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exquisitelyme
 
PostPosted: Tue, Apr 05 2016, 14:53 PM 

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This book of short stories is not available in public libraries at the moment. Copies are handed personally by the author. The books are invariably finely made, with the title branded on the leather cover, small golden rivets fastening the edges, and a copper wire frame around the title, sewn into the leather. Each of the short stories has an illustration for it, colored with natural paints, and decorated with gold foil.

Quote:
All the difference in the world


*The illustration shows the stream, the young man and the old woman, the small cage on the floor beside her. The cage and the old witch's mask are decorated with gold foil*

During my time in the Urlingwood, every Sunday it was my job to get to one of the nearby streams and back to the huts where we lived, carrying buckets of water to be stored. Each time I did that for the first months I would see the same elderly Wychlaran sitting by the water's edge with a small metal cage sitting beside her.
One of those days my curiosity got the better of me, so I interrupted my work and walked over to her. As I got closer, I realized that the metal cage was in fact a small trap. There were three pond turtles, unharmed, slowly walking around the base of the trap. She had a fourth turtle in her lap that she was carefully scrubbing with a small spongy brush.
"Hello", I said. "I see you here every Sunday morning. Forgive my curiosity, Othlor, but what are you doing with those turtles?"
The eyes behind her mask squinted, I guessed she was smiling behind it. "I'm cleaning off their shells", she replied. "Anything on a turtle's shell, like algae or scum, reduces the ability to absorb heat and impedes its ability to swim. It can also corrode and weaken the shell over time."
She went on: "I spend a couple hours each Sunday morning, relaxing by this stream and helping these little guys out. It is one of my own strange ways to make a difference."
"But don't most pond turtles live their whole lives with algae and scum hanging from their shells?" I asked.
"Yes, sadly they do," she replied.
I scratched my head. "Well then, don't you think your time could be better spent? I mean, you efforts are kind, but there are pond turtles living in streams all around Rashemen. Most of these pond turtles dont have nice people like you to help them clean off their shells. No offense, Othlor... but how exactly are your efforts here truly making a difference?"
The old Wychlaran giggled aloud. She then looked down at the pond turtle in her lap, scrubbed off the last piece of algae from its shell, and said, "Young one, if this little guy could talk, he'd tell you I just made all the difference in the world."


Weight of a mug

*The illustration shows the sage on the small stage holding the mug high, a blackboard behind her. The mug and the letters on the blackboard are decorated with gold foil*

I once went into a philosophy seminar being held in the one of the rooms in the Spirit Soaring to deliver a message to one of the sages there. One of them was walking into the small stage prepared in the front for presentations to deliver her own. She filled a mug with water, drank some from it, and raised it towards her peers. Everyone expected the typical "mug half empty, mug half full" question. Instead, with a smile on her face, the sage asked, "How heavy is this mug of water I'm holding?"
Other sages were quick to start offering their estimates.
She replied, "From my perspective, the absolute weigh of this mug doesn't matter. It all depends on how long I hold it. If I hold it for for a minute or two, it's fairly light. If I hold it for an hour straight, its weigh might make my arm ache a little. If I hold it for a day straight, my arm will likely cramp up and feel completely numb and paralyzed, forcing me to drop the glass to the floor. In each case, the weigh of the mug doesn't change, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it feels to me."
As the sages shook their heads in agreement, she continued, "Your stresses and worries in life are very much like this mug of water. Think about them for a while and nothing happens. Think about them a bit longer and you begin to ache a little. Think about them all day long, and you will feel completely numb and paralyzed - incapable of doing anything else until you drop them."


The butter and the bread

*The illustration shows the farmer and the baker arguing, with a pair of witches nearby. The witches' masks are decorated with gold foil*

There was a farmer who sold a pound of butter twice a week to the local baker. One day the baker decided to weigh the butter to see if he was getting a pound, and he found out that he was not. This angered him, and he took the case to the Wychlaran, who resolve the disputes in The Land. One of the Hathrans asked the farmer if he was using any measure. The farmer replied to the masked woman "Hathran, I am primitive. I don't have a proper measure, but I do have a scale." The Hathan asked, "Then how do you weigh the butter?" The farmer replied "Hathran, long before the baker started buying butter form me, I have been buying a pound loaf of bread from him. Twice a week when the baker brings the bread, I put it on the scale and give him the same weigh in butter. If anyone is to blame, its the baker"

The filter test

*The illustration shows the fang leader and the young warrior talking near a fire. The fire, the fang leader's armor and scabbard are decorated with gold foil*

One day while camping on the shores of the Ashane river, two fangs of berzerkers met. Fires were lit, their provisions shared, songs were sung, but in a certain moment a young warrior from one the fangs approached the leader of the other and said, "Do you know what I heard about our leader?"
"Hold on a minute," the leader of the other fang said. "Before you talk to me about your own leader, it might be a good idea to take a moment and filter what you're going to say. I call it the triple filter test and my fang's unity is the testimony of its efficacy. The first filter is Truth. Have you made absolutely sure that what you are about to tell me is true?"
"Well, no," the warrior replied, "actually I heard about it yesterday and..."
"All right," said the other man. "So you don't really know if its true or not. Now, lets try the second filter, the filter of Goodness. Is what you are about to tell me about your leader something good?"
"Hmm, no, on the contrary..."
"So," the older warrior continued, "you want to tell me something bad about your own leader, but you are not certain it is true. You may still pass the test though, because there is one filter left - the filter of Usefulness. Is what you want to tell me about your leader going to be useful to me?"
"No, not really."
"Well," concluded the wiser warrior leader, "If what you want to tell me is neither true, nor good, nor even useful, why tell it to me at all?"

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