the belly of a fish: a jannisor tale

From: Harald Smith (617) 724-9843 <"Harald>
Date: Tue, 19 Sep 1995 10:34:00 -0500 (EST)

  When Jannisor was young, he travelled widely through the woods of the   eastern reaches even to the edge of the Sea of Elves itself from which   the sun rises each day.   

  It chanced one day that Jannisor decided that he desired fish for his   meal. But instead of a river fish, Jannisor wanted a taste of sea fish,   which he never had tried before. He found a clansman from those parts   and asked, "By the grace of Khelmal, how does one catch a sea fish?"   

  The clansman replied, "Though the sea be near, it is as far as the sun.   The waters turn against all who seek passage. You'll not catch a sea   fish."   

  Jannisor was undaunted by this reply and sought for another who could   tell him how to catch a sea fish. He found a hunter from those parts   and asked, "By the stealth of Gordaval, how does one catch a sea fish?"   

  The hunter replied, "Though Gordaval can catch all on land, he can catch   nothing from the sea. The waters turn against all who hunt there.   You'll not catch a sea fish."   

  Jannisor was undaunted by this reply and sought for another who could   tell him how to catch a sea fish. He found an old fisherman and asked,
"By the wisdom of Arahar, how does one catch a sea fish?"
  

  The old fisherman replied, "Though Arahar can see all upon the land, he   can only see himself in the sea. A sea fish would as soon eat you as be   eaten. You'll not catch a sea fish."   

  Jannisor was undaunted by this reply. Deciding he could find no aid, he   set out to catch a sea fish alone. He cut down five trees and tied them   together with Everhold Knots. He cut down a sapling to use as a fishing   pole. He took the gutstring of a swift deer to use as a fishing line.   He took a nail from his pack and bent it into a fishing hook. He dug up   a Longworm to use as a bait. With these five things and a prayer to   Khelmal, Jannisor set out upon the Sea of Elves.   

  For five days and four nights Jannisor journeyed east upon the sea. He   journeyed under the light of Yelem and under the watch of Arahar. He   journeyed through calm and through the blusters of Orlantio. But   through those four days he saw nothing upon the sea and felt nothing   pull upon his line. But when the sun set upon that fifth day, the wind   rose and the sky darkened as heavy clouds rose behind him. Lightning   rent the sky and gales drove him onward across the waters. Rain fell   then until his clothes lay like weights upon him and his hair and beard   were plastered to his skin. The rain turned to sleet as sharp as   daggers. His skin felt the lash of the storm and his face and hands   bled. The knots tore beneath this force and the waves tossed the spars   apart like kindling. Jannisor was tossed into the sea and though he   clung to a spar, darkness closed upon him. As vision faded he saw the

  great jaws of a fish opened above him and then darkness took that vision   too.   

  Jannisor still clung to the spar and woke to find the world of darkness   calm and cool. The scent of fish and the sea was all about, though no   light was there to tell him where he was. Jannisor spoke then in the   darkness, "By the grace of Khelmal, let me find the light."   

  Slowly, sitting atop the spar, Jannisor turned the log into the current   and slowly paddled forward. He knew not how long he paddled, but   continued on his endless journey. His arms ached. His legs were numb.   His face was raw and burning with pain. He continued on.   

  He came to recognize a sound before him. It was faint at first, then   louder. It was a sound of churning, he thought, or maybe distant   thunder, though constant. He paddled on, moving closer to the sound.   The sound grew louder and louder. Soon it was like thunder, a great   roar. Then it was that Jannisor felt the water rushing forward and   realization came that a great waterfall lay ahead. He could not stop   his progress, but felt the log tip up. Headfirst he plunged down the   falls though he could see nothing ahead.   

  He woke and noticed first the dark blue of the sky, not the utter   blackness of before. There was still a sound of a waterfall, though he   was some distance from it. There were other sounds, too, and other   sights. He could make out the shadowy forms of trees and perhaps deer   moving amongst the branches. The sounds he came to place as voices.   

  With effort, he sat up to look around. He sat upon a dark beach beside   a slow running river. Across upon the other bank were bathers, dark   human forms, both men and women. He saw others farther back. Some wore   long gowns of white, shimmering from an inner glow though all else was   dark. Others wore helmets and carried spears and daggers.   

  With effort, Jannisor stood. He approached the river bank and called a   greeting. The bathers slowly glanced up and waved, though they never   spoke a word back, but continued with their murmuring and bathing.   Jannisor asked "Is there a way across that I might join you?"   

  Again the bathers glanced up and waved, and again they spoke not a word   in return. Jannisor walked then into the slow moving river, though it   burned his face and his arms hurt with every motion and he labored for   each breath. Stroke after stroke he made his way across to emerge   beside the bathers. Yet when he rose from the water his face seemed   cool and his arms were rested and he breathed easy now.   

"Welcome" said a bather, "welcome to the Land of the White Flower."
  

"Thank you," said Jannisor. "I would offer cheese to you so that we
  might share a meal, but I have none. Indeed I have nothing but myself   to offer."   

"Then," said a white robed figure now approaching, "we shall accept
  yourself as your offer."   

"And I do so freely," answered Jannisor in turn. The white robed figure
  turned and beckoned Jannisor to follow. Jannisor did so.   

"There is a white tree in our land," said the white robed man, "upon
  which grow black flowers. These flowers are an offense to us for they   are not white. Yet we cannot pick the black flowers nor uproot the tree   for the tree is too bright for us to approach. But since you are not of   us, we hope that you might approach the white tree and pick the black   flowers or uproot it altogether so that it no longer offends us."   

"Since I have offered myself," Jannisor said, "I can do no less than
  attempt this task for you. Show me where I may find this white tree."   

  Then the white robed man pointed and Jannisor could see the white tree   as bright as day itself, clearly visible in this twilight land.   Jannisor, naked and without weapons, set out for the white tree so that   he might pick its black flowers or uproot it.   

  When Jannisor reached the tree, he walked around it and observed it,   noting its two white branches and the black flowers at the ends of each   branch. He also noted that there was one bright knot upon the tree at   chest height. Jannisor decided he would try to climb the tree to reach   the flowers. But when he touched the tree, he found the tree was so   bright that he had to shield his eyes from the sight as the radiance   penetrated even through his eyelids. Jannisor decided he would try to   pull up the tree. But when he touched the tree, he again found the tree   was so bright that he had to shield his eyes from the sight. So he   abandoned that tact as well and sat to ponder his task.   

  He approached the white robed man and said, "I would offer myself again   to try this task, but I would ask of you two things."   

  The white robed man agreed.   

"I would ask that you lend me your white robe and I would ask that one
  of your warriors lend me a dagger."   

  The white robed man agreed.   

  When he had these two things in hand, Jannisor approached the white tree   until he stood but one pace away. Then Jannisor turned away from the   white tree. He wrapped the white robe around his eyes. Then he placed   the dagger in his left hand. So positioned, he took one step backward.   He reached his arms around behind his back so that they encircled the   tree. He felt the radiance upon his arms and upon his neck and back and   all around him, but he could not see it. And so, he took the knife in   his left hand and plunged it into the knot in the tree.   

  Immediately the radiance fled. Jannisor took the robe from off his eyes   and turned. The tree was now black like all the other trees and the   flowers on its two branches were white like all the other flowers. When   Jannisor removed the dagger, though, he heard a voice cry out "Release   me great warrior and I shall reward you."   

"Where are you and how shall I do so?" Jannisor answered.
  

"I am in the tree here," replied the voice "and you must cut the trunk
  from around me."   

  So with the dagger, Jannisor began to cut the trunk from the tree. He   cut and hacked and sawed at the tree until sweat poured from his skin   and his arms ached and his hands were raw. Then when he could continue   no longer, he saw a small white radiance within the tree. Putting the   knife aside, he reached in and pulled the radiance out. It was a   glorious eye, as bright as day itself, though Jannisor found he could   still look upon it.   

  He carried it from the tree to return the white robe and talk to the   man. But when he approached the man, the man turned his eyes and spoke   angrily "You carry that which should not be. Destroy it know or suffer   our wrath!"   

"I will not do such. I have freed you of the abomination of the black
  flowers, but I will not destroy this eye."   

"Then you must die!" shouted the man in rage.
  

  He waved at the spearmen to attack. But Jannisor was to swift for them.   He took the eye and plunged into the river, swimming to the far bank   even as spears fell beside him. One spear even grazed his calf, but he   reached the far bank and crawled up its slope, still carrying the eye in   hand. He ran to the waterfall and looked up. But there was no end in   sight and no way to climb to its top. "By the grace of Khelmal, allow   me to save the beauty of this eye!" he shouted.   

  Then the eye, silent since its freedom, spoke. "I am called Brighteye   and for your loyalty I will aid you. Close your eyes now and allow me   to guide you for I can see what you cannot."   

  Jannisor did as the eye bid. And following the guidance of the eye, he   placed his hands or feet where the eye told him too. He climbed for a   long time, so long he could not count. His arms and legs ached. His   hands were raw. His face and head were scraped by rock and drenched   with sweat. At last though he felt a level ground. The eye said "Look   now, for your task is done."   

  Jannisor looked then and he saw Yelem break the surface of the sea,   rising once again into the sky. Brighteye in his hand reflected back   the radiance of the mighty judge. Turning he saw a beach and then a   woods and the mountains he knew and loved. Beside him was his fishing   rod and on the rod was his fishing line and on the line was a great   fish. He then made a place for Brighteye on his shield and a place for   the fish in his belly.   

"I guess I can catch a sea fish after all."
  

  Harald


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