The Saturn
Presentation of this planet and its moons, including ring and creatures
- Chapter 46 -
The inhabitants of the lowlands. Their construction and housing and their more worldly way of thinking.
Concerning the depths or rather the lowlands of this planet, on different occasions we have learned many things about the lifestyle of those who inhabit the lowlands on Saturn. But a few things remain to be said.
2
Nowhere on this planet will you find a city. However, there are regions such as the smaller lakes and the rivers where families live closer together than they do in the mountains, especially in the southern parts of some of the continental countries. But in these regions there are not as many family members living together in one dwelling as in the mountains. Here a family usually consists of the parents and their children. As far as the grandparents and great grandparents are concerned, they usually live by themselves, but they also have some servants.
3
These people rarely live in the well-known dwelling tree (gliuba); their living quarters usually consist of a kind of tentlike structure built from trees, one tree placed over another in the following manner: The trees are positioned pyramid-like in a circular fashion, beginning from the ground to the apex, while lath or narrow strips of wood are nailed in circles around this dwelling. These laths are covered with all kinds of foliage, on the outside as well as on the inside. Towards the morning (east) is a spacious exit. And that is their residence.
4
As far as this type of dwelling is concerned, it cannot accommodate as many people as a dwelling tree in the mountains. However, such a tent house is still spacious enough to accommodate at least ten regiments of soldiers on earth.
5
The furnishings are similar to those which you find in the living dwelling trees in the mountains. Their sleeping accommodation consists of a frustrum pyramid-shaped back rest, where in front of the back rest there is a round elevation that serves as a table. And those are all the furnishings which this house contains.
6
Where do the people in the lowlands keep their tools, food containers, clothing and food provisions? They are stored in the storage buildings, which are built in the same manner in the lowlands as they are in the mountains.
7
The temples are also built in the same manner as in the mountains, but they are often considerably smaller and not so sublimely magnificent as they are in the mountains. In the lowlands no single residence has its own temple; instead, several families have one temple.
8
That is all there is in regards to the construction and housing in the lowlands, except for some pleasure gardens, which are usually the property of a privileged patriarch. How these gardens are adorned and arranged was mentioned on the occasion when a description of the crustaceans was given, namely the snails. There are also snail shells in some of these gardens, which are prepared for the amusement of the children, which we learned about earlier.
9
The qualifications of a patriarch in the lowlands have also been discussed. Think back to the animal with the serpent's tail and fiery eye (bauor), and you will remember that whoever has a coat made from the skin of this animal can assume the position of the patriarch. It is not difficult to understand that this heroic kind of lowland patriarch is not held in as high esteem by the Great Spirit as a patriarch of the mountains. Furthermore, it is also understandable that the angel-spirits do not spend much time with the patriarchs who wear these coats. The reason for this is because the people living in the plains are much more worldly than those on the holy mountains. Even though altogether they are honest and upright brothers and sisters to each other, they often talk wisely and therefore consider themselves to be much more enlightened and intelligent than the inhabitants of the mountains. But when they begin to experience some bad times despite all their wisdom, they go on a pilgrimage to the mountains, and you already know that they are instructed differently while they are there.
10
Therefore, you will find very few higher revelations in the lowlands and then only rarely, except for those who have come forth truly and faithfully from the schools of the mountains.