He woke me up and said, "It is time."
Gently, he pulled my spirit out of my body and guided me in a flight across the sky. We flew side by side for a while until we came to a castle. The castle looked formidable - murky and dark waters surrounded the castle. Even darker were five creatures closely guarding the castle. These creatures looked big and strong. The whole sight was rather gloomy. I felt frightened upon seeing all this and firmly held on to my guide. He reassured me, "Don't worry, they cannot see you."
Silently he took me inside the castle. The cobwebs on the walls and the floor indicated that no one had been there for ages. Darkness, dirt and gloom permeated everything. He led me to the north side of the castle. There was a door well hidden behind a curtain of deep darkness. While all the other doors (I counted nine) of the castle were open, this one was tightly shut. It was coated with rust and looked inaccessible. But we, being spirits, easily slipped through it.
To my utter amazement, I discovered that it was actually a doorway to another wonderful world! This world looked completely different from the one that existed on the other side. Everything shone with inner light and looked as though it had been sprinkled with eternal youth. There were flowers everywhere and their subtlety sweet scents filled the air. There was a path from the hidden door to a big pond of rather inviting clear water. Then, a path led from the pond to a city which shone like the morning sun. Exquisite music could be heard from the city. My guide explained, "One has to cleanse oneself in order to get to that city. The city is called the Realm of Truth."
I understood little but I was so enchanted with that place that no questions arose in my mind. It looked so peaceful here! I wished I could live here forever. But soon it was time to leave. We slipped out through the door again. Overcoming the spell, I asked, "Who owns this castle?"
My guide led me outside and away from the castle. Far from the castle, there was a small hut. Its roof and walls were crumbling. Inside sat a miserable looking man - hunger and thirst dominated his face. He wore dirty rags and sat at the window looking mournfully toward the castle.
"The castle belongs to this man," my guide said.
I could not believe what I heard and blankly repeated, "The castle belongs to this man?"
He explained, "His is a rather sad story. He lived in the castle a long time ago and led a gay and a wasteful life. He would never come home for days and even when he did, he would stay only for a short while before going out again. The dark creatures you saw were his servants. He trusted them so much that he gave them complete power in managing his castle. Slowly, the guards became the masters of the castle and he the servant. Then a day came when they banded together and banished him from the castle."
My guide must have known that I was thinking about the city behind the hidden door because he said, "No, he did know about the Realm of Truth - the poor man was so engrossed with life outside the castle that he never even discovered the hidden door."
I felt pity for this man who was a king yet lived like a pauper. "Isn't there someway for him to get his castle back?" I asked.
...next part
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