As the Fool scrambled up towards the light at the top of the ravine, he came to a defensive wall. He climbed over it to find a man with a bandage on his head holding a staff in a defensive pose. Several heads were affixed on pointed staffs behind him. The man wore a bright uniform of yellow, blue, and red. The Fool’s stomach turned cold with fear.
Who dares to trespass? the man said. You will become one of the others that have crossed me.
I am a simple traveler, the Fool responded, I am just heading towards that light.
You are already at the light, the man responded back, confusing the Fool.
I was injured, the man said, and so for revenge I destroyed everyone that I know.
The Fool didn’t want to provoke the man with the weapon, for it seemed obvious that the man could kill. He did think that the man was overreacting to a bonk on the head, but this wasn’t the Fool’s battle. The light called to him from on top of the hill in the still-black night, but he needed to pass this man first.
I know what you are thinking, the man said to the Fool. You think that I overreacted, that I should have asked for an apology, or just hit the one man over the head and make the two of us equal.
The Fool did think all of those things, but he didn’t respond outwardly.
Well, I tried all of those things, the man went on, and he didn’t apologize, they didn’t stop laughing, he didn’t stop making staves for future attacks, he was just silent and he didn’t pick a side, and he was related to the one who attacked me. I had to respond this way to make sure that this will never happen again.
The Fool thought about international diplomacy in the world of man, and how this sounded much like those follies.
I am so tired, the man said, feeling his bandaged head. I am so tired and so alone. The man slid to the ground, his back to the wall. A gentle breeze moved all the heads’ hair, and their beards. A circle of crows began to descend, seeing that the man wasn’t standing there anymore.
I will go now, the Fool said. I wish you the very best luck.
The man just waved dismissively at the Fool and sat there with a scowl. There was death all around him, a warning to not get close.