Prelude: The Fool

A young and rather foolish man named Cyril lived with his family and always had his head in the clouds. His level-headed siblings and parents often chastised him for his whimsy and lack of forthrightness.

“What will you do with yourself in this life?” his father would say to him, and Cyril would reply, “Why am I constantly being extolled by my family to be prudent and responsible? I have tried many times to make sense of this odd place in which I find myself. I simply cannot find it within me to commit to all this drudgery,” and so he persisted in his folly.

Cyril’s family was hard-working and had attained great wealth as a result. There was always something that needed to be done around the farm and surrounding properties. This perturbed Cyril to no end. His older brother approached him one day and placed an ax in his hands.

“One of our apple trees is diseased. I need you to chop it down before it spreads to the rest of the orchard. But be careful that the tree does not fall on the others.”

“When does the toil cease?” said Cyril.

“When you’ve done a hard-day’s work,” said his brother.

So Cyril set out to the apple orchard in search of the tree. Upon finding it he took notice of its size.

“This will take all day!” he said. He thought for a moment then said “I will start on the side that is thinner. That way I will reach the center of the tree sooner.” This seemed a very logical thing to him. Cyril was proud of having thought of it. He inspected the tree and determined that one side was indeed thinner and so began his work. After a long time chopping the tree finally began to teeter.

“This is it,” said Cyril. He swung the ax and the tree fell. But Cyril had not heeded his brother’s warning and had chopped the tree down from the wrong side. It crashed down violently upon two other trees , destroying them completely. His older brother came to inspect Cyril’s work and saw what he had done.

His body jolted to a stop. “Our trees! You fool! Did I not tell you to mind your surroundings? Why have you done this?” he asked.

Cyril threw down the ax. “I was simply chopping the tree on its thinner side so that I would not have to work longer than necessary!” he said.

His brother grabbed Cyril by the tunic and shook him. “A tree doesn’t have a thinner side, you fool! You have cost this family a lot of time and money because of your stupidity.”

That night, Cyril could not sleep. His soul was stirring and he could not quell its churning.

“Why am I so perplexed by this world? I find great difficulty in things that others take no issue with. If there is an answer I will have to seek it out. I will leave my home and burden my family no longer.” The next morning he announced to his family that he was leaving on a journey.

“I am unable to master even the mundane and I am ashamed of it. Therefore I will leave our homestead and burden you no longer.”

His father, a practical man, scoffed and shook his head. “This is just another foolish idea. You cannot do simple work and yet you think you can make it out in the world? It will devour you.”

“No, I don’t think I can, but perhaps if I journey into what I do not understand I will find an answer. If I do not, I will die, and that will be okay, too,” he said. His family didn’t know what to say. He bid them farewell and departed from his home.

His older brother ran after him. “Cyril! If you step through those gates you won’t be welcome back. We will forget you and go on living as if you never existed.”

Cyril met his brother’s gaze. “Perhaps that is best,” he said, and disappeared down the road. He was never heard from again.

(Continued in "Epilogue: The Master")