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Percy smiled slightly at the class as she talked of the Egyptians' ethics.
"My favourite sect of the Egyptians, who's name has been lost for many centuries and is called the Weak Hand Sect by historians, has a very different view about ethics than most people. The Weak Hand Sect believed that you had to be pure of body in order to achieve status in life. Now I'm sure you're all thinking that they were all virgins or something along those lines, however, that's not the case. As soon as the children reach the age of six, their parents immediately cut off the first joint of the little finger on the child's weak hand." she said.
Some of the students gasped, horrified. Others looked impressed. Some looked thoughtful.
"Every year after that, the child would lose another joint. After the little finger was gone, the ring finger was next. This continues on until they are eighteen and are left with their thumb and palm. At nineteen, half of their palm is cut off. Then, after three years, it's the digits of the thumb, and the rest of the palm. Now they only have a stump at the wrist. Then it's sections of the lower arm and then the upper arm, until they reach the shoulder. At this point, the person is now about thirty years old and one armed." Percy explained.
A couple students looked ready to throw up.
"The reason for doing this to themselves is that the Weak Hand Sect believed that the only way to tell if the body was pure or not was to see how the flesh and bone were. Now, some of you are probably wondering why the stumps didn't go gangrenous. Well, they actually drank some kind of alcohol that they brewed which prevented gangrene from setting in. Only those people who the alcohol didn't affect got infections and they were then killed by the others. As for reproduction, well, they started that at the age of thirteen and kept it up with anyone. Their idea was to reproduce as much as possible to insure pureness of body." Percy finished.
One student raised a hand.
"What happened to the Weak Hand Sect?" he asked.
"They were wipped out by other Egyptians who disagreed with their ethics." Percy replied. "From the Weak Hand Sect's view, their way was right, but from other Egyptians' view, their ethics were immoral and dangerous."
She looked around the room.
"So? Shall I continue or does anyone else want to tell a story of another place's ethics first?" she asked with a smile. |