Week 11 Story: The Fountain of Youth

The fountain/river of youth

Source

Long ago, the many creatures that inhabited Earth coexisted peacefully, that was until two twins were born from a tree. One was outgoing and reckless, while the other was reserved and careful. The twins were called Lu and Ir respectively, and they were friendly with all of the creatures that surrounded them. One day while deciding what to eat, Lu became aggravated that everything was always the same. "Agh! I am so sick and tired of eating fish! Every day we wake up, walk around, say hi to the animals and the other human family down the road, go fishing, give some of our fish to the giants in the North, and then eat our fish. Every day it is the same Ir! Hear me out, what if we went to the jungle and caught a lion? We could eat its meat and grow strong like the lion!"

Ir thought carefully, though he was opposed to killing, he also realized that in order to keep the whole community thriving, he needed to keep everyone, including his reckless brother, happy. So with a carefully thought out plan, Ir agreed to help his twin hunt a lion under the condition that they would pray for the lion before they killed it. Lu happily agreed, and the boys went off into the jungle.

After hours of searching, the boys couldn't find a single lion. "Where are the lions?" Lu asked impatiently. "I swear I always see some around these parts" but suddenly Lu was cut off by a growling sound. "I bet they're hiding behind those trees and that's what's making the noise!" Lu shouted as he ran off to find his meal. Ir followed after his brother into the trees, but stopped when he saw his brother kneeling at a purple river. Ir was scared at first, but eventually decided to drink some of the liquid to replenish his strength, as he saw that Lu was fine so it must've been safe to drink.

"I feel great! What is this?" Lu asked his brother, but before Ir could respond he was cut off by a fairy hiding in the trees.

"You have both just drank the fountain of youth. You will now never age past this point and you cannot die" the fairy answered. After hearing this, Lu's eyes widened as he quickly grabbed his blade and plunged it deep through his heart. Ir yelled in fear and cried, but Lu responded with laughter.

"Would you look at that! The fairy wasn't lying" Lu celebrated as he pulled the blade from his chest. As soon as the blade left him, his muscle and skin regenerated. "Well, now that I have a promised future, I am going to explore the world. No more of the same day-to-day for me!" Lu proclaimed. "What will you do with your new power?"

"Honestly, if I am going to live forever than I want to continue to pray and live a holy life. I plan on reaching enlightenment." Ir responded. And with that, Lu left into the wilderness and Ir returned home.

Years later Lu returned to his homeland to find his brother and tell his tales from his journeys, but when he returned he only found dying trees and few animals left in the community. Ir left a note on their childhood home that stated that he was off meditating, so Lu left a note that said he would return for his brother when the town was healthy again.

Lu kept his promise, and returned again years later. This time, when he looked onto his homeland he saw dead trees and no living creature for miles. "What happened here?" Lu thought frightfully. He was convinced that his brother must have left this dead forest, so he left another note saying that he would return at the summer's solstice and if Ir saw this note, he would take him far away from this forest of death.

Lu once again returned, but this time he was filled with worry. What if his brother never found the note? Would he ever see him again? But as Lu was panicking, he looked around and saw a beautiful and flourishing community with creatures laughing under the green trees and in the flowery fields. When he finally saw his brother, he asked what had happened, and he explained that each time he had returned home, the community was dying or dead. Ir laughed and explained to his brother that just because time had stopped for them, that the Earth would continue to move through time. "Even though we may never die Lu, it doesn't mean that other beings won't. This is what is called the cycle of life. Creatures are created, and then they die to make way for new creatures."

Author's note:
I took inspiration from the story in the Jataka, the Judas tree. In this story, 4 brothers are taken to a tree at different times of its life and they all argue on who saw the true tree, before their father explains that they all saw the tree at different times of its life, and the tree changes all year round. I decided to make the village where the twins lived the tree in this story, and whenever Lu visits he sees a different state of the town (Fall, Winter, and Summer). Ir has to teach Lu about time and the cycle of life like how the king taught his sons. I decided to make the twins immortal to better explain why Lu leaves and returns to the village every couple of years, as well as why he doesn't understand the seasons (He is always traveling so he goes where the sun is warm). Also, the original story was pretty bland so I thought I'd spice things up by adding a fountain of youth because who doesn't want to live forever right? If you read this far, answer me in your comment cause I'm curious/fighting with my roommate over this question, would you drink from the fountain if you knew you'd receive the same gift/curse as the twins?

Bibliography:
Marie Shedlock
Eastern Stories and Legends
http://iereadingguides.blogspot.com/2015/05/free-books-shedlock-eastern-stories-and.html