Wisdom of the dragon part 3-10

The Dragon and the Rabbit

 

Long ago, on a tall mountain, lived one of the last of the wise dragons. Every day, this wise dragon would leave its cave and head down the mountain to a particular clearing about halfway down the mountain. There, people from around the land could come and ask the dragon questions, and she would give them her wisdom. From time-to-time, people would even stay on the mountain and train as an apprentice of the wise dragon.

 

At this moment in history, the wise dragon had a young human boy named Noyet, who had learned many skills in his training with the wise dragon. He had stood by the dragon’s side each day for five years as others came and asked their questions.

 

He had heard all the answers to these questions, and each night after the crowds

left, he would get to ask his questions about what the dragon had said throughout the day.

 

Most of the time when people would come and ask the dragon a question,

the dragon would think for a few moments and then answer, but sometimes she would not answer them. Instead, the wise dragon would tell the person to go up the hill a little way and to talk to the wise one who lived in a small shack there. That they were wiser on such matters thane even her.

 

Today, Noyet had witnessed another of these moments, when a royal from a

foreign land had arrived seeking the wisdom of the dragon. He had approached, head held high, and did not bow, as was the custom. Noyet had noticed that this did not seem to bother his master.  When he spoke, he did so as one who was new to the language.

 

“Great lizard, I have travel far to seek ye, my kingdom has had plentiful troubles. If my people do not work upon each seventh day, they will not pull in the harvest before the great snow comes. If this passes, they will starve in the cold of

winter. But it is commanded by our god that each seventh day is a day of rest.

 How do I convince my people that it is just and rightful for us to live and to do so they must work every day till the snow comes, even on the seventh day?”

          

The dragon thought on this for some time, then told the king to go up the hill and speak with the wiser one. There, she would tell him what to tell his people about keeping their commandments with their god.

 

The man walked up the hill and went into the shack. He was there for only a few moments, then came back down, now angry at the dragon, and even put his hand on the hilt of his blade but did not pull it, as his manservant grabbed his hand and whispered something in his ear. The royal figure and his party then left without

saying a word. That night, Noyet thought back to other times he had seen his master send people to the shack, he remembered that many of them had come back

looking more confused than when they had gone up. He had to know who

the master in the shack was, and what they could have said to anger the king so much and confuse so many others.

 

So, he asked the wise dragon, “Who lives in the shack?”

 

The dragon told Noyet, “One who is wise in guiding others who

wish to control others’ beliefs.”

 

Noyet thought about this while the two ate their dinner. Then asked his master, “What does the wise one in the shack tell these people who wish to control others?”

 

The dragon smiled, something Noyet still could not get used to, for when his master smiled, she showed her massive teeth, and even though Noyet knew he was safe with his master always, it was still a bit frighting. She then spoke, saying,

“If you are curious, why don’t you go ask the one who lives there?”

 

Noyet became excited and asked his master, “I would not be bothering them this late?”

 

“No, no, she loves company,” answered the wise dragon with another grin.

 

Noyet went up the hill to the small shack. He had never been higher up the mountain than the clearing and felt like he was almost intruding. By the time he found the shack, he could see the dragon’s cave opening farther up the mountain. 

 

The door was still open to the shack, so Noyet stepped inside to see a table. On that

table was a large brown pillow with gold tassels at each corner. Setting on that pillow was a large, white rabbit with long, soft, fluffy ears, that drooped down till the tips were resting on the soft pillow.

 

At first, like the others who had come before him, Noyet was confused. He stood for a moment and waited for someone to come out of the shadows, but nothing happened.

 

Then he thought, I have heard tales of talking animals, and this rabbit does just sit there with the door wide open and does not run away as any caged rabbit should.

Perhaps it has some magic to it.

 

Noyet asked the question that the king had asked earlier that day, but again  nothing happened.

 

Noyet thought for a moment, possibly the rabbit knows this question is not my own, so it answers not.  So, he tried to remember every question he had ever heard his master refuse to answer and had sent the asker here for guidance.

 

 

 

It came to him that all the questions he had heard had dealt with prayer or devotion, and he tried to think of a question of his own that delt with such a topic.

Finally, it came to him, and he asked the rabbit.  “The last time I went to town,

I noticed my sister did not wake for morning prayers with the sun as she should, and now I worry she may have fallen off the path. What should I do?”

 

Again, the rabbit just sat there, it did not speak or even make a sound.

 

Noyet was used to waiting for answers from the dragon and did not want to seem

impatient, so he waited for quite some time, till the cold night air filled the tiny shack, before leaving and closing the door. As he walked back down the mountain, he was met by his master walking up the mountain.

 

“What have you learned, Noyet, from your visit to the wise one?” Asked the wise dragon. Noyet looked a little sad as he answered his master.

 

“I am not sure I understand, master. I asked the question the king asked and even asked another question about prayer and my sisters’ path in life, but again, the rabbit within the shack said nothing.”

 

The dragon let out a small sound that Noyet could only guess was a chuckle,

Then spoke, saying, “Yes! That is right, Noyet. Nothing! You wish to one day be as I, a guide of men. Remember this lesson well. Noyet, when men come asking you what I should tell others about how to live or how to worship, tell them nothing, for it is not their place to tell others these things, nor is it yours or mine.”

         

The wise Dragon finished by saying,

         

“The best answer to such people who would seek to tell others who their God

or Goddesses should be, or how to be one with them,

is to say nothing at all.” 

 

THE END