Post by Morgan Pendragon on Aug 25, 2009 22:59:53 GMT -5
Interlude
Many years ago, there was a poor bookbinder who prayed to the Goddesses to bless him with the means to earn a fortune. The next morning, he saw a black hen caught in his gate. He had just decided that the hen must be the answer to his prayer, and he was going to keep it for himself, when he heard a woman cry out that her black hen had gone missing.
The poor man knew he had to give the hen back, but he picked up a book of blank paper, and went over to the woman, and pretended to divine the hen’s location by reading the book. The woman was so delighted to have her hen back that she gave the man a few coins for his help. With those coins, he decided that his fate was to act as a seer, and so he abandoned his bookbinding and set himself up as a diviner.
His reputation spread wide in his village and all across the land, until one day the king had heard of him. At this time, the queen was pregnant, and the king sent his servants to ask about the nature of the child she carried. The seer flipped through his book saying “Boy, girl, boy, girl, boy, girl…” Until the servants tired of it and left.
When the queen gave birth, she had twins, one boy and one girl. The servants told the king, and told him what the diviner had said, and the king invited the seer to come to the palace. The seer accepted at once, and was soon an important person within the palace.
This continued until some thieves stole from the king. The king asked him to discover the identity of the thieves, and the seer asked to be placed in an empty room with some almonds and his book for three nights, and the king agreed.
The first night, he said, “This is the first.” Meaning the first night, but one of the thieves was eavesdropping outside of his room, and thought that the seer was talking about him. He fled, and told his companions what he had heard. One of his accomplices vowed to stand watch the next night, and see what they could learn.
The next night, the seer said, “The second has come.” The second thief, convinced that it was he of whom the seer so spoke, fled and told his fellows what he had heard. The seer, of course, meant only that it was the second night.
The next night, the third thief heard the man say, “And here is the third.” He was so frightened that he went to his accomplices and they confessed to the diviner and showed him were they had hid up the king’s treasure. The diviner presented the thieves and the treasure to the king, who rewarded him.
The next day, as they were walking in the king’s garden, the king put one arm around the man, as he grabbed some berries from a Rowan tree and hid them in his other hand. He asked the diviner, who’s name happed to be Rowan, to tell him what he had in his hand. The diviner answered “Why Sir, there is Rowan in your hand.” He was speaking of himself, but the king thought he meant the berries and the tree they came from, and he rewarded the Seer with enough gold that he was soon able to retire.