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| "You cannot step twice into the same river; for fresh waters are ever flowing in upon you." Heraclitus "The more things change, the more they stay the same." French Proverb Once upon a time there was a tree standing on the bank of a river. Yet, despite being in such a close proximity, the Tree and the River never talked to each other, for they, so to speak, moved in different circles: while the Tree was growing up the River was flowing by. But since it isn't easy to maintain silence forever while spending so much time together, one day the Tree decided to break the ice by asking the River where it came from. The River who was also getting tired of silence was eager to reply. "I began as a small spring in the mountains far north, but as I pass through different places I get bigger and bigger all the time, always changing, never staying the same." "And then what?" "And when I'm the biggest I reach the sea." "And after that?" "Oh, that's the end. After I enter the sea I become a part of it." "How fascinating," the Tree said politely. And how pointless, he thought to himself. All this movement and change and yet, at the end it all comes to nothing. And while the Tree was contemplating the futility of the River's journey, the River took her turn to ask the questions. "And what about you, what have you been doing up til now?" The Tree, who actually never thought of it before, found it interesting to talk about himself. "I started as a tiny seed. But it was so long ago, I hardly remember it. And since then all I've been doing is growing up and up as if I'm trying to reach the sky." "So, have you?" "I really don't know. Probably not, because I continue to grow all the time." "Is anything up there?" asked the River simply out of curiosity. "There must be," was the uncertain reply. "For what would be the point of trying to reach it? But honestly, the more I grow, the more I doubt it, for strictly speaking, there seems to be nothing at all up there." "But what about the sun, the moon, the stars!" exclaimed the River. "I can see how beautiful they are. But I can't lift myself up to get closer and can only reflect them in my waters." "Oh, don't envy me," replied the Tree. "For the taller I grow the more it is clear that as far as the sun, the moon and the stars are concerned my growth is but an illusion; they are as far from me now as they were when I was just a tiny seed." "I really feel sorry for you," said the River. "It must be very frustrating to stand on the same spot year after year, unlike me who is travelling all the time." "Don't be so sure," replied the Tree. "Don't you think that your constant movement and change is but an illusion too? For you always start from the same point, flow between the same banks and fall into the same sea." "But at least I am doing something," protested the River. "So what?" pressed the Tree. "Whether one is doing nothing or the same thing over and over again at the end amounts to the same thing. As a matter of fact I probably change more than you do. My shape, height, number of branches and leaves are different every year. You, on the other hand, stay all the time practically the same, give or take occasional heavy rain or drought. And even after that come always back to what you essentially are." "Oh, you are just jealous of me, because I see so many different things while you have to stand and look again and again at what you've seen thousand of times before." "Sure, you see many things, but what do you remember or know about them? You are running so fast that you have no time even to think about what you see, while I, though my horizons are admittedly limited, had learned them in minutest details. I also have many friends, birds and animals who come to visit me quite often, but you have no other company besides yourself. And when you reach the sea you cease to exist altogether. What kind of exciting life is that?" "You know what," shouted the River angrily. "I'm just wasting my time talking to you while so many interesting things are waiting for me down the stream. But you wouldn't understand it anyway. Goodbye, I've got to flow." "The feeling is mutual," snapped the Tree back. "We have never talked before and after this conversation I doubt if I'll ever want to talk to you again." And since then the River and the Tree never said a word to each other, the River kept flowing, the Tree growing, and each minding their own business. |
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