RAMANAM
In the Name of The Father, and of The Son and of The Holy Spirit, Amen.

From  the 1980s, a tale from Blue Form

Alice was skipping along through the forest one day when she came upon a great bear.  The bear was chasing a donkey around a tree in a very playful manner when the two of them spotted Alice.  It was some moments before Alice saw the donkey, for he was on the far side of a large tree.  But she could see the bear.

He grunted at her and wanted to know what she was doing in the neighborhood.  Alice said she was fixing to make a lovely bouquet of wild flowers to take to her mother and she was out searching for flowers.

She showed the great bear what she had collected so far and he laughed with amazement.  Bears had never heard of picking wild flowers.  Bit it intrigued him so he asked her if he might come along with her.  “Sure,” she said.

Then the donkey, who introduced himself as “Donkey,” stepped out from behind the tree and asked if he too might come along.  Yes, that would be fine with Alice and the bear because, after all, he and the bear had been playing together when Alice came upon them.

So now there were three of them, Alice, the bear and the donkey.  And they went through the woods looking for wild flowers for a bouquet for Alice’s mother.  Pretty soon they came upon a rattle snake.  He was enormous, about 6 feet long and very pretty.  And the snake, who introduced himself as “Snake,” wanted to know what the three of them were doing in his territory.  He pointed out to them the approximate bounds of his domain – it amounted to about 10 acres – and they explained their outing as a search for wild flowers for a bouquet for Alice’s mother.

The snake thought that was a fine idea.  In fact, he know of some special flower groves that lay a few paces beyond where they stood, and he offered to take them there.  Then he too asked if he might accompany them, at least to the bounds of his domain.  They all agree it would be a nice idea.  So off they went.

The snake could travel much faster than the bear or Alice thought.  He even surprised the donkey, who was used to seeing snakes while foraging for grass.

By the time they reached the flower grove – it was a patch to the legged animals – they already had a good-sized bouquet.  But now so many flowers spread out before them that Alice could have dropped all she had and still picked an enormous bouquet.

The four of them sat together in the sunlight there admiring the snake’s flower “grove.”  He told them that many years ago a group of hunters had come looking for bears and deer.  They had cleared this area and would sit down-wind from it and wait for their prey to come wandering through.  However, snakes populated the surrounding area and discouraged hunters from entering.  So for a long time now this area had been forgotten by hunters and now it grows flowers.  The snakes would come back to protect it if hunters rediscovered its whereabouts.

Alice promised to keep her peace about the clearing and the snake promised to help her find it again and again, as often as she needed wild flowers.  The bear and the donkey were over-joyed.

So that day the snake made three other animals very happy, and each in its own way.  Alice was happy because she had an abundance of wild flowers to give to her mother as bouquets.  The bear was happy because he knew of an area of the forest that the hunters didn’t.  The donkey was happy because he knew of a place rich in food.

All three were happy together in the knowledge that this area would remain as it was because the snakes would see to it.

AMDG