{"id":"01KG8AKMH32FS476WSVQZEKFCN","cid":"bafkreidgqkilyyii6t3wjqvwksh534sz5na6xc5xktxp2hoauauyv3yvoe","type":"chunk","properties":{"end_line":1129,"extracted_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:09.927Z","extracted_by":"structure-extraction-lambda","label":"Chunk 1","source_file":"01KG89J1954N2G0NAERBNJXEX9","start_line":1067,"text":"CHAPTER IX.\r\nThey Discourse Of Alma\r\n\r\n\r\nSailing to and fro in the lake, to view its scenery, much discourse\r\ntook place concerning the things we had seen; and far removed from the\r\ncenser-bearers, the sad fate that awaited the boy was now the theme of\r\nall.\r\n\r\nA good deal was then said of Alma, to whom the guide, the pilgrims, and\r\nthe censer-bearers had frequently alluded, as to some paramount\r\nauthority.\r\n\r\nCalled upon to reveal what his chronicles said on this theme,\r\nBraid-Beard complied; at great length narrating, what now follows\r\ncondensed.\r\n\r\nAlma, it seems, was an illustrious prophet, and teacher divine; who,\r\nages ago, at long intervals, and in various islands, had appeared to\r\nthe Mardians under the different titles of Brami, Manko, and Alma. Many\r\nthousands of moons had elasped since his last and most memorable\r\navatar, as Alma on the isle of Maramma. Each of his advents had taken\r\nplace in a comparatively dark and benighted age. Hence, it was devoutly\r\nbelieved, that he came to redeem the Mardians from their heathenish\r\nthrall; to instruct them in the ways of truth, virtue, and happiness;\r\nto allure them to good by promises of beatitude hereafter; and to\r\nrestrain them from evil by denunciations of woe. Separated from the\r\nimpurities and corruptions, which in a long series of centuries had\r\nbecome attached to every thing originally uttered by the prophet, the\r\nmaxims, which as Brami he had taught, seemed similar to those\r\ninculcated by Manko. But as Alma, adapting his lessons to the improved\r\ncondition of humanity, the divine prophet had more completely unfolded\r\nhis scheme; as Alma, he had made his last revelation.\r\n\r\nThis narration concluded, Babbalanja mildly observed, “Mohi: without\r\nseeking to accuse you of uttering falsehoods; since what you relate\r\nrests not upon testimony of your own; permit me, to question the\r\nfidelity of your account of Alma. The prophet came to dissipate errors,\r\nyou say; but superadded to many that have survived the past, ten\r\nthousand others have originated in various constructions of the\r\nprinciples of Alma himself. The prophet came to do away all gods but\r\none; but since the days of Alma, the idols of Maramma have more than\r\nquadrupled. The prophet came to make us Mardians more virtuous and\r\nhappy; but along with all previous good, the same wars, crimes, and\r\nmiseries, which existed in Alma’s day, under various modifications are\r\nyet extant. Nay: take from your chronicles, Mohi, the history of those\r\nhorrors, one way or other, resulting from the doings of Alma’s nominal\r\nfollowers, and your chronicles would not so frequently make mention of\r\nblood. The prophet came to guarantee our eternal felicity; but\r\naccording to what is held in Maramma, that felicity rests on so hard a\r\nproviso, that to a thinking mind, but very few of our sinful race may\r\nsecure it. For one, then, I wholly reject your Alma; not so much,\r\nbecause of all that is hard to be understood in his histories; as\r\nbecause of obvious and undeniable things all round us; which, to me,\r\nseem at war with an unreserved faith in his doctrines as promulgated\r\nhere in Maramma. Besides; every thing in this isle strengthens my\r\nincredulity; I never was so thorough a disbeliever as now.”\r\n\r\n“Let the winds be laid,” cried Mohi, “while your rash confession is\r\nbeing made in this sacred lake.”\r\n\r\nSaid Media, “Philosopher; remember the boy, and they that seized him.”\r\n\r","title":"Chunk 1"},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KG8AJQ135PZD0GZ8DK7SJPA4","peer_type":"chapter","predicate":"in"},{"peer":"01KG89J1954N2G0NAERBNJXEX9","peer_type":"file","predicate":"extractedFrom"},{"peer":"01KG89HMDZKNY753EZE1CJ8HZW","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"},{"peer":"01KG8AKMH3BK6FB0E3PG26CSEB","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"next"}],"ver":2,"created_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:10.787Z","ts":"2026-01-30T20:48:19.524Z","edited_by":{"method":"manual","user_id":"01KFF0H3YRP9ZSM033AM0QJ47H"}}