The Forest Dweller
Forest dwellers are people who were there before the human civilization. They lived in forests refusing to leave its edges because of the fear of nothingness and sun. There was one forest dweller who dared to go over the edge but immediately returned and his courage made him blind. This made him become a priest and was called Mata Dalam. Forest dwellers had their communities where they knew how to make weapons and even jewelry. But, no one dared to go anywhere near the sun or light.
As Mata Dalam grew older he became more cruel and selfish. Kubu was a young man who had his suspicions about the old priest. Mata Dalam ordered a ceremony where he pierced young men and women's ears. Kubu grew courage and yelled in the middle of the ceremony which made Mata Dalam to miss a young woman's ear and instead pick out her eye. This backfired on Kubu as Mata Dalam started threateningly cursing him which made everyone scared. Kubu was consequently outcasted.
For some time Kubu was hiding in fear of the old priest's curses, but as nothing happened he came out and started wandering. He came to the river and dared to come out to the moonlight. Kubu was surprised that nothing happened to him and he relinquished in this new found joy. He became angry at the manipulative old priest and returned back to kill him.
After this, Kubu decided to go to the edge of the forest. He was traveling for days until he arrived to the edge. The edge was a cliff. Kubu waited all night for the sun to rise. As the sun began to rise, he was astonished that nothing happened to him, but he couldn't look at the sun. Instead, Kubu was looking with awe at the world in front of him; the sea, the shore with trees, the radiance.
Kubu realized how small he was, how pointless the old priest was as the image of him started fading. Overcome with happiness, Kubu started to go down the cliff and towards the radiant world.
The Fairy Tale about the Wicker Chair
It is a story about a young man sitting in his attic and trying to master the art of painting. He paints a few self-portraits which at first seemed good enough but after a while the young painter grows dissatisfied. He begins reading a book about life of a successful painter. The part that grabs his interest is about the famous painter painting ordinary objects when he could not find inspiration anywhere else. One of the objects was a straw chair.
The young painter decides to mimic this master and starts looking around him for an object to paint. He finally notices an old wicker chair and starts painting it. When he finishes, the painter is still not satisfied. He failed to capture the chair the way it really looks. He grows angry at the chair and starts scolding it. The wicker chair answers back saying that it looks how it looks, that painting is a matter of perspective. The young painter looks at his self-portraits and notices that those didn't capture his appearance in reality.
The young man decides to take his hat and go outside. He realizes that painting is not his calling, and he decides to become a writer instead. The wicker chair was left alone in the attic, it hoped to see its master once again and to connect with him, but this never happened.
A woman named Elizabeth tragically lost her husband and is now left alone with a child on its way. Her only friend is her neighbor, Mr. Binsswanger, to whom she never speaks, but they have a sense of reliance on each other.
The day of the birth arrives and an old woman comes to help Elizabeth. She tells her that Mr. Binsswanger sent her. Augustus is born. He needs to be baptized and Elizabeth goes to Mr. Binsswanger to ask him to be the boy's godfather. He agrees. He tells Elizabeth that he hasn't got much to offer to her boy. He only can make one of her wishes for her boy come true. He tells her that when she hears music coming from his house the next night to whisper her wish to Augustus's ear. Elizabeth is uncertain about this and the next night, just when the music is about to die out, she makes a rushed wish that everyone must love her boy.
Following his mother's wish, Augustus grows up surrounded by love and admiration. Consequently, the boy also grows up to be immature and vain. The only person that can scold him to the right path is his godfather.
The time comes for Augustus to leave his home to pursue education. He spends his time leisurely, with all of the people around him being at his disposal. He returns home when his mother is about to die. After her death he says goodbye to Mr. Binsswanger, spends a little time in sadness and goes back to his life of luxury.
Being surrounded by people who would do anything for him, Augustus's heart grows empty and his soul sick. He falls in love with a young woman, a wife. He tries to pursue her, but she refuses him saying that even though she can't help but love him she would rather stay with her virtuous husband. From this event Augustus only grows more hateful and miserable.
Augustus starts living in a beautiful mansion, but when he looks back upon his life, there was no love or happiness there. He decides to poison himself. Just when he is about to take the poison, his godfather visits him. He takes to poison in his place, but nothing happens to him. Then he tells Augustus that his life can be changed. He only has to make a right wish for it. Augustus wishes for his mother's wish to be undone and his heart filled with love. After this, a lot of people come to Augustus's house looking for revenge for what he'd done to them.
Augustus finally ends up in prison. After he gets out of there, he is an old man. But, his heart is filled with love and he enjoys all the small things surrounding him. Some time passes and Augustus finds himself on the road to his home. He discovers that the light in his godfather's house is on. He enters it and is greeted by the old and wise man. In his godfather's presence Augustus becomes a child once again. Content and happy, Augustus dies in his godfather's arms.
