Chương 83: Book 3; Chapter 82; Simplicity of life

After the investigation was conducted and finished, the people of the town had mixed feelings about what had happened. On one hand, they were worried about their future; on the other hand, they were happy to be saved. Worry was bigger than happiness, and everyone could see broken machines, but they could not see the damage done to themselves. But still, they gathered to talk about all that had happened and to celebrate.

They arranged everything to celebrate the coming of the King's Army and even two princes, and invited guests from other surrounding settlements, but by the time all was set, members of the King's Army had left, taking Prince Ragnar and future King Angus with them, so Rainee got all the spotlight. At that time, Rainee was a child and her thinking was very similar to yours.

I see you wanting to object to it, and yes, at that time, she had much more knowledge than you do right now, but knowledge and the way of thinking are not the same. A child can have all the knowledge in the world, still it is just a child, as it is not knowledge that makes people grow. So she was thinking in a very similar way, and after the day was over and everyone gathered around the campfire waiting for the meal, she asked openly.

"How did you lot get pulled into this affair at the very beginning?"

"???" People could not understand her question after they had already been explaining their reasons all day to officers.

"No one can force a person to join such a union without the person willingly joining in. Later, it would probably be much easier to keep you all under control, as the power that this machine got from lots of people joining was really great. So my question is, why such an idea even came about? What did you want from this deal from the very beginning?" First, no one wanted to answer her, but because she was neither a scary officer nor any person of authority, they became more talkative.

"The main reason was to get more free time to do things we like while machines are doing our labour. They would manage to do more than we could in the same amount of time, and we would have time to enjoy ourselves, to do things we like and dream of doing, but don't have time to achieve," they finally explained.

"This still doesn't make sense to me. Could you explain in more detail?" Rainee insisted, looking around until someone explained in more detail.

"Let's say I want to travel in style. While travelling, I want to enjoy myself and feel comfortable, to stay in places where I don't have to do anything but relax, to eat and drink nice food that I have never tried before and that are cooked for me, to learn new things, to be able to buy things I see and like. To save enough money to do so would take a long time, and during that time, there are always some things that come up that require spending, and it becomes impossible to fulfil such a dream."

"And how do these machines help at all?"

"Well, I can set a goal to save a certain amount, and until this goal is reached, do nothing else, just eat, sleep, and sell my energy. As I won't be doing much, it means I won't need to do many chores, so I don't have to spend lots of time on myself, and I can recover energy faster and can sell more. Also, I can earn twice as much by selling energy than I would earn if working by myself." Rainee was lying leisurely on that little reclining chair with her hands under her head, staring at the night sky for a while.

Warmth coming from the fire, burning just a few steps away, was stroking her side — it felt so nice and relaxing. After thinking for a while, she replied.

"I try to put all you have just said into one picture, and it doesn't fit."

"What do you mean?"

"I try to break it into two or three pictures, but it is with the same result. No matter how much I try, it seems to me that what you're saying is something that you heard or picked up from lots of different people. Even your dream itself."

"What do you mean? It is a very simple example, everyone can understand it." People around murmured in agreement. In their thoughts, they just started to remember that no matter how wise and strong this child looked to them, it was still just a child, so it was probably too complicated for a child to understand what living and working for a living was. After a little while, Rainee spoke again.

"All evening I have felt very comfortable and relaxed." Many eyes turned to look at her, and here she was — living proof of the words she just said: one leg on top of another, hands under her head, with a little kitten purring next to her side, a half-empty glass of freshly made juice on a table mat within reach of her hand. Not a single person could doubt or deny the comment she just made.

"The drink you made for me is really special — simple but very tasty." She looked in the direction of the kitchen shed, where delicious smells were coming from, promising a nice treat for everyone.

"By the way it smells, I really look forward to trying that dish — I have never tried it before, but it smells so nice — I cannot wait until it is cooked, and if the taste is at least half as good as the smell, I will definitely ask for the recipe to learn how to cook it." After a short pause, she kept talking, deep in her thoughts:"I am travelling. And so far on my journey, I haven't spent a single coin. Not because I don't have money, but simply because I didn't have a chance to spend any…"

After saying it, she fell silent for a while, letting others understand her words. After a few minutes, someone asked,"All you say is true, but how is it related to the topic we were discussing before?" Rainee closed her eyes for a few moments. Again and again and again, the same thing was happening — either she wasn't able to explain to others the simplest things, or others weren't able to understand them. Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.

Sometimes she was thinking — maybe the things she was talking about were too simple? Maybe grownups are caught up in many more complicated matters, and to see simple things wasn't possible anymore… She opened her eyes and sat up, so others could see and hear her better. She glanced at the little boy from the woods — he was staring at her with wide-open eyes, his body was all stiff, as if he had just realised something and couldn't believe it.

She was sure that at least he managed to understand what she was trying to convey to others and thanked the heavens for that — if one person can understand, that means others can too; then there is nothing wrong with the idea, but she just needed to express herself better.

"To travel, and while travelling, to enjoy yourself and to feel comfortable. To stay in places where you don't have to do anything but relax. To eat and drink nice food that you have never tried before, and that are cooked for you. That was a large part of your dream. Wasn't it?"

"Yes, it was…"

"How is this dream of yours different from what I am experiencing right now at this very same moment?" Everyone around fell silent for a moment.

"Also, in addition to what you described, I have many more benefits that you didn't mention — one of them is that I meet so many new people; I even made new friends. Over and over, I am finding the same truth — people are different in many ways, but also not. The kindness, the hospitality, the friendship, the gratitude, and the willingness to help — they are all the same everywhere. One thing is for sure — anywhere I go, I never fail to find it in people around me, as long as I am willing to see it."

No one dared to break the silence. Rainee lay back on the recliner and looked again at the stars.

"I have been travelling for a while; everywhere I go, people meet me with such hospitality. They make my stay comfortable, they offer me food and drinks, they share with me so many stories, and they listen to the stories I tell them. They teach me so many new things, and every time I take a coin out of my pocket to pay, they get upset and ask me to put it back. I don't even dare to offer these coins anymore. Why do I have to upset someone so nice and friendly towards me?"

After a while, she pressed on:"To relax while doing nothing and to learn new things are opposites of each other. When you want to learn something, you have to practise while learning; you cannot relax and do nothing while practising. If you are not trying, then you are just observing, and that is not the same as learning; it is witnessing that some things can be done by someone, but you yourself do not learn them.

Also, it is essential to understand that it is very nice to do something after relaxing, and it is extremely nice to relax after working hard. Then these opposite things allow us to experience the pleasures of both actions fully… Also, it feels nice when someone is doing things for you while you are relaxing, but there is also another feeling that is just as nice, or even nicer — it is when you yourself are helping someone and making others happy…

It is such a gift to make someone feel good and happy; it fills your heart with healthy pride and makes you feel so good. Even if someone would offer me a pay to skip this part, I would have to refuse," she giggled for a bit before continuing.

"I guess that is why others are not taking my coins — not to ruin this nice feeling inside. While travelling, it is not easy to carry many things with you, so you cannot buy many things, and to buy just a little, it is not that difficult to do a few jobs around to earn it, especially when it complies with the part about learning new things. Usually, you can get paid while learning something new; the more you learn, the more things you can do, and money never becomes an issue…"

People around were sitting in silence and deep in thought. Never mind that they had already forgotten thinking that this child was not able to understand what living and working for a living was. But the things she was saying seemed so simple that it was hard to admit to oneself that it was so basic that it shouldn't need to be said to be understood; it should be effortless, like breathing. Rainee continued.

"So I am living now, at this very moment, most of your dream, and I didn't have to torture myself for god knows how long by only eating, sleeping, and selling energy to achieve it… Especially since after doing nothing for so long to save money, one definitely wouldn't be enjoying doing nothing but eating and sleeping while travelling; it would be more like a nightmare to do nothing again, after doing nothing for so long, just in a different place, wouldn't it be?

So that is why I say it isn't a dream of one person — it looks to me like a combination of thoughts planted into your head by others. For the part "travelling in style", just such a saying tells me that it isn't your dream; otherwise, you would tell how you want to travel instead of saying "in style". One likes to travel on foot, one on a horse, one in a carriage, and another on a ship or even on a dragon… Which of them is 'in style'? Which style does the person themselves dream about?

If one doesn't know it, then most likely the thought of travelling is alien to that person. If one prefers staying in a solitary room of a hotel, isolated from local surroundings, then it is definitely not a traveller's heart — it is most likely someone who really feels better at home in familiar surroundings. All this dream you told me feels like it's not yours but gathered from others.

It is like the idea of a person who is really feeling good at home, in his own town or village, but who was forced to abandon his own dreams about a cosy home and happy family, and led to accept ideas of a person who enjoys travelling, also with added ideas of another who is enjoying buying and selling things, and also god knows what other ideas. In such a case, locking oneself out of the world for so long would be acceptable.

When there is no influence from others, people dream about something that makes them comfortable, and once the dream becomes clear, they make a move. A traveller will pack a bag and go to travel, a teacher will learn new things and start teaching, a merchant will travel with a purpose to get new things to bring to other places, a farmer will look after the land, a gardener will make his home his dream, and so on. One would sell his life and energy to others only under false influence.

Otherwise, one would be living his life and using his energy to achieve his dreams…"

"…......"

"What if one doesn't have any dreams?" someone asked after a long pause.

"Then it is one of the two," Rainee replied.

"First, it might be that this person is actually living his dream without realising it. It would mean that the daily blessing of having found the right place on earth has been taken over and hidden by daily duties."

"Then how can you find it out? If you are living your dream without knowing?"

"Ask yourself a simple question and be honest with the answer. Don't hide that answer from yourself, and don't try to change it or smooth it."

"What simple question?"

"Are you happy?"

"…"

"That is?"

"Yep. Simple question, but people often complicate it. Are you happy doing your work?

"I am happy because I enjoy my work" is an answer. But "I am happy because I am paid well" does not answer the question about you being happy while doing the job. It is only answering that you are paid enough.

"I am happy while doing my job, but I don't want to do it anymore because of too much pressure or too many demands" means you are happy to do what you do; it is just the demands and pressure you don't like. Are you happy staying at home looking after children?

"Yes, it makes me feel happy to look after the children" indicates that you are happy."Yes, I am happy because it benefits my children" doesn't answer this question at all. And so on… People will think about so many ways to find an excuse for how happy they are in a place where they are unhappy… or where they convince themselves that they are happy just because they didn't find a happier place, or they are afraid to lose something."

"… So how do you find the true answer?" was the main question lingering in people's minds.

"Look inside… If you tell the answer and it feels like a lie, then it is a lie. Then, instead of hiding it from yourself and twisting it, ask yourself why it feels like a lie and look for answers to the new questions. The answer is always inside yourself and never in other people. Happiness, too, is always inside yourself, not in other people. As in the example I said earlier, it feels nice to help other people. It doesn't feel nice because the other people are helped and have a better day or a better life.

It feels nice because of the feeling inside of you. The point of helping others is to make you feel good and happy. If, after helping someone, your thoughts are like, "Well, he didn't really deserve it," or "I hope he will return the favour," or anything similar, and you don't have that incredibly nice feeling inside, then something went wrong there. Same with happiness: if you don't feel happy doing something or living your life, then look for answers to why you do it then.

Is there something shielding happiness, or have you not found your place yet?"

"What is the second? The second reason for not having your own dream?"

"The second is that you think your dream is wrong, and you believe in the opinion of others more than you believe in yourself or in your dream. It is difficult, as when you become convinced that your dream is out of line, too audacious, too strange, too anything, you lose it. Then, even if, after some time, someone tells you that it is OK, you will find it difficult to believe.

And when you see someone doing it, someone living the dream that you didn't dare, you will feel angry, and might even fall into despair to see others happy in something where you never dared to try."

"How do you know that much?"

"The King told me."

"So he educates you personally. That makes sense."

"He educates everyone who wants to listen, and even those who are not that keen. Just people don't listen, or even when they listen, they hear so little. They presume what the King should say, instead of listening and asking questions."

"He isn't coming here to educate anyone…"

"Of course he isn't coming. If he were to come, all of you would just get too scared and would want him to leave. But he does educate. If you read books from his library, you will know much more than I do, as it is all in there. And if that is not enough, he would make sure that new information is sent your way as soon as you seek it."