{"id":"01KG8AM1QXKVC9BNZ2S6GV7SYD","cid":"bafkreig35noliz7mmf5ymn5b2d4kgmrersea2nldnbmbfzf4ll5vjgd2yi","type":"chunk","properties":{"end_line":6321,"extracted_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:18.535Z","extracted_by":"structure-extraction-lambda","label":"Chunk 2","source_file":"01KG89J1HYC04JWXEK48P07WPK","start_line":6246,"text":"brown clay; and feasting, and roystering, and lording it in yellow\r\ntabernacles of bamboo. These demi-gods had wherewithal to sustain their\r\nlofty pretensions. If need were, could crush out of him the infidelity\r\nof a non-conformist. And by this immaculate union of church and state,\r\ngod and king, in their own proper persons reigned supreme Caesars over\r\nthe souls and bodies of their subjects.\r\n\r\nBeside these mighty magnates, I and my divinity shrank into nothing. In\r\ntheir woodland ante-chambers plebeian deities were kept lingering. For\r\nbe it known, that in due time we met with several decayed, broken down\r\ndemi-gods: magnificos of no mark in Mardi; having no temples wherein to\r\nfeast personal admirers, or spiritual devotees. They wandered about\r\nforlorn and friendless. And oftentimes in their dinnerless despair\r\nhugely gluttonized, and would fain have grown fat, by reflecting upon\r\nthe magnificence of their genealogies. But poor fellows! like shabby\r\nScotch lords in London in King James’s time, the very multitude of them\r\nconfounded distinction. And since they could show no rent-roll, they\r\nwere permitted to fume unheeded.\r\n\r\nUpon the whole, so numerous were living and breathing gods in Mardi,\r\nthat I held my divinity but cheaply. And seeing such a host of\r\nimmortals, and hearing of multitudes more, purely spiritual in their\r\nnature, haunting woodlands and streams; my views of theology grew\r\nstrangely confused; I began to bethink me of the Jew that rejected the\r\nTalmud, and his all-permeating principle, to which Goethe and others\r\nhave subscribed.\r\n\r\nInstead, then, of being struck with the audacity of endeavoring to palm\r\nmyself off as a god—the way in which the thing first impressed me—I now\r\nperceived that I might be a god as much as I pleased, and yet not whisk\r\na lion’s tail after all at least on that special account.\r\n\r\nAs for Media’s reception, its graciousness was not wholly owing to the\r\ndivine character imputed to me. His, he believed to be the same. But to\r\na whim, a freakishness in his soul, which led him to fancy me as one\r\namong many, not as one with no peer.\r\n\r\nBut the apparent unconcern of King Media with respect to my godship, by\r\nno means so much surprised me, as his unaffected indifference to my\r\namazing voyage from the sun; his indifference to the sun itself; and\r\nall the wonderful circumstances that must have attended my departure.\r\nWhether he had ever been there himself, that he regarded a solar trip\r\nwith so much unconcern, almost became a question in my mind. Certain it\r\nis, that as a mere traveler he must have deemed me no very great\r\nprodigy.\r\n\r\nMy surprise at these things was enhanced by reflecting, that to the\r\npeople of the Archipelago the map of Mardi was the map of the world.\r\nWith the exception of certain islands out of sight and at an indefinite\r\ndistance, they had no certain knowledge of any isles but their own.\r\n\r\nAnd, no long time elapsed ere I had still additional reasons to cease\r\nwondering at the easy faith accorded to the story which I had given of\r\nmyself. For these Mardians were familiar with still greater marvels\r\nthan mine; verily believing in prodigies of all sorts. Any one of them\r\nput my exploits to the blush.\r\n\r\nLook to thy ways then, Taji, thought I, and carry not thy crest too\r\nhigh. Of a surety, thou hast more peers than inferiors. Thou art\r\novertopped all round. Bear thyself discreetly and not haughtily, Taji.\r\nIt will not answer to give thyself airs. Abstain from all consequential\r\nallusions to the other world, and the genteel deities among whom thou\r\nhast circled. Sport not too jauntily thy raiment, because it is novel\r\nin Mardi; nor boast of the fleetness of thy Chamois, because it is\r\nunlike a canoe. Vaunt not of thy pedigree, Taji; for Media himself will\r\nmeasure it with thee there by the furlong. Be not a “snob,” Taji.\r\n\r\nSo then, weighing all things well, and myself severely, I resolved to\r\nfollow my Mentor’s wise counsel; neither arrogating aught, nor abating\r\nof just dues; but circulating freely, sociably, and frankly, among the\r\ngods, heroes, high priests, kings, and gentlemen, that made up the\r\nprincipalities of Mardi.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r","title":"Chunk 2"},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KG8AJT0EAFYRPBGF78JHK0AH","peer_type":"chapter","predicate":"in"},{"peer":"01KG89J1HYC04JWXEK48P07WPK","peer_type":"file","predicate":"extractedFrom"},{"peer":"01KG89HMDZKNY753EZE1CJ8HZW","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"},{"peer":"01KG8AM1QY0R4JVE2P5B7SBY1Z","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"prev"}],"ver":2,"created_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:24.317Z","ts":"2026-01-30T20:48:30.534Z","edited_by":{"method":"manual","user_id":"01KFF0H3YRP9ZSM033AM0QJ47H"}}