The Fool entered a deep canyon as he followed the river upstream. The canyon walls were tall and sheer. Along the rocky shore of the river, he found a man standing stoic on a plain throne, watching the river go by. Clad in armor and a crown of antlers, he had a shield with an eagle painted on it. In one hand, he grasped the hilt of a sword whose blade looked to be embedded deep in the rocks. In the other he held a staff with his station as king on it. This man was the Emperor.
The Emperor seemed unmoved by all that was going on around him. He was as still as stone. The Fool thought for a moment that he had come across a statue, but then the Emperor nodded to the Fool to sit at his feet, and the Fool did as he was told.
For a while, they sat there watching the river go by. They didn’t say anything for decades – or maybe just a few breaths – but time really did stand still. A bird flew past. A rock fell from the cliff and into the river. The Emperor and the Fool kept sitting there.
Eventually, a parade of figures came up from the way the Fool was heading before running into the Emperor. There were people in the mix, while some were animals wearing clothes. Everyone was in bright loud colors. They groveled before the Emperor, begging for an audience. He granted it.
One by one, these subjects asked the Emperor to make a decision or give advice on different problems. Some were asking about border disputes. A bear in bright red-and-green satin clothing asked about the shortage of resources in the forest lands. The Emperor listened to each plea, and took a few breaths before giving a verdict. He was wise, and when he didn’t know something, he admitted it. Sometimes he had to make a decision that wasn’t what the subject wanted, but he made the decision anyway, for it was still the best decision.
This happened every day. The subjects of the kingdom would come and ask for the Emperor’s advice and council, and the Emperor would grant it, as the Emperor wanted nothing more than to bring stability and harmony to the land.
The Emperor paid little mind to the Fool, except to ask, as they ate fish over a fire, if the Fool listened to the advice and decisions the Emperor had made that day. The Fool tried to remember, but usually he found that the day went by in a fog. Sometimes, however, there were specific things he could remember. The Emperor found the Fool’s forgetful way funny, and sometimes the stern-faced stoicism of the Emperor would subside long enough for laughter. The Fool thought it was good that the Emperor laughed.
The Emperor remembered the Fool from his previous journeys through these lands. It made the Emperor melancholy to think about how the Fool wasn’t quite getting it. He wanted so badly for the Fool to reincarnate, to be a better being, but it wasn’t the Emperor’s way to force anything that does not want to be forced. He knew that raising his voice or using a threatening tone would accomplish nothing. Maybe the Fool was there to teach him some patience and tolerance.
The days and weeks went by – or the seconds and minutes – but, in any case, the Fool felt the traveling bug again. The Emperor didn’t seem too concerned with the Fool moving on, although he hoped that the Fool would take something from their stay together, that lessons were learned. He hoped that he was a wise, just king who treated each subject with dignity and care.
The Fool was his son, in a way. The Emperor was there when the Fool was made. He even had added some of himself to be used in the creation of the Fool. He took the time to watch the Fool travel aimlessly through the world and never live up to his potential. The Emperor and the Empress would cluck their tongues whenever they met up and discussed the Fool. They weren’t ashamed or disappointed, but they knew that more was supposed to happen.
Some children grow up fast. Sometimes it is a blessing to grow up fast and other times it is a curse. Some children take a long time to grow up, and this too is either a curse or a blessing. As a father, the Emperor needed to understand that the Fool’s rate of maturity was going to be slower than a glacier. In fact, the Emperor had watched a glacier carve out this canyon from where he sat.
The Emperor wanted to make sure that the Fool was ready for the next few steps in his adventure. He wanted to see if he could help open the Fool’s eyes to ensure that he might see the lessons there.
It is everywhere, said the Emperor. Some wish there was a book that gave precise meanings of each symbol and every object one walks by, but sometimes one just needs their own ability to interpret.
The Fool listened to the Emperor’s words attentively. He tried following the movements of the mouth, tried to hear each word that came out, but it seemed that the words were disappearing somewhere between his eyes and his ears and his head. The Fool felt like he had nothing but cobwebs in there. He just smiled and nodded to the Emperor’s lesson, knowing only that it was about to get harder and more abstract. Things weren’t going to be as obvious as the Emperor, the Empress, the Priestess, and the Magician. There were still archetypes left, but then there would be notional ideas, and he would have to try harder to interpret the messages and lessons.
When he was done, the Emperor embraced the Fool in a tight hug. He wanted to make sure that the Fool felt loved and cared for. He also kissed the Fool on the cheek.
The Emperor watched as the Fool followed the river farther upstream. He would be out of the canyon in an hour or so – or maybe it would be ten years – but soon enough he wouldn’t be anywhere near here.
The Emperor sat back down on his throne and resumed watching the river go by. There was peace here.