Nakal Ashera
   |
Posted - 2011.08.28 08:42:00 -
[1]
Hmm. Alright. How could I put this...
Two young geese, seperated from their mother, wandered north through a forest. For some time, they wanted for food, finding the earth to be barren, and the grass to to be sparse and short. And worse yet, foxes and wolves wandered between the trees, threatening to, at any moment, take them for a meal. One day, however, they came across a farmers home, and a luscious green field, where his animals were kept (and all of them plump and healthy, beyond mistaking), behind a barbed fence.
The first goose turned to the second goose, and said - with great rejoicing - "We have found salvation at last! Behind that fence, we will be cared for and kept safe, and given all the food we will ever need. And we shall be washed and made beautiful for all those who would look upon us. Our troubles are at an end."
Yet, the second goose hesitated, and did not wish to enter the farm. The first goose tried to persuade her, but try as she might, her sister would not see reason, and refused to follow her, instead turning back towards the dark woods. Dejected and saddened but undeterred, the first goose headed northwards to the farm, where she was found and taken in by the farmer, and put amongst his livestock. The second goose went south once more.
For years and years, the first goose lived at the farm. She was given rich bread and grain to feed on, and a pond to swim in amongst the other birds. Occasionally, the farmer asked for an egg, or perhaps a few feathers from her, but the demands were never so great that she felt her dignity had been taken. The years passed, and she grew fat, plump, and content.
But as they did, so did the wired fence seem to grow ever higher. She began to think of what might lie beyond, further to the north, or perhaps to the east or west, and thought of what it would be like to travel there. Her wings had been clipped by the farmer, of course, and her breast had grown too fat for her to walk far without tiring, so it remained within the realms of fantasy. The years passed. She became tired and old, no longer gave the farmer eggs, but merciful as he was, he kept her safe and fed still. She was yet... Content.
But one evening, the farmers house caught fire. It spread quickly, burning him in his home, and sending the animals running through the fence, their flesh snapping against the wires even as it fell. Though tired, fear overcame the first goose, and she fled along with them. She headed north, further into the fields. She knew that she would die here, and she had forgotten how to flee from the foxes and find good grass, but she did not mind. She had lived long enough.
It was out there, however, that she met her sister, in the north - though she had gone south. Her sister had grown old, too, but in different ways. She was thin and ragged, scarred - from a thousand battles - and sharp-eyed. She too, was dying, herself aged and withered.
Remembering her and what had transpired, the first goose asked: "Why did you not follow me to the farm? Why did you head back, to the south?"
Her sister replied, with happiness in her eyes, "So that, though I lived in the south, there was never a time I could not return north."
Alternatively, a more pessimistic anwser, if you're looking for one: Pride.
|