The Talking Heads
Silence fell over the crowd as the curtains for the stage were drawn back. On stage sat a long wooden table with great claws and vibrant inlay, the kind one might see in the dining room of a Baron or a Count of something or other. The table sat alone on stage which helped draw attention to its striking complexion. The sheer density of its ornate legs and the almost pompous air with which it stood made the table seem quite out of place among the dark, slight mustiness of the theater in which it sat. This, however, was of no concern to anyone in attendance, nor to the organizers of the event who had decided that ‘to stand out in this way would add to the ambience’.
The table sat perpendicular to the crowd so that its long side faced the auditorium, in full view of the onlookers. On top of the table sat six heads set up on six rather short pikes, evenly spread across the length of the table so as to fill it out completely. These pikes were bolted into the table itself and extended upward into the neck of each of the heads, serving as a sort of chine for support at the base of the neck.
Normally, this is not the sort of spectacle that would have interested the present audience. For it was full of all sorts of distinguished, learned, and well-bred individuals, not the sort of riff raff who would be interested in a barbaric scene like the setting of severed human heads upon poles. Such things belonged to a bygone era, one that was much more barbaric and brutish than the present one.
No, this scene was different. In fact, it was the very opposite of brutish or barbaric – it was truly a miracle of modern scientific advancement. And accordingly, very many of the leading doctors, researchers, politicians, and businessmen had gathered to take in what was undoubtedly to be a singular and historic exhibition. Most of them had, in fact, clamored at the opportunity to attend such an event. For it was only the best, brightest, and most powerful among them who had been privileged enough to receive an invitation. All the others had paid exorbitant amounts of money to be here. Though, this was well worth it given the seminal nature of the event.
The silence that had begun at the opening of the curtains continued on for nearly a minute as the august crowd sat in anticipation. Then all at once, the silence was broken as the six heads set up on the stage began to speak. They spoke quietly at first, before slowly building to a sort of scream that could be heard clear across the theater without the need for a microphone.
All of the heads spoke simultaneously, though not in unison. In fact, the way they spoke gave the impression that each of the heads was trying to be heard over the others, as though it was singularly deserving of the audience’s attention. The whole state of affairs was so boisterous and hectic that only certain phrases could be picked out as intelligible from among the great babbling. At any point, the noise coming from the stage sounded like the rabble of an enormous crowd (one that contained many more than the mere six mouths present on the stage), a tremendous roar cut intermittently by various disconnected phrases.
Grawwwwww…this social being which is no abstract, universal power standing over against the solitary…graaaawwww… the bond of paternity, which is rotten. To beget children, nothing better; to have them, what iniquity!... Grrrrrraaawww… The individual, with his identity and characteristics, is the product of a relation of power exercised over bodies, multiplicities, movements, desires, forces… graaawwwww… civilization is a hopeless race to discover remedies for the evils it produces… ggggrrrraaaawwwww!
As the heads continued their yelling, at each local climax of passion, sweat and spit would pour forth, and their tongues would fall out and writhe on the table, muting the speaker momentarily. Then, as a rabid dog tears apart its prey, each head would crane its neck, reaching down and swallowing the tongue that had just dislodged itself from their throats. The vitriolic spewing continued.
The distinguished crowd sat in awe of this spectacle as the great roar poured forth from the mouths on stage. The audience sat in silence as each head howled continuously, growing to a frenzy until its tongue would fall out and be devoured. Then the heads would begin to talk again, louder and with more confidence, delving deeper into their philosophical soliloquies.
Finally, after an amount of time indiscernible to those in the theater, the heads fell into silence. Not a sound was heard, as it was in the beginning, for nearly a minute. Then, in unison, the heads began to chant… “Look upon what man has created! Look upon what man has created! Look upon what man has created!”
As before, this noise began quietly and grew into a dense shriek. However, this time it was not merely the heads who professed their message. This time the audience in the theater began to chant along, longing to participate in the exhibition, possessed by the compelling spirit of the event, thankful for the glimpse of man’s transcendence. So, the fervor grew, increasing in energy and entropy, until those in attendance could no longer control their zeal.
Then, with no particular person and for no particular reason, the crowd began to attack one another – first pushing, then striking, then tearing at limbs. There was biting and gouging of eyes and, following the example of those set up on pikes, there was plucking out of tongues. Each person attacked the others without partiality and until they had not the energy left to continue. Some in attendance, of course, died, but those who didn’t fell together into a deep sleep.
They awoke several hours later to the sound of the heads being removed from their fixtures and packed away as one does after having napped for too long, not quite remembering where they were or what had transpired before their slumber. Though slowly those who remained began to remember the affair they had witnessed and in which they had participated, and they began to cheer, enthralled by the great triumph of man over nature, transfixed by the memory of the animation of what was once dead. They cheered – for this could be nothing except the beginning of paradise.