Story: The Beautiful Land

There was once a land of men perpetually under a cloud. The sun never penetrated that cloud, dark and dense as it was. 

All the men who lived there went about their business each day with relative ease. Everyone was comfortable in their own way, so long as no one interfered with whatever way that was. It was an unremarkable place, to say the least, besides the darkness. Little adventure ever happened since, in more recent years, all had agreed that whichever way seemed best to a man was the way he ought to go and so no one really went anywhere. It should be noted that, in this land of darkness, no man could see another. 

One day, in this land of darkness under the cloud, five young men sat together and these were their names. Fidelis, Narcissus, Tremulus, Ignavus, and Amnon. 

Each was rather like the other in most things. None had too much or too little of any one thing. 

As they sat together, something happened. A ray of light pierced the cloud and landed upon these five young men where they sat. That light was blinding. As they sat blinking and rubbing their eyes, they looked up to where the ray had come and saw a beautiful land, filled with light. None of them, nor anyone else in that land, had ever seen such beauty. For the light itself was beautiful and brought beauty to all it revealed above. 

Something else happened to these five young men when the light pierced the cloud. They could see the land that surrounded them, and worse, they could see each other. To see the waste of the land around them was enough to make them wretch. But, to look at the man opposite was another story. They were wretched. Their lips were all peeled back from their mouths and their teeth hung rotting in their gums. Their eyes were sunken and their flesh was withered. Though none would have said he considered himself to be in the throes of death, in that moment it was plain to those five that they were certainly not fully alive. In fact, it was rather a shock that they were able to move at all. 

On coming to themselves, they began to speak with one another. 

Narcissus said, “We must get there. It’s where we belong.”

Tremulus said, “I saw a path. It looked steep and treacherous, but we could climb it.” 

Ignavus said, “We must go.”

Amnon said, “And we will not return.” 

Fidelis said, “No matter where the path leads.” 

They returned to the city where the rest of the men lived and tried to persuade them to follow. Needless to say, the idea of traveling uphill to some beautiful land in the clouds was not appealing to many, much less convincing. Further, many were insulted by the young men’s claims that they were all next to death and looked as much, if not worse. 

And so, Narcissus, Tremulus, Ignavus, Amnon, and Fidelis began their journey. There had been a path down from the Beautiful Land, as Tremulus had seen. It was steep going, but straight. They climbed. As they climbed, if it were possible, it seemed to get darker before it got lighter. But then, they emerged from the cloud and the air was filled with light. Looking up to the end of the path, far in the distance yet closer than they might have believed, they could see the Beautiful Land. They paused to rest, sitting down together as they had so long ago. 

Upon sitting, they again saw each other’s faces. But something had changed. They looked alive. They looked distinct. Each man had his own face. Where every skull more or less looks the same, a face is always unique; for the first time in their lives, these five men saw the beauty of the person. 

When they were ready to set out, Fidelis, Narcissus, Tremulus, and Amnon began to walk, but Ignavus stood still. 

“Ignavus,” The four called back, “Are you coming with us?” 

“No,” Ignavus said, “I can see the Land, I am healed, that is enough.” 

The four tried to persuade him, but Ignavus would not be moved. He was satisfied and remained where he stood. As they continued on up the path, he diminished in their sight until they could no longer see him. 

Eventually, the four came to a point on the main path where another path branched off to the left. The branch curved left and then back right, heading generally the same direction as the main path, and appeared to continue on upwards toward the Beautiful Land. It was far less steep than the main path, zigging and zagging back and forth, and far wider. Narcissus began to walk down the branching path. After taking a few steps, he realized he was alone. 

“Why aren’t you coming? It’s an easier way.” Said Narcissus. 

“It’s not the way we were shown.” Said Tremulus. 

“How could we turn aside?” Said Amnon.

“It leads to the Beautiful Land, as we can all plainly see.” Said Narcissus.

“The fact that it seems to lead to the Beautiful Land does not mean that it truly ends there. Surely, it goes up from where we stand and in that sense it may follow the same way as the main path, but we cannot see where it ends. Whereas the path we are on certainly ends at our destination, as we were shown.” Said Fidelus. 

“Why would we take the harder road?” Said Narcissus, “This path leads the same way and many can pass by it. Remember poor Ignavus? If he had seen this path, he may have come. Would you prevent him?” 

“Of course we would not prevent him,” Said Amnon, “But the path we were shown is the one we must remain on. It is the only way to be sure of our destination.”

They disputed amongst themselves longer, much in this fashion. In the end, Narcissus followed the branching path while Fidelus, Amnon, and Tremulus continued up the road on which they began. 

What had been a steady hike was turning into a climb. They had come to the foot of a sheer wall with small holds for their hands and feet. Fidelus and Amnon began to climb, but Tremulus remained at the base, watching. On reaching a ledge, Fidelus and Amnon turned to face Tremulus.

“Why do you not climb?” They asked. 

“You’re doing it the wrong way.” Said Tremulus. 

“What do you mean we’re doing it the wrong way?” They replied. 

“We must climb like this.” Tremulus said, and proceeded to show them precisely the correct way to climb the wall. When he reached the ledge he said, “Now you two must go back down and do it correctly.”

“I don’t think it matters how we climb the wall as long as we remain on the path, Tremulus.” Said Amnon. 

“Regardless, if we were to climb like that, we would be more likely to fall.” Said Fidelis. 

“You fear the fall?” Said Tremulus, “What if we reach the Beautiful Land and we are sent away because we climbed the wall incorrectly?”

“The path was revealed to us, Tremulus, how to use each foothold and take each step was not. You’ve invented this yourself.” Said Amnon.

“If you are so caught up in how to walk the path at each step, you may never reach the Land, Tremulus.” Said Fidelus. 

“I cannot risk being sent away for having climbed incorrectly.” Said Tremulus. 

This went on. In the end, Amnon and Fidelus continued to climb and moved on from the wall rather quickly. Though they turned back, they never saw Tremulus come over the edge. 

Fidelus and Amnon proceeded many days until they came to the base of some steps. At the top of those steps, the Beautiful Land. Fidelus took the first step. Amnon turned and looked back down the path. 

“What are you doing, Amnon?” Fidelus asked.

“They all failed. But we succeeded, Fidelus. We made it. They would not even deserve to be here.” Amnon answered. 

“They would deserve it as much as we. Was the path not revealed to us all? Were any of us worse off than the other at the beginning? And we have not made it yet, Amnon. Come, let us be going.” 

But Amnon did not move. He continued to back down the path considering all who had failed to reach the steps as they had. 

“Amnon, we must go.” Said Fidelus. 

“No. I will remain here. If the others arrive, they must not be allowed in since they were not faithful. You go on.”

“Amnon, I beg you, come with me.” 

This went on. Amnon would not be moved, and so Fidelus entered the Beautiful Land alone. 

When he had entered, he turned to look down the path. From where he stood, he could see all. The land under the cloud. All of his friends. Ignavus remained near the cloud, slowly plodding along up the path but hardly further from where he had begun. Narcissus had followed the branching path to its end, which ultimately led back under the cloud. Tremulus was still climbing the wall, meticulously considering each and every hold and how to move through it. Finally, Amnon remained standing at the base of the steps, his back turned to the Beautiful Land as he awaited the others in order to prevent them entry. Mere steps from Fidelus. 

While he watched, the land under the cloud was swallowed up in flame. Then the cloud itself disappeared. Then the path and all his friends on it collapsed. A great chasm was left between the Beautiful Land and the land that was formerly under the cloud. Only Fidelus had entered the Beautiful Land and he was at peace.