mathematical logic.