"The Bridge Of Birds"
Part 1
by Osiris Brackhaus
- Introduction -
The Celestial Bureaucracy of the Middle Realm, the land of Ch'in, prides itself
to be a well-ordered and diligent body of many deities, five-thousand and
seven exactly at the last counting.
Ranging from it's infallibly wise and stern ruler, The August Personae of
Jade, down to the spirits of each and every little grain of sand, they work
to order and preserve the ways of the world, ensuring the whole universe runs
like the precise clockwork of many things and beings it is supposed to be.
Everyone takes honor in fulfilling his task to utmost excellence, and all
decrees of the August Personae of Jade, the Jade Emperor, are fixed in the
Celestial Book of Protocol so that even he can't make them undone ever again.
Mistakes are not a thing to happen in the Celestial Bureaucracy of Ch'in.
This is the story of one of the most popular gods of the Middle Realm, the
Starherd, for his gentle being and careful diligence could be witnessed every
night when the stars drift orderly across the great heavenly river. Once,
though, he failed in his duty, and this story is telling of his greatest gain
and greatest loss.
---
- The Starherd (Viggo) -
Every night, I guard the stars on their way through the heavens. Every night
since the Jade Emperor decreed the world to be, I ensure they run along their
proper paths, shoo them together when the try to wander out of their foreseen
constellations.
If they spread too far, I herd them closer together, if they huddle too tight,
I gently take them further apart, lest one of their fragile rays break off.
It is a calm and fulfilling duty the August Personae of Jade has decreed me
to carry out, and I pride myself at not having lost a single star ever since
I accepted my office.
But one night, a twinkle from down below caught my eye, and I never would
have thought a thing so small and innocent could be the beginning of such
disaster. At first, I thought it was just a reflection of my own stars up
in the heavens, for it was close to a small river, in a region abundant with
rice-fields whose dark waters reflected the light of my charges manifold.
But the irritating twinkle continued, not in match with any of my stars up
above, and that thought made me nervous. Should one of my stars have fallen
down? Had I really failed to notice one of my own missing? Lying down below
in a river now, desperately seeking his brothers and sisters and yet only
finding their reflections in cold water?
Worried, I bent down to have a closer look, and to my great surprise, found
no lost starling on the river-bank, but a young human farmer. Blinking in
astonishment, I looked again, but there it was again.
Not a star, but a silver laughter ringing from a heart so pure it easily matched
my stars' crystal, a smile so bright it even outshone some of my smaller charges.
What an exceedingly unusual human that must be, I thought in deep wonder.
Looking back on my stars, I knew they could well do without me for a while,
nice and well-trained as they were. And so, without giving a second thought,
I took up my staff and my lantern and walked down from heaven, eager to meet
the human farmer whose smile could outshine my stars.
The young man was walking home from an over-long day of work at the fields,
and yet he still smiled at the play of the fireflies, waved back at the beaming
face of the moon, even bowed politely at a school of toads that crossed his
path back to his hut. What an amazing person. For the first time in the eons
of my work, I felt my heart pound in excitement for something else but the
birth of a new star.
So when my feet touched the soil of the path he was walking on, for the first
time I visited the earth I did so with the clear intend to make friendship
with one of the humans I had until then only watched in curious interest.
"My greetings, good farmer", I hailed him as he turned around the
bend in the path where I was waiting for him. "Would you mind tell a
weary wanderer where to find the next settlement, or a place where he can
rest his tiring feet?"
His face lighting up at the sight of an unexpected stranger and blinking at
the shine of my lantern, the young farmer bowed deep, not even once wavering
although he carried a yoke with two heavily laden buckets at each end.
"Please forgive an humble peasant his ignorance, noble lord. But I know
of no place that would offer befitting accommodation for a lord of your standing."
His voice was as clear as his laughter had been, and I smiled at his polite
yet very fearless answer, though I didn't really see why he took me for a
noble lord. But maybe then, that's what he called anyone who owned more than
a loincloth and a straw-hat.
"I do not seek any lofty place, only some rest and some company on my
way", I replied, feeling my heart jump in glee as I saw his face light
up.
"Company I can offer you plenty, my lord", he replied merrily. "And
rest, if you wouldn't mind, I know I place some way up this path where the
river runs shallow and I can wash your feet. If you allow a humble peasant
to render that service."
How could a person be so humble and yet so welcoming at the same time, I asked
myself in amazement as he took up his lithe steps again along the path and
motioned me to follow him as he took my silence as agreement.
"I am sorry I have no food with me I could offer for your company, good
farmer", I said, inwardly chiding myself for forgetting to do so. "Is
there anything else I could offer you instead?"
My young companion laughed softly at my question, shaking his head. "As
long as you can't bring down one of the stars for me to hug him, or tell me
the first names of all the birds under the sky so I can thank them appropriately
when they come visit me in the fields and sing for me, there is nothing I
could wish for. I have all I need. And your light is more than enough recompense
for what little I can offer."
Once again, he looked at me, smiling, and I felt like my heart had missed
a beat. What was so amazing about this simple peasant that made my heart feel
so full, my head so light and my steps as if I was walking on clouds?
He was pretty, yes, but that was not what made me feel so elated. I had seen
ages of human lifes pass underneath my feet, had seen beauties of legend in
many realms of man. But he outshone them all, in his mud-splattered tunic
and short trousers, his tousled hair and slightly sunburned nose, reduced
them all to artificiality with a smile born in the purest of hearts.
So in lack of any other subject I knew to talk of but stars, I told him the
names of each of the big ones, their constellations and habits, and he in
turn told me about his day in the fields. Never before had I thought there
could be anything of interest or even beauty in ploughing and planting, but
the way my companion told of his daily chores made it sound as if there was
no other place desirable in the world.
By the time we reached that place at the river he had spoken of earlier on,
I knew the names of the different creeks watering his family's fields, knew
the names of his sisters and who they were married to, how many families of
ducks lived hidden in the small bamboo forest close to his hut and a many
million things more. He seemed to cherish each and every little thing in his
life, and all of them seemed to grace him in return. From his talk, I learned
that his field always gave enough rice for him and his folks even in hard
years, that his traps were never completely empty and that the wood he collected
was somehow never too wet to burn.
Smiling inwardly, I knew that by thanking and greeting each and everything,
he appeased their spirits in a way many of the humans simply forgot. But even
if it didn't make a big difference, many small blessings apparently could
lead to a charmed existence as well.
The place he had been speaking of was a tight river-bend where the water had
landed a small strip of round pebbles over the years. Gargling across the
stones, sounding very much like the chuckling god of hidden delights, the
stream was too big to be called a creek and yet not really big enough to make
a decent river. It probably would have made a perfect piece to dispute between
the gods that governed the different bodies of water.
Setting down his yoke for the first time since I met him, the young farmer
stretched like a cat after a long nap in the sun. Walking down to the waterfront,
I could almost hear him silently greet the river, thank him for the cool refreshment
he offered to us before he stepped into the dark waters. In the shine of my
lantern, he looked slender and precious, more like a deer than a peasant,
and the huge orbs of his dark eyes only enhanced the image.
"Come here, my lord", he said with a gentle voice just loud enough
to be heard above the chuckling stream. "There's a broad stone you can
sit one while I clean your feet, and if you leave your light at the road,
the fireflies will come back here to dance with the stars in the water."
Smiling at my young companions invitation, I did as he had suggested, eager
to learn of the world as he saw it. And truly, when I sat down on the stone
he had pointed out, I could see fireflies coming to play with the stars that
reflected in the water. Never before had I seen such a dance, and I was so
lost in the observation that I hardly noticed the young farmer wading into
the water in front of me, carefully unlacing my sandals.
Only when his gentle fingers cupped the first gush of cold water over my feet,
I looked up at him in astonishment. Hesitating, he looked at me as if he feared
to have displeased me, but as he saw nothing more but benevolent fascination
in my eyes, he continued. It was a delight to watch him, even in such a menial
task as this. Each of his motions was as if he had thought of it before, perfect
in grace, meaning, execution. How could such a jewel among humans have gone
unnoticed by the eyes of the gods for so long? I caught myself staring at
him completely enchanted, and he didn't seem to mind my look as he went on
cleaning my feet with the gentle touches of his slender hands.
"Tell me, noble Lord, where is your realm?", the young farmer asked
after a while, the sparkle in his eyes telling me he knew quite well that
it was a question far beyond his place he was asking.
"I have never presumed to be more than a humble wanderer", I replied
consequentially, only to see my companion smile the tiniest smile, look down
at my foot he was still holding in his hands, then back at me through his
lowered lashes.
"Of course you are", he stated with a shy grin, "but even then
I have never before seen a wanderer without any calluses at his feet, clad
in a silk so dark it could be the night sky, with a lantern so bright it could
be a fallen star. Where ever it is that humble wanderers like you come from,
it is a place where you live like the nobles I know."
Apparently, I really had a lot to improve on with my incognito appearances.
"So tell me, young farmer, how many nobles do you know then?"
"None, noble lord, and I pray to the gods that I will never gain the
notice of people in place above mine, for I am well contend with my life as
it is."
There was a way in his words, in his almost hidden smile, in the openness
of his slightly downcast eyes that made me feel as if all the grace of the
world was with me just as long as he was by my side. What kind of spell was
this, what kind of incredible sorcery? I was still convinced that he was a
mere human, not one of the Ch'in-ta or the other beings of power in human
guise.
And yet, my heart was pounding in my chest as it had never before, and the
thought of parting ways with my mortal companion was so painful that it made
my thoughts stop as they only touched the subject.
Could it be that I was in love? After mere moments of talk, me, one of the
mighty gods of the Realm of Ch'in, loving a rice-farmer youth?
And yet, even as I asked myself, I knew the incredible to be true. Within
mere minutes, this human had stolen what had lain untouched for eons, conquered
a place no human even had seen before.
With a sigh, I smiled at him, and he blinked in gentle confusion.
"Are you well, my lord?", he asked, setting down my left foot and
taking up the right one. "you look sad."
"I am thinking of my love", I replied, instantly chiding me inwards
for the stupid answer. "which might never return my feelings."
"Love is a thing that is send by the gods", the young farmer answered
without slowing in his task. "So if your heart is true, love will have
been given to both of you at the same time."
So right his words, and yet I wondered if it was true still if one of those
concerned was a god himself.
"But we are of different standing, and I would never be able to give
the respects my love would deserve."
"Such a mighty lord, and yet not free to love who you want?" His
voice was free of all bile normally to be expected from any one of his position,
but instead brimmed with compassionate sadness.
"There is always a lord mightier than oneself."
The young farmer nodded. "Even the Jade Emperor has the Book of Protocols
sitting on his lap like a nursemaid."
Bursting into laughter at this image, I called out: "All the fifteen
benevolent winds, good farmer, where have you heard that saying?" The
thought was just too hilarious in its audacious accuracy.
"I think I heard the priest at the shrine say such a thing once."
He actually managed a weird thing like a humble grin. " After the feast
of the Ox, last spring, when he was very drunk." Setting down my right
foot on the riverbank again, he added: "This is all of refreshment I
can offer, noble lord. I hope I could lift your weariness a little."
"You have done wonders, good farmer, and I feel like I have been given
wings." Indeed I did, but I was afraid I might get myself burned if my
flight would go on unpaired too long. Then, in sudden inspiration, I suggested:
"Come on, let me return your favor in like, good man." Rising, I
rose and pointed at the stone I had just been sitting on.
The young man blinked in me in surprise, then decided against rejecting the
offer of a noble, inappropriate as it might be, and sat down in my place.
I unbuttoned the long, silken tunic I was wearing, laying it onto the dry
pebbles. Now wearing only a sleeveless, simple shirt of black silk, I rolled
up my trousers and waded into the river where my young companion had knelt
before me just moments ago.
Gently taking his left foot in my hands, I untied his sturdy wooden sandals,
noticing with a soft alarm how much touching him made my chest feel like I
had nothing but caged butterflies inside of it.
When I looked up to see how he took this unusual turn of events, I found my
human companion smile at me with marvel in his lovely eyes.
"Why do you smile at me like this, young farmer?", I asked, smiling
in return as the beauty of his heart made my own sing in return.
"Whatever this realm is, noble lord, where you are naught but a simple
wanderer, it is very far from the lands of mere humans as my humble self."
Again, his smile widened, and like a child, he saw the truth in my eyes. "No
human noble would have lowered himself to offer refreshment to a simple rice-farmer,
and yet you touch my feet so soft, so caring as if they were ducklings fresh
from the egg. You wear silk so dark it must never have seen the sunlight before,
so fine it looks like having been woven on a loom of moonbeams. And yet, as
precious as your clothes are, you do not seem to care." With his head
he pointed at my almost forgotten robe on the stony beach, and continued:
"And even though you wore no sandals, your feet were clean as if they
had never touched the ground. Tell me, noble lord, which realm of spirits
it is that you come from?"
Laughing softly, I set down his first foot, taking up his other one as gently
as if it was a new-born star.
"So I guess my disguise is found lacking in your eyes, isn't it?"
"Your disguise is all that you desired, noble Lord, and I would never
presume to judge on this."
How did he manage to say even things like this without guile? Laughing again,
I began to wash his foot, deeply enjoying the feel of his skin under my fingers,
the way his toes wriggled when I came close to tickling him. I was in love,
there was no doubt about that.
"You do not look like one of the spirits of evil, the tempters in the
dark", the young farmer thought aloud, adding with another smile: "And
besides, you would be far too shy for one of them, I presume. But you're no
spirit of the Ancestors, either, for none of the honorable elders would have
acted as you do. So what are you? No spirit of nature, for they do not come
in human guises, neither a sorcerer, for even if you were powerful like this
at your age, you could hardly be as humble as you are about it. So tell me,
noble lord, who are you?"
Chuckling again, I decided that his foot still needed another turn of washing,
for I did not want to let go of him right now. He knew a lot more of spirits
and their habits than I would have thought, and the way he still sat in front
of me without fear though his accurate deductions left only very few conclusions
hinted at the fact that he was well aware that spirits were not an invention
of old grannies to frighten their children.
But he must also have know that his line of thought left me to be either a
god or a dragon, and usually, that left mortals either cringing in fear or
running. Or trying to do both of it at the same time. I just wondered why
he was still sitting in front of me with a gentle smile instead.
And also, how to tell a mortal that you were the Starherd without sounding
too whacky?
"Let me give you a hint", I said then, feeling stupid at my sudden
lack of words at the simple attempt of telling my name. I set down his foot
with regret and walked over to the path where my lantern was still standing.
The young farmer had been far closer with his guess than he thought. Opening
the lantern's glassen cage a friend of mine had made for me, I took out the
little star that illuminated my paths whenever I was wandering abroad, gently
setting him into my palm. With the sparkling light in my hand, I walked over
to the young man still sitting on his stone and knelt down to him holding
the star like a present.
I could see his eyes widen at the marvel I held in my open palm, and without
hesitation, he gently touched the star. Bright, unblinding starlight painting
lines of light on his face and the surrounding nature, and as if taking up
a young bird from his nest, he took the star into his hand as securely as
if he had never done anything else in his life.
The star's childlike spirit giggled in glee, and the young farmer chuckled
in response as he held the spiky globe of light to his cheek, cuddling the
tiny star in a gesture so affectionate I had to reign myself in not to hug
him as well. Then as if actually speaking to the star, he looked at it, then
held up his palms and hurled the star back into heaven where I had taken it
from, the tiny spirit hooting in joy until he was so far away even I couldn't
hear him any more.
Slowly, darkness descended at our place by the chuckling river, and in what
little moonlight was left, I could see tears of joy brimming in my human companion's
eyes.
"You're the Starherd", he whispered, more statement than question,
and I nodded in reply. "That was a gift beyond worth to me, noble Lord."
Chucking softly, I replied: "And what do you think will guide our way
now that we have no light anymore?"
The young farmer merely laughed, saying mirthfully: "We don't need any
light down here." For a moment, he seemed as if he wanted to add something,
his huge eyes looking at me. But then he decided against it, instead took
my head in his hands, puled me close to him and kissed me.
Gentle and yet insistently longing his lips touched mine, his sweet breath
on my skin, his touch on my face. All this filled me with confusion and completeness,
bliss and fear, fulfilling and longing and hundreds of more feelings at the
same time, so many I could not even put a name to them.
And suddenly, a mere heartbeat, maybe two, maybe an age later,
our lips separated again. With a soft sigh, I tried to gather my thoughts
which were running through my head like ants about their hive after a horse
had stepped on it. He was still sitting on his stone, his hands folded in
his lap, looking at me a bit insecure as if he didn't know if I would now
smite him or kiss him back.
But I did neither of those things.
"Well, young farmer, I'd say that one was a gift beyond worth as well",
I said, feeling as if my heart was pounding in my throat all of a sudden.
"It was easy for me to give", my companion said with his shy smile,
"And I daresay I was on the gaining side this time as well."
"It was pretty bold of you to kiss a god..."
"They say that the gods plant love always in two hearts at the same time,
and how could I be afraid to kiss you if I was sure you would love me as well?"
It took me a moment to believe what me ears had just heard. "How can
you tell that you love me after such a short time?" His silvery laughter
told me that I was making a kind of a fool of myself as well. I didn't doubt
my feelings either, did I?
"Either you wonder about being in love, than you aren't, or you know.
And I know that if I were to choose only one single thing to love for the
rest of my life, I would be well advised to pick you, for you will cherish
and honor my love as no one else. So how can I doubt your love if mine is
so strong?"
Again, he kissed me, softer this time, closer, as if asking for a caress,
and almost unconsciously, I felt my arms wrap around him as if it were the
place they were meant to be. Holding him like this, I felt completeness as
I had never felt before, happiness that my existence was graced by a love
as his, tremendous fear at the fact that he was a human and thus mortal, never
allowed to set food into heaven. But I didn't want to think of this, not now,
not tonight.
"Starherd, I have to thank you", my lover said softly as our kiss
separated again. "Thank you for taking care of all the lovely stars,
thank you for allowing me to meet one. And most of all, thanks of noticing
me and deeming we worthy of your love."
Instead of an answer, I hugged him close. Never before had I cared so much
for anything, and I swore to myself that I would spend as much of what little
time remained for us in his company as possible. He was my grace, lighting
up my soul in a way I had never before thought possible, and I would nothing
come between us.
"Ai, my love, my little starling", I said softly after a while,
my fingers raking softly through his hair. "I will always notice you,
and if anyone, I am the one who has to thank for being deemed worthy of your
love."
So we sat at the banks of the chuckling river, holding each other in the moonlit
night, and it was only the first of many, many nights to come we would share.
If you enjoyed this story, please send feedback to: Osiris Brackhaus
go to PART 2