“And so, my dear and kind Grandfather, now that owing to your conversation with the captain, I have gradually, with all my presence, become aware of all this, there has arisen in me, side by side with this, the need to make clear to my Reason why I personally have all the comforts which I now use, and what OBLIGATIONS I am under for them. BTG VII

“The time of your present age is not given you in which to pay for your existence, but for preparing yourself for the future, for the OBLIGATIONS becoming to a responsible three-brained being. BTG VII

“But when, as I have already said, they, having settled down, set about carrying out in practice the special form of ‘suffering’ which they had invented, and their wives, having learned its true nature, rebelled, then many of them, having fallen under the influence of their wives declined to carry out the OBLIGATIONS they had undertaken while still in Pearl-land — and as a result, they then divided into two independent parties. BTG XXII

“From this time on, these sectarians, formerly called the Self-tamers, now began to be called by various names those of the Self-tamers who remained faithful to the OBLIGATIONS they had taken upon themselves were called ‘Orthodoxhydooraki’, while the rest, who had renounced the several OBLIGATIONS they had undertaken in their native country, were called “Katoshkihydooraki”. BTG XXII

“At that period, these terrestrial three-brained beings, already of responsible age, whom the others named ‘Astrologers’, besides making the said observations and investigations of various other cosmic concentrations for the purpose of a greater, as is said ‘detailizing’, of that branch of general learning of which they were representatives, fulfilled I several further definite essence OBLIGATIONS taken upon themselves towards surrounding beings similar to themselves. BTG XXIII

“Among their fundamental definite OBLIGATIONS was that they also, like our Zerlikners, had to advise all the conjugal pairs in their what was then called ‘flock’, according to the types of those pairs, about the time and form of the process of the sacred ‘Elmooarno’ for the purpose of a desirable and corresponding conception of their results, and when such results were actualized, or, as they themselves say, ‘newly born’, they had to draw up their ‘Oblekioonerish’ which is the same as what your favorites call ‘horoscope’; and later either they themselves or their substitutes had — during the whole period of the formation of the newly born for responsible existence and of their subsequent responsible existence — to guide them and give corresponding indications on the basis of the said Oblekioonerish and also on the basis of the cosmic laws, constantly explained by them, flowing from the actions of the results of other large cosmic concentrations in general on the process of being existence of beings on all planets. BTG XXIII

“You probably already well know that Zirlikners among us on the planet Karatas, as also in general beings similar to them on other planets of our Great Universe upon which breed already-formed three-brained beings, and from the number of whom are several, who, called differently on different planets, take upon themselves essential OBLIGATIONS in relation to the environment of beings similar to themselves — well, these Zirlikners are those responsible individuals who voluntarily devote the whole of their existence to helping any being of that region to fulfill his being-OBLIGATIONS, if this being for some reason or other, or simply thanks to a temporary irregular functioning of his planetary body, ceases to be able to fulfill his inner or outer being-duty by himself. BTG XXXI

“And at the present time there, when the functioning of his planetary body in one or other of your contemporary favorites becomes deranged in this or that respect, and when this being ceases to be able to fulfill his being-OBLIGATIONS, these contemporary physicians of theirs are also called in for help; and, no question about it, these physicians do also indeed come; but how they help and how they discharge by their inner essence the OBLIGATIONS taken upon themselves, it is precisely here, as our highly esteemed Mullah Nassr Eddin says, that ‘the dead camel of the merchant Vermassan-Zeroonan-Alaram is buried’. BTG XXXI

“They could not help having them. It was just for this that there existed in this chief place of their existence, as in general there exists in all large and small communities in times of peace, a particular as they say ‘administrative body’, which comprises the ‘basic-hope-of-a-complete-bliss-for-power-possessors’, which they themselves call the ‘gendarmerie’ and ‘police’, one of the chief OBLIGATIONS of the representatives of which is to see that everyone, for every kind of enterprise there, should have a corresponding permit, and indeed, it must not be supposed that the what are called ‘lynx-eyed’ beings representatives of the said ‘basic-hope-of-a-complete-bliss-for-power-possessors’, would ‘let anything slip by’ and allow anywhere any laboratory whatever without the corresponding permit from the power-possessors. BTG XXXIV

“It turned out as I later elucidated, that I had been, without at all suspecting it at the time, with an official among whose OBLIGATIONS was that of dissuading from this ‘abominable’ intention those who wished to set up chemical laboratories. BTG XXXIV

“‘”A woman with such a nature of course does not wish to fulfill the OBLIGATIONS of a genuine woman-mother, and in view of the fact that being a prostitute enables her just to do nothing and to experience great pleasure, there is gradually formed in her both in her nature and in the ‘passive consciousness’ proper to her a factor for the irresistible urge to be a woman-female. BTG XLII

“I, of course, at once agreed to this proposal of theirs and when, very soon after, the senator and his wife left for Siberia I began punctually to fulfill the OBLIGATIONS taken upon myself in regard to their daughter who had by that time become a pet of mine. BTG XLII

“And so, my boy, when my good acquaintances the senator and his wife had returned from Siberia and I was free of the OBLIGATIONS I had taken upon myself in regard to my pet, their youngest daughter, there just then occurred the aforementioned event which served as the beginning of my special observations and studies of this terrestrial contemporary question, maleficent also to themselves. BTG XLII

“I even charge you — of course again as the heir to whom, as is general, will devolve the fulfillment of the OBLIGATIONS which his predecessor took upon himself and which for some reason or other were left unfulfilled — specially to turn your attention to and to elucidate a question which greatly interested me and which I personally was unable to elucidate as it was still premature to do so; that is to say, I charge you to elucidate for yourself into what a ‘maleficent form’ for their descendants — if of course by that time their descendants still continue to arise — will the results have become molded of the ‘disease’ very widespread at that time, which one of their Misters, by name Onanson, called ‘writing itch’. BTG XLII

“Well then, when these same young beings, who almost always become power-possessing, become responsible beings and begin to bear responsible OBLIGATIONS, they of course do not have any data at all for manifesting what is called ‘logical reflection’, owing to the fact that they have not used the time destined by Great Nature exclusively for the purposes of preparing in themselves being-data for a worthy and responsible existence, but waste it only for developing in themselves the properties which flow from the totality of the results of this celebrated education of theirs, which, as a rule, dictates to them how better to give oneself up to what is called ‘self-calming’. BTG XLIII

“So it was just from then on that my children, that is your father and your uncle Tooilan, could already, whenever they wished, at their own desire, return to the Center, and there discharge their appropriate OBLIGATIONS to the innumerable actualizations of our UNIVERSAL FATHER. BTG XLIV

“‘Although you are only my “Kesdjanian Lather”, yet, in view of the fact that during my “Hirr-Hirr” (Hirr-Hirr on the planet Saturn is the name given to the sacred ceremony which is similar to what is called on the planet Earth “baptism”.) you assuredly fulfilled with the feeling of full and thorough cognizance the divine OBLIGATIONS taken upon yourself in respect of me, there have been crystallized in my common presence in respect of you data equivalent to those which should be in the common presence of each three-brained being in respect of his own producer, and it is, without doubt, just because of this that I very often remember you and each time in my thoughts I wish for you such ensuing circumstances at all times as can lead in general to, in the objective sense, a good and happy future’. BTG XLV

It must further be added that although the coachman has a very feeble understanding of his duties, he can nevertheless, even though only a little, think logically; and remembering tomorrow, he either from fear of losing his job or from the desire of receiving a reward, does occasionally evince an interest in doing something or other for his employer without being driven to it; but the horse — in consequence of there not having been formed in it at the proper time, owing to the absence of any special and corresponding education, any data at all for manifesting the aspirations requisite for responsible existence — of course fails to understand (and indeed it cannot be expected that it should understand ) why in general it must do anything; its OBLIGATIONS are therefore carried out quite inertly and only from fear of further beatings. BTG XLVIII