Post by ZaCloud on Apr 23, 2008 0:42:03 GMT -5
(Note: I was going to make up something similar, but then I read some of the Fruits Basket manga and a perfect tale was in there… so the story Zack tells in this is credited to Natsuki Takaya, FB’s creator, and not me. It was just too perfect the way it was, so poignant.... Besides it IS meant to be a tale passed down after all, so in a way that’s what it becomes here. At least I used it for a very different purpose than it was used for in Fruits Basket.)
---
“You’re stupid, Zack! I hate you!”
The words stung, but were nearly the older brother’s sentiments for the younger as he shouted to Claude, “You’re the one being stupid!”
Six-year-old Claude stomped his bare foot angrily, raising a cloud of dust from the cracked, barren earth they stood on. “All those mean people are stupid! So why would you not wanna make them go away?! Grown-ups have guns, they shoot people, if we shoot people they’ll leave us alone!”
“Don’t you EVER talk like that!” Zack screamed, “Remember the bunny we weren’t gonna eat? When it didn’t get better and it died?! It can never come back! We can’t do that to people!”
Months ago, they had come upon a wounded rabbit, but despite their need for food and the fact that they had killed and eaten many animals, it was the first truly cute fuzzy thing they had encountered, and they had instead tried to save it. They’d gotten attached, but then the frail thing had died three days later. That had been their first true loss, and they had both cried, and been unable to eat its carcass, opting instead to bury it. Even though they had to continue killing animals to live, it was done with more thought and hesitation ever since. And rabbits remained off the menu.
Claude was too upset to think deeply on the subject. “The bunny was nice! Those people are mean! They should go away forever!”
“We can’t kill anyone or we’d be the mean ones!” Zack insisted angrily, stomping in his own turn, “Even if people are bad, they can be hit or punched but we can’t take away their life! Nobody can ever give it back! We’d be EVIL!!!”
“I just want them to leave us ALONE!” Claude screamed, stomping again, then running away, tears of anger streaming from his eyes, his hands swinging in fists. “If you want them to beat you up, fine! You’re stupid!”
Zack took off after him. He had to make his brother realize what he himself managed to understand. “Mom told me a story a long time ago!” he yelled after Claude as he pursued, “It was really sad, I think you’re too little for it but I might have to tell you!”
“Shut up!” Claude snarled, still running, trying to pour on extra speed as Zack was catching up, “Everything you say is stupid!”
“Claude, listen!”
“Dummy! DUMMY! STUPID!!! QUIT CHASING ME!!!”
“I’m not gonna hurt you! Just listen!”
“YOU EAT POOP!!!”
Zack lost speed for a moment, then lowered his brows further and began his determined speech as he continued his chase. “The story’s called ‘The World’s Most Foolish Traveler’.”
“Leave me alone!”
“Once upon a time, there was a foolish traveler. He was called that because he was fooled by everyone he met.”
Claude’s pace slowed a bit, partially from fatigue, but partially out of slight curiosity. Why would there be a story about someone stupid? All Zack’s stories, and stories Claude himself made up, were always about good things or animals, or themselves. But he tried not to act interested and mumbled, “I’m not listening…”
“People would say things like ‘Please, I need money for medicine,’ and the traveler would give them some of his money. Even though they were lying.”
Claude slowed down to a walk, as did Zack, keeping decent distance between them.
“’I have a sick younger sister’, another person would say, and he’d give them the rest of his money. ‘My brother needs shoes,’ one said, and he gave them his shoes.”
Claude stopped, standing with his back to Zack, staring ahead with his eyes wide.
“’If I don’t sell a shirt, I won’t have money for seeds to plant in the fields,’ another person said. Pretty soon, the traveler had no money, and no clothes left. But the traveler was happy to help them. All he said was, ‘I wish you happiness.’
“But at that point, the traveler was naked and had nothing to cover himself with. So he went into the woods so nobody would see him. But then, the goblins who lived in the woods found him. They wanted to eat the traveler’s body. So they begged and pleaded, and used nice words to trick him.
“Of course, the traveler was fooled. First, he let one of the goblins eat one of his legs, Then, an arm, and more and more…
“Then, the traveler was only a head on the ground. He even gave his eyes to the last goblin. And while the last goblin was eating the traveler’s eyes, he turned and said, ‘Thank you, traveler. In return, I leave you this present.’
”So the goblin left was a piece of paper. It had the word ‘Fool’ written on it.
”The traveler couldn’t see it. He didn’t even know what it was. But tears started falling down his face.
“’Thank you,’ he said, ‘This is the first present anyone ever gave me. I’m so happy. I’m so happy. Thank you.’
”Even without his eyes, he cried and cried with great tears of joy. Then, the traveler died… with his face still smiling...”
Claude was crying quietly. When it was clear the tale was over, he openly bawled, fists to his eyes, tears rolling down his own cheeks.
Zack’s eyes teared up too, and he drew a few steps closer. He felt bad for telling Claude such a sad story, but it had always weighed on him too, and retelling it was emotional. But he had to find out if Claude understood…
“It’s so sad…” Claude sobbed, “It’s so SAD…”
“Do you think he was stupid, Claude?” Zack asked, sniffling.
“No!” Claude squealed, shaking his head, then looking desperately at Zack, “No! He wasn’t stupid! He was being so nice! It was everyone else who was stupid. But he was nice to them anyway!”
“I want to be like him, Claude,” Zack said, wiping his eyes although the tears were slowly replaced, “Not all the way, I won’t give away until I’m only a head, or even ‘til I’m naked… But I want to be nice. Because someday even the mean people will know that I was nice after all, and that I wasn’t a ‘fool’. They’ll know that someday. But no matter what I have to keep bein’ nice, or they’ll never know it.”
Claude was conflicted. He didn’t want to end up so sad like in the story. And yet, the traveler had been happy right to the end, hadn’t he?
“…Why was he so happy, Zack?”
“Because he was helping other people, and it makes you feel good. And no matter what he lost, he only thought about that he was making other people happy. And that’s what good people do.”
Claude wiped his face for the twentieth time, then shook his head. “I don’t really understand… I don’t want to give bad people things… But… But he wasn’t stupid…”
“Then it’s not stupid for us to not use guns, Claude. We’re not giving the mean people anything, but just not killing. Because someday they’ll get smart and nice. They can’t if they’re dead forever.”
It was a lot for such a young child to think about, so Claude crossed his arms and started scooting a pebble around with his toes. He would think about this for a long time, and add more to it as he grew. But for now, he wanted to believe that after the story, the people who took from the traveler would realize that he wasn’t a fool after all, and would feel sorry for what they did. It felt so much better to believe that.
That hope for change became what he slowly accepted. That was to become the mantra he and his brother would live by. The hope that would keep them going through their hardships. The reason they would refuse to give into the darkness that would surround them.
At least, as long as they could…
---
“You’re stupid, Zack! I hate you!”
The words stung, but were nearly the older brother’s sentiments for the younger as he shouted to Claude, “You’re the one being stupid!”
Six-year-old Claude stomped his bare foot angrily, raising a cloud of dust from the cracked, barren earth they stood on. “All those mean people are stupid! So why would you not wanna make them go away?! Grown-ups have guns, they shoot people, if we shoot people they’ll leave us alone!”
“Don’t you EVER talk like that!” Zack screamed, “Remember the bunny we weren’t gonna eat? When it didn’t get better and it died?! It can never come back! We can’t do that to people!”
Months ago, they had come upon a wounded rabbit, but despite their need for food and the fact that they had killed and eaten many animals, it was the first truly cute fuzzy thing they had encountered, and they had instead tried to save it. They’d gotten attached, but then the frail thing had died three days later. That had been their first true loss, and they had both cried, and been unable to eat its carcass, opting instead to bury it. Even though they had to continue killing animals to live, it was done with more thought and hesitation ever since. And rabbits remained off the menu.
Claude was too upset to think deeply on the subject. “The bunny was nice! Those people are mean! They should go away forever!”
“We can’t kill anyone or we’d be the mean ones!” Zack insisted angrily, stomping in his own turn, “Even if people are bad, they can be hit or punched but we can’t take away their life! Nobody can ever give it back! We’d be EVIL!!!”
“I just want them to leave us ALONE!” Claude screamed, stomping again, then running away, tears of anger streaming from his eyes, his hands swinging in fists. “If you want them to beat you up, fine! You’re stupid!”
Zack took off after him. He had to make his brother realize what he himself managed to understand. “Mom told me a story a long time ago!” he yelled after Claude as he pursued, “It was really sad, I think you’re too little for it but I might have to tell you!”
“Shut up!” Claude snarled, still running, trying to pour on extra speed as Zack was catching up, “Everything you say is stupid!”
“Claude, listen!”
“Dummy! DUMMY! STUPID!!! QUIT CHASING ME!!!”
“I’m not gonna hurt you! Just listen!”
“YOU EAT POOP!!!”
Zack lost speed for a moment, then lowered his brows further and began his determined speech as he continued his chase. “The story’s called ‘The World’s Most Foolish Traveler’.”
“Leave me alone!”
“Once upon a time, there was a foolish traveler. He was called that because he was fooled by everyone he met.”
Claude’s pace slowed a bit, partially from fatigue, but partially out of slight curiosity. Why would there be a story about someone stupid? All Zack’s stories, and stories Claude himself made up, were always about good things or animals, or themselves. But he tried not to act interested and mumbled, “I’m not listening…”
“People would say things like ‘Please, I need money for medicine,’ and the traveler would give them some of his money. Even though they were lying.”
Claude slowed down to a walk, as did Zack, keeping decent distance between them.
“’I have a sick younger sister’, another person would say, and he’d give them the rest of his money. ‘My brother needs shoes,’ one said, and he gave them his shoes.”
Claude stopped, standing with his back to Zack, staring ahead with his eyes wide.
“’If I don’t sell a shirt, I won’t have money for seeds to plant in the fields,’ another person said. Pretty soon, the traveler had no money, and no clothes left. But the traveler was happy to help them. All he said was, ‘I wish you happiness.’
“But at that point, the traveler was naked and had nothing to cover himself with. So he went into the woods so nobody would see him. But then, the goblins who lived in the woods found him. They wanted to eat the traveler’s body. So they begged and pleaded, and used nice words to trick him.
“Of course, the traveler was fooled. First, he let one of the goblins eat one of his legs, Then, an arm, and more and more…
“Then, the traveler was only a head on the ground. He even gave his eyes to the last goblin. And while the last goblin was eating the traveler’s eyes, he turned and said, ‘Thank you, traveler. In return, I leave you this present.’
”So the goblin left was a piece of paper. It had the word ‘Fool’ written on it.
”The traveler couldn’t see it. He didn’t even know what it was. But tears started falling down his face.
“’Thank you,’ he said, ‘This is the first present anyone ever gave me. I’m so happy. I’m so happy. Thank you.’
”Even without his eyes, he cried and cried with great tears of joy. Then, the traveler died… with his face still smiling...”
Claude was crying quietly. When it was clear the tale was over, he openly bawled, fists to his eyes, tears rolling down his own cheeks.
Zack’s eyes teared up too, and he drew a few steps closer. He felt bad for telling Claude such a sad story, but it had always weighed on him too, and retelling it was emotional. But he had to find out if Claude understood…
“It’s so sad…” Claude sobbed, “It’s so SAD…”
“Do you think he was stupid, Claude?” Zack asked, sniffling.
“No!” Claude squealed, shaking his head, then looking desperately at Zack, “No! He wasn’t stupid! He was being so nice! It was everyone else who was stupid. But he was nice to them anyway!”
“I want to be like him, Claude,” Zack said, wiping his eyes although the tears were slowly replaced, “Not all the way, I won’t give away until I’m only a head, or even ‘til I’m naked… But I want to be nice. Because someday even the mean people will know that I was nice after all, and that I wasn’t a ‘fool’. They’ll know that someday. But no matter what I have to keep bein’ nice, or they’ll never know it.”
Claude was conflicted. He didn’t want to end up so sad like in the story. And yet, the traveler had been happy right to the end, hadn’t he?
“…Why was he so happy, Zack?”
“Because he was helping other people, and it makes you feel good. And no matter what he lost, he only thought about that he was making other people happy. And that’s what good people do.”
Claude wiped his face for the twentieth time, then shook his head. “I don’t really understand… I don’t want to give bad people things… But… But he wasn’t stupid…”
“Then it’s not stupid for us to not use guns, Claude. We’re not giving the mean people anything, but just not killing. Because someday they’ll get smart and nice. They can’t if they’re dead forever.”
It was a lot for such a young child to think about, so Claude crossed his arms and started scooting a pebble around with his toes. He would think about this for a long time, and add more to it as he grew. But for now, he wanted to believe that after the story, the people who took from the traveler would realize that he wasn’t a fool after all, and would feel sorry for what they did. It felt so much better to believe that.
That hope for change became what he slowly accepted. That was to become the mantra he and his brother would live by. The hope that would keep them going through their hardships. The reason they would refuse to give into the darkness that would surround them.
At least, as long as they could…
