The monk and the gypsy

LongBeard the gnome was sitting inside a hollow tree trunk having a mint drink with his friend Antsy. Antsy was a black ant, renowned for his energy and hard working attitude. Today, however, Antsy was in a sober mood. He had asked LongBeard to meet him, so that he might interpret a strange dream he had had the night before.

Antsy told LongBeard about the dream. “Hmmm,” mused LongBeard, puffing on his harmless herbacco pipe. "Write down the 6 most important words from your dream." After Antsy had done that, LongBeard instructed him: “Now ask your unconscious mind for 6 words in the place of those ones and write them down.” Antsy did as he was told. Again LongBeard repeated this instruction, and Antsy wrote down a third set of words on a piece of bark. He gave the words to LongBeard.

For a long time LongBeard looked at the words, silently puffing on his pipe. Antsy waited patiently for he knew it would be worth the wait.

Then at last LongBeard said, “Antsy, I am going to tell you a story about a human, and in this story you will find the hidden meaning of your dream. Here is your story:

The disobedient young monk wrapped his black cloak tightly around him and climbed out the window. He was very quiet for fear of waking someone up who might sound the alarm and force him back inside again.

He heard the melancholic voice singing faintly in the distance. The voice had been haunting him every night for a month and he could stand the suspense no longer. He simply had to find out who it was out there, who was singing so soulfully.

When he had asked his friend what he thought of the song his friend had reproached him for being a faithless, no-good monk who lusted after sex in stead of concentrating on his spiritual growth. The young monk had been aghast at this response, as he had had no such carnal intents at all. He had stopped confiding in his friend and had decided to go and explore the matter on his own, regardless of the consequences.

Softly he tiptoed through the dark night, until at last he came to an opening in the forest. There was a small group of gypsies who seemed to have put up a temporary camp. One man was playing guitar, while the woman who leant against him sang the haunting tunes which had so magnetically attracted him. The monk sat down in the darkness, invisible to all in his black cloak, and listened in silence.

After a long time, the couple stopped their music and started preparing for bed. The monk left as quietly as he had arrived, taking care not to give his presence away. He walked back to the monastery and climbed through the window. All was quiet, no-one had noticed his absence.

Satisfied, he hung his cloak on a hook, said his prayers and got into bed.

All he had wanted to do was to see who the beautiful melancholic voice had belonged to. And now that he knew, he was at peace, quietly content to continue living in the monastery.”

Acknowledgements: www.blazelightaround.co.uk, isabellasrealm.com, kasovo.net, eliznok.org.uk, flickr.com, travel.webshots, crossforest, home-and-garden webshots, nydailynews.com, millymoney.com, marketplace.veer.com

LongBeard Story Copyright © Susan Bellingan Fourie