The Saturn
Presentation of this planet and its moons, including ring and creatures
- Chapter 5 -
The Hotchpotch Tree. The Fire Tree and Oil Bush. The physical form of human beings on Saturn. Their real property and domesticated animals.
Tree number nine in the series of trees that grow on Saturn is the ahaharke. The name of this tree is difficult to translate into any language spoken on earth, because on the entire earth you would not easily find anything from which you could compose a suitable name for this tree. The only solution would be to call it "the hotchpotch tree."
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The height of this tree is approximately 96 feet; its basic trunk also has a circumference of 96 feet. From this trunk a great number of branches grow in all directions, of which the longest reaches a length of 60 feet. From the point where these branches begin to expand or spread, three trunks rise straight up in the proper order. These trunks often reach heights of 72 to 90 feet. At the end of these trunks grow branches and twigs in the proper proportions in all directions. On each of these branches and twigs rise again three trunks to a height of 60 feet, which again grow branches and twigs in great numbers which spread and grow in the proper proportions. Above this third crown of the tree, branches again rise straight in the air, with smaller branches and twigs in proportion at the very top. When this tree is fully grown it has from seven to ten such gradations or stages, and in the order that from each trunk three new trunks rise up; in its last stages such a tree represents an actual forest.
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Now you know why this tree is called the hotchpotch tree. The reason for this name can be given without any difficulty. The understanding, however, is a different matter, because at every stage this tree produces different kinds of fruit and, as a result, different leaves and flowers. The most remarkable or peculiar thing about this tree, and at the same time the most unbelievable, is that it produces the same kinds of fruits only every ten years. Because from one year to the next the tree changes its fruit, and no one knows what kind of fruit the tree will produce next. And with the change of fruit, the leaves and blossoms change as well. When several of these trees are in one area, not one fruit matches the fruit of the other tree. So that the Saturnites can at all times enjoy all the fruit this tree produces, they plant ten of these trees, one every year. And whoever has ten of these trees on his property has all the products this tree produces. Because each tree bears different fruit and changes its fruit every year until the tenth year and then begins again with the fruit of ten years ago.
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However, since each tree is different from year to year, it can happen that the first tree produces an entirely new fruit in the second year, but the tree that was planted next may produce the same fruits that the first tree produced in the first year. And when the first tree produces in the third year again another kind of fruit then the second tree produces in the third year what the first tree produced in the second year. The third tree produces the same fruit which the first tree produced in the first year and the second tree in the second year. And that is how this order progresses. Should one of the trees wither, then another ten are planted diagonally to the old tree in order that all the fruit is available year after year and not any one fruit is missing. Furthermore, the fruit of this tree is in an order whereby the largest and heaviest fruit is naturally found at the lower level of the tree, and in that progression the fruit becomes smaller and lighter as it reaches the top of the tree.
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The nature of each fruit of this tree and how this fruit is used by the people of Saturn cannot be described in its fullest detail, because it would require hundreds of pages if done properly. But in general it can be said that this tree is, in the noblest sense, a representative of all those tree fruits that grow in your moderate climate on earth and which contain in their center one or several well-developed seeds. For example, the lowest level would produce one year only apples, the second year only pears, the third year only plums, the fourth year only peaches, the fifth year only apricots, and so on. The higher levels of the tree produce similar fruits, but at a much more highly developed or ennobled state, also having an entirely different shape and a taste that is by far more refined and better. Whereby the fruits at the highest level are actually completely of an entirely ethereal nature and, as far as the shape and the taste are concerned, bear no resemblance to the lower levels; they are as different in earthly terms as a ripe grape is to an unripe apple.
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And that is the progression as far as the fruit of this tree is concerned. And if you work a little bit on your imagination, you will probably be able to fill in what we have only touched upon due to lack of time, and that which was not dealt with in detail. Therefore we will conclude the description of this tree by saying that these fruits are eaten by the Saturnites, and only the fruit from the higher levels, while the fruit of the lower level is used as feed for their domesticated animals. It is of course understandable that the fruit on Saturn is ten times larger than the same fruit on earth. The bark of this tree resembles the bark of your apple tree and is also somewhat rough. But the bark of this tree is not as gray as on earth, but is dark red and becomes lighter with every level as you move upwards.
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And now we shall direct our attention to the last tree in this order, which is the most peculiar in this country.
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On Saturn this tree is called fehura, which in your language means fire tree. This tree has a similarity to what you on earth call aragonite as far as its growth is concerned; this tree is almost completely mineral. The round trunk resembles a white marble column with a circumference of 36 feet and a height of 90 to 120 feet. It has the same circumference at the bottom as it has on the top. At the top, the trunk divides; just like a little coral tree, into many different branches and twigs whose ends are all little tubes. The twigs curve and twist just like the aforementioned aragonite. This tree does not have any leaves or fruit. Its purpose is strictly that of fire. Its fruit is therefore fire, which is usually produced when a part of the country is under the shadow of the ring. On Saturn, time is not determined by seasons such as summer and winter, as it is on earth, but by the time of the shadow and the time of the light. This tree replaces the lack of sunlight at the time of the shadow through its white light. The roots of this tree are actually all little tubes which have the capability of attracting the finest natural gas. This gas is driven through the tubes into the outermost twigs, where the gas comes into contact with the atmospheric air (which at the time of the shadow contains a great amount of oxygen), ignites it and burns until the light of the sun begins to shine again. The sunlight expands the atmospheric air and precipitates the oxygen, through which the fire tree gradually becomes extinguished and the tree is at rest and will not grow until the time of the shadow sets in again. On Saturn the time of the shadow extends over a period of half a year, as on planet earth the winter season, as calculated by the temperature.
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This tree begins to grow without seeds, like mushrooms on earth, but not where the soil is meager; instead it grows where the soil contains the naphtha, and that is where you will most often find the fire tree. The Saturnites also plant this tree by cutting off a twig from the trunk during the time of the shadow and planting it in naphtha-rich soil. The twig will continue to burn, and through this it will grow, as well as growing roots in the soil and branching out above the soil.
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The fire of this tree is actually not a burning fire; rather, it warms, or, rather, dispenses a warming substance over a certain distance through the effect of very intensive white rays. This is the reason by which this planet is taken care of during the time of the shadow and is therefore not much colder than it is during the time of actual sunlight. Every family seeks to plant such trees in large numbers around their dwellings and properties so that they do not lack heat or light during the time of the shadow.
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Allow your imagination to wander when it comes to the effects of this tree, and you will certainly find that besides its magnificence, if you would bring them together in one place on one light tower. Indeed, if you would plant just one fire tree on an adjacent hill, not only would it light up entire cities like ten full moons, but the entire county would enjoy its light. Now imagine many thousands of these trees throughout one country, and how their light would affect this country. If your red, ill-natured firelight invigorates you in the dark night, by how much more would such a soft white light invigorate you? However, these kinds of trees are not intended for earth, even though in the Orient, namely in some areas of the Caucasus, similar cases occur where nothing else is required but to stick a bulrush or a very porous piece of wood into the ground and ignite it, and it will burn like a torch, without burning the wood or the reed, though there is one difference: these flames are reddish and extremely hot.
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This completes the tree nursery for this country and we can now deal generally with the shrubs.
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All shrubs that grow on Saturn have the peculiarity that they are not as low as on earth; instead, they represent a smaller but, as far as the species are concerned, a very different kind of tree species. In spite of this, even the smallest shrub on Saturn grows taller and is more imposing than the most impressive trees on earth. In the country which is described here, there are over 12,000 shrubs which are all different from each other. Every species of bush has its own particular fruit, which is made very little use of except by the many inhabitants of the air. However, one of these shrubs, which is the most plentiful and is cared for by the inhabitants of Saturn, should not be without interest, because it resembles your olive tree completely, again with the difference that this shrub is many times larger. The berries of this tree are so large that, when they are ripe, one berry would produce one liter of the finest oil. And if one shrub often brings twenty to thirty thousand of these berries on its branches to maturity, this might give you an idea of the rich oil harvest, if you can also imagine that one family often has several thousand of these oil shrubs or, rather, oil trees on its property.
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Certainly, the family property is not as small as a large farm on earth; it is at times even larger than a whole country. Besides this, the human beings that inhabit Saturn are extremely beautiful as far as their physical shape is concerned; they also taller than you are. A woman's height is anywhere from 80 to 90 feet and the height of a man is anywhere from 95 to 135 feet. Many of their domesticated animals are created in these proportions.
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If you take these proportions into consideration from now on, everything that will be said in the proper order about the fruitful vegetation shall be much more understandable. For today, I say Amen.