Love - a story [de] [it] [eo] [fr] [hu]

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Love – a story

Jan and Janina live in a small, old town on the banks of a river. There are two lovely old churches and an old bridge there. They love their town. They often sit on the banks of the river and enjoy the glittering waves.

They have some friends in the town and now and again they meet one another. But on their last visit a shadow fell upon them. And this is how it happened.

A young woman – they had known her for some time – was very quiet the whole evening. You knew what was wrong – she was unhappy. Her friend had left her but she still loved him.

That made Jan and Janina rather thoughtful. Then – and they had never thought about this before – could their love also come to an end at some point?

This posed a problem for them. But, as always, when they had a problem they went to the small chapel in the middle of the town. A candle was always burning there. They sat down and looked into the flame of the candle. Perhaps there was a solution somewhere or some consolation. They had often left the chapel feeling better.

“Hey, what’s making you depressed?” And the face of the wise man appeared before their eyes. They remembered him immediately. Of course – they had met him before. He had been sitting on a bench then and waiting for them. Full of joy at seeing him once more and full of trust, Janina tells him of their troubles and the fear of losing their love for one another.

The wise man listens to them quietly. “ I know about your fear and your troubles. I can see that it is a problem for you. But the answer isn’t so easy, not even for me. But I will help you.

I’ll invite you to a walk with me along the road of the philosophers. You know it. So till tomorrow at 9 o’clock. And bring something to eat and drink with you. It’s going to be a rather long walk.”

The next morning they started off full of anticipation and arrived at the meeting point in good time. The wise man was already waiting for them. They greeted one another with a kiss on each cheek – just like the French greet one another they thought. So, let’s go.

The sun is shining and the sky is blue. On the other side of the valley there is an old castle. Jan proudly tells the wise man that is was a sight that tourists like to visit.

The path gradually becomes steeper and the sunshine more intensive – one starts to sweat.

“Shall we have a little rest?” says the wise man and Jan and Janina agree. They have something to eat and drink before they start on their way again. “We have a long way ahead of us.”
The path becomes narrower and slowly steeper and steeper.





Suddenly they are standing in front of a huge green hedge. Peculiar – it wasn’t there a minute ago. Jan and Janina are surprised and they stop for a minute but the wise man carries on and bids them to follow – unexpectedly the green wall opens and diffidently they follow him.

On the other side of the wall they are greeted by a thick, white mist which slowly starts to disperse and reveals a wonderful view. A completely new world unrolls before their very eyes – a deep-blue sky; green grass; wonderful groups of trees; flowers in all colours; everything shining from within itself. And some way away a lake.

At the end of the lake is something they had never seen before – a beautiful, big, white, shimmering waterfall with millions of fine drops of water which slowly fall to earth. And above this all a big, shining rainbow – clear and beaming brightly.

Jan and Janina forget everything around them.
They are caught up in the ban of this unique sight.

And then after a while they notice a group of men and women dressed in long coloured robes.

One couple breaks away from the group and comes towards them –
smiles at them in a friendly way and invites Jan and Janina to follow them.
Now they can see people to the right and to the left who are hurrying towards the lake.

A breeze comes up and then they hear a soft but clear voice.

The waterfall is – according to your calendar- already many millions of years old
and it will – according to your calendar- exist for millions of years to come.
Why do you worry about your love – it has just begun
Go to the water and drink –
this water is the water of life and of love –
it has flowed forever
Then you yourself are eternal
and your love will grow and grow and grow.

Suddenly it is completely quiet again…..

Jan and Janina drink and drink and drink
and with every mouthful
their fear becomes smaller and smaller
until it disappears.

A wonderful feeling of PEACE and LOVE overcomes them

There is a light mist

and then they see the candle flame in the chapel in front of them
and the wise man takes his leave

Jan and Janina stay where they are
Their bodies and their souls touch lightly and their fear has flown away –
their love remains and they feel strong and very full of life

Finally they stand up and, as though they are in a dream, they go home

And sometimes they sit on the bank of their river
watching the light playing on the waves
and they remember
the marvellous
experience they had.

Translation: Victoria Ann