ignoring of the sufferings of the Munams and became once more impatient
with their self-importance, so I yielded the floor and they began to
make their cases. In order to decide who went first, they drew lots, and
as the shorter was drawn by Wagner, he went first. His speech is as
follows:

"The past is constant, Jehu. It has happened and is secure in its place,
explored and known. The traditions and customs of our people are
steadfast and immovable, for they have survived the ages like a mountain
that is untouched by the weather. They have lasted so long not because
of the mere namesake of tradition, but because they work, because they
have worked thousands of times before, and because we know they will
work a thousand times in the future. What was good enough for the
generations before us is good enough for us and our children. A
tradition, or taboo, is not formed by the decision of some contemporary
council as a means to control others via social restrictions, for if it
was it would never have lasted, instead it is formed because of
experience, because when something goes beyond it the result is
temporary pleasure, the nectar of the fruits of rebellion, but when the
rebellious desires have faded, what is left is rotten and decayed.

"It brings only more desires for rebellion and more thirst for the
forsaking of traditions, and it will not be satisfied. Then another
taboo will be broken, but this also will not quench the desires of the
rebellious, who do what they do not for any independent purpose, but
only from a desire to break traditions and taboos and to be different
than their forebears. But there is no satisfaction in rebellion, only in
obedience. Obedience not to some alien divinity, not to some social
supremest, not to the blind devotion of parental mandates, but obedience
to common sense, to practicality, to morality. For a taboo is not formed