esson 55: The Investiture of the Stone

Part Four of Five

continue traveling eastwards, and come across Charles, the Stone King. He shares breakfast with me, and conversation.

"It is said that wise men followed a star in the east to lead them to the newly-born King of Kings," I tell him. "The rising sun is also a 'star in the east' and ruler of the newborn day. Celestial symbols of hope and promise. But what's the difference between the Star of the East and the Star of the West?"
"The Star of the East gives hope and a sign of something that is known or foreseen. The Star of the West represents the promise of all that is unknown. But *all* stars travel the whole circuit of the sky, being at one time or another, east then west."

He accompanies me, expounding on his philosophy, to Stone Eight, where I chisel out a small star--about the size of my hand. Charles is also working on something with some of the smaller tools. I finish before him and sit in the sun examining my star and thinking about all we discussed.

"Just think," he says, "thousands of years from now, your star will still exist--perhaps for an archeologist to find. And man will still be able to look to the stars to guide him. Whenever I have problems, I just think 'What difference will it make 100 or 1000 years from now?' Helps me keep things in proper perspective."

He finishes his work and sits on the grass next to me. He hands me a large gold coin, and I'm surprised and delighted to see my image on it! I'm deeply honored and pleased. On the other side is the Stone, its darker squares cross-hatched.

"This is a token payment for all the work you've done in my realm. And before you protest that you don't deserve it, I happen to know that you repaired a breach in Adrian's wall. So you've worked not only for youself. Take it."
"I've grown so rich while I've been here," I tell him. "No wonder it's sometimes called the Realm of Coins! You're aces with me, boss! <wink>"

Since he never really saw the moon I sculpted earlier, I invite him to go see it⁷ and we walk together to the glade of Stone Nine. He compliments my work and together we use some pine tar to attach my newly-made star to the inside curve of the crescent.

A raccoon appears at the edge of the clearing, checking us out. "Hey, brother," I say to him, "I've put a lot of work into this thing here, so don't go playing with it and mess it up, okay?"
To my amazement, he nods his head, then scampers off into the woods!

Charles and I continue together to the hill with the fort [The Star]. We climb to the top and he explains that the fort is unoccupied now. There are no enemies to defend against, just hope of continued peace.

We camp on the summit and speak with mutual melancholy about the passing of the winter constellations--Orion and Sirius, Pleiades, and others that we are so fond of. We acknowledge that they will come around again next year, but that we will miss them inthe meantime. Thinking that this applies to many other things as well, I enumerate them in my mind as I drift off to sleep.