Fanfic:Storyweaver
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The people seated in the hall for the Tower's annual tale weaving night roared with laughter at the silly ending of the previous story and then applauded their appreciation. The storyteller, Nathyn Asha'man, bowed and then surveyed the group for the next entertainer. He smiled as she slowly deliberated his choice, eyeing several possible candidates. Finally his gaze rested on Saraid whose eyes filled with horror and shook her, pleading not to be chosen. Nathyn ignored her desperate pleas. He knew the Green Sister could spin a good tale when she warmed to her task. 'Saraid Sedai shall entertain you next,' he told the crowd.
His victim rolled her eyes and made a motion with her hands that conveyed her thought that she was to be sacrificed to the gathering. Nathyn merely grinned wickedly at her and offered her a hand to stand and take her place in the Storyweaver's Chair at the front of the group. 'I'll get you for this one, Nathyn,' she told him, resigned. The Mistress of Novices and Sitter for her Ajah cleared her throat to gain the attention of the listeners.
'This is a true story handed down many generations of my mother's family,' she began. 'Many years ago, in a hold in the Three-Fold Land, there were two friends - both were warriors, but one had a daughter. One night they were drinking some kaf and discussing the philosophies of life. The debate dragged on, each man claiming that he knew more than the other did. Finally they realised that neither would win the argument, and so they decided to take the matter to a minor chief who was renowned for his wisdom, honesty, and sound judgement - indeed, he was often asked to judge disputes such as this one. The next morning, both men went to the chief to ask his advice in the matter. The chief told them that he would set them three questions and the man who could answer them all would be the one that knew more about life. The chief then asked them three questions, "What is the fastest thing in the world, what is the fattest thing in the world, and what is the sweetest thing in the world?" Then he told the two men to return in three days time with their answers and he would judge the matter.' Saraid paused to smile at her audience before continuing.
'The other warrior returned home, and spent the next three days trying to find the answers to the questions. But he could think of no answers. The warrior with the daughter went home to his house where he lived alone with his clever daughter. The warrior sat in his home for a whole day, trying to think of the answers to the questions. His daughter noticed his worry and asked him what was wrong. He replied that the chief had set he and the other warrior three questions to answer to decide who knew more about life. Then he told his daughter the three questions. His daughter laughed and replied "That is easy! The fastest thing on earth is thought, the fattest is the earth, and the sweetest is sleep." The warrior thanked his daughter and praised her cleverness. At the end of three days, the warrior with the daughter and the other warrior returned to the chief with their answers. The other warrior, of course, had no answers even though he had spent the whole three days searching for the answers. The warrior with the daughter responded with the answers that his clever daughter had given him.'
'The chief was amazed at the warrior's answers and asked him where he had found them. The warrior admitted truthfully that his daughter had given then to him. The chief was impressed and he said to the warrior, "Since your daughter knows so much about life, I will test her further. Give her these dozen eggs and tell her to hatch them in three days time. If she can do that, then she will be rewarded greatly." The warrior accepted the eggs and carried them carefully home. When his daughter saw her father she ran to meet him, but then she also saw his troubled demeanour and his care of the basket that he carried. Again his daughter asked him what troubled him, and the warrior replied, "These eggs are from the chief whose questions you answered. He bids you hatch them in three days time, and you will receive a reward and prove your wisdom again." The daughter peered thoughtfully into the basket and carefully took out the eggs, weighing them one by one in her hands. The she replaced the eggs and said "Dearest father, how can these eggs be hatched when they are already cooked? To hatch boiled eggs, indeed! But father, I have a plan how to answer this riddle." The daughter boiled some beans and then waited three days. At the end of the allotted time, the daughter gave the beans to her father and instructed him what to do.'
'The warrior hurried to the chief's house to ask permission to plant some special beans. "Beans? What sort of special beans?" asked the chief. The warrior took the beans form his pocket and showed the chief, saying, "These are boiled beans, your honour, that I wish to plant." The chief burst out laughing and replied, "Well, you are not as knowledgeable as you claimed, for if you were wise to the world's ways you would know that beans cannot grow from boiled beans. They come from seeds." The warrior replied easily, "Well then, birds cannot be hatched from boiled eggs either." The chief immediately sensed that the warrior's clever daughter had a hand in the answer, so he said to the warrior, "Tell your daughter to come here in three days time. She must come neither clothed, nor naked. Neither riding nor walking. Neither hungry nor overfed, and bearing a gift that is not a gift." At the chief's words, the warrior departed even more confused than ever before.'
'He returned home and told his daughter what the chief had said. The daughter consoled her father and told him she again had a plan. Then she asked him to buy three almonds, a net, a goat and a pair of doves. The warrior did as he had been asked, though he was puzzled by his daughter's requests.'
'On the third day, the warrior's daughter prepared to visit the chief. She wrapped the net around her body so that she was neither dressed nor naked. She did not eat breakfast but instead took the almonds in one hand. In the other hand she took the pair of doves. Then she leant on the goat so that she hopped along on one foot and dragged the other. In this way she neither rode nor walked to the chief's home. The chief saw the girl coming and came out to meet her. In front of him she stopped and ate the three almonds to show that she was neither hungry nor overfed. Then she extended her hand that held the doves to him as a gift. At the last moment, as he reached out to take the doves form her, she released the birds who flew away. The chief laughed at this and told her that she was a clever woman. "I will marry you if you like, on one condition: that you never interfere with my judgments," he told her. Then she replied, "I will agree to that but I have a condition of my own. If I do anything that causes you to send me away, you will give me what ever I treasure most in the house." The chief agreed and they were then married.'
'Some time passed, and one day a young man who kept goats and mined precious stones approached the young wife for help. He told her that the year before he and his partner, a jewellery-crafter had built a home that they now shared. Then he told her that his partner kept his workroom there and he his goat. Then the young man told her that last night his goat had given birth to a baby goat beneath the jewellery-crafter's workroom and that now his partner claimed that the kid was his because his workroom had given birth to it. Then he told her that the matter had been taken to her husband who had ruled in his partner's favour. The young wife listened attentively, and then gave the man certain advice and instructions to follow.'
'As she told him to, he took a net and settled himself in the chief's vegetable garden and proceeded to wait for a baby to cry so he could trap it in his net. The chief walked past his garden and then stopped in amazement. "What are you doing," asked the chief. The man replied, "I am searching for babies in the garden." The chief began to laugh and then said, "Are you so stupid that you do not know that babies cannot be found in a vegetable garden?" The man replied, "No sir, not any more than I know a workroom can give birth to a goat." At this answer, the chief stopped laughing. He understood that his wife, the warrior's clever daughter, must be involved in this case after all. He put down his spears and went to find his wife.'
'When he found her he said, "You did not keep your promise to not interfere with my judgements. I must send you back to your father's home." His wife said, "You are right, husband. But before I must go, will you not take dinner with me once more?" The chief agreed to this last request and they sat down and ate together. The chief drank a great deal of wine, for his wife continuously refilled his cup. Finally he went to sleep, and the wife ordered the gai'shain to pick their master up and carry him to her father's house.'
'The next morning the chief woke up. He was stunned by the change of setting and shouted, "How is it I am here? What has happened to my home?" His wife spoke from her position by the window, "You will remember husband that you agreed I could take whatever I treasured most from your home if I was made to return to my father's house. There is nothing I treasure more than you, so that is how you came to be here." The chief laughed as he embraced his wife, saying "Knowing how much you love me, I know realise how much I love you. Let us return to our home." And they did return home, where they lived with much love and respect for many years," Saraid finished her story proudly. She nodded, acknowledging the crowd's enjoyment of her tale and then chose another person to entertain the group next.
