Fable of the Feather Light Pebbles

Once in a land of hills and valley lived a lad who tended goats on a farm. Each day he would follow them into the mountains to watch and play as they ate their way to the tops of spots that only something small could go. The boy would walk along and dream of things he wished he could do like walk as a goat, swim as a fish and fly like bird. He viewed his task of tending goats as a time to play, dream, and think and each day looked forward to it as is his place and time there were no other games and things for children to do. When not tending goats his day was full of chores that were not near as fun as walking, climbing, and dreaming.

One day while tending goats near some rocky cliffs a smaller goat went off to a ledge of craggy rocks and cried," blaa, blaaa, blaa," The baby goat seemed stuck but in spot that was very forbidding and dangerous for the boy to go. So he waited and watched as the small goat stayed and brayed until he could no longer dally and had to do something. At first he tried throwing his small rope onto the head of the goat to tug him off the ledge but his rope was not able to reach the small goat and floated off the ledge each time he tossed it. In frustration he decided to act like a goat and got on all fours to crawl toward the little goat until he could reach him. The trick worked and soon he was within arms reach and pulled the small goat's front leg and with small tugs was able to get the goat closer to him and away from the rocky crag. When the goat was safely on soil the boy remembered that when he first tugged the goat he seemed very light and now the small goat seemed a lot heavier and now it limped. Looking at the goat's leg the boy saw a small pebble caught in the goats hoof and dislodged it and the pebble slowly fell out and onto the ground. Picking it up it felt as light as a feather, not near as heavy as pebbles he picked up before so he kept it in his pocket.

That night he placed his new feather light pebble on his night table and watched it as it sat dreaming himself off to sleep as his did walking and tending the goats during the day. In his half sleep he imagined a pocket full of the feather light pebbles and wondered if they would make him as light as a small goat and able to climb and jump about rocky cliffs but off to sleep he fell and thought no more of it that week.

One day when the goats again roamed past the rocky crag where he discovered the feather light pebble the boy wondered if his dream of a pocket full of those would make him light as that goat. He thought he should crawl out on all fours to the spot where the baby goat got stuck and try to fetch more of the feather light pebbles. Laying on his stomach he stretched out to reach as far as he could groping for any loose pebbles but none were within reach. He tied a stick to his rope and threw it into the rocky crag and pulled hoping to dislodge a few pebbles but none would surrender. In fact the rope barely reached the spot but would seem to float away landing near each time but not where the baby goat got stuck that day. After trying to fetch them a while the boy decided to stop and sit and dream and think about being a goat who could climb and jump until it was time to head back home. That night he again thought of a pocket full of feather light pebbles and how they may allow him to climb out as a goat on the rocky ledges of the hills around his home. If only he could collect enough feather light pebbles to help him. He thought if he were a goat then it would be a lot easier. The next day he decided to stop again near the rocky ledge of the feather light pebble rock. As he mimicked the goats crawling about on all fours the baby goat he rescued game near and idea popped into the boys head what if he tied his road on the baby goat put clay on its hoofs and encouraged it to go back onto the rocky ledge, would it then pick up more feather light pebbles on its hoof? Searching about he found a spot of damp gooey clay and rubbed it on the baby goat's hoofs. After tying his rope on the goats neck he encouraged it to walk out onto the ledge. The baby goat did for a while but stopped and brayed and looked back at the boy as much as to say, "Not there, I do not want to walk over there." So the boy tugged his rope and the small goat returned to him with a few more pebbles on his clayed up hoofs. Most of the pebbles were like any other but 3 of them were feather light so he added it to the one he already had and kept the 4 of them in his pocket. That night he studied the four on his night table as he dreamed of the ability to climb and jump the hills and rocky crags of the land around his home. The next week many times he tied his rope onto the neck of the small goat and encouraged it to walk as close to the spot it got stuck and gathered as many feather light pebbles as the goat could get stuck to the clay on its hoofs. Soon the boy had enough to fill a pocket, and worked more on getting the second pocket full. As not to lose them he asked his mother to sew a small bag to seal them in telling her he wanted to use them as a ball to throw and juggle. His mother too was impressed as to how light the pebbles were and how nice they made a small bag to throw and juggle about. By then he had enough for 2 small pocket size bags that were the easiest to throw and juggle then any ball he had had before. On his trips to tend the goats he would juggle, throw and play with the feather light pebble bags and almost forgot his original idea of climbing and jumping on the rocky ledges like a goat.

On another day he was near the rocky crag where he discovered the feather light pebbles and it seemed the baby goat wanted to play the game of fetching pebbles and slowly walked about the ledge and kept looking at the boy. Not having the boys rope on his neck the baby goat walked all over but not exactly in the spot he first got stuck. But when it was time to go the baby goat was having too much fun and did not want to leave. The boy needed to get home and pleaded with the baby goat to come off the ledge. "Come on we need to get home, and it will get dark soon." He told the baby goat. Eventually the boy got on all fours and crawled toward the bay goat until he could grab a leg and pull him toward the ground. He again searched the hooves and found about 4 more feather light pebbles. Having enough for his two pocket size bags already he decided to trow back the pebbles into the spot where they came. As he threw them he noticed they did not fall fast but seem to float back into the rocky ledge, like a feather. That night he again thought and dreamed about how he that day almost felt like a goat when he got the baby goat off the rocky ledge. He crawled and reached a lot farther then he did the first time and it wasn't near as difficult with the feather light pebbles in his pockets. Just maybe his dream that the feather light pebbles would help him climb and jump like a goat was working?

The next day he tied the baby goat again to his rope and began collecting more pebbles.
The baby goat loved to play the game of fetching feather light pebbles and soon he had another collection, large enough for his mother to make two more cloth bags of feather light pebbles. A total of four bags now a bag in each pocket front and back.
One day while he and the baby goat were near the rocky ledge where they found the feather light pebbles, the boy and the baby goat played together climbing and jumping along the smaller rocky ledges until they reached the original spot where the bay goat got stuck. It seemed to the boy with his four pockets full of feather light pebbles he could play like a goat on the rocks, climbing and jumping with ease. He noticed the baby goat too as they got closer to the original spot seemed a lot lighter on his feet and could jump and climb higher and farther then on the muddy paths to the leading to ledgey cliff. All that jumping and climbing made both he and the baby goat tired so they were happy to leave then head home when the time came. That night the boy thought and dreamed and remembered that during their play on the rocky ledge it seemed as if at times the baby goat's hooves never touched the rocks but glided over them as he climbed and jumped about. He decided to check to see if his hooves had some of the feather light pebbles in them in the morning when they went out for their venture. After heading up the muddy paths and to the rocky ledges the next morning the boy inspected the baby goats hoofs to find yes he did have a few of the feather light pebbles stuck in the hooves. Surely the feather light pebbles aided him and the goats jumping and climbing the rocky ledges. He and the baby goat would climb and jump all day along the rocky ledges and crags as they roamed about the area around his home. For months they played among the rocky ledges, the boy almost as agile as a baby goat with the help of four pockets full of the magical feather light pebbles.