nail fragment from Villa dei Misteri

“What is this?’ he asked.

I looked at the object he held in his fingers. It was a nail. An old nail, somewhat rusty round the head. Obviously used, it was bent and battered from having been pulled out.

‘That? It’s a nail.’

‘Quite right,’ said Osiris. ‘A nail. An old nail. We can take the simplest, most basic object like this old, rusty nail. We can look at it carefully. And we can think: what is it?’

‘It’s a nail,’ I shrugged. ‘What is there to think about?’

‘It depends on what you are talking about. Are you talking about this insignificant scrap of metal? Or about something that happens in your perception? Or about the fact that the nail is nothing more than a concept that you have? Or about the fact that your perception of this concept becomes the nail? In other words, are we talking about the nail as reflected in our consciousness, or the fact that we project the word “nail” on to the surrounding world in order to bring about that particular sum total of its elements which we have agreed to identify with the sound that particular word makes? “Or, perhaps, you are speaking of the dark and terrible belief some people have that a certain nail exists in and of itself beyond the limits of anybody’s consciousness?’

‘I’m already lost,’ I said.

‘Right you are. You’re lost, and will never find your way out.’

‘What had all that to do with my question?’

‘This. You were asking: what is the point of existence? The point is this,’ Osiris brandished the nail in the air. ’Here is a piece of iron picked up from a dump. And the non-productive part of your money gland’s cycle cannot even tell you what it is, even though you can touch it, bend it or drive it into someone’s palm. And you are asking me about something that has no existence anywhere except in the imagination, and not even there permanently: wispy word-clouds that arise for a second, cast their imaginary spell of meaning, and then disappear without trace the moment Mind “B” starts thinking about money. ”

This “picking” (clip) is a fragment from my personal journal and is published for private use and for educational purpose only, not intended as a distribution of any of the materials linked.

linked mentions for "nail fragment from Villa dei Misteri":

1. Pelevin Empire V
   A reflection on Pelevin’s Empire V, exploring the philosophical depth and unique language of the Russian book, comparing key chapter Villa dei Misteri in English and Russian, to assess the translation’s ability to convey Pelevin’s style, including his use of matershchina and the word bablós. Hope Victor Ginzburg's upcoming film adaptation may reveal more.
   
2. Pelevin Villa dei Misteri
   “Did people come up with the idea of God, or did they discover that he exists?” (люди придумали бога или решили что он есть?) “One of these