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Once upon a time, just at the point where the road
enters the large wood, three old men were in the habit
of sitting beside the trunk of the old holly laying there.
Some say it was the greatest holly-tree ever. They
sat there on stools talking between themselves, or, as
was their way, exchanging advice for news from
travellers passing by; and for the wisdom of their
advice they grew to be famous, so that people from
near there and even from far away came with ques-
tions. On a day a young woman came to them and
said, fathers, | have a riddle. They agreed to try help-
ing her to solve the riddle if they could. So she
started to speak.

There was a time that all men and women and
fishes and plants and everything spoke with similar
words. No poor, no rich, ne wise, no stupid or better
or worse or good or bad, and people did not tell
Stories like now, but they said, you person or plant or
rock or whatever they were talking with, you whom |
see, | know you. Then the people said there is an all,
and they said yes. And they said, the all is for all, and
the all is for all that it is so the people said yes.
Someone asked, what about the other?, and the wind
grew cold and whistled and the birds screeched and
the beasts howled and cried, all crawling and swim-
ming things and every animal. Then they said all is
such and such as the people and they said yes we
are, so that a great work was begun. And they
gathered together from every faraway place since
everyone said come, until they were in that place. But
when they were there and they began to say all is like
the people some said what is this all and what are
these people? No this is an evil thing you say for we
do not know and this is not everything or all and
because we came far and are sad about this. These
people do not know anything they said, let us go
back, and others said so too so they leftthere again.

When they realized that she was finished the first

old man jumped up and swinging his cane as he

hobbied about shouted what a preposterous story that
was! Whoever told you that story must be crazy to

| think there was ever a time when plants and animals

and things like that could understand men. Rocks!

| he shouted, and more things like that. The second
| one, who was mute, wrote in the earth with a stick:

not a riddle. The other one argued long with them but

~ finally turned to the woman and said, I’m sure your

riddle is a good one but since we can’t agree the truth
about it will never be known.

Now the woman said, fathers please answer my
question. Before my old father died he said to me
bring up your son one last time so that | can see him.
Then he said, all of my life | have lived by a principle,
the thoughts and actions of the wise, let them be your
own. But! said, father, all my life | remember the
principle you told me: let wisdom be your own. He
replied, teach the child these words, but then died.
Which words shall | teach to my little son?

The first old man said, your father meant you to
teach your son to follow his path by his own wisdom.
But the second on wrote: only speak wisdom of the
wise. The third kept silent, so that the woman left
them, saying | will tell him these riddles.

| remember now when she came to me as a
young child to tell about a dream she had: i dreamed
that we were walking on the beach and you were
talking. So i ran to you and said look at the birds
mama! look at the birds papa! but mama said, the
water is so calm. And so i made a picture in the sand,
you and me and mama playing in the sand: i said
look at the picture that i've made! but you didn’t see it
and you walked away until i woke up. Why didn’t you
see me in the dream? Wasn'ti alive?

A loud rap at the door disturbed me. | found this
intrusion most annoying and would like to think that
this kept me from paying attention to what my visitor
told me that night, or even from noticing his dishev-
elled and excited state. But in retrospect, | clearly
recall that was so: as if my visitor had just experi-
enced a calamity, something that had moved him
deeply. He is an acquaintance of mine from the
university, but his name is of no interest to this story
so | do not write it here. He is a young man just in the
time of life when he should be settling into the respon-
sibilities and benefits of full citizenship. He appeared,
as | said, preoccupied. I’ve just come back from a trip
to the north, he told me, where | met your old col-
league J. It was in the early evening, a time proper to
visiting, and | introduced myself in the normal manner,
mentioning that | am well-known to yourself and have
your recommendation, just as | asked you. He be-
haved most strangely, almost as if | wasn’t right there
beside him, as if he himself was far away. And he

Planet of the Arts Vol. 5 no. 1 Fall 1989

gave me this letter to give to you. Isn't this unusual?
As if our postal service isn't perfectly trustworthy! But
he pressed it on me immediately he knew that | was
your friend and would be seeing you shortly: you
must take this and deliver it as soon as possible, he
said. | have had it here for some time, a matter of six
or seven weeks, holding off from sending it. He
wouldn't say why, or couldn't: a small disquiet in my
mind, he said. But now that you have come | must
send it immediately, if you consent. Of course | took
the letter.

These, as closely as | recall them, were his
words. Now, reaching across my desk to give me the
letter, he watched expectantly for some moments. As
| have said, | found this to be an interruption, and put
the letter on the mantleshelf as | would with regular
mail, intending to read it at my leisure. It is quite thin
and light , my visitor observed. Hardly a letter at all, |
thought when, several days after, | took it down to
read. And how easily the seal came undone! He
continued.

That night | had a strange experience. | couldn't
sleep, so | decided to walk out to the pier that shelters
the village. The rain was very cold, a strong wind
blew from the sea. On the beach the waves were
pounding. | wanted to walk as far as the beacon at
the very end if | could. When | reached it the time had
seemed long, and the storm was more violent than
before. | had no doubt this was due to my being tired
after the eventful day and my greater exposure to the
elements. | clung to the rail for safety. What a
marvellous piece of work that pier has always seemed
to me! Reflecting on this | determined to face the
storm with calm. As | stood there looking to the sea |
saw a man it seemed lifted up out of the water and
thrown onto the sloping flanks of stone. He clung
there until the next wave carried him up higher yet. |
watched this for some moments; there was nothing |
could do. He made no effort to climb higher onto the

, top of the pier. Plastered to his face and even to the

rock was his long hair, so that | couldn’t make out his
face, though he was very close to me now. | re-
marked his strange tattered dress and unusual form.
| gave a great shout: futile into the storm. Soon a
large wave larger than the rest crashed right over the
top of the pier, and when | had regained my footing
the man was gone. | struggled sick and tired back to
land.

Now as | said, this story struck me at the time as
the sort told by a man in the grip of distraction. | paid
little attention to it but tried to be agreeable and calm
to my visitor, who had become noticeably reticent
and, as | thought, tired. 1 had some tea and food
brought out but he left again soon. Only in retrospect,
thinking about these things, did | decide that there
might be more to this affair than | had first thought. |
have tried to speak again with this friend but he is in
the sort of business (and, it seems, an admirable
success) that involves a lot of travelling, and so far he
has been away or begged off. Instead | have tried to
write down all these things, paying as exactly as |
could, attention to his words and phrases in telling his
Story, copying out the rest. | am a man, a university
professor, teaching ancient languages and literature,
and even if | find that my visitor speaks, not uncouthly
by any means, but without the refinements of a
sensitive soul, this too | have tried to put down as

exactly as possible. It has caused me some discom-

fort to have written all this, not just because of my
painstaking exactitude, but also because to do so is
completely outside my view of things. | ask myself,
what is the use?, why bother to do this at all, since it
interests no one even at the present? These things
hardly make sense now and in a week, a month, a
year, they will certainly be forgotten. Then if by some
mischance anyone happens to read them, will they be
anything but incoherent? But they bear the stamp of
curiosity, they might be amusing, but in the daily tide
of things, in the pressing concerns of life. Pain and
what with the lateness of the hour and the candles
burning dim. But there. Explain it sometime maybe.
Really there’s no sense in it like a puzzle thrown ona
floor. Some other time if anyone wants. The cool
water with here and there suspended a cloud in an
endless blue sky. Grass and moss run down a green
lawn into a narrow long lake still and blue as the sky.
On the other side dark hills and dark trees as far as
the eye sees left or right. Laughter and a child is
walking here on the gentle slopes this way—my wife
and daughter picking flowers in the lawn | lagging
behind gazing at the lake, the distant hills—now she
speaks and the little girl runs to him “papa “ she cries
with flowers, join hands and run laughing and shout-
ing into the undulating lawn

es

iby

Wi
_~

SSEE):

7

l

Ms

Re EN

‘Once upon a time, just at the point where the road
enters the large wood, three old men were in the habit
of sitting beside the trunk of the old holly laying there.
Some say it was the greatest holly-tree ever. They
sat there on stools talking Between themselves, or, as
was their way, exchanging advice for news from
travellers passing by; and for the wisdom of their
‘advice they grew to be famous, so that people from
near there and even from far away came with ques-
tions. On a day a young woman came to them and
said, fathers, | have a riddle. They agreed to try help-
ing her to solve the riddle i they could. So she
started to speak.

There was a time that all men and women and
fishes and plants and everything spoke with similar
words. No poor, no rich, no wise, no stupid or better
‘or worse or good or bad, and people did not tell
stories like now, but they said, you person or plant or
rook or whatever they were talking with, you whom |
‘see, | know you. Then the people said there is an all,
and they said yes. And they said, the allis for all, and
the all is forall that itis so the people said yes.
‘Someone asked, what about the other?, and the wind
grew cold and whistled and the birds screeched and
the beasts howled and cried, all rawiing and swim-
‘ming things and every animal. Then they said all is
such and such as the people and they said yes we
are, so that a great work was begun. And they
‘gathered together from every faraway place since
everyone said come, until they were in that place, But
when they were there and they began to say all is like
the people some said what is this all and what are
these people? No this is an evil thing you say for we
do not know and this is not everything or all and.
because we came far and are sad about this. These
people do not know anything they said, let us go
‘back, and others said so too so they leftthere again,

When they realized that she was finished the first
‘old man jumped up and swinging his cane as he
hobbled about shouted what a preposterous story that
was! Whoever told you that story must be crazy to
think there was ever a time when plants and animals
‘and things like that could understand men. Rocks!
he shouted, and more things like that. The second
‘one, who was mute, wrote in the earth with a stick:
nota riddle. The other one argued long with them but
finally tured to the woman and said, 'm sure your
riddle is a good one but since we can’t agree the truth
about it will never be known.

Now the woman said, fathers please answer my
‘question. Before my old father died he said to me
bring up your son one fast time so that | can see him.
Then he said, all of my life | have lived by a principle,
the thoughts and actions of the wise, let them be your
‘own. But | said, father, all my life | remember the
principle you told me: let wisdom be your own. He
replied, teach the child these words, but then died.
Which words shall | teach to my litle son?

The first old man said, your father meant you to
teach your son to follow his path by his own wisdom.
But the second on wrote: only speak wisdom of the
wise. The third kept silent, so that the woman left
them, saying | wil tell him these riddles.

|'remember now when she came to me as a
young child to tell about a dream she had: i dreamed
that we were walking on the beach and you were
talking. So irantto you and said look at the birds
‘mama! look at the birds papa! but mama said, the
water is so calm. And so i made a pioture in the sand,
you and me and mama playing in the sand: i said
look at the picture that ve made! but you didn't see it
and you walked away untili woke up. Why didn't you
‘see me in the dream? Wasn'ti alive?

Aloud rap at the door disturbed me. | found this
intrusion most annoying and would like to think that
this kept me from paying attention to what my visitor
told me that night, or even from noticing his dishev-
elled and excited state. But in retrospect, | clearly
recall that was so: as it my visitor had just experi-
enced a calamity, something that had moved him
deeply. He is an acquaintance of mine from the
University, but his name is of no interest to this story
so Ido not write it here. He is a young man just in the
time of life when he should be settling into the respon-
sibilities and benefits of full citizenship. He appeared,
as | said, preoccupied. I've just come back from a trip
to the north, he told me, where | met your old col-
league J. Iwas in the early evening, a time proper to
Visiting, and | introduced myselt in the normal manner,
‘mentioning that | am well-known to yourself and have
your recommendation, just as | asked you. He be-
haved most strangely, almost as if | wasn't right there
beside him, as it he himself was far away. And he

Planet of the Arts Vol. 5 no. 1 Fall 1989

‘gave me this letter to give to you. Isnt this unusual?
Asif our postal service isn't perfectly trustworthy! But
he pressed it on me immediately he knew that | was
your friend and would be seeing you shortly: you
‘must take this and deliver itas soon as possible, he
said. | have had it here for some time, a matter of six
or seven weeks, holding off from sending it. He
‘wouldn't say why, or couldn't: a small disquiet in my
mind, he said. But now that you have come | must
‘send it immediately, it you consent. Of course | took
the letter.

These, as closely as | recall hem, were his
words. Now, reaching across my desk to give me the
letter, he watched expectantly for some moments, As
‘have said, | found this to be an interruption, and put
the letter on the mantleshelf as | would with regular
mail, intending to read it at my leisure. It is quite thin
and light , my visitor observed. Hardly a letter at all, |
thought when, several days after, | took it down to
ead. And how easily the seal came undone! He
continued:

That night | had a strange experience. | couldn't
sleep, s0 I decided to walk out to the pier that shelters
the village. The rain was very cold, a strong wind
blew from the sea. On the beach the waves were
pounding. | wanted to wak as far as the beacon at
the very end if could, When | reached tthe time had
‘seemed long, and the storm was more violent than
before. | had no doubt this was due to my being tired
after the eventful day and my greater exposure to the
elements. | clung to the railfor safety. What a
marvellous piece of work that pier has always seemed
tome! Reflecting on this | determined to face the
storm with calm. As | stood there looking to the sea |
‘saw a man it seemed lifted up out of the water and
thrown onto the sloping flanks of stone. He clung
there until the next wave carried him up higher yet. 1
‘watched this for some moments; there was nothing |
could do. He made no effort to climb higher onto the

. top of the pier. Plastered to his face and even to the

rock was his long hair, so that | couldn't make out his
face, though he was very close to me now. 1 re-
marked his strange tattered dress and unusual form.
| gave a great shout: futile into the storm. Soon a
large wave larger than the rest crashed right over the
top of the pier, and when | had regained my footing
the man was gone. | struggled sick and tred back to
land.

‘Now as | said, this story struck me at the time as
the sort told by a man in the grip of distraction. | paid
litle attention to it but tried to be agreeable and calm
to my visitor, who had become noticeably reticent
and, as I thougiit, tired. | had some tea and food
brought out but he left again soon. Only in retrospect,
thinking about these things, did | decide that there
might be more to this affair than | had first thought. |
have tried to speak again wit ths fiend but he is in
the sort of business (and, it seems, an admirable
‘suocess) that involves a lot of traveling, and so far he
has been away or begged off. Instead | have tried to
write down al these things, paying as exactly as |
Could, attention to his words and phrases in teling his
story, copying out the rest. | am a man, a university
professor, teaching ancient languages and literature,
and even if | find that my visitor speaks, not uncouthiy
by any means, but without the refinements of a
‘sensitive soul, this too | have tried to put down as
exactly as possible. It has caused me some discom-
fort to have written allthis, not just because of my
painstaking exactitude, but also because to do $0 is
‘completely outside my view of things. | ask myself,
What is the use?, why bother to do this at all, since it
interests no one even at the present? These things
hardly make sense now and in a week, a month, a
year, they will certainly be forgotten. Then if by some
‘mischance anyone happens to read them, will they be
anything but incoherent? But they bear the stamp of
curiosity, they might be amusing, but in the daly tide
‘of things, in the pressing concerns of life. Pain and
what with the lateness of the hour and the candles
burning dim. But there. Explain it sometime maybe.
Really there's no sense init ike a puzzle thrown on a
floor. Some other time it anyone wants. The cool
water with here and there suspended a cloud in an
endless blue sky. Grass and moss run down a green
lawn into a narrow long lake stil and blue as the sky.
(On the other side dark hills and dark trees as far as
the eye sees left or right. Laughter and a child is
walking here on the gentle slopes this way—my wite
and daughter picking flowers in the lawn I lagging
behind gazing atthe lake, the distant hills—now she
‘speaks and the litle gir runs to him “papa * she cries
with flowers, join hands and run laughing and shout-
ing into the undulating lawn