The Fall and the Firmament

Abstract

When the fumes cleared, I realized that I was in the strangest room I had ever seen. There was a variety of appliances made of glass and metal. A young man was stirring some material in a large vessel that was being heated and from which the clouds of yellow fumes, that had engulfed me, were still rising up. He was pale and seemed to be somewhat weak. Although he was in his shirtsleeves, he was profusely perspiring.