This page is dedicated to literary works: stories, tales, travel notes, etc. .

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Table of Contents.

Bright River.
Conversation.
Mouse and Ram.
Snake and Moon
About Donkey
Three brothers.
Five Fools.

Bright River.

Bright River springs from the peak of the mountain, comes down the valley, loops there, and merges with the ocean.
The wind jumps from wave to wave, from one bank to the other.
Once the Peacock came to the riverbank covered with pebbles and said: “The River disappears in sands. If you follow me, I’ll take you to the bright source.” He and his worshippers went away, but the memory of them was preserved.

Once the Snake crawled out to the sandy riverbank and said to those fearless ones who listened to her: “The River, going down the sands, creates underground lakes. If you come with me, you’ll find the path to them.” And they went away, but their footsteps remained.

One day the Pig came out of the marshy brushwood and said: “There is no path whatever. But if you follow me, I’ll rid you of efforts.” And they went away and came here – unable to see, to comprehend, or to feel.

The ocean Fish swam up the River, found quiet backwater in which she spawned, and, playing with the waves, came down to the ocean again.

Conversation.

"Disappear," said the Lamp to the Wall.
"Be opened," ordered the Wall to the Door.
"Go out," said the Wind to the Lamp when entering the Door.
"The night is over," uttered the Sunlight.

The Mouse and Ram.

The Mouse got into the Ram’s pantry. Coming here day after day she put on weight and her hair became silky and rich.
Once, though, the Ram caught her unexpectedly.
"Why are you here?" He asked her severely.
"O my brother," the Mouse said cunningly, "I was upset by not being able to help you."
"But what’s my misfortune?" The Ram was surprised.
"You are saving up hopes for the future in your pantry, though the contentment of such tiny creature as I am may cease so suddenly."
"Well, if you are not able to help me," the Ram uttered reasonably, "then you are to leave my pantry now."

The Snake and Moon.

Having seen the moon, the Snake was filled with bitterness.
"You are shining in the clear sky and you may hide your radiance not. But I’m hiding myself in ground and rocks, fearing to be noticed," she said with envy. "Console yourself," said the Nightingale to the Snake while sitting at the safe distance. "The moon shines by another’s light, but your envy, though poisonous, has its own nature."

About Donkey.

Having escaped from the drover, the Donkey settled in the forest. There he nibbled grass and interrupted his occupation only to curse dirtily.
"I think," the Boar said, "he means us."
"Wait, he speaks about the main thing," the Rat disagreed.
The Owl, having woke up, uttered: "The Donkey has just got a habit of thinking aloud."

Three Brothers.

Three brothers were in search of spiritual knowledge. On their way they noticed an old gate just in the middle of a field. And on the stone, pointing towards the gate, they could read a half-obliterated inscription stating: "For the deserving ones this gate will be opened."
The elder brother just sat on the stone and concentrated upon the image of the gate. He decided that non-distraction would bring him to the goal. The middle brother explored the road leading to the gate and the field around it. He concluded that the understanding of place and circumstances is the most important.
The younger brother began to search for instructions. And, obeying the signs, he went to roam about, having lost even the memory of the gate. Once, walking on the road overgrown with grass, he opened the old gate, and being out he saw a toad, sitting on the stone and before him and a nightingale, studying him from the branch of a tree.
The two other brothers saw the rat, coming out from under the gate, and each of them said:
The elder brother said: "This is the meaning of the flow of time;"
The middle brother said: "This is the entire mind, searching for attainment."
Then, with the tears of joy in their eyes and having hugged and kissed each other, the three of them opened the gate so wide that a cart loaded with hay could easily pass through it.

Five Fools.

One hot summer day one man was crossing the bridge over the river. Looking down, in the very midst of the river, where the water was shallow, he could see another man standing motionless, except for his head that was tirelessly moving left and right.
“O sir,” addressed the man from the bridge to the one in the water “what are you doing there, in the river, and why and for how long do you devote yourself to such an occupation?”
“O, you interrupted me by such an idle question. But since you ask, I should reply to you: I’m thinking. Whence in the morning I got into this stream to get myself refreshed, I swam and swam – and reached the river’s very middle – that shallow place where I do stay till now. And then, when I was resting with my feet touching the yellow river sand, a troubling thought came to my mind, depriving me of peace: “Since I am in the middle of the river and the distance is equal to each bank, where should I head to: the right one or the left? There is no apparent difference, but since by wrong decision we cause the Heavens to turn away from us – each factor should be weighed with precision until the right decision will come up.” This is the reason I’m standing here-thinking-my body with no motion, nor my mind."
Having heard such an explanation, the man who was on the bridge became gradually overwhelmed by unrestrained laughter. And finally his laughter became so intense, that he lost his balance and fell from the bridge into the rapids.
Despite fighting the strong current, he anyway started to drown. And all his calls for help were in vain as the other man, standing in the shallow water so close to him, was so totally absorbed in thought that he paid no attention to his desperate shouts.
At that moment a young woman was walking on the river bank. Having noticed that something unusual was going on in the water, she tried to figure out what it was. But as the bank was steep and clayey, she slipped and ended up in the water as well.
Meanwhile a school teacher was riding his bicycle on the road along the river. As he was a wise man, he instantly understood what was taking place. He left his bicycle on the road, went down carefully to the water, and uttered: “O people! All of you have fallen victims to your own vices. Your vice,” he said addressing the standing man “is indecisiveness. You suffer from your own arrogance,” he reported to the drowning man. “And you,” he proclaimed to the young woman, “are curious to such a great extent.”
And having said so, he was about to continue on his way, when he discovered that his bicycle was gone. It was a thief who had stolen it in the meantime.