(因为篇幅的关系，原文发表在另一篇贴文里
Due to the length of passage, the source context is published in another post)
Biting chilly wind whistled into big roars. A traveller was walking in the wilds.
A hummingbird came to him.
“Mr. Traveller, would you like me to sing a song for you?”
“I’m in a hurry. You…might as well find somebody else.”
The traveller rejected, but the hummingbird didn’t give up.
“Please! I must sing!”
“You are a stubborn bird. I’m sorry, but I’m not in the right mood. I am on my way to die,
that’s why I started this journey.”
“Really? I never heard anyone would travel for death.”
“That’s true. I’ll be a dead man soon. Why will I lie to you?”
The hummingbird didn’t go away after hearing his words.
“How about this, if I could make you lie, you will allow me to sing. If I am not able to do that, I will be quiet and no singing.”
The hummingbird kept on twittering. To get rid of this noisy buddy, the traveller agreed with the request.
“Why do you want to die?”
“Because I lost everything.”
“You lied!”
“No I didn’t. I lost my house and money. My families were dead from decease.
I…don’t own anything any more!”
“No, you still have the eyes to see me, the ears to hear my voice, and the mouth to talk with me.”
"Ah, it is indeed.”
Although the answer sounds reluctant, the traveller admitted that he lost the game.
“Okay, I lost.”
The traveller didn’t want to tangle with the bird, so he paused walking and listened to the song, unwillingly. The song was very beautiful. It brought back some memories that he felt warmth in heart, a heart that has been dried up for a long time. When the song was finished, the hummingbird flew away, into the clouds, to the direction of sun.
The traveller continued his nonstop walking. Calluses grew on his feet. His destination was at the end of the road – the ocean. He decided to finish himself there.
He came to a well on the roadside for some water. He saw his face in the reflection of the water. This face has no lively colours. Strangely, the traveller felt thrilled – a man who could not protect the family he treasured, who is powerless and dumb, who is lost like a straying animal - the man deserves this dusty and disappointing face! He shook off the memories and started walking again.
The sun was burning and has risen high above the head. The hummingbird came again to this exhausted traveller.
“Mr. Traveller, please allow me to sing again.”
No matter how many times he drove away the hummingbird, the bird kept flying back and circulating the man.
“If I’m able to make you lie again, would you listen to my singing?”
“I told you before. I am travelling with the aim to die. What's the point to lie?”
The traveller was very annoyed, but he felt he could win the bird this time, so he accepted this request.
“Why do you want to die?”
“Because I only have the eyes to see you, the ears to hear you and the mouth to talk to you, other than these, I have lost everything.”
The hummingbird heard his answer and said,
“No, you still have the hands to drive me away, and the legs to walk on your journey, isn’t it?”
“Ah...that’s true! I lost.”
So, the traveller got to hear a second song. The second song was more beautiful than the first one. It relieved his tiredness from the travel. After the song the hummingbird seemed very satisfied, and flew away with the wind.
“What an annoying bird!”
The traveller complained as he started to walk again. Not to make things worse since the traveller got used to being alone for a long time, but he felt extraordinarily lonely at this moment. After a while, he saw a plastic rose inserted among the rocks.
“Why in this place…it must be left by someone who was here before me.”
He took out his hand and touched the thorn. Although the thorn is fake, the pain on the finger is real.
The pain was not disturbing though. Instead, it’s like a knock-up on the door of his long closed heart. The traveller stared at his reddish fingertips as if he was staring at something very rare.
Sunset began to kiss the land and the afterglow printed everything into flaming red. The traveller saw the hummingbird lying on the ground, almost dead. He could have ignored and kept on walking, but he stopped and talked to the bird.
“Hey, hummingbird. I only have the eyes to see you, the ears to hear you, the mouth to talk to you, the hands to drive you away, and the legs to continue my journey, other than these, I’ve lost everything! It’s true that I don’t have anything left…”
In its dying moment, the hummingbird replied with a very small voice,
“You lied, you still have the past to regret,
the present to make a choice,
and the future that hasn’t been determined.
In the eyes of me, a dying bird, you have everything in this world!”
“Ah! It is so true! I lost again…Come on, please sing!”
Having said that, the traveller gently caressed the hummingbird and waiting for the song, but there's nothing. The hummingbird already stopped breathing.
The traveller buried the hummingbird beside the road. As a gesture to mourn, he started to sing the songs from the hummingbird. Those songs were inexplicably soothing. He sang as he walked on. Nobody knows how long he walked, eventually he arrived at the ocean.
The deep and massive ocean mirrored the stars from all over the sky.
The traveller asked the ocean a question:
“I am a traveller who aimed to come here. I walked a long way.
May I plead your listening to my wish?”
The ocean rolled out gentle crests of waves and answered,
“People who come here have similar wishes. It’s either money, fame, or death.
Which one are you after?”
The traveller showed a face of honesty and openness.
“I have got everything, so my wish is none of those you mentioned.
I only beg you to point out a way to return home.”
The ocean called a wind from the east. There’s a feather of a hummingbird hovering in the wind above the traveller. Following the guidance of this feather, the traveller stepped onto his way back home.
Behind, it’s the end of the world.
Fore, it’s the way towards home.
Author: Bosque Montana
Note: This is an original story from “NOMAD MEGALOBOX2”. The author's name is collective pseudonym in Spanish.
Comments