by Rose Jermusyk.
A village once had no need of a shepherd for in the neighboring forest was a lion who watched over village and forest alike. But the lion had been tricked into disabling himself and his bride had lost faith in her village. So they kept to watching over the forest, leaving the village to protect its own beasts.
The first youth chosen for the role of shepherd was picked for cleverness. This cleverness made the youth prone to shouting “Wolf! Wolf!” in order to stave off boredom. So a youth of patience was chosen to take over the role of shepherd and the clever youth was handed over to the man who had tricked the lion.
Surely if anyone could find a role for the clever youth, it would be the miller who had learned better from his own foible. The miller talked over a design with the village makers and a suit was made for the youth, covered with a thousand tinkling bells. Just putting it on sent out a tintinnabulation that continued with every movement the youth made.
The youth began immediately to dance through the day, testing out every motion that could be thought of to delight in as the suit shaded it with its own musicality. Yet for all that cleverness the youth could only move so many ways and quickly became bored of testing the suit. Still the suit made its tintinnabulation and the youth could not escape it for the youth refused to give it up.
Sitting by the village well where everyone passed by one way or another, the youth held perfectly still and even so the wind would cause the bells to chime very gently. The youth sat so still listening to the wind in the bells that the youth seemed to become part of the well. Not one villager seemed to realize that the youth was always there, always watching and listening.
There by the well the youth witnessed the villagers doing favors, pulling tricks, stealing from one to pay another, always speaking behind each other’s backs and hardly ever to each other. The youth heard again and again the full tale of when the miller had tricked the lion and broken his own heart. The youth heard every wish tossed into the well and the ones that caused the youth to smile also caused a bell to ring.
The children were the only ones who took notice of the youth by the well and did everything they could to coax the youth into dancing with them. Some even dared to timidly tap a bell or two before tumbling back upon themselves. When the youngest child in the village finally gathered the courage and tapped a bell, the youth suddenly stood up and the tintinnabulation of the suit sent all the children screaming with laughter and running for cover.
The youth was done with the suit. Taking it off gently and folding it carefully over the side of the well, the neighbor wondered who would wear the suit next and what they might learn.
The neighbor was done with village life. Walking gently to the neighboring forest, the neighbor stopped at its edge looking for a good place to watch and learn.
There at the forest edge the neighbor met the lion’s daughter and there was no better place to be. The neighbor built a home on that invisible line between village and forest, a kind of exchange post. A place where all are welcome to fill each other’s silences with all the stories of the beasts of the wild, all the stories of the beasts of burden, and all the stories of the beast called man.