A serpent stole immortality from Gilgamesh. The idea caught on. A parable? Is there a difference between eternal and immortal? Maybe eternal has no end, and immortal has no death. Maybe eternal is the offspring of time, and immortal is the child of human Being. It is difficult for humans to face death, to accept mortality. Human want more. They want to claim their progeny. Immortality. Nothing less will satisfy their yearning. They will be the gods they worship. They have already created and invoked them, only to sacrifice them to teach them mortality. They have become like them, and they embrace the likeness. They want their gods to be mortal, even as they long for immortality. A paradox? When is a parable a paradox? Kafka could answer that. Kafka saw human Being diagonally when it was not aware it was being seen. Kafka knows how to become the Other. He still knows.