....once upon a sometime, there was a nice little village in a nice little woods. It was called Niceville. All the people that lived in Niceville were, well, nice. They had nice little homes and nice little gardens. But one thing they didn't have was any powerful weapons because they didn't write anything down and so didn't have much knowledge about anything. They didn't believe that words really meant anything other than nice soothing coos meant to be nice. Their lack of weapons suited them because weapons....they simply are not nice.
On one side of Niceville there was a shining city on a hill which had narrow gates and strong defenses. On the other side of Niceville there was a dark city that had wide gates and sprawling weak defenses. The city on a hill was ruled by an honorable General who ruled by truth, justice and mercy. The dark cities were ruled by warring factions who sometimes made alliances so as to make war against the General. The war between the cities was constant and unlike the people of Niceville these cities made and used many weapons. Sometimes, as war planes flew overhead the people of Niceville would look up at the sky, give a nice little shake of their heads and say, "Now...that is just not nice! If only everyone would be nice and weak, as nice as we are!" Every once in a while some of the boys from Niceville would make it to the city on a hill and become soldiers. But most went into the city with the wider gates.
One day, some boys from Niceville were playing in the woods near the dark cities. Some of the men of the city came from the city and said, "You know, the General from the city on the hill has plans to cut down your nice woods and demolish Niceville! He is your enemy." These men who seemed nice had an edited copy of the General's rules of engagement (It needed to be edited to make it nice they said.) which they gave to the nice boys who accepted it. The men also had some vests for the boys to wear, they seemed nice enough too. The men left and the boys went to the other side of Niceville towards the shining city on a hill where they normally played.
About the same time, two soldiers were driving a tank out of city on the hill. One was a veteran and the other was a new recruit. They saw the boys coming through the woods from Niceville. "What's that in their hands?" the new recruit asked. Hmmm, "Looks like sticks...and they're waving them about as if they can fight." the veteran replied with a tone of resignation. He muttered, "Here we go again, some boys from Niceville have been talking to the other side again. This just isn't my day." The two drove the tank closer to the woods. The recruit noted, "Hey, looks like they have vests on." The veteran said, "Uh oh, they've been rigged with bombs from the dark city."
"So let's just blast them!"
The veteran called the general and then replied, "Nope, he says to blast all around them and try to scare them back to Niceville but to avoid blowing them up." The new recruit said, "What is that one boy doing...Hey, it looks like he's trying to go around our tank to see it from all sides. How odd!" The veteran said, "Okay, blast next to him on the left." The recruit said, "Yup, that did it. Looks like he'll be seeing things from the right side for a while!" Another boy was just sitting there and he seemed to be just banging two sticks together. The veteran said, "Hmmm, oh just leave him be, he's just sitting there." The recruit replied, "But he'll blow up eventually. Let's blast next to him too!"
"Oh, okay." So they did. "Nope...still just sitting there. I don't think he even heard it." said the recruit. But another nice little boy did...and so with a quaver in his voice he said, "Now, that's REALLY just not nice!!" He started running at the tank.... "Back her up." The recruit replied in exasperation, "Oh, just run over him!"
"Nope, General's orders and besides...with great power comes great responsibility." The recruit just looked at the veteran for a moment.
"Okay, okay, I watched Spiderman last night. Geez man, cut me some slack here!"
The recruit noted, "Look, we're backing up all the way into the city and if we go there...." The veteran said, "Okay, blast next to him now!" When the smoke cleared the veteran said, "Oopsy....that one was a little close."
"Yup."
"Hmmm, hey there's someone behind that boy back there who threw a stick once and then just kept shouting, "That's not nice!"
"Yup, looks like the leader of Niceville or something."
The leader spoke saying, "I cordially invite you, nicely, to go back to the city on the hill." The recruit whispered, "Hey, why is he inviting us to go back to our own city anyway?" The veteran said, "Beats me...but he sure is nice about it. Remember, people from Niceville don't believe something has to actually make sense, as long as it proves how nice they are, in their own eyes."
"False niceness? Let's blast him!"
"No, look, it looks like they're going back to Niceville now."
The recruit replied, "Well, won't they all blow up?" The veteran said, "Oh, that's not the worst of the things that go on in Niceville where people are a little 'too nice' and a little 'too friendly.'"
For the neutral town of Niceville was not so nice, after all. It was a rather dark city itself and part of the dark cities. The people living there did not realize it, so they called themselves nice and their neutral town Niceville.
But there was only one shining city on a hill that was truly nice, it was the General's city.
2 comments:
Should I be ashamed, on what claim?
For shame! That just doesn't seem nice. I wonder what the people of Niceville would say?
"...interesting though that shame was your first response when I asked if you were proud. Why would that be?"
Maybe it is because I cry myself to sleep at night, these lil' hot tears come! I think, "Niceville, why that's just mighty nice! There is no question about it." and then I'm just so...so ashamed! Or am I?
Or, perhaps it is because it is good to invert some questionable questions in order to have a look at what the questioner is seeking. They are seeking something. They are on a quest, after all, as you said. So what if some are on a quest for questions? Would they use the question for its power of suggestion? Will they call into question that which is out of the question?
As I wrote once, there are those who are always seeking and never finding. But feel free to question, that's my suggestion, without question.
"You made them up. . . .why don't you tell us?"
I think that they might ask some questionable questions, without actually saying anything. For you see, if you write something that is unavoidably a way of saying you are right with meaning. As it is written. But the people of Niceville would tend to feeel that it is mean, to mean with meaning. First they would not write and perhaps eventually they would break language itself into mainly just cooing.
It is rather like making all swords dull, as in Ian's army. I could have predicted that he would have an army with dull swords. But then, I did...
I think I mentioned then, that often a sharp sword and word is necessary. A word to the wise, if you can't get a word in edgewise then you may hang on every word, your own.
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