Great
injustice leads to madness.
The
Oera Linda Book has one explicit mention of insanity* and it is
indeed caused by the worst injustice (in my opinion) described in the
whole manuscript: the abuse of Friso's children by the kakistocrat
Demetrius.
(*adjective
WAN.SINNICH,
from noun WAN.SIN)
Taken
from text by Ljudgért, ca. 300 BCE, pages 120-130 of the original
manuscript (pp. 165-179 in the translations of Ottema &
Sandbach). The translations below are adapted by me.
[126/01]
to [127/28]
FRISO
THÉR KÉNING WÉR OVIR.A FLÁTE.
HÉDE
EN SVN ÀND EN TOGHATER TUS
AS
JEF HJA PÁS UT FRYA.S LAND WÉI KVMEN 5WÉREN
ÀND
SÁ WONDER SKÉN AS NIMMAN MOCHT HÜGJA.
THJV
HROP THÉRVR GVNG WR ALLE KRÉKA.LANDA
ÀND
KÉM IN THA ÁRA FON DEMÉTRIUS.
DEMÉTRIUS
WÉRE WL ÀND VNSÉD.LIK
ÀND
HI THOGTE 10THÀT.IM
ELLA FRY STVNDE.
HI
LÉT THIU TOGHATER AVBÉR SKÁKJA.
Friso,
die koning was over de vloot,
had
een zoon en een dochter thuis,
zo
bijster fris [kennelijk: raszuiver],
alsof
zij pas uit Fryasland gekomen waren,
en
zo wonderschoon als niemand kon heugen.
De
roep daarover ging over alle Krékalanden
en
kwam in de oren van Demétrius.
Demétrius
was vuil [bedorven] en onzedelijk,
en
hij dacht dat hem alles vrij stond.
Hij
liet de dochter openlijk schaken.
Friso,
who was king over the fleet,
had
a son and a daughter at home,
so
remarkably fresh [i.e.
racially pure],
as
if they had just come out of Fryasland,
and
so wonderfully shining as no one could remember (ever having seen).
The
fame of this went over all the Krékalands,
and
came to the ears of Demétrius.
Demétrius
was foul and immoral,
and
he thought that all stood him
free [he could do as he pleased].
He
had the daughter kidnapped publicly.
[...] THRVCHDAM
HJU HJRA MAN NAVT WACHTJA THURADE.
GVNG
HJU 20MITH
HJRA SVNE NÉI DEMÉTRIUS
AND
BAD HI SKOLDE HJA HJRA TOGHATER WITHER JÉVA.
MEN
AS DEMÉTRIUS HIRA SVN SA.
LÉT.ER
THAM NÉI SINRA HOVE FORA.
ÀND
DÉDE ALÉN MITH HIM
25AS.ER
MITH THAMHIS SUSTER DÉN HÉDE.
ANDA
MODER SAND HI EN BUDA GOLD.
THACH
HJU STIRT.ET IN SÉ.
[...] Omdat
zij (de moeder) niet op haar man durfde wachten,
ging
zij met haar zoon naar Demétrius,
en
bad opdat hij haar de dochter terug zou geven.
Maar
als Demétrius haar zoon zag,
liet
hij hem naar zijn hof voeren,
en
deed hetzelfde met hem,
als
hij met zijn zuster gedaan had.
Aan
de moeder zond hij een buidel goud,
doch
zij stortte het in zee.
[...] As
she (the mother) dared not wait for her husband's return,
she
went with her son to Demétrius,
and
begged him to give back her daughter.
But
when Demétrius saw her son
he
had him taken to his palace,
and
did the same to him
as
he had done to his sister.
To
the mother he sent a bag of gold,
but
she dumped it into the sea.
AS
HJU T.US KÉM WARTH HJU WAN.SINNICH.
ALLERWÉIKES
RUN HJU WRA STRÉTE
N.AST
MIN KINDAR 30NAVT
SJAN. O WÁCH.
LÉT.IK
TO JOW SKUL SÉKA.
WAND
MIN JOI WIL MI DÉJA
FOR
THA.K SINA KINDAR WÉI.BROCH HÀV.
Toen
ze thuis kwam, werd ze waanzinnig.
Allerwege
liep ze over straat (roepende):
"Heeft
u mijn kinderen niet gezien? O wách!
Laat
me bij u een schuilplaats zoeken,
want
mijn man wil me doden,
omdat
ik zijn kinderen verloren heb."
When
she came home, she turned mad.
Everywhere
she ran about the streets (calling):
"Have
you not seen my children? O
Wách!
Let
me find a place to hide with you,
for
my husband will kill me
because
I have lost his children."
SAND.I
EN BODJA TO HIM SEZANDE
THÀT
HI SINA BERN TO HIM NOMEN HÉDE
VMBERA
TO FORA TO.N HÁGE STÁT.
VMBE
5TO
LÁNJA HIM TOFARA SINA THJANESTA.
Toen
Demétrius vernam dat Friso thuis was,
zond
hij hem een bode zeggende,
dat
hij zijn kinderen bij zich genomen had
om
hen te voeren tot een hoge status,
om
hem te belonen voor zijn diensten.
When
Demétrius heard that Friso was home,
he
sent a messenger to him saying
that
he had taken his children to him
to
raise them to a high status,
to
reward him for his services.
MEN
FRISO THÉR STOLTE ÀND HERD.FOCHTICH WÉRE
SAND
EN BODJA MITH.EN BRÉVE NÉI SINUM BERN THA.
THÉR
IN MÁNDER HI HJAM
HJA
SKOLDE DEMÉTRIUS TO WILLA WÉSA
VR10.MITHIS
THAM HJARA LUK JÉRDE.
THACH
THENE BODJA HÉDE JETA.N ÔRA BRÉVE MITH FENIN.
THÉRMÉI
BIFÁL.ER HJA SKOLDE THÀT INNIMMA
Maar
Friso, die trots en hardvochtig (koelbloedig) was,
zond
een bode met een brief naar zijn kinderen toe,
daarin
maande hij hen,
dat
ze Demétrius ter wille zouden zijn,
vermits
deze hun geluk begeerde.
Doch
de bode had nog een andere brief met venijn (gif),
daarmee
beval hij hen dat in te nemen.
But
Friso, who was proud and cold-blooded,
sent
a messenger with a letter to his children,
in
which he recommended them
to
accept the will of Demétrius,
as
he desired their happiness (luck).
But
the messenger had yet another letter with poison,
which
he ordered them to take.
HWAND
SÉID.ER.
VNWILLING.LIK
IS THIN LIF BIWLLAD.
THAT
NE SKIL JOW NAVT TO RÉK15.NED
NI WRDE.
THACH
SÁHWERSA JOW JOWE SÉLE BIWLLATH
SA
NE SKIL JOW NIMMERTHE TO WAL.HÁLLA NE KVMA.
JOW
SÉLE SKIL THÀN OVER JRTHA OMME.WÁRA.
SVNDER
A THET LJUCHT SJA TO MVGANDE.
20LIK
THA FLÁRA.MUSA ÀND NACHT.ULA
SKILSTV
ALRA DYSTIK IN THINA HOLA SKULA.
THES
NACHT.IS UTKVMA.
THEN
VP VSA GRÀVA GRÁJA ÀND HULA.
THAHWILA
FRYA HJRA HAVED FON JOW OFWEN25.DA
MOT.
"Want",
zei hij,
"onvrijwillig
is je lijf bevuild -
dat
zal jou niet toegerekend worden.
Doch
indien je jouw ziel bevuilt,
dan
zul je nimmer in Walhálla komen.
Jouw
ziel zal dan over de aarde omzwerven,
zonder
het licht te kunnen zien.
Gelijk
de vleermuizen en nachtuilen
zul
je steeds bij dag in je hol schuilen
en
er 's nachts uitkomen,
om
op onze graven te schreien (schreeuwen, grienen) en huilen,
terwijl
Frya haar hoofd van je afwenden moet."
"Because",
said
he,
"against
your will, your body was defiled -
for
that you can not be blamed.
But
if you defile your soul,
you
shall never come into Walhálla.
Your
soul shall then wander over the earth
without
being able to see the light.
Like
the bats and night-owls
you
shall hide by day in your hole,
and
come out by night
to
cry and howl upon our graves,
while
Frya must turn her head away from you."
THA
BERN DÉDE LIK.RA BIFÁLEN WARTH.
DEMÉTRIUS
LÉT RA LIKKA IN SÉ WERPA
ÀND
TO THA MÀNNISKA WRDE SÉID
THÀT
HJA FLJUCHT WÉRON.
Demétrius
liet hun lijken in zee werpen
en
aan de mensen werd gezegd
dat
ze gevlucht waren.
The
children did as they were ordered.
Demétrius
had their corpses thrown into the sea
and
to the people was said
that
they had fled.
~
~ ~
Versions
of the word WAN.SINNICH in some modern languages:
waansin
/ -nich - Frisian
waansin
/ -nig - Afrikaans
waanzin
/ -nig - Dutch
wahnsinn
/ -ig - German
vansinne
/ vansinnig - Swedish
~ ~
~
The
main question here is: Was Demétrius objectively evil, or did he –
in his own integrity – actually mean well? Was he raised in a
culture where what he did was morally acceptable? Was it an ultimate
clash of fundamentally oposed cultures? Talmudic ethics for example
include values that would be utterly repulsive to well raised
gentiles, if they knew of them. Cultures can be very dissimilar.
Mixing them (by force) is not without risk. Clashes can have huge consequences
on the long term, as this example in the OLB demonstrates.
~ ~ ~
From Plutarch (46-120 CE), The Life of Demetrius (337–283 BC):
But Demetrius (...) filled the acropolis with such wanton treatment of free-born youth and native Athenian women that the place was then thought to be particularly pure when he shared his dissolute life there with Chrysis and Lamia and Demo and Anticyra, the well-known prostitutes.
(...) Democles (...) was still a young boy, and (...) he was called Democles the Beautiful. But he yielded to none of the many who sought to win him by prayers or gifts or threats, and finally, shunning the palaestras and the gymnasium, used to go for his bath to a private bathing-room. Here Demetrius, who had watched his opportunity, came upon him when he was alone. And the boy, when he saw that he was quite alone and in dire straits, took off the lid of the cauldron and jumped into the boiling water, thus destroying himself, and suffering a fate that was unworthy of him, but showing a spirit that was worthy of his country and of his beauty.
