The Wise Man
The Wise Man Continued
One day, a man decided to go for a walk. He was not a happy man this day and he felt a strong desire to get away from it all. He walked for some time and soon found himself by a stream. It was a beautiful stream, with waters crisp and cool, bubbling and gurgling over rock. He decided that this would be a good place to sit and rest for a while, and so he sat himself down by the edge of the stream. As he sat there, under the azure canopy of the sky, he observed the salmon with brilliant hues glittering their sides, struggling upstream. They leaped and splashed over the water trying to make headway against the powerful current. Their tales in constant motion as they would struggle against the powerful and unweilding flow of the water, seeking small pools where they could rest a moment. The man became transfixed by all of this, and as he sat there and watched he lost track of the time. Suddenly he heard a voice. He looked around and saw that no-one was near. He heard the voice again, except it was a slightly different voice than the first and seemed to be coming from the stream. Slowly and carefully he leaned forward to peer over the embankment of the stream and he saw two salmon resting in a pool out of the powerful current.And as he watched hr heard the voices again, but more clearly so that he could understand the words being spoken. "I am so tired." said one to the other. "I know." said the second,"But you must keep on going on." "Why, what is the point of all this struggle? I don't understand. What is it's purpose?", said the first. " I think you ask too many questions." replied the second. "If I knew why, I know I could find the resolve to continue on." "You will know why, when we get there. But till then, my friend you must have faith. This hardship we undertake has its purpose and we must.....LOOK! a man we must swim!" upon which they did, leaving the man staring in amazement. He thought to himself, did I just hear two salmon conversing? It cannot be. Must be the sun burning my brains. So, he immersed his head in the cool waters, and then stood up, brushing his hair back with his hands , and continued on his walk, smiling and laughing at his foolishness. After a whle, he came across a bush, neavily laden with ripe dark blue berries and he realized that he was hungry. So he feasted on these sweet berries untill his belly was full. His hunger satiated, he now felt drowsy and thought a nap was in order. He spied not too far away in a field of grass a tall tree whose limbs rich with foliage spread far, offering him ample shade from the sun. He made his way towards the tree, and layed down under the shade and quickly dozed off. After a while he gradually awoke to the sound of voices. Opening his eyes just a crack so as to seem still sleeping, he spied in the tree a large flock of sparrows, that too had come to rest and he heard a voice say, " why must we make this journey south, it is so nice here and I am tired of all this flying. Wouldn't it be just fine to stay here?" "My friend, though it is warm and nice now, it shall not always be. We shall rest a short while and then continue on." replied another. "But why? What is the point of such an arduous journey? I don't understand why we should have to struggle so." stated the first. "It has always been thus, and it shall always be so. There is a divine purpose in all of this." said the secod voice. "What divine purpose?" inquired the first. "It is not ours to know. You must learn to have faith and believe, for this is what we are meant to do. Through this struggle we grow strong and fullfill our purpose in this life." Upon hearing these words, the man sat upright. His sudden movement frightened the birds, and they took flight, and he watched them move through the air. Hundreds of individuals moving seemingly as one. The man realized that it was now late in the day, and he had a long journey home and surely his wife would be concerned for him. So he headed back along the path he took. His mind full of thoughts and questions. Am I crazy? Did I hear the birds talking? Were those really the voices of the salmon? What is the meaning of all this? His mind struggled with all this as he passed the stream, where the salmon still continued their sojourn upstream. He stopped for amoment and attempted to listen to the salmon. But no words came to him. I must of been dreaming . He thought to himself. He laughed uneasily at his folly and continued home. Upon his arrival his wife came to greet him, and he thought how beautifull she is. And he felt a great love for her as she wrapped her arms around him. "My husband, I am so glad to see you. Where have you been? I have been so worried for you ." she said with such kindness that only true love can offer. " I felt a need to go for a walk ." he said, "And the strangest things happened to me." "Come inside, your dinner is ready, and you can tell me all about it." She said, as she took his hand and led him into their home. And so he did, and he told her everything that he saw, did and heard. She sat across from him attentive to every word. Finally he asked her," am I going crazy, for a dream is the only way to explain it, but a dream it was not." She smiled at him and asked"Did you learn anything from your experience today?" He thought a moment and replied," I believe so." "What did you learn?" Again he thought a moment, and then replied, "I learned that no matter how great the struggle to always faith." Again she smile ever so warmly at him and said,"Then you are certainly not going crazy but are the wisest man I have ever known."
