The Old Man of the Mountains
Once within a dream ago, the Great Mystery, Creator of all, came down upon the earth to test his children. There beyond the mountains He set His creative hand to work building a garden such as never seen before.
Beyond the mountains, the people could hear the roar of thunder, see the might and flash of lightning, and feel the ground tremble from His mighty works. And would look at one another in awe, saying, “The old man of the mountains.”
After many days of diligent work, the Great Mystery looked down upon that garden of beauty with a satisfied smile. Ah! The beauty of that place! In the very center stood a lake of blue beauty, with the purest of water. In the lake were enough fish and other life to feed mankind for the rest of his days. Out from the lake grew plants, herbs and flowers of great beauty, enough to feed and heal mankind for all time. Leading into this garden were four paths of purest white granite to see that the plants were not trampled. And along those paths grew ever-bearing fruit trees of every description to help feed the travelers of those paths.
Satisfied with the garden’s beauty, the Creator placed within it a great variety of creatures, both as food and feeder. The four legged, That with wings, The many legged, That without legs, All life seen and unseen to maintain and preserve His beautiful garden.
At last, seeing that all was as it should be, He knelt upon the earth and whispered to her. “COME AND BEHOLD! COME AND BEHOLD! THAT WHICH IS MORE PRECIOUS THAN SILVER OR GOLD!” And His message traveled through and about the earth for all close to her to hear.
Now there was upon the earth, some people who listened close to her. And they heard the message clearly. Thus they relayed that message to all those who would listen and follow, saying, “The old man of the mountains, says come and behold. Come and behold. See that which is more precious than silver or gold. Who will follow me there?” And the people gathered about them as they led the way to the mountains.
Others, who had not heard the actual message, were quick to spread the gossip of what they had heard from others. Among them were many that saw with envy how the people had flocked about those who had heard the true message. And the message, by chance or choice, became garbled and stretched way out of proportion. And they soon were calling out, “Silver and gold! All you can hold! The old man of the mountains is giving silver and gold!”
Oh how the people’s ears perked up upon hearing this, and by the thousands they thronged about those speakers, shouting to be led to those riches. And the thousands became millions as they formed behind their pretentious leaders. A milling and streaming mob, crying out, “Silver and gold! Silver and gold! Lets go to the mountain and get all we can hold of beautiful, precious silver and gold!”
Soon the milling riotous throng streamed toward the mountain, pushing aside those few hundreds that followed the true messengers. They over- flowed the beautiful white granite paths, trampling and tearing down the ever-bearing fruit trees. Trampling down the beautiful flowers and herbs and killing off the earth sustaining creatures for food and sport. They befouled the beautiful blue lake in their passing as they gathered at the foot of the mountain upon which the Great Mystery stood watching in shocked amazement.
“Silver and gold!” They all shouted, “Silver and gold! When will you give us our silver and gold?”
The Great Mystery, Creator of all, looked out upon the shattered remains of His beautiful garden. Tears formed as He hung His head. He then turned without a word and disappeared through the clouds beyond.
DaNaho
Blue Turtle
