"That is exactly right." Shu beams, and if Aira is looking for a perfect score, she is rewarded with: "That deserves a gold star, for you almost echoed her word-for-word. The farmer first said, 'I would love to see such a place in my lifetime. But I cannot go now, for it would be too hard to come back.'"
"In bewilderment, the Xian said, 'Why would you ever want to come back?'"
"And the farmer said, 'Who would feed my neighbors?' Ah! Truly, she was unparalleled among men." From the fond smile on Shu's face, one has the sense that this was a real person she once knew. But of course, this was just a fairy story... "No matter what the Xian said, she could not understand. Why did she need to feed her neighbors? Did she even know her neighbors? Did they do anything for her? The farmer simply shook her head and replied that it was something that must be done. And so, rebuffed, the Xian once more fell silent."
"And now the years turned to decades. The Xian learned everything from this farmer. How to read the clouds and the sun, how many days after the rainfall to turn the soil, what to plant when the season was dry and what to plant when the season was too wet. And for one reason or another, she did not leave. Until one day, the farmer set down her hoe for the very last time. Her hair was gray, her hands shook with palsy, and her gait was unsteady. They both knew that she was nearing the end."
"'Xian,' she said. 'You have been with me for longer than I ever could have asked. I know not the reason why, but I have one thing to ask of you.' And the Xian remained silent. The farmer said, 'When I go, please stay. Please stay and pass on what we have learned to the people. I will die, but my work must live on so that all of Yan can be fed. And my dream - a dream of a world where no one goes hungry - may one day come to fruition.'"
And now Shu's voice grows soft and melancholy as she asks one final question.
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"In bewilderment, the Xian said, 'Why would you ever want to come back?'"
"And the farmer said, 'Who would feed my neighbors?' Ah! Truly, she was unparalleled among men." From the fond smile on Shu's face, one has the sense that this was a real person she once knew. But of course, this was just a fairy story... "No matter what the Xian said, she could not understand. Why did she need to feed her neighbors? Did she even know her neighbors? Did they do anything for her? The farmer simply shook her head and replied that it was something that must be done. And so, rebuffed, the Xian once more fell silent."
"And now the years turned to decades. The Xian learned everything from this farmer. How to read the clouds and the sun, how many days after the rainfall to turn the soil, what to plant when the season was dry and what to plant when the season was too wet. And for one reason or another, she did not leave. Until one day, the farmer set down her hoe for the very last time. Her hair was gray, her hands shook with palsy, and her gait was unsteady. They both knew that she was nearing the end."
"'Xian,' she said. 'You have been with me for longer than I ever could have asked. I know not the reason why, but I have one thing to ask of you.' And the Xian remained silent. The farmer said, 'When I go, please stay. Please stay and pass on what we have learned to the people. I will die, but my work must live on so that all of Yan can be fed. And my dream - a dream of a world where no one goes hungry - may one day come to fruition.'"
And now Shu's voice grows soft and melancholy as she asks one final question.
"Do you think you know what the Xian said?"