09 The Hermit

Chapter 09 The Hermit Kah and Ko smoothed the man’s hair with their little paws and patted his cheeks gently. The man smiled and whispered to the langurs. His eyes stayed closed. Teddy walked up to the man and licked his hands. The man still didn’t open his eyes. But he stroked Teddy’s fur. “ Knock, knock, ” Annie said softly. “ Is someone there?” the man asked.

He turned his face toward Jack and Annie. Now his eyes were open, but he did not seem to see them. Jack realized that the man was blind. “ Hi, I’m Annie, ” said Annie. “ And I’m Jack, ” said Jack. The blind man smiled. “ Good, ” he said, nodding. “ Would you like to visit with me?” “ Sure, ” said Annie. She and Jack sat down next to the man. “ Do you live in this forest?” Annie asked. “ Yes, ” he said. “ Are you a hermit?” Jack asked. “ Yes, ” the blind man said. “ What’s a hermit? ” said Annie. “ Hermits live far away from other people, ” said the blind man. “ We like to be alone to think. I live in the forest so I can learn from nature. ”

“ How do you learn? ” asked Jack. “ I listen, ” said the blind man. “ Listen to what? ” asked Jack. “ To the chatter of the monkeys, the rumble of the elephant, the roar of the tiger, ” said the man. “ I have listened for so long, they have all begun to sound like one voice—the one great voice of the forest. ” “ Did the voice tell you that a tiger got caught in a trap last night? ” asked Annie. “ Yes, ” the hermit said. “ And did it tell you that after we saved him, he tried to attack us? ” said Jack. The blind man smiled. “ Please bring me one of the white flowers floating on the stream, ” he said.

Jack wondered why the hermit was changing the subject. But Annie jumped up and hurried to the stream. She pulled at one of the large flowers. It came up, muddy root and all. She took it to the blind man.

“ Thank you, ” he said. The man touched the flower’s large white petals and its dirty root. “ This perfect lotus blossom grows from dark, thick mud, ” he said. “ Its beauty cannot live without its ugliness. Do you understand?” “ Yes, ” said Jack and Annie. “ When you saved the tiger, you saved all of him, ” said the blind man. “ You saved his graceful beauty—and his fierce, savage nature. You cannot have one without the other. ” “ Oh … right, ” said Jack. “ Take this lotus as a thank-you gift from all the forest for saving our fierce friend, ” said the blind man. “ Our world would not be complete without him. ”