Read Online The Necessary Beggar by Susan Palwick - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Susan Palwick
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village, and that village became our world. And they loved one another so much that soon there were many children in the village. Fire and Air gave birth to the sun, to flames that need both their parents to survive; Fire and Earth gave birth to the moon; Fire and Water gave birth to oceans and rivers and streams. Earth and Water gave birth to the lands, to meadows and mountains; Air and Water gave birth to storms and rainbows. Fire and Air gave birth to Mind, to thoughts and fancies; Fire and Water gave birth to Sensation, to feelings.
âNow these last two things were the most troublesome of the elemental children, for they were unruly and sought to marry everything they saw, and the mountains did not want the burden of thought, and the rivers did not want the burden of pain. And so the Elements, all four together, created new homes for Mind and Sensation, homes to which they would be bound: little simple plants and animals in which thought and feeling could dwell. Only living things are made of all four Elements, you see. But as change was the law of this world, the thing the Elements had come here seeking and therefore the one thing they could never banishâboth their treasure and their curseâthe plants and animals began to change, to become larger and more varied and more numerous, until there were more of them than their parents could count. All had different portions of Mind and Sensation, and peopleâwho came last in the chain of changesâbelieved that they had more than anyone else.
âNow the world was getting crowded with all these creatures, for they kept loving and marrying each other and having children. The Elements were loath to banish love and could not banish change, and soâto make room for more love in the worldâthey decreed that each creatureâs body would die to make way for new ones, but that each creatureâs Mind and Sensation, combined to form that creatureâs Spirit, would float free above the earth, to inspire and protect all things still in their bodies. Thus it is that the spirits of trees maintain us in the hope of spring, even in the depths of winter; thus it is that the spirits of worms give us endurance to burrow in the darkness of our
lives, seeking sustenance; thus it is that the spirits of birds allow us to soar even while we are still earthbound.
âBut the spirits of people were restless, ever ambitious, ever proud, always wanting to be something in themselves rather than merely to comfort or inspire others. Too often they caused dissension and disharmony, creating nightmares and regrets in those they had left behind. And so the Elements conferred with the other creatures, and it was decided that human spirits would be allowed to share bodies with simpler creatures, whose spirits could teach the human spirits simplicity, and give them peace. The more complex and troubled the person, the simpler the creature chosen for that personâs spirit. Thus the spirit of someone who had died while very young or very old, someone whose mind was easy and smooth, might share a body with a monkey or a dolphin or a dog, a complicated beast; but the spirit of a scheming prince would find itself in the body of an acorn or a grub, for only there could the princeâs plotting soul be taught to cherish basic things, rain and wind and food.
âNow this system worked well, because spirits and bodies could still speak to one another, and the prince who learned simplicity could teach it to whomever among his former court sought the same lessons. And thus the friends and family of simple folk had wondrous converse with monkeys and dolphins and dogs, and the friends and family of the great learned to appreciate the gentle counsel of seedlings and slugs, starfish and salamanders.
âBut it came to pass that a very powerful prince lost his wife and son in childbirth, and was inconsolable. His son would have been his heir, and his wife had been his chief
âNow these last two things were the most troublesome of the elemental children, for they were unruly and sought to marry everything they saw, and the mountains did not want the burden of thought, and the rivers did not want the burden of pain. And so the Elements, all four together, created new homes for Mind and Sensation, homes to which they would be bound: little simple plants and animals in which thought and feeling could dwell. Only living things are made of all four Elements, you see. But as change was the law of this world, the thing the Elements had come here seeking and therefore the one thing they could never banishâboth their treasure and their curseâthe plants and animals began to change, to become larger and more varied and more numerous, until there were more of them than their parents could count. All had different portions of Mind and Sensation, and peopleâwho came last in the chain of changesâbelieved that they had more than anyone else.
âNow the world was getting crowded with all these creatures, for they kept loving and marrying each other and having children. The Elements were loath to banish love and could not banish change, and soâto make room for more love in the worldâthey decreed that each creatureâs body would die to make way for new ones, but that each creatureâs Mind and Sensation, combined to form that creatureâs Spirit, would float free above the earth, to inspire and protect all things still in their bodies. Thus it is that the spirits of trees maintain us in the hope of spring, even in the depths of winter; thus it is that the spirits of worms give us endurance to burrow in the darkness of our
lives, seeking sustenance; thus it is that the spirits of birds allow us to soar even while we are still earthbound.
âBut the spirits of people were restless, ever ambitious, ever proud, always wanting to be something in themselves rather than merely to comfort or inspire others. Too often they caused dissension and disharmony, creating nightmares and regrets in those they had left behind. And so the Elements conferred with the other creatures, and it was decided that human spirits would be allowed to share bodies with simpler creatures, whose spirits could teach the human spirits simplicity, and give them peace. The more complex and troubled the person, the simpler the creature chosen for that personâs spirit. Thus the spirit of someone who had died while very young or very old, someone whose mind was easy and smooth, might share a body with a monkey or a dolphin or a dog, a complicated beast; but the spirit of a scheming prince would find itself in the body of an acorn or a grub, for only there could the princeâs plotting soul be taught to cherish basic things, rain and wind and food.
âNow this system worked well, because spirits and bodies could still speak to one another, and the prince who learned simplicity could teach it to whomever among his former court sought the same lessons. And thus the friends and family of simple folk had wondrous converse with monkeys and dolphins and dogs, and the friends and family of the great learned to appreciate the gentle counsel of seedlings and slugs, starfish and salamanders.
âBut it came to pass that a very powerful prince lost his wife and son in childbirth, and was inconsolable. His son would have been his heir, and his wife had been his chief
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