At first, man had clambered down the tree,
And could not surmount the tree anymore.
The Wheel was not the subsequent step,
As you should ponder.

It was Pain.  Discovery of
Pain, genuine, unfeigned pain,
And how to utilize this commendable detection,
For the sake of pain,
Was man's first step.  Where to?

The first halberd.  The cleaver.  The back stab.
Man had learned
That he can cause pain.

Pain is a natural development of society,
It is so commonplace,
So ingenuous that people cause pain
Just to use it.  To contrive
New developments of science,
To forestall
Inducing pain to other men,
His brethren.

Pain is the inevitable evolution of civilization.
It is so intelligible
To torture a person
If he knows something you don't.
It is so natural to vindicate genocide,
Because racism is also natural.
Exonerate the fools.
It is so self-evident for men to say,
"We are better than him, let's cause him pain."
Pain is an expedient to perceive the human essence.

Pain is the inaugural step, back to the tree.