Lesson Seven | Blindness | Audio/Commentlog, Open

[wiserthanusall]

A very long time ago, I heard a very sad story.

[Oogway is back in the cavern-deck, today. He is not practicing Kung Fu, he is only sitting, leaning on his stick and watching the water.Approach, if you like- the old Turtle never snaps.On the eastern mountains, across the sea, there lives a tribe of foxes. They are brown in the summer and turn a

Comments

[allmyturtles]

Does something trouble you, my friend?

[wiserthanusall]

Hm? Oh, I'm fine.

I wash just remembering. When you become very old, the world can seem to be too heavy, some days. Where do the past years go?

[audio]

[wiserthanusall]

Well, At least there is dat.

[Pamela, you are so goofy]

[Audio]

[rocklikerunaway]

...

What's that supposed to mean?

[Audio]

[wiserthanusall]

[Oogway chuckles]

It's a metaphore. I would not worry about it.

[Audio]

[rocklikerunaway]

Whatever. I'm not a fox.

[Foxes collect knowledge for that big old library. Toph doesn't even like reading.]

[Audio]

[wiserthanusall]

Ah! Dat is true. However, there is another meaning. It is about leaving behind the things that held you.

You do not seem like the kind of person who sits at home and lets your blindness keep you from going where you will.

[scarredpalms]

...blind foxes kill themselves?

Good to know, I guess.

[wiserthanusall]

Well...I shuppose. If you need to know that kind of thing.

It was a story a monk told me. I believe it is meant to be a metaphor.

[audio]

[scarredpalms]

[There's a few seconds of silence on Cyrus's end as he thinks it over.]

Those who are born into bad circumstances can only be carried so long before they're overtaken by the world?

[That's... depressing.]

[audio]

[wiserthanusall]

Hmm...I never thought of it like dat.

I always assumed the story was about letting go of the things that had limited you, as a child.

[alien_judas]

So they have an ailment, and they just give up? That's fucking stupid.

[wiserthanusall]

Ah, but they know they will return. One day.

[alien_judas]

Well, they seem passive about it. If they've got a problem, they should go out and do something about it. 'Sides, being blind? Ain't all that bad. They can still smell and hear. If they weren't so pathetic they would learn to cope.

[wiserthanusall]

Perhaps you are right.

[We're not really talking about foxes, but not everyone seems to understand that.]

Of course, they would disagree.