The gist was a sort of pantheism . . . one parable was the oldy about the earthworm burrowing through the soil who encounters another earthworm and says, ‘Oh, you’re beautiful! Will you marry me?’ and is answered: ‘Don’t be silly! I’m your other end.’ You’ve heard it?’ “ ‘Heard it’? I wrote it!” “Hadn’t realized it was that old. Mike made good use of it. His idea is that whenever you encounter any other grokking thing—man, woman, or stray cat . . . you are meeting your ‘other end.’ The universe is a thing we whipped up among us and agreed to forget the gag.” Jubal looked sour. “Solipsism and
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