The Forgotten Words of the Wise Man🔊

In a bustling city of concrete, steel and glass towers, there existed a parallel world of secret and mystic, known only to a select few. During the day, the city was a marvel of modern engineering and bustling commerce, but when twilight descended, it echoed with whispers of a thousand-year-old tale hidden in plain sight. The legend of the 'Wise Old Man' was not just a story passed down from generation to generation but an unsolved mystery that dominated the city's heartbeat.

There was a time when the city was a mere settlement. Living in a humble cottage on the outskirts of this settlement was an old man, known for his wisdom and kindness. He was the oracle of their time, renowned throughout the land. The old man was celebrated for his distinct gift and connection with nature, and his words were sought after by kings and queens alike. The man's vast wisdom was believed to be stored inside a mystical book, known only as 'The Book of Wisdom.'

One stormy night, amid lightning and Earth-shaking thunder, the old man vanished without trace. His disappearance was abrupt and inexplicable. All that was left behind was his empty cottage and The Book of Wisdom. The book, however, turned blank, its pages stripped of text, bereft of the pearls of wisdom they once bore.

Puzzled by the bizarre turns of events, the people treasured the book, hoping someday, somehow, the words would return. They decided to house the book in a shrine, anointed with lungwort flowers - the old man's favorite. Years turned into decades, and decades into centuries, but the magical book remained silent.

As the centuries passed, the settlement morphed into a city, yet the mystery of the wise man's disappearance, and his blank book remained. The tale of the wise man and his book of wisdom gradually turned into a legend, a bedtime story to entertain generations of curious children.

Then, on one fateful day, a young mischevious boy named Evans dared to break into the shrine. Evans, born to a pair of city scholars, grown amongst the city's rhythm, was always drawn towards the ancient tale. The appeal of the mystery was irresistible to him. With bated breath and a pounding heart, Evans approached the shrine. Just as he gingerly opened the shrine doors, rays of moonlight gleamed on the blank pages of the book, illuminating the shrine.

To his astonishment, the once vacant pages began to glimmer with words. The ink, animated by the moonlight, danced to form wisdom-rich sentences. Evans couldn't believe what he was witnessing! Word by word, the book revealed the wisdom the city had been yearning for, centuries.

Rushing to his parents with the book, Evans was stunned once again when the book returned to its blank state under the lamplight. He tried to explain what he had witnessed, but his baffled parents dismissed his claims. He returned to the shrine with a clear purpose. Realizing that the book was indirectly tied to nature, much like the old man, Evans decided to devote his time to study and understand the rich wisdom it held when bathed in moonlight.

Night after night, Evans would learn under the moonlit ink of the mystical book. He discovered solutions to unsolvable problems and answers to profound questions of life and beyond. His understanding of the world deepened, and so did his connection with his city and nature.

Evans took the learnings and applied them to improve the city's sociology, economics, and understanding of nature. His innovative solutions transformed the cityscape - the city flourished like never before, radiating an aura of well-being and prosperity.

Evans' extraordinary wisdom didn't go unnoticed. Eventually, he revealed the secret of the wise man's book to the city, shattering the centuries-old mystery. The moonlit words were not a secret code, but a simple message: 'In harmony with nature lies true wisdom.'

With time, Evans led a harmonious co-existence with nature, imparting the wise man's teachings to generations, and thus, the wise man's wisdom came back alive in the thriving city. As for the book, it rested, embedded in the heart of the city, standing testament to the wise man and his teachings.

And so, the tale of the Wise Old Man morphed again, not an unsolved mystery this time, but a lived reality whispering in every corner of the city as the 'Forgotten Words of the Wise Man.'