In the long-ago time, a great treasure was buried in the wintry lands. It is said that whoever finds the treasure will have great power and be king over all the lands of Merka and Canda. The prophets who foretold this caused to be made many magic arrows that point the way to the treasure. The arrows point always toward the treasure, and many young men have set out to find it, but few return. Those who do say that the wintry lands are too large and too cold to be crossed, and there are wolves there and other dangers.
In Grandfather’s time, no one believed the stories and they said that the treasure was not real. To chase after it was foolish, and no young men went seeking it for many years. Then a man from another people came to our town, and he had with him his magic arrow, and he was dressed in the skins of animals no one recognized. He showed Grandfather something he had found in the wintry lands. It was a book, filled with a language no one could read. In his youth, Grandfather had journeyed in the south, where people knew other languages, and although he did not wish to leave his wife and his son, he agreed to guide the stranger to a city, where wise sages could tell what the book said.
“You must be cautious,” Grandfather told the stranger. “The men in Falls City know great magic, and they have no love in their hearts. They will surely know how to read your book, but they will try to take it from you and hide what it says. You must never become separated from it, or we will never learn its secret.”
So Grandfather and the stranger traveled in the south. At every village and town, they showed the book to the eldest people, but none could read it. Some of the young men, inhabitants of Kago, coveted the book, thinking that its secret must lead to the treasure. “We must take this book,” they told one another, “for this stranger must not be made king over us. We shall find the treasure and become kings.” So they conspired to kill Grandfather and the stranger and to steal the book from them.
When Grandfather and the stranger were three days’ walk from Falls City, they came upon a wide and swift river. The bridge across the river was destroyed, and while they considered how to cross, they became surrounded by the men of Kago. “Give us the book,” they cried, “for we will not allow you to become a king!”
The stranger was filled with fear and wanted to give the book to the men of Kago, but Grandfather poured his scorn upon them. “You foolish and wicked men! No one knows what is in this book, yet already you fear it! I tell you the truth, if you allow us to leave, we will bring the book back to you and tell you all that is in it.”
The men of Kago refused to let Grandfather and the stranger go. Instead, they drew their weapons and rushed at the two travelers. Grandfather and the stranger leapt into the river and were washed away. Grandfather was nearly drowned in the river, and the stranger feared that he would not recover. So he left Grandfather with a man he met in the village where they came ashore. The man’s name was Sera, and he lived with his wife, two sons, and an unmarried daughter. When Grandfather awoke, Sera told him how he had been pulled onto land and left there. The book was ruined, and the stranger had wept over it before leaving it behind to go back to his home. Grandfather despaired over the loss of the book and his friend. He wished to return home, but he was too weak from his ordeal, so he stayed with Sera until he had regained his strength.
Grandfather stayed with Sera for many weeks, and Sera was impressed by his great knowledge and wisdom. Sera offered his daughter as a wife to Grandfather, and Grandfather foolishly betrayed his wife and lay with the girl. Horrified at what he had done, Grandfather took the book and stole away in the night, setting off once again toward Falls City.
Now Sera was furious with Grandfather. He gathered the men of his tribe and pursued Grandfather. Grandfather reached Falls City ahead of Sera and immediately sought out the sages who might be able to restore and read the book. As he had advised the stranger, Grandfather refused to be separated from the book, so he remained out of Sera’s reach, behind the protections of Falls City’s powerful magicians, who did not allow fighting or murder within their city. “This book cannot be saved,” said the sages, but Grandfather’s sadness was lessened when they said, “It is not the only one of its kind, though. We have another, and we will translate it for you.”
So the sages caused to be made twenty new books in our language and gave them to Grandfather. The sages then banished Grandfather from among them, and Sera’s men captured him. “I took you in as my family, fed you and clothed you, and gave my daughter to you to be your wife, but you spit upon me and ruined my daughter. Tell me why I should not put you to death!”
Grandfather bowed his head in shame and said, “There is nothing I can do or say that will take away what I have done. I repaid your kindness with insult, and in my selfishness I took from you what I can never return. I betrayed also my wife and my son, who do not yet even know that they have been injured. Do what you will with me, but please take these books to the north and give them to my people and all the villages you find on the way, for this knowledge is of greater value than my life. And take one also for yourselves, that you may grow in wisdom.”
Sera gravely considered Grandfather’s words, and upon hearing about Grandfather’s wife and son, knew that death was not the proper punishment, for the suffering would be brief, and all of Grandfather’s wisdom would be lost to the world. Instead, Sera took a sharp knife and heated it, and he mutilated Grandfather, so that he would never again despoil a maiden. Sera’s daughter came with Grandfather back to the town, caring for him along the way and giving away a book at every village and town between Falls City and here.
When Grandfather returned to his wife, he could not hide what had been done to him, and Sera’s daughter told everyone in the town what he had done. Grandfather’s shame followed him all the rest of his days, and his wife would have nothing to do with him from that day forward, although she took Sera’s daughter in as her own, and married her to Grandfather’s son.
The book Grandfather brought back gave us the words of Rousseau, and although Grandfather’s shame is known to all, his wisdom added to Rousseau’s has made all these towns prosperous, so that even the sages of Falls City and the foolish young men in Kago and the descendants of Sera’s sons come here to learn what Grandfather taught us.