a lot of books in these stories eh?

Some time before the great war, in a small mud-brick hovel on the edge of a meadow, high in the mountains where it snows half of the year, lived a family of yak herders. Every day they would tend their herd and their gardens and stores of food, and every night by the light of beeswax candles they would read one book together, and write another.

The father had been a scribe, and the mother a booktender in the palace, before it was sacked during a petty war. They were both very earnest, honest people, and that is why they left the city to herd yak in the mountains. Every spring the father made a journey down out of the mountains, to return books, sell the family's work, to borrow more manuscripts, and to purchase more paper and ink.

For years the family built up a reputation as first rate scholars, copying and illuminating the classics with the greatest skill. One winter that changed when their youngest daughter started asking questions about the books they were working on. When the father went back to the city that spring he did not bring all of the family's work down with him. But he borrowed more than usual, and there was a funny sparkle in his eye that his friends had not seen before.

Seven years later, in the town at the foot of the mountains, the first stirring chapter of The New Book appeared,. It was lying in the street and it was written in an unsteady hand that had never been seen before by the scholarly community. But its conclusions were inescapable and deeply unsettling. Every spring for the next 23 years a new chapter appeared found its way to a sympathetic scholar, and over the years the unknown hand grew stronger and more skilled. And then suddenly the book ended, and the unknown hand was never seen again.

The family's children were all married off and settled down by the time The New Book reached the great cities that would be the cradle of the Great Uncovering. And to this day the mother and father lie side by side in simple graves near the mud-brick hovel where some now say the Uncovering was born.

dogs who wish to be birds

The first promise that Mo spoke to each student was that the student could learn to transcend her natural boundaries and attain enlightenment. The first lesson that Mo taught was that in order to reach enlightenment, we must first fully accept our nature.

The first lesson could last for years, and it was said to be very hard to learn. The Sons and Daughters were starved and asked to harvest ripe fruit. Were parched and asked to pee. Were left in a lightless cave, at night and asked to read. Were bound, and asked to climb. Were weighted, and asked to swim.

Even in those times it was not considered acceptable to kill one's students. That was not what Mo was after, and it was never the result. Mo would ask the student, "did you fail?" And if the student said yes, Mo would ask, "do you believe that one of the Drauv could have completed the task I set for you?" And if the student said yes, Mo would ask, "do you believe that I myself, Mo, would have found any difficulty in the task?" And if the student said yes, Mo would ask, "Why do you say that?" And if the student said, "because you are Dragunne, as am I," Mo would then say, "This is the first lesson. Tomorrow you may wear white."

The Sons and Daughters that Mo trained are counted among the most loved and feared Dragunne that history remembers. Each one was said to possess beauty, grace, wisdom, and talent. Mo teaches that we are all dogs who wish to be birds. A dog who tries to flap his wings will get nowhere and look foolish doing it. A dog who runs to the top of the mountain instead, will see some of what the bird sees, through great effort. A dog who uses his nose to read the winds, who waits patiently, and leaps skillfully, may eat the bird.