Thursday, May 27, 2010

The Wanderings - The Bandit Leader, Part 3

If you haven't read Part 1 and Part 2 of this story, you should go back to read them first.

That night they rested on the outskirts of the city so as to enter at the day’s first light. And doing so, they asked for and soon discovered a buyer of books and other treasure. No easy haggler and determined to receive the best price possible for the bandit band, Chen Jen haggled long and hard until in the end he left the man grumbling loudly of ruin and poverty, though still he realized their mutual gain.

And so, as had been promised, the three left the city at the sun’s waning and were soon accosted by the bandit band that had taken the precaution of staying well hid. “So I win my bet!” exclaimed the leader. “Let us then see what our books have fetched.” And when he saw the handsome sum, he took it in amazement, declaring, “Little did I realize the value of books! Nor did I realize that there are men so honest as you who would stay true to your word even with the scum of the land! Almost you would convince me of the error of my path!”

“Why not then truly turn from your way and follow Tao where alone there is peace?!” exclaimed Tzu-yu.

“There is a road which knows no return,” replied the bandit chief. “For the die is well cast and the penalties sure. If ever the authorities capture us we will be hung, gutted and dried whether we turn to the Tao or no. And beyond that end there surely awaits a more wretched punishment at the hands of eternity.”

“That you would surely suffer the wrath of those that rule I will not dispute,” answered Chen Jen. “But which of us shall not suffer some wretched end, whether as penalty or no. Yet of that which lies beyond the grave, fret not of judgment at the hands of Tao. For in death all things are equal and all returns equally to the Source.”

“Such a belief would be a boon indeed,” replied the bandit. “But how can you know that such is the case?”

“I believe no such thing and know even less,” replied Chen Jen. “Yet in the Flow of Nature the lesson speaks clear. It is true that the tiger that ventures beyond its pale, terrorizing villages though the forests abound in deer, is hunted and slain and of its head and skin a trophy is made. Yet its spirit returns to the Source without further ado. For, in the end, it did nothing but what tigers do. And so you too, Sir, though man that you are, are but a child of Nature to which folly matters not at all. The One is always open, inviting harmony, and in the end, no division truly exists in reality.”

“Your words touch my heart as never was done, but now I must take my band out of harm’s way,” replied the bandit. “But I promise you this: that I shall think long on the Tao and see if maybe it might show me a more harmonious way.” And pressing half of the price of the books, itself a handsome sum, into Chen Jen’s hands, he and his band spirited into the wood.

“Here we have a man who does great harm to others,” said Chen Jen, “because he believes in the teaching of Good and Evil, not because he believes it not.”

This post is part of a series. To view the index, go here.

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