A Modern-time Fable - Edit 3

The Story of

The Facebook Wall++

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Once upon a time,

a time when the great clock blinked

then dozed off

and took a short nap,

a fraud of a monk

presided over the Temple.

He wanted to prove his loyalty

to his Master, the King

and his Mistress the Queen

who undeservingly, appointed him to that high post.

He searched for what could bring joy to his master's heart

and asked everyone.

In his search he learned

and observed

that what really pleases his masters beyond belief,

is when his master sees his own images

and those of the queen

and the crown prince

carved on the stones of great temples,

painted on the Walls of every building

and when he hears his words

resounding in every corner of the Kingdom

honored like holy gospel

and specially when the limited accomplishments

achieved during his reign

are blown out, inflated,

into gigantic miracles and unprecedented victories.

So, the Monk set out an enormous campaign

to build walls, temples and statues

glorifying his master and the Royal Family,

carrying his images

reciting his words

But the people observed that things were getting from bad to worse.

The hardships were becoming insurmountable.

Bread became scarce.

And the Laws of Ma'at were no longer enforced

except when a poor man is punished

for stealing bread from the wealthy or powerful.

So, the People of the Two Lands, decided to go to the King

to raise their grievances to his royal ears.

But the bad monk and his assistants

stood in their way

and scolded them.

And the Monk announced

that the Two Lands never had before witnessed

such a great and just king

and that his reign was but a path

of successive achievements and victories.

The people were very frustrated

but were determined that their complaints must be heard.

So, they decided to build a wall facing the palace of the King

where they could write their grievances,

complaints

demands

and stories,

which tell of what had happened

and what did not

but should have.

And soon the wall facing the palace

became full of writings of every sort.

It became like a giant book.

So, the people called it

The Facebook!

The Monk was enraged.

He wanted to demolish the wall on the spot

so that no one could see the people's complaints,

many of which were incriminating corruption within the very walls of the temple,

upon which he undeservedly presided.

But the Monk could not knock down the wall

without causing an angry uproar.

Because Egyptians glorified any wall with writings or symbols on it

for they considered the craft of hieroglyphs and the written word

a sacred and holy gift from the Gods

So, the Monk, devised an evil plan

to achieve his ignoble purpose.

He claimed that the Great God Himself

came to him in a vision while he was asleep

and informed him of an evil plot drawn by the enemies of Egypt

whereby they would use agitators and protesters

to drive the lands into an upheaval,

thus causing chaos and facilitating the enemy's conquest

and that the Great God in his wisdom

told him that he must set up a competent commission

with many watchful eyes

empowered by Ma'at to scrutinize any writings or signs of any kind

especially those scribed on the Facebook.

*******************

So, what will the people do?

Will they let the Monk get way with this evil scheme

which threatens to deprive them of the only means to express themselves?

Or will they remove the fraudulent Monk, banish him from his office

and demand that the King must listen to their plea and restore Ma'at justice throughout the land?

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++ This piece was written within a Campaign which was launched to protect e-Freedom when it was leaked that a proposed law was drafted in Egypt to control blogs and the Internet. The proposed law would make it possible to imprison bloggers if the authorities deemed published e-content objectionable. A similar law has now been introduced in Jordan.