Saturday, September 3, 2011

Chapter 9: The whole is more than the parts.

Chapter 9: The whole is more than the parts.

That evening Billy did ask again before they went to sleep: “What was that very difficult word again?
Environmentalist?
Why have people always such difficult words, and are you or Nemo words much easier, but tell the same?”

Petra answered: “On dry land there live many different kind of people.
That I told you before. But I did not tell, that each part of the world, as they themselves do call it, has its own language.”

“Is that not very difficult, when you go to another land?” Billy asked.

“It is, but luckily there are a few languages, almost everyone does learn, while they do have something you do not know.
It is called television, and on it are images, send from other countries, or stories like your mom did tell.
And the most things on that boxes talk such a language.
I could not believe so too at first, while in Homeland, we also do not have them.” She went on, seeing his disbelieve.

“On those televisions are very often showed stories about the animals, about plants. And nowadays also about the environment.
This people did call all, what has to do with the world and all that lives in and, of it so.Why do you ask?”

“Well, “ Billy said, a bit hesitation, “You did not know the word, you said, but you do know how it works. Why is this so?”

“While our mothers, and grandmothers every night tell a story about our Homeland, and so also about the secrets we are protecting.
At our schools, we do not much counting, or on what place in the world is which city, while we do not know, where our friends are going to live, if we got one.”

“Can you share those secrets with us too?” Billy asked, suddenly very awake.

“I am doing so, but you never get a message: this is a secret.
An exception is, what Nemo had to promise, while I am your friend, and not his.
But we do need his knowledge.
It has no use to tell others about me, or other friends, while they cannot see us so that stays by itself.
But most things we do learn, are the simple truths of life.”

“Can you give me an example, so I do understand?”

Petra thought for a moment and than said: “Do you remember I did ask you to have patience, so we could become friends?”

Billy nodded.
“And that I told, that this friendship has nothing to do with what you further have to learn or do in your daily life? That interference thing?”

“That I also remember, but still do not totally understand,” Billy said.

“Simple, having me as a friend is a good thing.
You can learn a lot of good things about life, you otherwise never would have thought about.
But knowing them, does not earn you your bread, it only can make things a bit easier. It cannot make those things go bad, interfere as we do say.
Therefore you have to go on with your life most of the time, as if I am not there. That will make you the best Billy possible.”

“What has that to do with patience, friendship?”

“That is, that friends do not always understand just as something happens, why it does happen.
Than you have to trust each other, and have the patience, and wait until there is a chance, to ask why that is.
Good friends can that.” Petra said.

“That will be true, but why do you know so much more about the nature, or this hard things?” he said, avoiding the very difficult word environment.
“You do look, as if you are just as old as me.”

“Did not I tell you, that time goes different in Homeland?
And that we get all the time to learn, what we need, to be the best friends in the world?
Some people have to stay in your world for a very long time, like Cindy’s grandmother. I will tell that story later.
Cindy’s grandmother was friends with some one, who was a write of fairy tales, a man called mister Anderson.
Some of his stories, your mom had heard when she was a little girl, while she did tell about Peter Pan, did she not? And the Mermaid, or Goldilocks?”

Billy again could not do anything else as nodding.
“In each of this stories is a lesson about how life should be.
Some tell about friendship, others about how to stuck together in hard times, and so solve your problems.
Others go about how to use, and respect your neighbours and nature.”

“That’s why, your bedtime stories also went about nature.
Than you must know a heap more than I do, for here in the bubble is not much nature!” Billy said a bit disappointed.

“There is, when you do know, how to look for it.
No, there are no trees, and bushes, they do grow in the gardening bubble.
But there is a lot of green stuff in the water, and each house I did see has some plants or flowers.”

“Oh, I always thought, that was while people do like them?”

“Not only that, but plants like what we breath out, and we do like, what they do breath out. That makes us dependent on each other.
The biologist have difficult words for this, but we say it simple in Homeland: human and plant-life cannot be separated, for when they are apart, they both cannot survive.”

“Is that all, there is about this?”
Billy now wanted to know everything, while Petra did tell this in a way, he did understand easier, than when Nemo or mom and dad told him.

“No, there is more, but that will Nemo tell, or some other adult.
But one lesson my grandmother often told was: when in nature all things are counted as one, the whole thing is more, than all parts on their own counted together.
For they together form the tapestry of life, and that pattern we cannot create on our own.”

“Create?” “That is making something totally new, and we cannot.”

“So we only can create something by taking out a part, and mostly that is bad, I understood” Billy said with a deep wrinkle above his eyes.
“That is not creating, but, but…”

“Destroying,” said Petra, “making it broken, or like the humans on dry land do: experimenting by putting all kinds of things together.
That sometimes also destroys things.”

“But do you think, the Atlantians can help us find a solution, when they do hear from Purple and you”, and here came something hopeful in his voice, “later from me to solve all?”

“At least Nemo comes from an ancient civilization.
This people lived very different and did things in a different way, had other rules”, Petra answered before he could ask.

“So let’s sleep for now, and ask him tomorrow.
And do remember me, I have to ask him something about a crystal.
That the Lady did ask me.”

“The oldest and wisest from Homeland? No, than we must not forget.
Sleep well!”

He turned on his side and soon was dreaming about what they talked about.
So he also in his dreams was busy with what they were trying to do: becoming good friends, who did understand what they should help others with.

© Nan van Daalen, all rights reserved.

1 comment:

  1. I think as Billy that Petra tells things in a new framework which allows to bring older knowledge to the present. Nice! thank you.

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