Note/L10N/Windfall/1.0/Books/WFTTaleD?
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My dearest son,<br>
My mortal heart is eternally saddened that I will not know you beyond these 2 short years, I am also sure that now I am with my ancient elders my spirit yearns to live those 2 years again. For as you must truly know I am afflicted with an incurable disease which by the next moon will remove me from our paradise to another. However I do not regret those deeds by which this withering peril found me, I only regret that I will never see you grow into a man worthy of our noble blood.<br>
If you are reading this now then I know you must be of age and soon you will be united with our family?s most precious heirloom. However, as with everything in life, its acquisition must only come after challenge and before you can grasp it in your hands you must past a test to prove your righteousness. Of course, I am confident my love has reared you as I would have desired. But if by foul treason or evil, you have gone astray in the absence of your father then you are not worthy to possess my greatest treasure. Therefore I have devised a test which only a son, brought up into his father image will pass, and one in which a son reared wicked will mortally fail.<br>
When you were young, I would tell you a tale my father had told me. Of course you were too young a child to remember your father let alone a seemingly insignificant tale and therefore I shall retell it here. This tale you are about to read is the key to the treasure you seek. I know if you are pure, my son, you will prevail.<br>
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In a time before memory there was a mighty King, ruler of all the known, who had 5 sons, each born of the same day and each trained by their father. As the King?s life began to move toward an eternal end, the question of who could succeed him was brought to the fore. To solve this issue, he devised a test to challenge the worthiness of all his heirs. The king possessed 5 sacred scepters; he ordered that they be hidden amongst the land and for his sons to be sent to find them, testing the skills in which he had tutored them. And so his 5 sons left their courtly home and entered the wilderness.<br>
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The first son was brave and strong, his heart filled with pure courage. As he scoured the wilderness near the base of a cliff, a glint caught his eye. He looked up and saw a scepter standing proudly at the top of the cliff. The cliff was ragged and wild and looked almost completely impassable; by climbing it he would surely risk his life. However he also knew there was a goat path which led straight to the top and would not challenge him at all. ?My father wishes to test my courage,? the first son said, ?Even when faced with an easy route he wants to risk my life for the glory of conquering the mountain, for no glory can be had in following lowly goats.? And so the son threw himself at the cliff, after hours of arduous climbing, and after several near deathly falls he pulled himself over the ridge, clutched the scepter and began an equally torturous descent. ?I have won a mighty victory!? he exclaimed as his feet touched the soft ground, ?All will talk of how I conquered the cliff!? With haste and glee he ran back to the court.<br>
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Meanwhile, the second son was also eagerly searching the wilderness, this brother had a great desire for treasure, he accumulated it with startling speed, there was no obstacle he would not cross to gain wealth. Sooner than he thought he saw the golden radiance of the priceless scepter shine forth from the bottom of a shallow pool, its brilliant light of the jewel encrusted artefact dancing in the water's ripples. He knew this was his father's most favorite, valuable and sacred scepter, and he was surprised he would abandon it in the wild. None-the-less he retrieved the scepter and headed for the court, on the way he came across a whole village ablaze, its inhabitants frantically extinguishing the flames. After the fires had been defeated, the village elder approached him, ?Thank you my prince,? he said, ?But even now the fire is gone its damage remains, none of us can afford to repair one house let alone the whole village.? With great reluctance he removed the scepter from his sack and presented it to the elder. ?The value of this will repair this entire settlement and keep its people content for years to come.? With this he returned to the court, he knew he had defied his father and lost him significant wealth.<br>
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Before this the third son had also arrived at the village but it had not been ablaze. The third son was broad, strong and stern, with an unconquerable sense of obedience and power. He stood in the village center and bellowed at the top of his voice for the village to gather round. He demanded to know whether the villages knew where the scepter had been hidden. The old blacksmith said the king had placed it in his possession, locked within a mithril chest. He said he would allow the prince to have the key if he aided the blacksmith in carrying some heavy casks and chests, as the son could carry at least three times as much as the elderly blacksmith. At once, the third son thought he knew his challenge. The King has presented him with an opportunity to test his authority, his father wanted him to control the situation with an unflinching iron fist. The peasant blacksmith had dictated rules to the prince, this was against all the principles of the land and punishment was due. He believed the King was testing his obedience to the law. He grasped the blacksmith by the shoulder and tossed him into his work shop, he beat the elderly man several times, each punch placing the fear of the gods into the feeble smith. However the blacksmith still would not tell, once again the third son thought the King was testing how far he was willing to go to uphold the family?s honor. He picked up a hell-hot fire poker and threatened the blacksmith with losing his eyes. The blacksmith unable to take any more torture gave the prince the information, he unlocked the chest and retrieved the scepter. As he left, he tossed the red-hot poker into a bail of hay. The fire would be a lesson the peasants would not forget, he thought to himself as he returned to the court.<br>
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The forth son was of undeniable logic and intelligence, he may not have had the courage of his brothers but he had skills of knowledge and calculus beyond that of the greatest scholars. He followed a series of complex clues until he arrived at an abandoned mine. He tied a piece of string to the entrance and explored the vast labyrinth of caverns, each corner revealing another maze of entrances and corridors hewn into the rock. After several hours the son had still not found the scepter and the string was running out, however as he turned a corner a great pile of gold and priceless goods lay before him. At once he thought his intellect had unlocked his father's plan. The King wished to challenge his logic; he immediately knew the gold was worth much more than the antiquated scepter. His father wanted him to make the logical choice, would he waste time venturing into the dark and dangerous unknown to retrieve the scepter? Or, would he think for himself and make the safe, profitable and logical choice of taking the treasure before him? The brother piled the gold into his satchel and followed the string to the entrance, he may not have had the scepter but he had obtained much more. ?The greatest victories are those which breed the most reward,? he said to himself as he ran toward the court.<br>
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The fifth son was the most determined of the 5 brothers. Whenever there was a challenge he?d leap into it with all his heart and stop at nothing until he had succeeded. As he single-mindedly rushed through the wilderness, he came across the burning village, after the third son, but before the second. The people dropped to their knees pleading that he returned to the court to get help. However the son swallowed hard and despite the anguish it caused him he ran past them ignored the cries of women and children, trapped inside the blazing houses. He believed the King was testing his determination; he was trying to distract him from the real challenge at hand, he was eager and dedicated to completing the King?s orders. Ignoring the anguish of the peasants was hard but he refused to be sidetracked from his true objective. After a while he came across the scepter on the road leading from the village, he triumphantly clutched the scepter in his hand and dashed back to the court, eager to be the first.<br>
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Now my son, the story goes on to describe which of the King?s sons was most worthy of becoming the next ruler of the land. However, this is the challenge I place before you. You must take the role of the King in this tale. Which of the 5 brothers do you believe is the most deserving of his title?<br>
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訳文 †
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