Buzzati’s Restless Nights Part 5 of 5: The Seven Messengers
December 22, 2009 by dr. lam · 3 Comments
As the heir to my father’s kingdom, I decided at the age of 30 to set forth and to define where the boundaries of my father’s kingdom lie, as no one before me has hitherto done so. I brought along with me seven of my trusted men, whom I named alphabetically to minimize confusion. They were Alessandro, Bartolomeo, Caio, Domenico, Ettore, Federico, and Gregorio. We set out after my thirtieth birthday on this tireless quest.
At first, we went over the mountains and the rivers that were familiar to us and after about 30 days I sent back Alessandro to give message of our travels and to report back to us what message he had learned from our kingdom. We continued to travel further away from the kingdom’s center, and I did not account properly for the time that it would take Alessandro to travel back to the kingdom and then come back to our extended position. It took him approximately 3 months at that point to reach us with news from the kingdom.
I then sent out Bartolomeo and we were at this point 6 months into our travels, and it required about 2 years before Bartolomeo made it back to us with withered parchment of outdated news from the kingdom. Every few months, I continued to send out messengers knowing full well that it would be years before I would see them back. I was hesitant to send out my last Gregorio until Alessandro should return.
We had now journeyed many years out, and I was now in my sixtieth year on earth, knowing that my last messenger at this time, Domenico, would not return before my death. Nevertheless, I sent him back to tell them of our whereabouts as we continued our journey further not knowing when and if I should gain news, albeit very old and perhaps useless, of our kingdom. My father had already died and I had not seen him for 30 years now. My brother had assumed the throne, as I was unavailable due to this extended journey.
I do not know in fact whether we have passed the frontier or not. I do not know what the frontier between my father’s land and beyond actually looks like. We just continued to travel perhaps in vain to find that frontier. I am still venturing forth to find that marker on behalf of the kingdom.
Buzzati’s story was profoundly enlightening to me. First, what resonates with me is this man is on a fruitless quest for something that may have no merit for him, his kingdom, or his travel mates. He in fact has no idea why he is doing it. He also had no real plan for going forth, and he cannot even recognize what the frontier border is to begin with. Many times in our life, we spend so many years striving for something that we think is right for us, but is it? Are we not like the protagonist tirelessly pursuing something that may not have any merit for us? When do we stop doing it, when we are old and tired or when we can stop our mission at an earlier interval? Does our ego dominate why we do what we do or is there a larger purpose that makes sense in a more fundamental way?
Buzzati’s Restless Nights Part 4 of 5: The Scandal on Via Sesostri
December 18, 2009 by dr. lam · 12 Comments
There lived a famous surgeon by the name of Professor Tullio Larosi who died all of a sudden to the shock and dismay of all around him at the elegant and famed address, 5 Via Sesostri. The funeral procession was scheduled for the following morning, and his wife who was still quite young as the Professor wed later in life was mourning dreadfully.
That afternoon, the local police officer, Commissioner Luccefreddi came to me and announced that he had alarming news about the good Professor. Apparently as the Commissioner recounted, the professor was in fact an escaped Nazi who committed grievous atrocities during the war that are hard to recount aloud and then fled in 1942 after having been found out to have had a Jewish grandmother. He circumnavigated the world, landed in the Americas, and returned to Italy under an assumed name, now pretending to be the great Tullio Larosi, a renowned gynecologist.
The commissioner wanted to share more news with me that night over dinner, as most of my friends know that my maid makes one of the most delicious dinners that could be imagined. I could not envision any more details of the story that would shock my little world more considering that 5 Via Sesostri, this building, is occupied only by the most dignified tenants in the world; and until this present time I thought was the envy of the world as the premiere address in all of Italy.
That night after a meal of homespun papardelle and native mushrooms in a cream sauce, the Commissioner and I retired to the living room to discuss matters over a port digestif. He began by saying, “Did you know that Franco on the first floor of this building is the famed convicted felon Niccolo Abruzzi who escaped 5 years ago from prison. I found that out by digging deeper into his records. Moreover, Signora Vicenzo who occupies the entire fourth floor is the woman who killed her first husband, went on trial, was acquitted, but then killed her second husband and is now a fugitive.”
I was shocked to say the very least. “That’s not all. The third floor, the distinguished banker Alessandro Vinano is the famed rapist who is obviously using an assumed name who escaped from France after having committed multiple crimes that I dare not repeat. He is known as the Strangler of Les Halles. On the second floor, the young lad Giorgio is also a convict who escaped his trial after having committed untold counts of embezzlement against the Church in South America. “
The Commissioner turned to me, “Unfortunately, you Serponella are the terrorist who after the bombing in Lyon changed your name from Luis Serponella to Luigi Andromatta. I have found you out by studious evaluation of your previous records. Don’t try to move. I have a cordon of police officers twice encircling this building.”
“Dear Commissioner,” I replied, “Do you not know that I have done the same research on you. I know that you go by the Luccefreddi name now but in fact you are part of the famous Nicolai crime family and have committed 3 murders yourself. You are not what you seem either. Now, I assume you will let me escape your men?”
“Well dear Serponella, you have proven to be a tough adversary. After coffee, I shall let you walk out before my men come in. We are friends after all, right?”
Buzzati’s matter of fact style is so beguiling because it sets up the story as being something that it ultimately is not. As it unravels, we start to see the underbelly beneath the veneer of respectability with which he begins his journey. I have shortened his tale in my own words, as I have done for all of these stories, so my apologies go to the deceased writer for perhaps telling a condensed version that lacks the flavor and build of his original stories.
Nevertheless, we can all learn the valuable lesson that humanity is a bit more complex thans what we as individuals purport to be. Are we a simple titled individual like surgeon, mother, daughter, or maid? Or do we have a rich complexity that may not be as perfect in our mind of what we hold ourselves to be? We only show the world a certain side of us that we believe is sturdily constructed and in short flawless. We don’t allow our cracks to come through nor are we allowed to see the cracks in others. Buzzati’s fantastical, Kafkaesque writing reveals perhaps who we are as humans more than we would like to behold in ourselves.
Buzzati’s Restless Nights Part 3 of 5: Morro the Great
December 17, 2009 by dr. lam · 9 Comments
A ragged old man enters a dark prison cell and hears some faint voices in the recesses. “Is anyone there?” asks the man. “Yes, it is Alessandro, the rapist.” “And, Gregorio, the murderer.” “And, Francisco, the thief.” Someone in the darkness then inquires, “And who are you, my friend?” “Well, I am called Morro the Great,” the man replies. “What, you old man? How are you great? And how did you get here?” someone shouts out. “Well, the name is not one that I chose but that was given to me. Let me tell you my story.”
Morro the Great, a vagabond, wandered in front of the gates of a very noble, rich man with many servants. One of the guards noticed him and exclaimed, “That is the thief that stole our master’s money yesterday. Arrest him.” As they seized the man, the guard asks, “And what should we tell our master your name is?” “My name is Morro the Great,” the man replies. “What, that is our master’s name. How dare you mock him?”
The guards immediately led him in front of the master and to whom was explained the situation. The master laughingly cries out, “That is very funny. I myself was wandering in a foreign land and presented myself as Morro the Great. Upon hearing that, I was seized and brought to a great scientist. The people hearing me exclaimed ‘How could a rich man be considered great when our Morro the Great has advanced the field of science and human knowledge. Only he can be great.’ Upon arriving to the scientist’s castle, the scientist laughingly exclaims, “Oh, this happened to me one time. I was wandering in a far off land called Europe and someone asked how I a stupid scientist could share the name of the great warrior Morro the Great so they enchained me and brought me to the warrior. “ The warrior told a similar story of how he had been visiting another land and was asked by the local people, “How could a bloodthirsty warrior use the name of our Morro the Great, a religious master, who has abjured all pleasures in life.” Upon coming to the small hut, the warrior saw that his life was one that he regretted and bowed down to his humble man by the same name.
The fellow prisoners then asked, “Then are you Morro the Great, the famous hermit?” The ragged old man laughs and replies, “Life is funny that way.”
The lesson of this story that I got is that human greatness may come in many forms. We tend to exert our brand of greatness to the exclusion of all others. We carry our pride on our sleeves and show that we are better than others when perhaps we are not. We are all one and the same, part of a larger human chain. As soon as we let go of our foolish notions of our own greatness, can we see the humor and greatness that we all share as part of humanity.
Buzzati’s Restless Nights Part 2 of 5: The Walls of Anagoor
December 16, 2009 by dr. lam · 2 Comments
A man was traveling in Tibet when his guide asked if he would like to see the famed city of Anagoor. The man replied that he had never heard of Anagoor and opening his map could not locate the city. The guide responded that the current ruler did not believe that the city of Anagoor closed off by walls was worthy of his attention so it was left off the maps. The man replied that he would be interested in seeing this interesting city. The guide explained that this city was entirely walled off and the inhabitants were known to be very happy, living life in a utopian existence.
Early the next morning at around 3 am, the guide and the traveler set out driving in the bleak darkness for hours until the city walls were reached. The guide asked the man, “Don’t you simply admire these beautiful walls?” The man replied, “Yes, but how do we get in?” The guide explained, “Well, you can’t. There are hundreds of gates to get in but they are all closed. You can’t see more than just one gate because they are so far apart from one another.” The man then asked, “What are all these encampments outside the wall?” The guide elaborated, “These are all the people rich and poor who are waiting for the gates to open so that they can get in to live there.”
The man asked when the last time the gates were open. The guide replied, “Well, that is not clear. Some say a few months ago. Some say 3 years ago. Others believe that it was during the reign of Ahm-Er-Erghun.” “And when was that?” the man quizzically asked. “About 3 centuries ago,” the guide responds. “Then how do you know that anyone lives in there?” the man probed. The guide responded, “We see smoke come out, but nothing else. We really don’t hear any noise of people, but we just assume there must be people behind those walls because of the rising smoke.” “And how long have you been waiting?” the man asked. The guide admitted, “About 23 years now.”
How often is our happiness contingent upon an external circumstance that we don’t have just yet? How long are we willing to forgo our current happiness for perhaps an elusive happiness? What if what we are waiting for is a lie? The Buddhist doctrine of bodhichitta says that our jewel is found below our feet not somewhere else. Maybe behind the Walls of Anagoor, there is emptiness.
Buzzati’s Restless Nights Part 1 of 5: The Colomber
December 15, 2009 by dr. lam · 8 Comments
Dino Buzzati was an Italian painter*, poet, fiction writer, and journalist who spun fascinating short stories that were parables of the human condition. In this blog series we will recount shortened version of his already short stories and delve into some lessons that I culled from them.
The story, “The Colomber”, tells the tale of a young 12-year-old boy, Stefano Roi, who for his birthday is taken on his father’s boat out to sea. During this trip, the boy sees this mysterious shark following the boat the entire time. He asks his father what this animal is doing following them. His father alarmed explains that this shark is known as the Colomber and will follow a person until the shark eats him and further that this shark was a bad omen for the ship.
So the father brought the son back onto dry land and forbade him from ever riding on his ship again. The son would on occasion go to the shore and see again the Colomber dancing back and forth across the waves. When his father died, the son decided to go forth on the boat again and take over his father’s position. Every time he ventured out, he saw the Colomber chasing the boat. Stefano spent very little time at home but was constantly at sea. Finally, at the end of his life, he slows the boat down to confront the shark. The colomber approaches and announces that he has spent his whole life trying to give Stefano a magical pearl but could not get close enough to give it to him.
The lesson of the story is sometimes we run away from what we think is bad for us when in fact it could be the most blessed thing we could ever imagine. This week ask yourself what are you running away from and is the Colomber actually something that you need in your life but you just don’t realize it yet.
*The illustrations in this blog series are all made by Dino Buzzati. Some were intended to illustrate the story line (like this one) but others I tried to match the closest illustration to the intention and flavor of the story.