The Fool found himself in a deep canyon as he followed the river upstream. The canyon walls were tall and shear. Along the shore of the river, he found a man in armor and a crown of antlers. He had a shield with an eagle painted on it. On one hand, he had his hand around the blade of a sword and the other held a staff with his station on it. This was the Emperor.
He stood stoic on his plain throne watching the river go by. His sword was embedded in the rocks, but the emperor seemed unmoved by what was going on around him. He was as still as stone, and the Fool thought for a moment that it was a statue, but then the Emperor nodded to the Fool to sit at his feet. The Fool did as he was told.
They just sat there for awhile watching the river go by. They didn’t say anything for decades, or maybe it was just a few breaths, but time really stood still. A bird flew by. A rock fell from the cliff and into the river. The Emperor and the Fool just sat there.
A parade of figures came up the way the Fool was heading before running into the Emperor. There were people, some were animals wearing clothes. Everyone was in bright loud colors. They groveled before the Emperor begging for an audience. He granted it.
One by one, these subjects asked the Emperor to make a decision or give advice on different problems. Some were asking about border disputes, a bear in bright red and green satin clothing asked about the shortage of resources in the forest lands. The emperor listened to each plead and took a few breaths before giving a verdict. He was wise and when he didn’t know, he admitted it. He would ask the Emperess for advice. Sometimes he had to make a decision that wasn’t what the subject wanted, but he made the decision anyway, for it was still the best decision.
This happened every day. The subjects of the kingdom would come and ask for the Emperor’s advice and council. The Emperor wanted nothing more than to bring stability and harmony to the land.
The Emperor paid little mind to the Fool except to ask if the Fool listened to the advice and decisions he had made that day as they ate fish over a fire. The Fool tried to remember but found that the day went by in a fog. Sometimes there were specific things he could remember. The Emperor found the Fool’s forgetful way funny and sometimes the stern-faced stoicism of the Emperor would subside for laughter. The Fool thought it was good the Emperor laughed.
The Emperor remembered the Fool from his previous journeys through these lands. It made the Emperor melancholy to think about how the Fool isn’t quite getting it. He wanted so bad for the Fool to reincarnate and be a better being, but it isn’t his way to force anything that doesn’t want to be forced. He knew that raising his voice or a threatening tone would accomplish nothing. Maybe the Fool was there to teach him some patience and tolerance.
The days and weeks went by, or the seconds and minutes, but in any case, the Fool felt the traveling bug again. The Emperor didn’t seem too concerned with the Fool going on. He hoped that he would take something from their stay together. He hoped that lessons were learned. He hoped that he was a wise just king who treated each subject with dignity and care.
The Fool was his son in a way. He was there when he was made. He even had added some of him to be used in the creating of the Fool. He took the time to watch the Fool travel aimlessly through the world and not live up to his potential. The Emperor and the Emperess would cluck their tongues whenever they met up and discussed the Fool. They weren’t ashamed or disappointed, they just knew that more was supposed to happen.
Some children grow up fast. Sometimes it is a blessing to grow up fast and other times it is a curse. Some children take a long time to grow up, and this too is either a curse or a blessing. As a father, the Emperor needed to understand the rate of maturity was going to be slower than a glacier. In fact, the emperor had watched a glacier carve out this canyon from where he sat.
He wanted to make sure that the Fool was ready for the next few steps in his adventure. He wanted to see if he could help open the Fool’s eyes to see the lessons there. It was everywhere. Some wish there was s book that gave precise meanings of each symbol and objects one walks by, but sometimes one just needs their own ability to interpret.
The Fool listened to the Emperor’s words attentively. He tried following the movements of the mouth and to hear each word that came out, but it seems that the words were disappearing somewhere between his ears and his head. The Fool felt like he had nothing but cobwebs in there. He just smiled and nodded to the Emperor’s lesson. He knew that it was about to get harder and more abstract. Things weren’t going to be as obvious as the Emperor, the Empress, the Priestess, and the Magician. There were still archetypes left, but then there will be notional ideas and he will have to try harder to interpret the messages and lessons.
The Emperor then embraced the Fool in a tight hug. He wanted to make sure that the Fool felt loved and cared for. He also kissed the Fool on the cheek.
The Emperor watched as the Fool followed the river farther upstream. He will be out of the canyon in an hour or so, or maybe it will be ten years, but soon he won’t be anywhere near here. He sat back down on his throne and started watching the river go by. There was peace here.