Little Stone glanced at Red Dawn and smiled. "It seems our little fury friend has a lesson he wants to teach us this morning." Red Dawn smiled in return. "I think it is his forest which wants to teach us a lesson," she said. "And perhaps it is time for us to learn."
"Listen," said Zappo, not very pleased at being referred to as their little fury friend. "Morindoor is only the tip of the iceberg, or perhaps I should say the top of the dung heap! I will destroy Morindoor and his evil ways, make no mistake of that. But when he is gone, there are little Morindoors in every man and woman's heart. It is mankind who in the end must destroy the greed and destruction within its own heart."
He smiled at them and continued in a softer voice. "My friends, we have only one earth. She is like a beautiful queen with eyes the colour of the deep blue seas. Her song is the song of all living things. Every time one of those things dies, her song dies a little too. A word or note is lost, never to return. In all the ages, and in all the spaces of the universe, that beauty has gone forever. It may only be a little flower, or perhaps a great sea fish, or a flying bird, or a coloured insect, or maybe it is a medicine plant. But when it is gone, it is gone forever. Do you understand? That which has taken a thousand, thousand years and more to bring its gifts to the earth, and to you and me, has gone... never to return."
Zappo looked into their eyes with an intensity they had never seen before. Suddenly they knew that their journey North to fight Morindoor and save the little Princess Astra was only part of their quest. In their hands rested the safety of the forests, the sweetness of the seas, the beauty of the skies, the mysteries everywhere: even the future of mankind itself, for without their Earth Queen, with her wonders and her beauty, there could be no future and no home for mankind either.
"Zappo, how do we destroy the Morindoor within our own hearts?" asked Little Stone. Red Dawn also looked at him with questioning eyes... "Look at it this way," replied Zappo, "everything we have was already waiting for us when we were born, and then it was given, or I should say lent to us. From the air we breathe, to the water we drink. Nothing is really ours, although sometimes we try to pretend it is, by buying it or, like Morindoor, stealing and destroying it! But really, everything belongs to the earth, to the Earth Queen. She lets us use her gifts for a little while, and then she asks for them back. But that is not all. When you borrow something, from a friend for example, you try to take care of it, you do not break it or lessen it in any way. And when you return it, it should be as good, if not better, than when you first borrowed it."
Red Dawn and Little Stone nodded. "It is the same with the gifts you borrow from the earth," continued Zappo. "If you cut down a tree, make sure you are not harming anything else that may depend on the tree, and afterwards, make sure you plant another one to take its place. That is not always easy but with care it can be done. Borrow from the oceans, and from the forests, and from the skies, they are all gifts from the Earth Queen, but do not change or hurt them to the point where they can never be replaced. Enjoy them, and then return them to her. Learn from her gifts, and then walk forward. That is your gift to the earth."
Zappo put his hands behind his head and lay back on the leafy forest floor. "The Earth Queen is much greater than you or I," he said, gazing up through the branches into the clear blue sky, "and the likes of Morindoor are less than grains of sand beneath her feet. She is a kind and gentle Queen, unless you try to hurt her, or her children, and her children are many. They are the leaves on the trees. They are the stones on the ground, and the birds in the skies. They are everything that is upon the Earth, whether it breathes or does not breathe. They are even the fire that burns, and the water that boils, deep within her. They are the clouds and the winds that swirl and surround her. You cannot hurt even one of those things without hurting them all. And if you hurt the Earth too much, in the way that Morindoor is doing, the Queen will turn upon you. And then, my friends, you cannot even begin to imagine her wrath. Even without you and me, she would sweep aside Morindoor like a wasp before the wind."
"Zappo," said Little Stone, "you seem to know so much about the Earth." Zappo stretched and sat up. "I was a child in this forest when the great cedar trees were still seeds. Do you know how long ago that was my friends? But even that was not as long ago as when my folk were first here, and we are not the oldest creatures in the Forest Seven."
"What is the oldest creature here?" asked Red Dawn.
"I'm not sure," answered Zappo. "But I will show you something that has seen and heard more than anything else that I know."...
"Listen," said Zappo, not very pleased at being referred to as their little fury friend. "Morindoor is only the tip of the iceberg, or perhaps I should say the top of the dung heap! I will destroy Morindoor and his evil ways, make no mistake of that. But when he is gone, there are little Morindoors in every man and woman's heart. It is mankind who in the end must destroy the greed and destruction within its own heart."
He smiled at them and continued in a softer voice. "My friends, we have only one earth. She is like a beautiful queen with eyes the colour of the deep blue seas. Her song is the song of all living things. Every time one of those things dies, her song dies a little too. A word or note is lost, never to return. In all the ages, and in all the spaces of the universe, that beauty has gone forever. It may only be a little flower, or perhaps a great sea fish, or a flying bird, or a coloured insect, or maybe it is a medicine plant. But when it is gone, it is gone forever. Do you understand? That which has taken a thousand, thousand years and more to bring its gifts to the earth, and to you and me, has gone... never to return."
Zappo looked into their eyes with an intensity they had never seen before. Suddenly they knew that their journey North to fight Morindoor and save the little Princess Astra was only part of their quest. In their hands rested the safety of the forests, the sweetness of the seas, the beauty of the skies, the mysteries everywhere: even the future of mankind itself, for without their Earth Queen, with her wonders and her beauty, there could be no future and no home for mankind either.
"Zappo, how do we destroy the Morindoor within our own hearts?" asked Little Stone. Red Dawn also looked at him with questioning eyes... "Look at it this way," replied Zappo, "everything we have was already waiting for us when we were born, and then it was given, or I should say lent to us. From the air we breathe, to the water we drink. Nothing is really ours, although sometimes we try to pretend it is, by buying it or, like Morindoor, stealing and destroying it! But really, everything belongs to the earth, to the Earth Queen. She lets us use her gifts for a little while, and then she asks for them back. But that is not all. When you borrow something, from a friend for example, you try to take care of it, you do not break it or lessen it in any way. And when you return it, it should be as good, if not better, than when you first borrowed it."
Red Dawn and Little Stone nodded. "It is the same with the gifts you borrow from the earth," continued Zappo. "If you cut down a tree, make sure you are not harming anything else that may depend on the tree, and afterwards, make sure you plant another one to take its place. That is not always easy but with care it can be done. Borrow from the oceans, and from the forests, and from the skies, they are all gifts from the Earth Queen, but do not change or hurt them to the point where they can never be replaced. Enjoy them, and then return them to her. Learn from her gifts, and then walk forward. That is your gift to the earth."
Zappo put his hands behind his head and lay back on the leafy forest floor. "The Earth Queen is much greater than you or I," he said, gazing up through the branches into the clear blue sky, "and the likes of Morindoor are less than grains of sand beneath her feet. She is a kind and gentle Queen, unless you try to hurt her, or her children, and her children are many. They are the leaves on the trees. They are the stones on the ground, and the birds in the skies. They are everything that is upon the Earth, whether it breathes or does not breathe. They are even the fire that burns, and the water that boils, deep within her. They are the clouds and the winds that swirl and surround her. You cannot hurt even one of those things without hurting them all. And if you hurt the Earth too much, in the way that Morindoor is doing, the Queen will turn upon you. And then, my friends, you cannot even begin to imagine her wrath. Even without you and me, she would sweep aside Morindoor like a wasp before the wind."
"Zappo," said Little Stone, "you seem to know so much about the Earth." Zappo stretched and sat up. "I was a child in this forest when the great cedar trees were still seeds. Do you know how long ago that was my friends? But even that was not as long ago as when my folk were first here, and we are not the oldest creatures in the Forest Seven."
"What is the oldest creature here?" asked Red Dawn.
"I'm not sure," answered Zappo. "But I will show you something that has seen and heard more than anything else that I know."...
4 comments:
At a time when so much of our heritage, natural and manmade, is coming under the axe of greed and stupidity, two gentle reminders on the need to stay focused and fearless from two very important bears; The first from my old friend Zappo Zhi who is presently holed up waiting for spring to begin. The second (to whom I think Zappo might be distantly related) the one and only Smokey The Bear! You can read more about Smokey here http://web.mit.edu/dryfoo/www/Spritz-yule/smokey.html :-)
You have a bear in your cupboard as well ;)
Zappo was in the cupboard for a year or two - last thing I heard was that he'd met up with Dingle Greenwood and the team were heading west, out of Avebury, on the path to the North Country far :-)
May Zappo spread the message wherever he goes and if I meet him I will walk with him for a while...who knows how many will have joined him by then !
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