What, yea wish another tale of me , Traveller? Either yea flatter mine skill or time weighs heavy on yea hands. Very well. Sit and I wilt tell yea something of a Folcuthae tale. Nay, I myself am nae a sheykh, nor ocunt myself a wise man, I tell these tales to amuse. Yet, ;'tis it nae wonderful if one gleans a grain of wisdom from a simple pastime?Rather like finding a ring of gold in the threadbare rug one hast purchased cheaply in the bazaar.
So, Once there was a woman who had lost her family from misfortune and she found herself all alone in the world. But she was a woman of learning and intelligence and great curiousity. And she had heard of an amazing garden, in which grew a tree that bore the Golden Figs of Paradise. This tree,it was said, gave one who ate its fruit all the wisdom and knowledge one could e'er want. Having no family, the woman could think of no better goal for her life than to seek out this marvellous tree.
She went to the wisest man she knew of, a dervish he wast called, who lived in the Forests. "O Great Pir,"she said to him,"I wish to find the tree that bears the Golden Figs of Paradise."
The sage nodded and said,"I know of this tree."
Joy filled the woman's heart,"Tell me,then,how I might find it!"
"Well,"said the sage,"I could accept yea as a disciple. But it would mean a long period of study 'ere yea would learn what yea need to know."
The woman's hopes fell,for she knew her own restless nature."Forgive me,Wise One, but I do nae think I am suited to such arduous study."
The sage replied mildly,"No mattter. If you wander the world with firm purpose of heart, yea may find what yea seek."
So the woman gave away what goods she had and became a pilgrim. She visited the tombs of heroes and gods. She listened to many learned teachers. She spoke with rich and poor,suffered floods and drought,heat and cold, watched sunrises and sunsets, climbed mountains and crossed deserts. But she did nae find the Golden Figs of Paradise.
Thirty years passed, and her hair now grey and her face weathered by sun and wind,the woman returned to her homeland. She went to the Forests and found the Wise Man she had first spoken too.......who seemed nae to have aged at all.
"It must be that I am unworthy,"she said to him,"for I ne'er found what I sought. It is just as well that I did nae become yea student,for yea time wouldst ahth been wasted on such as me."
The sage only smiled and took her hands in his. "Come!Let me show yea something."
He led her down a nearby slpe to a hidden dell. There stood the tree,heavy with the Golden Figs of Paradise.
"What a fool I hast been!" the woman cried."To hath wandered so many years when the tree was here all along. Why did yea nae tell me yea were its Guardian??"
But the sage shook his head. "Yea would hath thought I was boasting;yea would nae hath accepted the gift without a difficult journey of mind or body. Besides, the tree only bears fruit every thirty-and-one years."
Therefore, Travellers, hath patience. Enlightenment wilt come at its proper time, in accordance with the journey yea hath made."
----Ganhdarva.......musician to the Court of Edain of Erestai