by T F Carthick
“Calm down, my boy. Calm down. I can give you the ten gold coins. You will get your house mended, maybe have nice meals for few days. But what after that?”
“What do you mean?”
“Do you want to remain poor all your life? Don’t you see the opportunity that awaits you? I agree it is not without risk. But don’t you see how it can change your life?”
“You mean I have to go up there again? No. I won’t. If that creature sees me again, I will be dead for sure.”
What he said made sense. He was more useful to me alive than dead. Maybe I could help him by giving him some magic to defend himself. But I was reluctant to give him any of my magic. Mustafa gave Aladdin his magic ring. Gothel used her magic on Rapunzel’s hair. And that had proved to be their undoing. But then if I didn’t give him something, he wouldn’t agree to go up. And even if he did, the giant would definitely kill him.
“Even though you accuse me of cheating you, I am your well-wisher. As a sign of my goodwill, I will give you some more magic. Take these boots. They can carry you faster than the wind. If the giant sets his eyes on you, all you need to do is to wear these boots and you will outrun him.”
Encouraged by the gift, he once again ventured up the creeper. He started making regular trips there and the results began to show – gold coins, a harp that played by itself and a goose that laid golden eggs to name a few. I was content to let him keep these trinkets. I was sure that soon, the more powerful artifacts would begin to emerge. By then I had decided to be on friendly terms with him so that he would give them to me on his own accord. I did not want him using them and having to wage a magical battle with him.
Then one day, I saw him hurrying down the vine. Minutes after he had climbed down a giant pair of feet emerged down the vine followed by the legs and the whole bulk of the giant’s body. But the moment his head began to emerge, the creeper gave way and the giant came crashing to the ground. He hit the ground with great force and the entire field was covered with blood, bones and entrails.
The boy was looking completely aghast. “The giant…the giant…dead.”
“Yes, my boy. He is indeed dead. Didn’t I tell you the creeper can’t take weight?”
“What do I do now?”
“Don’t worry. Let me help you clear the mess.”
It took a few days to get rid of the giant’s carcass and to calm the boy down.
“The poor giantess. She would be devastated. He was all she had.”
This was the first time I was hearing about this giantess. So that fellow had not been alone.
“Giantess?”
“Yes. The giant’s wife. She was a kind woman. She never let the giant hurt me. She warned me when he was near and allowed me to hide. I feel so bad at the way I have repaid her kindness. I have stolen from them and now I have been the cause of her husband’s death. I just can’t forgive myself.”
This was not going the right way at all. I had hoped to plant one more vine and get him to start the raids again. But this new-found empathy for giants was not going to help.
“See here, my boy. It is your kindness of heart that you feel for them. But they are not human and we can’t use human values in our dealings with them. They are monsters. They are enemies of mankind. For the good of mankind they all need to be hunted down and exterminated. We are doing our bit for mankind, weakening them by taking away their wealth and magic. And you managed to dispatch of one of them – one of the most vicious and dangerous ones. Humanity will thank you for your contributions.”
“But this giantess was such a kind lady. She used to speak to me when the giant was not around. She told me all about the giants. They seem so like us. Some of them are given to violence she told me. But so are some of us. But from what she said most of them are peace loving and just want to get on with their lives. Even her husband never really hurt me.”
Working class morality! These people with their pea-sized brains never see the bigger picture. Such emotional fools they are. Explaining things such as the greater need for expanding humanity’s horizons of magical knowledge would be futile. I had to talk to him in the language he understood best.
“She must have been trying to beguile you. I know the giants better than you. Didn’t you see how horrible they look? Do you think any creature that looks so disgusting can be like us? Heed my words, my boy. They are all our enemies. This is war.”
The boy did not reply. There was a stubborn expression on his face. What was I going to do with him? I was getting a sinking feeling. It was going to be Mustafa and Gothel all over again. Why does this always happen to us? We men and women of magic always get a raw deal. People feel sympathy for even vile giants, but no one feels anything for us, who strive tirelessly to take humanity forward. Humanity is always content to grovel in the mud. For their own good, humanity must be ruled by an iron hand. By a magician like me. If not, it will only be a few generations before they degenerate into animals.
The next day I decided to adopt a different tactic with him. When I went to his house he turned his face away from me. The ungrateful vermin. How much I had done for him! And how he treated me. But I needed to be patient. The end goal was more important than my ego. We men of magic are ruled by reason, not by emotions. I went up to him and put my arm around him.
“I understand how you feel, my boy. I am sorry I got carried away yesterday. You are right. The giants are sentient beings too and we must deal with them more compassionately. I must thank you for opening my eyes.”
He looked at me quizzically. The dratted boy. He goes and trusts a bloody giantess but not one of his fellow humans. What humanity has come to these days!
“Yes, my boy. You are right. It was sad that the poor giant had to die because of you. You must go and console the giantess. You owe it to her.”
“But the creeper is gone. I can’t go up there again.”
“What if it is gone? I will grow one more for you. I still have a few of them left. They are scarce and valuable. But I will still sacrifice them for you. Go, my boy. Go and do the right thing.”
Soon another creeper was up and he was back in the clouds.
I let him visit the giantess for a few days. Then one day I spoke to him. “How is the giantess doing?”
“Initially she was furious with me for being the cause of her husband’s death. She even refused to see me. But I was persistent and eventually she yielded. She has accepted my apologies. But she is still very depressed. I need to make lot of effort to cheer her up. Poor woman.”
“Yes. You must do all that is in your power to console her. You are really a nice, caring boy.”
“You too, Sir. I really respect you all the more for your change of heart. I always thought you were a cold fish. But you actually have a large heart.”
This boy was putting me in a difficult fix. How do I broach the topic of the magical artifacts?
“Hmm…one more thing, boy. You know there are things we and the giants can collaborate on. You know – help each other and make both giants and humans great again.”
“Huh?”
I took that as encouragement and proceeded. “You see, these giants have made lot of advances in magic. We humans can learn some of it and use it. You know, for the good of all humans.”
“Yeah?”
“So maybe you can talk to your giantess and see if she can let you bring me some of these items. I won’t be taking them you know. Just examine, understand the magic and then I shall return them.”
“Hmm…I don’t know.”
“Come on, boy. There is no harm in this. Just an exchange of ideas between the races. It is for everyone’s good.”
I tried to give him an angelic smile. Phew! All this required so much of an effort.
Over the next few days I took him to my home and showed him all my work to impress upon him the importance of magic and what a great gift to mankind it could be.
“Do you see this box, my boy? These are the magical beans I used to grow
the creeper. These were left behind by an ancient druid. I had to go all the way to an Irish glade to track them down. And he has left no record on how he created them or how they ought to be used. Magic is not plain mumbo jumbo as people imagine it to be. It is the culmination of years of study. We magicians need to be constantly on the lookout for such objects of power. There is only so much a magician can do all by himself. One must rely heavily on legacies of magicians from the past. Take these beans for instance. Even if I wanted, I would not be able to create some like these. Once these last few beans are gone, no one would be able to grow a devil vine to the skies again. That is how most magic is. It can only be used for a limited number of times and one needs to keep finding and adding new items to renew one’s magic. Do you now see why I need the giants’ magic?”
The boy nodded. The next day he climbed up the creeper and kept me waiting for hours but came back empty handed. I was furious.
“What is this, you young rat? Didn’t you convey my message to her?”
“I did, Sir. But she said the magic is something that only brings tragedy in its wake. She says it wreaked havoc upon the giants. She does not want our human race to repeat their mistakes.”
“You stupid boy! Don’t you see her ploy? The giants are jealous of us humans. They don’t want us to make the advancements they have made. They want to hold us back. If this does not convince you that they are your enemies, nothing will.”
“I am convinced,” he said. His voice had a strange strength and finality to it.
“If the giants do not give us their magic voluntarily, we must steal it from them, boy. One must not have scruples when the welfare of the entire human race is at stake.”
“I agree,” he said.
I was surprised. I had expected lot of futile arguments all over again. But the boy seemed to have become wiser. Maybe my company was beginning to rub off on him. If he continued like this, I might even consider taking him on as my apprentice.
“It is decided then. Today you must be tired. Have some rest. Let us start from tomorrow.”
That night I was woken up by a burning smell. When I opened my eyes, flames were all around me. I rushed out of my house, only to see the boy standing there. The devil’s spawn! He had set my house on fire. This boy was pure evil. Worse than Aladdin and Rapunzel. A male Vivianne he had turned out to be – one who sought to destroy his master after learning all his magic! I should have never shown him where I lived.
I rushed to grab him. But he was faster than me, what with those magic boots and all. He ran towards his house. I ran after him. By the time I caught up with, he was already climbing up the creeper like a monkey. I would not let him get away. I began to climb after him. I did not care if it was dangerous. All I wanted was to get hold of him and teach him a lesson! I had just tested my weight on the creeper and satisfied myself when it suddenly gave way and down I fell to the ground. I noticed the creeper had been cut clean, close to the cloud. It had not given way under my weight. It had been cut.
From above a voice called out. “Be grateful I cut the creeper before you could climb higher. Or your fate would have been the same as that of the giant.”
“Wait till I get you, you ungrateful snake!”
“You can’t, Sir. I have cut the only access to the clouds and you don’t have any more magic left. By now all your magic items would have been reduced to cinders. So it will take some time before you can do magic again.”
It stuck me like a hammer blow. In my anger against him, I had forgotten the burning house. Everything I had accumulated over the years would be gone now.
“If I can’t come up, you can’t come down either, you young rat! You are marooned for life,” I yelled.
“I don’t mind, Sir. The giantess has been kind enough to offer me her home. She is much nicer than my mother has ever been to me. We will be there for each other and live peacefully.”
This fellow seemed to have thought of everything. I could not believe it. Being completely outwitted by an oaf like that. Someone tapped me on my shoulder. I turned around. A man in a turban-and-cape and an old lady in a cloak, her head covered with a cowl, stood next to me. I knew who they were – Mustafa and Mother Gothel.
They nodded at me sympathetically. We walked slowly down the long road, towards the sunset, hand in hand.
A Tale of One City
I have seen the best of times. I have seen the worst of times. Various hues of men have come. And have gone. But I continue to live and learn. So many memories lie buried deep within my heart going all the way back to the time when I came into existence. From the collective consciousness of a jungle, my individual consciousness was eked out. The trees were cut and ramparts erected. Houses were built and people came to live within me, entrusting me with their lives. I was given a soul – the soul of the people who lived within me. I was no longer a nameless formless swathe of wilderness – a small part of the vast jungle. I became my own person with my own name and form. I became Hamelin.
So many interesting events have transpired in all these years. But one that still remains etched firmly in my mind is the one around a man who called himself “The Piper”. It was the fourth century of my existence, the twelfth after Christ by human reckoning. A strange-looking man made his appearance outside the town hall. He was a middle-aged man of average height. His belly was strangely bloated and his arms and legs were thin and knotty. He wore a tight-fitting shirt, tight fitting pants and a pointed hat – all made of the same cloth – a motley fabric full of bright colors – red, blue, green and yellow. He held a rugged looking pipe that did not seem to be of human make in his hand.
“What brings you to our town, stranger?” asked the guard outside the hall.
“I would like to see the mayor of your town,” he replied, in a singsong voice.
“What do you want with the mayor? He is a busy man. He has no time to meet every vagabond who passes by our town.”
The piper drew himself straight and tried to bring a stern expression on his podgy face. “I am no vagabond. I am an artist. I come here to perform for your town.”
Before the guard could reply, he took out his pipe and began to play. The notes that emanated were not exactly melodious. But they were like nothing I had ever heard before. They had a strange, ethereal quality to them. They seemed to stir something deep within my heart. I was suddenly overcome by affection for this stranger and wanted to do whatever I could to please him. I presume it was the same with the guard as well, for he immediately ushered the piper towards the mayor’s office.
The mayor was a sparse man in his late fifties who had aged beyond his years. He sat at his table, his head buried in his hands. He raised his head on hearing footsteps.
“Who do you bring with you, Hans?”
“Sir, this man wanted to meet you. He wants to perform for our town. I heard him play. He is amazing. You too must hear him, Sir.”
The mayor surveyed the piper from head to toe, a solemn expression on his face. “We welcome you to our town, stranger, and highly appreciate your desire to entertain us. I am sure you are a musician of great caliber, as Hans vouches. But we are in no state to enjoy music and art. For we are beset by a great crisis.”
“What be this crisis, Sir? Maybe I can be of help.”
“With all due respect to you, my man, it is not a problem a musician can solve. It is rat-catchers that we require. No ordinary rat-catchers, but master rat-catchers who can just spirit away all the damn rats.”
“Rat-catchers?” he asked, his eyes brightening slightly.
“Yes, my man. You heard right. Rats are the crisis we face. Those dark, furry little monsters are all over the place. One can’t take a few steps around one’s house without stepping over one. They are feeding ferociously and multiplying by the day. All our food reserves are fast disappearing and we seem to be able to do nothing about it. If we don’t act fast, we will either starve to death or end up being eaten alive by the hungry rats.”
T
he mayor’s voice had taken on a near-hysterical tone.
“Maybe I can help you with your problem after all, sir. What will you give me if I spirit away all the vermin?”
“A thousand gold coins if you can do what you say, my man.”
Though the mayor was not really convinced by the man’s claim, he was willing to clutch at every last straw of hope. After all, the situation he was faced with was so dire.
“A thousand gold coins it is then. I shall hold you to it. I will come for my money a week from now.”
So saying, he stepped out of the mayor’s office.
Now a thousand gold coins in those times was a large sum of money. An extremely large sum. There was no way the town was going to afford that much. But the mayor was probably too desperate, or too confident that the piper wouldn’t be able to do what he promised, and had named that sum anyway.
This was wrong at many levels. The mayor’s despair and eagerness to solve the problem was understandable. But from what I have seen, no human problems come with quick fixes. Haste seldom helps. One requires patience to get to the depth of a problem and attack it at its root. A holistic solution does take a lot of time and effort but the benefits are long-lasting. Quick fixes, on the other hand, end up aggravating the situation. Take this situation of the rats itself, for instance. While the mayor may not have realized it, the fact was that the people of the town had brought this upon themselves. A few years earlier, people had complained of snakes. There were just a few of these reptiles, but still the people had complained incessantly. So, snake-catchers had been summoned to exterminate the snakes. Then, a few months’ later, stray dogs had become the object of the people’s ire.
“They keep barking all night. They just don’t let us sleep,” they had complained.