All Cretans Are Liars

Tengu and Kitsune, Part 2

2006-08-13T22:49:00.000-04:00

Tengu landed on the ground, and began hopping from foot to foot. "Well, you see, there is a man ahead. He met with a sort of accident"--and here Kitsune sniffed disdainfully, familiar with the accidents Tengu excelled at arranging--"and fell out of a tree. But you see, he wore a most beautiful sword across his back, and it caught a branch on the way down, so now he is hung from the tree." Tengu cackled again at some private joke, and then resumed, "I, with my beak, cannot break the branch or cut his sash. I thought perhaps you, with your lovely muzzle full of long teeth, might be able to help. "

“And what would you offer me for this service?” asked Kitsune, who, after all, had fled her home with nothing.

Tengu preened mightily. “Oh, I imagine we could work something out. For instance, at my nest is a shiny stack of coins—surely someone so recently relieved of all her possessions could use some money in her purse when she visits the next village.” He cast a bright eye over her mussed red-brown coat and the mud on her white boots. “It might help you make a better impression there.”

Kitsune was no fool, and no stranger to tricks, but she was forced to admit that Tengu had a point. “Very well, Tengu; I accept your proposal. Show me to this hanging man.”

His laugh rang madly through the trees as he fluttered ahead. “Come, then; it’s not far!”

* * * *

Soon the two arrived at a tall tree, standing head and shoulders above its brothers. High above in its branches, as Tengu had described, a man hung, swaying slightly. He was dressed simply, like a poor traveler or a hermit, and wore lightly padded armor. A long, curved sword in its scabbard was tied to a braided cord, which was then looped across the unfortunate man’s back—and now around his throat, with bloody fingertips and clutching hands as evidence of his final struggle. Tengu lighted on a low branch, and gazed up at his handiwork with satisfaction.

Kitsune’s eyes did not fail to notice the iridescent ray-skin beneath silk wrappings on the hilt of the sword, nor the ornate carving on the scabbard.

“How, precisely, did the man get up there?” she asked, curiously.

“Oh, I told him that the easiest way to find the village was to climb that tree, and look around,” said Tengu airily. “Unfortunately, it seems the high branches couldn’t hold his weight.”

“I see,” said Kitsune. “And my weight?”

“Oh, you’re much smaller than he is—er, was,” replied Tengu, grinning his mad grin. “I’m sure you won’t fall.”

So Kitsune began climbing, paw over paw, balancing with her tail; occasionally, she was forced to grip a branch with her jaws in order to gain a better foothold. Soon she was level with the man, and the branches were swaying precipitously beneath her. She eyed the braided cord carefully, and began chewing on it with her back teeth.

It took her some time, and she was forced to change position several times to get the best angle, but finally the last few strands parted between her teeth. She tried to warn Tengu, but through a mouthful of fabric managed “Rook out beroo!” After spitting out the fragments of dyed cord, and ignoring Tengu’s baleful stare from below, she carefully descended. When she reached the bottom, he was already hopping from foot to foot in his excitement as he re-knotted the cord around his own shoulders.

“Look at me!” he shouted gleefully. He even started to dance a little, in his excitement and pleasure at possessing the beautiful sword.

Kitsune shook her head sadly. “It is too bad,” she said, looking at the sword.

“What? What’s too bad?” Tengu was irritated; there simply could be nothing wrong with his beautiful new toy. The handguard, resting comfortably at the throat of the wooden scabbard, shone prettily in the sun, too.

“Well, it’s obvious you won’t be able to fly wearing that silly thing.” Kitsune sniffed disdainfully. “In fact, you probably won’t even be able to climb. Not even as well as that man.” The man in question was worse for wear after his quick trip from the tree’s high branches. One arm and both legs rested at what would have been very uncomfortable angles.

“Climb? Of course I can climb!” Tengu hopped off the ground in frustration, and fluttered the one wing not pinned in place by the sword. He had strong legs, and was lightly built in any case—even lighter than Kitsune.

“Oh,” she said carelessly. “No, that’s just jumping. I don’t think you can climb even as high as the man was.”

Tengu’s ebullient mood was rapidly evaporating. This silly creature was spoiling his wonderful day, which had been turning out so nicely for him! His temper finally boiled over. “Fine! I’ll prove it!” And he began to climb, jumping from branch to branch, and occasionally using his wings for leverage. Very quickly, he was as high as the man had gotten before falling. “Ha!”

“Very good!” Kitsune seemed impressed. “But you still haven’t made it as high as you promised him he could—I don’t imagine you can see much from there; you’re barely above the other trees!”

Tengu flipped a wing angrily, and began ascending. Soon he was in the highest, narrowest branches. Then he remembered—just a moment too late—that the sword made him heavier than usual, and one wing was still pinned in place. A branch broke under him, and down he fell, five, ten, twenty feet!

He came to a sudden stop as the knotted cord caught on a thicker branch. He slid several more inches as the cord slipped, slid, almost freed his wing—

—and caught around his neck.

He fluttered and twisted, but the cord only bit deeper. He let out a strangled cry, and swayed precipitously. His wing was still pinned, and the other wasn’t strong enough to push aside the cord. He realized that he was slowly strangling to death.

Below, Kitsune was industriously cleaning her paws on a pile of leaves. She looked up, casually, at his cries. “Oh, dear. It seems you’ve fallen.”

Tengu managed to croak “Help!”

“You were willing to exploit me to win you a prize—and I do not believe you would have held your end of such a casual bargain. Now, what will you give me?”

“Anything,” Tengu gasped, “anything!”

“You will go to the village by the sea. You will find my child, just one year old, bearing my mark beside the father’s likeness. My husband will have taken the child to a wet nurse, having no milk in the house. You will take my child, and you will teach all you know of weapons and of guile—and as much honor as you can muster. This burden will you take on until my child is grown, or I swear to all the kami of this place that I will leave you to twist!”

“Yes,” he said hoarsely, “yes.”

So Kitsune climbed the tree again, with as much haste as she could muster, and again chewed through the cord. The sword crashed down, and Tengu half-flew, half-fell to the ground soon after. He took the sword—carrying it carefully—and stalked off toward the village, hopping and muttering angrily.

Kitsune, having secured a future and a fate for her son, cried silently as she ran west.

Not done yet--part 3 is yet to come! Tengu finds a loophole in his geas, and the stage is set for a much larger story...

Intellectual Laziness

2006-07-31T13:13:00.000-04:00

Adam thinks the title of my blog is a downer. The story behind it is pretty simple: I was looking the Liar's Paradox up on Wikipedia at the time.

I'm not particularly attached to the name, and both the blogtitle and URL are mutable.

I hereby open the floor to suggestions.

Tengu and Kitsune

2006-07-30T21:49:00.000-04:00

Kitsune was fleeing, quick as a thought.

She had married the fisherman two years before, at the ocean that lay at the foot of her mountains. She had asked of him only a single vow, that he never watch her bathe in the ocean, as she did every morning.

This morning, unlike all the others, he had crept up on her unaware. He had seen her shed her kimono at the waterline, had spied her walking in until the waves lapped lovingly at her shoulders, and had watched as the first rays of sun rose over the horizon.

Kitsune's greatest pride was her tails (though her fine ears and long muzzle were almost as beautiful), and even when she walked as a woman, her conceit was such that they still cast three long shadows. Her husband the fisherman saw the shadows rippling along the water in the sunlight, and splashed out to confront her. She fled, not even stopping for her kimono--or her year-old-son.

And so she ran, fast as the betraying rays behind her, into the mountains that were her home, and that of all of her kind. As she ran, she noticed Tengu, flying lazily along with her, darting playfully among the sparse trees. She stopped, and breathing heavily, shouted to him.

With a flutter, he landed nearby and began preening his long, lustrous black feathers. In the language of men, he drawled "Yes?"

Now, Kitsune loved to match her wits against Tengu, but recognized through her sorrow and rage that perhaps today was not the day for a gamble. So she barked, "Why do you follow me, Tengu? I have a long way to go, and have no time for your games."

Tengu laughed his harsh laugh, and replied "Oh, you thought I was following you? Nothing could be further from the truth! I was merely flying in this direction, and happened to glimpse you running along. However, as it happens, there is something you might do for me."

"Do for you? Tengu, I said I have no time for your tricks today!" So saying, she began running again, deeper into the pine forest lit by the rays of the rising summer sun. Fast as she ran, though, Tengu could fly faster. He began racing ahead, stopping ahead on a branch and looking this way and that until she caught up, and laughing as he took off again. Occasionally he would flutter down near her, and begin his insane chuckling again. Finally she could take no more, and snapped at him irritably. Her teeth caught only air, however, and he laughed all the harder. Finally she sat, and panted heavily, "You claim you are not following me, yet you will not leave me alone. Why do you taunt me?"

Tengu landed on the ground, and began hopping from foot to foot. "Well, you see, there is a man ahead. He met with a sort of accident"--and here Kitsune sniffed disdainfully, familiar with the accidents Tengu excelled at arranging--"and fell out of a tree. But you see, he wore a most beautiful sword across his back, and it caught a branch on the way down, so now he is hung from the tree." Tengu cackled again at some private joke, and then resumed, "I, with my beak, cannot break the branch or cut his sash. I thought perhaps you, with your lovely muzzle full of long teeth, might be able to help. "

More tomorrow. Tengu will attempt to trick Kitsune, who will then trick him back, and win a fateful promise...

Haiku by Night

2006-07-27T22:47:00.000-04:00

Evening's thunderstorm

leaves a surly mist behind.

I feel far from home.

Turtle blocks the road.

Try to push him with a stick:

he will not give way.

I am blind, grasping

at blossoms, hoping to snatch

a rose from nettles.

Monday Night Dinner

2006-07-26T10:42:00.000-04:00

Karen (my wife) is doing four-week rotations with different medical facilities throughout the state. She's working with a family-practice doctor in Brandon; the good news is that she only has to work four days a week. The bad news, of course, is that she's going to be working 10-12 hour days for the next month.

On Monday night, she didn't get home until 7:00 or so, leaving me in charge of dinner. I whipped up a meatloaf, hampered only slightly by a lack of tomato paste. Here's what went into it (quantities are approximate--I rarely measure in the kitchen):

Ground sirloin, 1 lb.
Sun-dried tomatoes, loosely chopped, 1/2 c.
Red wine vinegar, 3 Tbsp.
Brown (deli-style) mustard, 1 Tbsp.
Worcestershire sauce, 1 Tbsp.
Bread crumbs, low-carb, 1/3 c.
Ginger, 1 tsp.
Cumin, 1 tsp.

I served it as open-faced sandwiches, using toasted whole-wheat bread and a gravy made from a heaping tablespoon of sour cream, a teaspoon of condensed beef stock, a dash of Worcestershire sauce, and enough milk to bring it to the right consistency.

Obligatory Short Bio

2006-07-26T10:33:00.000-04:00

Most people reading this probably already know me. For anyone who accidentally stumbles on this page...

I'm 23. My twin brother and I were born in Anchorage, Alaska; in 1995, our family moved to Tampa, Florida. I graduated Clemson University with a degree in electrical engineering. I 'm currently back in Tampa, working in IT on a contract basis, and putting my wife through medical school.

I'm blogging again, after a long hiatus, because I've come to realize how much writing means to me--and how much I've lost by stifling it. I'm planning to put something up every day. Wish me luck and fortitude!