The Universe was made for man—
And man for good, by God’s dear plan!
(They slap each other on the back.)
NOXUS PODUNKUS
(Rolling back in ecstasy and smearing his face with souffle.) Lovely! Lovely! “The stars they say!” This certainly is the most inspiring session we have ever had! Such unity of feeling! Such innate wisdom! Surely the waiting world must realize now how completely we have progressed—how absolutely—(he sinks to his pillows and is lifted to a sitting position by the Dizzards, who place the tablet in his hand, while the Moonshees turn over and murmur “Excellent! Excellent!” The wireless operators send out five thousand messages. PODUNKUS pulls himself together and continues.) And now, my dear children—and now comes one of the keenest, the most searching really, of all the Great and Sacred Questions made and provided for these immortal occasions and handed down to us by our renowned and dear bygone leaders and saints, Bonehead V. and Dish Rag III. Really, when I stop to think of their great work for mankind, when—(he sinks back and the Hoddy-Doddys proceed to dust him off)—Ah yes! Ah, yes! Question Eleven—almost the most wonderful, the most important of all—(reads)—“How—how,” so it reads, “do we know that, me good men? How?” (He smiles and waits expectantly, one finger up.) How do we know? That is the famous, the keenest and most searching of all the Twelve Sacred Questions. How?
THE SEVEN THOUSAND UNION ASTRONOMERS
(Telescope to eye and weaving in and out in a wild dance.)
Our hearts, they tell us! We can hear
This truth they whisper, year by year!
(They kiss each other on each cheek.)
THE FOUR THOUSAND COLLEGE PHILOSOPHERS
(In chorus, and doing a hop, skip and jump.)