Once upon a time there was a boy, and he had a dog and a cat.
He would go out with them to the fields, to see the world before sunrise and sunset. He did not want to see the sun rising and setting, for the pains of birth and death disturbed him.
One day the dog went alone before sunrise. The boy was still asleep.
The dog met a stray ant.
"Why don't you go with your fellow-ants?" Asked the dog.
"I want to see the sun rising. I go to the horizon, there the sun is born and there she dies. Will you come?"
"I never saw the sun rise. Isn't that dangerous?" asked the dog.
"Only if you're afraid to watch."
So they went.
Soon they came to a mountain.
"We must climb this mountain" Said the ant.
"The mountain is big" Said the dog.
The ant started climbing slowly, pushing behind her one grain of sand and another. The dog watched silently for a few minutes, and then started climbing too. The ant climbed on his back, and so they rose higher and higher till they reached the summit.
There stood a great sword. A great sword that stood vertically, pointing at the sky.
"This is a sword of an unknown hero" Said the ant, "He who passes the sword and doesn't have in him the wish of death - this very sword will fell him down."
Said the dog: "I do not wish to die. I wish to live."
Said the ant: "Then don't pass."
The ant passed the high, sharp sword, and the dog went after her and passed too.
"I have no wish of death!" cried the dog.
"You passed," said the ant, "You do have. Everyone passes."
And so they went, until they reached the great valley in front of the horizon where the sun is born.
The dog saw the pale, dead and horrid face of the sun, and said: "Let's go back."
"If you can't see the sun dead, you can't see her come to life." Said the ant.
And so they stood and watched the sun. Many hours passed, and the despair in that face and in those eyes was terrible to see.
There came a moment when the silence was suddenly noticeable, for it was disturbed. The air moved, as though a tiny-childish finger lifted the curtain of a puppet-theater, and the sun wavered, and then burst into light.
The sun stood up, horrible and bright and new-born, and without looking at the dog and the ant kneeling at her feet, straightened herself and cried mightily:
"Blessed is the bringer of birth and death! Blessed is the bringer of death and birth! Blessed is the circle and the lines and most blessed of all is the point in the center of things!"
"How wonderful all this is! How terrible!" Cried the dog excitedly.
"She will die, eventually," said the ant, "And then be reborn, and re-die, and be re-born, unto eternity, and so shall I and so shall you."
"But not the boy!" said the dog, "For he is a human. And they suffer the pain of death in their sadness many many times. They die the true death only once, so they won't have to suffer again."
"Unto eternity ,re-death and re-birth, he is too of the cycle." said the ant.
The dog cried bitterly and fell all the way back, he passed the sword, and the mountain, and the fields and burst into the house and cried at the boy: "Is it true that you'll die and be re-born and die and be re-born, unto eternity?"
Answered the boy: "I do not know, stop asking"
Cried the dog: "Is it true that you have the wish of death inside you?"
The boy recoiled and said: "I don't know. Stop asking!"
"And the mountains," wept the dog, "Have you ever climbed the mountains?"
"No," said the boy, "And I never will."
"Come with me to see the sun die." said the dog
And the boy said: "No."
"And yet you'll come with me!" Cried the dog and tried pulling him out of the house. The boy threw the dog out, locked the door, held the cat tightly and closed his ears.
Three days and nights the dog howled at the locked door.
A princess went past the house and heard the dog howling. She asked him the reason for his sadness and he told her everything.
The princess touched the door lightly and the door burst in flames and was no more.
She went to the boy, huddled in the corner.
"Wake up and cross mountains." She said.
"I do not want to" answered he.
"You must," she said, "If you do not come and cut through the mountain, the mountain will come and cut through you."
"And is that enough?" he asked.
"When you cross," said she, "You must know that there is always a wish of death within you, even though you struggle mightily for life."
"I do not want to know." said the boy.
"If you will not know the wish of death, " said she, "You will stop fighting for life."
"And if I fight, and know, is that enough?" he asked.
"Fighting and knowing, you must accept that you will re-die and be re-born, unto eternity." She said.
"I do not want to", answered he.
"If you will not accept that," said she, "You will forever dream of possesing a comfort that does not exist, and your life will be an illusion".
The boy was quiet for many minutes, and at last he said to the princess: "Will the world, at least, be as fair as you are?"
"No." Said the princess.
She went.
The boy stood up, took the cat and the dog with him. He went out of the house, locked the door and buried the key in the earth. He then started walking.
And still he walks.
