Lead and Gold, the Sun and the Moon, and the creation of the seasons
“We can turn lead into gold!” shouted the evil alchemist!
He was an old, disgusting, selfish, but very powerful villain. He was fascinated by darkness, by everything dark in this white world. The alchemist was also extremely mercantile, obsessively thinking about the infinite wealth that he immediately associated with gold. Gold that constantly shines, and best of all, of course, in the complete absence of light. He wanted to plunge the whole world into eternal shadow, but he did not want to lose the beauty of the yellow metal. But now he had an idea!
However, let us first go back to the very beginning of the story. We should not start in the middle of it! So…
… Once upon a time, when the Earth was already formed, but no civilization had reached significant development, when the deserts were still green and all the mountains were high, there lived a clever and kind ruler. He had two sons of almost the same age: Sun and Moon.
Sun grew up to be a hot-tempered boy, full of cheerfulness and courage. “Without my warmth, my “sunshine”, no plant can survive, no long journey can take place!” he said to himself. It so happened that the symbol of his individuality was gold, which suited him perfectly.
Moon was a calmer, dreamier guy with a lot of inspiration and creativity. “Without my powers, no wave in the sea will move, no ship will be able to reach another port!” he used to say to himself. It so happened that the symbol of his individuality was lead, which, with its properties, suited his character perfectly.
Both brothers lived in peace and harmony until their father died. They began to quarrel with each other about this or that, but nothing ended badly – each conflict was resolved at the moment it arose. And so their lives went on until a strange alchemist appeared out of nowhere, rumoured to be from faraway lands, who could transform one substance into another. We have already met him. It was the same evil alchemist from the beginning of the story, but the brothers did not know about it.
At first, this stranger went to Sun. As we remember, he had a plan and was very attracted to gold. By slander and deception, he began to tell one of the brothers about the terrible behaviour of the other, Moon. The symbol of the Moon was lead, which the alchemist called a useless metal, good for only one thing: refining into gold. It had to be the same gold with which the Sun was associated. Gold was his individual resource. So, with the evil words of the villain, Sun began to think about attacking its brother, Moon, which was supposed to obey his authority, the authority of the Sun, its metal, gold! This was when the alchemist’s aforementioned remark was uttered: “We can turn lead into gold.” The worst part is that the Sun finally agreed.
Right after that, the mean alchemist ran to another brother, Moon. He told him that his brother, Sun, wanted to attack him because of his hot temper. Of course, Moon did not believe the stranger at first, but he told him exactly what Sun had said about lead. Moon's eyes filled with rage, and the alchemist's phrase “We can turn gold into lead, a pompous metal about nothing, into a real essential substance for everything in the household!” only escalated the situation. In the end, Moon decided to attack first.
This was only to the alchemist's advantage. On the one hand, if Sun won, he would get mountains of any gold and endless valleys of shadow formed by the Sun's light. On the other hand, if Moon won, he would get gold (to be supposedly refined into lead, which was an obvious lie) anyway, and the eternal darkness he admired.
So, the clash was unavoidable. Sun and Moon faced off in a battle that lasted 3 long days, without any breaks of rest. At the same time, the alchemist only rubbed his hands together and watched the terrible tragedy as a magic show.
Then suddenly, at the end of the third day of the brothers' battle, a wise man appeared like a deus ex machina. He was a well-known and respected man whom both brothers recognized dearly. The wise man had taught them to be good men since they were children. Even then, he was quite old – it was hard to guess his age now.
“I have been watching you for a long time, my children. This is not what I taught you. You must stop this nonsense. Look what you have already done! The balance is out of whack and continues to shake. Without lead, it is impossible to achieve certain chemical reactions or create certain specific alloys, while gold is indispensable in electronics and everyday beauty. Likewise, without the sun, plants will not grow, and without the moon, waves will not deliver merchant ships to other ports. Stop! Come to your senses!”
During the sage's speech, the evil alchemist began to quietly back away, sensing his potential end. He could easily overcome one of the brothers with his dirty tricks, but against the two of them, even he had no chance. “Damn wise man!” he thought.
“You are right, honourable sage,” the brothers replied to the wise man. “Our minds have been fooled by the words of the corrupt alchemist.”
While the brothers were listening to the wise man, nodding slowly from time to time, the dishonourable gold lover suddenly began to run away so fast that in a moment there was not even a scent of him. For a long time, they searched for him in all the areas. On every pillar hung a photograph of the world criminal who had to be apprehended. Even other thieves despised him for his immense greed. However, no one ever saw the alchemist afterwards, although rumours circulated about the begging of a dying old man somewhere in faraway lands…
Thus, the four main seasons were formed: summer, autumn, winter, and spring. Summer as a result of the attack of Sun, winter as a result of the attack of Moon, and autumn and spring as transitional seasons between the first two. The twentieth days of the first months of the transitional seasons, spring and autumn (~20 March and ~22-23 September), became the days of the equinoxes, symbolising the sacred peace between the two parties, elements, and worlds. The twentieth days of the first months of summer and winter (~21 December and ~21 June) became the solstice days, on which either the night is the longest, “outweighing” the day, or the day is the longest of the year, “outweighing” the shortest night, respectively.
Moral: Not all gold shines. Not all evil has only a dark appearance. You should respect others, even if they are different from you. The beauty of the world lies in its diversity and combination, in the balance of these diversities.
No comments:
Post a Comment