Friday, June 30, 2006

The Wildmen

Fairy Tale

There once were three angels who came to earth to gain the unvarnished taste of human things. As fate would have it, all of them met, in medias res, at a small but cultured southern town called Winston-Salem. Fire and passion surrounded them from the start.

The first and oldest was a devilish Irishman who with a flare for dispensing wisdom in memorable form, told the third that the spiritual path he was on at that time 'lacked heart'--only to tell him that the path he was latter to surely set upon had much more heart and love. 'So be it' the gods said.

Although this first man was a much skilled navigator in the ways of the world and business, as fate would have it also that he was also a seer who could read the stars and heal the body and soul-a huge student who became a teacher in his own right.

The second was carefully picked as henchman to call as a total stranger the third of these fallen angels one night, to firmly instruct him not to ever visit the class of his yoga teacher, whom the third had heard that she was so well regarded in her instruction that he was too eager to start his study--but she did not desire his presence, so much did this third man offend her in his attempt to visit her too soon right after the death of her husband. This second man was one who was capable of saying anything to anyone and the gods selected him perfectly for this role. He was very handsome and many a young and comely lass craved his attentions and cultured ways, but still, for spice the gods made it that no one ever knew from what would pour his mouth, of which there were many.

The third man, so as to help him to learn to be a human, was cast by the gods among literate but also somewhat helpless parents, and while he knew nearly everything about how to do anything, the gods made sure he started out knowing nearly nothing about how to help himself while filling him with surety that he did-and so they made him so that he could keep track of nearly everything, careful and detailed in many things, but that much more to start in the world helpless to help himself as was more than obvious to everyone at all times but him. What an illustration he made--to everyone but his own self.

The gods as we know are mysterious and inexplicable in their boundless kindness, and they gave this first man first a strong and able wife to love and love him, and then three children, and surely little rest. This man became a great healer and councilor and so he learned to heal himself. What would have been burdensome cares to many were to him divine opportunities to expand his heart--which he still always managed to pour amply to all and the gods were known to have said: 'It is done and it is good and now we can rest today' with such handiwork of theirs walking in the world!

And the gods time to time ejected this second handsome lad from comfort and grace, and despite his great study and book learning and great flair for the written word, he would always seem to find himself in trouble and difficulty, but so also his heart grew very big. The gods said 'ah had!' when they finished their latest work, and so his heart grew and grew in duress with a halting way of speaking to balance his golden writen words.

This third man was made so as to care too much about things that mattered little, and so the gods had it that although he learned to become responsible for bigger and bigger cares in the making of buildings and thereafter graduating to the making of capacious sums of money using but his brain alone, so that he had to learn to care for things that mattered by losing nearly everything and learning to allow others to be and to respect them after years of respecting nothing.

The gods grew weary over the many years, when one day they had a big meeting, only to say: 'enough, we must decimate him', and so even he who was the most ignorant while fancying himself to know the most among these three, even he eventually became almost human, and like Odysseus passing the island of Calypso, they made it so that for a long time 'the tears were never dry from his eyes' so that when he eventually collapsed from the silly empty might of his own will, he could but behold the dearness of the poor, the pitiful but always beautiful dignity of simple common folk and know that he was but a speck of dust. The gods were satisfied and said, "how correct this is, even he can see now' and they could rest for those days yet some more.

There latter came a forth man, and this man was very gentle and hopeful. God also gave him a wife and child and this man like the third man grew to know much but he also labored to learn to help himself. The gods gave him boundless thirst to read and study, and he taught his own children mightily and gave great delight to all in his arcane and luxuriant findings, carefully typing them for the enjoyment of these men, unselfish but also very secretive to exceeding degrees.

This fourth was also so made as to be endlessly interesting himself with boundless interests for chronicles, art, lore, and all sorts of notions. And the gods so made it that there was never enough time or money or energy for this man or his quests. Like the Tibetan Hungary Ghosts, they so made it that instead of tiny mouths and enormous bellies, they varied their theme and gave his eyes endless desire to learn and read, and in so doing took all his money away--making his childrens and friends hearts rich instead. They made his longing the greatest of these first three, and so this fourth eventually learned to accept what was his and treasure little things with dignity, grace, and goodness. The gods after this last touch said: 'Ah it is good: we have a helpful man, a free man, a compassionate man, and an appreciative man, and it is very good' and then they all took a long nap while vacationing in the god heavens, where the blue is bluer than any earthly blue and the twinkle of the north-star is brighter than any earthly shine can be. And so then all rested and the hearts of men and gods alike were full like great bountiful harvests. And so peace and Charm on earth reigned gladly yet again.

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