by the continual chatter of this courageous little nag. Great Being was used to hearing the symphony of the spheres inside Its head—in perfect
multi-part harmony, of course. This voice was disrupting the perfect pitch of Great Being. Great Being felt annoyed. It called the noisy dream many names—Disharmony, Disorder, Chaos, and Royal Pain. This did not deter the noisy dream in the least. The noisy dream absorbed all the names and added a few of its own—Murphy, Coyote, the Raggedy Man, Uncle Tompa, and Rimble. In this way, the noisy dream became a creator in its own right. Over time, the noisy dream also developed something more than
intelligence—it developed personality. As Great Being didn't have any of Its own, Great Being finally decided to seek out the Noisy Dream of Many Names and see if Personality was a Good Idea or a Bad Idea. As Great Being drew near to the Noisy Dream, It heard this: «Who am I?» And again. And again. «Who am I?» Great Being could not answer this question, for Great Being could not see the Noisy Dream. In renewed despair, Great Being turned to go. As it did so, the Noisy Dream began to weep. Its small voice trembled with a choking horror: «Am I alone, then?» it asked. The loneliness of the Noisy Dream pierced the pain of Great Being's own cosmic solitude. For a moment, Great Being knew and understood this gabby little dream. Great Being reached toward the sorrowing dream and tried to comfort it. The Noisy Dream felt Great Being's concern. Wailing loudly, the Noisy Dream said: «Is there no other like me? Must I listen to myself for all eternity? What cruelty is this?» Sobbing, it added, «Why me?» Personal melodrama was conceived in this moment. Great Being could not bear to be thought of as cruel by the Noisy Dream, for the simple fact that Great Being knew that It wasn't cruel. Unrealized, perhaps, but not cruel. Great Being decided to Do Something. Great Being concluded that though It might split apart in the process, It would find a
way to prove Its inherent kindness to this loud, disbelieving little dream. In order to do this, however, Great Being knew that It must make a separation of some kind. It must thrust this Noisy Dream away from Itself so that both might see that the other existed. Great Being wondered if this would hurt. Great Being hesitated. What if the Noisy Dream went into the Real World and forgot that Great Being existed? You see, in a strange way, Great Being had come to value the questions of the Noisy Dream. Secretly, Great Being also valued the daring differentness of the Noisy Dream. Could it be that Great Being loved the deviant little thing? Yes. In a moment of unparalleled generosity, Great Being fought against Its own loneliness so that It might free the Noisy Dream from Itself. It was important, reasoned Great Being, for the Noisy Dream to know without doubt that its nature was identical to that of Great Being—kind. With great bravery, Great Being again resolved to free Its only companion from the void. To do this, Great Being would need to use Short Division. Arithmetic was conceived in this moment. Desire and knowledge united—and still a separation Between Dreamer and Dream proved to be an arduous task, As the process began, the clamor of all the dreams trapped inside Great Being increased to deafening proportions. The internal push and pull was grueling. Great Being saw that It would have to release everything in order to release the one different dream that had wept in loneliness. Great Being sighed at the enormity of the challenge—so much work for just one dream. Great Being supposed the Noisy Dream was worth all this trouble. Love decreed it. Great Being sighed again—making no sound. Sound, thought Great Being. Perhaps I should make a sound with my sigh?
And so It tried to do so. At first, the sigh rattled like dry leaves. Then it became smooth like the groan of a distant wind. Now Great Being's sigh
took on the depth and roar of a thundering ocean surf. It sounded like this: «Whhhhhhhhhooooo.» The universes trembled. Suddenly, the Unmanifest poured into the Real
World on the vibration of this divine sigh. Emptiness filled. Life spilled forth with exuberance. Shock waves of sound rippled through Great Being and It released all that was within. This was a bright explosion of Being. For the first time, the universes knew a Great Wildness. Dazed by the variety of form dancing before It, Great Being looked upon all the portions of Itself
and loved. A million billion dreams returned that love a thousand-fold, each according to its own temperament. «There is one of you,» said Great Being shyly. «There is one of you who is sadder than the others—» The Noisy Dream of Many Names cleared its throat. «Well, not exactly—your Presence.» Great Being turned toward the Noisy Dream, regarding it for the first time. The Noisy Dream was a tall, radiant being with an ever-changing face. «You're not sadder than the rest?» «Not exactly.» Great Being felt perplexed. «I thought you—» «Well, I had to make you think I was sadder, see—otherwise you were never going to get off your creative duff and Do Something about the state of things.» «Oh.» said Great Being. «So I was tricked?»
The radiant being considered the question. After a few moments, it said, «If you wish, you may say that I tricked you. Myself, I prefer to think that I helped you Improoove.» «Improve.» «Yeah. That's my nature, you know. I make Improoovements on your ideas.» Great Being frowned. «Did anyone ask you to do this?» The radiant being became indignant. «Well, somebody had to do something about you. Since it was my idea, it might as well be me who gets the credit.» Great Being nodded. «So you'd like all the credit for all the improvements made in the Real World? Even the evolutionary deviances? And—uh—cosmic experiments?» The radiant being grinned. «Especially those, your Presence. I feel I'd understand that sort of thing, see.» Great Being smiled slyly. «And I suppose I won't need to name you, either. I suppose that being such a creative type you've picked your own?» «Rimble. Greatkin Rimble—at your service. My friends call me Murphy, though. Or rather, they will. In time. When You invent it.» Great Being regarded Rimble with renewed consternation. «There's more of you?» Rimble rolled his pied eyes. «Really, your Presence—you've simply got to stop thinking about things in such isolation. Of course, there are more of my kind. I have twenty-six squabbling brothers and sisters. All of whom want names from You. There. Does that make You happy?» Great Being nodded, Its sly mood returning. «I'm glad I'm needed for something, Rimble. Otherwise, I would get very lonely. And sad. Very, very sad.» Rimble stared at Great Being. «You would?» «Oh, yes.» Trickster though he was, Rimble was not a cruel soul. How could he be? He,
like all of creation, had sprung from the kindness of Great Being. So Rimble felt a pang of compassion for Great Being—the first in manifest reality. He eyed Great Being carefully out of the corner of his yellow eye, and said, «Well, maybe me and the rest of the family could keep You company or something. Would that help?» «That would help a great deal,» said Great Being, Its moroseness lifting. «So I can always count on you to help me?» «Uh—» «You don't want me to be sad…» «Well—no, your Presence.» «Then it's decided.» «What is?» asked Rimble, who was getting the feeling that Great Being had just duped him. «You and your twenty-six squabbling brothers and sisters will be my helpers. For all time—» «For all time!» Rimble began dancing a hopping jig of fury. «I never said anything about all time!» «Didn't you?» Rimble was so stupefied by the question that he didn't answer Great Being. Great Being smiled broadly. «Do you know what Rimble means?» Rimble spluttered. «I made it up!» «Then let me give the name meaning. It's my nature, you know, to give meaning.» Great Being spoke in perfect mimicry of Rimble's earlier pronouncement about «Improvements.» Rimble paced. Then he said, «Okay. You're on. You give my name meaning.» He paused. «So what's it mean?» Great Being began to laugh. The boom of Its humor resounded in every corner of the known and unknown universes. Rimble bit his lower lip and asked: «You going to tell me who I am, or not?» «What, and spoil all the fun of you finding out?» scoffed Great Being. Then in a moment of unexpected seriousness, Great Being added, «I suspect, Rimble, that when all is said and done, you'll know more about yourself than anyone else. And that's a good thing, Rimble. Self-knowledge is power of the right kind.» Great Being paused. «Should I call you Murphy?» Rimble put his hands on his hips. «Guess that depends on whether You're