JUDGES

Chapter 7 of the book-“NON-CONTRADICTORY CONTRADICTIONS”

VII. Judges

1 One day Samson went to Gaza, where he saw a prostitute. He went in to spend the night with her. 2 The people of Gaza were told, “Samson is here!” So they surrounded the place and lay in wait for him all night at the city gate. They made no move during the night, saying, “At dawn we’ll kill him.”

3 But Samson lay there only until the middle of the night. Then he got up and took hold of the doors of the city gate, together with the two posts, and tore them loose, bar and all. He lifted them to his shoulders and carried them to the top of the hill that faces Hebron.

4 Sometime later, he fell in love with a woman in the Valley of Sorek whose name was Delilah. 5 The rulers of the Philistines went to her and said, “See if you can lure him into showing you the secret of his great strength and how we can overpower him so we may tie him up and subdue him. Each one of us will give you eleven hundred shekels of silver.”

6 So Delilah said to Samson, “Tell me the secret of your great strength and how you can be tied up and subdued.”

7 Samson answered her, “If anyone ties me with seven fresh thongs that have not been dried, I will become as any other man.”

8 Then the rulers of the Philistines brought her seven fresh thongs that had not been dried, and she tied him with them. 9 With men hidden in the room, she called to him, “Samson, the Philistines are upon you!” But he snapped the thongs as easily as a piece of string snaps when it comes close to a flame. So the secret of his strength was not discovered.

10 Then Delilah said to Samson, “You have made a fool of me; you lied to me. Come now; tell me how you can be tied.”

11 He said, “If anyone ties me securely with new ropes that have never been used, I’ll become as weak as any other man.”

12 So Delilah took new ropes and tied him with them. Then, with men hidden in the room, she called to him, “Samson, the Philistines are upon you.” But he snapped the ropes off his arms as if they were threads.

13 Delilah then said to Samson, “Until now, you have been making a fool of me and lying to me. Tell me how you can be tied.”

He replied, “If you weave the seven braids of my head into fabric [on the loom] and tighten it with the pin, I’ll become weak as any other man.” So while he was sleeping, Delilah took the seven braids of his head, wove them into the fabric 14 and tightened it with the pin.

Again she called to him, “Samson, the Philistines are upon you!” He awoke from his sleep and pulled up the pin and the loom, with the fabric.

15 Then she said to him, “How can you say, ‘I love you,’ when you won’t confide in me? This is the third time you have made a fool of me and haven’t told me the secret of your great strength.”

16 With such nagging she prodded him day after day until he was tired to death.

17 So he told her everything. “No razor has ever been used on my head,” he said, “because I have been a Nazirite set apart to God since birth. If my head were shaved, my strength would leave me, and I would become as weak as any other man.”

18 When Delilah saw that he had told her everything, she sent word to the rulers of the Philistines, “Come back once more; he has told me everything.” So the rulers of the Philistines returned with the silver in their hands. 19 Having put him to sleep on her lap, she called a man to shave off the seven braids of his hair, and so began to subdue him. And his strength left him.

20 Then she called, “Samson, the Philistines are upon you!”

He awoke from his sleep and thought, “I’ll go out as before and shake myself free.” But he did not know that the LORD had left him.

21Then the Philistines seized him, gouged out his eyes and took him down to Gaza. Binding him with bronze shackles, they sent him to grinding in the prison. Judges: Chapter 16:1-21 (The Holy Bible, New International Version)

In this chapter we continue the story from chapter 1-Genesis-where we left our main character, Peter, experiencing his first few days in a filthy jail cell in a small African country.

1

Peter had been sentenced to five years in jail for stealing money from his employer. Although there was a possibility of him serving only three years if he behaved himself in jail, Peter had been convinced that even that shortened period was too long, if one took into account the appalling conditions of “his new living quarters’. He had fully expected to die before completing the jail sentence.

As lucky had it, Peter was fortunate to be transferred from the over-crowded jail to a less crowded one in a small town, 120 kilometres south of the capital. Although he had only been in the crowded jail for a week, it had seemed like an eternity and the smaller town jail, in which he was now incarcerated, felt like a five-star hotel.

Peter found a way of becoming friendly with the guards at the “new” jail. There was something about him that told the guards that he was not a common criminal and as a result, the guards treated him kindly, assigning light duties to him, whenever possible.

After exactly three years, Peter was released from jail under a general amnesty undertaken as part of that year’s Independence Celebrations. He was out of jail but he knew he was never going to get a job in a bank ever again. In fact, as an ex-convict, he was going to find it extremely difficult to secure any type of job.

Peter was fortunate in that an uncle, from his mother’s side, agreed to give him shelter and food on his release from jail. He knew he could not expect his uncle’s charity to last forever, so it was imperative that he came up with some way of earning a living. In the meantime, he made sure he kept his uncle happy by volunteering to carry out all the chores that needed to be done around the house, including looking after the garden.

2

After a period of six months, with nothing coming up as far as a formal job was concerned, Peter’s uncle suggested that he should consider working from home using the internet. His uncle pointed out that there were numerous stories of people who were now making a decent living from home through that route. Peter was free to use the uncle’s desk top computer, which was hardly used anyway as both his uncle and aunt preferred using lap-tops which they brought home from their workplaces.

Although the uncle’s idea sounded good to Peter, he could not think of anything that he could offer on the net. It was his uncle who came to his rescue, yet again.

“Peter, I know you used to entertain thoughts of being a writer, why don’t you look at that for your online job? Somebody once said, ‘Where there is desire, there is hidden talent’”, his uncle encouraged.

Yes, the uncle was right; Peter had a “secret desire” to become a writer. In fact when he was in jail, he had thought that the first thing he would do on coming out would be to write a book. He had never implemented his intentions, however, as there seemed to be a “little voice” that kept telling him that he did not have the talent. Now it seemed like he did not have much of a choice and had to take his uncle’s advice seriously.

Suddenly, one day, an idea came to him as if in a dream. He could start a blog which he could call “The Gossip Column” and he could just pick up “pub gossip” and post it on the net. People loved to hear juicy stories, even stories that might not be true. Yes, Peter thought, this was something he could do. He would tell his uncle that he had an idea which he was going to implement immediately.

As it turned out, “The Gossip Column” was a success right from the start. In no time, Peter found himself being able to attract a lot of advertising and for the first time since leaving jail, he had started to receive some income. It was not much, to be sure, but judging by the increasing popularity of the blog, he was going to be making “serious money” quite soon.

3

One Friday evening, Peter’s uncle, who had political ambitions, came to Peter with some “explosive piece of news” that the uncle thought Peter could post on his blog. When Peter finished listening to his uncle, he understood that the uncle, because of political ambitions, was trying to use him to further those ambitions. Peter thought this type of gossip was actually dangerous and he also had no intention of going back to jail. This is what the uncle told Peter;

“There is a strong rumour that the country’s President is dying from an incurable disease”, the uncle said. The juicy part of the story was not the fact that the Head of State was rumoured to be dying but the story behind the “incurable disease” was certainly juicy.

It was an open secret that the President loved women. In fact, despite having nine “wives”, which was traditionally acceptable, he was rumoured to have liaisons outside this “circle of presidential wives”, and this was not traditionally acceptable.

Peter’s uncle said he had heard the “news” from three Secret Service personnel who were part of the President’s “Close Protection Unit”. The following is what the security officers told him:-

“The President had a habit of making frequent trips to Asia. He travelled to Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong, twice every year, ostensibly on business. The trips did, however, have a much more sinister nature than most people, except those President’s advisers closest to him and the top authorities of the countries visited, realised.

The rumour was that the President had an insatiable sexual appetite which, despite his being able to get as many women as he wanted in his own country, could only be partially assuaged during the Asian trips. He had taken a particular liking for petite Chinese girls, a situation that had really developed into a dangerous obsession. In order to make the trips look normal, he would always travel with one of his wives. This, however, did not stop him from “sleeping” with Chinese girls once he was in Asia. It was always quite an easy thing to tell whoever was the chosen wife for a particular trip that the President was always very busy on these trips as he would hold long meetings with his “hosts” lasting far into the night.

Last month, the President flew to Hong Kong via Singapore. As usual, he also had a good time in Singapore but he had known that Hong Kong would be better. On this particular trip, he was looking forward to seeing his favourite Chinese girl, Niu. Niu was nineteen years old, he had been told. But with these Chinese girls, one could never be certain of their ages. A Chinese woman of thirty could look like a teenager to an unsuspecting non-Chinese eye. It did not matter, “Mr. President” believed the girl was nineteen when he met her six months ago. As the Presidential jet made its approach to Hong Kong International Airport, “the Man’s” excitement grew. He intended to see Niu that very night. His wife would, as usual, be told that he is engaged in a long meeting which could go on until well past midnight.

When Niu was brought to him at the appointed time at a different hotel from which he and his delegation were staying, “the Man” thought she looked even more seductive in her red dress than she had looked six months ago. The dress had high slits on either side and her legs would be “lovingly exposed” as she walked about the room. “The Man” was with Niu for almost six hours, up to about 1 a.m. in the morning. He was insatiable! He resolved to see her for a couple more days before he had to fly back home to Africa.

4

The following day, “the Man” went back to the hotel at which he had immensely enjoyed his “encounter” with the lovely Niu. He expected to see Niu already waiting for him in the hotel suite, but when he arrived he was advised by the Chinese protocol officer, who was arranging these nefarious liaisons, that Niu would be late in coming. In fact what “the Man” did not realise was that Niu was also the favourite mistress of a high ranking Chinese government official and was at that very moment still entertaining this official.

After waiting for about half an hour, “Mr. President” was becoming impatient. To make matters worse, he was actually getting sexually excited at the mere thought and expectation of seeing Niu again. He asked one of his bodyguards to check again with the Chinese official and enquire on the whereabouts of “his Niu”. When the bodyguard came back to report to his master, he did not have good news. The Chinese protocol officer told him that he should convey his sincere regrets to His Excellency because Niu was now, unfortunately, not in a position to come to the hotel. According to the protocol officer, word had just come in that Niu had sadly been involved in a car accident when she was on her way to the hotel. She was not seriously injured but still required hospitalisation for a couple of days. The President could, of course, not go to see her at the hospital even if he wanted.

This was devastating news for “the Man” but to his consternation, he realised he still needed relief. The bodyguard actually thought that the President would now abandon his quest for Chinese girls and go back to his lovely wife. This was not to be because “the Man” commanded his bodyguard to request the Chinese protocol officer to arrange “procuring” another girl to take Niu’s place.

The Chinese officer was not happy to hear this request because he had also assumed that “His Excellency” would go back to his wife. The officer had been forced to make up the “Niu accident” story because Niu could not get away from her Chinese VIP boyfriend. Now, where was he going to find another girl at such short notice? But he also knew that he had instructions to provide “His Excellency” with “everything that he required”. Under these circumstances, the official decided to get a girl from a brothel that he sometimes patronised. Fortunately, the “brothel madam” had a girl available who could be sent over immediately.

When this news was conveyed to “the Man”, he was ecstatic yet again, his excitement growing. He was not disappointed when he saw the girl when she arrived. This one looked to be about sixteen years old and “the Man” would have believed it if somebody had told him she was a virgin. The sexual act itself was also a pleasant surprise. In fact, if he were to be honest, this girl performed better than Niu. For this reason, he made special arrangements to see her the following day before flying back home.

5

It started as a “slight tingling sensation” at the tip of his “member” two days after arriving back home. On the third day, however, he knew something was wrong. He started feeling searing pain every time he took a pee. At first he did not want to mention this to anybody, hoping that somehow whatever discomfort he was feeling would soon disappear. But on the fourth day, it was worse. He could now not even manage to urinate at all although he would, of course, feel the need to do so.

The President had no choice but to consult his personal physician. When the doctor heard what “the Man” had to say, he feared the worst. He had always suspected that his “Number 1 Client” would sooner or later contract some form of dreadful sexually transmitted disease (STD) because of his numerous “trysts” with all sorts of women. But he did not want to jump to a conclusion without taking some tests which he immediately requested the President to agree to.

Whilst the blood tests clearly showed that the President was carrying some form of infection, the doctor could not identify the type of STD, if it was an STD, which his boss had contracted. All the same, he resolved to give His Excellency a cocktail of drugs which he hoped would clear the infection. Despite taking the drugs for the next three days, the President’s condition did not improve. In fact, his condition was getting worse as his genitals had now started swelling. The physician, knowing that the President had just come back from a trip to Asia, suggested that they fly to Singapore or Malaysia where they could seek help in anonymity.

The trip back to Asia was hastily arranged and the physician and some trusted senior advisers flew with their Head of State to Singapore. In Singapore, they managed to quickly see a highly respected authority on sexually transmitted diseases, a Dr. Chen-Lee, a Singaporean of Chinese descent. The feedback that the Africans received after the President had been thoroughly examined was not good. Apparently, His Excellency had been unfortunate to contract a rare case of what the Chinese informally called “sweet and sour man-eater” disease or SSME. This type of SSME was curious in that it was carried by women but women were not adversely affected by it in any way. Women could just be carriers of the disease without getting sick themselves. But if a man were infected, there was no hope, because there was no known cure. The disease was fatal, so in effect, His Excellency was slowly moving towards a very painful death.

The next chapter-Ruth- will be published not later than Wednesday, 29 December, 2010

Optimize your site with Kontera In-Text advertising

Internet business
Things to do Thailand