「The Cave Beyond the Cave」





‘Gouffre Martel’.
A French cave featured in a novel I read in middle school. Even decades later, I still remember its name clearly. The reason is the powerful impression left by the description of one particular scene.
The protagonist, imprisoned in an underground dungeon, escapes into the cave beyond the prison. Groping through pitch-black darkness where he could see nothing, he continues forward, wounded, but eventually collapses from exhaustion. Just as he is about to give up, he suddenly feels the touch of grass blades on his back and the wind on his cheek. He had already escaped the cave and emerged onto the surface. It was just that the new moon meant he couldn't see a thing.

This novel is Alfred Bester's 1956 work <Tiger! Tiger!>, a picaresque adventure story that reimagines Dumas' masterpiece <The Count of Monte Cristo> as science fiction. It is considered one of the masterpieces in the history of science fiction literature. The location mentioned above is the real-life Gouffre Martel cave in southern France, near the border with Spain.

As an adult, I began exploring caves, though this has little to do with my memory of reading ‘Gouffre Martel’. The illustration of an extraterrestrial ice cave I saw in Carl Sagan's <Cosmos>, which I read in middle school, is probably a more direct influence. But looking back now, I first encountered both books in middle school days. Perhaps the imagery of caves from these two books, read one after the other, overlapped and became unconsciously imprinted. Anyway, when asked why I explore caves, I often answer, ‘Because I want to explore space, but since that's realistically impossible, this is my alternative.’ When you sit deep inside a cave and remain still, the only thing that tells you this is Earth is the familiar gravity. All other differences would be masked by a spacesuit.

In truth, the universe is one vast cavern. The universe is dark. Though countless stars twinkle, fundamentally the universe is a space of darkness. Somehow, that darkness feels comforting to me rather than frightening. Darkness is often associated with anxiety and fear, usually linked to negative expressions like ‘dark forces’. It must be unsettling because we cannot see. It must be frightening because we cannot know what lies within. But I believe the darkness of the universe is the primordial sum of all possibilities. It is a vast womb where anything could emerge. I certainly understand humanity's predicament, relying entirely on the meager light of the sun in the vast, impenetrable darkness of space. Yet I refuse to accept this as blind faith. Becoming familiar with the darkness, seeking peace and wisdom within it, may be more essential and fundamental.

<Tiger! Tiger!> presents an intriguing setting. At some point, human senses become jumbled, causing external stimuli and the brain's interpretation to misalign. Sounds appear as light, and light is perceived as taste. Humans rely on visual information for 90% of their environmental awareness, but entering a cave eliminates all visual stimuli, naturally heightening sensitivity to sound. Then, when I hear the sound of water droplets falling somewhere, I feel as if I can actually see that sound. If I were to stay in a cave for a very long time, would I also experience sensory confusion? After a period of adaptation, perhaps a new sensory horizon for perceiving the world and the universe would open up for me.

The protagonist of <Tiger! Tiger!> had emerged from the cave, yet due to the complete absence of visual stimuli, he still believed he was inside. It was not sight but touch that awakened him. The saying ‘seeing isn't everything’ may be trite, but it's an undeniably clear truth. While 90% of the external world can be perceived by sight, that alone doesn't complete the puzzle. The remaining pieces are filled by the other senses; only when they are supported does subjective cognition become whole. Of course, interpretation is another matter entirely.

Setting aside all this rhetoric, I simply want to leave these words behind. I dream of venturing deeper and deeper into the cave, squeezing through a tiny hole (something I've actually experienced occasionally during cave exploration), and then suddenly facing a vast universe—a vast universe where the overwhelming darkness gently welcomes you. I want to feel the earth beneath my back while simultaneously sensing the wind of the cosmos.