Disclaimer: Anything you recognize from The Chronicles of Narnia belongs to whoever it belongs to since C. S. Lewis is dead. Anything that just sounds vaguely familiar, your guess is as good as mine.
o
o
o
"Long, long ago," began Xerxes, "hundreds of years back, everyone had a different face. Some people were tall, some were short, and some were even heavier or lighter than others..."
Peter interrupted. "In other words, you were normal."
"You have a different definition of 'normal,'" said Xerxes. "It may be the right one. No one here was alive then to remember what it was like, so we describe it according to legend."
"You can skip that part, and just tell us what happened to change it." said Peter.
"All right," said Xerxes, "but it takes all the fun out of the story." Then he continued.
"The people had a meeting. They decided that things were not fair, because some people could do some things better than others, and some people were nicer looking than others. They all wanted to have everything and be good at everything. They talked and talked together, trying to decide how to make everything fair. Finally, they came to the easiest solution, and wondered why they had not thought of it before."
"What was it?" asked Martha. She obviously thought of this as only one more story, and was very interested.
"They would just ask. They sent messengers to tell Sainollan that they didn't like the way things were, and that they wanted them fair."
"Who was Sainollan?" asked Martha.
"Is, you mean," said Xerxes. "It's hard to explain if you really don't know." He kept telling the story.
"Eight men went to Mount Niol to complain to Sainollan. None were ever seen again, but the people knew they had made it. One morning they woke up, and they were all the same. Everyone had the same face, and was the same height, except the children, of course, and they soon found that they all had the same talents. Everyone could paint pictures as well as the best artists could before, and they could all sing as well as the best musicians."
"Were they happy?" asked Martha.
"They were happy for a while," said Xerxes. "They had perfect fairness, just as they had asked. But if everyone makes a beautiful work of art whenever they pick up a brush, no one thinks much of it. And if everyone has the same voice, no one cares how good it sounds. It was not long before they were tired of it.
"The people wished they had not been so eager for things to be fair, and they began to try to be different from each other. They painted their houses in bright colors and patterns, but since they were all equally good artists, it only made them seem more alike. They tried all sorts of things, but they had wanted fairness, and they had gotten it. No sooner had one person thought of something different to do than every other person copied it.
"Eventually, they gave up. They stopped trying to be different and began to pretend they were happy. Years went by, and then generations, and most people are still pretending."
"Why don't they just go and ask this Sainollan to put things back the way they were?" asked Peter.
"We have thought of it. For one thing, everyone is too frightened. Remember, no one came back after complaining to him the first time. The main problem, though, is that we are too proud. No one is willing to admit that their ancestors made a terrible mistake, or that they themselves are not able to fix any problem they have. They would rather tell themselves that there is no problem, and that they really want to be alike."
"Don't they?" asked Martha.
"No. If everyone is alike, they can't tell their friends and family from complete strangers. They can't ever know if they are talking to their best friend or their worst enemy, if they are the same age. That is why I made you learn a password. Not everyone will be glad you are here, and we can't be too careful."
"Are you glad we are here?" asked Martha innocently.
"Yes," said Xerxes. "It seems to mean that there is some hope left. Perhaps you will start things moving, and we will finally be able to undo the curse we have brought upon ourselves. I am not the only one who wishes things were different. There is a special meeting tomorrow, and we will see what we can do then, but now it is time to eat supper."
Peter, Martha, and Crystal followed him back downstairs.
o
o
o
Note: This chapter took a long time, didn't it? Dailitcen turned out to be worse off than I had expected, and it wasn't quite as fun to write.
o
Here is a puzzle. The word "Sainollan" was made from two words shoved together and mixed up. One is in English. The other means the same thing in a different language, but it should be familiar to anyone reading this. If you can figure it out, it will give you the answer to the question a couple of people have asked, "Who is Crystal talking to?" If you already know the answer to that, you should be able to find the two words I used. In case it turns out to be impossible to unscramble, I will put a couple of clues below.
o
Clue 1: Both 'a's are in the same word.
Clue 2: Mount "Niol" will help you find the English word.
Clue 3: The other word is (I have heard) Turkish, but you know it as someone's name.