Storytelling Week 5: Siddhartha's First Encounter With Age

Siddhartha and the Old Man. Anthony Maulucci 

Life has been hard. I have lived a long and tiring life, spending my days working for my wages in the fields. Time was my friend at first, bringing me happiness and bounty. However, time is no longer my friend. Time has aged me, causing me to lean on this forsaken cane, causing me perpetual pain and suffering. The sadness and toil I feel seems never ending.

I moved out of the city many years ago, seeking refuge from the hateful stares of people in the city. Now, I live outside the walls of the city, spending my days begging for food as people leave the city I escaped from years ago. One day, a few moons ago, the most peculiar thing happened. I was walking along the road, when the most dazzling chariot I had ever seen came flying down the road.

The chariot was gold plated, causing a stream of light to reflect from the sun burning above. The light followed the carriage, drawn by the most beautiful of stallions also decked in gold accessories. Astride the chariot was a man. The man, a young individual, was likewise one of the most beautiful people I had ever seen. He seemed to be emitting some sort of light himself as he pulled the chariot to a stop in front of me.

I looked behind me and to all sides, confused as to why the man with the chariot was stopping, as those traveling this road often keep moving. I held up my hands, in reference for food I was praying the man could give me. I kneeled at his feet, dazzled by the light following the man and the stunning nature he possessed.

The man didn't say anything to me, but when I looked at his face with my tired, aged eyes, he had a look of complete bewilderment. He looked as if he had never seen someone of old age before. He stared, asking out loud, "What is this man with grey hair and body so bent? He clings to his staff with scrawny hands, his eyes are dull and his limbs falter. Is he a monster? Has nature made him thus or is it chance?"

I stared back, seemingly just as confused as the man. He had really never seen someone of old age before. I watched the man, who seemed to realize that time would be friendly to no one and that this would one day be the fate of everyone. He seemed hurt, confused, and sad as the light surrounding him seemed to dull. The man mounted the chariot and was gone as quickly as he had come.

Author's Note
This week, I decided to reimagine this story from a different character's point of view. I have really enjoyed doing this in the past few weeks so I am excited to tell the story from another point of view to add another perspective to the story.

In the original story, Siddhartha meets an old man on the edge of the city. Siddhartha has lived a very sheltered life up to this point, as he is one day to be the hero of all mankind and hasn't seen anything like death, sickness, or old age. The gods were not pleased that Siddhartha was so naive to these things in the world, so they placed an old, sick man in his way to teach Siddhartha. I will be reimagining this story through the lens of the old man in the story.

Bibliography
Book title: The Life of Buddha
Story title: The First Encounter
Author: Andre Ferdinand Herold
Year: 1922

Link to article: http://mythfolklore.blogspot.com/2014/05/life-of-buddha-first-encounter.html