The Creation

by Otto Witt, Per Andersson

Genres: Science Fiction; Visionary & Metaphysical

Synopsis

Dive into the extraordinary realms of speculative fiction with Otto Witt's "The Creation," a pioneering masterpiece that seamlessly blends scientific precision with visionary imagination. Originally published in the early 20th century, this classic novel takes readers on an epic journey through the cosmos, exploring the origins of life, the evolution of civilizations, and the profound mysteries of the universe.

In "The Creation," follow the adventures of Amir, a daring explorer from the distant planet Merus, as he embarks on an interstellar quest to uncover the secrets of existence. From the dynamic landscapes of his home planet, inspired by Witt's own explorations of Iceland's volcanic terrains, to the vibrant and diverse ecosystems of otherworldly realms, Amir's journey is filled with breathtaking discoveries and existential challenges.

Witness the birth and death of stars, the rise and fall of advanced civilizations, and the powerful forces that shape the cosmos. Witt's meticulous attention to scientific detail and his inventive storytelling create a richly textured narrative that will captivate both science fiction enthusiasts and those new to the genre.

"The Creation" is not just a story of exploration and adventure; it is a profound meditation on the nature of existence, the quest for knowledge, and the interconnectedness of all life. Witt's visionary insights and thought-provoking themes resonate as deeply today as they did when the book was first published, offering readers a timeless reflection on humanity's place in the universe.

Rediscover a classic that has inspired generations of readers and writers. "The Creation" by Otto Witt is a must-read for anyone who loves science fiction, cosmic mysteries, and the thrill of exploring the unknown. Embark on this extraordinary journey and let your imagination soar beyond the stars.

 

Read more

Release date: July 22, 2024

Print pages: 195

Sample

I. THE RIDDLE

"You are ill, sir, seriously ill."

These were the words.

They were spoken in a doctor's consulting room by a doctor, an older man with gentle features and a pair of kind, brown eyes that peeked out from behind his gold-rimmed glasses.

The patient, to whom the words were addressed, sat in a chair in front of the doctor. He was a young scientist, and his field was astronomy.

The most striking feature about him was undoubtedly his deep, dreamy, dark eyes, which gleamed like two black diamonds under his nobly arched forehead. From this forehead, dark brown hair fell in curls over his head and down his neck, framing his face with darkness, giving his already pale complexion an almost marble-like whiteness. The whole appearance indicated that one had before them a dreamer, a man who played on the strings of imagination, a poet or a musician, and one would least expect that he practiced the most exact and calculating of all sciences, that of the laws within the star-studded space.

The young man's appearance was of the kind that haunts a young girl when she begins to establish her male ideal – this ideal, which she then never reaches as she dreamed it. She reduces it more and more as her springs pass by, and finally, the figure, talents, appearance, and even the inner qualities and the remnants of her youthful dreamt ideal are what lead her to the bridal chair. But in the pale scientist in the doctor's consulting room, everything was preserved that captivates and enchants a harmonious woman's mind – his temporary sickly appearance only made him more interesting.

"And the cure, doctor?" he asked.

"Absolute rest!"

"For body or soul?"

"For both."

"Letting the body taste rest is easy, doctor – letting the soul, the mind, sink into Nirvana, how is that possible?"

"By changing spheres of interest."

"Empty words, doctor! To leave a sphere that is necessary for one's entire existence, a sphere that is one's whole life and joy, delight and pleasure – how can you consider this to be as easy as changing clothes – for that is how it seems to me that you think."

"It was not empty words I uttered. But to be able to help you to health and to the life from which you now indeed day by day remove yourself, I need your full trust. Give it to me, and I will find the remedy!"

"I fear you will never find anything that can help me, doctor."

"You do not want to give me your trust?"

"It is of no use! I only waste your time with it."

"Only for that reason, then?"

"Yes, only for that reason."

"On the contrary, on the contrary! Do not think that an interesting case like yours is lost time for me. No, it is a valuable addition to my practice."

"In that case – so be it."

He continued:

"Have you, doctor, ever pondered a riddle so great, so difficult to solve that it will never be within a human's power to solve it? Has this riddle ever so captivated your entire mind that it swallowed all your daily interests?"

"No, my thoughts have never been that intense. Well, I have speculated quite a lot, but my practice has never suffered because of it."

"I am caught by the terrible power of such a riddle. I must try to solve it – an inner voice whose power I cannot resist commands me – but I shall never be able to."

He laid his hand over his eyes and sighed.

"Never!" he repeated.

Then he suddenly sat up straight from his somewhat slumped position, and his gaze went out through the window into the clear blue with an absent expression as if he saw infinitely distant things.

"She was beautiful, the most wonderful apparition I have ever seen! She was like a heavenly angel who had taken a place on our speck of dust and brought with her a spark of the holy fire in her eyes. Never had I imagined that carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, and nitrogen could together form such a wonderful being as this woman!

My whole life has been a search for something without knowing what it was. I was driven to seek and seek again. What was I looking for? I did not know. I have searched for this unknown something in the burial chambers of the pyramids and in the catacombs of Rome; I have looked for it among the atoms of matter in the laboratory's glass beakers, in nature's opened womb, among people, and in the infinite space between its rolling spheres. I found nothing.

Then this woman came into my path. Our eyes met – and suddenly it was clear to me what it was that I had been searching for in vain."

"It was her, it was her love?" asked the doctor, interested.

"No. It was not her – strangely enough. It was the secret that surrounded my previous life."

"You speak entirely in riddles."

"No, listen to me! When I saw her, when I looked into her eyes for the first time, everything became clear to me. I believe in pre-existence, in a previous and a subsequent real material planetary life. But that I was searching for traces of this my former earthly life, I did not know until then. At the moment when her soul looked at me deeply from within her eyes, my inner life merged with hers, and the intuition was clear to me: 'We two have loved each other before.'

And then came the question, composed of three factors: 'Where, when, and how.' This is the burning riddle that threatens to devastate my life, doctor: 'Where have I lived before, when have I lived, and what was my life like.' Who can give the answer here? Perhaps no one as long as the earth stands."

The doctor sat silent.

"And what became of the girl?" he finally asked.

"The surprise was so great, the astonishment over finally knowing what it was that I had been constantly seeking was so overwhelming that I did not manage to make the girl's acquaintance. When I came to myself, she was gone."

"And you have not investigated?"

"Yes."

"And with what result?"

"I know who she is."

"Really, and where did you meet her?"

"Here in Stockholm."

"And you have never seen her again?"

"No."

"And where is she now?"

"I do not know."

"Her name?"

"Sina Wosloff."

"Ah, the Russian consul general's daughter?"

"Yes."

"You have now told me what oppresses you," said the doctor. "I have heard enough to understand what is needed to cure you."

"It is not possible," replied the young man.

"How could you know anything about my previous life?"

"No, I know nothing about that. But I know a way to make you change spheres of interest."

"And that would be?"

"Seek out Sina Wosloff wherever she may be – tell her that you love her and ask her if perhaps she has any idea about her previous life. From that, you may be able to draw some conclusions for your own part."

The young man jumped up. Slender and straight, he stood on the floor in front of the elderly doctor. He was no longer the same man; on his cheeks, the roses of health were burning again, and from his eyes, the fire of hope shone.

"Doctor, you have given me life again," he exclaimed joyfully and grasped the elder's hands.

"Perhaps," replied the doctor. "Sit down for another moment, and I will tell you how I believe your current sickly condition actually came about."

The astronomer sat down again.

"Tell me first: when did you meet this lady?" the doctor continued.

"It was only a week ago."

"I could have guessed it was recently," the old man replied. "Your searching thought has given you tension and strength throughout your life, and this gave you resistance. Barely did you gain clarity before this gave you certainty that you would never find the solution to the riddle. This is what broke your physique. But, as I surely hope, you will soon regain your former vitality."

"Yes, doctor, yes. How could I not think of this myself? It is more than I can understand!"

"The riddle bewitched you."

"Yes, it must have been so."

"So, take heart, my young friend," said the doctor. "The next time I see you again, I hope all is well again."

The two men parted.

 

II. SINA

Adolf Herling had so completely absorbed himself in his own high spheres of thought that he had been deaf and mute to the whole world around him. Doctor Harkuss' words and his calm manner had to a certain extent restored his mind's equilibrium and spread calm over his soul. A new task had been set before him: to seek Sina and win her. From only thought and more thought, he had been drawn into real, pulsating life, his energy was awakened, and the novelty of the matter interested him greatly. But, as a thinker, he had to speculate and ponder even now – this time on the way to approach the beautiful woman.

Deeply immersed in thoughts, he did not notice where he was going. It was a wonder that he avoided horses and trams, automobiles, and riders – it seemed as if an external power guided his steps. He woke up to himself when he was walking up a broad stone staircase, and astonished, he looked around. He was on his way up to the upper floor of the National Museum.

"What in the world am I doing here?" he asked himself in amazement.

But something within him compelled him to continue his journey, and finally, he stood in a large hall whose walls were adorned with paintings by prominent masters. In the middle of the floor stood a round sofa, covered with red velvet, and on the side of the sofa facing away from Herling, he saw a lady sitting, with her back turned to him. In front of the young woman, he saw the painting on which she had her gaze fixed.

It was a small, insignificant canvas, simple and without a frame. It depicted a study head of a man.

Suddenly, Adolf stopped, struck by astonishment – he could not take a step; he was so extraordinarily surprised.

The image that the girl was looking at had his own features; the likeness was so striking as if the painting had been a direct portrait of himself.

His image clearly interested the young woman, as her eyes could not be separated from it, and his heart beat heavily. A hunch told him that this woman was indeed Sina, whom he sought, and that her interest in him was reciprocated by an equally great one from her side.

On tiptoe, he sneaked forward across the parquet floor and knelt on the sofa on the other side of the girl and leaned slowly forward over the round middle cushion so that his ear came very close to the young girl's neck. She noticed nothing – but a soft stream of words, mild, whispering, flowed over her lips.

"Adolf," she breathed, "from the day I saw you, my life has been like a dream. I have sensed you in my dreams, your image I have always loved."

She sighed.

"But there is a riddle over you, over me; yet I do not know what it is. When I saw you a few days ago, it suddenly became clear to me. We have met before – but where?"

She stretched her hands towards the painting and whispered:

"You beautiful image, come to life again! Adolf, step forward as flesh and blood!"

"Sina!"

She started, extremely astonished.

And when she turned around, he stood there before her, alive, smiling – with open arms.

"Sina!" he said, "we two are made for each other. I love you, have worshiped you in time and eternity and will always, always love you!"

"You, my god, my everything!" whispered Sina.

He threw his arms around her, pulled her fiercely to him, and covered her face with kisses.

She reciprocated his emotional outburst with passion, and two hearts had again tied a bond for life, a bond that nothing could break except death – perhaps not even that.

They went out into life and the hustle and bustle of the big city's streets.

"It is stuffy and hot here," said Adolf. "Let's go outside the toll gates, out to the countryside. There, nature is now singing the praises of spring in high tones, there nightingales are singing, and there swallows are chirping, and the fresh greenery of beeches and oaks has the bright hue of hope!"

Under a leafy beech lay a flat, moss-covered stone, and on this, the two lovers sat down. They talked about things that would scarcely interest outsiders to hear but which for them both were intoxicating as hot wine. They talked about their feelings from the first moment they saw each other and about the bright hopes of the future.

"You know, for a couple of years now, that image in the National Museum has been my ideal. I have thought about it – it drew me towards it with an enchanting power. Something told me that I would see the original, that I and this original had once had something in common in our destinies."

"And what?" he asked with intense interest.

"Yes, that I do not know and will probably never know."

"I too have had such an inkling about the connection of our destinies with each other," he said softly. "When I saw you for the first time, it was as if my whole soul resonated with a powerful, captivating harmony. It was as if the first flower of spring had penetrated my soul's former monotonous, smooth snowfield. That flower enlivened with its colors and spread fragrance in the emptiness – an intoxicating fragrance. But in the next moment, everything was obscured as if by a rising black cloud, a sky that seemed to hide a storm within itself. It was the riddle that came. 'Where, when, and how?' it sounded. Believe me, darling, I cannot fully taste happiness until I know its answer."

"Can't you?"

"No. Why I do not know. I can never stand before the altar with you until I know the answer."

"It is not within human power to solve the riddle."

"Then it is not within human power to marry us either."

"Oh, my beloved," said the girl. "Just now, hope and the future and the certainty that I had found you smiled upon me. Now it is as if you were once again so distant. Why can no happiness be untroubled and whole?"

"I do not know, but nothing else is perfect in our poor earthly world either."

They sat silent for a long time, hand in hand.

"Sina," he said, "do you have no idea where, when, and how our destinies were once intertwined?"

She only shook her beautiful head sadly and looked at him gently.

"Absolutely none?"

"No, just that it has been so."

And again the riddle rose before Adolf Herling – rose in its captivating majesty, in its

harshly commanding power. He was once again caught by its terrible enchantment, helplessly trapped in the snare.

Doctor Harkuss' advice had had its effect, but only for a few hours, it had worked like alcohol on his body and soul – but now the intoxication was over – an abyss grinned at him – his spiritual ruin, his physical destruction. –

Sorrowfully, he laid his head in Sina's lap. –

III. THE ASTRONOMER

Sina's and Adolf's engagement was not announced but approved by Sina's family, and they often met. At the Russian consul general's house, a man with many intellectual interests, there was also, among many other inventive arrangements, a small astronomical observatory on the house's roof. Here the two young people spent many happy moments under starry evenings, Adolf teaching and instructing, and Sina following every word that came from her master's lips with interest.

He let the telescope wander through immeasurable spaces towards the bright spheres of stars, towards mystical nebulae, and into the unfathomable depths of the shimmering Milky Way.

One evening, they both studied the planet Mars with great interest.

Sina said:

"You do believe in life on other planets than Earth?"

"Of course, my dear!"

"But do you also believe that beings exist that somewhat resemble us, humans? Or do you think that the inhabitants of other planets are infinitely different from us?"

"My opinion is," he replied, "that there is far greater similarity than one might imagine."

"But great, popular astronomers say that the differences must be enormous, that our boldest imagination is not nearly enough to conceive of these beings."

"Forgive me, dear friend," he said. "You must not consider me presumptuous if I tell you that I find these great astronomers somewhat outdated and a little childish."

"By no means do I consider you presumptuous, certainly not. I believe in you and am sure that you are right and they are wrong. But tell me, on what do you base this? It fascinates me to the utmost."

"Astronomy has had its development like everything else. In all branches of science, humanity has gone through certain stages. I will give you an example in the belief in the wonders of India; this concerns our earth, but the same has reflected in the belief in the inhabited planets of the universe."

He continued:

"In humanity's stumbling childhood, one believed that the whole world was like the part that immediately surrounded the person – the horizon was not yet

wide enough. As the own yard was, one thought the whole country was. Beyond the lake that bordered this land, one thought another entirely similar land was located. And so it went further."

"But this fits precisely with your perception of the inhabited planets. It thus corresponds to humanity's naive childhood," the girl objected.

"By no means – wait a little longer, and you will hear the continuation," he replied. "When the voyages of discovery came, they found that widely different lands existed. And so the fairyland of India was discovered. Now the same humanity swung to the other extreme. All the tales that were told about this land fill volumes and are the most absurd one can imagine. There were, describes one author, people without heads. Their place was in the chest instead of on the shoulders. There lived another race whose upper parts were wolves', the lower parts humans' – and so the imagination goes further, hindered by nothing. – As you see, they swung from believing in the similarity of all things to believing that everything that was foreign must be absolutely different from each other. That there were people who in no way resembled themselves and so on – that treasures existed that were in no way matched in their homeland.

So this period was also shelved. Enlightenment rose. Everywhere, wherever they came, whether in eternal polar regions or under the scorching sun of the equator – always – always – they found that human beings had a head like ours, two legs and two arms, ten toes and ten fingers, hair and nails, and a skeleton that matched in all respects the people of all latitudes.

And of the inner life, they found the same everywhere – though more or less developed – for example, religion and the longing for perfection. –

And this, my Sina, is also the real – the true. It is a fact.

Philosophizing about inhabited worlds in the heavens has also its history to tell. For the first ones who dealt with it, it was clear that one had to expect an Earth like ours on the other planets. So the prospects rose. It was realized that the planets orbited under very different conditions, and immediately the opinion changed. It became now, and is, imagine that, still today, in this enlightened century, not more advanced than our ancestors' naive belief in the wonders of India. Do you think I support this childish opinion, which is still defended by the whole world to this day? No, Sina!

I have elevated myself to the final stage, which also concerning India proved to be the only correct one.

Even today, there are authors who seriously describe Martians crawling around on six legs. Or others who let them have wings. It is ridiculous.

In the entire universe, there is similarity and more similarity, far more than anyone imagines."

He fell silent.

But Sina wanted to hear him talk more about these things and said:

"All that I find logical and reasonable. But please explain yourself in more detail, if you would be so kind!"

"The Earth is a small, miserable planet in a small insignificant star system," he said.

"Yes, that is admitted."

"There are infinitely many suns with planets orbiting around them."

"Yes."

"By chance, we can only see the planet on which we reside."

"Yes, of course."

"Tellus is neither the smallest nor the largest – it is one of many others. It is clear that in it we see a sample of inhabited planets in general."

"Yes, that is indeed highly probable."

"Other planets are naturally different and orbit under different conditions, it is true, but the different latitudes of the Earth are also extremely different – and yet a human is always a human."

"Yes."

"What we now must investigate before we proceed is what organic life actually depends on. What it is, this called life, no human knows. Surely it needs a certain degree of warmth, a certain amount of light, and the like. It thus depends on external circumstances that suit its well-being. And now we shall see what great similarities all planets have. They all orbit around a sun, they are all spherical in shape."

"Yes, but all suns are not alike. One is hotter, another colder than ours – one is blue, another red, and a third is orange-yellow. The planets are large and small, and so are the suns," replied Sina.

"You are absolutely right, my friend," replied Adolf. "And yet, no matter how you twist and turn the matter, you will eventually come to the conclusion that every planet in the entire universe at some point during its existence will be in precisely the same relationship to its sun as our own Earth now has it. Or it has stood in a similar relationship."

"I do not understand that, ...