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James Alan Gardner. Three Hearings on the Existence of Snakes in the Human
Bloodstream

Three Hearings on the Existence of Snakes in the Human Bloodstream.
Asimov's Science Fiction, Feb 1997

1. Concerning an Arrangement of Lenses, So Fashioned
as to Magnify the View of Divers Animacules, Too Tiny to be Seen with
the Unaided Eye:

His Holiness, Supreme Patriarch Septus XXIV, was an expert on chains.
By holy law, chains were required on every defendant brought to the
Court Immaculate. However, my Lord the Jailer could exercise great latitude
in choosing which chains went on which prisoners. A man possessed of a
healthy fortune might buy his way into nothing more than a gold link
necklace looped loosely around his throat; a beautiful woman might visit the
Jailer privately in his chambers and emerge with thin and glittering silver
bracelets -- chains, yes, but as delicate as thread. If, on the other hand,
the accused could offer neither riches nor position nor generous physical
charms... well then, the prison had an ample supply of leg-irons, manacles,
and other such fetters, designed to show these vermin the grim weight of
God's Justice.
The man currently standing before Patriarch Septus occupied a
seldom-seen middle ground in the quantity of restraints: two solid handcuffs
joined by an iron chain of business-lute gauge, strong enough that the
prisoner had no chance of breaking free, but not so heavy as to strain the
man's shoulders to the point of pain. Clearly, my Lord the Jailer had
decided on a cautious approach to this particular case; and Septus wondered
what that meant. Perhaps the accused was nobody himself but had sufficient
connections to rule out unwarranted indignities... a sculptor or musician,
for example, who had won favor with a few great households in the city. The
man certainly had an artistic look -- fierce eyes in an impractical face,
the sort of high-strung temperament who could express passion but not use
it.
"Be it known to the court," cried the First Attendant, "here stands one
Anton Leeuwenhoek, a natural philosopher who is accused of heresy against
God and Our Lady, the Unbetombed Virgin. Kneel, Supplicant, and pray with
his Holiness, that this day shall see justice."
Septus waited to see what Leeuwenhoek would do. When thieves and
murderers came before the court, they dropped to their knees immediately,
making gaudy show of begging God to prove their innocence. A heretic,
however, might spit defiance or hurl curses at the Patriarchal throne -- not
a good way to win mercy, but then, many heretics came to this chamber intent
on their own martyrdom. Leeuwenhoek had the eyes of such a fanatic, but
apparently not the convictions; without so much as a grimace, he got to his
knees and hewed his head. The Patriarch quickly closed his own eyes and
intoned the words he had recited five times previously this morning: "God
grant me the wisdom to perceive the truth. Blessed Virgin, grant me the
judgment to serve out meet justice. Let us all act this day to the greater
glory of Thy Divine Union. Amen."