Ambition and the Giants

Once upon a time, Ambition woke up with the firm belief that the worth of his existence on earth was proportional to his height.

At breakfast, he discussed this with his wife.
“Everybody values giants for their strength. When something seems impossible to accomplish, we go see them and ask them for help. Everybody knows them for their remarkable actions, but even those giants that have done nothing of value are famous, for their face is so far up that us tiny people can see them from very far.”
“You know how giants appear, ” argued his wife with a smooth voice. “They come from the mountains, where all giants gather. I don't want you to go. I don't want you to leave me.”
“What choice do I have? I need to feel great.”

He prepared himself all day long, filled his gourd, packed what he felt was needed for his trip. On the next day, he kissed his wife goodbye.

He went to the mountains, but after three days of exhausting hike, he did not meet a single giant. He did see them in the distance, but they were too far to even notice him. He yelled in the desert; no ear heard his voice. Yet, Ambition was stubborn. As both his backpack and his stomach grew smaller by the day, he hoped that his quest would not end with his death.

On the fourth day, he woke up next to an old giant.
“Hello, sir!” he yelled, hoping the giant could hear him.
The giant looked at him, and crouched. He took Ambition in his hand.
“Good morning, sir, ” said the giant. “What can I do for you?”
Ambition didn't really know what to say. He hadn't planned what he would do when he meets a giant.
“I guess I want to see what you see.”
“Do you want to sit on my head, so that you can see the world at my altitude?”
“I would like that very much!”

The giant then put Ambition on his head, and Ambition was amazed. His vision of the world had suddenly changed. His perspective in life grew bigger.
Ambition didn't notice it at first, but as his outlook underwent the most fantastic metamorphosis, his own body started to expand. His legs grew bigger, his torso looked like a pillar, his head went up and up like a bullet fired to the sky.

Soon he became too big for the giant below him. He crumbled slowly; his back soon broke apart.
“Giant, ” said Ambition, “stay alive! Don't do this to me!”
“This is the cycle of life, ” said the giant in his last breath.
Ambition was enlightened.

When he came back, his wife told him how worried she had been. He made her a castle out of a single rock, and went back into the wilderness of the mountains, building even more wonders, trying to be worthy of the giant whose death he was responsible for.

The Oracle

Once upon a time, a wealthy and fortunate couple of farmers were endowed with a son. They cherished this child before he was born, and they wanted him to be happy in life.

As they wanted to prevent that anything bad happened to him, they went to see the Oracle. They gave their workers the order to take care of their farms while they were gone, and they traveled to the city where the Oracle lived. After a few days, they arrived. The Oracle accepted to see them after a few days of begging.

When the Oracle saw the child, he was inspired to say the following:

"This kid will grow up far from the dangerous world out there. He will be loved and educated. It will make him very confident. It will make him strong and valiant. It would make him rule the world. Unfortunately, he never will."

The Oracle breathed heavily.

"When the child is in love for the first time, she will break his heart. He will be so sad and desperate that he will hang himself to the roof and die."

The parents were so afraid of the second part of the story that, when they got back, they cherished him even more. They were very careful to avoid him getting hurt in any way. Whenever he had a paper cut, they dreaded the sight of his blood.

As he grew older, they tried to make him avoid contact with the world. They said it was for his own good. They fired all of their female employees, and they homeschooled him.

One day, the son, now older than a teenager, escaped the vigilance of his parents and went to the nearest town. There, he saw a beautiful girl. She impressed him very much. He went up to her and tried to kiss her. Of course, she rejected him, very shocked. Mortified, he left the place. Little did he know that he was being followed.

Alone in a dark corner of the town, he started crying. There, he was approached by a passerby, who cheered him up. They wandered along the town's streets, exchanging stories from their respective past.

Then, they went to the nearest bar. They danced, they drank, they had fun. The son met another beautiful woman, and she did not reject him. He was happy. They kissed.

Later that night, he was on the road back home when he was abducted. The Oracle was there, with a rope in one hand, and a stool in another. The Oracle forced him on the stool, and hung him to the roof.

The following morning, the parents were horrified to see their son dead, but they were not surprised. They spread the word about how right the Oracle had been all along, and how sad it was that their son, a man of such value, had killed himself.


The future is yours to mold. Don't let others tell you how to live.