Chapters From the New Apocrypha/The Little Box
Paul, being at Athens, when he had come down from Mars' Hill, certain of the philosophers who had heard him came unto him, saying, Show us a miracle!
Then Paul, minded to show forth the power committed unto him answered and said, What sign will ye that I show?
They say unto him, Make the dumb to speak.
And Paul answered them straightway, saying, Go to now, fetch hither a man born dumb.
And while they yet sought among the throng gathered about him if peradventure any such might be found, Paul lifted up his voice, saying:
Which of the twain is the greater miracle, to make a dumb man speak, or this little box?
With one accord they answered him: The little box.
Then Paul, having taken from beneath his cloak the little box, set it on the ground in the midst of the multitude. And again he lifted up his voice, saying, What will ye that the little box shall speak unto you?
They answer him, Let it testify of those things whereof thou hast spoken even this day upon yonder hill.
And Paul (having laid in previously with the little box) touched it gently in the right place, and the box spake, saying, Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship him declare I unto you.
Then were the multitudes amazed and confounded. Some said, This indeed testifieth of the truth; but others said that the Devil was in the little box. And one of the philosophers questioned Paul concerning what had happened, demanding of him whence came the voice and whose was the voice thereof.
And Paul answered and said, Truly, the voice is the voice of God; and hath to-day spoken unto you by the mouth of his holy prophet which hath been since the world began.
And when he was questioned further concerning the name of this prophet, he answered them, saying,
There is but one name given unto men worthy of the kingdom of heaven, and that name is Truth. But the name of the little box is Archetypeofthephonograph.
Then were the multitude still more amazed. And they said one to another, This is a big name, sure enough. Verily, verily, the name is bigger than the box.
But they wist not,—neither they nor the philosophers,—how much bigger was the idea than the name. And as it was with the little box so with little facts, it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be.