Tales of celebration drawn from a Hamlet and a City

 Tales of celebration drawn from a Hamlet and a City

The City of Solitude was perched up high in the blue mountains. Large walkways embellished with stone carvings, gigantic fountains exuding pristine water, and giant mansions adorned with wood and glass from across the land - nothing valuable in the country of Kingsdale was found lacking in the city of Solitude. The city’s citizenry included the greatest paths, highest generals and best artists of the country.

Along the road up the mountains to the city of Solitude, there was a small hamlet by the name of Beautitude. Fisherfolk, hunters and harvesters thriving on the bounty of the serene forest are its residents. Travelers moving down the mountain would remark that the hamlet’s residents live a rather plain and unsophisticated life, with a hint of sneerness to the remarks.

Now, in the city of Solitude there lived two aristocratic families - the Shieldbreakers and the Lionhearters - supposedly named after the valourous feats of their ancestors. They were both great patrons of art and literature, but also the hosts of splendorous festivals. Although they were of similar disposition- and perhaps because of that - they bore a hint of distaste for each other. 

The country of Kingsdale venerated the passing of seasons, paying homage to the Earth and the plants and animals. This year the Shieldbreakers were slated to host the annual Spring Equinox festival, scheduled to happen in a couple of months. The city of Solitude took pride in hosting festivals, considering it a rite of passage. 

Similar philosophies were held in the hamlet of Beautitude. One peculiarity of the hamlet was that the huntsmen, fishermen and the gatherers assembled weekly in the marketplace to discuss matters. This scenic location, by the river, had small wooden stalls decked with the produce of the earth. Naturally, the Hamlet considered the Spring Equinox, a natural Thanksgiving, for the bounty of the Earth. This year the onus fell on the fisherfolk.

Addressing an assembly under the evening sun, their stout leader, Grogi said, “It is to Earth that we owe our obeisances, and we shall do so with abundance, but no gluttony”. The various men and women assembled nodded in agreement. The gatherers promised to find the best of fruits to make an offering, and the thickest of reeds to weave baskets. The fisherfolk swore to catch the best of fish, big and bright but to spare the fledgings. But, all were an awaitment of wild honey collected without causing much disdain to the bees.

 Honey from this small hamlet was also high in demand in the city of Solitude. Indeed, during this very discussion, a couple of pages from the house of the Shieldbreakers arrived hoping to acquire some honey. “Give us the finest honey you have”, the first man said; the second adding, “For nothing is beyond expense”. Watching a humble harvester dispense honey from a simple container, the first man asked, “What for have you gathered here?”. The Harvester replied, with a sparkling freshness, “We are here to discuss the Spring Equinox for we venerate the earth.” The second man replied, “If you wish to see the best of celebrations, come to the city of Solitude, abandoning all hamlets”, adding a clap. 

On the way up the mountain, the men merrily discussed the prospects of the festivals to come and when they brought up the matter of the big crowds, they reached the city gates, with a proverbial mob awaiting them. “The Lionhearters are hosting the Spring Equinox celebrations this year. The shield breakers aren’t the best organizers, for they fail to follow customs.”, cried a man dressed in black. Another man, presumably poised against celebrations of all natures retorted, “All you families do is host fancy festivals, disturbing the peace and quiet of us residents. Lower the taxes first!”. A third man, dressed in white, dismissing both points of view, exclaimed, “It is the way of the city for the Shieldbreakers to conduct the Spring Equinox festival – woe be to he who breaks customs”. And so, the argumentation persisted, but what was clear was there was to be two shows of opulence, not one. 

In effect, the elite of the town were busy preparing for the festival. The finest of the cooks were called to bake the most exquisite of treats. The most impressive of the performers were enlisted, and the most exotic instruments were hired for the bards. And in each frontier, members of the two families strove to better the other, if the Shieldbreakers had accrued the service of the oriental flutist, the Lionhearters enlisted an occidental violinist. Indeed, the denizens of the city were hard-pressed to conceive of an art form, that was not scheduled to be exhibited. Performers were called from the hamlet of Beautitude as well - fisherfolk, to demonstrate their traditional dance. 

Planning for their performance back in beatitude, Lori and Lauki, siblings born into the creed of the fisher folks were of mixed emotions. Excited because of the prospects of visiting Solitude and performing there for the first time in their life, but sad because they could be missing the celebrations at Beautitude this year. Discussing with Grogi, their leader, they came to know that most of what was needed for the much-awaited celebration was ready. Reed baskets filled with fresh fruit, wreaths decked with homely flowers and bark clothing, to be adorned with earthly jewelry. Only the milk was yet to be collected and set into sweets. And hoping to do so, the three of them set off to the farmstead, hoping to get things ready for the much-awaited day.

With much earnest did the residents of the little hamlet await their grand day, and when it arrived, the wait was very much worth it. Embellished by graceful dance and complete with melodious song, the festival was open to all the denizens of the small hamlet. The celebratory smoke going up was an invitation for the men and women living around the hamlet to join in. 

The hunters set the stage for the program with the hosting of the games. The smallest of children, hopping with much fervor, vied for the first place in the races with a sparkle in their eyes. “We did it!”, they would exclaim, on being accorded treats of milk, as prizes. The children would of course share the much-desired prize, with their peers, a sense of holistic satisfaction permeating the celebration.

Satisfaction was, however, was hard to come by in the city of Solitude. To start off with, the City’s residents were divided as to whether they should attend the flower-themed celebrations hosted by the Shieldbreakers or the sun-revering festival hosted by the Lionhearters. Making transit difficult, the banners dyed with exotic prints were too large to fit in the city’s narrow lanes. The price of even the most essential commodities was raised to sky-high levels, owing to the excessive buying by the hosting families. 

The Shieldbreakers, in particular, were far from being satisfied. Not only had the Lionhearters stolen their sole claim to the Spring Equinox to the celebrations, but the milk they had procured from the farms of the South was too thick and too less in quantity to be used to make sweets. Hurriedly, did they send couriers to the hamlets down the hill. The Lionhearters weren’t any better themselves. The talented artistes they had hired, raising their ornate instruments, proceeded to negotiate their wages. Evidently, what they were earlier promised was not enough. The sight of the city grounds wasn’t reassuring either. The crowds unruly at the sight of all the chaos, made matters worse for the families. “Doom you all!” shouted an angry old woman. “Where are the performances?” shouted yet another. 

The performances were, however, in full swing at the hamlet of Beautitude. Paying homage in a lively but orderly fashion, to the offerings to the trees and the rivers, the people of the hamlet were undisturbed till men from the city came asking for milk. Grogi, their leader, perplexed at the lack of preparation of the city folk, whom he considered organized, still lent them the best of milk. When gratitude was conveyed and the men were about to leave, there arose a puff of smoke from the distal image of Solitude, high up in the mountains. While the villages were perplexed, the messengers knew exactly what would have happened – anarchy!

Lori and Lauki coming from Beautitude were dazzled by the turn of events. Anxiously waiting to perform, Lauki was put off by the sheer size of the crowd. Saying with a tinge of discomfort that she wishes she was back in Beautitude, she found herself closing her eyes, and wishing the day gets over. Lori, however, looked around the city, noting its designs, and the mannerisms of its residents. Although they were quite sophisticated in their tastes, they seemed to be looking for satisfaction, a sense of happiness. Noting a crowd of thirty gathering near the performing stage, Lori saw having lost patience with the city and the celebration. A sturdy man, perhaps with the presumptuousness of representing the crowd, pushed down barrels of oil set for cooking. Rolling down the alley and finding themselves going into a furnace, specially set up for the celebrations, they caught fire. With flames of smoke rising from the ground, the unruly crowd was forced to work towards the common goal of escaping unscathed. Soon, the exotic wood and fine-printed banners caught fire, and eventually the entire urban square was up in flames.

Waking up Lauki with a reinvigorated sense of purpose, Lori leaped down from the wooden stage before it caught flames. Recalling, from their village life, experiences with water and fire accidents, the siblings set off to douse the flames and save those in need. Asking those men and women who had stayed back to gather from the stores, as many gallons of water they could, Lori excitedly led efforts to curtail damages. Lauki on the other hand, saved the lives of those women and children who were caught between the flames. With a sigh of relief did the duo note the arriving guardsmen, carrying heaps of sand in buckets. Pouring the sand onto the flames, the company waited for the inevitable to ensue. Indeed, when the last of the fires were stomped out, all that was left was soot and dust. 

But still, the members of the gathering organized with whatever goods they had left, a thanksgiving, for the Earth that bore them, and of course their saviors. It was of course devoid of much drama or dance, but it was the first time in many years, that the city of Solitude, entered a reflective mood. At the end of the celebration, the head guardsmen enquired about Lori and Lauki. In response, they recalled their humble origins - hamlet of Beatitude, with a tinge of shyness. And the reply changed forever, the way the Kingdom of Kingsdale hosted its celebrations. No more were there egoistic shows of splendor, each celebration primed to be an exposition of life on Earth, its cyclicity and bounty. From there on hence, whenever people from the city would go down the mountains they could remark that the people of Beautitude live a natural and cultured life - a celebration unto itself.