Page 35 - Fables volume 3

We, in our limited lifespans, perceive distinctions between breeding
groups. They are arbitrary within the larger context of this planet’s
history, past and future. Intermediate forms, for example, blur those
lines. The bipeds themselves, involuntary categorizers, are endlessly
in dispute about what constitutes a species. At the same time, they
have engaged in selective breeding of flora and fauna, exerting
evolutionary pressure mimicking Nature’s choices of winners and
losers. As government claims, Homo sapiens is a natural
phenomenon, arriving via established principles; but, as plaintiff
shows, the quality of human minds has led to actualization of
abstractions, a possibly non-natural event. In the light of these
ambiguities, the court finds that both sides have made valid
arguments; it is not our writ to deny either of them. But plaintiff’s life
is at stake, as is every life threatened by the bipeds. Intervention is
not a course to be undertaken lightly. However, it is incumbent upon
me to act within the limits of judicial power. I therefore rule as
follows.”
Every ear in the Great Hollow strained to hear the dragon’s words.
Leopard began purring, a sign of great stress.
“Let it be on earth as I say: that intelligence has appeared as a great
disruptive solvent and pulverizer of all plants and animals is now a
fact of life; that untold numbers and types of gene-bearing entities
have fallen victim to that intelligence, establishing it as an
extinguishing force on a global scale comparable only to massive
impacts of extra-terrestrial bodies; that distinctions of species present
at any point during the existence of intelligence, either borne by
bipeds or implemented externally by them, are arbitrary and fluid;
and that it may be justifiable to promote the maximum retention of
genetic material through and beyond the era of intelligence. I
therefore decree that all significant gene-related characteristics be
preserved in whatever organisms are capable of surviving in the
world shaped by man; in particular, I decree that leopards, and all
other spotted large cats singled out for arbitrary murder by humans,
produce small, domesticated versions of themselves. Thus their
descendants will satisfy the Law of Nature and the lawlessness of
uncontrolled intelligence. Court is adjourned.”

34