“That’s what makes the story worth knowing?”
“Yes.”
“I’m glad to hear it. Now go away and come back when you can explain what makes the other story worth knowing.”
“I don’t need to go away. I can explain it now.”
“Go ahead.”
“People can’t just give up a story. That’s what the kids tried to do in the sixties and seventies. They tried to stop living like Takers, but there was no other way for them to live. They failed because you can’t just stop being in a story, you have to have another story to be in.”
Ishmael nodded. “And if there is such a story, people should hear about it?”
“Yes, they should.”
“Do you think they want to hear about it?”
“I don’t know. I don’t think you can start wanting something till you know it exists.”
“Very true.”
2
“And what do you suppose this story is about?”
“I have no idea.”
“Do you suppose it’s about hunting and gathering?”
“I don’t know.”
“Be honest. Haven’t you been expecting some noble paean to the mysteries of the Great Hunt?”
“I’m not aware of expecting anything like that.”
“Well, you should at least know that it’s about the meaning of the world, about divine intentions in the world, and about the destiny of man.”
“Yes.”
“As I’ve said half a dozen times, man became man enacting this story. You should remember that.”
“Yes, I do.”
“How did man become man?”
I examined that one for booby traps and gave it back. “I’m not sure what the question means,” I said. “Or rather I’m not sure what kind of answer you want. Obviously you don’t want me to say that man became man by evolving.”
“That would just mean that he became man by becoming man, wouldn’t it?”
“Yes.”
“So the question is still there waiting to be answered: How did man become man?”
“I suppose it’s one of those very obvious things.”
“Yes. If I gave you the answer, you’d say, ‘Oh. Well of course, but so what?’”
I shrugged, defeated.