Essay Pages

The Two Brothers

– by Diane Balsamo ( Flidais Airmid @ no spam aol.com)

Many years ago, when the world was newly formed, twin boys were born. Just the same in strength, intelligence and skill. However, one had a face bright as the sun while the other had one dark as night.. One, the light faced boy,had the power to make all things grow and increase. He loved to see all things
get bigger and stronger, and continue to do so without anything to stop them. The other boy, who had the dark face, thought that this was a pretty neat trick, but he saw the awful truth. There would not be room soon if the light faced brother continued to rule. Many things were looking tired from the continuous growth. And, what was worse was that everyone around them and all things seemed to like what the light brother did. They feared the dark boy . They could not understand what his power really was. Dark in their minds meant things hidden…in shadows,,,and removed from their sight .

One day the two brothers awoke to a world so filled with things that neither could move. The light boy thought that if he planted more seeds, thing would get better. The dark boy saw that there was no room, and if one more thing was planted soon the very air itself would be to crowded to breathe. The dark boy wanted to act, but no one would let him. So he challenged the light brother to a fight. Sometimes you must fight to prove you are right, but only after all other ways fail.

The battle was fierce, and all around them watched with fear. The very earth quaked under their blows. Suddenly, the dark boy was clearly the winner, and the light boy went off to mourn his loss. The earth responded, and began to tilt its face away from the sun to honor the loss of the light boy. The first act of the dark boy was to begin clearing away many of the plants that had grown old and weary. As he pulled them from the earth, they gave a sigh of relief and dropped the heavy load of their very ripe seeds. The people saw what the dark boy was doing, and they became curious. They gathered round to look at the plants lying on the ground, and were bathed in their aroma. Someone decided to taste the fruits and grains and grasses, and they found them to be just as nice to taste as they were to smell, In this way, the plants
saw that they were even more useful to people in this way, and they gladly gave themselves up. People grew stronger through eating the plants and fruits and grasses, and the world thrived.

However, just as had happened before, things went too far. One day the dark boy awoke to find there was nothing left to clear away. The land was bare, the air was cold, and it looked as if the light, which had been shrinking more and more each day, would disappear. The light boy had been watching this as well from his hiding place, and decided that things must change. He sought out the dark boy, and once again the brothers had a terrible fight. The light boy knew that things must being to grow again, and the dark boy feared that things would get out of hand once again. The dark boy had grown too sluggish from so much eating and comfort, and the light boy defeated him. Once again, the earth itself changed its course of tilting, and the days grew long again.

The two boys then came to an agreement. The world needed both of them in order for things to be right. There must be a time of light and a time of dark. There must be a time to plant and a time to harvest. There must be two forces to make things balance. It was decided that they would each share a half of the year in which they would be able to have things their way. Twice a year they would meet, stand face to face, and switch places. This standing still became known as the Solstice. The Light boy became known as the Oak king, for like the oak itself he grew strong and mighty and served as a doorway to another world. The Dark Boy became known as the Holly King, whose berries show the very nature of his gift. . His wood burns the hottest, and the heat transforms all.

© 2005, Diane Balsamo/Flidais Airmid, used with permission.

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