Trigesima Sexta Page [Video]

Entry tags:

Trigesima Sexta Page [Video]

I thought I would share a story with you today. It's a famous fairy-tale from my world and, well, I think it presents a good message.

[She clears her throat and begins the tale...]

There were once three brothers who were traveling along a lonely, winding road at twilight. In time, the brothers reached a river too deep to wade through and too dangerous to swim across.. However, these brothers were learned in the magical arts, and so they simply waved their wands and made a bridge appear across the treacherous water. They were halfway across it when they found their path blocked by a hooded figure.

And Death spoke to them. He was angry that he had been cheated out of three new victims, for travelers usually drowned in the river. But Death was cunning. He pretended to congratulate the three brothers upon their magic and said that each had earned a prize for having been clever enough to evade him.

So the oldest brother, who was a combative man, asked for a wand more powerful than any in existence: a wand that must always win duels for its owner, a wand worthy of a wizard who had conquered Death! So Death crossed to an elder tree on the banks of the river, fashioned a wand from a branch that hung there, and gave it to the oldest brother.

Then the second brother, who was an arrogant man, decided that he wanted to humiliate Death still further, and asked for the power to recall others from Death. So Death picked up a stone from the riverbank and gave it to the second brother, and told him that the stone would have the power to bring back the dead.

And then Death asked the third and youngest brother what he would like. The youngest brother was the humblest and also the wisest of the brothers, and he did not trust Death. So he asked for something that would enable him to go forth from that place without being followed by Death. And death, most unwillingly, handed over his own Cloak of Invisibility.

Then Death stood aside and allowed the three brothers to continue on their way, and they did so, talking with wonder of the adventure they had had, and admiring Death’s gifts. In due course the brothers separated, each for his own destination.

The first brother traveled on for a week or more, and reaching a distant village, sought out a fellow wizard with whom he had a quarrel. Naturally with the Elder Wand as his weapon, he could not fail to win the duel that followed. Leaving his enemy dead upon the floor, the oldest brother proceeded to an inn, where he boasted loudly of the powerful wand he had snatched from Death himself, and of how it made him invincible.

That very night, another wizard crept upon the oldest brother as he lay, wine-sodden, upon his bed. The theif took the wand and, for good measure, slit the oldest brother’s throat.

And so Death took the first brother for his own.

Meanwhile, the second brother journeyed to his own home, where he lived alone. Here he took out the stone that had the power to recall the dead, and turned it thrice in his hand. To his amazement and his delight, the figure of the girl he had once hoped to marry, before her untimely death, appeared at once before him.

Yet she was sad and cold, separated from him as by a veil. Though she had returned to the mortal world, she did not truly belong there and suffered. Finally the second brother, driven mad with hopeless longing, killed himself so as truly to join her.

And so Death took the second brother for his own.

But though Death searched for the third brother for many years, he was never able to find him. It was only when he had attained a great age that the youngest brother finally took off the Cloak of Invisibility and gave it to his son. And then he greeted Death as an old friend, and went with him gladly, and, equals, they departed this life.

[She closes the book and gives any viewers a moment to let the words sink in.]

It's one of my favorites and it seems to be applicable in Anatole. Seeking power and trying to do things that go against nature - such as bringing back the dead - might, at first, look quite enticing. But, in the end, the best we can do is to...do our best and live each moment fully. Once our time comes to an end - for example, when we go home - let's try to remember the person (or persons) fondly and not grieve for what was taken from us.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

He kept the cloak on even when he was conceiving his son? [ Jack Frost, picking holes in fairy tales since 1712. ] Didn't his wife ever get angry with him? I bet she did. Probably never laid eyes on the guy unless she was hiding out under that thing.

[ Hmmm. ]

Did he wash it at any point over the years? Kind of gross if he didn't.

[She does her best to hide a giggle. Jack.]

It's meant to illustrate a moral, Jack. I doubt he kept it on all the time. In fact, I know that the cloak exists. The current owner doesn't wear it all the time either.

[ Grinning, he shrugs. ]

The ending should go, 'He sometimes took the cloak off while Death was hanging out in Fiji or Hawaii, whenever the Grim Reaper felt like taking a load off, and that's why his son was born in July'.

[video]

[video]

[video]

no subject

no subject

no subject

[video]

[video]

[video]

[video]

[video]

[video]

[Video]

[Video]

[voice]

[voice]

Video

Video

[ video ]

[ video ]

no subject

no subject

[voice]

[voice]

[Video] Sorry so belated!