Week Three Story

Tunnel to Ramerstein  

  There once was an empire known as Krazik. The people there were a mild-mannered bunch that had grown together into one large empire. The empire was ruled by a king that was well liked by all and thought to be the greatest they had had so far. He cared for his people and wanted them to reach inner peace and happiness, living eternally with their god known as Ramerstein. They worshiped this god for all time and had grown to be truly blessed from this. He had showered those who worshiped him with prosperity and love. This had not always been so though. There had been times throughout their history that the Krazik people had fallen away and lost their faith. They acted contrary then what they were taught by the great Ramerstein, and because of this they would experience great heartache and suffering. The king had conceded that he would guide his people by the teachings of Ramerstein and that through their obedience they would forever be blessed.

    One night the king awoke sweating and anxious. He had a dream that the people would fall away, and they would all be slaughtered. He thought to himself ways that he might bring his people to Ramerstein and be saved from this fate. He decided the only way to do this was to build a tunnel down to the palace of Ramerstein and personally beseech the great god to have mercy on his people. Over the next couple months, the king would instruct his people on the building of this tunnel. He would have them work nonstop for months on end. Many lives were lost, and the mild-mannered empire was growing angrier with the king. They felt he was wronging them by forcing them to work. The people started to fight and bicker with each other. They would even go to such lengths to hurt their fellow citizens so as to not be stuck in a tunnel with them. The hate and animosity only grew as time continued.

    After a year and much bloodshed Ramerstein intervened. He called a mighty earthquake that shook the earth separating the land into many different parts. The once great empire was sucked into the earth into various layers of the earth each with their own way of communicating. Some with voice, some with hands and some with only sensing. The people had no way of communicating with those above or below them in the earth. They were all separated to live the rest of their lives in darkness until Ramerstein saw fit to change that. The people bellowed and groaned in sadness knowing that their evil hearts led them to this.  

Authors Notes: This story has many differences than the Tower of Babel story most are used to. First off, the god in both stories is different. Also, the reason for building the tunnel was different than the reason for the building of the Tower of Babel. The tunnel was built due to a king’s fear of losing his people, where as the tower was built to reach heaven. One is for the love of ones own the other is due to hubris. I also changed the consequences. The consequences of the tower of babel is that the people were separated not being able to understand one another due to language differences. In my story however they were also separated but underground instead of on it. I also changed that instead of speaking different languages they communicated differently on each layer.

Bibliography: Louis Ginzberg, The Legends of the Jews

 

Mierystock Tunnel by Ralph Rawlinson