Ode to Men # 3

That night the hills continued telling me thus:

“Lorot Son of the Hills, we have mourned for forty days and nights—for man.  Winds have blown the hills, echoes have ricocheted across the seven hills, we have peeled off boulder after another again and again; our waterfalls have flowed furiously in mad anger. In these forty days and nights, we had no choice but to dry up ferns, fungi and shrubs leaving balding seven hills to showcase shame to man. Our monkeys have chattered on the ledges, hyraxes have lifted their limbs and sang dirges. And now the forty days are over.

“We will not rescind our previous message that we gave you. It is the tradition of the hills not to retract their messages. Now the die is cast, the fate of man is sealed. Man has never seen the revolt of the hills. Man has never witnessed the strength of the caps and peaks of the hills in supplication. Even whirlwind that can uproot a tree, he’s not witnessed it across seven hills.

“We have deliberated on this grave issue, Lorot Son of the Hills. The seven hills met and talked about it at great length. And it was our broad consensus to let good men live. Doesn’t the sun shine to both the righteous and sinners? Doesn’t the picturesque, beautiful landscape of the seven hills beckon the eyes of both its lovers and haters alike? Is the story of man all about loot, plunder and rape? What about the success story of man: of hard work, of honesty, of respect for human dignity? If it be true that man has mastered the art of doublespeak, what will we say of other men whose mouths are fountains of hope and truth from which are tributaries of encouragement and direction in life to friend and foe? Even if we protest that men have stopped loving, isn’t such a sweeping generalization to condemn man wholly yet on the flipside there are those who have sacrificed their souls and bodies on the altar of love for mankind? If the world is awash with men, deceptive men, disguised as the be-all and end-all of modern day virtues, what will we say of honest men who live quiet lives away from the glare of the public strengthening the cord of humanity? What shall we say of such men, Lorot Son of the Hills?

“About these men did we deliberate upon. For the story of man is not all about condemnation and failures. The story of man is a complex issue. Where he kills, there is another who promotes that life in orphanages and rescue homes. Where he is the Grim Reaper, another dedicates his time to nurse and care for the victims. Where he pillages, another man is collecting coins for a cause, to build a church or to care for the orphans. That is why we exercise restraint in judging man wholly, if only for the good of the few good men.

“What good will it be to us if we sent forth a rushing gale of wind to the homes of man to destroy his houses? If we are mad enough, as we actually are, and decided to hurl all kinds of misfortune his way, what good do we do to the righteous among men? What happens to the cause of man? No. Lorot Son of the Hills, we will not condemn man. Let good and evil continue to live, the good men do will outlive them; the evil men do will soon catch up with them and destroy them eventually.”