Then he proceeds as before. When the water is no longer fit for
breathing, he carries his fruit and water bucket to the wagon. Here he
unloads his fruit and refills his bucket from the wagon, proceeding as
before. At intervals the wagon must be refilled with water. During a day
a few men can gather a large quantity of fruit in this manner, and it
can be preserved for over four seasons.
On Stazza there has been developed a fine variety of water flowers, and
no gardens are more beautiful than those that can be seen there. The
higher classes of these people live a very refined life and have their
homes surrounded with an endless variety of water grasses and flowers.
You would scarcely believe your eyes if you could direct your gaze to a
few of these homes.
In their religious life these Stazzans are eminently devoted. They have
no bunch of creeds from which to take their choice, but follow the
teachings of "The Great Interpreter," a man who once lived and reigned
amongst them and who wrote his laws in what we would call, by
interpretation, "The Book of Gold." The leaves of this book are made
from an element costly and rare, more precious to them than gold is to
us. From this book all their sacred books are copied. The civil powers
also accept this book as their authority, and enforce its teachings.
Sin there, as here, is the withering blast of the planet, the destroyer
of the harvest fields of purity and truth. An invisible spirit of evil
holds his force in disciplined command, and the man who wishes to have a
pure heart on Stazza must reach it through conflicts long and sharp. The
path to moral and spiritual purity is quite the same throughout the
whole universe.
CHAPTER VIII.
Tor-tu.
After I had finished my interesting tour of Stazza I visited in quick
succession a score or more of worlds that also revolve around Polaris at
varying distances. I found the majority of these planets barren of all
life, owing principally to their molten condition.
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