The Testimony of Taliesin Jones (2 page)

H
e
turn
s
th
e w
hite
,
w
hite
pag
es which
a
re
so
th
ick
th
ey
gi
ve
th
e i
mpression of b
eing
m
ore
th
an
o
ne p
age st
uck t
ogether.
H
e travels
thr
ough
th
e
title p
ages:
p
ast
'
th
e Fo
reword
,
th
e Co
ntents
,
a
l
ist of
th
e co
untries
a
nd
c
ities
of
th
e
w
orld, a sec
tion
o
n
s
tars
wi
th th
eir a
lien nam
es a
nd p
atterns,
a
sec
tion
o
n
t
he uni
verse w
hich b
egins
w
ith
th
e
w
ords
'
W
e
d
o
n
ot ye
t kno
w
ho
w
th
e
uni
verse
came about
.
'
H
e
tr
avel so
n throu
gh a sec
tion
o
n th
e
mor
e
local solar s
ystem a
nd
t
he plan
ets
th
at
h
e
kn
ows
in ord
er
from Mercury to Plut
o
.

Th
en co
mes Th
e
E
arth
in
c
ross-sectional gl
obes
w
ith
Go
d
s
ized b
ites
tak
en
ou
t of
th
em
t
o re
veal crusts
,
m
antles a
nd
co
res. Th
e o
uter
co
re
an
d th
e
r
ed-hot
inner c
ore
r
emind
h
im o
f
a
p
each
.

A
geo
logical
timesca
le
sp
irals up th
e
pa
ge a
nd
s
how
s
man a
rriving
l
ate
,
m
aking
hi
s
m
ark
in the last fr
action
of
th
e
g
reen
c
oloured
Te
rtiary
p
eriod
.
H
e
follow
s
th
e
n
ame
s
b
ack
throu
gh
t
ime: C
retaceous,
Jur
assic,
on b
ackwards
p
a
st
D
evonian as
far back as the inn
er
sw
irl
o
f th
e s
piral whi
ch
whirl
s
thr
ough
Cambrian and Pr
e-Cambrian
a
nd
e
nds
i
n a
pe
riod
ca
lled Ar
chaean
and sp
eculative
d
ates wi
th qu
estion ma
rks. E
ven
th
is
all-know
ing, c
omprehensive bo
ok
do
esn't
h
ave a
ll th
e a
nswers. There are no r
eal
ex
planations
as
to how th
e
ea
rth w
as
mad
e
and what set it
s
pinning on
i
ts
axi
s, t
ilted a
t
a
n
a
ngle of
s
uch
v
ital precision.

A
s
haggy man with a spear stand
s a
t th
e
top of th
e
n
ext c
hart l
eading a
procession of
anim
als
that
r
ecede
ba
ck
th
rough
t
ime: a
monkey, a stunt
ed
hor
se, a
blu
e w
hale,
s
ome
s
h
e
ll
s
,
a
nd th
en
dinosaurs
w
hich cov
er
a lar
ge
s
ection
of th
e c
hart b
efore
legs become
tails and flipp
ers, a
nd r
eptiles
b
ecome
fi
sh.
The
se
in turn becom
e
sh
ells a
nd
seawee
d
.
Aft
er
thi
s
th
ere a
re bl
ank y
ears
a
nd qu
estion
m
arks agai
n
.

O
n into th
e
book. Continent
s
splittin
g,
volc
anoes s
pitting, t
emperatures
droppin
g a
nd then ri
sing
.
D
ifferent c
oloured m
aps o
f th
e wo
rld divided into man
y
ca
tegories: m
inerals,
vege
tation,
e
nergy, food produ
ction.
Th
ere a
re
a
pples in J
apan, ap
parently
.
And then the normal m
aps
;
t
he m
aps
that ju
st
s
how
w
here e
verything
i
s.

Th
e
fir
st
map
i
s of th
e w
orld
a
nd
i
t
s
hows
c
ountries di
vi
ded
i
nto p
astel ye
llow, pink
,
oran
ge, g
reen
a
nd lila
c a
nd th
e se
a
a
li
ght
blu
e
.
The world i
s a
n am
azing se
ries o
f s
hapes
w
ithout
sy
mmetry. A ma
ssive
Afric
a
fill
s
th
e
middl
e o
f th
e s
pread,
too
cl
ose
to the
s
un
a
nd t
oo
bi
g;
Indi
a
p
oints a
n
exo
tic n
ose i
nto
a
warm-
sounding se
a; N
orth
Am
erica
b
ends
l
ike a
tr
ee
i
n a fas
t-moving wind
.
No two pla
ces
l
ook
th
e sa
me
.

He
turns the page and moves closer to home -to Europe with its fine outlines and
many borders. Where the pages
m
eet i
n t
he cen
tre a t
iny
pink Brit
ain an
d
a
n
eve
n t
inier
ind
istinct
W
ales
ar
e
lo
st
in
t
he cr
ease
of th
e
b
ook.
On th
e
n
ext
p
age
Br
itain a
ppears bi
g
enou
gh
t
o s
how th
e
b
east-head s
hape o
f
hi
s
hom
e c
ountry
.
Is
i
t
a
pi
g?
I
s
it
a
n u
gly
m
an?
I
s
it a d
ragon?
E
very co
untry h
as a s
hape. S
chool
t
eachers
h
ave
t
old
him th
at.
It
aly
i
s
a boot ki
cking a
S
icilian
f
ootball.
H
is
geo
graphy
teacher describ
ed
Wales as a boar's h
ead
but h
e
se
es
it a
s
a dra
gon,
which
,
when he half closes his
e
yes, has a snout that shoots fire
.

H
e
lo
oks
for th
e
n
ames
he knows, for his own
v
illage and for the town wh
ere
his mother now lives. His village is th
ere s
omewhere, unmark
ed
amongst the browns
and the darkish relief gr
eens.
Hi
s
moth
er's
town is big enough to be indicated (he
s
ees it ther
e, s
nuggling into the
mouth of the dra
gon).
But hi
s
own village i
sn't
shown
.
He gauges wher
e
it
s
hould b
e a
nd m
easures
th
e
di
stance
b
etween
it and his moth
er's
to
wn
as b
eing a
thumb and a half.
In
reality this is a di
stance
of
so
me fift
y
mil
es.