Once there was a boy in Africa who was very dreamy and wishful. One day he heard about a great exposition, where people from all over the world would come to see the wonders of his native land. At the exposition the boy became enamored of the many varieties of flora, and especially the great and lofty trees.
When the boy came into adolescence he found employ trimming and watering exotic trees for a wealthy landowner, who also kept a menagerie of animals. It so happened that at the end of every day the young African must return his tools to a certain shed. The shed was also home to a snake that was kept secured in a cage of wire. The young African was enchanted but fearful of the snake. He decided that he was too fearful, and perhaps if he spent more time there he would learn to appreciate that it would not harm him.
He was a dedicated worker, and soon the wealthy landowner gave him access to his private library, which included many volumes on horticulture and the medicinal value of plants. Every night he remained in the shed to study the books on the exotic plants. The more he studied, the more the snake seemed to grow. The young African decided that it was only his own imagination running away with itself, and really there was nothing to fear. Besides, the books were teaching him many valuable lessons about the dangers of particular plants and animals.
It has never been determined exactly why, but one day when he arrived at the shed to put away his tools and peruse one of his cherished volumes, he found that someone had neglected to lock the snake enclosure. In that instant he hesitated, and could not choose whether he wanted to study the secrets or preserve his own life. Meanwhile, the snake bit him and swallowed him whole.
All his boss could remember of him was that he had a passion for studying plants and that he was a dedicated caretaker of trees. The moral is that insofar as you are consumed by your passions, the world will consume you, but if your passion is to mean something to the world, you may yet be regarded and remembered
Rumor has it, that not far from there a strange tree began to grow: soon it had a dark hairy ape body for a trunk, and although it still held up lofty branches, it began to lose its roots, so that one day it could be seen floating in a heavy wind, like a very dark, very naked man on a hang-glider. Townspeople believe that the young African and this tree-person are the same, that because he begat no children, his spirit could not move on to the next world, and instead took the form of one of his beloved arbors. And some crazies have even suggested that he has developed a kinship with eagles, in order to conquer the snake. --July 12, 2005
Dream Stories Main
The preceding, as well as all other parts of Nathan's Philosophy and Writing are pending copyright (c) 2006, Nathan Coppedge