Where Love, Grace, and Forgiveness Meet

Acknowledging my struggle to understand what he had said, my grandfather continued with a story:

"There was a certain man who lived in the most impoverished land of this region (Clara Eventide). Early in the morning when millions of cosmic rays that adorned the sky the night before still lingered among endless numbers of sparkling stars, the man would wake up and prepare his own-grown vegetables to be sold, packed into twelve small tough fabric bags. After getting everything set, he started his morning journey, riding on his shoddy, old bicycle hooked to a big wooden wagon with all the bags on it.

My granddad took a long pause and turned to me to make sure I understood what he said, for, unlike me, he had been living in this village for so long that he could tell the time by looking at the phenomenal occurrences in the sky. After that he continued:

"On his way to Libertis(1), where many people held hope for someone to purchase their goods, on a rough, rocky road built alongside a big mountain, the poor man was caught sight of another man whose clothes were partly torn that revealed many small wounds on his body. Upon seeing this, the poor man at once opened his leather handbag, took out an oil bottle, began anointing the injured man, and bandaged his wound. He then gave the man half of his bread for lunch and a white cloth to cover his body. He then decided not to waste any more time and began leaving."

" 'Please wait for a second,' the anointed man started to speak, filled with gratefulness, 'for I don't know what to do for you in return.'

" 'Then come and follow me to Libertis,' the poor man said, 'for I have prepared well for my deeds today. If you help me attract people to buy my goods, I can share with you parts of the gained benefits.'

"Overflowed with joy, the man jumped up and followed behind the wagon wherever it went. He also revealed that his name was Fili Deinia and that he was robbed this morning when he finally made some coins out of selling his wheat. When they got there, Deinia excitedly instructed the poor man to put his goods where he knew that people would pass by early in the morning."

"When the sapphire planet(2) stood out completely in the sky, there came a group of people with ludicrously textured clothes with jewelry around their necks and wrists and gilded shoes. Noticing that they were going towards the place where the goods were, Deinia glanced at the old man and jumped up and asked those people to see if they were any interested in buying his goods. But after a quick look, they seemed reluctant to do so except for a scornful smile and began to ignore the two men."

"No sooner after that did another group of people appeared in dark and mysterious clothes. Their face and poses were foreboding, but Deinia openly went talk them around to buy his goods. Being even worse than the last group, they threw him to the ground and humiliated him with his hair and clothes."

" 'Stand up and forget what they have done to you,' said the old man while reaching his hands to Deinia after those bullies left, "for they had no idea what they were doing."

" 'But, you know, sometimes you should speak up and teach them a lesson!' said Deinia, 'You know you can't just be like this, because there are only the oppressors and the oppressed. I'm sure people like us will someday be dumped to the bottom of society, so ask yourself how you are going to forgive them!' "

" 'Don't try to correct the fool because they will just ignore you, and don't try to teach the mockers a lesson because what you get in return is a slap right on your cheek! And please acknowledge yourself as a simple person because you are so naive, and, if you understand what I have said, go and teach the wise, for they will end up loving you more!' "

"These words left Deinia speechless. After a few attempts to calm himself down, both of them sat down and continued looking for someone to pass by. But as the time went by when the planet half sank under the horizon, the men became more and more impatient since nobody was interested in buying their vegetables. As they decided to go home, a man in a decent suit ran into them. Surprisingly, the man wanted to buy all the vegetables since they were the kinds he was looking for. He agreed to trade an enormous amount of goods gained from his wealth for just twelve bags of vegetables!"

"If you understand the lesson from that parable, you shall respond."

(1)this place used to be a major trading center for villagers in different regions, but after the fall of economic reforms in Clara Eventide after a catastrophic tsunami that ruined mostly the western areas of the region, fewer and fewer traders were interested in doing business here, which, along with tough weather and geographic conditions, eventually led to a permanent impoverished condition.

(2) This planet orbits around the planet on which everything happens in this novel. Though it looks gigantic, the planet releases less energy and light.