A Man and a Necklace

A wandering man walked through the steppes. He was searching. Looking for a specific type of rock, found only in this place. He looked around, he found in the distance a tree. The tree he needed. Beneath it should be the rock. He got under the tree. He dug a hole. Until he found it. The rock. He took out tools from his pouch. He extracted the rock from the ground. Then, with yet other tools, he crafted a bead out of it. A small, simple bead. A cute little ball. He passed a string through, making a humble necklace. With a single bead. The first one.

The man walked. He walked and he walked until he was far away from the steppe. He was now by a river. The river was vast and it’s waters were fast and violent. The man walked by the side of the river. He stopped when he found a specific river bank, one stable enough he could stand on, yet close to the river bed. He positioned himself there and exerted extreme care. He used his wooden staff to move something from deep in the river. To pull something to his bank. It was a rock. He grabbed the rock, took out his tools and worked on this one too. He made another bead, and added it to his necklace. Now it had two.

The man eventually found a bridge and crossed the treacherous river. He walked. He walked and found a jungle, filled with many trees and creatures. Greeted by many bugs, he made his way through the bushes and vines. He again was searching. This time, for an animal. He heard noises. He heard noises of an object being brushed against a surface. The man followed the noise, and found it. A boar, brushing and sharpening his tusks against something. A big rock. The man waited for the animal to finish, and then approached the rock. He found a smaller fragment of it nearby, and pulled his tools. The man made another bead. Added to the necklace. Now a necklace with three beads.

The man met more insects as he made his way out of the jungle. In the direction he went, he eventually found different vegetation. He was going where he intended: a nearby swamp. The trees and fauna were different, many more difficult ground and drenched paths, puddles, snakes and frogs. And many more insects. The man though, rather than avoiding the puddles and the mud, actively stepped on them. He stepped on as many as he could as he made his way, not in a straight line, rather, he was searching again for something. Until the man’s feet hit something hard beneath a puddle. The man stopped, and put his hands in the water. He felt the texture of it attentively. He worked on extracting the hard object, dug underneath. At last. He found another rock. He took his tools, and in the company of many flies and mosquitos he finished another bead. His necklace now had four.

The man got away from the swamp. He at one point found a waterfall, and cleaned himself of mud and dirt. The waterfall was connected to a pond. That was fortunate for the man, he would find what he needed there. After his clothes were clean, the man undressed and put them in a nearby rock. He dived deep in the pound. He touched the many rocks at the bottom. He had to breathe, he returned to the surface. And dived again, and touched more rocks. He repeated this, many times. Until he found one, with a different texture. He grabbed it before emerging once again. He got to his clothes. He sitted down, took his tools. Made another bead. Made his necklace with five beads now.

The man got dressed and walked again. He walked. In his path, at one point he found himself on a paved road, walking on a better surface. That was pleasant for the man. He also meet some travelers along the way, from time to time. He always took the time to greet them, acquaint himself, and ask how was their day and journey. Indeed, many times the travelers were merchants, as it so is, and they kindly offered to do business with the man. He always agreed to peruse the wares, but never found interest in what they had to offer. Until he met one day a jeweler on the road. The jeweler, as one can imagine, had fine rocks and gems to offer. And one of those, as it so happens, got the eye of the wanderer. It was one of the rocks he was looking for. The man bought the rock from the jeweler, and made it in the shape of his beads. And the necklace, like so now had six.

The wandering man parted ways with the jeweler. He still met some other travelers in his way, but no other that sold stones. Eventually the man reached the end of his path, and a city. The city was big and agitated, seemingly many people made here their home or travel destination. The man walked the streets, found himself an inn to sleep and rest his feet. When talking to the owner, he noticed a beautiful ring in that person’s ring finger. The man inquired about it, respectfully. The owner said it was a wedding gift. The man and the owner had a small conversation about it, and sooner rather than later became friends. The man stayed for some time in the city, selling charms and sculptures in the streets and offering artesanal services. The inn owner presented the man to her husband and family, and often invited the wanderer for dinner. They often exchanged gifts between themselves. At one point, the owner gave the wanderer an artistic glass bead, exquisite in design, with the same shape and size as the ones in the man’s necklace. In truthful gratitude, the man added the bead to it. The necklace now had seven.

As pleasant as the past season had been, the man didn’t intend to stay in the city. He had one last dinner with his friends, and morning after took off to the next point in his journey. A mountain, north from the city. The man walked the stone road to the base of the mountain, where rough land and hills awaited him. He started the climb. Not a vertical climb, but still long and tiresome. The man stopped to rest many times. In one of them, he realized there was something a few meters from him. A protuberant rock in the grass. The man walked towards it, and closer saw this rock was unique in color and texture. Like the ones he had been using for his necklace. He grabbed his tools, extracted a fragment of the rock, made another bead. Now his necklace had eight.

As difficult as the climb was, he eventually made it. He made it to the top of the mountain, where an old hermit lumberjack lived. He knocked in the lumberjack’s door, met him, and was invited in. They sitted in a wooden table and drank tea. The wanderer told the man about his journey, and his search for unique materials to make his necklace. He told the lumberjack he wanted one more, out of the rare wood that grew in this mountain. The lumberjack saw no problem with that, and gave the man a piece of wood to be made part of his necklace. The wandering man worked the wood, it was not his expertise, but he still managed to make an acceptable product. A small bead of wood. The ninth, the last bead in the man’s necklace.

After finishing, the wanderer walked into the lumberjack’s living room. He sat in a chair, and looked at his necklace. His host was sitting in another one, next to him.

The lumberjack rubbed his own chin a little, then said:

• “From what you told me, you’ve been through quite the journey for this thing”

• “I guess you could say that.”

• “Was it worth it?”

The wanderer's answer…

Was a smile.