F
Part 1 - The Beginning
Part 2 - A new life
Part 3 - The Harsh Truth
Once upon a time, there was a young man. He lived in a village close to the woods, in a far away land. As that young man grew in age, he starts to feel – with every passing day – more, and more, sad.
You see, he noticed the other men in the village – most of the other men – had wives. But he didn’t. The more he thought about this, the sadder he became.
One day, as he was walking to the well, he sat down on the bench, his head down, in a state of despair. And when he finally lifted his head, he noticed, there was a crow. It’s picking at the leaves, near his feet. He said to the crow, in an anguished voice, while shaking his head: “What am I to do? Every time I walk to this well, you’re there, in the same spot, my constant companion of misery. Have you no words to console me?!”
The crow stopped what it was doing, turned to look at the man, and blinked. It then said to him: “Do you lift?”. And the young man said, in response: “What do you mean, Mr. Crow, ‘Do I lift’?”
And the crow continued: "Do you lift rocks?".
And the young man replied, shaking his head in disbelief: “What should…. what has that to do with my problem?".
And the crow – knowing this young mans soul, even before he told him – it said, “I know your problem. The other men of the village, they have wives, but you don’t. But you see, these other men, they have better bodies than you do. So, the young maidens, they don’t want you, for that reason. But if you start to lift rocks, maybe, if you put in the work, you can bring yourself to the same standards as these other young men, and your fortune will change with the ladies.”
Now the young man, upon hearing this – at first he was a little bit puzzled and sceptical, but the crow, being a wise and especially cunning bird – started thinking: “Hmm, maybe the crow has a point.”
So after he came back from the well, he went into his garden, and found some heavy rocks, and he started to lift the rocks.
You see, he noticed the other men in the village – most of the other men – had wives. But he didn’t. The more he thought about this, the sadder he became.
One day, as he was walking to the well, he sat down on the bench, his head down, in a state of despair. And when he finally lifted his head, he noticed, there was a crow. It’s picking at the leaves, near his feet. He said to the crow, in an anguished voice, while shaking his head: “What am I to do? Every time I walk to this well, you’re there, in the same spot, my constant companion of misery. Have you no words to console me?!”
The crow stopped what it was doing, turned to look at the man, and blinked. It then said to him: “Do you lift?”. And the young man said, in response: “What do you mean, Mr. Crow, ‘Do I lift’?”
And the crow continued: "Do you lift rocks?".
And the young man replied, shaking his head in disbelief: “What should…. what has that to do with my problem?".
And the crow – knowing this young mans soul, even before he told him – it said, “I know your problem. The other men of the village, they have wives, but you don’t. But you see, these other men, they have better bodies than you do. So, the young maidens, they don’t want you, for that reason. But if you start to lift rocks, maybe, if you put in the work, you can bring yourself to the same standards as these other young men, and your fortune will change with the ladies.”
Now the young man, upon hearing this – at first he was a little bit puzzled and sceptical, but the crow, being a wise and especially cunning bird – started thinking: “Hmm, maybe the crow has a point.”
So after he came back from the well, he went into his garden, and found some heavy rocks, and he started to lift the rocks.
Part 2 - A new life
Now, after a few weeks, he started to notice that his muscles and his shoulders were becoming a bit bigger. And he – lo and behold – started to notice that the women in the village – at least one or two of them – were being more friendly towards him, and seem to be more interested to talk to him. And so he started to lift more rocks, more regularly, to see if he could improve this effect. And – lo and behold – more young ladies started to talk to him. Now, he even managed to get into a relationship with one of these young maidens. And although it didn’t work out, he was still happy, because at least he was receiving the interest of some of the ladies in the village. And he was happy enough with that.
But, unfortunately for the young man, after the failure of his first attempt of getting a young lady, he noticed something had changed. That, even though he was lifting rocks still in his garden, between going to the forest and chopping wood, and fetching water – he wasn’t getting the same response from the woman in the village. And he wondered – what was happening?
Being a village, word spread around that this young man had changed his fortune, by lifting rocks. And some of the other men in the village, who were also struggling with attracting a young lady, they started to copy him, and do the same. And the more the men in the village copied this young man, the more the effects of lifting these rocks seemed to wear off. It seemed to be a magical effect: When only one of the men in the village was doing this, it had its effect, but the more men in the village started to lift the rocks, the more the effect seemed to wear off.
And so, what did this young man do? Puzzled, and in danger of returning to this state of despair that he not so long ago thought that he’d escaped from, he went back to see the crow, and asked the crow:
“Oh cunning bird, thou so wisely advised me previously in my moment of despair, I besiege you, tell me once more, what is… what is the solution to this situation. What is happening in this situation, I don’t understand! Enlighten me.”
But, unfortunately for the young man, after the failure of his first attempt of getting a young lady, he noticed something had changed. That, even though he was lifting rocks still in his garden, between going to the forest and chopping wood, and fetching water – he wasn’t getting the same response from the woman in the village. And he wondered – what was happening?
Being a village, word spread around that this young man had changed his fortune, by lifting rocks. And some of the other men in the village, who were also struggling with attracting a young lady, they started to copy him, and do the same. And the more the men in the village copied this young man, the more the effects of lifting these rocks seemed to wear off. It seemed to be a magical effect: When only one of the men in the village was doing this, it had its effect, but the more men in the village started to lift the rocks, the more the effect seemed to wear off.
And so, what did this young man do? Puzzled, and in danger of returning to this state of despair that he not so long ago thought that he’d escaped from, he went back to see the crow, and asked the crow:
“Oh cunning bird, thou so wisely advised me previously in my moment of despair, I besiege you, tell me once more, what is… what is the solution to this situation. What is happening in this situation, I don’t understand! Enlighten me.”
And the crow – at first paid no attention to the man, but eventually stopped what it was doing – looked up at the man, and said:
"The problem, young man, is, when you apply the lifting of the rocks, its effect, is at its strongest, when only one person does it. But as soon… as soon as the lifting is applied to more than one man… as soon as MOST men start to do this, the effect wears off. For you see, the woman in the village, they want the man who stands apart from the others. They want the man that is clearly above the other man. Whether in height, in muscles, in money – they only want the best men in the village. And when half ot the men in the village have big muscles, for example, it has no effect. Because then, you’re not interesting for these woman anymore. You don’t stand apart.”
So the young man said to the crow: “Well, what am I to do?”.
And the crow, stopped, and went back to picking at the leaves at his feet, just like it had at the first time he asked for its advice. And it said:
“Well, in this situation, there is not really a lot you can do, you see. Because, once all of the other men in the village, all of the single men that is, have done everything they can, to stand apart from the other men – they’ve improved their muscles, they’ve built a better, nicer cottage, they’ve collected a bigger pile of wood, and gathered more pigs to provide for the winter. Once you’ve done all of that, there’s not really much else you can do, you see. Because the things that will really make you stand out to the woman, will be those things that you can’t really change.”
And the young man became very frustrated and kicked over one of the buckets of water that he had been fetching from the well. And the crow became very wet, and a little bit agitated. And the man said: “You’re confusing me crow! You’re talking in riddles. WHY do you need to torment me as well? My life is shit enough as things are. I don’t need crows talking in philosophical riddles to me.” I want practical advice.
The crow said: “You’re not listening to me.” But the crow, being a wise and patient bird, continued, and it said to the young man: “Those things of which I speak – that you cannot change – they will become more important. I repeat: Those things are: Your height. Your frame. Your face.”
And the young man, becoming even more agitated, kicked over the other bucket, and yelled: “I don’t wanna hear it anymore! This is depressing me. I don’t want to hear.”
And the crow said: “But you must hear, for it’s the truth. And the truth often hurts. But the truth will set you free, for it will at least prevent you from going down the wrong paths into the forest, from which you might never return.”
And the young man started his way back home, with empty buckets, and a depleted soul, lacking in hope. And as he reached the gates of his cottage, and flung his buckets into his garden, he sat down in the chair, and watched, as the couples went by. He came to realize: That’s the way the world was.
"The problem, young man, is, when you apply the lifting of the rocks, its effect, is at its strongest, when only one person does it. But as soon… as soon as the lifting is applied to more than one man… as soon as MOST men start to do this, the effect wears off. For you see, the woman in the village, they want the man who stands apart from the others. They want the man that is clearly above the other man. Whether in height, in muscles, in money – they only want the best men in the village. And when half ot the men in the village have big muscles, for example, it has no effect. Because then, you’re not interesting for these woman anymore. You don’t stand apart.”
So the young man said to the crow: “Well, what am I to do?”.
And the crow, stopped, and went back to picking at the leaves at his feet, just like it had at the first time he asked for its advice. And it said:
“Well, in this situation, there is not really a lot you can do, you see. Because, once all of the other men in the village, all of the single men that is, have done everything they can, to stand apart from the other men – they’ve improved their muscles, they’ve built a better, nicer cottage, they’ve collected a bigger pile of wood, and gathered more pigs to provide for the winter. Once you’ve done all of that, there’s not really much else you can do, you see. Because the things that will really make you stand out to the woman, will be those things that you can’t really change.”
And the young man became very frustrated and kicked over one of the buckets of water that he had been fetching from the well. And the crow became very wet, and a little bit agitated. And the man said: “You’re confusing me crow! You’re talking in riddles. WHY do you need to torment me as well? My life is shit enough as things are. I don’t need crows talking in philosophical riddles to me.” I want practical advice.
The crow said: “You’re not listening to me.” But the crow, being a wise and patient bird, continued, and it said to the young man: “Those things of which I speak – that you cannot change – they will become more important. I repeat: Those things are: Your height. Your frame. Your face.”
And the young man, becoming even more agitated, kicked over the other bucket, and yelled: “I don’t wanna hear it anymore! This is depressing me. I don’t want to hear.”
And the crow said: “But you must hear, for it’s the truth. And the truth often hurts. But the truth will set you free, for it will at least prevent you from going down the wrong paths into the forest, from which you might never return.”
And the young man started his way back home, with empty buckets, and a depleted soul, lacking in hope. And as he reached the gates of his cottage, and flung his buckets into his garden, he sat down in the chair, and watched, as the couples went by. He came to realize: That’s the way the world was.
Last edited:
