Story #8 [Seeking Answers]: A fictitious tale

I’m going to break a rule on my blog today and recount a story which has no roots in mythology or folklore. I would not usually share works of fiction, but I think this tale is well worthwhile sharing.

Let me start off by asking this question — how much of our lives do you think we spend trying to answer questions?

Do not most people devote all their time and energy into pursuing their dreams just to see how far they could go? Do not philosophers, scientists, researchers, academics, psychologists and psychics make a career out of answering other people’s questions? Do not all of us have a hidden question buried deep inside on something close to our heart? Whether it be an unknown ending, an unfinished love, or a path less travelled by?

I stumbled on a little novel “Taran Wanderer” during my adolescent years in high school. I remember feeling remarkably moved by the book back then and recent events has brought memories back to the surface of my mind again.

The story is about the adventures of a young man, Taran, and what he learns when he sets off in the world on a journey to discover who he is. He does not know his parentage or where he is from, so he secretly harbours hopes of being of noble birth.

Taran begins his journey by visiting three witches in the mountains (similar to the three goddess of fate in Greek mythology) to ask them where he was from and if his father was truly a Prince of the land. But as the witches have a rule they must receive something of equal value in exchange and Taran does not have anything of equal value to give the witches, so the three sisters refuse to answer his question. Just as he was about to leave, one of the witches laughed and said that she would make an exception to the rule for him, and told him that he would find his answer if he looked into a lake on top of this mountain in this land far far away.

The story then follows Taran’s many adventures as he made his journey to the lake. But the most significant one was the emotional journey that he went through when he met a shepherd who falsely claimed that he was Taran’s father.

Because he was extremely disappointed that he was the son of a shepherd (even though the shepherd was good man), he refused to acknowledge him as his father until the poor man was about to die.

At the very end, the shepherd confessed that he had lied to Taran and suggested for him to continue his journey to lake. (I’m not conveying this story very well here, but this was the*uhmm* moment. I think there are lots of times in real life when we don’t behave or react to things in the way we should, for ugly reasons of pride or conceit. It tends to happen subconsciously despite the best of intentions so we must be careful!)

And when Taran finally arrive at the lake, he only sees his own reflection in waters. He has this moment of enlightenment when he realises that he is simply the person he is and that his identity is not something defined by parentage. (As a side note, he also realises that the reason why the witches did not demand payment for directing him to the lake was because they really gave him nothing.)

And that, I think that is an important lesson to learn and remember. There are always lots and lots of questions and most of the time we don’t have an answer. But sometimes there is no need to find out all the answers. Sometimes, whatever we have now, is enough.