A Fable
Everytime a boy met someone, he would be given a bag and a book, and whenever he was to meet that person again, he would carry the bag and the book with him to the rendezvous. He possessed six bags:
From A he received a large backpack, and a thick tragedy.
From B he received a purse, and a wonderful comedy.
From C he received a handbag, and an autobiography of himself.
From D he received a handbag, and an autobiography of D.
From E he received a small backpack, and an epic poem .
From F he received a small backpack, and a book of love poetry.
In every rendezvous, he would take whatever book out and read it to the person, and when the meeting was over, he would mark down the page, leave and go home. He would never read the book alone, only with the giver.
One day, the epic poem was finished. Nothing more was said between him and E. There would still be meetings between them, but for the longest time there was only silence. Such silence was unbearable - he was too used to having words surrounding him, like all his other meetings. The silence persisted on, and he dreaded his meeting with E. But one day E bought paper and pen to the meeting. E had started a story - it was a story about two people travelling through a distant forest - and it was bought to him. He was to take it home to finish it. He took the story him, and indeed, finished it. The next meeting, the same form of silence persisted, but this time the substance was different. As he observed E reading the story he no longer dreaded the silence. In fact, the silence was far more welcoming than the words from before. It was in this silence that E read his heart, and he read E's heart, and the two hearts fused together - an unspoken bond that was simply too much for the limits of language. He and E no longer spoke to each other ever again; nor did he wish to speak, for in every written exchange he could hear E's voice loudly and clearly. They would write a new epic together.
It dawned upon him that in eventual time all the books would be finished, and the same process would occur again. He would then bring pen and paper, and he would write with them the biographies, the tragedies, and comedies. There would be times of dread, but those, now he knew, were just preludes to a new bond. He no longer feared silence; he welcomed it. But he should not rush the books, however heavy they were on his shoulders everytime he carried them to his meetings. Both the spoken and the unspoken he should enjoy.
One thing should be mentioned: at one point of the meetings F took back the bag and the poetry that was given to him. He was very confused at the moment, and did not realize how much it hurt him to feel such unbearable lightness. While he still attended to the rendezvous, he talked on constantly. He would not give F his ultimate gift - his silence.
From A he received a large backpack, and a thick tragedy.
From B he received a purse, and a wonderful comedy.
From C he received a handbag, and an autobiography of himself.
From D he received a handbag, and an autobiography of D.
From E he received a small backpack, and an epic poem .
From F he received a small backpack, and a book of love poetry.
In every rendezvous, he would take whatever book out and read it to the person, and when the meeting was over, he would mark down the page, leave and go home. He would never read the book alone, only with the giver.
One day, the epic poem was finished. Nothing more was said between him and E. There would still be meetings between them, but for the longest time there was only silence. Such silence was unbearable - he was too used to having words surrounding him, like all his other meetings. The silence persisted on, and he dreaded his meeting with E. But one day E bought paper and pen to the meeting. E had started a story - it was a story about two people travelling through a distant forest - and it was bought to him. He was to take it home to finish it. He took the story him, and indeed, finished it. The next meeting, the same form of silence persisted, but this time the substance was different. As he observed E reading the story he no longer dreaded the silence. In fact, the silence was far more welcoming than the words from before. It was in this silence that E read his heart, and he read E's heart, and the two hearts fused together - an unspoken bond that was simply too much for the limits of language. He and E no longer spoke to each other ever again; nor did he wish to speak, for in every written exchange he could hear E's voice loudly and clearly. They would write a new epic together.
It dawned upon him that in eventual time all the books would be finished, and the same process would occur again. He would then bring pen and paper, and he would write with them the biographies, the tragedies, and comedies. There would be times of dread, but those, now he knew, were just preludes to a new bond. He no longer feared silence; he welcomed it. But he should not rush the books, however heavy they were on his shoulders everytime he carried them to his meetings. Both the spoken and the unspoken he should enjoy.
One thing should be mentioned: at one point of the meetings F took back the bag and the poetry that was given to him. He was very confused at the moment, and did not realize how much it hurt him to feel such unbearable lightness. While he still attended to the rendezvous, he talked on constantly. He would not give F his ultimate gift - his silence.
posted by Tristan at 1:42 p.m.
1 Comments:
It's a great story... I dunno how to describe it..but it's reallie touching! haha... how can one describe how good something is?? I can't... but all I can say is that it's wonderful!
I agree with Jenn, the story does make me a little sad somehow... is F happie? Why did F take away the book? Is it because that F is too afraid to let the boy read the book? Terrified of the silence? Or does F just want to conceal the contents of the book from the world?
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